R.I.P. Power Girl

As many of you know, I dabble in comics from time to time. With DC's New 52 launch, I've picked up a few books with the intention of long-term reading: Batman (excellent), Catwoman (on the fence), Wonder Woman (good until they changed creative teams), and Animal Man (amazing). Around the same time, IDW started publishing a reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and it is WONDERFUL. Then, even more recently, IDW started a new Danger Girl series. So you could say I'm down with the comics right now. But for the previous two years, the only comic I read was DC's Power Girl series.


This is PeeGee as drawn by Amanda Conner, who as far as I'm concerned is the only artist who should be allowed to do so. This picture illustrates everything I like about the character: she's brash, tough, willing to punch first and ask questions later, and she has a unique body type among all the DCU women. Power Girl is a little heavier than your average Starfire or Black Canary. Her breasts are bigger, her hips are hippier, her figure is more hourglassy. And, for the most part, she's always been portrayed like this.


Her costume has always been pretty consistent, aside from some bizarre and ill-advised changes, like this one:


That is HORRIBLE. I cannot unsee it, and there's a similarly terrible costume that's white and gold and it's a full body suit and I'd rather not talk about it. I blame the 90's. But the traditional Power Girl costume has been a white one-piece bikini, blue boots, blue gloves, a gold shoulderpad, and a red cape.


Oh, and a "boob window." Although she hasn't always had it (scroll up a bit), Power Girl's costume usually includes a hole where Superman's symbol would be, displaying her not-inadequate cleavage. I certainly don't mind this, and most readers probably don't, but unfortunately, Power Girl has come to be defined by this "boob window" almost as much as her short blonde hair and color scheme. And it's been the source of some amount of scorn: Power Girl's cleavage gets an undue amount of hate, especially in the face of characters like Starfire:


And Catwoman:


Power Girl's suit seems downright conservative by comparison, but her rack is bigger, she's bigger, she gets an undue amount of hate.


Look away, kids! It's a healthy-looking woman with superpowers!

Anyway, the point of this post is that after Power Girl's solo title disappeared after 27 issues and DC did a "soft reboot" of the DCU, Power Girl was nowhere to be seen, presumed dead. Ironically, she had survived all the previous reboots, and in fact one of her major story arcs (in JSA Classified) basically makes fun of all her origins and powers. But she survived through it all, and we were sad to see her supposedly go in the New 52.

Spoke too soon.


She's back--or rather, some version of her is back. She and Huntress will be starring in a new series out in May called World's Finest. That's supposed to be Power Girl on the left.

Say it with me now: What. The. Hell.

She suddenly looks like June Cleaver. Her entire costume has changed from the iconic colors and, yes, cleavage, to something about as generic as you can get. They've exchanged her striking blue boots and gloves for gold boots and gauntlets. I'm not sure how her cape is staying on. This is the most shabbily designed superhero outfit I've seen in a long time. Now, just to refresh your memory, this is what Power Girl has looked like for about fifty years:


Oh my gosh, she's been with Huntress before, too. But whereas Huntress' costume and color scheme have been largely unaffected, Power Girl drew the incredibly short stick. My working hypothesis is that, in an effort to expand its readership to, I dunno, more women (?), DC decided to cover up everybody's favorite Earth-2 Supergirl, shrink her down to a more waif-like form, and halve her cup size. Oh, and give her a haircut that would look dated in 1965. And in the meantime, DC is doing this to their other superheroines:




If you couldn't figure out who that last one is, I don't blame you: it's Harley Quinn. No, I'm NOT kidding. Figure THAT one out. Now then, what's especially vexxing is that all of these character redesigns are a part of the New 52, so three of the DCU's characters are getting really sexed up, but Power Girl, who for whatever reason got a lot of flack for having cleavage, is being scaled back WAY too much. See why I'm confused? I'm confused. Yeah, close the "boob window," but why are you changing HER ENTIRE COSTUME? It's no longer iconic--it's unbelievably generic. None of that costume says "Power Girl."

I'm incredibly disappointed that my favorite super heroine is getting the shaft because of overcompensation on DC's part, and it's unfair to her. Power Girl is big, beautiful, and proud of it. DC is doing the character an incredible disservice, and I am very disappointed. Rest in peace, Power Girl, you deserved better.


Sidenote: My Art Evolved (!) friends are you to give me grief if I don't list some image credits. I'm FAR too lazy to searching through comic archives to see who the illustraters were for the comic art here, but thanks to Glendon Mellow, we know the grey-background Power Girl is by DeviantArt's own Pyrotech07...now known as Pat the Wanderer. The bottom picture is my favorite picture of Power Girl EVER, and it's by the incomparable Bruce Timm.

So credit where credit is due.

