Because I Am Unoriginal

I have a forumspring. Want to ask me stuff anonymously - but more than usual? Feel free!

Socialfist In The Making: Spacestations

A long time discussion associate with me who I am known to talk to for topics to discuss here asked if there was a space station where the superheroes were ala the Justice League. This is in reference to the American Justice Squad who are in many ways a more complete Justice League parody than Socialfist (as the AJS have lots of members).

The short answer is no because a space station is stupid and pointless.

The long answer will involve this following scenario involving characters you have not met yet in the series and will not for several months.

The Scene: The Annual American Justice Squad Meeting, the room is filled with super heroes sitting around circular tables. In the front of the room is a long elevated platform with the leaders of the AJS, The Capitalist, Bearman, Libertyger, Democrosee and some more unnamed members.

The Capitalist: And now we open the floor to any and all questions from members. Yes, you in the back there with the giant moth wings.

Vermoth: Hi, Vermoth. Leader of the Burlington team. I was wondering, can we have a space station?

The Capitalist: Libertyger, would you like to field this question?

Libertyger walks to the podium.

Libertyger: Well, if you turn to page

Bearman rises from the seat and grabs the mic. He is drunk.

Libertyger: Ok. Go ahead.

Bearman: The reason we wont have a space ship is

Bearman passes out on the floor.

So there you have it, intoxication stopped there from being a space station.

As for my personal opinions on the topic, I have prepared the following list:

1. Expensive as hell - space station power, fuel, food, ships, pilots, general technology

2. Travel is hard - you have to go into space and you can't launch from everywhere not to mention weather conditions

3. No Benefits - "Hey guys, lets go to the space station to fight crime. In the space station that we control."

For people who need to respond quickly to emergencies, work on a budget and who do not typically fight aliens it is pointless.

(Yes this means there will be no AJS space station.)

Plastic Beach

I love the new Gorillaz album and have been listening since it was posted on NPR. I just want to say that you should buy it. It has rapping Lou Reed on it. See you later this week.

Socialfist In The Making: The World Part 1

Setting up a world is a bit difficult depending on what you want to incorporate into it. For example, if you want a setting based on reality, ie what we live in now but with magic you need to think a bit into the scenario. Where does the magic come from? Where would it change the way things happened? Were there wizards fighting in World War 2? Were there shadow panthers fighting Nazi panzer tanks? In the case of Socialfist there was not. I do want to see this in a video game though. (send money to use this idea please)

Socialfist as it now stands is in a world that is pretty similar to ours except that at some point in the last few decades, people started to get super powers more regularly, I mean Jesus was pretty much Dr. Manhattan with hair. Probably some apocryphal text where he is described as blue. If you want, blame the powers on mercury in the water or Freddie Mercury in the water. Either way is fine for me, here are powers - some magic and some not. The thing is those with powers, at least where we are concerned, are restricted to use them. Errrr, restricted is a wrong word. Naive when using them. These people with powers did their best to go on their own ways and to just stop crime, in the local sense. This means that the world influence is pretty small. Maybe less people died in building bombings. Maybe the bombings didn't happen at all.

The divergence point though that will be relevant is the fact that there are two groups that to my knowledge have no basis in reality but a major effect in the world: The American Justice Society and the group known as Socialfist.

The AJS is your generic analogue of the all American hero teams, Justice League, Avengers or DANGERDOOM. The AJS get their funding from the rich members of the AJS (the Batmangs and the Green Arrows and the Tony Starks. In the comic I call the amalgamation Green Bat and Man). Also the government helps and as such the AJS has a large number of bases around the country. Every other country is screwed for all that you know - I'll probably cover it in a side story. These AJS bases are around large cities and there are 300 of them or so (at time of last counting). That is something like 6 bases per state, more bases for the larger populated, less for the less populated states with varying numbers of members in each bases. For example, the guy stuck in Alaska, AnchorRage, has the entire state all to himself meanwhile Cold Hickory and William Henry Horrorson both run teams of a dozen heroes who are based around Hartford CT. While AnchorRage admittedly has a sucky job, he has about a dozen super interns so he mostly just sits back and collects the government checks while watching tv. You want the American dream (according to some political parties), you are looking at it!

Socialfist on the other hand is a anarchist group (in so far as they want to destroy the current government). The currently are a collective of about 70+ people with varying backgrounds who meet in a community center for planning in a small Russian town - read: suburb. A decent amount are former KGB analogues doing science and 'ssasinations. Despite the setback in so far as numbers, Socialfist has been able to run several successful projects in the past such as the creation of Yuri, the creation of several of Tesla's dream weapons (when do Russians not build lightning turrets?) and the formation of a hidden chamber in the basement of the aforementioned community center that spans about a square mile underground.

