Webcomic Wednesday: Bad Machinery in Book Form and Johnny Wander Does Lucky Penny

Hey guys, been a while!  Quick update, first of all: I'll be posting at least once everyday for the rest of this week before moving on to a new, improved, and significantly more flexible schedule.

On to webcomics!

Volume 1 of Bad Machinery, which I have previously discussed and you need to go read, was released today in book form by Oni Press!  It's really very pretty and I highly recommend picking it up.  It collects the prelude and the first story, as well as some extras, including year book photos of the main characters, a helpful (or at least entertaining) glossary for us non-UK folk, and the fictional history of the fictional Tackleford Football Club, presented as clippings from a fictional newspaper.

This is my copy. No you cannot have it. Nor can you have the other comics I picked up today.

If you haven't read it before, now is the perfect excuse to start.  I got my copy at my local comic shop, but it is also available at Amazon, so don't fret if you can't find it!

Another webcomic that you should check out that I haven't talked about in this feature before is Johnny Wander, a comic about various ridiculous things that happen after college is over.  I really enjoy this comic; it has great humor, perfect pacing, and really fun art.  While it's for the most part autobiographical, it occationally also includes fantastical short stories, such as Girl With the Skeleton Hand and Delilah & The Basilisk.  At the moment, they're posting Lucky Penny, a book they're doing with Oni Press.

Webcomic Wednesday: Bad Machinery, Good Comic

Today's Webcomic Wednesday, for reasons that should be fairly clear, will be another short recommendation: John Allison's Bad Machinery.  A spin-off of Scary-Go-Round (which was itself a spin-off, but I don't feel like talking about that at the moment), Bad Machinery is a fun, humorous, sometimes dark comic following the misadventures of a group of youths as they stumble upon and solve supernatural mysteries.  You do not have to be familiar with Scary-Go-Round to enjoy this comic, though if you are you'll be treated to some familiar faces and learn the fates of a few characters.  I highly recommend it.

Webcomic Wednesday: Today Nothing Happened

As Valentine's Day approaches, it can feel like you're being bombarded with love and romance everywhere you look.  It seems only fair that, after a Valentine's Special post with romantic recommendations, I recommend something not focused on romance so that there can be a bit of a break from thee romance before tomorrow strikes. 

Today Nothing Happened is one of the few autobiographical journal comics that does not focus on the twists and turns of the creator's love life.  It chronicles the funny, weird, and interesting things that happen in the everyday life of Shazzbaa, the comic artist.  This comic always cheers me up.  Sadly, it ended last spring after four years, but Shazzbaa is currently writing and drawing another webcomic called Runewriters, a fantasy about magical problems and communication issues.  The art is fun and the dialogue is fantastic in both, and I highly recommend you check them out.

Webcomic Wednesday: Let's Look at Nedroid

For the first Webcomic Wednesday, I've just got a quick recommendation: Nedroid Picture Diary by Anthony Clark.  This comic is updated irregularly, but every page manages to make me smile.  Starting as a series of unconnected, slightly surreal comics, it gradually develops into a series of slightly surreal comics connected by Beartato and his friends.  The humor darkly cheerful, the art is bright and fun, and it's just an all around enjoyable series that likes to play with silly ideas.  Look at this page and try to resist reading through the archives.

That's all for now, folks.  Have some webcomic recommendations of your own?  Please leave a comment below.

Interview: Josh Uitvlugt of Just Add Water, Part 2 of 2

Previously on Ryorin's Ramblings, I talked to my friend and fellow student Josh Uitvlugt, creator of the science fiction webcomic Just Add Water (updating Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) about  the creation of the comic, the characters, the many uses of paperclips, coffee versus tea, the evil mechanisms of squirrels, and his own thoughts on how science and science fiction should interact.

Josh was kind enough to provide a self-introduction:

"My name is Josh Uitvlugt, and I am the author of a webcomic called 'Just Add Water'.  I am having a lot of fun doing the comic, and it acts as a great outlet for the creativity that I am proud to have.  I am an engineer, and while that may conjure up ideas about people with a rigid application of rules and mathematics, engineering requires more creative input than almost any other occupation.  Creative problem solving is the very basis of engineering, and it is what defines me as a person.  I like to feel that the insight that I have to offer contributes to the world around me, and I hope that this interview will convince you that I can be an interesting person."

In this installment, Josh discusses time travel, Star Trek, his characters, superpowers, webcomics in general, webcomic-drama in specific, and the creation of his comic.

And now for the exciting conclusion!

