I just stumbled across “More,” a 1998 animated short by Mark Osborne, who went on to co-direct Kung Fu Panda for Dreamworks (and did a terrific job at that, I should add). I always find it interesting to see early work by directors — especially animators — but the utterly different tone on display here made this a great surprise. It’s only six minutes, so give it a look.
Thor: What did you think?
Friday, May 6th, 2011
So… Thor. Is it as good as Iron Man… or as mediocre as Iron Man 2? Did it have action in spades like The Incredible Hulk, or did Thor punch a cloud at the end like in The Hulk? Enquiring minds want to know! I haven’t seen it yet — I’m finishing up Monday’s comic and then I’m debating whether or not to see it this afternoon. (I’m sure I’ll see it eventually.)
This thread will stay open for a few weeks, so even if you don’t see it opening day, stop by and share your thoughts whenever you get around to it!
VectorScribe Illustrator plug-in now available from Astute Graphics
Thursday, May 5th, 2011
Sorry for the promotional post, but for you vector artists out there, a new Illustrator plug-in I’ve been helping beta test for the past few weeks is now available. It’s from Astute Graphics, whose Phantasm CS plug-in I’ve been using for years, and it’s called VectorScribe. VectorScribe’s PathScribe suite of tools extends Adobe Illustrator’s drawing tools in ways Illustrator users have daydreamed of for years, and (like Phantasm CS before it) I now use it every single day, routinely, while working on Multiplex.
The ability to drag a curve out (from a straight line) simply by pulling on the path and its smart point removal tool are probably the two things I do most often with PathScribe, but their presence makes drawing in Illustrator so much more intuitive and pleasant than a simple features list can convey.
Both of Astute Graphics’ plug-ins have free trials, so if you are an Illustrator user, definitely check them out. There are all sorts of videos explaining the tools, too, which will give you a taste of these tools’ possibilities.
(FULL DISCLOSURE: This is NOT a paid endorsement, but as a beta tester, I did receive a free copy of VectorScribe. That said, I would absolutely have paid the $65 [or so] for the VectorScribe Designer plug-in, and I think the additional VectorScribe Studio features have some terrific — if somewhat niche — uses, as well.)
Multiplex #108 1/2: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011
I won’t be posting all of the bonus material from the eBooks/print books here, of course — gotta give you some reason to read the collections — but those of you who subscribe to one of the RSS feeds including the Deleted Scenes content or follow me on Twitter can look forward to occasional bonus comics and progress reports on Book 2 here. This is what Deleted Scenes was meant for!
It’ll be a while longer before Chapter 6 is a finished; there will be about 10 pages of bonus material (either bonus comics or extended strips) in it, and about five pages of bonus stuff in each of the other four chapters in Book 2, or about 30 pages in all. There won’t be a standalone story like Book 1’s Prequel this time around.
Anyway. You shouldn’t need to re-read Multiplex #108 again to follow what’s going on here, but even so, this bonus comic from the upcoming Chapter 6 eBook (and Book 2 print collection) doesn’t really stand on its own for a few reasons — it’ll work better in context, I promise. In this bonus strip, it’s Christmas night (or around there), after work, and the gang has just finished watching the horror remake Black Christmas (as seen in #108), as indicated by the movie poster in the background of panel 1. Devi is back in town from college for the holidays, and Jason is up to his usual thing: complaining. Coincidentally, this strip sort of ties in to what’s going on in the strip now with Jason and horror movies.