These times are changing and reshaping into something I can’t face

I saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (in 2D, non-iMAX, and I-can’t-remember-how-many-fps)! Read on for SPOILER-filled reaction comics~

I started twitching in my seat after 2 hours, but the movie held my attention throughout. I enjoyed revisiting the rich world of The Hobbit, and appreciated the time lavished on the sets and creatures. The designs were incredible! The diversity amongst the dwarves’ designs, the shots of The Shire and Rivendell, the gobelins and orcs and trolls and stone giants…amazing!

Okay, I had one big issue and it was with the horrific staging during the chase scene where Radagast leads the Wargs/Orcs away from Team Gandalf. What the hell was going on in that scene? Back and forth and back and forth, it felt like Team Gandalf was stuck behind the same rock the whole time, even though it was suggested that they were moving.

*Gollum (thanks, Ann)

Every hour has come to this

(Other reviews: Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, Magic Mike, Brave, Prometheus)

I watched Twilight: Breaking Dawn, part 2 last night! Read on for reaction comics. As always, SPOILERS!

So…I actually really, really liked what they did with that battle. All of the action and drama of a full-on fight, because you believe it’s really happening, and then a conclusion where A) the “villain” or hate sink doesn’t need to die*, B) the conflict is resolved through discourse, and C) everyone finds a way to coexist albeit a compromise. THAT NEVER HAPPENS IN BLOCKBUSTERS YOU GUYS.
*I mean, I guess that Irina did play the hate sink and die….but I’m counting Aro as the main one and the rest of the Volturi as next in line.

I can feel my feet on the ground

I’m back from Oahu and it was GREAT! I had this image in my head that Oahu was one giant city, and why would you travel all the way to Hawai’i to just be in another city?, but it was actually the best island experience I’ve had yet. There are parks and hikes and tons of nature within walking distance from Honolulu, and some parts of the island look completely untouched.

Here are my travel sketches. I would clean them up if I had more free time, but I’ve got to hit the ground running today on actual work-work. Even if some of these are less-than-legible, I hope you enjoy!

I looooove the way that the island looks from the water. The clouds passing over the mountains cast shadows that seem black in contrast to the bright light shining everywhere else. It made this great layering effect on the mountains, depending on whether the shadows were on the peaks closest to you or further away.

Autobio travel comics:
In hindsight, these sound a little…boastful? That’s not my intention; I just want to remember what we did. It was an extraordinary trip and it looks like an embarrassment of riches when it’s all listed off in one place.

My (kind of) 24 hour comic

That is, I’m cheating. I’ve wanted to draw this story for 2 and a half years, and I came into today with the script and half of the thumbnails done (oh, also, it’s not even the official 24 hour comic book day. That was Saturday). So it’s not a REAL 24 hour comic. But I’m trying to do the bulk of it in a day, so follow along!

I’m trying something new and inking digitally straight off of my thumbnails. Expect some floundering and mistakes, but hopefully it will make for an interesting new style and a good learning experience!

I’ll post pages here as I finish them:

It’s done!!! And it only took a week!! Whooooo!

They were laughing and drinking and smoking and singing

My latest movie reaction comics: for Magic Mike! As always, SPOILERS.

Have you listened to me lately

New Facepalm French Adventure:

I’ve been studying French for a year and a half now. My mom and I recently discovered the podcast Coffee Break French, and it’s been a really wonderful supplement to our class. It makes me think in French for 30-60 minutes a day (I usually listen to one lesson on my way to work and one on the way home), which has helped me gain some more confidence to speak in class. I definitely notice that words and sentences come to me more quickly since I started listening a few weeks ago.
And this has nothing to do with anything, but Mark and Anna’s Scottish accents are so cuuute!

You’ll see the world like a bird

Sketch dump!

I’ll be coloring some of these and posting them to my Tumblr, so be sure to visit.

I looooove gender-swapped fan art, but it really bugs me when people essentially just apply costume ornaments from a dude-character to a chick in a swimsuit. That kind of fan art is about as true to the character as this is true to Santa:

“If Thor’s beefy for a man, he should be frickin’ beefy for a woman,” said Tally to no one.

That’s a little comic from my ALA Anaheim trip last weekend. By the way, that was a good time. I bought signed copies of Smile from Raina Telgemeier and July Diary from Gabrielle Bell, was surprised to sell out of books at my Image signing, met tons of awesome people, and even got to go to Disneyland. I would definitely go to ALA again, and am considering the Seattle conference this winter.

People in L.A. show a lot of skin! I had a bit of culture shock. I feel really self-conscious when I wear a tank top. Nonetheless it was nice being in that warm, predictable climate for a while.