Adrianne Palicki Plays Wonder Woman on TV

Remember that Wonder Woman TV show I talked about awhile ago? For reasons I'm simply unsure of, the show was greenlit--it's still written by David E. Kelley--and Ms. Palicki here was cast as the titluar character. I can't decide if this looks good or looks like a Halloween costume. I think I'm okay with it, but the latex and blue pants seem odd. Adrianne looks unnaturally pushed-up, too. I'm just not sure about this show. Another aspect of it (the show) will be that Diana runs some big corporation that makes...toys?

I just...I just don't know.

Wonder Woman...TV Show?

Entertainment Weekly claims that David E. Kelly (a bunch of shows I'd rather forget) is writing a treatment for a Wonder Woman TV show. There's been a WW movie on hold for about a decade while different studios rewrite her origin and try to figure out how to portray an invisible plane on-screen and whether Megan Fox would make a good Diana Pince (she would not). So TV networks have apparently expressed interest. This could be a Very Good Thing or a Very Bad Thing. Here are some thoughts I have that would make the show work:

1) No invisible plane. No flying. Invisible planes are stupid, and flying is a great idea, but live-action TV has yet to portray such an action in any sort of convincing way (Smallville just ignores that particular power). If it were a movie, I'm sure the budget would be there, but a network TV show? Probably not. Find some other way for our girl to get around.

2) Lynda Carter must be present in a meaningful way. Obviously, she can't be Diana Prince anymore (which is a Damn Shame), but she could easily play Hippolyta, WW's mother. The show must acknowledge Lynda's singular, important presence as the character in a way that allows the audience to move away from her, and accept the New Kid. Casting Lynda as Hippolyta is the only respectful way to do that.

3) Don't use the old costume. Not even the JLU costume. It's kitchy, impractical, and certainly not modern. However, the new post #600 costume--the one designed by Jim Lee--is modern, practical, and good lookin'. This is something a superheroine would wear, as opposed to something she'd wear to a Halloween party.

4) Be careful with the origin story. The old origin story is stupid. I'm just gonna go ahead and admit that. A modern WW could have some kind of military origin story--a superpowered child brought up in a military complex (codenamed Themyscira?) and trained to be an American force for good. Many fans will accept a reworked origin so long as series staples show up in one form or another. Respect must be paid to the origin, corny as it is.

5) Wonder Woman is a brunette with blue eyes. She is tall, authoritative, curvy, and chesty. The biggest mistake you can be make in casting Wonder Woman would be to get some flat-chested youthful blonde who just happens to be a big name right now in TV. The show will fail if it strays too far from Diana's look and the familiarity of the character. Unfortunately, network TV has been grappling with curvy leads for a looooong time. Sofia Vergara on Modern Family is the exception that proves the rule. But even if you have to go with some no-name actress who we've never heard of, Diana Prince has to look like Diana Prince. Lynda Carter is her mother, remember?

6) Use the interesting villains, please. Cull from the more recent comics if you have to. If you stick with the military thing, her enemies can be other successful, but rogue, agents with codenames and powers that reflect their specific powers. You can have Cheetah and Hades that way.

7) No Lasso of Truth. It's stupid.

Anyone else? What should/should not be a part of this TV show? Casting ideas? Plotpoints? Go nuts!

Brilliant!

As seen on www.toplessrobot.com.

Power Girl Again

I’ve recently come to appreciate the new comic series Power Girl, published by DC (duh), which concerns said heroine’s exploits on Earth-1 in New York City. This book began last year under the incredibly talented pencil of Amanda Conner, and the typewriting skills of Justin Grey and Jimmy Palmiotti. All three have carried the series through its first year, but unfortunately, all three left after the first year. Now, it’s being held aloft by the art of Sam Basri and the storyline of Judd Winick. It’s clearly not the same comic. Amanda Conner’s art is virtually without peer, and she’s absolutely perfect for the characterization of Power Girl: kind of brash, punch-first-ask-questions-later, but genuinely concerned about her friends and juggling being a superhero and a businesswoman. The comic had a bouncy, playful spirit without feeling the need to connect itself to the overlying DC Universe continuity. Grey & Palmiotti kept the stories largely self-contained, episodic affairs that anybody could read and enjoy.

And Conner’s art…my gosh, it’s beautiful and iconic. She’s got a retro feel to her, and brings that to every character she draws. Her expression work is incredible, and between her lines and the writers’ script, Power Girl has the “right kind” of sex appeal that I’ve commented on before. I guess you could call it “Pin-Up.” Power Girl’s ample proportions are always apparent, but never distracting. It’s refreshing, and lets you admire the rest of Conner’s art. By the way, the Internet informs me that she worked on Vampirilla for awhile. I must find those particular issues!



