My Lansing Capital Gains Interview with Ryan Claytor

by on March 15, 2013 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Blog, News

[dc]B[/dc]elieve it or not, I get paid to write from time to time. Yes, I’m always surprised when this occurs–and thankful, because I have a cat to feed. My latest freelance piece was an interview with Ryan Claytor of Elephant Eater Comics for Lansing Capital Gains.

ryan claytor photo by Dave Trumpie

Ryan Claytor. Photo © Dave Trumpie of Trumpie Photography.

I chatted with Ryan about moving to the Lansing area from California, and teaching classes on comics at Michigan State University. Ryan began publishing his And Then One Day comics in 2004. If his name sounds familiar to both of my regular readers, Ryan is Director of the MSU Comics Forum.

Freelance jobs are great, but they are even better when I can write about some of my favorite subjects. Here’s a list of my other feature articles for Lansing Capital Gains.

Affiliate Shout-out: Today’s Gold Box and Lightning Deals on Amazon

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Ocarina of Time, Pt. 7 : Gettin’ Burned in the Fire Temple

by on March 13, 2013 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Blog, Humor

[dc]T[/dc]he Fire Temple in Ocarina of Time is challenging. And annoying. Mostly annoying though. More on this in a bit. First, there is the matter of time travel, which should come as no surprise, since Time is part of the title–it ain’t Ocarina of Cheese, now is it?

fire temple volvagia

The dragon’s name is what? Image © Nintendo.

(If I could use a magical ocarina to summon cheese, I would never leave the house. Because I would be dead within two days from cheese overload).

Ocarina of Time Shuffle

After besting the Forest Temple, I unlocked the ability to travel to the past—back when Link was seven years younger. Now, I’m not one to pick apart details of time travel in a piece of entertainment, in fact it is one of my pet peeves when folks do. I can’t read the reviews of Looper without my Shut Up Level dipping into the red.

Still, I find the back and forth time travel in Ocarina of Time interesting.

I don’t think it is so much Link physically traveling through time, so much as it is mentally or psychically or whateverly. Remember: Link spent seven years locked away in the Chamber of Sages, so he could physically age (however, one would guess he is still mentally a ten-year old in a 17-year old body, since he was asleep the entire duration). Yet, when I travel to the past, Link is back to his child size.

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Amazon Enigmas: Justin Bieber Bonanza

by on March 6, 2013 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Amazon Enigmas, Blog, Humor

[dc]E[/dc]veryone loves Justin Bieber (+ or – 98.799%). My three-second long Internet research tells me that the Biebs has a dedicated cult following. Which is great. I couldn’t waste spend any more time researching Bieber’s fan base, as Angry Birds Star Wars is keeping me busy.

Perhaps some day, Justin Bieber will break into the mainstream, and match the success of Sugar Ray’s Every Morning.

For those few, fiercely loyal Justin Bieber fans wanting to show their Bieber Fever off to the world, read on. Amazon has a cache of wacky…I mean, classy…items bearing the likeness of Canada’s second greatest export (the first being Rocket Robin Hood).

justin bieber duct tape.

Just ducky. Image via Amazon and © original source.

Fans eager to prove their Bieber Fever can hold something together, look no further than this roll of Justin Bieber Ducktape. Yes, every inch of this 10 yards of duct tape bears the likeness of His Royal Bieberness. Perfect for patching rust holes on your 1989 Pontiac Sunbird, wrapping Easter eggs, or making a stylish form-fitting dress. I only hope this sells better than the ill-conceived Hot Chocolate Crazy Glue.

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Two Days of Fun at the MSU Comics Forum

by on March 5, 2013 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Blog, News

[dc]A[/dc]s a fan of comics, I’m happy to attend a convention or otherwise any comic-related event. When the event is in my backyard, my happiness increases ten fold. Such was the case with this year’s MSU Comics Forum, which is held yearly in East Lansing.

ink by Tat on morguefile.com

original photo via user tat on morguefile.com.

Stationed on the lovely, snow-dusted campus of Michigan State University, this free event packed a lot in just two days.¹

MSU Comics Forum: Friday – Nick Bertozzi’s Keynote Address

The keynote address by guest of honor Nick Bertozzi was informative, inspirational, and entertaining. Bertozzi is an excellent speaker—which I’m sure comes in handy as a teacher of comics. I enjoy hearing about an artist’s creative process, their own experiences with success and failure, and especially their inspirations. Bertozzi walked us through his comic creating career, with its ups and downs—including his early failure with self-publishing. I can relate to some of his experiences in that regard.²

What I really took away from Bertozzi’s keynote address was an appreciation for studying your inspirations or the works of older artists. Bertozzi talked about redrawing Tintin comics to learn panel flow and such—not tracing, but recreating character poses and scenes. Bertozzi mentioned studying Archie comics and coming to love their simplicity—pointing out how dialog in Archie comics almost never ends in a period: it is usually either an exclamation point or a question mark. Zounds!

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