I'm just reposting this because the headline would be better for an RSS reader. Yes, its 2:35 in the morning, yes I got nothing better to do than get people to vote for me on some poll. But if you think that Speak No Evil is Eisner worthy, or if you want me to get popular enough that I get paid to do my own comics and I don't need to work some unstable animation gig in order to pay rent--thus more comics from me, then vote for me! Either at Polldaddy.com or suvudu.com

Labels: Eisner Awards, Speak No Evil

I've set up a Facebook group. Currently there's no one on it and this makes me sad.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=83261350669&ref=nf

Labels: blog

There's a nice little article about this years Eisner Digital Comics Nominees. You might not be eligible to vote for my comic for the Eisners, but you could at least vote for it on their little poll.

Visit suvudu.com and if you feel like voting for the underdog, vote for "Speak No Evil"

Also, at webcomicbeacon.com the mention "Speak No Evil" and "God(tm) (c) 2XX8 *** ***** ****** ******* Incorporated. All rights reserved. God and all related characters, titles, names and documents are trademarks of *** ***** ****** ******* Incorporated. No similarity between any of the names, characters, persons and/or institutions in this deity with those of any living or dead person or institutions is intended and any such similarity which may exist is purely coincidental." This is probably the first bit of press that-- what I wish to be the Theory of Everything Comics flagship (though it probably won't end up that way) has ever gotten.

It's probably because I'm telling everyone that its okay to just call it "God(tm)" and that the entire title would take up a good portion of the podcast.

Labels: Eisner Awards, my work, podcast, review, Speak No Evil

So, I had this print comic I did a while back ago which I put on the shelf. I thought it was pretty good.

Now I realize it needs a major overhaul.

Since the Eisner nomination, since this is the most completed comic, I thought I could just show this to a publisher say, "Look at me, I'm a nominee!" and it'll get published!

But. damn. shit. I promised myself I'd finish "A Dream of Conscious Thought"

sigh

I've promised myself that I'd work on God(tm) on Sunday.

Damn, I gotta put it to the side. There's that part of me that's a heartbroken angry 23-year-old who needs it.

Well, I promise that I'll have other content posted. Some written by me. Some a bit simpler.

Labels: blog, God(tm), my work, updates

Okay, shirtless old man with a missing tooth, scratching himself with a toilet brush... this makes perfect sense to me. In fact, I can accept that this could very well be my future.

But when it gets to 00:42 (it had to be 42, huh).... it gets brilliantly strange.

Labels: found on the floor, video

The ballots are out for the Eisners!

So, if you're a comic book professional or retailer, please check out Speak No Evil and consider it when you vote for Best Digital Comic for this year's Eisner.

Labels: awards, Eisner Awards, Speak No Evil

So I've been redesigning my website. There's some links that lead to nowhere, others that lead to somewhere. Mainly I'm trying to get as many people who come to see a Space Mexican to go on and see a Korean Priest/Accountant.

Anyway, please mind the mess. I've still yet to figure out how to have a forum. If you have any advice or criticism, please send me an email or post on the comments.

Thank you.

Labels: updates

I have finished two sections of God(tm) (c) 2XX8 *** ***** ****** ******* Incorporated. All rights reserved. God and all related characters, titles, names and documents are trademarks of *** ***** ****** ******* Incorporated. No similarity between any of the names, characters, persons and/or institutions in this deity with those of any living or dead person or institutions is intended and any such similarity which may exist is purely coincidental.

Or "God Trademark" when referred to orally.

Unfortunately, my site is horribly designed and you can't tell where part one ends or part two begins. So here's some help:

Part One.

Part Two.

At least, set-up wise, I've taken care of the back story. I just need to get Joeb Kim out of the cafe. (Now I can work on redesigning my site)

Labels: comics, God(tm), my work, updates

[sauce]

Labels: animation, asian, comics, video

This is something a wise animator I used to work with sent me. I'm sure its advice that will come in handy soon. I'm also pretty sure someone out there could use this advice.

"Say only what you mean, the word is the most powerful tool we have as humans."
Don Miguel Ruiz

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
Thanks Paul.

Labels: blog

The thing with Speak No Evil was that it felt like a neglected child who I thought had potential. Sure, the first born got all the attention and I was concentrating a lot of time on the youngest, but I knew that my middle child was special.

I'm proud to say that Speak No Evil: Melancholy of A Space Mexican is the recipient of the Webcomic Beacon Standalone Simplex Beaky Award. I didn't even know I was nominated because I haven't had time to check out the Webcomic Beacon podcast for a while.



Yes, the Eisners Awards are much more established and much bigger and you actually get a physical award. But my problem with Eisner's Best Digital Comics Award is that there should be more than one, like Best Daily Digital Comic or Best Digital Comic Story, etc. etc. I get the feeling that the judges who picked the nominees aren't that familiar with the webcomic world.

