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I gotta give it up to Josh Anderson from Game U and his excellent guest strip. When I put out the call for guest strips, Josh was the first to answer. I’ve been sitting on this strip since October 27 – which is even more amazing when you consider Josh had the presence of mind to reference both Avatar and It’s Complicated. I wanted to publish Josh’s comic earlier to reward him, but he made it so darn timely! Plus, he found the sweet spot when it comes to the relationship stuff I like to hit on from time to time with Tom and Cami. All around excellent work that needs to be rewarded by everyone visiting Josh’s site, Game U. Let Josh know what a great job he did!

Not much of a status update for me to talk about except that we’re just trying to get ourselves organized for Christmas and visiting family.

Apparently, Iowa is supposed to be slammed with freezing drizzle, ice covered roads and blowing snow over the holidays. So even though we don’t have to travel far, it’s making everyone anxious. We’ll see what happens.

It would be nice if we could get away for a couple of hours to see a movie. Cami is very interested in seeing It’s Complicated and I have to admit – despite the fact that it’s another piece of affluent copper kettle fluff from director Nancy Meyers – I’m interested in seeing it, too.

I’m sorry, but you can’t bring together a cast like Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin and just disavow it. That’s some A-level talent right there. All of them are actors I admire.

I’m also very interested in seeing Sherlock Holmes. Although I imagine it to be the exact opposite of It’s Complicated in nearly every way. Guy Ritchie’s films are all about unchecked, sweaty machismo. Meyer’s films are all about women with authority and fabulous kitchens with unchecked square footage.

I think Ritchie is a director that has never really lived up to his potential. He delivered something unique with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, but he’s never been able to match it. I don’t expect Sherlock Holmes to reverse that trend for him.

Still, it’s got Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law and – from the trailers – they look like they have some really interesting chemistry. So even if the film looks like the sloppy backwash of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, I think we’ll still be treated to some good performances.

Last thing I’ll leave you with for today – we’ve been making some AMAZING strides on the fund raising campaign for Theater Hopper: Year Three. There were some big pledges over the last couple of days and want to extend my SINCERE THANKS to those of you who have lent your support.

As of this posting we are 87% funded with a measly $460 left to go! I’m feeling confident that we can raise the few remaining dollars, but I don’t want to rest on my laurels. We have only ONE WEEK LEFT to make goal. If we don’t, then I won’t see ANY of the money and the book will likely never be published.

If you haven’t pledged to the fund raising campaign yet, please pledge today. With the holidays approaching, I’m concerned that we’ll lose momentum or that people might forget about the campaign. Even if it’s only a dollar, it gets us that much closer to goal and will hopefully inspire others to put us over the top!

In the meantime, expect another guest comic here on Friday. If you’d like to leave your thoughts about It’s Complicated or Sherlock Holmes below, I’d love to hear them! What movies are you planning to see over the Christmas holiday? Will you cross the gender aisle and see both films? Let’s talk about it!

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Today’s guest strip comes from Michael May who does a great comic called Eros, Inc. It’s about a Jewish girl who is hired as a Cupid for her neighborhood. Wacky hi-jinks ensue. Mike’s comic updates on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and it would behoove you to check it out.

I’m lovin’ Mike’s comic for several reasons – mostly the little details. The transition from the second to third panels had me laughing out loud. The caption under the photo in the fourth panel made me smile as well.

But, man… That second panel. Shades of my Ren and Stimpy youth, I tells ya!

Thanks again, Mike, for the excellent guest strip! Check out Eros, Inc., everyone!

I ended up seeing Avatar yesterday with Cami after my parents offered to watch the kids for the afternoon. I feel like I’m still sorting through it. I guess the movie must have done something right if it’s managed to stick with me overnight. Some movies you forget about on your walk back to the parking lot!

After watching the movie, I asked Cami what she thought about it and her first reaction was that it was too long. At nearly 3 hours running time, I’m inclined to agree. But in the same breath, I was never bored watching the film. Yes, the plot has been done before. Yes, the dialogue isn’t ground-breaking. But the visuals… hoo boy, the visuals. Maybe I was just too distracted to care about the negatives?

