Below are the 7 most recent journal entries recorded in not_robolizard's LiveJournal:

Wednesday, August 1st, 2007
11:04 am	I feel like updating this journal and I don't know why. Beginning a graphic novel with Norris Duncan about skinless people falling into salt because, y'know, that's what I'm all about. ....[sleeps] (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 7th, 2007
11:07 pm	Infinite Crisis Huh. So I just finished reading Geoff Johns' Infinite Crisis... and its odd. In that unlike any crossover before or after it (Civil War?) it has actual deep commentary about or world today. It is about a series of conservatives, unable to comprehend the changes going on in the world about them, so they try to change it through acts of violence. The conservatives here are the Supermen of some of the various erased Earths and Alexander Luthor, Lex Luthor's son from an Earth where Lex Luthor was the only hero in a world where all else were evil. This all seems bizzarely convoluted when written down, but confusingly comprehensible when actually read. It ALL makes sense! Why not? It is a time eater however, keeping all of those time lines in check. Its really not worth it, and its bizzare that there are not one but TWO corporations which depend on fan's love of various deus ex machinas and convoluted back story. But more on that another time. Anyhow, it seems that these Supermen and one Luthor were less than enthused with the grim and gritty movement going on in comics, the breaking of Batman's back, Parallax infecting the Green Lantern, Superman dying at Doomsday's hands. Their reactions seemed to be similar to that of the big baby creators, and a bit of how the fans felt. The fans seemed to feel that this was a bit much, while the old crankers seemed to wonder 'when will we get back to the genius of Superman fighting a Kryptonite shooting gorilla. [Actually, I like the Kryptonite shooting gorilla! But the point still stands!] We can see the four members of the imprisoned Super Family to be four facets of the of the existing conservative party. Superman-Gray Hair is well meaning but ultimately fooled by talks of people sleazier than him. Lois Lane represents the best of what the conservative party can become, letting it be a personal choice rather than something to teach or impose on foolish masses. Of course, as the most active mortal in the book, she unfortunately spends most of her time dying. Alex Luthor is Dick Cheney, a master mind who fights with a goal, but doesn't quite care about the result, he's a neocon who understands he's lying to the world, but thinks he's doing it for the greater good. Superboy represents another facet of the neocons, the Bill O' Reilly style neocon who is ultimately sure that he cannot be wrong, irregardless of how many get hurt in his way forward. Come to think of it, its a lot like George W. Bush too. Ultimately Superman-Gray Hair stands by Alex Luthor and his plan, knowing full well his intentions but unsure of his actions. He does however trust that all will turn out well simply because it *should* be. This kind of reminds me of the manner which we got into Iraq. Sure, Hussein has no WMD's or ties to 9/11, but doesn't it feel kinda right that we attack him? Is his skin not brown and his religion Muslimesque? Hey that's kinda like Osama Bin Laden! Charge my Army, Charge! The book continues with all of its heavy anti-neo con plots and imagery, from Batman's massive surveillance being at the root of his downfall, to a superpower like Superman being hijaked (!!) for destruction, to the fact that Chapter/Issue 1 has a scene where a wounded Uncle Sam drowns in a massive pool of oil. Infinite Crisis, like Identity Crisis [DC looooooves that word!] seems to be purely inspired by the world of post-9/11. Animal Man seems to represent the American soldier with a family, which is why he gets his own moment I suppouse, while Booster Gold travels from the future seems to represent our ability to predict the future of all of these actions. He knows what will happen, and no one is surprised, while Jaime becoming the new Blue Beetle seems to represent my generation, the generation which has grown up in these times of Crisis and will take charge when the generation before us takes it leave. Come to think of it, its nothing too surprising, but after reading shit like Civil War, a mess which started out with much clearer intention of commentary, and ended in a mishmash of superhero continuity which was probably meant to sell toys and tie ins. And tentacle porn of course. Dull dull characters, meaningless action, its kind of sickening. While the original Infinite Crisis had some great layout, but ultimately it was a lot of action with no emotional anchor, and when there was one, it got ripped out from under the footing. Although I try to dislike mainstream comics, I can't help but like current work in DC. The reason these comic companies tend to be so fun is the idea of keeping up with an expansive universe. If it was just superheroes, the company may fall flat on its face amidst absolute tedium of one guy punching another. Also, they listen and care about thier image to more discerning readers [I love the Bill Jemas quote about publishing 'Bad Girls' style comics after Marvel's hip Grant Morrison/Ennis heyday that some of thier male readers, who live in thier parents' basement, make up most of thier audience and 'consider a night with Elektra as good as it gets']. Marvel embraces the worst of thier audience, publishing ladies in reavealing clothing, following one epic crossover with another and another and another, composed of many meaningless [and poorly executed!] deaths, epic pointless changes, [doesn't cutting down the Mutant population to 198 kind of undermine the entire 'the future is in the deviants' theme.] DC however seems to care about quality. It changed the design of Supergirl to less frightneningly anorexic. Actually that's it. I have no idea what else I'm talking about. Reading all this crap can't be good for me. Oh well. I read indie too! American Elf is fantastic! Current Mood: Rhubarb (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 29th, 2007
