Where pop culture meets geek culture and they make out a little.
Archive for August, 2007
A parting gift for Kilian
Aug 23rd
Since the countdown has begun, for my pilgrimage to the northern holy-land of all gaming (PAX) I figured I would whip up something real quick for master Kilian before I depart. So here it is, my homage to Penny Arcade itself (who I believe did a similar rift in their own comic sometime back), as well as a triple callback to Millennium, Venture Bros. Season 2, and Kubrick.
(as always, clicking the thumbnail opens a larger version…)
So, off I go now to prepare for the trip. I really have no idea how I’m going to get that thing through the airport security… *shiver*
–Aleister
Exciting Times!
Aug 22nd
The announcement is out, and will be repeated over several blogs and other digital means of communication that I seem otherwise tethered to currently. But let it be known, here, now, and on this most stupendous of digital arenas known as Normality Restored, that I, Aleister D D Gilgrim and April December will be bringing forth a new life into this world. it has been said before that should I ever reproduce in any way other than cloning, that it would undoubtedly be a sign of the end times themselves. It has come to pass, as Revelations showed us that it would, I suggest that you all prepare yourselves for the changes that will come.
The date of the beginning of the cultural, and necessary apocalypse, wherein this new being will usher in a profound and needed change to this world is scheduled for the fourth month of the year of 2008. Offered sacrifice, and tribute can be made any time prior to that time, or in the immediate aftermath of the child’s arrival. Prepare yourselves now, puny humans, the dawning of a new age is upon us all! Prepare to kneel!
–Aleister (Father of the coming cataclysm)
That is one seriously PIMP stroller!
Herein, I will impart some of my vast knowledge of all things “father” to the soon-to-be initiated Gilgrim.
1. There are bad times….you might be scared about the prospect of being responsible for the health and well being of another, but you are also, likely, a glow with anticipation on the impending love/care/general good times to be given and had with your offspring. But let me tell you that it is not all sun and roses. The first few months, especially, will feel like no hell you have ever imagined. Your pre-child self can not adequately comprehend the ferocity by which the beast known as “sleep deprivation” will take hold of your scrotum and squeeze. It gets better, too be sure, once the kid figures out that she doesn’t need to eat ever three hours. And maybe you’ll get lucky…perhaps it will only be two months before your offspring begins to slumber on through the night…but I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.
2. But the good times more than make up for it….this is the stick/carrot approach. Yeah, sometimes it sucks being a parent. Say goodbye to sleeping in, going out, caring about your appearance, having money, not being worried all the time, not caring about what school district you live in, and a whole host of other shit. But the first time you see that little bean shaped humanoid smile, or hear her laugh, trust me when I say that other stuff doesn’t matter.
3. Your priorities will change….maybe there are parents out there whose pre-child and post-child lives are similar, but I would think that those are squarely classed in the “bad” parent category. You’ll start to notice how much sugar is in everything you eat, crime rates start mattering, as does air quality. Basically, you’ll become much more aware of the world and how said world will impact your child.
4. Messiness becomes a way of life….it doesn’t matter how clean you are, you get used to salive/spit up/vomit/urine/feces getting on your hands, skin, clothes, furniture, in your mouth (don’t ask). For some reason, babies conjure up an image of cherubic perfection with rosey cheeks, clear complexions, perfect hair and smelling faintly of honey. The truth is, babies smell foul a lot of the time. Get used to it.
5. People won’t shut the fuck up….I don’t know why, but when people (even complete strangers) see you with an infant they will take it as an excuse to give you parenting “tips” whether you want them or not. In fact, I’m doing it right now! I’m such an ass. But the fact of the matter is, no one can tell you how to raise your kid, period.
And on that note, I’ll step off my box and simply say congratulations. You should get some sleep now before it’s too late.
