BlitzTheComicGuy

Far Out There Christmas Soundtracks: Ichabod

It’s nitpicker time, again, kiddies! Yep, our next Christmas playlist is none other than Ichabod’s, and if anybody remembers Ichabod’s regular character soundtrack, you know that means this one will be a bit… esoteric. Heck, just knowing anything about Ichabod in general will tell you that his tastes are a bit on the odd side. Obviously, when it’s Christmas music we’re dealing with, there’s only so much pure weirdness we can pick from, but Ichabod still managed to come up with a...

Far Out There Christmas Soundtrack: Avatar

Since this year has wound up being all about Avatar, or at least this December has, it’s only right to kick things off with everybody’s favorite indestructible repository of knowledge. When I first put together Avatar’s soundtrack, I tried to concoct a blend of 70s Disco-Pop, modern JPop, and those kitchy early synth albums from back when the Moog was new and exotic. I don’t think I ever quite managed to pull of the fusion of melodic density and SciFi kitschiness that I was aiming for...

Weekly Anime Comics: Slayers Next - page 12

I'm not gonna lie, the most thought and effort I put into this whole page involved deciding which of the mascots ought to be playing Scooby.

What's extra funny is, as omnipresent as the jokes may be, I never really liked Scooby Doo as a kid.  I was always more of a Jetsons kid.

Far Out There Christmas Character Soundtracks!

It’s been a while since I last did a Far Out There Character Soundtrack because, well, I’d frankly run out of Far Out There characters I could do soundtracks for. But OF COURSE I’d go and find a way to bring the idea back and have that idea be Christmas-related! I’ve often half-jokes about how much I wish there could be Far Out There Christmas specials, but I’d also love there to be Far Out There Christmas albums to go along with it. You know, have every member of the cast sing an a...

10 WESTERN Songs I Wish Were Anime Themes - part 8

Papas Fritas are a really tough band to summarize beyond “late 90s Indie Pop,” because they kind of played whatever. From the Garage Rock of “Sing About Me” to the Psychedelia of “Hey Hey You Say” to the slinky pseudo-Jazz of the song in question: “Way You Walk,” Papas Fritas were all over the place. That’s probably part of the reason they weren’t bigger than they were, but of course that’s the primary selling point to listeners of a certain persuasion. I know I liked �...

Far out There: MadLib 5 - page 7

Somehow, there's no way it could have been anyone else

Jenna & the Fanclub from Planet Heart Throb - page 61

It's rare for Jenna to run into somebody that the universe craps on more than her 

Weekly Anime Comic: Slayers Next - page 11

Admittedly, it doesn't actually happen all THAT often... but when it does happen, it happens MANY times in very short succession.

There was probably a more meta joke to be made about the copy of the Claire Bible being doodled on to prevent a satisfying conclusion mirroring the decline of quality in the Slayers franchise in general... but I just wasn't up to it.

Weekly Anime Comic: Slayers Next - page 10

Just for the record, I did go check.  Kira's apparently not in the books, but was a new invention for the anime.  So somebody made the deliberate decision to incorporate this embodiment of... certain otaku preferences into a show that, up to this point, had never had any characters who looked like this.  I'm just pointing out that this is what occurred.

AND YES, I RECOGNIZE THE FUNDAMENTAL SILLINESS OF ME BEING THE ONE TO QUESTION THE INCLUSION OF CUTESY CHARACTERS.  ...

Conventional Wisdom: Cosplay America 2022 - page 1

Yes, you're seeing this right.  I've still somehow got leftover content from a weekend where I freely admit to going off and finding any excuse to NOT be at the event I was supposed to be covering.

And yes, it is actually VERY out of the ordinary for me to not pre-register if I'm afforded the opportunity to do so.  I generally get REALLY stressed out when any form of uncertainty is hanging over my head, and will usually go out of my way to get as much stuff taken care of in ad...