4:02 pm	Hyena received its first piece of fan mail! I WANT to have YOUr babies Hyena STAFF.  (mostly just the big G though). aninomanous More to the point, is anyone even reading this blog? Also on the topic, rich people seem more worried that poor people will take thier money than they should be. That poor people aren't working for it, etcetera. It just reeks of self adoration, and I thought I'd vent that here. That is all. -nrl (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, April 19th, 2007
10:19 pm	There are three key things right now that make me intensely happy at the moment. 1.) Dung beetles 2.) They Might Be Giant music 3.) Ah, just life in general. Its been a pretty good day, and coupled with the fact that the new Hyena is coming out soon, its a good week indeed. Its an intensely good issue, and while I can only really post my things here, the magazine has some simply mind blowing jokes. I just remember one thing, a review by a bully on new bullying techniques [the magazine is a parody of children's publications. and it is very sad]. The bully begins ranting on how the kid he beats up is awful because he's so uppity and part of that, the bully feels, is because he reads the new yorker, to which he repsonds 'oh yeah, well my DICK in New Yorker than you!' Ahahahahaa... ahh... Posting Gregor on Deviantart got 41 views, while where the fuck is Waldo remains at a tiny 10 or so. Odd. Is this... Comics are incredibly difficult to do. I didn't do the layout on this though, the president of Hyena did, and the piece is probably the better for it. Ahh... it is all intense. The comic originally was much longer, where we saw the bear's depressing life, how he gets a divorce in the middle of a midlife crisis and ends up dying alone with the kid who imagined this crying in the last panel. Gonzalo and Daniel seemed to prefer this, and its much more succint this way, which is good for the form. Ahh... I also have this in there--> I'm a big boy now. I also have this--> Current Music: They Might Be Giants-Why Does the Sun Shine? (Comment on this)
Thursday, April 12th, 2007
12:57 am	Vonnegut There is so much I could say  but instead I’ll just describe my first encounter with him. A dorky eight grade kid, looking for a new plateau of writing  getting his mind blown to experimentality by 129 beautiful chapters in the brilliant Cat’s Cradle. He was a writer who changed the way I see humanity, and changed the way I look at the world. He put man in a dark position, and made me a devout Bokononist. I remember becoming a Vonnegut junkie in ninth grade, reading all of his books one after the other, looking for that new nugget of wisdom, that new brilliant voice, that new soul, that new idea. He spoke to people. People who had humanity, and appealed for a world with humanity more than any world leader or any writer has since. I remember our school asking him to come and speak at our graduation, but he was afraid he’d die before the graduation came. His coming would be appropriate, for any teenage mind that heads towards his work comes out one changed, wiser, and wishing for a world of sanity. I feel he has done more good through this than any man since. God Bless you Mr. Vonnegut. Rest in peace. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 10th, 2007
4:42 pm	Hallo. I'm not one for great introductions, but I just figured I would begin updating this journal with some random thoughts on my various college-age adventures. Eventually this will become a portal of narcisstic delights. Today's Entry- Something I learnt from Hyena Hyena is the comedy magazine I work on at Emerson, and while I am surrounded by the some of the most fertile minds of college comedy, the biggest thing I thus far gave to them is this--> So, needless to say, I'm only improving. Here's what I learnt today-- don't be afraid of absurdity and ignore past precedent. Or something of that sort. My mind hasn't been thinking normally well... for the past year or so. Anyway, I did a weird Chris Ware inspired comic where in panel one a little boy is brushing his teeth thinking 'I wonder what I would be like as a bear...'. He then becomes a bear, but he just continues to brush his teeth. He then looks into the mirror and sighs. In my original draft, I had the bear sighing a big Charlie Brown like sigh, complete with the squiggly word balloon, and the shading for the speech bubbles. Like so--> http://www.flickr.com/photos/45327805@N00/454616966/ However, irregardless of all this it just wasn't funny. I handed in the sketches to the president, and I looked over, and instead of speech balloons he had just the word 'Sigh!' with an exclamation mark on it. It was beautifully understated, and hilarious. I might've been reading John Krisfaluci's blog too much, what with me trying to overdo everything these days and paying homage to stealing from my elders. I dunno. I'm not particularly proud of it, but the cold nature of the panels made it much funnier than it ever could have been. Not a badly drawn bear though in some places. I have no writing in this upcoming hyena. Just the bear thing and this--> Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Other than that, that's it. This piece is called 'Where the Fuck is Waldo'. And I luv it. Update: Something did get in! A negative review of the number 100! Which includes the line: 'Jon is so retarted, that if he wrote a review, it would be 'the number 100 could have a brief and embarrasing homosexual encounter with me!' Its suppoused to be written by a four year old, so I think its funny. That line got cut out though. Still my favorite. Current Mood: dorky (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006
5:30 pm	Aw man, im so confused... (Comment on this)