I've found a few blogs about the Eisner Digital Comics Nominees, complaining about how they've never heard of them. They talk about how there are much more popular webcomics that deserve an Eisner nomination.

But the Beakys are much more down-to-earth. The judges LOVE webcomics and the podcast helps me keep up with what's out there on the net and how much my website needs to be re-designed.

I like how they think my comic is good, but they seem very uncomfortable explaining why it is good.

I must be doing something right.



Basically, this award means acceptance from the burgeoning and evolving webcomics community. A community that might eventually take over the traditional print comics/comic shop system.

...but it would've been nice if they contacted me.

Hopefully, this might be a good barometer to the Eisner winner.

Check out their podcast.

Labels: awards, comics, Eisner Awards, my work, podcast, Speak No Evil

So this year's Eisner Awards in Digital Comics is very special for me. Speak No Evil has been nominated. I could go on and on about it, as I have been telling the great news to friends. But lets look at the other nominees and why they're deserving of an Eisner.


Bodyworld, by Dash Shaw
This comic book is an entire graphic novel online. It has twelve chapters and I've only gotten to Chapter Three or Four so far. Its very designy and has a good color palette. The story is set in the near future about a drug addicted botanist who has to test a newly discovered plant. I just got to the chapter that shows what the plant does when you smoke it. I could imagine reading this on a couch, blankets over my lap, by a lamp. I would probably be done reading it within a day. But as a digital comic, sitting on an office chair, looking at it on a screen, clicking, clicking, clicking-- I could only read a few chapters at a time.


Finder, by Carla Speed McNeil
This isn't Carla Speed McNeil's first Eisner nomination. She already has a fan-base with Finder and has done other print comics. She has this very fluid brush line that I'd like to see more of. She has a very feminine quality to her work. I know nothing of "Finder". The Eisner entry starts somewhere in the middle in this world. It took me a while to get used to it.


The Lady's Murder, by Eliza Frye
"The Lady's Murder" is just beautiful. Its full of fluid shapes and color flowing from page to page. Its just pretty. When I read this, I could live with not getting an Eisner this year.


Vs., by Alexis Sottile & Joe Infurnari
This is another comic, if it wins, I could understand. Joe Infurnari was nominated last year in the same category for The Process. Last year Joss Wheadon's comic won. Although Vs. is nowhere near as crazy or beautiful as "The Process", its still a fun comic about living with next-door neighbors.


By the way, this story is part of an anthology called Next-Door Neighbor edited by Dean Haspiel.

Last but not least:
Speak No Evil: Melancholy of A Space Mexican, by Elan' Rodger Trinidad
I probaby see more things wrong with this comic than I see right. So you be the judge.

Labels: Eisner Awards, review, Speak No Evil

I got this on my facebook. I thought it was appropriate to post it here since "Speak No Evil" is in the spotlight these days.

Hi Everyone,

Obama just announced this morning his plan for immigration reform in this year 2009! Right now there are a flood of phone calls being made by the anti-immigrant groups in opposition. We need everyone to call in to say how they support his plan to move immigration reform this year. This means that he is feeling the motion of the swelling Humane Immigration Movement! Let's not be out-done by the anti-immigrant haters!

Call 1-866-584-3962! You will hear a quick prompt of what you might say and then it will connect you to the President's office. Press 1 for the comment line. There are a lot of people calling in, so you may be on hold for a minute. Make sure your comment is logged!

If you want automatic updates in the future through text, then text "justice" to 698-66. You'll get a text back to confirm your zipcode. And then you will automatically receive a text next time there is a major event happening with immigration.

--
Aquilina Soriano
Executive Director
Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California
www.pwcsc.org

Labels: politics, Speak No Evil

Hello new guests. I am fully aware of how much my site's navigation sucks. Hopefully I can remedy this soon.

Anyway, a few things off my chest.

Oddly, when I was writing Speak No Evil: Melancholy of A Space Mexican I was approaching it as a comedy. I actually thought that it was a tragic comedy. Now that I have some distance from the creation process, the subtitle doesn't seem as appropriate anymore. Some friends had a theory that I viewed it as a comedy to deal with how depressing it was. I have a theory that comedy and tragedy are two sides of the same coin and when you feel like you're making something of quality, naming it a comedy or tragedy doesn't really matter.

Oh well, it seemed like a good idea to name it "Space Mexican" at the time and I respect the unemployed artist I knew from a year ago.

I just hope that the comic doesn't come off as patronizing. So far, one mexican has said it wasn't.

Other friends have asked, "I though Devil and the Monk would be nominated for an Eisner." As much as Devil and the Monk has been a staple of Stumbleupon hits to my site, I felt there were a lot of things wrong with it, technically. I would've submitted God(tm), but as of today, I still don't think it makes sense (I just need one more page, then it'll sort of make sense.)