I’m late, sue me…
Aug 20th
Ok, so I was going to have this done last week and hand it over to Kilian so he could upload it (which, technically I did, oh, say, late last night- which is still part of that week… I tried). At any rate, the short end of the story is that I got incredibly bogged down with a bunch of stuff from the video-game day job that all suddenly had to be done right then and there – no sleep for you or going to this mythical place that you call “home” or spending time with your lovely girlfriend and these other figments of imagination you say are “friends,” no! No, token white (although, really I’m not white) man of the Trickster office, you must stay, strapped to your desk, your waccom pen crazy-glued to your hand, an IV drip full of a sick combination of Monster, Rockstar and Subway sandwiches and pound out page after page and design after design of new characters, stuff and animation breakdowns! Go man, go! We doth owneth thy soul-eternal!… I balked until they offered me smokes, for free(!), which combined with free range-matches of Mario Kart DS pushed me over the edge.
Yes, that really was the short version – in fact it is still on-going, I will not have one of these mythical things known as “wee-kands” for another 2 weeks. But in the meantime, and actually as of arse-crack-thirty on Friday morning, I get to go to PAX ^__^ ! Yay! Sorry Kilian, sorry April >_<… I will bring you guys back stuff. Later this week, before I leave I will be making a major personal announcement, but I wanted to finish a piece of artwork for it, which I haven’t had the chance to get to yet. So, basically I was busy, and or swamped, and I did have the comic finished oh say Monday or Tues, and only had a few more hours of work left on touching it up and finishing it, which were unfortunately left until yesterday. Somehow, the week simply got away from me… *sigh* But here it is, straight from Kilian’s brain, through my hand, down to my waccom, and through the digital ether to your organic-visual-receptors yaha!
(click image to make it large enough to actually read…)
So, there it is, I will now lead the rest to Kilian, who has a great deal to say about this I am told ^__^. Apparently, my IV drip needs changing, please excuse me.
–Aleister
You know what, some days I’m really glad I don’t work for a video game company anymore…I remember the 80 hour weeks. The 4 hours of sleep a night. The fact that you spent nearly every waking moment working and still didn’t make enough to pay bills…
Anyway, let me talk about said comic strip.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was, possibly, the film I have anticipated the most in my lifetime. Certainly Episode I and Stardust rank quite high, but I had wanted to see a film version of HHGTTG for something like 15 years before it came out. Now I did not become familiar with Terry Pratchett until some six years ago, when a friend lent me a copy of The Color of Magic to read on a late night bus trip from Anaheim to San Francisco. Sadly, I finished the book about halfway through the bus ride, but that is a testament to the greatness of the writing (and shortness, in all honesty, since it’s barely novel length).
Since that fateful early morning I have been under what you might a fanatical spell for all things Pratchett related (in a sidenote, I did read Good Omens in high school, and that was the book that made me want to be a writer, but for whatever reason I didn’t pick up any other Pratchett until 7 years later). In fact, I would class my life into two general time periods, the pre-Pratchett dark ages and the Pratchett Enlightenment. Now I have not been waiting as long for a Pratchett film as I did for HHGTTG, but my wait has burned with even more fervor.
And yes, Sky 1 did already produce a mini-series adaptation of Hogfather, but Color of Magic is where the series begins and also where my undying love and devotion for Pratchett also began. Plus, this one actually has some actors I can recognize.
I’m, perhaps, a bit of a pessimist by nature, but my life has tended to play out my fears more often than not. In fact, I believe it is a totally reasonable assumption to think that this whole Color of Magic mini-series is only a complex plot hatched to give me artificial hope before crushing me with the reality that the production will never be complete. Either that, or I get hit by lighting the day it airs. I’d say odds are 50-50 either way.
I’m going to try and restrain myself.
Aug 16th
With last weekend marking the beginning of the Premiership season in jolly ol’ England I have become, as you might imagine, a bit addled by what I lovingly refer to as “Red Fever.”
What’s that?
You have no idea what I’m talking about?
Well then, let me broaden your world view.
I am, I will freely admit, a geek in the truest sense. No one with as much knowledge of the Warhammer Fantasy world as me can claim otherwise. But I am also a rabid football (that’s proper football, you know, the kind where you kick a ball with your feet) fan having played it in some form or other for most of my life. And this past weekend opened up the new season in England with my beloved Liverpool (look at the icon on the bottom) taking a 2-1 victory away at Aston Villa.
No doubt you American readers are wondering why I would root for a team thousands of miles from me when the Galaxy play 50 miles from where I live…well, you obviously haven’t watched much MLS. It’s kinda like watching a really good Elvis impersonator. He might entertain you for a bit, but after a while you realize it’s just not as good as the real thing.
