Exciting Last Unicorn News!

Back in July I decide to roder the 40th edition of The Last Unicorn and get it personally signed by the author Peter S Beagle himself. I just recieved notification that there has been a delay, which makes me happy because it means it did not get lost, haha.

Second, the last two issues of The Last Unicorn comic are going to be 10 pages longer than the other comics. I wondered how they were going to fit the whole story into only 6 issues, when they haven't even done half the book yet in the first three issues.

Third, there's going to be a perfume line based on The Last Unicorn. Totally silly but I think I might order one haha.

Topless Robot T-Shirt, Oh yeah!

I don't usually win things. I mean, I have won ribbons and awards for showing horses and some elementary school activities but I don't usually win contests. I have occasionally won raffles prizes, but when it comes to selecting something I submitted, not so much.

However, I finally have won something, and it was an momentous occasion for me. I didn't even think I was going to win anything, but maybe get an honourable mention.

I try to enter most of the Topless Robot contests on Fridays. I've probably entered every contest since I started reading the website. Sometimes I don't because I can't really relate to the contest but I do try and put an effort in. The prize is a shrit with the Topless Robot logo on it. I know it doesn't mean much to the general population, but to readers of the site, and lovers of all nerd things, it is a coveted piece.

One particular Friday, TR had a contest on 80s cartoon haikus. You could enter as many times as you wanted. There was a challenge though; TR had never broke 1000 comments before. If we made it to 1000 comments, extra shirts would be awarded. At this time I had started contributing to the comments at SOHB. I had already been a reader there, but now the blog was booming with activity. It was decided by those who frequented both SOHB and TR that we would try and help the goal of 1000 comments. The contest lasts Friday night until Monday at 12 AM. All weekend we submitted our own haikus, and any comments we had about submitted haikus were done in haiku style. By Saturday we had rolled the comments over to 1000. It was then decided we could probably double it by the deadline. One commenter said he had about 300 haikus to add, so if we got up to 1700 we'd be set. By Sunday night, approximately an hour or two from midnight, we had made 2100 post.

I spent a good deal of my time contributing real haikus and haikus about the contest. Here's the original post and its comments. It took almost a week to get the results in. This is what TR editor Rob Bricken had to say:

Let's start with who the winners aren't: Not me. Not me.

Yes, I asked for you Topless Roboteers to see if you could manage to get to 1,000 comments (not entries, necessarily, but comments). And yes, you all were cool enough to do that. But then... then you kept going. And going, and going, and going, and holy shit there were 2100 comments in last weekend's TR contest.

And many entries contained more than one haiku (one entry in particular had 250, but we'll get to that), of course. Sure, not every comment contained a haiku or limerick about '80s cartoons, almost all of them were written in haiku anyways. People were having whole conversations -- about the contest, about Smurf sex, about the power of breasts, about anything -- in haiku. It was truly amazing... and totally awful, since I had to read them all.

After trying to ignore the contest all day Tuesday with booze, I finally finished judging the results at about 1:30 am last night. As promised, there will be extra shirts awarded, but be warned -- with so many entries, I had to be insanely picky, or else it would have taken even longer to judge. There's a lot of awesome shit that couldn't make the cut. Also, there's probably some awesome stuff I missed, again, because 2100 entries, dammit. With that caveat, let's start the Honorable Mentioning.

As I read through the Honorable Mentions, I didn't see my posting handle "ThePirateStar". Just as well, I thought. I had hoped to at least get a mention because I did try most of the weekend to bump up the comment count along with the rest of the TR Superfriends (as we are now called) from SOHB. There were probably about 1500 haikus to go through that had to do with 80s themselves, so picking winners was not an easy task. How could you choose 6 winners? What would you look for in a haiku that makes it stand out above the rest? With 2000 comments, there was likely to be repeats in themes. I went ahead and clicked onto the next page for more mentions and the winners. And that is when I saw it.

Before I get to the winners, I need to make some Special Mentions. There's absolutely no way that this contest would have gotten to 1,000 comments, let alone 2,000, without a group who have dubbed themselves the Topless Robot Superfriends. Again, these are people who had whole conversations entirely in haiku, padding out the comment count, but also exhorting other Topless Roboteers to reach this lofty, insane goal. These include DoctorSmashy, Scooter Atreides, Abraxas, Mostly Different, Jedisilk, Ttoplessnerd and ThePirateStar.

All of these guys already have shirts, with the exception of the lady trio of Jedisilk, Ttoplessnerd and ThePirateStar, who I'm now dubbing Rob's Angels (yes, I will have them performing bizarre missions for me in ludicrous outfits beginning next Monday). Additionally, Jedisilk and ThePirateStar did manage gems like these:

ThePirateStar said:

Powerglide my love
Taught me everything I know
Robosexual

Jedisilk said:

Look up! A Rainbow
Care Bear stomachs shot great light.
Such drugs were taken.

Care bears love children.
Care Bear Cousins love them too.
"Love" ran down their legs

...along with conversations like these.

ThePirateStar said:
We really are one
weird generation, wonder
how we'll run the world

Jedisilk replied to ThePirateStar:
We will run the world
like we run everything else:
from our computers.

ThePirateStar replied to Jedisilk:
There is so much truth
In that one haiku reply
I am enlightened

For their cleverness and shockingly hard work, I'm awarding them shirts. Unfortunately, Ttoplessnerd didn't manage to write any haiku about the subject matter, although she did post several hundred haiku in conversation. You guys can tell me whether you think that deserves a shirt or not.

Of course, I'm not just awarding shirts for effort or being sexxxy ladies. Besides those two, I'm awarding three more shirts (and if you think that I'm not playing fair, again, without Jedisilk and ThePirateStar, we probably wouldn't have gotten to 1,000 in the first place).

I had won a t-shirt! Not just for my 80 haiku attempts, but for helping out in the challenge! I was estatic. It was thrilling to know that our haiku conversations were recognized for the work and time we put into getting to the goal.

I requested a ladies cut in medium, because I wasn't sure how the sizes would run and I happen to be top heavy. An email came to notify it had been sent last week. And it finally came in!





The colour is much better than it shows in pictures. The logo is fantastic. The fit is well, very form fitting! When Jedisilk received her shirt, she mentioned that it was actually a Youth/Junior cut tshirt and not a ladies cut. My t-shirt is a little tight across the chest, but it is a great length. It is not a baby doll tee and therefore goes down to the hips. I can't wait to wear it out to my next geek social, s I will proudly wear my TR shirt. Maybe no one will understand what it means, but it might interest them in checking the website out.

Not a flattering picture, I know.

For the winners and Honourable Mentions of the '80s Cartoon Haikus, go here. Some are a little perverted, just to warn you!

Nerdy Songs

While I was Youtubing, I noticed that I have a quite a few songs on my list that I would call nerdy. They are not parodies, or songs about nerds. They're just, well, nerdy! I do love songs about nerds, and nerdy parodies, but I feel these rather stand out on their own.

This isn't to say these are the only nerdy songs out there, since I am sure there's quite a few! Here's just a couple that I enjoy. Videos under the jump.

