Greetings! If you remember, I recently did an interview for KDUX Webradio, and just in case you missed the original broadcast, it has now been posted on the interwebs for all to hear. Give it a listen here:

http://obicitypage2.podomatic.com/entry/2009-12-15T14_42_22-08_00

We discuss a bunch of topics, including Dorm Dorks, Indy Comic Book Week, my new book “What Planet Is This,” and a lot of other fun topics. Enjoy!

Some of you just recoiled when you saw me give a whopping three stars to this movie, but hear me out. You just have to have your expectations right when you go see Ninja Assassin.

This movie falls under my “Remember The Title” rule. Which means: read the freakin’ title. Does “Ninja Assassin” sound like a serious character piece? No. It sounds like it’s about ninjas. Assassinating things. Which is exactly what it is, no more, no less.

This is a total B-movie. The characters are not really characters at all, they fill stereotypical roles. The dialogue is awful, and it’s only there to give a rough estimate of an explanation as to why the ninjas are doing so much assassinating. You’ll know all the plot points to this thing before it even starts, but none of that matters. What matters is: Ninjas killing other ninjas in slow (and sometimes fast) motion. What matters is: gobs and gobs of computer animated extra blood literally shooting out of every pore. What matters is: extra computer blur and line streak effects on weapons as they cut off limbs and send copious amounts of blood flying across the screen.

Remember the title. This is a brainless, emotionless gore fest featuring ninjas that have magical powers (they can teleport, turn invisible, heal faster than Wolverine, etc.) killing a lot of people. Then the ninjas are killing other super-powered ninjas. Also, the ninjas are killing army guys with machine guns. Then the main ninja is fighting a super boss ninja, and then an even harder boss ninja. And thats pretty much the whole movie. The title should have told you all this, so if you expected something different, that’s your own fault, bub. In fact, the only thing this movie is missing is life bars and a combo counter.

Within it’s framework, it’s incredibly entertaining. The action is awesome, the fights are ridiculous in epicness (also called epicosity) and hilarious. None of this is meant to be taken seriously (I hope) it’s just a fun over-the-top action piece.

That said, if you’re a ninja fan, or an action movie nut, see this movie. Just keep in mind the “Remember the Title” rule.

Two exciting announcements:

Today only, at 2 p.m. I’ll be talking with my friend Bryant Varnell on Richland College’s KDUX Web Radio! We’ll be discussing the strip, future plans, and most importantly, talking about Indy Comic Book Weekend, which features the launch of my new book, “What Planet Is This?” as well as a bunch of other new books by top-level Independent Creators.

Tune in and listen to the show by going to: http://www.kduxwebradio.blogspot.com

If the player doesn’t pull up right away, give it a few minutes. It’ll be a great show, and I’m excited to share some stuff with you guys.

Also in celebration of Indy Comic Book day, I’ll be doing a special appearance over at Keith’s Comics North Dallas on December 30th from 12:30 – 2:30. Come out and pick up the new book, get a sketch, hang out, and have a great time with us. It’ll be a great day.  The store is at Trinity Mills and Midway in Carrollton, TX. Find out more by clicking here.

Whew… I think I just set the record for most links in one post. Lot’s of exciting stuff. See ya’ll soon!

I’d like to start posting movie reviews again, so, may as well start here. I saw “A Christmas Carol” today — the new one, with Jim Carrey, in 3-D.

First of all — it’s not a bad movie. It’s a faithful, haunting, and touching adaptation of the classic Dickens story. And it’s a great story, so in that sense, it’s a fairly decent movie. But the question I kept asking myself was… why?

I first asked it when I saw the trailer. Why were they making yet another adaptation of this novel? The George C. Scott version nailed it so well, was serious, haunting, and emotional, with brilliant acting. The muppets version covered the comedy angle brilliantly, and there’s always the old Mickey Mouse one if your kids want the story… and those are just the best ones, there’s been so many other versions, I can’t for the life of me figure out why another one was necessary.

I kept asking why as the movie went on. For the whole first act, and really, for most of the movie, I kept wondering why it was animated… It seemed like the gritty, haunting world they were creating would have been much better suited by actually filming real live action. This was continually confusing as the movie went on. I have nothing but respect for the great Robert Zemeckis, who wrote and directed this, but it’s like he wasn’t sure what kind of movie he was making. At times the animation was gritty and ultra-realistic, but at other times devolved into a cartoony smooth, old-school Pixar look. This dichotomy was true of the overall style as well. Carrey’s character, and most of the main cast, were animated in a highly exaggerated caricature style, yet the environments and world were incredibly realistic. It was just confusing to say the least. This was also true of the character development. These characters are all highly exaggerated, even cartoonized versions of people. I guess one doesn’t expect subtle characterization from any adaptation of “A Christmas Carol,” but I did catch myself several times thinking, “wow, NO ONE is THIS over-the-top in their hatred for Christmas! I get it! He doesn’t like it! Just take it DOWN a notch!”

