THE HARBINGER [VON DOOM] PODCAST

thedailywhat: Weekend Read: Comic book writer and novelist Greg...

Sat, 26 May 2012 08:00:06 -0700

Weekend Read: Comic book writer and novelist Greg Rucka (Stumptown, Queen and Country) answers a frequently asked question in an incisive essay for io9 entitled “Why I Write ‘Strong Female Characters’”.

The entire piece is well worth a read, but here’s the key passage:

Writers don’t write Men or Women or Dogs or Salmon. Writers write characters, and at our best, if we do it well and with care and with thought, we invest in those characters a spark of life, a realism and nuance that makes them believable and relatable.

Rucka also questions why journalists don’t tend to ask female writers how they write “strong female characters,” and why more male writers don’t do the research about their female characters, the way they would with any other character whose experience differs from their own.

[io9]

APE IN A CAPE: Wow.

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:30:45 -0700

APE IN A CAPE: Wow.: gailsimone: pantslessinanity: gailsimone: I just kind of randomly looked at...

kellysue: So many great takes on Captain Marvel from Project...

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:28:17 -0700

kellysue:

So many great takes on Captain Marvel from Project Rooftop.

gkambadais:

I did This for Project Rooftop, but i like it so much that i’m thinking to do a 5 pages comic, just for fun. I don’t have time to do it now, maybe next month…

Gotta love all the buzz surrounding the reinvention of Carol Danvers & Captain Marvel!

tonymoore: i may or may not have drawn Popeye fighting...

Tue, 15 May 2012 18:15:29 -0700

tonymoore:

i may or may not have drawn Popeye fighting Hellboy.

(Hint: i did.)

thedudevondoom: Happy Mother’s Day!

Sun, 13 May 2012 12:52:34 -0700

thedudevondoom:

Happy Mother’s Day!

ianbrooks: The Arts of Johnny Dombrowski Armed with heavy lines...

Thu, 10 May 2012 15:54:55 -0700

ianbrooks:

The Arts of Johnny Dombrowski

Armed with heavy lines and dark, foreboding colors, Johnny creates dark worlds you’re only comfortable viewing from a distance. But worry not, you’re probably safe on the other side of the computer screen.

Artist: website / blogspot

vibranttwig: Given my newly donned appreciation and pun for...

Mon, 07 May 2012 15:28:57 -0700

vibranttwig:

Given my newly donned appreciation and pun for ‘iron’ due to health treatments…and Shepard. My new thing. <3

Talk about timing! (Listen to the new Harbisode to know what I mean).

#15 - Mass Effect 3 After playing, re-playing, and a good hard...

Mon, 07 May 2012 15:15:00 -0700

#15 - Mass Effect 3

After playing, re-playing, and a good hard think about things, the Harbinger squaddies who have already beaten Mass Effect 3 are ready to talk things out. (Note: this was recorded pre-Resurgence DLC). Featuring the on-air debut of the woman formerly known as X-Ette!

kirbymuseum: The Avengers has already grossed over 200 million...

Mon, 07 May 2012 11:04:16 -0700

kirbymuseum:

The Avengers has already grossed over 200 million dollars overseas, and is on track to make an insane amount of money when it opens in the US this weekend. When you go see it, why not take a portion of your ticket price and help us open a pop-up Jack Kirby gallery in the neighborhood where he was born?

You can read our detailed appeal for funding here.

We’ve got plenty of original Jack artwork to hang on the walls, not to mention other artifacts from Jack’s life. The more money we raise now, the more we can do, and the longer we’ll be able to keep the doors open! We’d like to be more than just a gallery, though. We’ll have lectures from comics pros, host or sponsor art lessons for kids, and work with other local NYC historical organizations to educate folks about what it was like growing up in Jack’s neighborhood during the depression.