Avast, it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Ahoy landlubbers, tis your Captain speaking!

If ye had not known by now, it be International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Ye can find more information about this holiday by click here.

Ye best be talking the old tongue of pirates t'day, else you may have to walk the plank like the scurvy rat ye are!

But, if ye are not savvy enough for the lingo, might I suggest some other ways to celebrate TLAPD:







Watch a pirate movie! Here's some suggestions:



Dress like a pirate, it's always fun!




Make pirate cookies!


Drink some grog!

Or just change your Facebook layout to "English: Pirate" for the day!

No matter what ye decide to do, be safe in ye travels in the seven seas!

Batman

I've posted about being a nerd a couple of times on this blog, but I just wanted to reinforce the image onto you all.

One of my favourite nerd loves is Batman. I am currently subsceibing to "The Return of Bruce Wayne" and picking up Batman Trades. I have a list of them I wrote down that I am still aiming to get like the Knightfall Trilogy, Haunted Knight, Hush, Batman RIP. Also I'm going to be subscribing to the new Batwoman when it comes out in November, and picking up the one shots of Batman's return from RoBW and Final Crisis.




To here is what I have to date:
Batman pillow plus, Batman: The Animated Series plush
Baman logo t-shirt
Batman logo belt buckle
Seasons 1-4 of Batman:The Animated Series
Final Crisis
Return of Bruce Wayne Issues 1-4
Batman: Year One
The Dark Knight Returns
Red Rain: Batman VS Dracula
The Long Halloween
Dark Victory
Batman Vs Mr. Freeze: Subzero
Batman and the Mask of the Phantasm
Batman and the Mystery of Batwoman
The Batman Anthology (Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman and Robin)
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight

No shown:
World's Greatest Detective (Bob Kane collection)
A red Batman pillow
The Batman Collection (which is all the movies in the Anthology but the Anthology DVDs came with an extra disc each with special features. Batman Anthology came out a few months after I bought the Batman Collection, sigh)
Batman Keychain
Batman Christmas Ornament
Batman Logo Hoodie
Old School Batman Logo shirt
Batgirl symbol shirt

Can a Comic Book Be a Good Movie? A Look at "The Watchmen"

(Cross Posted to Scooter's Ordinary, Healthy Blog)

I have to start off by saying that I was a late comer into comics. Since I lived in the country, our shopping was pretty limited to groceries and whenever my mom would drag us to a mall. I never got to browse downtown shops and discover comics on my own. My first introduction to Batman, The X-Men and Spiderman were all through visual media. The only comics I actually saw and bought until I was 20 was Archie Digests that you could pick up at the check out line.

With that, I probably bought a few trades when I was 20 and never really got back into it. Only this year did I begin to seriously build a trade collection and subscribe to comics. I dated a few guys who liked comics and suggested I read some. Watchmen was always on their list, and was something I did want to read. When the movie came out, I knew for sure I wanted to read it. Whether it was before or after I saw it, it didn't matter.

When Watchmen came out, I was working in a different city. My friends saw it without me and said they didn't like it. I ended up not seeing it theatres.

I tried borrowing the graphic novel from some friends, but it never came around. I finally borrowed it from a friend that I met in University, shortly after we started hanging out again after 5 years. I read the comic in a night. I was up until 2 AM. I bought myself my own copy a few months later.

I mentioned I wanted to see the movie, but the only person I knew with it had it on Blue Ray. I meant to rent it but it never came around to it. Only yesterday when I mentioned to that same friend I still had not seen The Watchmen while we were at the comic book store, did he bring it over for us to watch.

I didn't have any expectations for the Watchmen. I heard it was bad from friends and critics alike. I heard that Alan Moore was not impressed that anyone was making a movie on it. I heard that there were some issues with the studio and it almost wasn't released.

We watched the Director's Cut, and my god was it long. I hadn't realized it was the Director's Cut until he told us two hours into the movie when I remarked it was quite long, longer than I had imagined. Once I finished the film, I loved it. I went out and bought it the very next day. I ended up getting the theatrical release but I would like to get the Director's Cut at some point. Tonight I watched the theatrical version.

What I liked:
(Spoilers likely)

1) For the most part the film, ESPECIALLY the Director's Cut, followed the graphic novel fairly well. The ending was different, but it was an ending I didn't think was too bad. It really did emphasize some of the major themes of the graphic novel, such as the price of peace. Sure, we would have all like to have seen the octopus alien but I found using Dr.Manhattan instead to be a smart move. Since you cannot count on every person actually reading the graphic novel, a general audience would have a better time accepting Ozymandias blackmailing Dr.Manhattan. He already had screwed over his other fellow Watchmen to execute his plan to save the world, so why not the big blue man?

2) The soundtrack was amazing. I kept mentioning how much I loved the use of the songs in the film, such as Bob Dylan's "Times Are A Changing", Hendrix's "All Along The Watch Tower", Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" (my personal favourite) - I could go on!

3) The opening credit sequence. I think that an opening sequence sets the mood, narrative and the expectations for a film. If you cannot grab an audience in those first few minutes of a movie, then you've lost them. How many times has a movie started off so slow, you wonder about the quality of the film. I thought Watchmen's credits started off with a bang.The way that scene opened up, flowed and packed in so much detailed information in such a short period of time blew me away. It really set the film and explained how we got to where are when we start the experience.

4) The characters were true to their graphic novel counterparts. I found each actor and actress casted for their roles to be well suited. Billy Crudup was excellent at being the emotion-free sounding Manhattan. Jackie Haley's Rorschach had a better Batman voice than Bale. Patrick Wilson and Jeffery Dean Morgan were hands down my favourites, but they also did play my favourite characters in the graphic novel so that is a bit biased.

5) The attention to detail. Some of my favourite scenes from the graphic novel was in the movie, and done so well. One of my favourites is when Silk Spectre and Nite Owl are on Mars, and peel away each other's naked skin to reveal their costumed selves. Other well done scenes from the graphic novel: Manhattan's sanctuary on Mars, The retelling of Rorchach's past through the therapist, Ozymandias' Egyptian obsession.

6) The costumes were great. It's one thing to see super hero costumes in comics, another to see them in film. With disasters like Batman and Robin, it was great to see how these costumes turned up for this film. I also loved how Adrian's costume mocked B&R.

I could say more, but I don't want to get too repetitive here. I really liked Watchmen. But why would other people not like it? Well, I think I get it. First, hardcore purists will never like it. It's not exact. But how many movies are? Not many by my count. Even my favourite movies based on books are still not 100%, even if the screenplay is written by the author themselves (Such as The Last Unicorn for example). Some things just cannot be done through visual media as well as it can in the written or illustrated form. I get that. I really do. But for what its worth, Zack Snyder tried. He even hoped that Alan Moore would watch it and give it his approval. And if Moore is against it, then his biggest fans are going to be too, even without seeing it. And even if they did see it, I am sure they are picky enough to find the smallest problems and blow them up to justify why they didn't like the movie.

