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Comma Dong

Comma Dong

W-AI-ZARDS OF THE COAST: With the publishing of Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants! people noticed that some of the art looked…suspicious. It was revealed that the artist in question had used AI-engines to “enhance” the art they created for the book. Our hosts dive into this discussion and branch out from there.

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RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Don’t Pull Out Your Deck” (14 July 2023): Where our hosts cite the tweet from a VFX artist on Flash who discusses the extreme conditions they are forced to work within.
  • Mama Knight” (21 July 2023): Where our hosts cover the details of the various entertainment strikes.

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Space Man From Pluto

Space Man From Pluto

SECRET INVASION…OF A.I.: Marvel seems to have hamstrung the release of its new Disney+ series, Secret Invasion, when viewers quickly noticed the apparent artlessness of the show’s opening credits and that they seemed to have used A.I. engines to create it instead of, you know, any of the artists it employs.

STIFLED PRODIGY: Paramount+ has been on a Star Trek kick for the last few years, but all might not be as rosy at it seems. Not only has it cancelled the all-ages-aimed animated series, Star Trek: Prodigy, it has also removed all the episodes from their proprietary streaming service––even though season 2 is wrapping production.

A BEAST OF A SURPRISE: D. Bethel takes a moment to discuss Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and how it pleasantly surprises in terms of actually being a good Transformers movie (who knew?).

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FEATURED MUSIC:

  • “Unicron Medley” by Vince DiCola
Con Artists #08 – The Madness of Marketing

Con Artists #08 – The Madness of Marketing

It’s been over a year since D. Bethel sat down with Taurus Comics’ Kyrun Silva to talk about reading, making, and selling comics. Since both hosts recently released new books, they spend some time to focus on what is probably (for some) the least fun part of the comics creation process: marketing.

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Wheelhouse Collector

Wheelhouse Collector

DEVIANT ART: There’s a lot of talk around AI-generated art lately, and with questions about copyright, ownership, sourcing, credit, and applicability, our hosts do their best to parse this very new and nebulous topic.

TOPICS:

  • (00:00) Intro – It’s September!
  • (02:25) The problem (and possibility?) of A.I. Art
  • (35:56) Outro – Short She-Hulk: Attorney At Law impressions
  • (37:30) Outtakes

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Zombie Brooms

Zombie Brooms

ROUGH TEXTURES: Capcom gets sued for allegedly using textures from a reference book––Judy A. Juracek’s Surfaces––for many of its games in the early 2000s and the evidence is pretty compelling. Without dispensing professional legal advice, Andrew guides D. Bethel through the nuances and complexities of this interesting case.

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RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Don’t Stop Recording” (03 July 2015): Where D. Bethel and Andrew talk about how the 1986 classic,The Transformers: The Movie, may have started as a toy commercial but ended up as a defining emotional moment for young fans at the time.
  • Listeners in the Woodwork” (18 October 2019): Where Andrew and D. Bethel discuss the lawsuit surrounding the origins of the theme song from X-Men: The Animated Series.
  • Dating the Void” (23 April 2021): Where Andrew discussed the copyright confusion surrounding Sherlock Holmes.

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Milkbloods

Milkbloods

NFT? NO F*@#ING THANKS: Andrew and D. Bethel dive deep into the mechanics, the motivations, and the…schemes?…of the recent NFT explosion. Spoiler warning: they are not fans.

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  • All Those Words” (19 March 2021): Where D. Bethel first talked about playing and enjoying––amid much frustration––Star Wars Jedi: The Fallen Order.

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Too Many Johnnies

Too Many Johnnies

BETTER THAN IT SHOULD BE: After a lot of build up and expectation, Andrew and D. Bethel finally get together to record an episode about former YouTube/current Netflix show, Cobra Kai.

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RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Shortcast 54 – Cameo Train” (11 May 2018): Included for no reason except for the fact that the phrase “cameo train” was used in this episode.
  • Dad Talk” (18 September 2020): Where Andrew first talked about watching Cobra Kai and watching the first The Karate Kid film.
  • Chekhov’s Honk” (22 January 2021): Where Andrew and D. Bethel discuss the original The Karate Kid trilogy of films and how they influence Cobra Kai, briefly.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

  • “Nerd Law” by D. Bethel

Surviving 2020: D. Bethel

Surviving 2020: D. Bethel

2020 was a year that upended all expectations. Though the threats that 2020 brought affected people in a variety of ways, for most it became a year of simple survival. For nerds, of course, we turn to the things that occupy our attention, inspire our imagination, or generate conversation. This year, we are looking at the things that helped us survive 2020. Today, co-host D. Bethel shares what kept him inspired throughout the year.