We’ve been fundraising for the gallery since September, but we haven’t yet reached our goal. We’ve got a few announcements to make in the coming months that should help us get there, and with any luck, and if folks help us get the word out, we’ll be open by the end of the year. Every little bit helps, and if you can’t donate, please help us spread the word!

By the way, how cool is this Jack self-portrait? My reliable sources tell me it was inked by Mike Royer and colored by Tom Ziuko! I believe this version of it appeared in the Jack Kirby Collector around 1997…

comicbookcovers: The Avengers #53, June 1968, cover by John...

Fri, 04 May 2012 15:04:48 -0700

comicbookcovers:

The Avengers #53, June 1968, cover by John Buscema and George Tuska

NOTHING EVER CHANGES.

rraaaarrl: The soul gem, it’s truly truly truly...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:21:25 -0700

rraaaarrl:

The soul gem, it’s truly truly truly outrageous!

Soul Gem’s a helluva drug.

erikamoen: colleencoover: Two years ago, former Marvel Comics...

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:13:44 -0700

erikamoen:

colleencoover:

Two years ago, former Marvel Comics bullpen member Steve Bunche posted a comics try-out page submitted to Marvel in the 1990s by an unknown hopeful. The page, while lacking in polish and technique, nevertheless had very clear storytelling, and, as Bunche notes in his blog post: “While this guy would never have gotten work in a professional comic as a penciller, I have to admire his talent for creating an instant classic of a non sequitor:”

artist unknown

You are not imagining this. Wolverine stalks through the wilderness, searching for we know not what, and finds the late Freddie Mercury, frontman of the band Queen.

The page has since been rattling around on the Internet, occasionally reposted and retweeted, chuckled over and admired by people like my studiomate Jeff Parker, which is how I originally became aware of it. And it just kind of got stuck in my head. For TWO YEARS.

The story as presented raises a number of questions. What is Wolverine looking for? Agents of AIM? Peace and solitude? Or, as my other studiomate Memorial artist Rich Ellis suggested: is he looking to find Somebody To Love?

And how and why does Freddie Mercury appear at the end of his search? Was his tragically fatal illness miraculously cured, perhaps by an alien symbiote? Has he just returned from sailing the Seven Seas of Rhye? Or more simply and perhaps most logically, has Logan found himself in the presence of the wordly manifestation of a literal God of Rock?

And so, I have decided to explore these mysteries by recreating the original story, correcting some of the technical blunders on the way. I invite other artists to do the same, by which exercise we may one day come close to the fictional Truth of the matter.

I am reblogging both to further signal boost this brilliant piece by my studiomate, Colleen Coover, and also make sure you don’t miss that final line at the end of her commentary:

I invite other artists to do the same, by which exercise we may one day come close to the fictional Truth of the matter.

You guys, Colleen fricking Coover is inviting you all to re-draw that original page of Wolverine discovering Freddie Mercury by an unknown artist.

She is starting a movement.

Will you answer her call?

psuedofolio: Venom and The Valkyrie, as requested

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:59:52 -0700

psuedofolio:

Venom and The Valkyrie, as requested

templesmith: A little bit of Joker to celebrate the news I’m...

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:17:16 -0700

templesmith:

A little bit of Joker to celebrate the news I’m drawing a bit of a BATMAN story with B Clay Moore. (Taken with instagram)

Good news, great Joker!

thedudevondoom: Haven’t done window shopping for comics in a...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:08:45 -0700

thedudevondoom:

Haven’t done window shopping for comics in a while, and now I remember why.

Ask or Reblog with suggestions to add to the list!

Longtime fan Matt Demers shares his thoughts on the latest...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:50:41 -0700

Longtime fan Matt Demers shares his thoughts on the latest happenings regarding BioWare and Mass Effect 3. Whether you agree with him or not, give him a read.

mattdemers:

I’m not too sure what to think on this new Mass Effect 3 news.