And then there's the general public, the ones that haven't read the graphic novel. Watchmen is a pretty long graphic novel, and there's a lot too it. Obviously it all cannot be condensed, and there are slow parts that are important to the film. I think a lot of people went in expecting an action film with super heroes, as they are lead to believe through the trailers. If they don't know anything about the Watchmen, then to them it is boring, and slow. And the Director's Cut is pretty friggin long. It's a lot to take in. Heck, the theatrical version clocks in at 2 hours and 45 minutes. The Director's Cut is about 24 minutes of footage. But after watching both the versions, those extra 24 minutes added into the story's depth. I was sad to see some scenes cut out, some lines missing. In the end, I think the Director's Cut is a better choice to watch if you love the story.

But yet, looking at Internet Movie Data Base, the first couple of reviews are positive. The User Rating for it is 7.8/10 with 23% of the votes at 10, and 3.6% at 1. 87% of the votes are above a vote of 5. So clearly this movie couldn't have been that hated.

Even though I have read the novel, I think I'm going to read it again. One of my friends who turned me on to it said "It's one of those books that you can read over and over again and find something else, that you missed the first time". Hell, I think it is the same with the movie. I personally am watching the movie for the second time, albeit a different version because I think I missed something, even with already knowing the ending!

This leads me back to my original reason for writing up this review. Can a comic book be a good movie? This is something rehashed over and over again, and I am sure what I am saying is nothing new. It's pretty difficult to make one it seems. Directors have to appeal to two different audiences and make it so they can both meet in the middle. Fans of comic book series are so obsessed with the attention to details while the general audience wants something they can follow without having to know any of the background before they watch the movie. Obviously this has caused a great deal of criticism from comic book enthusiasts who feel a movie should be a true form. For something that had to appeal to both those crowds without leaving anyone behind, and carefully selecting what had to be there, what had to be cut and what needed to be added, I think the Watchmen did an excellent job. So, my apologies to Alan Moore, please don't hurt me, but I thought this movie was as close to the graphic novel as you can in this media, and did a damn good job of pulling it off.

Also, that sex scene... totally blew my socks off.

The Joltess Out.

Some House Keeping

I've been neglecting my blog lately, and that is not something I want to get into a habit of doing. However, I have a couple of updates related to this blog that I thought everyone should know about.

First up, I am a contributer to another blog called "Scooter's Ordinary, Healthy Blog". It is a get-together for the commenters of Topless Robot to go to for some general wackiness as to not overload TR with comments (which we are all quite good at).

It was with this gang that two of us were able to win shirts at TR for our contributions at last week's weekend contest. I will be posting pictures of me in said shirt as soon as it arrives.

Next, I have enrolled in a blogging course hosted by Kludgy Mom. It is a 6 week course called "Back to School, Back to Blogging" that will cover a lot of blogging basics and how to improve your blog. My good friend Linnie tweeted about it a few days ago, and so we're both going to be attending this course. It is a read-write-share formula so a lot of my 'homework' is going to be posted here I imagine. That means more bloggy goodness, and hey, maybe even more readers. But my main goal for this course is to just make a better blog and figure out what direction I want to go with it. I am also hoping to put my skills to use over at Scooter's.

The course runs from September 12th to October 22nd. It will utilize a lot of other social medial tools like Twitter, TweetDeck (which I just got and love a lot better than just refreshing Twitter all day), BlogFrog, and Stumble Upon.

I hope to be bringing you a few posts in the future both on MLCP and SOHB. However, taking off this weekend so there won't be anything until Monday maybe.

In the next few days, when the mail cooperates, there will be some reviews. I am still waiting on my Eco Bag from Etsy that is coming from Japan, and The Last Unicorn #3 will be arriving sometime in the beginning of October. I also have a couple of movies arriving soon to be reviewed.

Louisbourg Day 5 & 6

I decided to lump Friday and Saturday together since Saturday wasn't much about Louisbourg.

Friday, August 27th 2010 (Day 5)

7:10 AM
I woke up and started packing since I was going to be leaving for Halifax from the Fortress. I had already packed up most of my stuff the night before and all I had to do was the finishing touches (you know, the toothbrush and toothpaste deal). Once it was all packed up, I dragged my suitcase and two bags down three flights of stairs and popped them in the car.

8:00 AM
Went down for breakfast and asked how to check out. They told me we were having french toast and since I had already had it during my stay, I could choose something else if I wished. I told him it was fine and I'd jut have the french toast again. I like french toast, so it was no big deal. I was just glad it wasn't the Island Bake again.

8:30 AM
I agreed to drive Larry to the site, and drop him off as I was leaving town. Bruce Fry stopped into our B&B looking for a couple who had sneaked into the lecture we were having at the Chevlier House. We weren't quite sure how they got in there since we were pretty careful not to let the public visiting the fortress in. Bruce told us that we were going to look at some siege sites outside the Fortress area so we should all meet up at the Visitor Centre parking lot and inside of it. We were also leaving after hours so we had to make sure we got our cars down to the Fortress since they locked up place after hours.

8:45 AM
On the way to the Fortress, Larry told me that we should pull over and check out Wolfe's Ridout. A ridout is a camp they would have made to prepare their troops for the siege. It was about a 5 minute walk. We quickly checked it out. When we met up with the others, Bruce asked us what had taken since we left before him. I told him Larry wanted to take a side tour.

9:00 to 10:00 AM
Bruce drove us around, stopping the cars every once and awhile so we could go out and explore. Since it had rained all day Thursday, the area was marshy and wet. The natural environment had over taken the siege sites and it was very hard to see what was left. We went to a ridout called Green Hill which was a valuable camp for the British since you could get a clear view of the Fortress. Back in 1758, this area would have been totally cleared of the trees.

10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
The others were eager to get back to digging, but I wasn't. I had already found something better than iron nails and glass. The site was slightly flooded as well due to the rain. I decided to stay back with the collections manager and help label and catalogue the artifacts. Most of it was writing on pottery shards and glass bits, but I enjoyed it. We had some tea, and talked about this and that. We decided we'd go to the site around lunch to see what was going on with the others. I wanted to explore the rebuilt town a little bit more. We got a chance to see stuff during the week, but there were still some places not yet ventured. Since the program had a "Do What You Want" attitude, it wasn't a problem.

12:00 PM
We went out with the lunches to the site. I went over to the site to find out what had been found (nothing) and inform them that lunch had arrived. They grudgingly left their work for food.

1:00 PM
We all went back to the site. I hung out for a bit, but then left to go look for the blacksmith from the day before. Hubba hubba.


1:30 to 2:30 PM
For an hour I went about the site, snapping as many pictures as I could of buildings, exhibits and people. I cursed myself for not charging my camera like I should have, since it was dying quickly. I talked to a few of the interpreters and while I didn't see the whole site, I felt like I had seen enough to get a feel of the place. I also picked up some more souveniers for people because I didn't have too much success in town. I took my stuff back to my car so I wouldn't have to carry it around with me all day. I walked back to the Chevalier House because I was going to go deo some more catalouging when I ran into Bruce on the way back. He said that he was just getting Heidi the collections manager and they were driving up to the site and I could catch a ride with them if I wanted to.

