So after that last entry, I decided I was being too much of a whiny emo loser bitch (in that order), and decided to get back in gear and get back to work...

...Then I got sick Saturday night, and spent all of sunday watching horror movies on Netflix: John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness, 2/3rds of Dario Argento's Inferno, Phantasm II, and Madhouse. Whenever I'm sick in October, I always sit and marathon horror movies. It goes back to this time in high school where I had a nasty stomach virus and sat watching AMC's Monsterfest.

While watching those films, I ended up drawing a piece of Casanova fanart. Newman Xeno, the comic's villain, is probably one of my favorite all-time characters. I considered trying to dress as him for Halloween:
Casanova is, incidentally, the best damn comic coming out right now, which of course explains why I'm having a hard time getting hold of the new issues. And one of the best comics ever. Trust me. You need to read it. Crazy sixties sexy sci fi awesomeness.

I finished reading John Dies at the End yesterday and loved it. Actually, I spent all day at work yesterday reading it, finishing the thing just 5 minutes before closing. I haven't been that absorbed in a book in quite some time. Excellent stuff.

And I've listened to this song more times that I'm willing to admit today, from the soundtrack to Drive, which I saw a couple weeks back:

I don't normally dig electro synth pop stuff, but this song is just hypnotic, like the movie itself was.

Hm...that's all I've got to share this evening. Oh, yeah, the Avengers trailer is out, and it looks like it'll do just fine, but that generic rock music and typical editing killed it for me. I kind of just wish the film was actually about Thor and Tony Stark going on a cross-country roadtrip and getting involved in wacky shenanigans with the Cosmic Cube or something, because aside from Black Widow being HOT, none of the other characters appeal to me. But then of course, the only superhero film I saw this year was X-Men: First Class, and I'm one of about five people seriously looking forward to Neveldine & Taylor's Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance next year, so what do I know?

[Brett]

My head really hurts right now. Here's Monday's Exciting Tales! strip. It's a tribute to Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland:
Not exactly one of my best, I'll admit, but I'm still fond of it.

I have all thirteen pieces for Embrace Infection finished, though a few need minor revisions. I had seven printed on campus today, though three of those are the ones which need revising. I'm excited to see them in the full size they were meant to be printed at, however, with the colors brilliantly popping on the glossy paper.

Here's one of those finished, printed pieces, entitled Feeling Good:

I've been thinking a bit lately about, well, women in comics I guess, given the shitstorm that hit last week with DC's Catwoman and Starfire being portrayed as trashy sex-hungry sluts, not real characters but cheesecake for fanboys to gawk over and fantasize about having sex with. It makes me feel dirty and uncomfortable, seeing the pages, and I don't like it at all. I'm plotting a new comic in which the villain is a woman, and I'm thinking hard about how to develop her as sexy, yes, but more than anything else, FORMIDABLE. There aren't a lot of formidable women in comics, I don't think...

Chiyoko in Akira, though. The big burly woman in the apron who protects Kei and Kaneda? I'm pretty sure she punches more faces in than she has lines of dialogue in the third volume. I love her. I just got volume 4 in the mail today, and she's on the back cover, in ragged clothes, ammo belts, and wielding a rifle. I do hope she gets to smash more faces in...

I also got a copy of John Dies at the End, because I saw the trailer for next year's film adaptation by Don Coscarelli:

Looks like he's channeling Cronenberg quite a bit, which makes this movie look even tastier. And given that the novel's from the editor in chief of Cracked, one of my favorite websites, I'm so excited about getting to crack this book open and start reading.

I just have to finish Philip K. Dick's Now Wait For Last Year first.

Also, I must admit something that MAY be considered blasphemy among many circles: I've been watching old James Bond movies on Netflix, and, well, I don't much like the Sean Connery flicks. And I LOVED On Her Majesty's Secret Service, despite the fact that yes, George Lazenby is not quite a good Bond. But man, the way that movie was lit and shot is phenomenal! And Diana Rigg as the Bond girl! It's a weird one, yes, trying to be grittier and more serious than the Connery films while at the same time including a bobsled chase scene, but I dunno, it may be my favorite Bond film alongside Casino Royale...

And I think I'm gonna call the entry quits here, because I keep getting distracted by Top Gear. AWAY.

[Brett]