On one hand, I was thoroughly disappointed with the ending. I thought that it lacked a certain amount of closure, and that it nullified a lot of the decisions and relationships that I had made throughout the game. After finishing, I felt like a deflated balloon, and felt no desire to ever touch the game again.

Part of that carries over today: I don’t think I’d ever do another replay, beyond the Tuchanka/Rannoch sequences that I love so very much. The ending brings a sense of futility, especially with the lack of variance between the cinematics.

On the other hand, I feel that I’ve spent enough time pondering the ending to come to peace with it. I’ve realized that it wasn’t my ideal, but after five years of hype, I don’t think anything could have been. In the end, Bioware developed what they thought was right and went with it; the fans hated it, I hated it, and there’s a good chance you did, as well.

But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s what we got.

I don’t believe that fans are “entitled” for wanting a clarified ending because the advent of DLC allows for such a possibility to be made. It is not 1998 where a company would need to repress and repackage a new story in order to improve things.

I also don’t believe that Bioware’s “artistic vision” is being compromised, because I think that “art” made with the involvement of focus groups kind of loses that moral high ground.

However, I think that there’s been stupidity on both sides of this argument. When Bioware and video game media insulted gamers’ intelligence by saying that they “didn’t get” the ending, I cringed. When fans raged over Penny Arcade’s dissolution of their Child’s Play charity due to a valid reason, I face-palmed. When I’m still reading the “EA rapes developers, blah blah blah” circle-jerk after good discourse being introducted, I was disappointed.

This whole debacle changed me in the way that I’m becoming more wary of where I spend my money and time. Bioware’s Mass Effect series was easily the best RPG experience I’ve ever had (well, maybe beside Dragon Quest VIII) and I thought I would at least stick it out to the end. It connected with me on an emotional level, and certain parts of the games shook me to my core.

It made me feel friendship, love, loss, ambition and hope. I can appreciate this achievement. I was so invested that when it ended on somewhat of a flub, it filled me with loathing.

But you know what? It didn’t fill me with regret.

In the end, I think this is the best thing that fans can expect; this “explanation” and “expansion” of the ending won’t be the rewrite a lot of people want, but I hope it will at least give us a little more closure. Ideally, it will answer more questions than it inspires, and round out what I can say was one of the better gaming experiences of my life.

While I’ll be picking up this DLC (thankfully free), I don’t think I’ll be buying Bioware again. I feel that my association with the company ended with Mass Effect, and their policies are becoming increasingly off-putting.

However, it’s up to you to make the same decision. You alone can control your buying power, and, as usual, it’s up to you to be informed when you do.

Good luck, Squaddies. If you enjoyed this piece, consider giving me a follow.

ourvaluedcustomers: In case you missed it… On page 350 of this...

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:06:50 -0700

ourvaluedcustomers:

In case you missed it…

On page 350 of this month’s PREVIEWS catalog is the first listing for the OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS BOOK! It’s 96 pages long featuring a bunch of your ol’ favorites as well as 40 brand new OVC comics done exclusively for this collection! The good folks at Penguin/Perigee publishing will have this thing available in book stores everywhere on JULY 3, 2012 so be sure to pick one up! Or order yours today through your local comic book store!

#14 - WonderCon 2012: Of Wargs and Wonder With Doom being busy...

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:37:00 -0700

#14 - WonderCon 2012: Of Wargs and Wonder

With Doom being busy managing the Glam Rock Gorilla, and Cap acting as his trusty roadie, WonderCon 2012 was Wargo’s time to shine! Listen as he takes up the recording reins for the newly relocated WonderCon, SoCal’s first convention of the season!

http://twitter.com/TheHarbVonDoom

comicbookcovers: Justice League Of America #203, June 1982,...

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 03:17:11 -0700

comicbookcovers:

Justice League Of America #203, June 1982, cover by George Perez and Dick Giordano

The Royal Flush Gang got Ralph’s attention from the other side of the room.

Hope to see you here!

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 10:34:30 -0700

Hope to see you here!