2:30 PM to 3:10 PM
I went back to the site and helped people shift their their dirt, which was now mud. It was a lot harder to find artifacts this way since they were all covered in mud. There were about 2-3 of us working on a bucket at a time.

3:10 PM
We packed up everything and the archaeology crew began covering the sites. We took our equipment back to the Chevalier House. During the week it stayed in the equipment tent. Once we arrived back the the Chevalier House, we were told we were going to go to one of the exhibits about fortification and the military before we met up for dinner at the L'Epee Royal, the upper class restaurant, at 4:30.

4:00-4:30 PM
We explored this little house with some artifacts of the remaining walls, drums and military explanations. We then walked to the L'Epee Royal.


4:30 to 6:00 PM
The meal was on the Program, so we didn't have to pay for alcoholic drinks like we had to Wednesday. I had a glass of red wine with my meal. We had the same type of soup from Wednesday, and we were also served fresh baked buns. The choice was turkey or salmon and I wanted something diffeernt. We were given a big bowl of rice, and Paul and I were given a plate of turkey with a wild mushroom and carrot dressing. Dessert was the same little brownie, but it was good.

6:00 to 7:00 AM
We went back to Chevalier House to pick up the rest of our stuff. After we all went to our cars and drove out to an area called Black Rock. This was a huge rock that over looked the Atlantic Ocean. We stayer there for awhile, snapping photos. I agreed to drive a couple people back into town. Paul's ride showed up at 5:30 and likely left him, so I told him I'd drive him back to Sydney since it wasn't really out of my way too much. I was driving to Halifax airport that night, with the unhappy event of sleeping in the airport since I had a 6:45 AM flight back to Toronto.


7:00 PM
We all said our goodbyes. I dropped off people and said my goodbyes to them. We had all given each other our emails to keep in touch and share photos.

8:00 PM
By 8:00 PM I driven to Sydney. I dropped off Paul and gased up the car for the first time in Nova Scotia, which I was a little impressed by. I spent the entire time driving straight through to Saturday...

Saturday August 28th, 2010 (Day 6)

12:30 AM
I arrived at the airport but like an idiot I went in the wrong lane. I had to find the gas station too since I was required to leave the car with a full tank of gas. I ended up driving up to the commercial car lane and an airport worked helped me out. I found the gas station at the airport and it was CLOSED. Ugh. I popped in gas station in my GPS I had brought along and it directed me to a gas station 10 KM away. I drove out to this gas station to have my credit card denied at the pump. I went to another pump, gassed up and had to pay at the window.

1:00 AM
I finally got to the rental car drop off at the airport. I pulled everything out of the car and repacked some stuff. I had not packed my mugs yet so I wanted to wrap them up well. I checked the car over for anything else that belonged to me. I was scared that the airport may be closed since I didn't think there were many flights coming in this late. I dropped the keys off into the drop off box, and prayed that they wouldn't charge me for the stupid stone chips out the window that were already on the stupid car in the first place.

1:30 AM to 2:00 AM
I walked around the airport, looking for the places I had to be in the morning. Wet Jet would not allow me to check in at their kisosks so I had to wait until the morning. I wanted to check my bags so I wouldn't have to sleep with them but I lucked out. I found a spot by the security that was also near a bunch of shops and an indoor playground for kids. There was also a wifi table so I logged in to check some stuff. I curled up on a bench with my three bags positioned so if someone attempted to take my stuff, I would have been awoken. I woke up three times; once because I was cold so I had to fish a sweater out of my suitcase, and twice because that was the time people were polishing the floor. At one point I grabbed all my stuff and slept on the floor because I was tired of getting bench marks on my legs since I stupidly wore khakis that day.

4:15 AM
By this time, people were coming into the airport. I awoke to the security staff talking. Since I was scared of being asked to move, I decided to wake up and go check my bags. I checked in on my laptop at the airport with its wifi when the kisok wouldn't let me so I had to obtain a boarding pass while I was checking my bag. I got one and was told I should get through security now since it would probably get busy soon. Boarding was at 6:10 AM.

4:30 to 6:10 AM
I got through security like a zombie. I got a little nervous when they took awhile to scan my laptop. I went to my gate and hung out there for a bit. When other people started getting Tim Hortons, I decided to get up and also get some breakfast. I asked for a bacon breakfast sandwich but got a sausage one instead. I didn't really care. I got a small cappuchino to keep me up since I didn't want to fall asleep at the gate. We boarded at 6:10 AM. I was surprised that I got the same seat as my flight in; 6A. I was delighted that in a three seat aisle, I was the only one in it which was strange since it was a fairly crowded flight. As soon as I was sitting down, I put my pillow to the window. I had fallen fast asleep before the review of the safety features finished. I woke up on the flight and checked where we are. We were nearing Toronto and I couldn't really get back to sleep. I watched the tv without sound for a bit until we landed.

8:00 AM
We arrived in Toronto at 8 AM on the dot. I decided not to call Linds, who graciously was allowing me to drop my stuff there while I attempted to get into Fan Expo until I was actually ready to leave. It took me awhile to get my bags, and I got lost looking for the luggage pick up since nothing is labelled well in Terminal 3 of Pearson airport.

8:30 AM to 9:30 AM
With my bags in hand, I called Linds who told me to take the bus from the airport to the subway to the subway drop off near her place. It was wonderful to just sit down and go somewhere without having to think too hard about it, like driving haha. I had a neat little trip going from Bus to subway to car. They came and picked me up and we got breakfast (yay!)

10:00 AM to 4:00PM
We hung out for a bit, and then we decided to try to leave for Fan Expo around 1:50 PM. We took the subway to downtown and the line ups were huge. Crazy even. As much as I love Sci fi, Comic books, D&D, Gaming and Horror, I wasn't prepared to wait in line for 6 hours and pay $35 to get in, and likely only get to get an hour out of it. I knew quite a few people who were there, and I was sad I didn't get to see them but I suppose I should have planned better. I wasn't too upset about it. We went back to the house, and I called to find out when I was getting a ride back home.

5:20 PM
Linds and The Newf dropped me off at the Go Station to I could get picked up at Oshawa. I didn't want my ride to have to come get me in Toronto.

6:30 PM
Back in Oshawa, got picked up, finally arrived home! Gave people their gifts and went to bed at 9:30 PM like a wuss. Slept in until 11 AM Sunday, haha.

Louisbourg Photos

While I was away, I took almost 500 pictures of the town, the Fortress and other such things. I have sorted them into the most interesting photos, and uploaded them onto FlickR, as well as organized them into sets. Originally made to send to the people in my group, I figured this would be the best way of showing my photos without a) inviting everyone to follow me on Facebook or b) uploading photos on Blogger. So, while I prepare to write about 7 days on the Eastern Coast, here are the photos from my trip.

Buildings of The Fortress of Louisbourg
Buildings around the reconstructed town.

