A Nerd-tastic Geek-O-Rama
What else do you need to know?
Welcome again to the Sunday edition (it’s actually the only edition) of Manic Moments. Today, I would like to share a few older projects by two creators that I absolutely love. I also want to share my new tagline for the newsletter a little later.
Bit first, of course your weekly update on the continuing saga of Mumpworld.
I am considering a different layout for this strip because I have had some comments that the 4 panels in a row is not convenient to read on a phone, a 2x2 grid may work better. Give me your thoughts in the comments.
I also recorded a little time-lapse of the process I go through from rough pencils to final product. I did make a few changes after the video was complete, see if you can spot any.
The Creators that I wished to bring to your attention this week have been producing remarkable content for quite some time. I won’t go into too much detail but will merely point out two projects that I hope will convert you to instant fans.
First, there is Otis Frampton. The specific project that I would like to bring to your attention is his old Deviant Art gallery titled “ABCDEFGeek”. It is a full alphabet with all of the geeky references you could ever want. At one time Otis was selling posters with the full alphabet on them, but I can’t find a link to that currently, so this is only for online consumption at the moment.
I think this one falls squarely into the “adults only” column. As always, that is up to you. I’m really hoping that Otis will offer this as a poster on his website before Christmas this year, it’s a classic that will never go out of style. Otis is of course producing some amazing comics currently, and I will be including some reviews of his current work in the near future.
The other artists that I wanted to mention is a remarkable Canadian cartoonist - Faith Erin Hicks. The project/book that’s on my mind this week is an old one that had been published as a serialized comic in the local Halifax indie paper “The Coast” and online as a webcomic before being printed by Dark Horse comics in 2013. If you are a true Haligonian, you may recognize it, if not then you should definitely find a copy and check it out. It is, of course, The Adventures of Superhero Girl.
Faith was born in British Columbia but spent a significant amount of time living in Halifax and some local sites do appear in the comic strip for the astute reader to find. Faith has created a number of remarkable graphic novels, won awards, and was the artist on a New York Time’s bestseller (Pumpkinheads - written by Rainbow Rowell) since completing this comic.
I have the digital edition of Superhero Girl, which I purchase through amazon.ca. This is the fully coloured version published by Dark Horse. You can also read the strip online as a black and white comic. The comic strip is hilarious at times and well worth the read for any fan of nerd culture. Faith pokes fun at the whole superhero genre and creates an endearing character that you just want to see succeed. The book is rated on amazon (Canada) as being for ages 10 and up.
Like all truly great comic strips, this one never gets old. If you can get a printed copy it would be a great “coffee table” book. If you are reading with them, I think even kids younger than 10 could enjoy much of the book.
I thought a lot about the newsletter last week, and I felt like the direction was somewhat unclear. I called it “Manic Moments” for a few reasons. Of course there is the obvious fact that I work in mental health during the day. There is the less known fact that I have family members who have experienced actual mania as part of their journey. I also felt that my penchant for becoming infatuated with new hobbies or projects, jumping from one to another often, and my somewhat face paced drawing style when I am roughing out a page all fit with the more publicly understood meaning of the the word “manic”. However, it does not give a real sense of what this particular newsletter is all about.
Therefore, behold, the new tagline [trumpets blare]:
“Exploring the intersection of humanity, creativity and technology both new and old“
So what the heck does that mean? When I spent some time really thinking about what ties all of these things together, this was the best description I could come up with.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
What it means to me is that the act of creativity, and the development of technology (past and present) both advance humanity and should be in service of it. I find the latest 3D modelling programs as fascinating as an antique printing press and the potential impact that both of those things have on us as human beings is almost limitless.
Hopefully that will make sense to you the reader as you follow along this journey with me.
As always, thank you for your joining me this week. I hope you have found something to brighten your day and I’ll see you next time.
blackManic