This Strip is part of a storyline that starts here.

It’s snowing on Mars.

But not in Texas.

Back to bed.

Here’s another comic — yay for updates.

I’ve been using Netfilx (since I just started it a few months ago) primarily to watch TV shows in big chunks, but I also throw in all the movies that I kinda wanted to see but never got around to. As a result, I always feel dissapointed when I open up that envelope, I’m like… “yeah…. another over-hyped movie that I kinda wanted to see but was too far at the edge of my radar and now I don’t care about…”

This has led to finding some genius movies (A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, and The Assasination of Jesse James etc…) but it has also led to some major dissapointments. I just finished watching “Stranger Than Fiction,” and I have to say I was very underwhelmed. I don’t mean to rat on it, because I lot of people liked it, and I’m sure there was good reason (I certainly don’t want to rain on anyone’s enjoyment of a film they like, I just enjoy discussing movies, even the ones I don’t like), but I just did not have anything good to say about it — other than Maggie’s ridiculous hotness, of course.

I don’t like all the comparisons to “Truman Show,” one of my favorites, because it has nothing in common with that. I don’t like the argument that Ferrell put forth this great drama performance, because he didn’t at all–not that it was bad, it was just… normal, and nothing we hadn’t seen him do before. Not to mention the “genius work” the author in the movie was supposed to be writing sounded really lame… Most of all, I didn’t like the story because no one questioned what was happening, how it was happening, or what it meant — that fictional characters were coming alive (and somehow existing in the same timeline as the author, not to mention the same physical space). When I see meta-fiction like that, I want it to be explored as an idea of it’s own (as in Grant Morrisson’s “The Invisibles” and “Seven Soldiers of Victory”)but Stranger than fiction ignored the massive implications it brought up, and used it as a vehicle for a quaint little fable.

I guess thats fine, if thats what you’re expecting, but I was expecting some sort of intellectual stimulation, and when I didn’t get any, I felt cheated. Thats all.

A lot of times, expectations can make or break a movie like that, so maybe its purely my own fault that I didn’t like that movie. There’s several movies where I went in hoping for a certain thing, and when it didn’t pay off, I leave dissapointed, although the movie may have paid off in other, perhaps even better, ways.

Allright, I didn’t mean that to turn into some kind of essay on film… I’m out guys — see ya friday with another comic!

Hey Everyone!

Don’t forget about the Dallas Comic-Con: Star Wars Fandays event coming up on October 25-26 in Plano, TX. Did I mention that not only will Jewel Staite (Kaylee from Firefly) will be there, but the one and only BRUCE CAMPBELL will be there! You remember him from all the Evil Dead movies, all the Spider-Man movies, Bubba Hotep, “Burn Notice,” “Brisco County Jr.,” need I go on?

Of course, I will also be there! While your asking Bruce and Kaylee for their signatures, it’d be a great time to pick up some orignal sketches, prints, or books. If you’re in the North Texas area, this will be a great show, so come check it out. Click here for more info about the event. See ya soon!

Before you accuse me of not drawing enough, this strip took just as long, if not much longer, to put together than a normal art-heavy strip. And I’m actually proud of this one.

But staying up late to finish this strip is surprisingly not the reason I’m incredibly tired this week. Nor is it the ridiculous allergy attacks that mother nature keeps throwing at me. No, it’s that I started my World of Warcraft account back up.

I’m sorry to say it publicly, and somewhat ashamed… I blame my roommate. He walks in the other day, all cool, strutting his stuff, looks down at me and casually says, “dude… have you seen the trailer for the new expansion yet?”

After seeing the ridiculously awesome trailer for the “Litch King” expansion, I knew I had to jack back in. Curse you all.

One of my favorite superheroes of all time, J’onn J’onzz, who you may remember as “The Martian Manhunter” passed away recently. Comic Book Resources has put a very fitting elegy in his honor today.

The Manhunter From Mars was a mainstay in the world-changing Justice League of America, and indeed, since the League’s creation, it has never existed without him, until now. Although he possed many amazing powers, including, flight, telepathy, shape-shifting, not to mention his super strength and burning “Martian vision,” his greatest gift of all was the compassion he had for his adopted homeworld of Earth.

Perhaps more so than any other hero, J’onn consistently gave of himself, always putting others first, whether it be serving the Justice League in saving multiple universes, using his brilliant tactical mind to lead the League to sure victory, in saving individual innocent bystanders from being injured, or serving the police as a genius detective in one of his many secret identities.

J’onn was always somewhat of an outsider, even among his friends in the League, but that distance is something that resonated with me. I felt I could connect with J’onn in a way that I couldn’t with Superman. Behind the imposing gaze of the Manhunter was a gentle soul who mourned the loss of his family, who looked for a place to belong, and loved humanity unconditionally, even though they sometimes rejected him, and did not fully understand him. Although I was sad to see J’onn slip into anger and distrust towards the end of his life, I will never forget the love he had for this world.

Thank you J’onn. For a life of serving and protecting those who did not deserve it from you. Thank you for a life well lived.

Lets all remember J’onn this week by reading a few of his greatest adventures. My favorites are in Justice League: A Midsummer’s Nightmare, and Grant Morrison’s early issues of JLA.