comickal: selfish perversity-r-us

But would this get you voted out of office, or would there merely be a tearstained and weepy public confession of one's ... perversions, as it were.

What being on any Fox News talk show -- or, really, almost any talk show -- is like deep inside one's head... (Unless you're Kathy Griffin, of course.)

You know ... this is actually beginning to make me feel a little sorry for the guy. Not this strip in particular, just the critical mass of commentary on the topic.

Yes ... yes, it IS always good to have one's terms properly defined before taking action.

And NO. it does NOT elevate your spiritual levels.

Somehow, we've entered allergy season without an actual appearance of spring. (It was snowing earlier today. Have yet to see a crocus or daffodil or hyacinth.)

...well, I suppose someone had to do it. (Seriously, can this fad be over now? Please? Please? (Also, turns out that Jesus was the first one, if you think about it. But apparently without that terribly inconvenient craving.)

And that would explain the occasional unusual goings-on in the self-help section of the library.

Somehow, I never realized that character was gay until now. This does not, however, excuse his terrible taste in workout clothes. The 80s are calling, and they want those things back!

Yes ... yes, those would be very bad dates indeed. Especially that last one. Ew.

2008 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards nominees and winners, with the online ceremony here. and also the big awards here. Weird thing: I actually read at least three, and usually four or five, or the nominees in Every Single Category. I kind of think "Short form" should have gone to Sinfest or Three Panel Soul, and I don't entirely get the difference between "Outstanding use of the medium" and "Outstanding webcomic", nor do I get how something can be nominated for best overall when it's not nominated as best in its particular format. Nonetheless, kind of interesting to see what cartoonists consider to be the best out there.

comickal: afterburning

So. Back over in my original review of Afterburn, I said: ... Peculiar geography aside, this is the sort of story that feels very much as though it should have been a movie in the first place -- not because it would have been better visually (I suspect it would have been nearly impossible to make, given the extensive CGI needed to represent the flooded planet), but because you can make this sort of film move fast enough that people don't have time to think about it. It's also the sort of story that's probably going to grab people better if if it's more dynamic and kinetic...

Cue dramatic music! And ...

Tobey Maguire in for 'Afterburn':
Tobey Maguire and Neal Moritz are teaming up for "Afterburn," an adaptation of a comic book published by newbie company Red 5 Comics. Rights to the film are being picked up by Ryan Kavanaugh's Relativity Media.

Maguire would produce through his Maguire Entertainment banner and Moritz through his Original Films shingle.

The book, whose first issue hit stands in January, is a sci-fi adventure set against the backdrop of a postapocalyptic Earth, whose Eastern Hemisphere was destroyed by a massive solar flare, leaving what life remains mutated from radiation and fallout. The story revolves around a group of treasure hunters who for the right price extract such objects as the Mona Lisa, the Rosetta Stone and the Crown Jewels while facing rival hunters, mutants and pirates along the way.

Red 5 Comics was created by Paul Ens, former director of Lucasfilm's StarWars.com and Lucas Online, and Scott Chitwood, co-founder of TheForce.net and contributor to ComingSoon.net and SuperHeroHype.com. The company, based in Calgary, Alberta, began publishing its first books in the fall.

Chitwood and Ens wrote "Afterburn," which is drawn by Wayne Nichols.

Issue 2, one might point out, came out just last week. I declined to purchase. It didn't seem like it was going anywhere I really wanted to go. Maybe it'll play better in the trade as an intact whole.