So, anyway, I’m going to be in football heaven for the next eight months, provided Liverpool can grab some hardware this term, since we was robbed in Athens last May.
But the season has started well thanks to one Steven Gerrard and a free-kick worthy of the ages. Behold and bow in wonder at his awesomeness….
Of course, we do have someone over here in the states that can play a bit…now that his ankle is better…
…in honor of the excitement, and regardless of the fact that Kilian’s club is half a match up on me (we tied in our opener, where as the ‘pool won their’s), I figured I would whip up a little something to sum up my feelings about futbol, the season, and Manchester VS Liverpool… here it is:
^__^ the gauntlet is thrown. We have many months to wait still, but the beginning she has arrived.
Clearly we are in the end times.
Aug 14th
I’m not as up on the Book of Revelations, or the prophecies of Nostradamus, as I might be. But I am fairly convinced that if a website I have any part in creating is getting any type of sustained traffic, then surely blood will soon rain down from the heavens.
Gilgrim sent along this (terrifying?) image….
That’s motherfucking VG CATS, underneath Normality Restored. That just doesn’t make any god damn sense! That’s like, a for real and shit webcomic. And it’s a good one too!
Who are all you people reading this? I don’t mean that in a, who are you, go away type of thing. I mean, who are you and how did you find out about this? Seriously, I’m confused and frightened. Also, grateful, don’t get me wrong. My earlier post about making a million dollars notwithstanding, I did not really believe we would get much traffic here.
It’s pretty awesome…at least for me. I mean, I know gilgrim is psyched as well, but he actually has fans already. I mean, he goes to comic con and he’s on the sit down side of a booth. But this is the first time I’ve had anyone (other than friends who are forced) actually reading stuff that I’ve written.
So thanks to you nameless internets browsers! Hopefully you’ve enjoyed what we’ve done so far, and hopefully it’ll only get better as time goes by. Also, please feel free to comment on stuff…I know I bitched about having to moderate comments (and I don’t, actually have internet access at home right now…I know, I have a web comic and no internet, I’m lame what can I say) but the idea of actually having people interacting on this thing is so exciting that my default setting of “Lazy” may no longer apply…just be patient as the moderating might come slow because of the whole no internet at home thing.
Thanks for reading,
A little sum’em sum’em
Aug 11th
Alright, I was planning on putting this up later, but hells, it’s Friday let us join together and celebrate!
(click to make bigger)
As is the new tradition, Kilian wrote this, and I can’t but completely agree with the sentiment about Lucas’ most recent batch of films. I love Star Wars, I really do, but I refused to give him any more money after that bulimic food-fight called the release of Episodes 1-3. Complete utter garbage. No more money for you you giant, inner-tube sized double chin bastard. My fear, is that the new Indy might very well follow the same suit… I hope it doesn’t, but it’s my fear none-the-less, and I think a reasonable one at that.
As an aside, Sang my resident gangsta’ rap expert, was kind enough to point out that 50 Cent would never throw up the West Side hand gesture as he is from the East Coast… hence the Churchill reference, because in my mind all gangsta’ rappers throw up silly hand gestures and this is the only one I bother to recognize and store in me brain.
I will let Kilian add to the rest of this and try not to take up any more space in this post, because I’m sure he has a ton to say.
Cheers,
Hey all, Kilian here.
I think we can all agree that 10, maybe even 5 years ago, the thought of a new Indiana Jones would have made many of us sit wistfully by staring out a window fondly remembering a more innocent time when Indy delighted us with his ass-kicking brand of archeology and general pimpness.
And I like Harrison Ford, I really do. But no amount of special effects magic making is going to change the fact that, since the last Indy film, he has turned into a zombie. I mean a literal zombie. You hear him speak in the last couple years? PURE ZOMBIE! And I don’t think that one of the living dead really has the dexterity necessary to battle Nazi’s, search for long treasures of the Old Testament, and get it on with chick 1/4 his age.
I can hear the complaints already. You’re thinking, “Spielberg will be directing this time, not Lucas.” But it’s time to face the truth, kids. Lucas and all things Lucas related have run their course. We can thank him for all the fond memories from our childhoods, but he needs to be stopped before he’s allowed to unleash his foul venom on future generations.