One thing I’ll say for sure, Stephen Lang brings the thunder as Colonel Miles Quaritch. Between this movie and Public Enemies, he’s having a great year.

The rest of the performances aren’t much to write home about. I’m still not convinced by anything Sam Worthington brings to the table. He seems like a one-note kind of guy to me. A meathead with a knack for playing in front of a green screen.

I think Giovanni Ribisi’s character from Avatar and Paul Reiser’s character from Aliens should get together and have a beer. They’re both a pair of corporate stooges.

Lastly, can we all agree that Michelle Rodriguez will be typecast as the tough chick for the rest of her life?

This is not in-depth criticism, I recognize. Like I said, I’m still working through it.

I guess I would say that Avatar – despite it’s length – does a good job of moving the action along. We find out in very short order what Worthington’s character is doing in the far reaches of space. We understand very quickly how the Avatar technology works without Cameron reducing it to techno-magic that “just is” because the plot demands it. Similarly, none of the characters act as if this technology is anything new. So the movie spends very little time trying to convince the audience “This is new! This is different! This is amazing!” through the eyes of the characters.

I think Cameron has also done a very good job of creating a dense and fully visualized world in Pandora. One where the environmental threats that can kill you in minutes feel tangible.

On the one hand, Pandora is clearly beautiful, luminescent and lush. But on the other hand, when Worthington’s character becomes lost in the jungle not knowing anything about the environment, you feel tension because you don’t know what is safe to touch or what unexpected fresh death might be around the next corner.

Cami and I saw the film in 3D and I don’t know if that added to the experience or not. We both left the theater with headaches. My feeling was negative to the point where I was telling myself “Well, that was fun, but I don’t think I need to see it again.” Now that I’ve had the opportunity to have the film swim around in my head for a few hours, I’ve changed my position and probably would like to see Avatar again in the future. But in 2D next time.

Bottom line, I guess you could say that I got what I expected from Avatar. The technology on display is awesome, but the plot… while not lacking in emotional authenticity… just didn’t connect with me for some reason. It’s not a bad movie. Maybe just not the best movie for me.

I read a review last week where the reviewer expressed admiration for the film, but felt like it was built more for a 15 year-old’s mentality. It wasn’t a criticism. In fact, he said he wished he could be 15 again so he could approach the film with that same kind of wonder and enthusiasm.

I guess I feel the same way.

Switching gears, I wanted to bring your attention back to the Kickstarter fund raising campaign for Theater Hopper: Year Three. There was a bunch of activity last week. We are 74% funded with $900 left to go! I feel really good about the momentum we’ve built up for this, so let’s keep the ball rolling! I’m convinced once we reach 75% funded, that’ll be the tipping point and the rest of the pledges will follow!

There are only 10 days left in the campaign, though. And if you’re celebrating with family this week, then we need to treat it like we have maybe a week left to make goal!

If you need a little extra incentive to pledge, today is my birthday. I 32 years-old. A pledge to the Kickstarter campaign would be a great, last minute gift! Even a dollar! Hey, it’s the thought that counts, right?!

Thanks again to everyone who has pledged their support so far. I appreciate it!

In the meantime, don’t forget to check out Eros, Inc. And if you had a chance to see Avatar this weekend, let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Well, there you have it! Brandon J. Carr’s smurfing last contribution to his series of guest strips. I think it turned out pretty smurfing good, don’t you?

Actually, I’m a little disconcerted at how well Brandon can draw a Smurf…

BUT NO MATTER! Brandon really came through for me and I can’t appreciate it enough. Thank you, Brandon, for your excellent work.

I think everyone should visit and bookmark Brandon’s site so they can stay current on what our dear chap is working on next. Yes. I think that will do nicely…

As you know, Avatar comes out today. But, for me, it’s almost been an after-thought. I haven’t really been anticipating the movie like I’m being told I should. I don’t know. Neither the concept or the visuals have hooked me just yet. When the comparisons to Delgo and Fern Gully cropped up with the first teaser images of the film, it left a bad taste in my mouth. If Cameron is supposed to be one of the most innovative filmmakers in the business, these comparisons to kids films shouldn’t be at the front of everyone’s mind.