Anyway, the winning trio has moved on, apparently sparked by Conner herself, who found a monthly book too taxing (I don’t blame her). Grey & Palmiotti have suggested that without Conner’s artwork, the book just wouldn’t be the same, and have departed with her. I agree—the book is completely different now, even just one episode in.

Winick is basically starting from scratch, and this first issue of the second year of Power Girl even details the Kryptonian’s backstory (more or less). He also makes it very clear that this storyline will be heavily leveraged on prior knowledge of the DC Universe’s convoluted backstory. This is not something I’m familiar with. For Power Girl, I came for Conner’s art and stayed for the lightweight story. Now that both are gone, I’m feeling wary of tagging along any more. To be fair, the art is great. Unlike Conner, Barsi doesn’t seem to believe in blacklines, so the art and colors look more like paintings than Conner’s art. His characters are expressive, sure, but Power Girl’s personality seems harder than she was before. Very few jokes are cracked. Sure, the stakes are higher, but I guess that’s part of the problem. I’m also having a difficult time understanding what the heck is going on, since I’m not familiar with all that Infinite Crisis stuff that’s influenced the DC Universe.


Still, I’m willing to give it a chance. I’m less interested in PeeGee’s superheroine story at this point and more invested in her double-life as the head of Starr Industries, which seems like an angle Winick is going to develop more than Grey & Palmiotti did. Still, the absence of the original team is very apparent, and it remains to be seen how well the book will do without them. I’ll stick around for a few more issues, but the book is going to have to get real good real fast for me to keep on caring.

Sweet Employment, & Other News

It's been awhile since I've posted anything, and Will Baird asked me if I'd gotten a job yet, so I realized that few of you out there in readerland might know if I'm back on my feet or not. So this post will be a general update post on things that have going on in Zach World.

1. I got a job: I'm back to my legal assistant roots, this time at a trust and estate firm. This is a whole new skill set, and virtually none of my previous experience (contract law, risk management, etc.) carries over to here. My employer says it takes about a year for new people before the whole thing "clicks," and I believe it. I thought I'd be taking a significant pay cut, but I got my W-2 from my previous job and found out that--hey, look--they chopped my pay by about 8K without telling me. So that was great. So it's not the pay cut I thought it was! I really enjoy the people, and I have my own office and parking space. Unfortunately, I am really tied to an 8-hour day, and that wasn't the case at my previous two jobs. But I've been there for about a week and a half now, and I like it.

2. Gecko Death Watch: I'm down to one lizard (Solid) and she's obvious got some kind of infection. It started about two or three weeks ago. She's not eating, but bizarrely, she's just as active and is otherwise acting completely normal. Aside from the loss of appetite, I know she's sick because she's pooping out white blobs of...gross. And it requires effort to do so--I've watched her push one out, and it looks taxing. I took her to the vet, they did some Xrays to see if she had impacted eggs, but she didn't, so they gave her an enema and some antibiotics. I think she needs another enema, and it's clear that didn't solve the problem. Unfortunately, it's not really worth the cost to take her back there ($220? The lizard cost $20!) so if the problem doesn't go away on its own and she starts spiraling, I'll be down to NO lizards. It's so strange that all of my geckos have become infected with different things in this last year.



3. Dark Void Zero:This is the first DSiWare game I've bought voluntarily. It's really, really good, and from what I've read, better than the PS3/360 game. This is hilarious because Dark Void Zero is essentially an 8-bit NES game with chiptunes that was developed at Capcom as a joke while the main team was working on the PS3/360 game. It's fantastic, and brings to mind games like Bionic Commando, but replace the bionic arm with a bitchin' jetpack. It's very short, but it's also only $5, and there are three difficulties to conquer. If you have a DSi, I can't recommend this highly enough. So far, it's DSiWare's one killer app.

4. Spider-Man: Reign: You can also call this The Web-Slinger Returns, as it's essentially a Spider-Man version of The Dark Knight Returns. Even the art style is similar. It's not as long or fleshed out, but it's still fun. I got it at Barnes & Nobel on sale for like $6, which is about right. There's a lot of sobbing over MJ's death, and Doc Oc's appearance isn't explained very well, but it's an interesting departure from the usual Spider-Man silliness. I would really like to see one of these "far in the future" superhero books illustrated by somebody whose art I like, though.

5. I still haven't seen Avatar: I didn't have a job for awhile, so money was tight. I'm not real interested in blowing like $16 on the 3D version, but everybody tells me that's the way to see it, so...yeah. Just to be clear: I don't give two craps about the storyline or even the blue cat people, I'm only in this for the xenobiology and plant life. I will see it in theaters, and I will enjoy it, but it's taken much longer than I thought it would.

