The Teams Are In Place...

So the writer/artist teams are in place and the due date for the art has been given. The ball is rolling and this is exciting.

Check out a couple of the kick ass artists who are participating:
Brad Thingvold




















Ahmed Sanusi


































Chris Valle











































Lee Giles

On The Hunt...

So I've got some fantastic writers lined up for Volume 1 AND Volume 2. The only problem is I am having trouble finding artists to pair with the writers. A couple of them know artists that they can work with, most do not. So I am joining message boards in a desperate attempt to find some artists who can contribute. Keep you posted.

Times They Are A Changin'...

So initially this was going to be a comic book review site. Then just a blog about my interests. Well both of those fizzled and now this is going to to the temporary home to the "Life After The So-Called Space Age" online comic anthology. A proper web page will be coming in the future but until then this blog will serve as a preview space for the upcoming stories. Check out preview art and writing, character sketches and other extras.

Behind The Times Again...

So once again I'm super behind on something popular. Just recently discovered and watched the entirety of Avatar: The Last Airbender. I'm curious about the M. Night Shyamalan movie but heard it was terrible. I can't imagine it being worse than The Happening but I can still be proven wrong.

MISFITS... I have never wanted to be a foul mouth British teenager more in my life

I may be behind on this series which came out a year ago on the other side of the pond, but better late than never. This is a series of 6 episodes featuring 5 teens who have been given super powers from a freak lightning storm. The twist being they're all juvenile delinquents. Think of it like the Goonies with telepathy, time travel and an extreme amount of swearing. Crappy thing is I'm done watching all 6 episodes of the first series. Good news though is its coming back... but not till November. I can't wait to see how they pick up the next series after the first finale. But definitely check it out.

Now That LOST Is Over...

Follow the ongoing adventures of Ben and Hurley on Ben and Hurley's Magical Island.
Its a sweet webcomic that only has about 2 strips up so far.
I know everyone's got an opinion on the finale and they're entitled to it (even if they're really wrong), but personally I loved The End. The Ben/Hurley partnership was probably my favorite part. Hurley is the heart of the show and I'm glad they paid it off.

Time Bandits... It's like Little People Big World, but with 67% more time travel.

Perhaps Terry Gilliam's greatest movie (second only to Brazil) Time Bandits is a much watch for anyone who loves midgets, time travel or Sean Connery fighting Minotaurs (well just one minotaur really). It's like being on acid while being accompanied by the guy who was inside R2D2. This has to be one of the greatest movies about a boy who is taken by midgets and travel through time as they steal from various historical figures. You have to wonder where Terry Gilliam would come up with the concept for time travelling midgets who get into a labour dispute with essentially God over repairs to the Space/Time continuum. Oh also great cameos by some of Gilliam's old Monty Python buddies cement this movie awesome pure awesome.
Through out you can't help feel sorry for the Kevin (the little boy protagonist) as he tries to find a father figure to latch onto. And thats the thing about Time Bandits it really is a journey about a boy trying to find a place in his family. He can't seem to connect to his parents so he goes searching for a substitute. Instead Kevin finds that his parents are really the only ones he has and he loves them, regardless of how detached they may be at times. And like any good journey it culminates with... well... I won't spoil it but damn if its not one of the saddest endings to a movie ever. Its like someone kicking you in the stomach while having a dvd of Schindlers List taped to their foot.
Definitely a buy if you can find it on DVD. It's like $30 on amazon.ca so someday I'll break down and replace my old worn VHS copy. You can also watch it on youtube. That is if you want to squint at the really small video.

I give this 5 Kenny Bakers out of 5.

Hope Sandoval Was Cute 15 Years Ago...

Now most of you out there probably don't know who Hope Sandoval is, but she was the lead singer of a band called Mazzy Star about 15 years ago. This is during the days of Pearl Jam and plaid shirts tied at the waist and Matthew Fox when he had a mullet on Party of Five. At this point I was 13 and wouldn't start appreciating good music for at least another year (despite the best efforts of my brother and sister). Now as I'm older and realized what I missed I also missed the hot days of Hope Sandoval. I have no idea what Hope looks like now. For all I know she may be just as hot, but there is something very appealing about the early 90's grunge chick. The short floral print dress, the combat boots, and the downward stare broken only by the occasional need to shake a tamborine. Ahhhh to be 13 again.

Animated gif of the day/week... whatever I feel like... 10/04/2008

I just wonder where lighting your crotch on fire was a good idea? Really?
Whats awesome about this is his buddies use this as an excuse to kick the hell out of his junk. Now thats whate friends are for.

How Do I Shot Comic? (I know its a crappy title. It's late. Sue me.)

So for a long time I've been working on a comic called Loche. It's been like 10 years since I started working on it. Over time the stories changed, evolved. Characters were added, some were written out. And the biggest change is the format of the book. Initially the book was going to be a monthly series with a 22 to 24 page format, the traditional "floppy" format that is the standard of mainstream comics. While this works for Marvel and DC being big corporate entities it doesn't necessarily work for a pov-ass independant creator like me. So now the book will be published (when its finished) in a graphic novel form, measuring in at around 150 pages. The book will be backed up with supplemental material online. Sort of like the backmatter in Watchmen or League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (not that I'm comparing myself to Alan Moore) the stuff you'll find on the site will be short 6 to 8 page comics, character bios, the back history of some of the settings and events. It seems that nowadays the resources that a creator has available is kind of underutilized. A story can be told in much larger "brushstrokes" than a 22 page serialized story. Now that being said, with the change from a floppy format to a OGN format I'm not going to being using a bunch of covers. Which kind of sucks... cause coming up with a strong cover is a hard thing to do. Some artists are fantastic cover artists: Neal Adams, Jack Kirby, Will Eisner are pretty obvious then there are some contemporary artists like Frank Cho, Alex Maleev, Marko Djurevic, all come up with fantastic and compelling covers. I would kill for the ability to create some of the iconic images some artists can come up with.
Well anyways here are some covers that aren't going to be used. They're all unfinished. Which seems to be a running theme in my work.
Anyway. Enjoy. Hope you dig 'em. And keep checking in for more stuff about Loche.

(Oh needless to say... Loche and subsequent characters and stories as well as the images posted on this blog are copyright Nick Ardill, 2008. Like anyones gonna steal it but I gotta cover my ass.)