I’ve given a few reviews a cursory glance and the majority of them are overwhelmingly positive. People are really tossing around the “IT’LL CHANGE MOVIES FOREVER” praise. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t.

I guess I’ll say that I’ve been half-purposefully keeping my head in the sand on this one. Because I do have faith in Cameron’s vision and I think I’d rather be surprised by what I see on-screen than what is being described to me in a review.

Despite the fact that I’m not entirely enthusiastic about the film, I still want to see it. Does that make sense? Keep in mind Cami and I just had a baby two weeks ago and I think my brains are leaking out of my ears.

If anything about Avatar has surprised me, it’s that Cami told m that she was excited to see the film. I don’t know if that’s because she’s at home with Pearl, is watching more television and has been exposed to more commercials for the film than I have. But I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth! I fully expected seeing this one by myself a few weeks ago!

Speaking of Avatar Cami and gifts, it’s likely I will see the film on Sunday with Cami as my parents watch over Henry and Pearl. We’re going over to their house this weekend to celebrate my 32nd birthday – which is actually on Monday, December 21. The Winter Solstice, baby! Shortest day of the year!! Woo?

If you’d like to get me anything for my birthday, boy would a pledge to the Kickstarter fund raising campaign for Theater Hopper: Year Three would be nice. I mean, really, really nice!

As of this writing, we’re 66% funded with 13 days to go. I’m getting VERY nervous about the time we have left in the campaign. I’m approaching it mentally as if we only have 10 days because I’m really afraid that the holidays are going to negatively affect fund raising efforts and people will forget to pledge.

Take this opportunity to pledge today! Right now you can get a copy of Theater Hopper: Year Three for $15, signed and numbered by your truly. The important thing to remember is that YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO GET THE BOOK FOR LESS. If you pre-order the book by pledging to the Kickstarter campaign, you don’t have to pay for shipping! If (and when) the book is published and put up for sale here, shipping becomes a factor.

So take advantage of this offer while you still can! And if you’re feeling extra generous, just look at all the other rewards for pledging larger amounts. Lots of great stuff!

I’ll leave it at that. I don’t want to push too hard.

In the meantime, let’s talk about Avatar a little bit in the comments section below. Who is excited to see it? Who is skeptical? Will it really “change movies forever” like they say? Leave your thoughts below!

Thanks again to Brandon J. Carr for an excellent series of guest strips this week and thanks to you for coming to the site and checking them out!

Have a great week!

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Here’s part two of Brandon J. Carr’s Avatar parody guest strips. I don’t know about you, but a Smurfs reference is an instant win in my book. “Project Azrael?” Yes. OH YES.

I don’t know about you, but I follow a lot of web comic people on Twitter, and it’s been a real delight reading their response to Brandon’s work with these guest strips. Clearly everyone misses him and wants him to return to illustrating RIGHT AWAY! *wink, wink!*

Hopefully Brandon is having as much fun putting these comics together as I am posting them to Theater Hopper. Thanks again to Brandon for another excellent comic. Can’t wait to see what he has in store for Friday!

Speaking of Twitter, a mini-controversy erupted there early Monday night when our favorite raconteur Scott Kurtz had some disparaging remarks to make about Kickstarter fund raising campaigns like mine.

At first he expressed uncertainty about the service Kickstarter offered and was wary about how Kickstarter would become the next “thing” that web comic people would descend on and ruin. A fair concern to have.

But when he categorized Kickstarter participants as “look(ing) like a string of goddamn hobos with your hats on the ground,” what he intended to pass off as humor was completely misunderstood and the shhhh really hit the fan.

Long story short, a Twitter war erupted and Kurtz launched a podcast later in the evening to discuss the topic.

Several people joined in the conversation. The comments section on uStream was a swirling hornet’s nest. Scott, to his credit, allowed different points of view into the conversation. Spike from Templar, AZ, Gordon from Multiplex, Ben Paddon from Jump Leads and myself were all given a turn at the mike.