6. Paleontology is Awesome: I know I've been remiss in posting about two very awesome stories, and it might be awhile until I really get around to it, so I urge you to read David Hone's rundown of the new basal alvarezsauroid, Haplocheirus sollers. I've been working on draft drawing. Someday I'll post it here. For the other big news, Ed Yong has you covered as to the colorful story about Anchiornis. I've encouraged Scott and Raven to join me in producing a trio of Anchiornis drawings to show off the colors.

7. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is Also Awesome: If you liked Smash Bros., this is the next-best thing. Leave your friend code in the comments. We'll rock it. My friend code is 3867-9477-7677. I am an expert with Morrigan and Frank West. I haven't messed with the Tatsunoko characters much, but that's because I'm trying to unlock Zero first. My strategy with fighting games has generally been this: Favor the female character with the largest breasts or most revealing outfit, then practice enough to get very, very skilled with her. Thus, I am deadly with Ivy in Soul Calibur IV. Well, probably not anymore, because I haven't touched that game in like six months.

I also got Excitebots for a song. It's a great online game. If you have it, leave your friend code and add me: 2837-1198-4749.

And for you PS3 fans, my PSN name is Sillysaur and I play a lot of Little Big Planet and Modern Warfare 2.

Lily Profile

Messing around a few nights ago, doing concept art for "Life on Leather Wings." The only thing I really liked that came out of that session was this potential profile of Lily. I think she looks a little too old here, but the shape ain't bad. I drew this "blind," that is, without any reference material in front of me. Not bad!

Age of Reptiles

As most of you know, I rarely read actual books. It's mostly scientific tomes and comics for me, thank you. A very long time ago, I discovered Ricardo Delgado's excellent Age of Reptiles series. The first "volume" is entitled "Tribal Warfare" and details an ongoing feud between a family of tyrannosaurs and a group of dromaeosaurs. It is lavishly illustrated and wonderfully layed out. It is among my favorite comics.












Several years later, another volume of the comic came out: "The Hunt" tells the story of a little allosaur whose parents were killed by a group of Ceratosaurus. After growing up, the allosaur takes it upon himself to hunt down the ceratosaurs and exact his revenge. It all sounds very pulpy, but the stories work well. The end of "The Hunt" is especially interesting. Actually, the end of "Tribal Warfare" is pretty freaking epic, though nowhere near as subtle.











Well, this month, the first issue of a new volume came out, entitled "The Journey." I picked it up the other day and I'm kind of on the fence about it. The quality of illustrations from "Tribal Warfare" to "The Hunt" took a pretty big hit, and "The Journey" looks considerably worse. It's much looser and abstract. There are tiny moments of inspiration, such as a baby Triceratops riding on its mother's nose, but the sense of motion that was so prevelant in the first two volumes is all but gone here. "The Journey" looks more like a series of photographs, or a collection of establishing shots. It's being released on a bimonthly schedule, so I'm eager to see where the story goes (if anywhere at all) in January.

When Pigs Fly Returns 500th Post Spectacular!

As the title implies, this is my 500th (published, existing, non-deleted) post on When Pigs Fly Returns. I consider that quite the landmark—it’s not a number I ever considered reaching. WPFR is a blog I write for when I find the time to do so. You’ll note that the first post was back in March of 2007, but even that number is dubious. Longtime readers may remember the original “When Pigs Fly” blog that was abandoned because my then-current Gmail account became corrupted and I couldn’t sign into Blogger anymore. So I started another site called “When Pigs Fly: Part Deux,” but then I forgot…the new password. Brilliant, right? Well, it’s a miracle that hasn’t happened during the almost three-year history of WPFR, but here we are, right at 500 (published, existing, non-deleted, current blog) posts.

So even though this concept is a very long time from completion, I thought I’d share with you readers a Very Big Step I’m taking. This is an idea I’ve been developing since I started doing sketches for the Silk Succubus, and probably even before that, subconsciously, seeing as I’ve struggled to develop a female character for a very long time. Meet Lilem Beatrice Mephistopholese, who will (someday) star in a page-length weekly comic called “Life on Leather Wings.” I have more of a vision for Lily than I’ve had for any iteration of Selena. I can see what she does from morning until night, and the adventures she has. Her social interactions, family life, and unique role are all crystal clear in my mind. Like Mr. Craven said before, we dream in fire but work in clay. I can see it in my mind, but hopefully that art class next semester will help me mold the clay myself. Having said that, I certainly wouldn’t mind collaborating with another artist out there.

Lily is a Lilem, a daughter of Lilith and fathered by Mephisto. Lilith, of course, is the mother of all Succubi, and all of her children are known as Lilem. The children take their father’s name as a last name to differentiate themselves from each-other. Lilith gives all her daughters differentiating middle names and addresses them by that name. So Lily would be “Beatrice” to her family members. However, she prefers “Lily.” She has seven paternal sisters.

