Hot Water for Rupert

Cool Stuff

This is pretty cool: Avengers Assemble.  Yes, that's Hawkeye between Thor and Fury (although my eyes still are having trouble tracking away from Black Widow).  Click on the pic if you want to see details.

 But this is cooler: Chani made it for me.  Yes, that's me, muttonchops, kilt and all.

Domino is trying to get in...

But the new episode of Super Ordinary Living is taking a while.

You will have to console yourself with old episodes, or you can go see Captain America!

Captain America vs Red Skull

Went and saw Captain America: the First Avengers today.
This was a really good film. Definitely the best of the super hero
films so far this summer.
The film was very respectful to the 70 year tradition. And had lots of
comic book homage without bogging things down. And enough new twists
to keep everyone interested.
You don't need to be a Cap historian to enjoy the show. The whole
origin story is there. And Hugo Weaving makes a great Red Skull.
There are the expected tie ins to next year's Avengers movie, which
will bring together Cap, Thor, Ironman, Black Widow, Nick Fury all in
one film. But even that didn't get in the way.
Bucky gets scant screen time with Cap. And the young Invader falls
from a train for no good reason. Unlike the classic comic book end for
Bucky, where he is defusing Baron Zemo's flying drone bomb.
Cosmic Cubes also get reworked in the film.
But I am not really complaining at all.
Go see the film. It rocks. And I think I might go see it again while
it is still in theaters.

Oh, by the way, the pic is a classic Jack Kirby Captain America cover
with The Red Skull.

Cap is Back

The Captain America movie opens today.
I have high hopes, which I hope survive the actual movie experience.
Hit 'em hard, Cap!!

Thunder Echo Mash Up Comics Presents: The Demons Strike Back

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Conf Call Doodle goes Super Luminal

Sales conference calls can be boring. But they do offer the
opportunity to doodle.

The following is from "The Miseducation of the Doodle" by Sunni Brown:

Doodling may be better described as ‘markings to help a person think.’ Most people believe that doodling requires the intellectual mind to shutdown, but this is one misrepresentation that needs correcting. There is no such thing as a mindless doodle. The act of doodling is the mind’s attempt to engage before succumbing to mindlessness. Doodling serves a myriad of functions that result in thinking, albeit in disguise. This universal act is known to:

• increase our ability to focus (especially when handling dull or complex subject matter),
• increase information retention and recall,
• activate the “mind’s eye,” or the portions of the visual cortex that allow us to see mental imagery and manipulate concepts,
• enhance access to the creative, problem-solving, and subconscious parts of the brain, while allowing the conscious mind to keep working, and
• unify three major learning modalities: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.

That last benefit of the doodle is no slouch. Learning experts assert that, for information to be truly integrated, it must incorporate at least two of the major learning modalities or it must incorporate one modality coupled with a strong emotional experience. For the doodle to offer up the possibility of all three modalities and an emotional experience is an impressive feat for such an outwardly simple behavior. Lo and behold, this “useless act” is really a highly functional technique with broad applications for the way we work and the way we think. It’s no happy accident that Thomas Edison was a prolific doodler and also one of our most applauded inventors. Neither is it a coincidence that many of the most innovative companies use doodling and visual language to stay ahead of the curve.

Popular Whiz Comics Presents: Crisis on Earth-X

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Kaptain Freedom at Super Ordinary Living

I’ve posted a special Kaptain Freedom cover of Super Orbital Luminaries over at Super Ordinary Living, my web comic.  Click the link to check it out in detail.

It shows the classic Golden Age struggles between Kaptain Freedom, the First Kenturian and Baron von Domino.  And Yes, that is a trash can lid Kap is wielding just in time for the release of the new Captain America Movie on the 22nd.

  My Omnibus Komic is a tribute to (okay complete rip-off of) a classic World War II cover of Captain America #23 drawn by Syd Shores.

Syd was one of the best inkers of the golden and silver age, but he also did original pencil work for Captain America, Lorna the Jungle Girl, and lots of horror comics.  (Honestly, I did not know about Lorna until after I had named my Jungle Princess Zorna.  Life is just weird that way.)  He also did cover work for "mens" magazines in the 50s.

He served in WWII with Patton and was injured in France in 1944.

Syd died in 1973.  You can learn more about him at Wikipedia.

I hope you enjoy my homage to his classic work.  I learn a lot by studying these classic artists.
--Jay "Make Mine Super Ordinary" Larsen

Thanos Imperative

I'm in the middle of reading Marvel's The Thanos Imperative because it has The Guardians of the Galaxy in it.  And I'm not sure which is cooler, that Cancerverse Hulk is a Tiefling.

 Or that when The Vision shows up saying, "I come in peace," that Rocket Raccoon responds in typical Raccooniverse fashion:

"That's great, but you don't mind me aiming my unfeasibly large gun at you, do you?"

Great Ideas Flock Together?

Cowboys and Aliens is an idea that has been around for a while.

And you know Dr. Festus, of Gun Smoke fame, has created a great thinking machine, because it has a light bulb in its head.  So when it has a great idea, the light bulb turns on, or floats above his head, or something.

 And someone had the great idea to make Mr T fit into your USB slot.  You can tell by the look on his face that he pitys the fool that had that idea.

But Ironman has the best idea of all.
Have a good weekend.