Exhibits and Historical Interpreters of Louisbourg
All around the town there were costumed staff that were interpreters of the town. The Fortress is set in 1744. In some of the buildings there were exhibits, replicas and artifacts.

The Marine Museum of Louisbourg
A small, non profit museum that houses some marine artifacts.



Archaeological Sites and Other Areas Outside of Louisbourg
There were sites outside of the Fortified Town, and even historical sites that exist outside the Parks Canada site, like the lighthouse.

Back From The Coast.

I am finally back from my working vacation. I had a wonderful time but I am beat! I made a journal of all the exciting things that happened while I was out in Cape Breton, so expect a fairly long post detailing that!

Scott Pilgrim VS The Joltess

On Friday Night, I was invited out by a bunch of friends to catch the first night of Scott Pilgrim VS The World. I have to admit that I have not read the graphic novels prior to the movie. Maybe I will read them in due time, but we shall see.

Since I didn't know anything about the graphic novels, what I knew about the movie was based on posts at Topless Robot, Word of Mouth and commercials. Some doofus needs to defeat 7 Evil Exes in order to date a girl who supposedly looks cooler than he does.

The people I went with laughed every 5 minutes. The movie was not that funny. Sure, there were some funny moments, and some funny lines but not that damn funny. There wasn't even any humor at all at some of the things they were laughing at.

(Spoilers!)

I found that the plot was weak to me. He had to defeat 7 Evil Exes. Okay, I get it. But why were the Exes evil? Ramona explains that she was the one who had dumped the Exes. How did they get powers, and why do they have them? Why is it that Ramona has the ability to travel through dreams to make deliveries? None of this was really explained in the film. Maybe it's discussed in the graphic novels.

The characters themselves were unlikable. Scott Pilgrim is a slacker doofus with nothing going for him, yet he has two chicks. The band mates are paperthin. They only exist to be a band in this movie. There's nothing else about them. You learn their names, their position in the band and that's about it. Ramona was dull. I don't quite understand the connection between her and Scott, because there was no chemistry between the characters. Ramona seems disinterested in everything around her, even Scott but she takes him back to her place to fool around after one night of hanging out. You don't get any idea of why these two like each other, or why Ramona is worth fighting 7 even Exes for. The Exes themselves were slightly interesting only because they were the villians. Their backstories were short. You don't really get an idea of the last four Exes get their powers. Gideon was especially disappointing because as the head of the Evil Exes, you'd think his background story would have been the most indepth. Instead we learn that Ramona had been obsessed with him, and he rebuffed her until she left. What is in this League for the rest of the Exes? Gideon formed it to get Ramona back, but nothing is really stated about the benefits for the rest. And if there isn't any, why did they agree to become part of the League?

The music was pretty good. I found myself thinking I'd probably get the soundtrack, except I didn't really like the numbers by the Sex Bob-ombs. Everything else was pretty good.

The style of the film was interesting. The videon game references were a nice touch, and the fight scenes were pretty well done, as well as the special effects but they didn't really make up for what was lacking.

I found the best part to be the room mate Wallace. Almost every line he had was a good one. I wanted more scenes with him.

The locations were fun if you lived in Ontario and knew Toronto very well, especially if you lived there. I've been there enough times that I knew all the locations and was excited to see the city in the background. I loved that the coins were all Canadian currency.

At the end of the day, I didn't think it was a bad movie - I just didn't care about the leads. I just felt that the two main characters were douchebags and I really didn't care whether they died, or got together, or lived happily ever after, or split up forever. They both seemed like jerks. Would I watch it again? I don't know. Maybe. Would I read the graphic novels to see what was missing? Another maybe. Did I have a nerdgasm like all my friends who saw it that night with me? Absolutely not.

Additional Cartoons

So in my list yesterday, I neglected some cartoons. I guess I watched a lot of television as a child. I guess that's what happens when you live in the country. Wait, what? Did I just say it's living in the country's fault? How can this be? Country life is hard working.

Yes and No.

During the light hours, we were expected to do stuff outside. My brother and I did the chores, we went for bike rides, we had out own playground with swings and a basketball court our dad built us, and I rode the horses, and he had his dirt bikes.

However.

You can only do these thingd actively outside... when it's daylight. This was especially hard in the winter when it was dark by 6 PM. Winter, early dark mornings and the evening was when we watched television. We didn't have any friends close by. My mom was a shift worker and my dad worked until 4:00 and neither of them wanted to drive us anywhere to our friends' homes that lived in the small town where we went to school. We only got to watch cartoons after school when waiting for my dad to pick us up or when my mom was home off her shift. My dad would harass us for watching tv in the afternoon. This was the same reason we weren't allowed video games often, which I'll probably write about later.

Anyways, despite living in the country, we did watch a lot of tv. We had active lives, friends, and we each had extraciricular activities but tv still was a part of our childhood.

Also - some cartoons just didn't last long. Some of these only had one season, haha. No wonder we went through so many shows!

Some tv shows I missed yesterday:

Animaniacs

We'd watch this when we got home from school. I used to laugh so hard I cried at "Bologna in our slacks"



Muppet Babies
I used to have a plastic necklace of Miss Piggy and Kermit as Muppet Babies that I wore a lot when I was 4-5. This was a fun show, and as a child with an active imagination, it was up my alley.


Inspector Gadget
Another 6 am show (We also would watch Top Cat) my dad would throw on while he was getting ready for work.


Countless Hanna Barbara cartoons - From Top Cat, to the Snorks, to Flinstones, to the Jetsons, we watched them all.

Alvin and The Chipmunks
I liked the movie where they go around the world collectinf dolls, but the tv show was something we watched and enjoyed as well.


Freakazoid
Sort of like the Mask, and that's what made it good.


The Cowboys of Moo Mesa
I liked this show. It was like TMNT but with COW cowboys. I thought it was weird they rode horses and had cattle drives, being cows themselves, but oh well, that's cartoons for you. Quick Draw McGraw did the same thing.


The Smoggies
This show was around preaching against pollution before Captain Planet, and I watched it for the bad guys, who were hilarious. It was a Canadian cartoon, so not many Americans know of it's existance. It was about two groups of characters, The Smoggies and The Suntots. The Smoggies liked to be messy and pollute the world while the Suntots lived green by using solar power, and being environmental conscious. My favourite Suntot was Sailor,the one with the blue 'stache.


The Wuzzles
An island of crazy genetic mutants. I had the Hippo Bunny cross.


Captain Planet
Preaching against pollution, everybody wanted to be a Planeteer because of the cool rings. I wanted the wind ring!


The Gummi Bears
Can't believe I missed this show yesterday in my initial list. This was a great show, with a catchy theme song and it took place in a medieval world. How could you go wrong?


Zoobille Zoo
Ok, I'm cheating since this isn't a cartoon but this was my favourite little kid show. I still watch the intro on youtube. I'm sure this is where a lot of current kid got grabbed inspiration from.

Nerdy Friday

I am going out for a nerd night tonight. A bunch of friends of mine are going to be catching the 10:15 PM showing of Scott Pilgrim VS The World.

