Wow, this three day weekend just zipped right by. I just realized it’s Monday and I have a blog to write. I guess I can thank Marvel Super Hero Squad Online for the time warp feeling. It’s the newest online game I found (the Online part of the title may have given that away). As I was looking at some geek news on ICv2, I saw a post about a Marvel trading card game based on the Super Hero Squad universe that was based on the in-game card game. Well, I love me a good trading card game and at the low-low price of FREE, I had to check it out.

Let’s just say that MSHSO is tailor-made for an obsessive-collector like me, there are heroes to collect and level up, achievements to unlock, missions to fight through (they remind me of Double Dragon type games, if that means anything to you) and of course, the card game.It’s  easy-to-play and fun to boot. As I said you can play for free, but if you plunk down some cash you get some perks. You can pay directly for gold, but if you go for the monthly fee, gold is easier to accumulate in game and there are special heroes available to you. It didn’t take me long to decide I’d be better off paying the monthly fee.

So yeah, I’ve been spending the better part of the week trying to level up my squad. I think I’m doing well for a newbie. I’m up to 15 heroes in my squad, with two of them already at max level (11). Firestar rocks in the missions by the way.

I suppose I should mention that the game is obviously geared towards a younger crowd, but parents are encouraged to join in the fun too. I’m neither of course, but I’m playing anyway! I suspect there are more than a few other adults with me. I can’t be certain though. There’s no real chatting options beyond pre-set messages to protect the young’uns.

My furor will die down to more reasonable levels sooner rather than later. It better! I didn’t get any site work done this weekend beyond drawing the Mash-ups. Fortunately I still have that bank of strips left, though I can’t rely on that for too long.

This past weekend was a true nerd’s weekend.

Friday was Star Wars Day. May the Fourth by with you was too obvious a slogan to let pass. I didn’t do anything “Star Warsy” but that doesn’t change that it’s a day for folks like me.

Saturday was Free Comic Book Day. My local comic book store put on an event to celebrate the day. There were comic bagging contests (I won a round), raffles (I won a Cheetah bust), folks in costumes, and of course comic books (free and otherwise). I wore an Age of Animus t-shirt to promote the site, but sadly nobody asked me about it. With a little planning, I might be able to produce something to give away at next year’s FCBD.

Of course, these “freebies” aren’t really free. The comic publishers put them out at a net loss, but the retailers still have to pay a minimal amount for them. The idea being that the folks that take the freebies will like what they see and come back for the real (read: full price) comics. Without the weight of a publishing house behind me, I’ll be absorbing the entire cost and the scope will be limited (my local comic book shop and that’s about it), but it’s a start.

I met a good number of folk at the event and we talked about all kinds of nerdy subjects. It’s nice to meet new people with the same interests to bring a fresh voice or  new perspective to the conversations you’ve been having for years with your friends.

Sunday, we went to see The Avengers. I thought it was okay…better than okay, it was good. It’s well worth seeing on the big screen (in 2D), I just didn’t think it was GREAT. There were parts I felt dragged on or didn’t add enough to the movie to be included (like the Pepper Potts scene with Tony Stark in the beginning). What’s funny though is that if they hadn’t been included in the movie and only released as deleted scenes on the DVD, I’d probably have felt they should have been included in the movie. I’m crazy that way.

Joss Whedon did an excellent job of balancing the screen time so that each hero had his or her time to shine. Iron Man/Tony Stark was understandably given top billing, but I felt like the best scenes were the ones involving the Hulk/Bruce Banner. After two disappointing movie efforts, it was nice to see Hulk done right. Mark Ruffalo was great as Banner.

I think it’s inevitable that when The Dark Knight Rises comes out people will compare it negatively to the Avengers because it won’t (I think) be as successful at the box office. I don’t think it will be a fair comparison because the two movies have two different approaches. Nolan’s Batman trilogy is dark, gritty and trying to ground itself a little more in reality. The Avengers, and the movies leading up to it, are colourful, explosive and fun. I think DC needs to get their act together and start handing their properties to people who know what they’re doing to create a cohesive movie universe like Marvel. I want a Justice League movie darnit!

Sadly, my next big nerd weekend isn’t scheduled until September. I’m already looking forward to it.

Last weekend, I skipped drawing new Funnies. I have a good buffer of strips, so I decided I could do that. The reason why was that I tried starting two different projects and I found both efforts lacking which discouraged me from doing any further drawing during the weekend. The first was the Fun ‘n’ Fantasy – Age of Animus crossover. I drew the first page of that. It looks just about as good as the old FnF comics used to look, but that just wasn’t good enough for me. I think I’m going to have to do a little more design work for the FnF characters.

What was the second project I tried starting? I’m not ready to talk about it yet. I’ve mentioned too many projects on the site that I haven’t delivered on yet that aren’t even close to being finished. Then why start another? Well, I have a good feeling about this one. It’s just a matter of getting started. Plus, my brain is too scattered to stay on one project for too long. With several projects going at once, I can switch from one to the other whenever I feel one is stagnating. It’d be better to learn how to focus, but I’ve resigned myself to having lost that battle. This is something I’m doing for fun. I don’t want it to feel like work.

The Funnies are the one thing that have been going well. Two strips a weekend is something I can manage and I feel good when they’re done. Last weekend, I  didn’t get that good feeling. So even though I still have the buffer and could afford to take another weekend off to work on the other projects, I drew my two Funnies instead. And I felt good again. I may take other weekends off from drawing the Funnies in the future to work on other stuff, but now right now.

Another thing that has been going well are the mash-ups. They’ve been a lot of fun to draw and I feel they’ve been testing my skills. Sure, I’m working with pre-existing character designs, but I have to find a way to make them work with my Funnies characters. So far, my favourites are Dark Fox, Cyran as a Washington Capital (not technically a mash-up, but close enough), Cyran as the Flash and Red’n’Green Arrow. Is it a coincidence that they all feature either Cyran or Todrick? No. If I give them the choicer roles, they’re bound to have more potential. Fortunately, the execution matched the potential (at least for me).

I need to come up with an idea for this week’s mash-ups. Any suggestions?