Scott made some pretty loaded conversations during the podcast. His contention was that if you aren’t able to raise the money yourself through pre-orders on your site, you shouldn’t be begging for money through Kickstarter. In his words, he felt the practice made the rest of web comics look weak.

Fundamentally, I think Scott’s problem with Kickstarter was a semantic argument. Scott continuously referred to the money participants give to projects as “donations” or “charity” – something people in the uStream chat field protested vigorously.

When I got into the conversation somewhere around the hour and a half mark, we all looked at my Kickstarter page and Scott said “I see the word ‘pledge’ 18 times on your page.” To him, “pledge” means the same thing as “donation.”

To me, it’s not the same thing. To me, “pledge” means “I’m giving you money now and expect something in return.” To me, “donation” means “I’m giving money to you now an expect nothing in return.”

Part of what Scott also didn’t understand were the personal circumstances that lead people like myself, Gordon and Spike to utilize Kickstarter as a tool.

In my case, I have been trying to raise money for the book through pre-orders since January. I got a lot of pre-orders, but not enough to publish the book.

Now, by Scott’s logic, if my business can’t support the book, then I shouldn’t publish it. Or, rather, I should direct my efforts toward growing my audience so the site can support the book in the future.

I see his point and I don’t disagree with him. But when I started the pre-order campaign on the site, there were two things I didn’t count on. 1.) The state of the economy driving up printing costs (compared to my first two books) and 2.) The state of the economy driving down ad revenue on the site.

With the first two books, I published them utilizing a combination of pre-orders and ad revenue. When ad revenue took a hit, it would still be theoretically possible for me to use ad revenue to publish the books. It would just take much, much longer.

While searching for solutions, I was getting e-mails from people who pre-ordered in January asking me, “Hey, when is Year Three going to come out?” People have been patient, but waiting over a year for a book is puts strain on my credibility. Kickstarter became a solution that could help me organize the pre-order process, build buzz around the release of the third book and manage pledge amounts in a convenient way.

I didn’t take the move to Kickstarter lightly. If I had my druthers, I would have MUCH preferred the pre-order process through Theater Hopper. But circumstances being what they are (compounded by the fact that I lost my job in June) made Kickstarter the most viable option.

The most important thing to remember about Kickstarter is that if I don’t make goal, I don’t get ANY of the money that’s been pledge so far. If that ends up happening, then I have to assume what Scott is saying about the strength of my business not being able to support a third book is true and I will probably hang up my hat. I’m not going to keep bombing Kickstarter again and again trying to raise this money.

Kickstarter is an experiment. Either the experiment will prove successful or it will fail.

But in the meantime, I make no apologies for utilizing a tool to help me meet a specific objective. I do not believe it tarnishes the reputation of web comics as a whole. I do not believe it makes web comics look weak. I do not believe that using Kickstarter reflects some level of “entitlement” on my part. It is simply the means to an end.

My biggest concern with Scott at the time was that he was spreading misinformation about Kickstarter because he didn’t understand the service completely. Scott wields influence and I was worried that if his negative impression of Kickstarter took root, I could not only potentially jeopardize my fund raising efforts, but the fund raising efforts of others as well.

Of course Scott is free to have his opinion. I don’t deny him that right. But there is a difference between having an opinion and having a well-informed opinion. From my perspective, Scott was not informed well enough to make a sweeping generalization that characterized Kickstarter participants as “hobos” and I felt a need to stand up for myself and others.

If my explanation did not change Scott’s opinion and he still went on to disparage Kickstarter, then there’s nothing I can do about it. But at least I could say I tried.

At the end of the podcast, tempers cooled and I think everyone understood with a little more clarity where the other was coming from. Scott made good points from a businessman’s perspective. Ultimately, I think his concern came from a good place. I think, for him, it’s about self-respect and never giving an inch to outside influence. He wants to maintain the integrity of web comics as a medium.

I’m paraphrasing, but directed to me he said he raises these issues out of concern because he believes someone like myself SHOULD be capable of raising the money through pre-orders. I’ve done it before. Obviously there is something substantial about Theater Hopper that allows it to happen. It was a nice compliment.

