Went home to visit the folks today. As always, it’s fascinating and amusing to watch them enjoy Dad’s retirement and the vacations they have planned for the years to come.

I’ve been able to get Dad excited about different movies or TV shows lately. Last month I got him hooked on Firefly and Serenity. This time out he asked me if I wanted to go to the movies and see V For Vendetta with him. Heh. My Dad watching comic book based movies and looking forward to more, will wonders never cease.

So anyways, V For Vendetta.

It’s good in its own way, but quite a bit different from the original. I actually think if I hadn’t read the trade paperback last week I would’ve enjoyed it more. It was a solid effort, but some of the changes were much starker since the original was so fresh in my mind.

At its core, the theme of the movie is very different and that turns the whole thing a bit askew. The difficult question of “Fascism VS Anarchy” that permeates the original story becomes one of “Fascism VS Democracy”, which is a much easier choice and one with less bite. The characters and events are more staccato, passing quickly without enough time to really dig into their motivations or emotions. I wanted to go deeper into the grit and ugliness of it where they only gave us glimpses. Show me the corruption and ignorance in society instead of the oddly placed idealism of a docile people. Show me the horror of a culture waylaid by fear instead of rising up in perfect unity. It sounds odd to say, but I wanted the audience to be pushed into imagery and emotions they hadn’t expected and, in turn, learn from them. The movie unfortunately plays it safe.

The only scene that gets the time and grit it needs, luckily, is one of the most important parts – a letter narrated detailing the breakdown of a person’s life under the new government order. That whole scene flowed perfectly, in part I think, because it was a word-for-word reproduction of the same scene in the comic. I could feel real emotion welling up and was hoping the rest of the movie would sweep from there. But once that part was over, the rapid fire events continued and didn’t fully impact the way I hoped it would.

Reading that you’re probably thinking “Did he even like it? Is it good?”

Yes, it is good.
But it had the earmarks of something great and never quite reached that for me. It’s well worth watching, but not a full on geekgasm.

The Wachowski Brothers script used the framework of the original story created in 1988 to make a very clear statement about our current world in 2006 and the American government’s influence in creating a fascism driven culture of fear. It’s a worthy message and was delivered well overall, albeit sometimes hitting points with a sledgehammer where a good tap would do. The movie is sharp in its own way but is not thematically the same story that Alan Moore created. The more you’re able to separate the two from each other, the more you’ll enjoy the V For Vendetta movie.

New Newsarama article on comic portfolio material here:
One Step 6: Portfolio

It’s been a tough couple of weeks. As is the norm when this kind of stuff hits, I’ve gone pretty quiet in general and on my journal specifically. Thanks for your patience.

Enjoy Derek Kim’s Healing Hands because it’s wonderful stuff.
While you’re at it, check out the Secret Friend Society too.

Talented folks making me ecstatic and jealous at the same time. I have to get my head out the mire and create again.

My brother Joe sent me an e-mail to help console me after the portfolio gauntlet earlier this week.

After hearing about your portfolio weeding, the girls felt that you needed to have artwork from them to make you feel better.
To quote Jennifer, “you need to see some good artwork”.
Joe

AWESOME! I’m definitely ready for another round of portfolios.

I grabbed takeout Chinese Food earlier this week. While cleaning up my kitchen counter tonight I saw the fortune cookie I’d forgotten to crack open… *crunch*

Cute. Now does that sound like a compliment or a warning?
Hmmmmmm.

A small part of a tattoo design I’m doing up for a friend:

I procrastinated on finishing it because I’ve been so busy. I think I also backburnered it because I’m intimidated at the thought of a person putting something I drew permanently on their skin. Tattoos can look so tacky when done badly and beautiful when done properly.

I finished the full design today after a few months of putting it off and making excuses. Hopefully they like it as much as I do.

I quite liked the fish part of it so I thought I’d share and also make an LJ icon out of it. Now you know.

More stuff later… thanks to all the people who commented on my Portfolio Gauntlet of Doom the other day.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot that my fifth comic portfolio building article went up at Newsarama. While you’re there also check out the other end of things in a brand new column by JMS about writing for comics.

So many things going on right now – it’s a bit dizzying.

After every convention I end up with a bag of promotional posters, hand-outs, keychains, postcards, magnets – you name it. 90% of it is total crap.

But sometimes the really bizarre ones are gold in their own special way.

Looking at this ad we were given for an upcoming model kit, I’m not quite sure what I would have named:
“Sexually posed under-age anime girl wearing crotchless pants riding a chicken tailed rocket chair.”

But lickety-split, the Japanese have an answer. They call it:
Rooster Booster

It really does speak for itself. Sometimes the industry I’m in scares me.

New York Comic-Con was an unexpected blitz in the midst of February. I’d never even been to New York before, so I knew it would be an experience.

I think this near-exhausted/stunned look was locked on to my face all weekend.