Interview: Josh Uitvlugt of Just Add Water, Part 1 of 2

As you can probably guess, I'm a big fan of both webcomics and science fiction.  A little while ago, I was able to interview my friend and fellow student Josh Uitvlugt, creator of the science fiction webcomic Just Add Water, which updates Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Josh was kind enough to provide us with an introduction:

Josh

"My name is Josh Uitvlugt, and I am the author of a webcomic called 'Just Add Water'.  I am having a lot of fun doing the comic, and it acts as a great outlet for the creativity that I am proud to have.  I am an engineer, and while that may conjure up ideas about people with a rigid application of rules and mathematics, engineering requires more creative input than almost any other occupation.  Creative problem solving is the very basis of engineering, and it is what defines me as a person.  I like to feel that the insight that I have to offer contributes to the world around me, and I hope that this interview will convince you that I can be an interesting person."

 Do to the interview's length, it will be posted in two parts.  In this installment, Josh discusses the creation of the comic, the characters, the many uses of paperclips, coffee versus tea, the evil mechanisms of squirrels, and his own thoughts on how science and science fiction should interact.

With out further ado, part one of the interview:

Update Time: Read Comics in Public Day and More!

Along time ago (April), and far, far away (Japan), I posted about how excited I was that both Captain  Britain and MI13 and Girl Genius were nominated for Hugo awards and that I would ramble about both series "sometime in the near future."  While I did do the Girl Genius post, I must shamefully admit to not having the Captain Britain post completed in a timely matter.  Fortunately, the Hugo awards ceremony isn't until Sunday, so I'll hopefully have the post done by then.

Anyway...

You may of heard that Saturday was International Read Comics in Public Day, a day dedicated to, well, unashamedly reading comics in public.  Despite being too lazy to blog about it (I was working on the Captain Britain thing, I swear!) I happily participated:

The website DC Women Kicking A** challenged women to participate and created a "Women Read Comics in Public" Tumblr "dedicated to showing off the passion and diversity of female comic readers." If you have any such pictures, they're currently accepting pictures taken anytime.

So, that's it for the quick update!  I should probably get back to packing for tonight's flight back to reality papers school!  Before I go, here are a few other geeky highlights from this past weekend:

• A fifty-something-year-old lady walking towards the restrooms backpedals and exclaims "Oooh, Marvel!"  She picks up a book and flips through it for about thirty seconds before putting it back, telling me that Marvel's her favorite, and completing her journey to the restroom.
• A little boy carrying around his Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle happy meal toy and treating it as his Most Favored Toy of the hour.  Aww...
• Having a nice conversation with my nine-year-old brother about Godzilla movies.  As in the old Japanese ones.  His favorite is the original one.  There is hope for the future!

Later, folks, and hopefully I'll have something more interesting to say next time!

Girl Genius: Agatha Heterodyne and the Return of the Hugo Award!

Alright: finals are done, I've had some more coffee, and Jethro Tull's playing. Let's get this started:

Adventure! Romance! MAD SCIENCE! These are the ingredients chosen to create the perfect little girl the story of Agatha Heterodyne: Girl Genius!

As I've mentioned previously, Girl Genius, comic/webcomic series by Phil and Kaja Foglio (colors by Cheyenne Wright), has been nominated once more for the Hugo Awards. This is a Big Deal. Last year Girl Genius won the first Hugo for the "Best Graphic Story" category, and when I say first, I mean ever. This year it's back with Volume 9, Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm:

Please excuse me for a moment as my joy demands to be released: Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Ahem.

Anyway, it is a world ruled by Mad Science! Failed experiments of mad scientists (more commonly known as "Sparks") wander the earth, dirigibles roam the skies, and mechanical "clanks" and Frankenstein-monster-like "constructs" are a common site. This is a world with lost cities, talking cats, rules of royal succession altered to account for reanimation, traveling theater companies that aren't quite what they seem, and cream pies with a strangely soothing effects. This world of brilliant color is also a world of many, many questions. And, of course, regularly twisted laws of science. It's a wacky adventure story (filled with romance and Mad Science too, of course...) set in a wacky, yet amazingly complex world, populated by amazingly fun characters and amazingly ridiculous machines.

Writer and co-creator Kaja Folio accidentally coined the term "Gaslamp Fantasy" to describe this world, and it fits perfectly. It takes the steampunk aesthetic, adds gobs of Mad Science and elements from fifties-style pulp sci-fi (think "Captain Proton" from Star Trek: Voyager) and buckets of Vernian influence, mix in liberal doses of humor and great characters, sprinkle in just the amount of explanation about the world and it's history, and then hand it over to the colorist for the final touch. For a simplified version of this recipe, see the top of the page (you know, the part that starts with "Adventure!" and then mentions "Romance!").  At ten-and-a-half volumes, this series is going strong, and I really don't see it slowing down anytime soon with so many questions left unanswered (I'm not going to try to list them off; you'll have to read the series and see for yourself)!

The story focuses on Agatha, a, well, a Girl Genius. A young student who can never get her clanks to work, she... well, she turns out to have a lot more to her than anyone thought. She ends up on a grand adventure spanning, airship cities, maniacal circuses (of doom!), insane talking castles, theater, and situations that only a good death ray (or a carousel) can solve, to avoid being manipulated or killed. Or turned into a "spunky girl sidekick."

