tylermcdowell

Re: Superhero Images Another one that might be of interest. http://heromorph.com/heromorph2/modules/myalbum4/photo.php?lid=2446&cid=5

Re: Superhero Images A picture I made while back. A larger version can be seen here: http://heromorph.com/heromorph2/modules/myalbum4/photo.php?lid=2319

Re: Time running out on Marvel comics on DVD Good for them. They have how many titles? It seems to me that once again Marvel is trying a new version of an old game that blew up in their faces back in the late 80s/ early90s. They want to control every part of their business and not rely on outside distribution networks. Remember when Marvel tried create their own distribution house, bought warehouses, a trading card company, and I believe a paperback printing house? How many times have they went bankrupt since? Twice?

Re: Time running out on Marvel comics on DVD Deja Vu! I seem to recall a little comic company called CrossGen that thought "Gee, we can put our comics online so people can read them on the internet. That will make our sales increase and make lots of money!"

Re: Superhero Images I saw your picture and I liked it. So much so that I did this. I took a few liberties with the costume and had no idea about powers. But I hope it is passible.

Re: Fantasy Art Thread Daz Studio for 95% and Photoshop Elements to touch up the last 5%. Bigger versions are posted here http://heromorph.com/heromorph2/modules/myalbum4/photo.php?lid=2107&cid=3 and http://heromorph.com/heromorph2/modules/myalbum4/photo.php?lid=2117&cid=3

Re: Fantasy Art Thread And another I did for fun.

Re: Fantasy Art Thread I figure this old thread needs to be dusted off a bit, so a picture I did for a friend.

Re: Comics are getting too steamy...

Re: If Marvel and DC really *do* collapse Nothing wrong with reading TPB or even novels that way. I just see a relationship to how Marvel and DC have geared their product to the TPB rather than the tradition comicbook and the decline in the quality and the dwindling number of comic book stores nation wide. I believe that having comic books stores as a focal point for the readers strengthens the industry as a whole. With more people waiting for the TPB, the store buys less of each monthly issue. If a store buys X issues of a book, they get a break on the price they pay and the shipping cost is spread thinner. Fewer issues means more expense and that means less gross profits. It also means that the store cannot get a few extra issues to have on hand for someone wanting to pick-up a run of 10-12 issues at one time. Take out the expense of having a store, employees, and such, the net profit is such that many cannot make it. As more go out of business and with few if any newstands that carry comic books, what is to get kids interested in comics and keep them interested? I am not sure I follow what you mean by "collectors" copies.

Re: If Marvel and DC really *do* collapse Collapse is a bit over stating it. Change and evolve is a better way to see it. My friend says that comic have been and always will be cyclical. Something will happen to shake things up and start the cycle over. It may not be a cheap newprint magazine with ads for x-ray specs and sea monkies, but I do hope it is not something like what most the industry seems to be today. As a kid, I remember waiting for the day that the next issue of the Avengers would arrive in the mail and the thrill of learning what happened next. Going to the drug store with my dad and him letting me get a couple of comics before going to get a haircut. Talking with friends about our favorites, barrowing and trading, and arguing who would beat who in a fight. The characters where inspiring because they were heroes. They fought the good fight win or loose, despite the flaws they had or bad art/writing. Seems kids are more interested in which buttons get pushed in what order to do a backflip head slash in the latest video game. Or they are getting carted off to a before school/school/after school/evening class/weekend soccer games. The comic "heroes" are more "real"; meaning sex, violence, and flash over substance are used to sell the books. I also hope that TPB eventually go away or the companies quit releasing them immediately after (and sometimes before) the end of every story arc. Give it a few years before the TPB comes out. Maybe make the TPB a totally seperate story altogether. Some comic shops rely on steady monthly issues as well as back issues for income. A potential customer can come in, flip through an issue, and if they like it "wait for the TPB" to come out. Because each arc has to be self contained for the TPB, there isn't the next menace developing while the heroes take care of this one. In Marvel's case, each arc may or may not impact what happens in the next arc. A whole arc can be totally ignored if it is gets in the way. The continuity becomes confused, choppy, and the story suffers. I used to follow the X-Men, New Mutants, and X-Factor back when. A can't tell who is/is not alive or dead anymore in all the X-books these days. And at the price that they are, who can afford them? Going to the comic shop isn't just a matter of walking in and getting what titles are out this week. It becomes a place to gather as a community with other people that enjoy comics. Kids, students, doctors, cooks, or anyone; they share a something in common. People meet, become friends and enjoy being a part of the tribe. This doesn't exist as much with video games. This I believe is what is "collapsing" in comic books these days. As long as money can be made from movies, toys, and other licenses; the characters will not disappear. Really even if the DC comics only breaks even, Time Warner still makes a mint from owning the characters. Eventually, Marvel will be bought by some company. Sony and Hasbro could be two quick canidates that might, Disney also. Perhaps something will happen like the Ninja Turtles that sparked garage comics, or another "Dark Knight Returns" that pulled Batman from the brink. Maybe Image will figure out that a monthly comic book comes out close to every 30 days and that it might take more than three issues for people to start reading the title. Maybe CrossGen will be revived and they will have learned that putting every issue online to be read is the quick path to bankruptcy. I don't know what it will be, but I think the fans and the generation of kids coming up are ready for it to happen.

