Geek Syndicate

I don’t remember agreeing to this. . . but then again I don’t remember what I had for lunch yesterday either.

Regardless, the lads over at Geek Syndicate are running a fun little contest. The Atomic Robo & The Crazy-Ass Title Competition. I’ve added their podcast to the growing list of geek-oriented ‘casts that keep me entertained while I work.

Partially I just enjoy the show because I love listening to their excellent thick accents. Despite Parliament’s recent vote to ban photographing or videotaping law enforcement officials, (Jesus Christ, George Orwell was a prophet),  and the general Big Brotherishness of Britain, I’d still like to live there some day. Maybe not forever, but for a few years. This is of course, all my Grandpa’s fault. He always gave me the impression that had he had a choice he would never have left Scotland. Yay the Depression! Anyway, as a result of growing up with him I’m one of the biggest Anglophiles since FDR.

Wow that was a tangent! The real point was that the Geek Syndicate is a great podcast and I enjoy it, even when I disagree with them. I mean Supernatural? C’mon guys, that show sucks ass. I am going to check out Primeval though.

In case you haven’t heard, ATOMIC ROBO 3.1 will not be arriving in comic shops until Wednesday April 29th. I’d like to say that I’m angry at the printer for laying off skilled workers in this troubled economy, and that being short-handed or hiring cheaper, but un-skilled workers, has lead to a series of fuck-up with Red5 Comic’s titles. But the truth is, this is working out really well for me. I’m officially halfway through 3.3 today and I’ll be so close to done with this issue by the time that the 29th rolls around that I can have my weekends back and live a normal life while finishing 3.4 and 3.5.

I’ve really been enjoying 3.3 which takes place in the 1950’s -home of the Sci-Fi B-Movie. Or if you’re a dim witted corporate retard monkey, syfy. Even though I know they won’t, I keep expecting the giant radioactive ants to show up again. I think what makes it so much fun is that for the first time since 1.6 I get to draw Action Scientists again. Well, okay they were called Science Agents in the Fifties, but it’s the same thing. And these are the original 3 guys who founded Tesladyne with Robo. To me, if you were to combine Slim, Ira, and Mac, (who were originally Charlie, Mac, and Dennis and may very well change again before the issue is put to bed), into one person they would collectively be Steve Canyon. And I love me some Steve Canyon. You can read the Steven Canyon Dailies right here.

I am already looking forward to revisiting these guys, and one or all of them could very easily play a major role in Atomic Robo & The Flying She-Devils (which has been pushed back to Volume 5 as of right now). Also, I’m noticing that they all change a little from pg1 to pg11 as I got my sea-legs with them, and a solid personality for each character formed in my mind. It would be nice to do an entire issue knowing who they are. You’d think I would know this stuff before starting the issue, right? And I did do a series of character sketches. But that doesn’t really tell me who they are. And Brian’s scripts are surprisingly light on that sort of info. So until I drew these guys interacting with each other and with Robo I wasn’t really sure of their body language or personalities. As the issue has progressed their faces have changed slightly to reflect this deeper knowledge. Ira looks more like Buddy Holly, and Slim looks more like Face from the A-Team. And Mac just looks more and more like a meat-headed man of action. I even talked Brian into letting me add some action beats for Mac that have nothing to do with anything, but work well enough within the flow of the story.

Mac, Robo, Slim, and Ira. . .

. . . Running away in the name of Science.

I’ve got nothing new to report on the KILLER OF DEMONS front. But we did sell out of Issue #2, and that’s awesome. You can look for a TPB this summer. Chris has been making these most excellent promo-poster things. Feel free to clutter the Internet with them. Just don’t link from my blog please.

And that’s it. The only Random Splendor I have to offer you this week is this most amazing pouch, drawn by that most amazing of men.