At the end of the day, I believe Kickstarter is a self-policing venture. Fans like YOU determine what is successful and what is not. A thousand web comics could descend on the Kickstarter tomorrow and I think projects without merit would quickly be weeded out.

Hopefully the fund raising drive for Theater Hopper: Year Three is not one of them. We are $1,300 away from goal with 15 days left to go. If you haven’t pledged already, please consider pledging today.

For those that have, I continue to appreciate your support.

I’ll see you here on Friday.

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The first post was running a little long, so I thought I would break thing up a little bit before talking about the fund raising campaign for Theater Hopper: Year Three.

You guys are kicking all kinds of ass with the pledges lately. Thank you so much! On Friday, we were 52% funded. Now we’re 62% funded! We making big gains, but we only have 17 days left to make goal.

Let me put this out there for you… Next week – Monday, December 21 – is my 32nd birthday. It would be a real treat if we could raise $324 by then. With that amount, we’d be up to $2,500 pledged and that would put us $1,000 away from goal with 10 days left in the campaign.

Extrapolate that… $1,000 with 10 days to go means that if we raised $100 a day after that, we’d be funded!

It’s all about the little things. Measurable goals, milestones. If we can take the next step now, we can take a few more steps after that!

Think about it! Let’s try to bump the campaign up to $2,500 in the next 7 days. We only need $324 to do it!

Thanks again to everyone who has pledged so far. I appreciate your support!

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When I started this who guest strip bru-ha-ha, Brandon J. Carr (formerly of The Kenmore and Weird Adventures of Unemployment) told me that inspiration had struck and he had an idea for a three-comic arc that parodied Avatar. He asked if that was okay. How could I say no? I have a diapers to change! A baby to burp! I haven’t slept in…! -SNNNNRRRZZKKKK! – Huh? What?! I’m awake!!

Yeah, man. Three comics. Sounds great.

So, anyway, buckle up, guys. Brandon is bringing the funny three times this week and it’s going to be infused with Avatar-goodness. Big thanks to Brandon for majorly stepping up to the plate. I don’t know about you, but I’m really excited to see what he comes up with!

I’ll probably talk more about Avatar later in the week. But for right now… HOLY LEGS!

Despite having a baby a little more than a week and a half ago, Cami and I actually were able to see a movie on Saturday. My in-laws watched Pearl for the afternoon as we took Henry see The Princess and The Frog.

We’ve been on quite the roll lately since we took Henry to his first movie – The Polar Express – about a month ago. At this point, we might end up seeing Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel!

I’m just kidding. That will NEVER happen. We’re trying to cultivate a child with taste, people!

We probably started talking up The Princess and The Frog to Henry about two months ago. Cami had it in her mind that this should be Henry’s first movie because A.) It’s Disney and B.) It was their return to hand-drawn animation for the first time since… man, I can’t remember their last hand-drawn movie? Was it Home on the Range?

Anyway, it was hard to argue with her.

Our only problem is that we thought the movie was coming out much sooner than it actually was. When we realized it was coming out the weekend after the date we scheduled for Cami’s C-section, we improvised and went with The Polar Express, instead.

Things worked out fine on that front. Henry enjoyed The Polar Express a great deal and we felt like super parents. But as the release date for The Princess and The Frog drew closer, Henry would see commercials for it on TV and say “We’re going to go see that!”

How could we NOT take him now?

Long story short, Pearl arrived a week early, Cami was feeling better and we had willing baby sitters. So we decided to take Henry to the movie.

Of course, 30 minutes before we were about to load up the car and take him to the theater, Henry asked his grandma “Is it going to be dark in the theater?” To which she naturally replied, “Yes” and, at this point, Henry decided he didn’t want to see the movie anymore. After weeks of anticipation and him talking about the movie, we basically had to cajole him into seeing the film before we tossed him in his car seat and say “YOU’RE GOING!”

Things were fine once we got to the theater. Even though he got a little bit antsy near the end of the movie, he actually does a pretty good job sitting still and paying attention for a certain length of time. The fact that the theater was dark didn’t even enter his mind once we were seated.