I got more confused as the movie went on, alternating between serious drama, haunting and chilling scares, and then, in between, adding silly slapstick comedy that most 12 year olds would consider below them. And the language used was the older English of the Victorian period, which makes sense, but if the movie was for little kids, they would have no hope of understanding the dialogue. If it was intended for adults, then half the movie can be written off as childish and out of place. I thought that especially true of the 3D element…

Maybe I’m just an old Curmudgeon, but the 3-D thing is just… gimmicky. I don’t like it. The only thing it did for this film was remind me that I was watching a movie, not enjoying a story. I guess the fact that it’s 3-D is supposed to make it seem more real, but instead, it made everything seem more fake. It distanced me from the story. This isn’t the fault of this particular film, just, the 3-D form in general. Although this film did make it worse. Three or four times, the movie would completely stop down and force us to watch an excruciatingly long sequence that was only there to say, “woah, look! Stuff is coming right at you!

I mean, seriously guys… I did not need 15 minutes of Scrooge running through the streets, doing Spider-Man acrobatic tricks off of icicles and rooftops just to prove to me that 3-D is cool. That particular sequence, where Scrooge is being chased by some kind of demon horses for no reason, reminded me of that Haunted House ride at Disneyland. And that’s what 3-D does to a movie. It makes it stop being an immersive story, and start being a freaking ride at an amusement park. The fact that this pattern happened several times nearly broke me down. Just as I would start to get back into the story despite all the distractions, I would have to endure yet another long scene that had absolutely nothing to do with the characters or story.

Again, I’m sure the little kids liked that, but other parts would scare the crap out of them, or just be beyond their comprehension. Was this a kids movie or an adults movie? Was it cartoon or realism? Was it serious or comedy? I realize that good films have all these elements mixing. The problem with this film is that they were so distinct: This is the little kid part, this is the serious part, this is the cartoon slapstick part, this is the scary part, etc. It lacked any sort of cohesion.

To be fair, I went into this movie not really wanting to like it, which may have colored my view. And, most of my dislike comes from the 3-D element, not the movie itself. Although I have a lot of bad things to say about it, don’t think I’m being so harsh. It’s still a “A Christmas Carol,” after all, which is a great little moral parable to watch at Christmas time. It’s a great timeless tale about enjoying your life, and I think all of us can get behind that.

So, see this movie if you need some Christmas spirit, or have some Christmas spirit you want to revel in more, or if you’re looking for something to do with the extra relatives in town whithout having to actually talk to them.

If you’ve been following my Twitter, you know about the crazy project I undertook. Last week, I cashed in a weeks worth of vacation time and spent almost every hour of it working the artwork for a new book to be released in December as part of Indy Comic Book Week.

Well, I got some previews to wet your appetite. Here’s the first three pages for you to read. Check ‘em out by clicking here.

The book is called “What Planet Is This?” It’s a Sci-Fi-Noir-Comedy about a space detective who’s in over his head on a mission to rescue his brother from from blobby alien goons. This was a really fun project for me, I got to draw lots of things I don’t normall get to, like giant space battles, expansive alien cities, flying cars, and lasers exploding the heads off aliens. In a…. funny way. You know…

I’ll be posting more about this as the date gets closer, but look for “What Planet Is This?” in select stores the last week of December, and after the end of the year, I’ll have some to sell at appearances, and through the site.

Yep, its that time again, the time of unluck, where everything goes wrong. There’s just something not right about me joining that poker tournament tonight…

Fun facts about today’s joke: I orignally wrote a completely different scene here, which involved some nazi jokes. The joke was that they had murdered millions of people. Even I thought I was pushing it a bit too far with that…

Larry is a guy who I feel sorry for, he just can’t keep up with the times. My problem is, there are thousands of Larry’s all over corporate America that are leading the technology, internet, and digital departments of their respective companies. If you’re like Larry, I got no beef with you… unless you’re supposed to be in charge of some technology related field. If you’re not gonna bother to stay updated, and be IN the field, then get another job! Go work in some other department and leave the technology to the folk who write php scripts for fun on the weekends.

I had a lot of fun with this strip, it’s one of those where I made myself laugh, which is honestly kinda rare, since I’m usually so “close” to the joke. But looking back at it now, all I can think is, man… Bob’s got some serious delts…

Don’t forget about Dallas Webcomics Expo this Saturday! It’s sure to be an awesome time, you won’t want to miss out! Get all the details at www.dwex.info