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Friend of this blog, social rocket scientist, ass-kicker, and all-around badass, Sean Demory is launching his comic, THUNDER ROAD: World War III started on Christmas Eve, 1954 when the MacArthur administration ordered an A-bomb strike on Leningrad. It ended with a tense peace treaty signed aboard the locomotive-city Stalin 1 as it roared across the tundra. That peace lasted eight months, until a mushroom cloud appeared over Wichita and the first Mobile Expeditionary Force made its beachhead in Siberia, leaving the ground blackened under the wheels of their warcycles. ( continues )

DM of the Rings I: The Copious Backstory Lord of the Rings is more or less the foundation of modern D&D. The latter rose from the former, although the two are now so estranged that to reunite them would be an act of savage madness. Imagine a gaggle of modern hack-n-slash roleplayers who had somehow never been exposed to the original Tolkien mythos, and then imagine taking those players and trying to introduce them to Tolkien via a D&D campaign. (apologies; I can't recall where I first saw this)

Cory Doctorow’s craphound.com ~ Sam Kieth cover for Anda’s Game comic My favorite short story by Cory Doctorow, and one of my favorite short stories ever, is Anda’s Game . A comic book adaptation is planned, along with several other of his stories. Mine is on order already through Atlantis Fantasyworld in Santa Cruz, California! As with Cory’s other works, it is available for free, online. There is also a fantastic reading of the work available through his podcast, and at the story’s official page, here .

MAKIBISHI COMIC | マキビシコミック - put here as a reminder to check out later. (Thanks, Weezie !)

Free Spider-Man comic PDF at Target, celebrating the marketing rush for the new movie, illustrated by gobsmackingly talented Stuart Immonen .

The BBC series, The Secret Life of Machines : The Secret Life of Machines is a television series created by Tim Hunkin and presented by himself and Rex Garrod. In it they explain the inner workings and history of common household and office machinery. According to Hunkin, the series was developed from his comic strips The Rudiments Of Wisdom which he researched and drew for the Observer newspaper over a period of 14 years. Everyday things we take for granted, and which may largely be considered confusing or unknowable, are explained in entertaining, comprehensive and comprehend-able detail. There are currently several episodes for viewing at YouTube/Google Video . Some of them can be downloaded for iPod/PSP viewing, to boot. ( gregg tavares )

The intriguing first issue of crime urban crime comic Cross Bronx is available for free online reading . The art style is somewhere between Batman The Animated Series and the Pander Brothers’ take on Grendel . The story hints at deep characterizations and a larger picture yet to be revealed. ( warren ellis )

Monty’s got a new comic up at Planet Saturday . His comics are getting better each month. He might be eating something that is making him funny. OK -- Funnier.

Monty has posted a most excellent comic on the topic of music and aging over at Planet Saturday . Go. Read.

Get a sample of Oni Press’ Wasteland - One Hundred Years After The Big Wet . Unlike most free, downloadable previews, instead of making it a bloated, nasty PDF, they are offering individual JPEG files, or even CBR and Bit-Torrent distributing, to boot. Just like bootleg comics, but “for reals.” (warren ellis’ BAD SIGNAL)

Gamasutra: Where do you feel the fans factor into the decision-making process of a game based off a comic or other intellectual property? Do you think a more independent comic would have a better chance of making good game, since they don’t have this large and potentially rabid fan base? Doug Tennapel: No, because…I’m going to piss some people off here, but I don’t care what the fans think. I love my fans, but never ever design a game for your fans. When you originally made the thing, the thing that all the fans liked, you made it because it was good, and they came to you, because of what you did. Your instincts lead you correctly in that instance. So to suddenly change that formula, and follow what fans want and redesign something in the image that you think, second-guessing, that they will like, would create a different thing, that isn’t you and probably isn’t good. And you will always lose fans by doing that. — Digging For Worms: Why Doug Tennapel Does...

ScansDaily: The secret origin of The Captain from Nextwave .

One of my favorite manga artists, Taiyou Matsumoto, creator of Number 5 and Ping Pong (also a fun movie!) was introduced to me 13 years ago through his comic Tekkon Kinkurîto (English title: Black and White , serialized in PULP Manga in North America). Because Matsumoto trained in Europe, Tekkon Kinkurîto is perhaps influenced toward euro-comic style, and is even more confusing philosophically challenging than other Japanese manga. In any case, I am stoked to find the series will have a full length animated movie . Comics Preservation by Jonathan Barli is an archive of classic comics, protecting them from being lost to the ravages of time. ( the other michael ) Check out these desktop wallpapers for Clive Barker’s Great and Secret Show , Transformers , and Brian Wood’s Supermarket . ACT-I-VATE , an online comics cabal is producing tons of interesting and unusual, very Comics Code Authority -unfriendly works. In particular, I am enjoying Panorama , to whi...

Is Concerned “A humor comic based on the world of Half-Life 2,” machinima ? Machinimanga ? There is also an interview with the creator , Livingston.

For fans of both comic books and bits of trivium, check out these commonly held legends, exposed.

Twelve different artisan bacon delivered to your door each month Informative notes on all bacon selections Discounts on Grateful Palate bacon products and bacons Bacon of the Month Club Membership Card The Bacon Strip—Our monthly bacon comic strip for members only The Bacon of the Month Club Pig Ballpoint Pen A Little Rubber Toy Pig One free Bacon Tee-Shirt “Artisan bacon”?! Holy moly! If I was fabulously wealthy, I would join the Bacon of the Month Club . ( 4rthur )

Garfield Randomizer ’s random-cell output is at least as funny as the actual comic.

Slither features Nathan Fillon in a role that seems, well, non dissimilar to his role in Firefly. As a horror comedy with action sequences, Slither looks to be a spiritual follow up to the excellent Tremors . The X-MEN 3 Announcement Teaser is a lot more of a trailer than a simple tease; spoiler for anyone who didn’t read the comic: Jean Grey is back, risen from the ashes, so to speak. “From the makers of Traffic” comes Syriana , what looks to be a morality tale about lying down with dogs, and then being surprised at the flea infestation that ensues. With oil. It looks very exciting, but I can’t help but think that only us would-be lefties will see it, and it will not change anyone’s mind about mixing politics with business; might it stir us to greater action, though? If all these visuals overload your Cool Gauge, check out the video for Lionel Richie’s All Night Long to bring yourself back to earth, and possibly begin weeping for the eighties.

JayPinkerton.com comments on the surly nature of overly active nationalistic guardians in The Occupation of Latveria .

Enki Bilal’s style, in CG for a contest: check this Trainstation out. ( mefi )