Their job is to tempt human men on Earth and then steal their souls through physical (not necessarily sexual) contact. Fresh souls sustain the Lilem and end up in Hell where they become part of Satan’s ever-expanding army. Lily’s sisters take their jobs seriously, but Lily herself has a stronger sense of justice than most Lilem and tries to only steal souls that she believes are corrupt or deserving of eternal damnation. Mortal food provides no sustenance for Succubi—only a diet of souls. Luckily, a single soul can sustain a Succubus for several weeks (like an anaconda). Lilem inherit demonic features from their father. In Lily’s case, that means enlarged canines (some of her sisters can protract/retract them) and large bat wings. Other Lilem are decorated by bony spines or cranial horns. All Lilem can “turn off” their demonic features on the mortal plane.

…Except Lily.


Her father (Mephisto) disapproves of her “freewheeling” lifestyle, and has cursed her to not be able to hide her wings or canines. Lily lives on Earth despite this handicap, though she is mostly active at night in the public sphere. Unlike her sisters, Lily’s wardrobe is hampered by her omnipresent wings. In fact, I’m still working on her costume(s). When out and about, her wings present some degree of inconvenience. Obviously, Lily flies whenever possible, but when she has to walk among the people, she wears a large overcoat or a cape. She lets her wings out on Halloween, though, and usually gets a lot of compliments on them.

Lily is 5’6” tall, about 120 pounds, and her measurements hover around 36-24-38. She has black hair and sea-blue eyes. I haven’t nailed down her wingspan, but it’s a bit more than 10 feet. The wings originate over her shoulderblades. Like a bat, she can fold them up pretty tight. Unlike bat wings, Lily’s are tetradactyl. Her first wing-finger is short, semi-opposable, does not contribute to the wing surface, and is tipped by a large recurved claw. The other three wing-fingers are connected by a strong cheiropatagium and end in long pointed claws. A narrow propataium extends between the wing-shoulder and wing-wrist.

Lilem are immortal, and most wounds heal on their own—even torn-off limbs. However, Lilem will “die” if they are starved of souls or the head is removed from the body. They can also be killed if injured by certain holy weapons. Killing a Succubus by starvation merely sends the demon back to Hell, where it recovers. Beheading or killing by holy weapon actually does “kill” the Succubus: they disappear from the mortal plane and end up on the shores of Purgatory, where escape on one’s own is impossible. Curiously, Succubi are not a major concern of Heaven. Exactly why is currently unknown (but will be explored). However, high-ranking demons—individuals who originally participated in Satan’s rebellion especially—are the target of immediate retaliation from Heaven’s Vanguard if they should ever cross into the Earth Realm. Hell’s generals live in the dread City of Dis, and train Hell’s army for the inevitable second war with Heaven. Satan does not reside in the 9th Circle but moves between them at will, overseeing military operations and obsessively planning his vengeance.

So that's the basis of the story. The comic will open with Lily showing her younger half-sister, Gwendolyn, "the ropes," as it were, to introduce the reader to Lily, her world, and her role in it. After that, I'll examine how Lily hunts her prey, explore her relationships with her sisters, and introduce more fiendish characters like Incubi and my vision of Hell's geography. Like I said, I'll be taking art classes in the near future to hone my craft, and I'm very excited about this project, having gone so far as to script out the first few pages. I'm also not against collaboration, so if you're a talented artist out there who's interested in helping out, drop me an email. Either way, I think this will be an awesome project.

When Pigs Fly Proper

Obviously, the comic went a totally different direction. This became a birthday present for Marcus one year, colored, though I believe it was colored by hand, thus I don't have a copy. It's not obvious in this B&W version, but there's a big window by Marcus' bed, and the hospital is apparently on the coast. I really like making comics like this--taking several lyrics from a song and transplanting them to bizarre situations where they mke new sense (sort of).

When Pigs Fly

Many of you might not realize that I used to do a weekly comic called, predictably, "When Pigs Fly." In fact, that was the original intent of the original version of this blog. It quickly grew beyond my self-imposed fence, though, and eventually morphed into what it is now: a collection of ramblings, paleontology, and art posts. Back when I was still in college--this would be the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Two--the university newspaper, The Northern Light, put out a call to student cartoonists. Monetary compensation was advertised as well artistic exposure. I leapt at the chance, producing the comic you see above, as well as the following variant:


I thought my efforts would be rewarded. You see, several years earlier, when I was still technically in high school, I produced a one-panel "Far Side"-esque comic called...wait for it..."When Pigs Fly" that made fun of dinosaurs. I recall, with some trepidation, one particular comic involving a dromaeosaur in a soccer jersey, a blown soccer ball hanging limply from his deadly pedal claw. The caption read, "Why raptors weren't good at soccer." Oh, the hilarity! I think I need a hug. That comic ran almost an entire semester, my many submissions leaked out slowly, week by week, until finals arrived.