Hi-jinx ensues, and it brought friends.

Agatha herself is an incredibly fun character, willing to tackle challenges even when her concentration is inhibited at the beginning. What's she do when she's mugged? She hits the attacker with a bottle. And when she's given the impossible task of cleaning the lab before the Baron arrives for a surprise visit in half an hour? She does it. After the story really starts, well, then she goes from great to incredible. As for the rest of the cast, it's tons of fun and filled with great characters. From the lazy Krosp, the Emperor of all cats, to the fun-loving warrior Zeetha, lost princess of the Lost City of Skifander, to insane pirate Bangladesh Dupree to Baron Wulfenbach, the tyrant with very good reasons for his actions, to... well, you get the idea.

I adore Girl Genius. The characters, the world, the technology, the mysteries, the humor, the art, the visual gags ("Turnips R Us"), the massive eyebrows... the concepts are great and the execution is wonderful, and they get extra points for pulling off a fun love triangle without angst. Now, that's awe-inspiring.  This is a genuinely fun series that I highly recommend to all, though I must add that the Foglios have self-rated the series PG-13.

I really doubt that I can do the plot justice (at least not without heaps of spoilers and few more weeks of editing), so lucky for us all the Book Smugglers posted their review of the first three chapters less than twenty-four hours ago.  Check it out; maybe the review and my rambling combined can come close to doing this lovely series justice.

Girl Genius is available to read both in print and as a free online webcomic, updating Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. If you're reading this you have internet access and thus no excuse not to check this series out, and if you're not pulled in by the end of the first chapter, you still aren't off the hook. The first chapter's good, in the second chapter it gets even better, and chapter three is when it gets really, really fun.  The series in completely in color with the exception of the first chapter, which is scheduled to be re-released in color soon.  There are currently nine volumes in print, with another volume-and-a-half available for reading online:

Follow This Elegant and Finely Crafted Link to Read!

Note to self: add the color version of Volume 1 to my birthday list.

For more fun, there's also Girl Genius Radio Theater, which is a pod cast of two comedic three-part episodes and one promo, done in the style of an Olde Tyme radio serial.  Oh, and the "Elegant and Finely Crafted Link" phase is commonly used at the Girl Genius website, something that should give you the tiniest taste of the Foglios' brilliance.

No, I really can't praise them enough.

Now allow me to leave you all with Phil and Kaja's acceptance speech for last year's Hugo Award:

Go read.  Now.

Conflict of Hugo Proportions: Brian Versus Agatha!

I am feeling conflicted.

Earlier today, I was looking at the news on Marvel's website when, lo and behold, I saw this!

Captain Britain and MI13 is up for the "Best Graphic Story" Hugo award for it's third volume "Vampire State", in which Brian (aka Captain Britain) and his stalwart cohorts fight vampire.  Who live in a castle.  On the moon.

This news filled me joy.  The world was filled with chocolate and rainbows, the birds joined me in song, and I promptly got a parody of Captain Planet's theme song stuck in my head ("Captain Britain!  He's a hero!  He'll take pollution down to zero because-he-was-a-Knight-of-Pendragon-and-that's-what-they-do-not-just-because-I-can't-think-of-an-other-line-really.")

So I decided to check out the Hugo Awards' official website and see what Brian was up against:

Girl Genius volume 9

And I stared.

Why does this awesome news make me conflicted?  I love Captain Britain and MI13, I really do.  I think it a horrible shame that it was canceled.  It would be wonderful if it got a Hugo.

But I absolutely love Girl Genius.  It may be my single favorite American comic series.  I was overjoyed last year when it was nominated for the category and was overwhelmed with happiness once again when it won, becoming the first graphic novel to win a Hugo.

And now if one wins, the other doesn't.

Fortunately, I'm not part of Worldcon and I won't have to choose between the two of them.  As such, I can take comfort in the fact that I love two of the five nominees for the category and can root for both of them, and that the nominations alone ought to bring attention to both books.

I guess my internal conflict, then, is not which to root for, but which I would rather have win: the winner from last year or the superheroes that were tragically canceled.

But when I really think about it, it doesn't matter.  I'm happy that both were nominated (and that Fables was, too, but I haven't read that volume yet).  I'll be happy with either one winning.

So, in honor of these two wonderful comic series being nominated, I shall follow up this rant with one gushing about Girl Genius (which I've been planning on doing anyway) and then another on Captain Britain and MI13.  As the previous post states, I'm rather busy at the moment, so I'm not sure when I'll have these posts completed, but it'll be in the near future.

Good luck to all the Hugo nominees!  May the Force/Spark/Self-confidence-that-now-fuels-your-powers be with you!