We were going to go out for Thai good but someone doesn't like Thai so that idea has been nixed. I am not sure where we are going, but I do know that we are meeting up at a comic book store.

I don't know how excited I am about SP. I never read the comics, even though I probably should since it's Canadian and does feature Toronto, Ontario which I live close by to. I'm not really a big fan of Michael Cera. I liked him in Arrested Development but I've hated him in everything since, rspecially Super Bad. I'm also not too crazy about going opening night but that's the way these guys are sometimes. I mean, the movie will be there tomorrow, and next week and probably for a whole month.

I can't decide if I want to wear my Star Wars Burnout Tee or my Old School Batman shirt.

Cartoons That Shaped My Childhood

I haven't done a list for awhile and as I'm sitting here watching Rugrats on Nickelodeon Canada, I started thinking about the cartoons that defined my childhood for me. I still watch a lot of cartoons now, so I'll limit it to the age of 12. In no particular order!

1. My Little Pony
As if you couldn't tell from the name of this blog, My Little Pony (both the show and the toys) shaped my childhood. I already lived in a world of horses, and having a tv show and toys dedicated to cute little ponies was just fab. I still have my box of MLP toys in a closet somewhere, which I want to dig out sometime soon. I want to track down the movies which I was also a huge fan of. I can sing the songs from The My Little Pony Movie where they fight the Smooze.




2. Beetlejuice
I loved this show. I loved it so much I wanted a Beetlejuice action figure that spun his head, but I had a little kid crush on him, so I felt weird about it when I was given it from Christmas. My mom took it back. She did this with my Jack Skellington figure too, that I wanted but I also felt weird about having a figure of a character I had a crush on. She took this back too, and I wish she hadn't. Beetlejuice was just a crazy show that helped the blooming goth within. Ghosts, skeletons, monsters. It freaked me out at times since I was quite young, but I watched it every time it was on. It comes on Teletoon Retro and I couldn't be happier unless it came out on DVD.



3. Care Bears
The Care Bears cartoon was a staple for Canadian children. It was on every morning. Although the show itself was a little bland, the characters were lovable. The movie Care bears in Wonderland was a favourite. My favourite? Noble Heart and Brave Heart.



4. Ghostbusters
Just like Beetlejuice, Ghostbusters nutured the innter goth that I would later become. I still think I'm a bit gothic, although I don't dress in the extreme. I had a huge crush on Egon, which later determined I was a latent nerd. PI also liked Venkman. Didn't care too much for Slimer. Like Beetlejuice, the show scared me at times.



5. Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles
My brother was more into this than me, and because he had to endear MLP, I watched TMNT. I did like it, so I can't really complain. I remember the show coming on, and me and my brother would start bouncing all over the couches. I had a crush on Donatello. Yup.



6. She-Ra Princess of Power
She had an awesome outfit, a flying horse and she kicked ass in a mini skirt. She was one of the first strong female role models I had. I have her action figure still.


7. Rugrats
My dad stole satelite when I was growing up, and we were the only kids in school that got to watch Nickelodeon shows, as the US hadn't permitted Canada to Nick until November 1st, 2009. Rugrats was one of the first few Nick shows and we watched it. My favourite episode is Reptar On Ice.


8. Ren and Stimpy
This show was insane. Absolutely insane. I watched this show when I was 7-8. My parents were pretty lenient when it came to parent discretion. We watched a lot of mature stuff, but we turned out ok. I think.


9. Rocko's Modern Life
There was just something about this show I really liked. Probably because it was off the wall, and had so many adult orientated jokes in it that I would later get. It's also on Nick Canada. Camera Shy is my favourite episode from this cartoon.



10. Tales of the Crypt
Another show about monsters and ghouls. My favourite was the fairy tale one where Sleeping Beauty was a vampire.



11. Batman: The Animated Series
My first real introduction to Batman. I think we watched Tim Burton's Batman on VHS when I was younger, since it came out before I was born but the Batman of my lifetime will always be Kevin Conroy's Batman. I watched this show every day when I got home from school. I was never huge into action but the plots were always so captivating, and mature. I remember how sad I felt when Clayface died (I couldn't find his real death on yuotube, so his first 'death' will have to do). I have seasons 1-4 on DVD. Always a great watch.



12. The Mask
I watched this every morning before school when it came out. I had a thing for Stanley Ipkiss. When my best friend found out, she told everyone and I got made fun of for liking a cartoon character. I was 12 years old and mortified.



13. Super Mario Brothers Super Show and Legend of Zelda
A show based on video games, how could you go wrong. I have LOZ on DVD. It's pretty repeatetive but I still liked it. Missing Link is my favourite episode.


14. Captain N: Game Master
Another video game based show. I liked the concept of this cartoon, and who wouldn't want to live in Video Game Land? Simon Belmont hands down my favourite character from this series.



15. Chip'N' Dale
This was a great show from Disney. Not much to say about it except for "CHUH CHUH CHEEEEEESE!"


16. Winne The Pooh
When you're alone and there's nobody home, it's nice to be able to count on a friend like Pooh Bear.


17. Dark Wing Duck
A Batman like goofball. How could you go wrong? A hilarious rogue gallery too. I liked Megavolt.


18. Duck Tales
If anybody from the 1990s didn't like this show, they don't have a soul.

Review of Final Crisis or Some Comics Are Not Newbie Friendly

While browsing the comic book store a few months ago, I came across a couple of isses of The Return of Bruce Wayne. I love Batman, and I couldn't resist covers with Batman as a cave man, a puritan and a pirate. I snatched them up and took them home to read.

After I read issues #1 - 3, I felt that I was missing a part of the story. Why was this happened? I felt I couldn't really get the whole story without knowing. I asked one of the guys at the store and he told me ROBW followed Final Crisis (and incidently, Battle for the Cowl which I should also read). He told me the premise and mentioned there was a copy in the store. After looking at the picture of Superman holding the corpse of Batman, I was sold. I asked if there was anything else I should read before Final Crisis and he said "pretty much the entire DC Universe". Figuring I knew enough about DC from watching Justice League, I left it at that.

I spent the entire night reading it, and when I got to the end... I was confused.

I didn't know who some of the characters were. I didn't understand the plot. When Ross at the comic book store explained it, I understood it better. He told me a part of the story that I didn't even read in the comic. Unless I missed it from being confused. I didn't know what was going on. At one point there was a Nazi Superman. The Superman went to some other dimension with a bunch of other Supermen and fought vampires. I think. The only thing I got from the trade was that Batman died. I didn't even figure out who won. Did the bad guys win? Did Superman stop Darkseid? I have no idea. But Batman died and his funeral rocket was sent back in time where he would become Chief Man Of Bats.

