Blógünder Schlock

Okay, the Monica Villarreal macquette has been painted, and it looks fantastic. I’m no longer buying one out of hopeful curiousity. Now I’m in this for the unmitigated tabletop hotness. But that’s not what I’ve pictured to the right here. Monica is now officially too hot for my pages.

No, on the right is the completely unrelated (except by Blank Label-ness) Roomies! Book 1. I love David Willis’ style with Shortpacked! and Roomies! actually pre-dates my days of reading webcomics — much less creating them. This book will be a great way for me to go back in time about 11 years…

Here are two web-comicky things that I’m sure you want to pick up eventually, but which you can’t acquire in that manner.

The first is the extremely limited edition Monica Macquette from Paul Taylor and Patch Together. Here’s the final version of the sculpt, pre-painted:

They’ve hit the minimum in order to start the run, but they’re not going to be carrying inventory. If you want one of these, you need to open your wallet now. Do you need to see the full set of rotation pix for the sculpt? Done.

The second is the first-ever sketched bookplate from Phil Foglio, which is what you get if you order the Girl Genius Book 8 Sketched Edition , also available in gorgeous hardback.

If this looks just a little bit like what you’ve seen me do it’s no coincidence. I talked Phil into it, gave him piles of sage advice, then stood back and shook my head as he handled sketch editions completely differently than I do. I mean, he’s using PENCIL, and he’s letting you pick almost ANYTHING YOU WANT. Phil, if you’re reading this I just want you to know that I see you over there raising the bar and ruining things for all of us. You’ll be getting a call from the Webcartoonists 601st, sir.

So. Monica Macquette, and Girl Genius Sketch Editions. There will be enough for everybody who buys now, but after that they’re all gone.

So I’m minding the Blank Label Comics booth at Comic-Con, and this nice young man walks up to me with an octopus…

It was a Squishable octopus – a plushie the size of a beach-ball. I immediately recognized him as one of our most generous sponsors. It turns out they’ve been very successful, too. The ad campaign that Squishable runs from time to time with Blank Label Comics and Schlock Mercenary has really boosted their business. He stopped by to say “thank you,” we put names to faces, and we all had fun for a few minutes passing the octopus around and cuddling it.

Then Aaron offered me a free squishable. He gave me his card, told me to email him, and said they’d ship me one of whatever I wanted. That was one of the very first emails I sent after returning from Comic-Con last month. I selected the tortoise, and it arrived on our doorstep while I was at WorldCon in Denver. I emailed Aaron the following:

Sandra and I have been at home for two days, and can’t stop hugging the tortoise. If we’re in the room where it’s last been tossed, it gets picked up and hugged on our way someplace else.

This thing is like crack for physical contact junkies. No nutritious value, but it sure hits the craving.

If you’re into plushies, drop a little extra coin and get yourself a GOOD one. Get a Squishable.

Schlocker Hilary B. attended Philcon last weekend, and sent me photos of the Serial Peacemaker, rendered in Legos. Hilary didn’t say who did the rendering because he didn’t know.

And now a side-view.

If this is your work, please let me know. You’ve just won a prize.

Barbie is in trouble. Her merchandise is being outsold by the upstart “Bratz” dolls, which have a much more cartoony look. And if you’ve got issues with how Barbie’s proportions may set unrealistic expectations, the Bratz dolls should send you screaming into the streets. Big heads, short bodies, tiny waists, and giant facial features… a living creature modeled after Bratz would be a walking, talking horror.

But we love ‘em. (YOU might not, but “we” the consumer whose dollars, euros, and yen have voices of their own, we are speaking loud and clear.) Why?

More importantly, is there a larger principle at work here? Something that someone like me, who wants to make a living as a cartoonist can capitalize on? Well, I wouldn’t be asking the question this way if I didn’t think there was. (more…)

Years ago I read a fascinating book called The Difference Engine by Bruce Sterling and William Gibson, in which Charles Babbage’s mechanical computer actually got built back in the 19th century. The book was a neat romp through the industrial computer revolution — steampunk at its finest.

In practical terms, the materials sciences back then weren’t quite up to snuff, or so I’ve been told. His Difference Engine never got built, which is why Charles Babbage is more of the “crazy uncle” of the information age, instead of its father.

If he’d had legos, though… (more…)