I've noticed in the webcomics community, people are saying "I've never heard of these comics." Well, let me explain what's going on. The publisher, in this case digital comic creator, submits their comic to the Eisner people (or to be more precise, Jackie Estrada). The rules for Digital Comics favor long form comics. And the long form comic isn't as popular as the daily strip webcomic.

I think that there should be at least two, if not five categories for webcomics. One for daily strips. Although, traditionally, daily strips are the realm of the National Cartoonists Society. Comic books are the realm of the Comic Book industry. And there has been debate if a Comic Strip and a Comic book should even be considered as the same thing.

I personally don't think so. Its like having a five line poem and a 305 page novel up for a Pulitzer.

Anyway, the long-form format on the web isn't as developed or as popular as the daily strip. Mainly because people who do comic books could, 20 years ago, self-publish. And the people who did daily strips, 20 years ago, could only published through syndication or local newspapers, no independence. So, of course, the daily strip jumped on the net with much more fervor.

Anyway, I'm up against some really good talent. I think my only strengths are my story, the oddness and originality of it, and its depressing. Often times, people confuse depressing stories with good stories.

Though I'd never say my comic isn't good.

Labels: awards, blog, Eisner Awards, my work, Speak No Evil

So this morning I was surprised to get this e-mail:

Congratulations! "Speak No Evil" has been nominated for a 2009 Will Eisner Comics Industry Award in the Best Digital Comic category. I'm still in the process of verifying all the Eisner nominations, but we are planning the official announcement for tomorrow.

Ballots will be going out in mid-April, and the winners will be announced at Comic-Con International at the Eisner Awards ceremony on July 24.

Best,

Jackie Estrada
Eisner Awards Administrator

Of course I called my Mom.

You can check out the comic here. Or go to the mirror site: http://tinyurl.com/SNEmirror

Labels: comics, Eisner Awards, my work, Speak No Evil

Four minutes of dramatic readings from choice selections in various fundamentalist Christian online forums. http://www.fstdt.com/

Labels: religion, video

Labels: found on the floor, science, video

For anyone who actually reads this blog, for the past month or so, its been Watchmen Watchmen Watchmen. This, hopefully, might be the very last thing I'll have to write about that bloody film.

* * *

The interesting thing about die hard Fanboys is that they'll buy stuff they do not like so they can complain about it. A Fanboy will religiously go to the comic shop on Wednesdays, buy their issue of X-Men and complain about it on a forum. They will continue to buy X-Men every month until they find a girlfriend. Perhaps this habit exists because they enjoy being miserable. Maybe with their lives, maybe with fiction.

When it was announced that the Watchmen movie will show Dr. Manhattan's penis, Fanboys were happy because it was accurate to the comic. And because they love the comic book, anything accurate to the comic book will be as good, if not better, on the big screen.

Be careful what you wish for.

I come from an art school background and there was a time that I saw a naked person almost everyday. Plus I've been to Burningman, so I've seen plenty of limp penises. It only mildly phases me. When I saw Watchmen in the theater, teenagers were giggling at the naked shots. This, of course, drew my attention to Dr. Manhattan's crotch area. And since I have friends who work in production, these thoughts came to mind after the movie:

In large budget movies for 3D, most likely, you're modeling the big toe of the right foot of a dinosaur or something. Which means someone had to 3D model Dr. Manhattan's penis. Is he going to put it on his demo reel?

Did he just look at one penis for reference, or is it a composite of several penises? Did he look at his own, or ask a co-worker to pull their pants down?

When he sculpted the penis, did he have a meeting with the Art Director, Director and Actor? Were they over his shoulder, discussing how big or small it should be. Were they arguing over it, telling him to tweek thing that ultimately won't make a big difference. Was there something in the Actor's contract about the depiction of his penis? Circumcised or uncircumcised? Girth or length?

If the guy who 3D modeled the penis wasn't gay, was he starting to question his heterosexuality? Did he fear getting an erection while he sculpted the penis? Did he use ZBrush or Maya? Was he starting to get in the habit of staring at men's crotches when he walked out in public?

Was he hired because he used to work at the dildo factory?

Plus, you also had the guy who animated the penis. I've been to enough figure drawing classes to know when a penis isn't animated right. It moved too slowly. It was all wrong. Another reason why too much of my attention was put on it.

Obviously, the guy who animated Dr. Manhattan's penis wasn't gay at all. But if he was, the penis would've animated better.

What about the guy who rigged it? Was it just one bone? (Yes, I know how that sounds, but this is the sort of terminology in 3D)

I'd like to imagine that I'll find the demo reel of the guy who worked on Dr. Manhattan's penis. In his demo reel, along side monsters and zombies he did for a video game and the big toe of the right foot of a dinosaur, there's also a close-up of Dr. Manhattan's glowing man-crotch, moving slowly as he walks, for about five seconds.



















penis.

Labels: blog, movies, Watchmen