Something weird happened on Monday. I’d spent all weekend doing the convention and hadn’t had a chance to sketch for fun in daaaaays. My family made a last stop before the airport in Huntington Beach, and I told them I wanted to just sit on an inconspicuous bench and draw people for a while. 5 minutes later, a nice woman asked me if I did caricatures! I said sure and drew her, her husband, and her son for about 15 minutes. She offered to pay me but we settled on her buying me ice cream xD It was bizarre but also really nice to think that I might be able to survive if I was stranded somewhere with just my sketchbook and pencil.

And on with the DC fan art….

My mental image of Catwoman comes from…

A) Darwyn Cooke,

B) Adam Hughes

C) Batman the Animated Series

Imagine living in a box

I did another series of movie reaction comics. This time the film is Pixar’s Brave, in theaters today. Here’s a spoiler-free text review before the spoiler-full comics:

This movie is fantastic. If you think that our tastes are at all similar, or you have a heart or a mom, you should go. The bottom line is: this is a well-crafted, beautiful, fun, surprising, and touching film. It has been advertised in a cringey, slapstick way to get children into the theater, but don’t worry: this is not a lowest-common-denominator animated film. It’s another Pixar masterpiece. Quite a bit of the movie was withheld in the commercials, and it’s WONDERFUL. You are in for pleasant surprises. I recommend watching it in 2D; the film is a little too dark in 3D and some of the lovely details and textures faded out.

THESE COMICS CONTAIN SPOILERS. Go watch the movie first — these probably won’t be funny unless you’ve seen it, anyway.

And all of the talk about changing your fate (“You can rise to meet it if you choose”).

And the closing gate and trying to escape into the woods.

And the misty, forested mountains.

And the animal mom protecting her human child.

And the animal mom at risk of becoming an actual demon.

Horses, in my mind, are this feminine symbol of freedom and power and grace. …I thought that was a well-documented thing, but apparently it’s just an association I have. I was looking around the internet for any writing that had been done on it, or a catchy name for the trope or something, but came up empty. ANYWAY, women riding horses = overwhelming ‘FUCK YEAH’ response in my head.

One of my friends pointed out that the triplets are always trying to steal buns/cakes from Maudie that look like boobs, complete with berry nipples. And now I can’t unsee that subtextual subplot wherein the triplets are on a quest for Maudie’s goodies xD

LOOOOOOOVED THIS. Commanding a dead silence by walking? So cool. And that austere expression on Queen Elinor’s face? Just…GUH. PERFECT.
And then Merida demonstrates how much she has grown and come to understand and appreciate her mother (and the power she wields) by performing it just like her. asdf;ljk. One of those moments that is so perfectly foreshadowed it’s shocking you don’t see it coming. PERFECT. PERFECT!

Also, Merida…even I can sew better than that. I mean really.

TWO LADIES ON HORSEBACK? A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER ON HORSEBACK?!! *dies*

Cool/funny things that it would be repetitive for me to draw because they were done perfectly in the film:

-”Legends are lessons. They ring with truths.” (And so do Pixar films)

-Little Merida! Especially the teeth–somehow they captured little-kid-mouth just right in her design and expressions

-One of the triplets lip synching perfectly with his father during the bear story

-The crow. Just delightful.

-Every single instance of Queen Elinobear moving in an effeminate way despite her altered stature

-”I’ve decided to do what’s right and break tradition.” SO much love for that line.

-Merida going toe to toe with her father in a sword fight and winning?!

-Cutting his peg leg out from under him!

-Momma bear getting superbear strength when her daughter is in trouble

-Mor’du’s spirit rising from the back of the rock

-Naked triplets! Perfect timing, comic relief

I just added a donate button to this blog. I am by no means starving, and I appreciate your traffic on its own merits, but if I raise a few dollars on these review posts it will help justify continuing to make them. Thanks again, everyone!

I wanna be somebody’s buddy

I went to see Prometheus last night. Short review: I really enjoyed it and would watch it again. Read on for some spoilerific comics that happened between 1 and 2 AM:

I will go see Spider-Man. I smirked because I enjoy people back-talking commercials.

A race of muscle-y, alabaster Voldemorts. Like in the Bible.

Also you are the most interesting character and I adore you.

He seriously said that.

I LOVED the gender/sex subtext in the movie, even though there was some seriously disturbing stuff (not too much worse than the other movies). Essentially Prometheus was about creation and the conflict between parents and children. Some really, really interesting things happened between characters. I want to watch it again and just focus on that.

Okay, so you’re not Ripley, but that was pretty cool how you were a total badass in the third act. I so called that self-abortion in the special medical machine. And even though it was one of the tensest scenes in the movie, I was cracking up at her having to program it for a male operation. NICE, Prometheus.