Apparently, the entire staff at the Northern Light had been replaced by slack-jawed yokels. One of the comics (I forget which one) ran a few weeks later, though titled "Miller Time," a pitiful play on my last name which was, handily, scrawled above the third panel in print. Thank Cthulhu for that! The readers would then be in on the joke. Two reader-produced comics ran: mine, and one involving crudely drawn stick figures talking nonesense that wasn't funny, and perhaps wasn't supposed to be funny. I don't know if you've ever encountered a poorly-drawn stick figure--these are not terribly difficult objects to draw: toddlers scrawl them onto walls with crayons on a regular basis. The quality of these stick figures, the ones in the comic below my own, were not up to toddler standards.

But I digress! I had submitted several more comics the next day, assured they would run in the coming weeks. This did not occur. Furthermore, the cash promise was never satisfied. After inquiring, I was told that they small staff had "lost my information," and they handed me another weighty stack of forms to fill out. This I did, and when I hadn't heard anything several days later, I returned to their offices and demanded to know, as they say, "what's up?"

At this point, I'll interject that the stick-figure fiasco was still running, though my comic, which required effort to produce, never made it past that initial printing. Erik Nielson, who sojourned to that campus for years after I graduated, tells me of that comic's amazing success: despite not being funny, well-drawn, or at times intelligible, the stick-figure theatre survived for several semesters. We both came to theorize that it was produced by one of the paper's own staff members, who after a certain amount of time graduated.

Back to the story, though. Miraculously, the staff had once again lost my information and didn't even remember who I was. At that point, I decided that it wasn't worth the trouble, and that my information was probably being "lost" purposefully. Print media, or at least the people who worked on said copy, became undesirable, so I started this blog* and did my own goddamn thing. The comic that would come to occupy When Pigs Fly (the weblog) looks virtually nothing like what you see above. It came to resemble Penny Arcade more in terms of main character body outline (I like to convince myself that this is purely coincidence, but cognitive dissonance only gets you so far). As for humor, though, my unique brand of sarcasm coupled with a healthy love of fetuses quickly dissolved any meaningful comparison.

Erik and Marcus still prod me to produce more comic strips, which is something I very well may take them up on.

*several years after graduating, sadly.

Teh_Lamb of Headshots

Early attempt at coloring the comic in Paint, which didn't work too well. I notice now that a lot of the comics didn't survive the journey from old Dell to new one. Luckily, I kept all the originals, so it's just a matter of scanning them back in...

A long time ago, in a Galaxy far, far away, When Pigs Fly had a weekly comic. This comic had no official title, but it was hosted on my old blog (WPF v.1.0). It took a lot of work, honestly, which is why it didn't last. Each comic was hand-drawn--sketched, inked, scanned, shrunk, and edited (and worded) with whatever primitive digital editing software I had at the time. The frames you see were measured and hand-drawn, too, and they're pretty big. The comic originated on an 11x17" piece of paper, so there was a lot of space to fill. Despite these pratfalls, the comic lasted an impressive length of time, surviving for a few entries in the blog you currently read. No, seriously, click the "Comics" tag.

I bring this up for two reasons. First, I'm going to post my favorites from the old blog. Second, I'd like to get back into the habit, although it's not like I'm already weighed down with self-inflicted art projects or anything. Anyway, enjoy the comics. The one is more or less an homage to my McFarlane Dragons collection. I would totally buy this product.

Sketchbook Sampler

While rooting through some of my older artwork (approx. 2% of my total output is saved; the rest goes into the trash), I came across some gems that I don't think I've yet shared on this version of the blog. Old readers may recognize some of this art from WPF v.1. Let's hope the formatting doesn't go to hell...

The Band
Way back when Guitar Hero first hit the streets (couches?), I imagined my friends getting together in a virtual band. There's Marcus (El Diablo) on bass, Luke Nielson (Teh_Luke) on lead guitar, Erik (Erikardo) on drums, and Dan (The Man) on vocals. Don't ask me where the designs came from, because I don't have any idea, aside from a few key bits and pieces. I can totally see these guys playing Ted Nuget's "Strangelhold."