The sweet science of bacon.
Aug 9th
I’m gonna’ go ahead and throw this up here on the old digital squat space of Normality Restored. I was going to wait on this for a bit, but there are more posts coming down the pike very soon.
This strip was written by Kilian, and therefore is in a much clearer form of English. From now on, that the testing and other art-side time-wasting seems to be at an end, this is the way that Normality Restored will tend to operate. So just a note, I do the scribbling, Kilian does the words ^__^. Welcome to Normality Restored!
(click the image to make larger)
So there you go, the first, of what I would deem to be an official, and real Normality Restored strip. This also marks the first time that I’ve done an entire strip digitally. I was knocking around the idea when I put together the wallpapers, and decided to go for it. I’ve always been impressed by Gabe’s (Penny-Arcade) most recent art style, and watching some old videos of him working through a waccom was very inspiring. I still have some quips about this piece (the artwork at least) but I feel comfortable enough to venture forth and continue to give this whole digital-only way of making strips a chance. So, with any luck, they should do nothing but improve in the future. As an added note, since this series is still very much in its early stages, character designs may end up being changed down the line. I have no idea if or when that might happen, but I thought I’d throw that out there now so I can cover my ass later.
cheers,
Moderate? Moderate!
Aug 7th
This isn’t the sort of thing I signed up for. When I first opened up my e-mail and saw requests to “Moderate” comments by other users I was, frankly, shocked. No one ever told me that this sort of thing would require actual work. That’s not the sort of thing I signed up for.
Let me run down for you exactly what I was expecting in this deal.
1. Find an artist – check and double check (and hearty SUCK IT to all those a-holes who responded to my first attempt to find an artist on craigslist, I hope you all contract leprosy and your fingers fall off, but, ya know, in a nice way).
2. Write some strips – currently in progress
3. Make a million dollars – hey, it could happen…
No where in that plan is there room for stuff like, “read,” “click,” or “approve.”
And don’t bother pointing out that I could probably set the blog to allow comments automatically, or that doing so would take less time than it did to write out this complaint. I understand how user friendly wordpress is, OK? But I’m, obviously, lazy and if wordpress doesn’t use pshychic or voodoo like powers to intuitively know what I want then they have some functionality to add.
In an unrelated note, those wallpapers are the f-ing shiznit!
Alright, you were patient…
Aug 7th
I really, really did try and put this together last Friday, but frankly the entire week itself, seemed to be insane… so it didn’t happen. A good indication of this is the dialogue in the first panel of the sweet, sweet, sin comic… which I was glad to hear, made complete sense to Kilian. I don’t think anyone else got the way my brain was formulatin’ them there word things. Which happens. can’t be helped. However (!) I didn’t forget about the wallpaper thingies! So here they are ^__^ use, and enjoy as you see fit.
x800
x1024
x1028
x 1360 (wide screen)
So there you go, enjoy . These were done all in the miracle of the digital realm via the alien technology known as Waccom combined with the mysterious magic of photoshop. I have to admit that it does feel weird to produce an illustration that has absolutely no real world evidence. I mean, there’s no sketch, no ink drawing, no nothing. The fact that the entire thing is digital just strikes me as odd at an almost cellular level. In a way that I can neither comprehend or seem to shake. But, maybe that’s just a sign of which generation I’m from. I’m sure that the next generation(s) coming up wouldn’t even blink at it, the same way that we no longer find anything particularly special about automobiles, cell phones, and intercontinental flights… or energy drinks.
And speaking of energy, I must thank Justice for this one. Behold the Power of Menergy!!! If you’ve seen this already, I’m sorry, but I think that the humor is decently on par with exactly what makes Idiocracy so fucking scary. Scary, scary, scary…
Cheers,
another day… another test sample…
Aug 3rd
Yep, I’ve been slacking, while Kilian’s been working to come up with concepts and scripts, and actually putting this very blog together. So now, it seems that I need to get my arse in gear and start putting stuff together, right? Of course! Well, after yesterday’s test strip, I went ahead and put another one together today. As with yesterday’s these are really only meant to test colouring techniques and the overall look and feel of the strip’s visual presence… as for the writing I must apologize directly, as I hammered this out myself, and it is in no way as elegant as what Kilian would do – which should explain why he gets to be the writer for the strip ^__^.
