"My first allegiance as a writer is to the story. Second allegiance, if not my characters, is to the integrity of the characters I didn't invent. Allegiance to the paying audience is the Road to Hell. "Fan Service" is the express lane. While I agree it's not good business to piss off your audience to such a point where you'll drive them away, "good business" is the last thing I should be thinking about when I'm actually writing. Writing "what the audience wants" or "what will please the audience" is the domain of the hack. A writer stands or falls by the integrity of his work. Everything else is secondary."
- Mark Waid, EiC Boom! Studios
http://forums.boom-studios.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=435&sid=b8e60fd3dc9e72de583ae6dda3e9c53f
I'm sure I'll have something written up about all of these shenanigans that are going on on the Interwebs sometime soon, but for now, just... revel. Revel in Mark Waid.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Fight Klub
As VS slows down drastically, I've been looking at other CCGs. There's something zen-like, meditative, to me about deck construction and gameplay of many of these games, and so I'm on the look out for the next one.
One that caught my eye has been Fight Klub, Decipher's newest game. Featuring head-to-head matches with characters from film and television, Fight Klub looks cheesetastic, and the gameplay looks to be relatively solid. It's always hard to tell if a game like this will take off, especially a niche one like FK, but I definitely wish them all the best, and I'll be giving the game a shot.
You can reach the FK site at www.decipher.com - and if you want to get in, say seventhsoldier sent you.
One that caught my eye has been Fight Klub, Decipher's newest game. Featuring head-to-head matches with characters from film and television, Fight Klub looks cheesetastic, and the gameplay looks to be relatively solid. It's always hard to tell if a game like this will take off, especially a niche one like FK, but I definitely wish them all the best, and I'll be giving the game a shot.
You can reach the FK site at www.decipher.com - and if you want to get in, say seventhsoldier sent you.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Comics Can Be Great
A lot of people have talked a lot of smack about Batwoman. Why? Because Batwoman has had very, very little definition as a character, especially when held up next to the extraordinarily well-rounded Renee Montoya - already one of the best characters in comics, Renee has been getting better and better under the pen of Greg Rucka.
Batwoman, however, has had precious little in the means of characters, other than 'lesbian who had a thing with Renee once', and this has caused a little backlash against her as a 'token' character. With Batman gone, however, a spot has opened up in Detective Comics for some of the supporting characters, and Greg Rucka is using this to, finally, flesh out Batwoman.
And you know what? It looks awesome. Credit JH Williams III, one of the most creative, fascinating talents in the industry. Credit Rucka for remembering that, as scary as the Bats should be, they are ultimately about peace, not vengeance, about saving people, not about punishing them.
Here's to hoping Kate Kane's segment works out well here. It certainly looks promising!
Batwoman, however, has had precious little in the means of characters, other than 'lesbian who had a thing with Renee once', and this has caused a little backlash against her as a 'token' character. With Batman gone, however, a spot has opened up in Detective Comics for some of the supporting characters, and Greg Rucka is using this to, finally, flesh out Batwoman.
And you know what? It looks awesome. Credit JH Williams III, one of the most creative, fascinating talents in the industry. Credit Rucka for remembering that, as scary as the Bats should be, they are ultimately about peace, not vengeance, about saving people, not about punishing them.
Here's to hoping Kate Kane's segment works out well here. It certainly looks promising!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Weekday Update III
Ah, once more, he returns.
Well, with the death of VS, I find myself with a little free money and a lot less to write about on the blog. Marvel and DC seem to be in a bit of a dry spot for me in terms of 'things that I'm interested in and can afford' which means they've sort of doubly hit a dead spot in the area of 'things that I'm interested in that I can write about extensively or at least every now and then'. Of course, with the news that Greg Rucka and James Robinson will be collaborating on the new Superman: The World of New Krypton mini, that might be changing, because Greg Rucka is one of the better talents in comics today, and while I haven't read anything from Robinson outside of Starman, Starman happens to be a triumph of comics publishing, and thus I'm excited to read a little more from him.
But, hey, expectations aren't high.
Again, on a personal note, 'I Am Very Important' was rejected again, this time by the fine folks at Bust Down the Door and Eat All the Chickens, while 'Over the Hill' is out for consideration (but is not particularly strong as-is, and so will and should be rejected). I'm still working on two separate short stories, but I've found myself rather slammed this semester for time and inspiration, and so they are progressing slower than I might like.
Coming up this month? One or two more 'Best Books You Aren't Reading', probably some write-ups on TV that's worth watching right now, and more existential flailing to figure out what the hell it is exactly that I want this blog for.
Wish me luck, and enjoy your week!
Well, with the death of VS, I find myself with a little free money and a lot less to write about on the blog. Marvel and DC seem to be in a bit of a dry spot for me in terms of 'things that I'm interested in and can afford' which means they've sort of doubly hit a dead spot in the area of 'things that I'm interested in that I can write about extensively or at least every now and then'. Of course, with the news that Greg Rucka and James Robinson will be collaborating on the new Superman: The World of New Krypton mini, that might be changing, because Greg Rucka is one of the better talents in comics today, and while I haven't read anything from Robinson outside of Starman, Starman happens to be a triumph of comics publishing, and thus I'm excited to read a little more from him.
But, hey, expectations aren't high.
Again, on a personal note, 'I Am Very Important' was rejected again, this time by the fine folks at Bust Down the Door and Eat All the Chickens, while 'Over the Hill' is out for consideration (but is not particularly strong as-is, and so will and should be rejected). I'm still working on two separate short stories, but I've found myself rather slammed this semester for time and inspiration, and so they are progressing slower than I might like.
Coming up this month? One or two more 'Best Books You Aren't Reading', probably some write-ups on TV that's worth watching right now, and more existential flailing to figure out what the hell it is exactly that I want this blog for.
Wish me luck, and enjoy your week!
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