Re: The downsides of the Iron Age It seems that the writers are more concerned with "the cause" what ever that maybe this week. It's more important to be PC and show the correct social attitude at the expense of story and continuity. Wasn't too long back that established Marvel characters were suddenly homosexual. There isn't a problem a character coming out of the closet as part of the storyline, but with the Two-gun Kid it was more a gimmick to sell the book. It was insulting to readers. If that doesn't work, the story has to be "shocking" or "push the limits". That usually means sex, drugs, and blood/gore. What is it with Marvel Zombies and Spidey eating brains? It seems that the art of telling a story is lost these days. I listened to an old sci-fi radio program not long back and was struck how good the story was. Early episodes of the Twilight Zone are like that also. What is wrong with something light, uplifting, and maybe inspiring? I learned a bit from the comic book heroes when I was young. Spiderman wasn't perfect, but he kept going. It's something I try to teach my kids and seeing it reinforced in a media they enjoy is very welcome.

Re: How does a world die? Looking at the exitmundi site, Nemesis is listed. I heard about it on a radio program I listened to driving home from work on Tuesday afternoons. Had paranormal investigator as a guest, Dr. Michael Lynch. He has a website, http://www.michael-lynch.com/x/. Might be good for an idea or giggle.

Re: How does a world die? If I recall correctly from the John Carter Mars books, the gravity wasn't enough to keep the oxygen atmosphere from escaping into space and the oceans evaporated soon after. The people developed a system of atmosphere regenerators that ran constantly and were more or less neutral. The end of Princess of Mars outlined all this. There are many ways that the "end" can happen in books and movies. The Species movies used a alien killer virus that invaded a host, turning it into a hybrid alien killing machine so that the "invaded" planet would be sterilized of lifeforms before the aliens arrived. Stephen King's Book "The Stand" had it's superflu, the Captain Trips mentioned, that killed almost everyone. Expand it's targets to include most plants and not much will live after that. An interesting one that was abounding in paranoia circles is Nemisis. It was supposedly a rouge planet 5-10 times the size of Jupitar passing between Earth and the sun. The resulting solar flares/storms, radiation, and gavitation distortions was supposed to kill everyone on earth, except for some US/Canadian government types that had secret bunkers built in North Dakota and Canada. This was supposed to take place about three years ago. Then there are asteriods, comets, and such. There are a couple of moons around Uranus that actually swap orbits over time. If they should hit or get thrown out of orbit, then that could be enough to upset the solar system. One really big, sustained volcano eruption could in theory put out enough smoke to keep most plants from growing. (seems that if plants get taken out, most everything else follows.) Nuclear war is a good choice. Even if radiation and fallout are "controled" there was an old sci-fi book that I cannot recall, that theorized the explosions would knock the Earth off it's axis and the people survived by flying a 747 to the south pole and it's warmed up as it moved toward the equator. (sounds like Waterworld.) In short, if it is going to kill a world it seems it either has to be really small or really big.

Re: CHAMPIONS UNIVERSE: NotW -- Updating Villains Nothing to apologise for. I tend to be very blunt and say what I think. If anything you have pointed out many things intelligently and been very civil in all ways. Today was just one that I came across poorly