A lot of those brutal clichés about New York seem quite true now that I’ve experienced them first hand. The taxi that picked us up from the airport sped through unbelievably busy streets with no regard for pedestrians or the speed limit, cutting off people at will and honking madly at anyone stupid enough to get too close. Gripping the ‘Holy Shit handle’ on the car door, I wondered if our dental records would be enough to identify us with.

Trying to curb the financial hit of having this extra con on our schedule, we booked a hotel in New Jersey. The hotel was right after the Lincoln Tunnel – a mere 10 minute drive from the convention centre. What we didn’t anticipate is that taxi drivers DO NOT want to go to Jersey. Manhattan is so packed that they pretty much always pick up a new fare each time they drop another off. Going to Jersey means driving back 10 minutes without a fare in the back. In turn, they demanded outrageous amounts for making the trip. After setting up our booth on Thursday, the whole crew was exhausted and we just wanted to rest. Finding out that a 10 minute cab ride to the hotel was going to cost us $60 was just the icing on the cake. Next time we book a place in Manhattan proper.

February weather there was brutal. The wind cuts into your flesh like a knife and the buildings create frozen gusts that practically push you sideways. Hustling amongst the crowded streets from spot to spot was tough because we didn’t know the neighborhood in the slightest.

The above makes it sound like everything was awful. It wasn’t actually. The weekend definitely started off rocky but it did get better.

The city speeds by as I cross the Brooklyn Bridge.

When the show started, it was quite good. Crowds were thick, sales were good and fan reaction to the Udon products was very strong. Having our artists sketching for people solidly throughout the weekend was like a tractor beam that kept peoples’ attention. There was almost always a mob in front of our booth compared to everything nearby us. On Saturday there was way more people than the convention staff had anticipated, causing the fire marshal to limit the amount of people allowed in the building. Although there were pissed off people with tickets waiting outside with tickets, it inadvertently became quite the advertising when people heard the show was filled to the brim and should make next year even more successful.

The crowds pile up and stretch down the street 3 hours before the show opens on Saturday.

Quite a few people recognized my name and complimented me on the column at Newsarama, which was pretty flattering. A few others asked for Makeshift Miracle sketches too. The steady con schedule from past years is paying off in recognition now, with lots of pros and exhibitors having a better sense of who I am. Here’s hoping that equates to more opportunities by summer’s end.

Friday night I ended up crashing on Chris Butcher’s hotel room floor because it was too late to grab the bus back to Jersey and I wasn’t willing to pay the taxi fare of doom. Walking to the convention the next morning in the same clothes, I stopped in to giant department store that opened at 6am to buy a t-shirt, pair of underwear and some socks, changing when I got to the convention centre. It was a bit surreal.

New York reminded me of LA. Amazing streets and areas where the tourists congregate surrounded by disgusting, destroyed areas of town. New Jersey is unbelievably filthy and smelly, at least all of it that I saw anyways. Time Square is an explosion of light and motion like I really haven’t seen anywhere else. Being there late, late into the night and realizing that visibility was practically the same as daylight from all the lit-up signs and gigantic screens was something else. The next time I have a chance to visit there I’d like for it to be in the Spring or Fall with milder temperatures and the ability to explore more.

City lights overload.

It was busy and exhausting. I never imagined con season would kick off so early.

Typing this quickly from Erik’s brother’s hotel room. In a weird state of synchronicity Erik’s bro is here in New York for a series of business meetings so we were able to use his room as an HQ after we checked out of our hotel this morning.

Busy times. My back is spasming pretty bad after some serious exertion over the weekend. New York was good, bad and ugly – the whole spectrum. Not enough time right now to cover it all but I will try in my next post from home. Apparently I also have a new nickname – very odd.

Our flight is delayed and I won’t be in until late tonight. Tomorrow I have to bounce right into high school tours at the school. Then my actual March Break from Seneca begins… though it’s currently looking like that will be “extended” of a sorts due to the impending teacher strike. Most of the other instructors are wigged out by this. I’m frustrated that it will play havoc with the semester schedule, but okay with a break from work if it ends up happening that way.

Drained and sore, inside and out.

Text and photos later on.

Take care all,

Jim

Article #4 for comic portfolio building is now up right HERE.

I’ve got a decent plan for the articles now to carry me through quite a few, which should make it go a little smoother. Ideally I’ll be able to sit down and pound out 2-3 in advance to build up a buffer so I’m not writing them the day/night before they’re due to go up. People seem to be really enjoying the column so far, which takes some pressure off at least.

Last week was chaotic. This week will be moreso. I head out Thursday morning for the New York Comic-Con. Dammit, why is con season starting in February for crying out loud! Who thought this was a good idea? Madness.

Udon’s NY Comic-Con List

If you’ll be there, swing by the Udon booth to say “Hi” or otherwise track me down. I’ll be there with bloodshot eyes hoping to find new projects and opportunities for the gang. Maybe the Marvel editors will finally take a chance on the pitch Ray and I have, *sigh*.