DinoNoir
I really like film noir. I think it's kind of a lost art form in movies--you never really see it anymore. The closest we've gotten for awhile was Sin City, which simultaneously honored and parodied true noir. Where do you go for good film noir? Oddly enough, many of the Batman: Animated episodes were heavily noir-influenced. Anyway, I wanted to do a noir comic with heavily stylized dinosaur characters. The star detective was going to be an ankylosaur and the villain was going to be a Tyrannosaurus rex that headed up a corrupt corporation in the black-hearted city of Fossiliferous. Spinosaurs worked the docks, our hero had a Stygimoloch sidekick, and it was going to kick ass. I had lots of plot twists in mind, like the villain's men discovering the skeleton of a real T.rex, implicating that "modern" dinosaur descended from more ferocious ancestors, or Eve (the first woman) walking into the detective's office one day, asking him to look for her missing husband. Sauropods were the only dinosaurs that did not evolve to such high ranks, and served as basically beasts of burden in Fossiliferous.

So yeah, lots of cool ideas, but none of it really came to fruition. Maybe some day...

TMNT
I love the Ninja Turtles. I thought the recent CG movie was a big step in the right direction, with the rivalry between Raphael and Leonardo finally coming to a head after just being implicated in the many comic iterations. The comic has gone through four "volumes" (the current volume is pretty much dead in the water), including many, spin-offs including Tales of the TMNT, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, and a show based on the new animated series. I don't think any comic has yet done the turtles justice save for two: The third volume of the canonical comic, which was published by Image (and subsequently de-canonized by Mirage) and the few storylines of the Archie Adventure Series which dealt with the turtles in the future. I've always pictures the TMNT as much darker then they're often portrayed. The Image series screwed them up pretty good--Raphael got half his face shot off, Leonardo had his left hand bitten off, and Donatello became a cyborg. A lot of fans balked at this radical change, but I think it energized the series. My own drawings of the Turtles follow the Image example. I wish that volume would have lasted longer, as it was canned (for various reasons) before wrapping up its story.

Prehistoric Wierdness
This first picture is Psittacosaurus, and I drew it after first reading that awesome paper describing "quilled" parrot lizards. I stayed relatively conservative, and went a little nuts with the coloration. It's clearly an unfinished sketch (where's the jugal horn?) but I like the energy this guy has. The second picture is just something I made up. It looks like some kind of ape-armed dicynodont, doesn't it? The upper jaw is very narrow, and the dentary has some bizarre upwardly-directed flanges for reasons I'm unsure of now. It's an example of speculative evolution--I like drawing animals that do NOT, but COULD, exist.

Selena moves toward the Abstract

I really wish I could link to my old blog right now, but the long, ever-changing history of my female comic character is now gone thanks to that blog's inactivity. So one of these days, I'm gonna have to fill you all in. Anywho, for those who've been reading this blog since its inception, you might know that my female comic character, Selena Isley, is constantly undergoing revision, both in terms of design, personality, and universe. Last time we checked in on Selena, she was looking a bit like Frank Cho's Brandy, but right now she's leaning more toward Tim Fischer's Powergirl. Now, before you accuse me of plagerizing, you should know that this is a normal part of my artistic growth.

I generally stumble across an artist I really like and proceed to devour every scrap of art they've ever published online or anywhere else in an attempt to figure out what makes their style "work." Why do I like Frank Cho, Tim Fischer, Bruce Timm, Mike Mignola, Mike Krahulik, Jim Lee, and the people behind Kim Possible and Clerks: Animated, but I don't like Eric Larson, Jim Lawson, Ashley Wood, the whoever did the art for The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again? Figuring out how to imitate someone's work is not entirely difficult. If you study enough of a person's art, you can whip out a respectable likeness without much trouble. What really bugs me, though, is figuring out why some things work and others don't. Personal preference, I'm sure, goes a long way, but the art styles of Fischer and Cho are on seemingly opposite sides of Scott McCloud's Picture Plane.

I think I must be drawn to the "Meaning" side of the Picture Plane, with a few exceptions (Cho, Lee). Simplified art really strikes a chord for me--so few lines and such simplified features, but it's so powerful. Look back at Fischer's Powergirl picture, then check out Alex Ross' version. Both respectable, but I get more meaning out of the more simplified version.

So anyway, Selena Isley, who I will post the history of one of these days, is now drifting back toward the more abstract corner of the Picture Plane. Hopefully she'll stay there, but I find that I'm never satisified with her design.

When I Was a Child

I spent most of yesterday chilling, because it was my quarter-century birthday. That's right--I'm an old man. Of note, I got lots of birthday money from relatives, which I used to buy Super Mario Galaxy and Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. Both are stupendously fun. My wife got me the new Stephen Colbert book and the first two seasons of South Park. My folks got me a big lizard-themed puzzle (I love puzzles), and my brother got me The Host. Sadly, I did not get any Dinostoreus skulls, which were at the top of my list (wherefore art thou, Ceratosaurus?).