Anywho, I thought I’d share, so here it is, enjoy it, for what it’s worth.
Personally, I’m liking the way that this one turned out a lot more than yesterday’s. Granted I was able to take an hour or two more to work on it, either way, I think it’s getting closer to the way it should be. Yay! As an aside, yes, growing up I really want to be Chris Knight (from Real Genius), and it stuck with me so much, that I was never really happy until I found my own personal Jordan… which I have, her name is April ^__^.
If I’m able to really bust-arse today, I’m hoping to make some quicky wallpapers, just for fun. If not probably next week. I will get back to it, and see if I can’t pound ‘em out just the same!
cheers,
…it’s not my fault.
Aug 2nd
Well, I guess that depends… actually if the following piece of scribbling sucks, it is entirely my fault – so I apologize in advance. Since Normality Restored is set to be a webcomic, it’s probably good to know that we are actually making headway along those lines: scripts have been written and debated, characters have been designed, and a few tests have been made. The following is the most recent of those tests – I’m still working out the palette and colouring for this, so please bear with, and no throwing anything that stains… thank you!
And as far as when Kilian’s ship will come in… I don’t know, but it’s not like I set out to go to PAX just to give him a hard time… right? Erm, yeah, of course! I would never do such a thing! ^__^
–gilgrim
…and now we kindly return you to your regularly scheduled cerebral enema…
Alas, I am always left out in the cold.
Aug 2nd
First off, if said hypothetical dungeon did exist it wouldn’t contain rooms variously dedicated to Warhammer, punishing infidels, housing mid-level web celebrities in padded cells, and a bestiary of semi-magical creatures. It would not, I repeat, not run for some 2.3 miles and be populated by orcs and goblins in it’s lower reaches. And I certainly wouldn’t be using this hypothetical dungeon to house resources and weapons for a planned armed take-over of the Western United States.
While I am greatly appreciative of Gilgrim’s gift from the ol’ Comic Con de San Diego, I am quite sad about missing it. Not only was Phase II thwarted by Gilgrim’s insistence on being “law abiding” but Neil Gaiman was also in attendance. For those not in the know, Neil Gaiman’s writing ranks somewhere between air and water in the “List of Things I Can’t Live Without.” Of course, I have met Neil Gaiman once, but that was at a signing for Anansi Boys, so that doesn’t really count.
Now, though, I find out that Gilgrim is going to PAX on his company’s dime!
That’s some kind of damn injustice if you ask me.
I mean, great for him sure, but what about Kilian, huh? When’s gonna be my time?
San Diego Comic Con is Ovah! Ha!
Aug 1st
SDCC is also sometimes called the ICC (international) but who cares, it’s sadly not much about comics anymore… and certainly isn’t very international unless you consider the interest of the major hollywood production houses, but I digress – I have returned! And I bring gifts! Well, some people who know me already, got gifts, because they’re special… but this is an even more specially special gift. Normality restored is set to be an online webcomic (and some other stuff, I’m sure as well in the future), and while this blog for the site has been active, there hasn’t been a whole hell of a lot of comic to go with it (my fault, since I actually, draw it… damn). But fear not! In the proud tradition of Killian’s idols and certainly a duo that I respect and admire – let us commence with some artwork! Notably, a post-con sketch or two detailing some events at the con itself ^__^
Enjoy!
…and to go with it, here’s something that for those that were there will probably be amusing. For those that don’t know the story, on our ever bounding quest to procure some form of mind altering alleviation from the heaving throngs of unimaginable humanity that is SDCC, we ran across a drunken homeless robot that works in the local Ralph’s supermarket. He only has one set of words that he may use to communicate, as we later proved the second encounter that we had with him (from the sketch, you can probably guess what those 4 exact words were), and apparently, they only feed him in ice cream.Weirdness to be sure.
Okey doke, I think that’s enough of my tripe for now, remember these are simply sketches and quick ideas thrown down with ink and paper. The real comics will look much, much better I promise ^__^ – see you all later!!!
–gilgrim