As for the movie itself, the whole family loved it. Cami loved the songs penned by Randy Newman and gave high praise to Tiana – Disney’s first African American Princess. “She has the best singing voice of any of the princesses,” she said. “And she’s the best-looking!”

Well, okay. It’s a cartoon, dear. But I see what you’re saying.

Henry and I both loved Ray the lightning bug. Based off the trailers, I thought Ray looked like a crude stereotype of a redneck, or something. But the character is much, much more.

I also really enjoyed the villain, Dr. Facilier – who I thought had the most style and the best musical number in the movie. I’m sorry – but Disney villains are infinitely more interesting to me than the protagonists.

I don’t know if anyone here is on the fence about The Princess and The Frog or not, but I strongly encourage you to check it out. After years of making cookie-cutter animated films that felt like they were designed to sell toys first and tell a story second, Disney is in grand form with this one. To me, the whole film just felt right. It didn’t hit one sour note.

Maybe I’m in a haze just because I’m glad to see Disney do what it does best with the hand-drawn stuff. Maybe I’m overlooking something. But if I am, I kind of don’t care. Bottom line, they could have hit us with another Atlantis: The Lost Empire or Treasure Planet. But, instead, they did the right thing and gave us a movie with both heart and soul.

Did anyone else see The Princess and The Frog this weekend? If so, what did you think? Who was your favorite character? What was your favorite song? Are any of you thinking about passing on this film? If so, why?

Leave your comments below!

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Today’s guest strip comes from Ryan Estrada. If you’re not familiar with Ryan’s work, you need to make yourself familiar.

Because this guy is gooooood…

How good? He references a complete throw away detail (The Ha-Ha Hut from this comic) in the first line of his guest strip. Attention to detail like that is the kind of professionalism that intimidates me from ever doing a guest strip for anyone else ever again. I’ll just refer all inquiries to Ryan. Because, clearly, he has his bases covered.

I also gotta give it up to Ryan for the joke he came up with for his comic. The career arc he developed for comedians was right on the money and probably applies to more comedians than not. Eddie Murphy was the first one to spring to my mind. Maybe Adam Sandler or a touch of Mike Myers. Who else do you think Ryan’s formula applies to?

Mull that over for a while, leave some comments and then go check out Ryan’s web site. Thanks again to Ryan for providing an excellent guest strip. I loved it!

Switching gears… A quick Kickstarter update.

You guys have been doing great pledging to the Kickstarter fund raising campaign for Theater Hopper: Year Three. We’re now 52% funded and roughly $1,500 away from goal.

But we have 20 days left to meet that goal – less than 3 weeks – so I’m still on pins and needles! When you think about the holidays coming up and the distraction that causes, we really have LESS than 3 weeks to meet our goal!

Please pledge to the fund raising campaign today. As of this posting, we’re $74 away from $2,000. I think if we could top $2,000 today, that would be excellent.

I am trying to push us toward “the tipping point” – that moment where people look at the campaign and say to themselves “Hey, this is really happening! I think I’m going to make a pledge myself” and the whole thing takes off.

I watched it happen with Gordon’s fund raising campaign for the first Multiplex book. He pushed and pushed for weeks. Then, one day, I think he was 70% to goal and I told him “That was the tipping point, man. You’re going to fund this thing no problem.” Within 3 days, the rest of the campaign was funded. It was pretty cool to watch.

Help us get to the tipping point. Pledge today.

Last bit of news… You’ve probably seen it already, but Iron Man 2 released another poster. This time featuring Mikey Rourke as the villain Whiplash.

Please keep in mind that this guy is 57 years-old. Looks pretty good for his age, if you ask me.

Well, you know, except the face that looks like hamburger.

By the way, does anyone else think that it’s AWESOME that we have a superhero movie where the lead actor is 44 years-old and going toe-to-toe with a 57 year-old?

I love Iron Man for several reasons. But I think the filmmakers rejection of youth culture is in my Top 10 “Reasons to love Iron Man” list. Just awesome.

That’s it for today! Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!