I share my birthday weekend with my friend Marcus, who writes (every few months, it seems) at Of Warts and Other Matters. I don't think he has access to a computer right now, and his last post was in June, so...make of that what you will. At any rate, Marcus turned 22, and for his birthday I bestowed upon him a hand-colored, framed version of the comic you see above. He and I are big Pink Floyd fans, and any others familiar with that band's more famous lyrical odysseys may well recognize the text and, perhaps, the final wordless frame.

I know that Brian will appreciate the reference, anyway. One of these times I'll take the comic to Photoshop (or Corel) and paint it with pretty colors, but for now, enjoy the B&W version.

I Think it Moved

Well, it's been a long time coming, but here it be: the newest comic! I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed drawing the third panel. I know that I keep saying that I'm not obsessed with the weenis, but I'm beginning to have my own doubts! But honestly, that Throbicok is one bad-ass Pokemon. Incidentally, Dikidik/Throbicok is my third original Pokemon lineage, the first being the Chili's Bodangle (and it's Basic form, Dangleberri), and the second is a sort of ode to the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Raindeer yeti. Scary looking dude.

I'm moving tomorrow. Again. Gina and I sign the closing documents in the morning, and we start moving boxes over in the evening. By Monday, we should hopefully be completely moved in. What of our current condominium? We're renting it out so as to not pay the dreaded Double Mortgage. That would be a killer, especially given my current precarious job situation.

I'm going to try and go back to a regular comic-posting schedule (once a week). Next Monday I might actually re-post all of the comics I've done up to this point, given that this is a "new" blog and that only two other comics (aside from this one) have been posted here. We'll see, though. I have lots of stuff I'd like to share in the next several weeks.

El Diablo in Color

Well this took awhile, but I'm pretty happy with the results. Took about two hours, to be honest, but it was worth it. I hope Marcus appreciates this, because it took some freakin' work.

Marcus Garcia: El Diablo

As you are all such loyal readers, I'm sure you've seen my ancient attempts at the original blog to draw Erik as a cowboy and Dan as the Penetrator. Both drawings have ended up on their respective look-alike's Myspace pages. And now, I give you Marcus Garcia as El Diablo, the wireless Gibson player. It's obviously a draft, as I'm not a huge fan of how long the guitar's neck is--it looks more like a bass guitar. I'm not saying that a bass guitar will never make its way to a rhythm game (actually, that would kick so much ass), but I don't see El Diablo being a bassist. No, El Diablo is that lone, statutory guitarist, standing to the side or perhaps beside the lead singer, exeuding pure, unbridled narcisicsm.

So I'm workin' on this. I'd like to make his Keith Richards-esque headband a little more obvious, hidden as it currently is by Marcus' trademark tower of hair. I'm also going to change his beard, which was basically taken right from El Penetrato. Anyway, I'd like comments. If convinced to do so, I might actually color this should I find the time.

The Penetrator: A Hero Swells Within

Now continues a legendary saga that began here, continued here, and had a slight misstep here. After that last horrible comic (my first attempt at using my Wacom), I tried taking a break from "When Pigs Fly" to work on another type of comic, a noir-inspired dinosaur one, to be exact, although that sort of fell through when I realized that it was really hard to draw. Since then I have gotten numerous requests to continue the Penetrator's origin story, so here's another chapter in that valiant saga. Here, our hero discovers a new use of his radioactive member: a sort of criminal divining rod. I actually came up with Dan's catchphrase ("crime gets the shaft") after buying Godzilla Raids Again and Mothra vs. Godzilla from him at the local Fred Meyer, where he works. In fact, I envisioned him at his place of employment for this strip--in the electronics department, wearing his work threads. The only things missing are his glasses and his nametag. But dammit, superheroes where contacts.

I actually have the next two chapters in this series planned out in my head. Whether they'll show up in successive weeks cannot yet be forseen. I noticed, when looking back on the previous entries in this series, that Dan, like Erik, has benefited from the weeks away. His character model is much more defined as well.

My man Marcus finally got around to updating his blog and in it reviews Crash Bandicoot 2 by apparent threat of forced kaiju viewing. His belated complaints regarding Godzilla Raids Again are entirely unfounded--it's a fantastic rubber-suit monster movie. The problem, perhaps, stemmed from the fact that we chose to watch the Americanized version of the film (know here as Gigantis: The Fire Monster). While I haven't seen the original Japanese treatment (I fully intent to), I could tell that Gigantis was heavily edited. Warner Brothers was good enough to replace Godzilla's trademark roar with that of Anguiras, and of course, Godzilla is called "Gigantis." Only a few Godzilla movies remain outside of my grasp: Godzilla vs. The Astro-Monster, Ghidorah: the Three-Headed Monster, Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, Godzilla 1985, and Godzilla vs. Biolantte.