Alright, all together now!

Today is the day that Disney releases Ponyo on DVD and Blu-Ray as well as special edition DVD versions of Castle in the Sky, Totoro, and Kiki’s Delivery Service. I was sent the Blu-Ray Hi Def version of Ponyo and the special edition of Castle in the Sky for review. I’ve already reviewed Ponyo and if you haven’t seen Castle in the Sky yet, this is version to get. The films are both excellent, as you’d expect from Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.

Now some of you may already have DVD versions of Castle in the Sky, Totoro, and Kik’s Delivery Service. I’m sad to report that you should have waited for these special editions. It’s not that the film transfers are any better, though they are lovingly reproduced for the DVD format. It’s that along with the Ponyo release, the special editions come with a second DVD with all the bonus features. If you get the Ponyo Blu-Ray Hi Def combo pack, the special features are on the Blu-Ray disc while an Hi Def version of the film is on a regular DVD. The special edition DVD of Ponyo is just like the other three with one disc for the film and one disc for the bonuses.

The bonus material makes it all worth it.

• The “Behind the Studio” feature takes you behind the scenes of Studio Ghibli with production documentaries and new interviews with Hayao Miyazaki. There are also interviews with the English language voice actors. By nature, I’m a subtitle fan but I’ve always been impressed with the quality of the voices that Disney is able to get for their dubs. For the most part, the English language voice actors match fairly well with the characters.
• “Enter the Lands” gives you an overview of the characters of each film.
• The “World of Ghibli” feature is a sort of interactive thingy that lets you click around this illustration featuring Ghibli characters. It’s sort of like an interactive preview of each film. For example, clicking on Totoro gives you a short clip from the movie with a voice-over explaining who/what Totoro is. Each area is dedicated to a Ghibli film. It’s a fun way to preview the films and it does kinda feel like you’re exploring the world viewed through Ghibli’s lens.
• You can also see the film as a storyboard. Storyboard features are usually kind of dull. The drawings are fairly simple and representational and don’t really add much insight to the film-making process. However, Ghibli storyboards are something else. Even though they’re unfinished illustrations, there’s so much detail in the boards. They don’t skimp on backgrounds. It’s all in there.

My only disappointment is that there isn’t a feature of just Miyazaki in his studio drawing. They cut to clips of him drawing a bit here and there, but no full on hour or so with just him and a piece of paper. Okay, so maybe only a handful of people would find that interesting. But I would love to sit there for a few hours and watch him draw and paint his fantastical worlds.

These are terrific releases. I’m so glad that John Lasseter managed to convince Disney to acquire the domestic rights to release Ghibli films. These special edition DVDs are the releases every Ghibli fan has been waiting for.

The special edition DVDs of Ponyo, Castle in the Sky, Totoro, and Kiki’s Delivery Service retail for $29.99 USD. If you’ve got a great stonking big HD tele with a Blu-Ray player, the Blu-Ray of Ponyo is $39.99 USD. Although, Amazon somehow has them for much less. So whether you have a birthday or anniversary coming up or something equally momentous, tell your loved ones that you want these now.

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Dear Nick Simmons (son of legendary KISS rocker Gene Simmons),

If you are going to plagiarize something, don’t plagiarize one of the most popular shonen manga ever published. That’s just fucking dumb. If you’re gonna copy something because you’re a total lazy hack and can’t draw your own shit, copy something obscure that doesn’t have a gigantic rabid fan base of people who can discover your lazy treachery in a matter of seconds.

Sincerely,
Everyone who’s not a fucking moron.

So there’s this comic called Incarnate published by Radical Comics that’s written and penciled by Nick Simmons. Now there are a couple of other art credits on this book that give me pause like the art assists from this Studio IL. I wonder just how much of Nick’s penciling there is here or if he farmed it out to Studio IL to do the heavy lifting. In any case, his name is on the creator, writer, and penciler credits so he’s gonna get all of my vile hatred.

Listen, kid. You, of all people, should fucking well know better. There’s not a piece of KISS merchandise out there in the world that doesn’t have your father’s stamp of approval. You know why? Because your dad and Paul Stanly jealously guard the KISS brand so that everything with the KISS name on it meets their standards so that when fans buy something with the KISS name, they know it’s good shit. Your father built one of the most financially successful brands in rock history and he didn’t do it by stealing other people’s music. Take a lesson from your father, create your own shit, and then license the living fuck out of it. This is the worst possible way to start your comics career.

Radical Comics has responded to the allegations by pulling Incarnate and contacting the manga publishers of the plagiarized works in question. But the real heroes in this mess are the fans. Because of their devotion to the manga and their love for manga-ka Tite Kubo.

So all you young aspiring comic creators out there, please remember Wil Wheaton’s law. Don’t be a dick.

Source: Bleachness

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I knew you would!

Here’s the highlight reel from our show at Katsucon:

And all three bouts in timelapse:

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Yellow Peril is open for business! Not a whole lot of comics up right now (just today’s update), but there will be more coming at you Wednesday and Friday. YP will be updating three times a week as long as I can manage to keep that big ass buffer buffed. So head on over to http://ypcomic.com (someone already has yellowperil.com, the bastards, and yellowperilcomic.com is waaaaaay too long).

