Comic Showcase #14: Avengers #1

Starbolts #183: Demonstorm Rising

So many things to say about this week's comic. Let's begin shall we?

1. Jenna is a taker of no crap. There's a reason why old man Whitefox made her a leader and here she shows why she is fit to lead the team.

2. Cobra is acting like Starscream from Transformers isn't he? I really want to have him say "My time will come, Megatron! *I* am the rightful leader of the Decepticons!"

3. Tanis's face turn is about to begin. But, will he be a true hero or an anti hero? That remains to be seen. Either way, look forward to a confrontation between Manta and Tanis.

4. If I haven't proven it already, Demonstorm is teh evil. EEEEEVIL!

5. You'd ship Cobra and Princess. Admit it, people of the Internet. =) One small problem. Cobra is kinda undead at the moment.

With that out of the way, I wish to wish my good friend Justin "JewWario" Carmical good luck on his journey. He recently left tgwtg to pursue his own dreams and trust me when I say that man has some great plans for the future! Famikamen Rider will go on as planned and his reviews as well will be viewable in other places such as his website.

In a time like this, there's no need to be sad. Things evolve over time. Justin helped me with the comic very early on and I thank him for it immensely. Without him, the sprites I've been making wouldn't have evolved to this point. So, I have to thank him for that. I'll still go to his streams, watch his vids and support him because he's a friend.

He inspired me to not be an angry reviewer in my videos and gave me some good tips on vid making when I started. He said that you have to have passion for what you are doing and Jdub has a lot of that. To that, I say: Good luck, Jdub!  I can't wait to see what you do next!

Starbolts #182: The Siege

I've been debating about the sound effect I'm using for the transporter sound. I'm not really into it. I want it to sound somewhat like the transporter sound in Star Trek: The Next Generation and in later series. Alas, I don't know how to spell that sound effect. I've made many attempts and all it looked like was a serious mashing of letters. I then went with what I could.

Anyway, the story is progressing as the 'Bolts have access to the starship. All the Aquans and Setleth on board are now under lock and key. Now, the question remains. Where are they going to go from here? Also, what is Tanis up to? We'll find out soon enough, friends!

 Oh! And I revamped the outros for Marcus and Kevin. You'll be seeing those in vids soon enough. Next two Starbolts that need outros are Jenna and Jack. We'll see how will those go. Take care!

Starbolts #181: Beauties vs. The Beasts

Know how there's a tumblr that says "DC women kick ass"? Well, here Starboltsverse women kick ass! Jenna has full knowledge of how Aquan ships operate and that's how she managed to pretty much cripple the command ship of the Aquan fleet. The teleporter takes a bit more time to figure out. Still, this was one fun comic to write. As I said before, I don't do damsels in distress. I know some people have a hard time writing women in comics. I don't know why it tends to be that way. What I do is try to combine their instincts with the dialog. They can be caring and still tough. See Jadzia Dax, Kira Nerys and other female Star Trek characters to see how it can be accomplished.

Those are good models for writing female characters, I think. Hell, even Sarah Jane Smith from Doctor Who fame is a good choice. As well as other characters. Literature is full of strong women and while it has been overshadowed in recent years, they are out there. Here, I show just how cunning Jenna is when dealing with Dark Manta. Same with Angela. It's all about execution and how to best handle a lady writing wise.

In comics, we've had several ladies in Marvel that have also kicked ass. Invisible Woman, Storm and Shadowcat to name a few. In the hands of a good writer, women can be written very well. It's up to the reader and viewer of a television show to pick out the best ones.

Anyway, I have a bit of news. If you head over to  http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2013/01/state-of-wall-1-27-12.html You will see that Linkara has decided to pass the writing torch of Lightbringer to another person. What does that have to do with me? Well, Lightbringer did cameo a couple times in comics over the years. Just minor appearances here and there since I didn't want to overdo it and bug Lewis for a cameo/crossover every single day. I have more sense than that. I know Lewis worked very hard on the character and I hope whoever takes over the reins does a fantastic job with the character.

I'd do it myself, but, to be honest it wouldn't be fair to Lewis. I focus my time on the Starbolts and I have a TON of characters to work with. I'm afraid that Lightbringer would get lost in the shuffle and I don't want that to happen. He's a good character and I'm not even sure he'd fit in the Starbolts universe very well. Supers have been around for a long time and Lightbringer is his world's first hero.

His artist is also a good guy to work with. His work and his comics are good. Serge works really hard on his stuff and whoever gets a chance to work with him will have a very talented artist. I hope whoever takes over Lightbringer keeps that in mind. Despite the harsh criticisms the comic gets from people, the comic IS a good read. The character is unique. The universe is as well. Not many people start over from scratch in universe building.

Whereas my story has always been about a continuing legacy of heroics, Lightbringer has always been about how the world sees heroes for the first time in the modern age. It's rare to see that in this day and age and it'd be tough to see that light fade. (Pardon the pun).

Here's to you, Lightbringer. The Starbolts will be waiting to see who takes charge of their white spandex wearing friend and good luck to whoever takes the reins!

Comic Showcase #13: Ultimate Spider-Man #1

Starbolts #180: Starbolts History X

Hail!

This week, I thought I'd make a good jumping on point for new readers of the comic AND tie it into the current storyline. All the basics of what you need to know about the Starbolts are here. As a bonus, I tossed in some of Jenna's back story. Note: I hate writing creeps like Rick Baxter. I really, really do. Someone once told me that it's okay to hate writing a character. Me? I was GLAD when I finally killed him off. For those who don't know....let's just say he got the POINT! Justice was served that day. Hahaha.

Now Jenna is out of the cell. What is she going to do? Well, you saw what happened to the hallway, right? Hmm. It won't be THAT big as she has control now. See, I told you I hated damsels in distress. So, that's why I had Jenna escape by herself. She knows her way around Aquan tech. It didn't change when reality went loopy.

As for Angela? Well, you'll have to wait until Starbolts #181: Beauties VS the Beasts to see what happens. The comic won't be out next week as I am going to continue my look at Marvel's history. Got the early aught's to cover and oh man do I have something good. Well, "Good" is a relative term isn't it? How does everyone feel about Ultimate Spider-Man #1?

Starbolts #179: RAMPAGE!!!

 If it's one thing I hate, it's damsels in distress. Don't worry. Angela and Jenna will get out of this the only way they can: By kicking all kinds of butt all over the place. At least now we know where Angela has been hiding in the alternate reality. Robkas let her go accidentally. Oh, well. He's having a delusional episode and is very dangerous. You could say he made an...impact on the base? Hahaha. Oh, that was bad.

Next week,  we're finally going to have Dark Manta talk to Jenna. Sufficed to say, our Jenna is less than impressed by Dark Manta's title. What will she say to her husband's doppelganger? We shall see, true believers!

I am also planning the next few reviews after I finish up my history of Marvel. I've decided to take a look at both Amazing Spider-Man #700 and Superior Spider-Man #1 back to back. This could be my first two parter episode. So, it should be fun to write. Will probably work on those scripts soon.

In the mean time, it looks like Jenna and Angela both have their hands full with deranged Aquans. Here's hoping they get out of this mess and since both are smart ladies, they will.

On a side note, I wasn't overly crazy with how Angela's cell came out. Then I realized that it's a cell. It's supposed to be spartan and devoid of character. The pod, though, was neat to do.

See you next time!