Due to this, I started to think that some comic book universes are not noob friendly. If I wanted to start reading Marvel Universe (Like Civil War or House of M, of Avengers), I feel like I couldn't start there. How far back would I have to go? Same with DC Universe. I felt lost looking at this series. But where would I have started to know the full story? I realize that comic industries rely on repeat customers who follow huge story arcs and have been reading for a very long time, but at one point do they make something noob friendly? If they want me to be a loyal fan and continue to pick up series and follow along, I have to start somewhere and sometimes it's not very inviting. Half the series I have ever picked up have been because a cover has caught my eye. Or the premise of a story. But if I need to know the entire DC or Marvel Universe to understand and enjoy that story, I'm not there yet.

I would like to start reading comics and following a series, but as a newb in the comic world, it's all too overwhelming.

New Comics!

I went to get my hair done, and stopped by my comic book store to pick up The Return of Bruce Wayne #4. I told one of the guys working there that I felt that I was missing part of the story when I first started reading #1. Why was Batman back in time? What was going on? What was this machine all about? He told me that Final Crisis was the series before RoBW. I decided for $20 I'd pick it up. So in the next few days, I think I'll review it.

To my surprise, they had The Last Unicorn #2 Cover A waiting there for me. Me being stupid, thought that the comic book store would have called me to notify I had comics in, but I remember the conversation we had awhile back that being on file meant they would save me a copy and I could come in at my leisure. However, while waiting for #1 of the series, I was told it was back ordered and I found out that #2 was sold out on IDW. When I talked to another guy who worked there, he said that there was a chance #2 was not ordered for me because I had not recieved the first issue. I asked today if I would get #3 and #4 and after causing much confusion to myself and frustration to him, it was determined that yes, they would be ordering #3 and #4 for me. Now, I've already placed my order for #3 and #4 from online, so I will have two copies of each. Maybe I will get a variant cover. Either way, I'm not too upset about it. Maybe I'll sell a copy if I get a double. If #3 and #4 comes to my local comic book shop just fine, I'll just get #5 and #6 from them instead of ordering online.

Also in my travels today I picked up more yarn (most of it free!), a free copy of X-Men Curse of the Mutants, Previews August 2010, an audio book of Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett for my up coming trip to Nova Scotia where I will be driving 5 hours so I thought I'd get something to listen to that wasn't just the radio, a do-it-yourself crochet book to help me with my techniques and recommended by my expert crochetter Sharyl, amd Michael Crichton's Congo. I want to hold off on Congo so I can read it on the plane but I doubt I will. I'd like to read more Crichton. I've read Jurassic Park, and I want to read Timeline (I had it from the library but took out way too many books and not enough time to read), Pirate Latitutes, and Next.

I am also borrowing a couple movies from my friend that I may or may not review depending on how I feel, haha.

Batman riding a Tauntaun

I drew this back in 2006 in MS Paint, and I just wanted to post it after seeing Batman Riding Robot Unicorn.

What do you think? Do you think people would pay me for this? :O Haha.

Comic Book Review: The Last Unicorn Issue #1 and #2

This is going to be a long post, so bare with me. I've decided to review The Last Unicorn Comic Book Series Issue #1 and #2 since I received them around the same time. I actually received #2 on Thursday before #1 so I didn't want to review the second issue before the first. I am also going to take the time to explain a bit about the story and why I like it, and also review the two companies I bought the comics from. I have already pre-ordered #3 and #4 from one of the companies, and will likely pre-order #5 and #6 depending. The next issue is not due out until August 25th, and I do plan on review each of the issues. I also apologize for my camera's flash that can be seen on all my pictures. Curses!

For those who have been following this blog, I've been trying to get this series for over a month. I first heard that The Last Unicorn was getting a comic book treatment in June... Two months after the first issue had been released! After much internet seeking, and hand wringing, the issues are finally in my hands.

So what is so great about this series you ask?

For those who don't know, and I imagine if any of you grew up in the 80s you're probably already familiar with it, The Last Unicorn started off as a novel. Written by Peter S Beagle, it was first published in 1968. In 1982 Rankin - Bass produced an animated movie of the same name, with the screenplay written by Beagle. This was my first introduction to the story. My mom had taped it off some television channel when I was young, and I would watch it with my brother. When I turned 10 or 11, she found it on VHS and gave it to me for Christmas. I did not know it was a book until a friend in high school told me about it when we were talking about some favourite movies we both loved. She lent me her copy and I purchased my own. In 1988 there was a stage adaptation, also written by Beagle. In 2005, despite his claims to never make a sequel to the beloved novel, Beagle wrote a coda to the story called "Two Hearts". It was featured in Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine and was published in his book "The Line Between".

I won't get into the story too much, because I think everyone should either read the novel or watch the animated movie. It is a wonderful story. It is a third person narrative about a unicorn who discovers by chance that she may be the last. She decides to find out if this is true and leaves her forest. On the way, she meets an array of different characters that help bring her closer to discovering where the unicorns had disappeared to.

There's a couple of reasons I really love this book and all its adaptations. For one, any adaptation has been overseen by Beagle himself, and this keeps every version close to the true story. The books contains a lot more than the animated feature, as most books do, but what the movie omits takes nothing from the original story. Growing up with horses, I already had a love for unicorns. I had unicorn bedsheets, plush toys and figures, both plastic and glass.

But the funny thing is, a lot of women love The Last Unicorn. It isn't to say men don't like it as well, for quite a few of them do. I'm no expert on the subject, as I'm just an Anthropology major, but as a woman, I like to think I have an idea why.

Since I grew up watching the movie and know it off by heart, I'll use it to illustrate the example. In one revealing scene, the Unicorn, now Lady Amalthea, sings about how everything has changed now that she has become a woman. Unicorns have always represented innocence and purity, captured only by virginal maidens. Young girls are often associated with the words innocence and purity. Once a girl is sexually mature, she is no longer described as such. Once a girl becomes a woman, she is indeed changed, not just biologically but also her out look on life. She must become responsible, and no longer spend her days frolicking about, but instead is encouraged to conform into the role of wife and mother. Instead of dreaming about unicorns and fairy tales, she must come back to the 'real world' and all it's ugliness. This has change a lot in modern times, but I'm going to go by the mind set of the era the book was published. Either way, going from girl to woman is a massive change for any female. The Unicorn's accidental change into a woman and how she describes being a woman is very relatable for most women.

A key character in the novel is Molly Grue, a dishevelled woman who wished all her life to see a unicorn. By chance, the Unicorn and her companion Schmendrick the Magician run into Molly and her lover Captain Cully while travelling. When Molly sees the Unicorn, she is angry because unicorns are supposed to come to pure and innocent maidens, and not to women, who have lost the innocence and spark of wonder. Unicorns serve as a reminder of the innocence of being a young girl, where life was much more carefree and simple. Now that she has been roughened by age and experience, Molly yearns for the past, as a majority of women do once they've been handed the responsibilities of an adult.

Anyways, that is my own personal take on it. I could be wrong. I always felt that Molly Grue and Lady Amalthea reflected a lot of what I felt when I became an adult, and even to this day some of my feelings of my lost childhood as I go further and further into adulthood.