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Back in November (yikes! That fucking long ago?), I announced that I would be launching a new webcomic sometime in the new year. That time is now! Or more precisely, Monday!

If you poke around the production blog, you can see little art tests of the style I’m using as well as a preview of the site itself. You can also listen to me rambling like a moron about race and comics. Odd combination, I know, and equally odd to hear me talk to myself. But it’s available if you’re interested.

It’s going to be kind of a soft launch. I’ll give you all the link on Monday because you guys fucking rock. There will be only one comic available though, which is kinda lame when you’re trying to promote something. So the hard promotion push will wait until later in February when I have a bunch of comics up for people to read. The good news is that I’ve spent the last few months developing a workflow and building a buffer. I’ll be updating Mon, Wed, and Fri and I’ve got enough comics in the queue for an entire month.

In the meantime, I’ll be at Katsucon 16 with the Super Art Fight crew to promote Yellow Peril. I’ll have free buttons and moo cards to hand out (gotta design them cards soon). I’m also setting up a Facebook fanpage with a discussion board to talk about all sorts of horrible shit. I don’t much care for forums so I guess I’ll be using Facebook for random discussions as well as a formspring page to ask me questions instead of the typical FAQ.

So I’m back. It’s been a long time. I’ve been here for years. Wu Tang forever!

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Can you tell I really like my ghetto Kamen Rider helmet?!

I lost my bout to Chelsey Kelsey (thanks bry), but it’s all good. I’m still undefeated in our road shows! MWAHAHAHAHAH! I had a great time. Super Art Fight 6 was the best show we’ve done to date. I’m still reeling from the high coming off the show.

Next up is Katsucon where I will be stalking–er in the same vicinity as Jo Chen. We will be art fighting from 2pm-4pm on Saturday so you should definitely check us out. Our Katsucon appearances have been getting more and more insane. I will be there promoting my new comic which will be launching really soon! So come on by and check us all out!

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It’s exclusive to Japan!

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

This trailer for the Street Fighter IV anime that AZM Ally Mike Dent sent along is pretty fucking sweet. Who knew Juni had awesome Akira powers? Gonzo does it again. So many awesome things about this except for the fact that WE DON’T GET IT! WAI!!! Oh so sad. I guess it’s up to the fansubbers to bring this awesomeness to us bootleg style.

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Super Art Fight 6 destroys Baltimore tomorrow night at the Ottobar. I will be competing against our youngest SAF warrior, Kelsey Wailes, who kicks quite a lot of art ass as you can see from her DeviantArt page. Our announcers, Marty and Ross, give their thoughts on the matches and who they think will win. I’m not sure how I feel about being the old man in the corner. I guess I don’t really think about it too often, but it turns out that I am one of the oldest artists on the roster. Can these old bones handle the madness? You bet your sweet ass!

I’m really excited about this show because I’ve got entrance music for the first time! Four words.

Animetal. Kamen. Rider. Megamix.

This is also the first time we’re running four bouts. Each round will be a half hour so there’s no time for fucking around. It’s gonna be raw to core, raw like reservoir dogs! So if you’re near us, head out to Baltimore tomorrow night! Doors open at 8pm, show starts at 9pm. Tickets are $10.

Source: Super Art Fight 6

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So… um… I uh… I have some questions about the physical arrangement of said Swarovski Crystal. Like are they glued to the sides on the lip parts or more above the place so you get some disco triangle action or what? We need pictures, please!

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AZM Ally Nelly alerted us to some “news” from CNN that there are people who leave the theater depressed after seeing Avatar. They’re so enchanted with the wondrous colors of Pandora that when they realize it’s all computer generated, they’re left feeling empty and lonely.

Okay, people. Look, I get that Pandora is awful damn pretty. You got big freaking trees, mushrooms that deflate and make *fwoomp* sound, glowy moss, floating mountains, all that awesome stuff. And if you’re a warrior, you get to ride six-legged, dew sippin’ horses and wrassle dragons. Yes, that’s fucking awesome.

But what if you’re not a warrior? What if you don’t make the cut? What then? We don’t get to see anything of non-warrior life because I bet it really sucks. While your friends all go out on their awesome horsies to tackle some dragons, you’re left at home tending Home Tree. This means you have to clean up giant dragon turds, tend to the horsie stables which includes yet more turns, make arrows dipped in poison (hazardous to your health and painful on your back), weave little loin cloths and nipple covers, care for the children who will grow up to be warriors unlike you, figure out what to do with the dead carcasses of animals that the warriors bring back (I imagine gutting and cleaning which is always nasty business), get rid of nasty mold that will surely take over home tree if not tended to. And to add on top of all those menial duties, think about these: no internet, no tv, no video games, no porn, no chili cheese dogs with onions and hot sauce for your face, no Gundam, no Kamen Rider, no comics. This is not a fun place to live if you’re not a warrior.

If that shit still appeals to you, just join the Peace Corps. They’ll set you up in a nice right town where you can do all those non-warrior things and get real close to nature. I mean wiping your butt with a giant leaf close. If you really want to be close to nature, it’s out there ready to kick your ass.

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