Weekly Anime Comic: Slayers Next - page 9

...and I've lived in Washington DC.  Supply your own punchline here. Or don't.  It was already hard enough to wrote a comic about an episode talking about political intrigue ON ELECTION WEEK and come up with a joke that would actually be worth reading outside of that limited context.  No offense, but I don't have much faith in an internet comment section to be any better at it.

No, but seriously, I actually really like this kind of design idea, and wish I were good enough...

Weekly Anime Comic: Slayers Next - page 8

I mean, it obviously helps that the animators clearly gave the dude a ton of wrestling moves, never mind the costume he's in this time around.  But still, you get what I'm saying, right?

Also, I must confess that, despite confirmably being a mean-spirited jerk who's even seen this episode before, I still felt sorry for Amelia in the first half.  That's an impressive feat. 

Corman/Poe Month part 8. The Tomb of Ligeia (1964)

And with this, we reach the end. Corman’s last Poe film, and the end of the cycle. Yes, more adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe would hit theaters after this, many coming from American International and some even featuring Vincent Price, but this is where the Roger Corman set ends. And I’m sorry to say the series does NOT go out with a bang. While I stand firm in my assertion that The Premature Burial is the worst of Corman’s Poe flicks, I at least find myself engaged with the badn...

Jenna & the Fanclub from Planet Heart Throb - page 60

Clearly, everybody in this situation lives a VERY healthy life.

Weekly Anime Comic: Slayers Next - page 7

Frankly, I'm surprised Chairman Kaga DIDN'T wear those giant shoulder pads at one point.

Also, it didn't occur to me that, while I personally wasn't introduced to Iron Chef until it was airing on Food Network around 2000, the show actually debuted on Japanese TV in 1993, three whole years BEFORE Slayers Next.  So there's the possibility that this might not even be a joke (or at least not MY joke) but the exact thing the show wanted me to think of!

...and jus...

Corman/Poe Month part 7. The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

Last time, I talked about The Haunted Palace, a movie I think is legitimately one of Roger Corman’s best Poe films, but one I have trouble enjoying on a personal level because I tend to watch all the movies chronologically, so by the sixth movie things start to feel samey. Now we have Masque of the Red Death, a movie that’s objectively on the lower end of the Poe movies, but I nevertheless consider my favorite. And wouldn’t you know it, one of the main reasons I have s...

10 WESTERN Songs I Wish Were Anime Themes - part 7

Well folks, it’s that time again. Time for me to prove to nobody in particular that I still know how to RAWK. This month’s song is by White Wizzard, a 2010’s-era throwback to 1980’s-era Heavy Metal. The band consisted/consists of bass player Jon Leon and whatever random assortment of guitarists and drummers can avoid having "creative differences" with him long enough to make it through a performance. Seriously, every single White Wizzard release has come from a substantially different...

Far Out There: MadLib 5 - page 6

When confronted by a large mechanical device, there is at least a 70% chance Stilez will tear the top off of it... but only a 20% chance of it being because she realizes there might actually be something inside.

Weekly Anime Comics: Slayers Next - page 6

Did this page come out late because I needed to do a deep dive into the lore of both Slayers AND Warhammer and cross-reference all the stuff about The Warp to make sure this joke is consistent with the canon of both franchises?  ...no, I just got distracted with other things.  But I really did go poking around some Slayers wikis to make sure Zoamelgustar didn't turn out to be real after all in one of the novels or something.  I'm PRETTY sure I'm not making myself look stupider ...

Corman/Poe Month: 6. The Haunted Palace (1963)

Okay, first things first: I legitimately think The Haunted Palace is neck and neck with The Pit and The Pendulum as Roger Corman’s best Poe film. It strikes the creepy haunted house vibe better than any of the other films, the plot is relatively straightforward and easy to follow, and it provides Vincent Price with one of the broader canvases on which to splatter the various extremes of his acting. If you’re looking to just cherry pick one or two films to watch, this is ...

Corman/Poe Month: 5. The Raven (1963)

I’ve already addressed the inherent challenge in trying to adapt Edgar Allen Poe to feature film, namely that the filmmaker is inevitably stuck having to add new stuff to stretch out the original, brief source material. With that in mind, I ask you honestly: how on Earth would YOU try to get a whole movie out of “The Raven?” I mean, seriously, I know it’s the most iconic thing Poe ever wrote, but what even happens in that poem? Seriously, what events actually take place? An emo dude s...