Before I get into the comics themselves, I want to review the companies I bought from. I wanted to buy Issue #1 and #2 straight from IDW, the published of the comic. But it turned out that #2 was out of stock. I decided to go ahead and order #1 and I found #2 on a website called mycomicshop.com based out of Texas. If I cared to look farther, I would have found a website based out of Quebec to order from, but oh well. That is what happens when you buy comics late at night I suppose!

I placed my order with IDW and MyComicShop (MCS from hereafter) on the same day, Monday July 19th. I was surprised to get confirmation from both the next day, AND an email detailing that the products had been shipped on Tuesday, July 20th. The emails come within 30 minutes of each other and around 7 p.m. Eastern which meant they probably wouldn't be in the mail system until the 21st. I believed I used USPS International Mail for both orders. MCS's package came on July 29th. With the civic holiday, IDW's package came today on Tuesday August 3rd. I think it would have come on the 2nd if it wasn't for the holiday.

Paranoid that the same thing may happen next time, I pre-ordered #3 and #4 with MCS. I want to pre-order #5 but they automatically charge you $25 for shipping in case your orders are larger than expected. They say that they give you shipping credit if it is under the $25. I want to wait until #3 has been shipped and find out how much shipping credit I have before ordering #5 instead of pay $30 off the bat. Since #5 comes out in October, I have some time to pre-order.

MCS's package was a huge white box. The comic was tightly wrapped in plastic, with a cardboard piece behind it. There was also a loose cardboard piece in the box overtop of the plastic wrapped book for extra protection. This is what the box and board looked like. I should had taken pictures but I was too excited.





The one thing I was disappointed with was that even though MCS did wrap the comic in plastic, it wasn't a plastic cover that could be later used to protect the comic. I ended up using one from my other comics. I plan on getting a few from my comic book store when I go next week.

Today, IDW's package came in a little brown box. Inside, the comic was wrapped up with bubble wrap and came with a plastic cover. It was sealed with a little blue sticker with the IDW logo embossed with gold. Here's what the package looked.





I was much more impressed with IDW's packaging than MCS only because of the plastic cover that it came with. Also, MCS made opening the comic a little more difficult because I had to cut off the plastic wrapped around it. The only real issue I have with IDW is that the comic they sent me has a minor flaw in the cover. It is very faint, and does not ruin the cover's image but it looks like it has been lightly scrapped with an exacto knife. Maybe the comic was on the top of a box and when it was cut open, this issue got a little line through it. It's hardly noticeable and I'm not that big of a comic collector to be freaking out by it. I do plan on buying the trade once it comes out anyways.

Now for the comics!

The Last Unicorn Issue #1 Cover A

The Last Unicorn Issue #2 Cover B

Both issues are beautifully drawn. The art work is breath taking. The characters so far look a bit like how they did in the animated movie, which I'm not sure if was done on purpose. In the 20th anniversary version of the book there are a few illustrations of the characters are very different from the movie portrayal. Schmendrick's blue hat from the movie is used, and the unicorn looks a lot like the movie version. Mommy Fortuna looks more originally but carries some of the same aspects from the movie. Rhuk is also more originally drawn than most characters. That being said, it is not a bad thing, just something I noticed.

Despite taking it's visual cues from the movie, the story is more faithful to the novel version. For example, in the movie the hunter does not speak of his grandmother's encounter with a unicorn, but in Issue #1, there is a beautiful panel of the tale. I was very pleased to see the comic being an adaptation of the novel, instead of a reconstruction of the movie.

Another thing I noticed was that each of the issue's is rather short. The book itself spans 200 pages, and the movie was an hour and a half. The comic series is to be 6 issues, but from the descriptions from the Previews, the characters do not reach Haggard's Castle until #5. Even though the movie skips over the parts about the town of Hagsgate, quite a bit happens in the story once they've reached the Castle. I wonder if issues #5 and #6 will be a bit larger than the first two. Since #3 indicates that it will cover the Unicorn and Schmendrick meeting Molly Grue, and her transformation does not happen until #4, I am going to guess that most of #3 will be about Captain Cully, and #4 will probably include the story line about Hagsgate (or so I hope). Since the comic seems to be following the book more so than the movie, this likely will happen but I won't know until I get those issues. I do believe that the story can be contained in 6 issues, I am just curious how they will do it, and what they will and will not include.

Along with the story, there is a two page interview with Peter Beagle which is a three part series within the comic. I rather like this feature, but I was a little disappointed that there were about 3-4 pages of ads in the comic. Granted, the ads are for Beagle's work, and lord knows the poor guy needs the advertising with all the problems he has had getting the royalties due to him from the sale of the DVD. But chances are, if you're reading The Last Unicorn, you already have the book or the movie. And even if you aren't, you won't pick up Issue #2 without getting Issue #1. I think it's a bit silly to have the same ads for the same products in the same comic book series. At least in Issue #2 there was one page of unicorn art. There's is one last segment in the Beagle interview, which will finish in #3 so it'll be interesting to see what they use as filler for the rest of the series.

The Last Unicorn #2 Cover A

Since I'm not too crazy of a collector, I didn't bother trying to track down the cover variants of The Last Unicorn. For Issue #1 there were 4 of them, one being a Comic Con Exclusive, and for Issue #2 there were 3. I was given the option for which one I wanted, and since I love purple, I went for Cover B. Cover C was more expensive for whatever reason, maybe because it is rare. But Issue #1 gave you a glimpse of Cover A for Issue #2 anyways. I am hoping that IDW really does make this series into a trade. I hope that it will include all variant covers and the Beagle interviews, and all the art they've included. It would be a damned shame if they didn't.

Something I noticed and absolutely loved about comparing Issue #1 and #2 was how they contrasted each other. In Issue #1 we are learning about the Unicorn and her forest. The entire issue except for some night scenes are bright - stunningly bright, with accents of gold. Other than the night scenes, the only other dark scene is the very last panel which introduces us to the next issue, which is a significantly darker part of the story.

Example of Issue #2's brightness

Issue #2 is completely dark. The backgrounds are black. The entire story is at night (as it should be! Creatures of the Night, brought to light!). One of the reasons I opted for the darker variant cover of this issue is because it just suits this issue so much better than Cover A. Cover A is beautifully drawn and the detail is amazing, but just doesn't fit the mood. The only thing bright about this issue are our two main protagonists, the Unicorn and Schmendrick, as it should be. The unicorn's golden hue stands out like a beacon amongst the drab, and even Schmendrick's blue cloak and hat add life to a dreary existence that is Mommy Fortuna's Midnight Carnival.

Example of Issue #2's Dark Contract to #1

I am absolutely delighted in the direction that this comic series has gone. If you are a lover of unicorns, or The Last Unicorn, or Fantasy in general, this comic is worth picking up. If you haven't read the book, or watched the movie I strongly encourage you to. This is a beloved fantasy classic and the comic book treatment is well deserving. You can still order Issue #1 from IDW and Issue #2 can be found on most comic webstores. I have found success at My Comic Shop, Expert Comics, Heavy Ink and Things From Another World. Conlan Press also has issues available and they can be signed for extra by Peter S Beagle himself. You can try Ebay if you're all out of luck, but I urge you to try these places first!