2020 became a year of self-reflection for most people; for creatives, it became a challenge to find inspiration in new places and ways. Working from home proved to be incredibly difficult when, all of a sudden, my creative, personal space became my classroom. Teaching, planning, and grading at my computer all day made it difficult to walk the two feet to my drawing table and work for another handful of hours on a Long John page. To that end, of all the things to provide inspiration, the sweet and sentimental video game, Spiritfarer, hit hard and unexpectedly.

Spiritfarer

On its own, Thunder Lotus’ newest game, Spiritfarer isn’t particularly notable. Yes, it looks very nice and the systems and loops are fun to juggle and the writing is top-notch. But it’s not revolutionary, at least not on its own. It’s just a good game. Honestly, that’s enough.

Spiritfarer is a management sim; playing as Stella, you takes over the role of spiritfarer––shepherding souls from death to the afterlife––from a retiring Charon. The majority of the game takes place on your boat that houses the spirits found along the way. During their tenancy, you talk to them, learn their stories, and help them get past whatever psychology holds them back from accepting their deaths. Once they have a moment of clarity, you take them to the “Everdoor” which sends them to their eternal home. For each spirit you recruit––taking the form of a different anthropomorphized animal––you do small quests to help brighten their moods. To do that, you grow crops, cook food, take them to specific locations, or harvest materials they want. With so many different spirits on your boat, your job is to keep all of these plates spinning while also maintaining your boat.

Also, it has a hug button, which is great.

The thing about this game is not what it is, specifically, although––as I said––it’s very good. Instead, it’s about what it represents and what came before. Spiritfarer‘s Canadian developer, Thunder Lotus, is renowned for their amazing art and animation; what they can’t be accused of, however, is being stuck in a rut. Their previous game, Sundered, is a procedurally-generated Metroidvania. Before that, their first game, Jøtun, is an isometric 2D-Zelda-like that had you battling giant bosses to get into Valhalla (I played both games on the Dan & Rusty Video Game Power Hour years ago).

Every game differs wildly from the last, with the quality of art and music being the only link between them. This also makes them unpredictable, but not in a worrying, nervous way. There is no doubt that their next game will be beautiful and good, even if I have no idea what kind of game it will be, and that’s what I found so comforting about this game in a year like 2020.

This is not a cinematic sequence; this is just something you can do in the game. Screencap taken by the author (click for a larger version).

While Spiritfarer is wonderful, I find its success validating for the mercurial ethos of Thunder Lotus Games, and for me. Though I’m slow with the output for my western webcomic, Long John, I also know it’s not the only story I want to tell. Seeing Thunder Lotus not only bounce between genres and styles without a care but to also be successful (in terms of execution) with every game they make shows me that a similar desire to bounce around with my own creative endeavors is not only possible but can absolutely work when done with integrity, thoughtful intent, and earnest excitement. Those qualities seep through Spiritfarer on every level (pardon the pun), and they were more than welcome in a year like 2020.

Nature’s Velcro

Nature’s Velcro

WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew finds half of a game to enjoy in Owlcat Games’ Pathfinder: Kingmaker while D. Bethel expands his artistic repertoire by investing in an iPad Pro and finds a lot to like in it.

Here’s a recent post on D. Bethel’s Long John website about using the iPad to draw. Here’s the process video that Procreate (sigh) created of the drawing:

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01 February 2019 – English Danger

01 February 2019 – English Danger

Image sources: HBO (left)/Getty Images (right)

MIRA DEL MAHER: Bill Maher redoubles his “complaints” against adult comic book fans on a recent episode of his show, Real Time with Bill Maher, in an editorial titled, “Grow Up” (from the “New Rules” segment he does at the end of his show). Andrew and D. examine less the content of his argument and more the ideas it intersects, discussing the need for fandom self-reflection, literature and literary history, the Western canon, and the invented division between “high” and “low” art.

Though linked above, here is the segment in question:

RELEVANT LINKS:

  • Cat Valente’s Response to Maher’s comments on Twitter (click on the tweet to read the entire thread):

INFO:

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

FEATURED MUSIC:

-“Disco Medusae” by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
-“District Four” by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
*Tracks are licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/