Irritating Archery – Prelude to New Beginnings

With the welcome addition of having time returning to me it’s finally time that I will be able to get back to regular writing.  To celebrate this fact I come bearing the gift of a supremely kick ass header image brought to you by one of the most creative Welshies I know in Mikey Turvey.  I wanted to bring back the column and he needed money.  Thus a mutual agreement was forged.  I gave him money and he drew me as a Green Lantern fighting the rabid raging murderkitty Dex-Starr in front of the Great Lord Mogo Himself.  Simply a stunningly great job especially since I gave him the worst design layout in existence to work from.

Click your way inside to see more of the art stages and get a quick preview of what’s to come.

Penny Arcade Expo 2009 Quick impressions and meaningless awards!

As I sit here recovering from what has now become a horrendous case of con SARS I sit down to write what will be the first of many bits of previews and impressions from the awesomeness that was….

And there was a lot to cover.  And thus we must begin with the best and the worst stuff from the floor of PAX ‘09.

Irritating Archery #10 – Stumped… In Town.

Well it’s convention time again.  This weekend is the Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland Oregon.  I go to a lot of shows in a year and this has consistently been one of the better ones.  It’s hard to describe how it works but I would say that a 2 day show with a $6 entrance fee and great atmosphere is something that excites me.  If that doesn’t excite you there is the fact the interesting fact that it’s a pure comics show.  Almost more of a Gallery show than a convention.  It’s not about the panels and big announcements, it’s about the love of comics.  Great conversation, great guests, great everything.  If you love comics this is one of the best shows for you to go to.   This time though it’s a little different for me.

Irritating Archery #9 – Warring Reboots

It’s sad when someone has way too much on their mind.  Between random games and the oh my holy crap it’s about bleedin’ time comic coming out next week this is a feeling I’ve been waiting for for a long long time.  In Fact, I haven’t been this excited for a comic since the last time they tried this.  When I went completely ape shit as a result.   I’m talking reboots.  

 

It’s a funny thing it is.  As I’m a guy who is willing to give just about anything a chance and reboots of properties I like have always been something I am willing to check out.  I’m not talking Blue Beetle being Jaime Reyes instead of Ted Kord title launches.  I’m talking taking an existing property and wiping out it’s history and starting it again.  Sometimes it can be great, sometimes it can be just terrible.  So what can I do but talk about some of these.  

Irritating Archery #8 – Rewriting History

Warning : Strong Language Inside.

This is going to be a lesson. A lesson in how to give proper criticism. And really, what better way is there than to re-write some of the dumb crap that sprouts up on the interwebs. So I’ve spent time tracking down some of the most inane and idiotically douchetacular things that have been said over the last week and will now take said idiocy and show you how you could have said it and earned the respect of people in the industry rather than having them think of you as an irrelevant jackass with a flair for the dramatic.

Without further commentary let’s get this party started right. (Or in this case very very wrong.)

Irritating Archery #7 – Experimental Fun

I love comics.  I think I’ve made that clear.  I love every kind of comic and everything you can do with them.  They are brilliant and the people that make them can be just as amazing.  I would go so far as to say that the only problem with comics is the people that read them… and maybe Jim Balent, I’m not sure on that one as it could just be the fact my vagina is haunted…

Quake in fear for I hath returned from the abyss that was San Francisco for the awesomeness that is WonderCon.  Year in and year out it’s by far my favorite show n the convention roulette wheel.  It’s the only one I attend annually no matter what.  And it’s not just because I get Sharks tickets every time.  (Whch by the way stop chocking miserably and start winning again please)  No it’s because it’s nearly perfect every time.  For me it’s the ideal size for a show.  3 days, moderate crowd, and a great atmosphere.  While this year seemed to pale a bit in comparison to others on the “Big name creator” front it sure had some fantastic moments for myself and friends I was with.  

Irritating Archery #5 – Conventional Wisdom

 

It’s early in convention season and with this weekend being my first show of the year in WonderCon I figure rather than blather on about convention etiquette like so many other columns and podcasts do I would instead share the great wisdom that is the greatest memories from my convention going life.

Irritating Archery #4 – Opening the Door

There I go again. Rhyming away. Rhythmically pounding the title with my fists until it bleeds with horrid pun sauce. Or whatever is made when you bleed horrid punnery. It makes sense though. Originally I was going to go on about my love of Grell but due to something I have coming up, that will have to wait. Instead you get to listen to me wax on and wax off about the origins of my geekdom.

Irritating Archery #3 – Spelunking Deep in the Sahr Chasm

I’m sorry.  There is nothing here. I had nothing.  I had a rant all ready to get started when I realized something.  That’s not what I want to do all the time.  Yes, I’m a ranting loon.  I’m a sarcastic douche bag and I’m completely insane.  But one thing I do know is that I absolutely love the geekier mediums.  But when I finished writing the column for this week I just couldn’t do it.  It was too negative.  Too angry.  While it was something I do consider annoying it’s not something I look at as being reflective of what I actually want to do with this column.  Do I want to rant sometimes?  Hell yes!  But the level of negativity in this weeks drew me to a