Corman/Poe Month 4. Tales of Terror (1962)

I have no idea if Roger Corman was deliberately trying to atone for doing one Poe adaptation without Vincent Price by following up with a package of MULTIPLE adaptations featuring him all at once, but that’s what we ended up getting with Tales of Terror. If you’re struggling to remember which Edgar Allan Poe story “Tales of Terror” is, that’s because there isn’t one. Rather, what we have here is actually an anthology of several short films, covering multiple different Poe...

Weekly Anime Comics: Slayers Next - page 5

This being anime we're talking about, it's a legitimate question if the first two might actually have been deliberate references... or at least sneaky theft.  Again, this is anime, the line between the two are thin to non-existent.

The third one, though... Okay, Batman & Robin didn't come out until the year after Slayers Next aired, so that obviously wasn't actually being referenced here.  But Batman: The Animated Series, on the other hand, intro...

Corman/Poe Month: 3. The Premature Burial (1962)

Last time, I said if you’re not looking to plow through all of Corman’s Poe cycle in order, you’re better off starting with The Pit and the Pendulum than that actual first film, House of Usher. Doubling down on that, if you’re not REALLY dedicated to watching each and every film in the series, The Premature Burial is the only one I’d honestly recommend skipping altogether.

You know when people say the story behind making a film would make a more inte...

Corman/Poe Month: 2. The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

Okay, last time I warned that, if you aren't already set on watching the whole cycle in chronological order no matter what, I don’t think House of Usher is a good place for you to start watching Corman's Poe cylce. If you just want to jump right in at watch a strong, memorable offering, I highly advise starting out with The Pit and the Pendulum. Not only does this movie do just about everything it does better than House of Usher did the year before, but most of wh...

Weekly Anime Comics: Slayers Next - page 4

Just in case anyone was afraid I might not keep doing actual patron-exclusive content while the free Halloween stuff was coming out.. that's fair, given how frequently I just forget to do stuff.

Speaking of forgetting, at first I was going to have a little chibi Amelia in the background complaining about Lina... being Lina.  But then I forgot until after I'd already started inking and just didn't feel like stopping to pencil in one more element.  The way most of my creative de...

Corman/Poe Month: 1. House of Usher (1960)

Okay, let’s get this out of the way right off the bat: I’m doing these reviews in chronological order, both because I like keeping things neat and organized, and also because I’m more focused on recounting my personal experiences and opinions than trying to recommend any of these films to somebody else. I watch these things in the order they were made every October, and that experience is what's driving these blogs. But I still have to say, if you're a total newbie and AREN'T already co...

The Corman/Poe Cycle

I’ve mentioned elsewhere that, for pretty much my entire formative years, Halloween was never a big deal for me. Part of that is from growing up in a good conservative Southern Baptist family that did do devil holidays like that (we had a Fall Festival at church, thank you very much!), but the main reason for me was that Halloween just looked LAME. I grew up in a neighborhood with very few other kids, so the rare times I ever saw anybody Trick or Treating at all, it was a lonely, pathetic s...

Jenna & the Fanclub from Planet Heart Throb - page 59

We finally know what both the big movie stars' faces look like!  ...which would be more of a big deal if I knew how to draw more than five or six faces.

Also, I really shouldn't admit to drawing a page like this in a hurry, as it only draws attention to how much time has passed between this and the previous page, in which this easily COULD have been drawn more leisurely.  However, this is also, like, the sixth comic I've inked and edited over the course of 48 hours.  One ...

Weekly Anime Comics: Slayers Next - epside 3

...and it's sad, because the only kind of political allegory I actually like is the kind where the only message is "THIS IS ALL STUPID BOLLOCKS!"  Unfortunately, I like piping hot bowls of seafood even more.  For all the magic and slapstick, the thing about Slayers that really seems to stick with me the most is the food.