What is the point of Socialfist though? To win the hearts and minds of the people living in Russia and the world by... being good people? Its all PR bullcrap nowadays. They want to bring Communism back is the short answer. Heck, add in lasers and you have the Michael Bay political platform - "Win Love With Lasers and Shit!"

Meanwhile the AJS keeps fighting for justice even if nobody is sure what that means.

Interview With Dave Shabet

This week Dave Shabet was kind enough to sit down with me to discuss his webcomic Dead Winter. He is releasing a collection that I'd highly recommend.

Koltreg: How would you describe your webcomic, Dead Winter?

Dave Shabet: You mean thematically? In short it's a character-driven adventure comic set to the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse. In even-shorter short it's a zombie comic for people who don't like zombie stuff.

Koltreg: By zombie stuff do you mean focusing on zombies and gore or something else?

Dave Shabet: I mean the general culture and media-presentation of zombie movies and comics as the same run-scream-die human buffet of the living dead that lots of people either don't care for or have grown tired of.

Koltreg: Is there any zombie media like that, that you enjoy?

Dave Shabet: I like Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead- up to a point- and I've enjoyed the handful of zombie films I've seen, but a lot of the one-shot print comics I've seen come out really haven't been very fulfilling, like they were just dogpiling on a zombie craze. No interesting or sympathetic characters, no real motivation to survive. They were really so bland I couldn't even tell you their names.

Koltreg: Ah yeah. I ended up getting the Walking Dead Compendium. It is a pretty great series, it has me excited for the tv show.

Dave Shabet: I have to get back on reading it. I've seen a little past the part I left off at and it seems to be picking back up

Koltreg: I will probably wait a few years for it to build up as well.

What was the first webcomic that you ever read?

Dave Shabet: The very absolute first webcomic page I ever read was a page of Real Life Comics where techno-prankster Tony changed all the laptop marquis screen savers at a local Fry's to say "All Your Base Are Belong To Us"

Koltreg: And I'd take it that you don't read it anymore?

Dave Shabet: Not for a while, no.

Koltreg: What was the first one that you found that you still enjoy?

Dave Shabet: That's hard to say. After I first found out about webcomics at all I just kinda jumped on reading a whole bunch- at a point I had like 50 bookmarks. Nowadays I try to keep up with the ones I link to- that little linkbox is like my bookmarks, in addition to friends' twitters- but now that I'm making one I don't have the time to keep up that I used to.

Koltreg: What got you to start making Dead Winter?

Dave Shabet: After college I did some freelance work here and there and I didn't really care for the jerky nature of starting out in that business so I decided to build an art business for myself. And I was tired of drawing one-off poses and pictures so I decided to try stringing together a narrative to keep me drawing different stuff. The comic originally started as a sort of artistic laboratory and quickly grew into itself from there

Koltreg: What did you study in college?

Dave Shabet: Illustration. It was a watermedia and oil-heavy curriculum. Lots of classical painting and portraiture.

Koltreg: Your art definitely does have a very digitally painted feel to it and I like that. It is a lot more organic looking that just filling in with the paintbucket tool.

Dave Shabet: I don't use the paint bucket at all. It's probably a waste of time but I paint in all my flat tones with the brush, just to make sure it all gets under the black lines how I like.

Koltreg: You are coming out with a book collecting the first few chapters of your comic. Is there anything else that the book will have in it?

Dave Shabet: Yes. It'll have adjusted artwork from the old pages- anatomy and proportion stuff- in addition to a couple pages of additional concept art and sketches in the back

Koltreg: That sounds pretty awesome. I look forward to getting it.

What is one webcomic you think everybody should read that not enough people are?

Dave Shabet: HMMMMMmmm.... Heliothaumic ( http://www.thaumic.net ) is definitely an underrated comic. It is a wonderful comic about a world where magic meets science and the author puts a lot of thought into every little detail building the world.

Koltreg: You hear a moan outside the front door to your house and you look out. A swarm of the undead line the streets. Do you have an escape plan in case of zombies by which I mean the classic slow styled ones?

Dave Shabet: Yes. I have like three ways out of my apartment.

Koltreg: When I interviewed Jenny from The Zombie Hunters I felt silly for having a plan for escape when she did not.

Dave Shabet: Jenny's a good person, don't be pickin' on her or you'll need an escape plan... from me.

Koltreg: Oh she is.

Dave Shabet: (do you have one of those??)

Koltreg: Yes, yes I do.

Dave Shabet: You're a man of great forethought.

Koltreg: Indeed. "Never talk to somebody without picturing them dead." Somebody said that. I just did. I prequoted myself.

Any important things you'd like to say on the record about your comic, grudges against people or anything else like that?

Dave Shabet: Grudges against people are not something one should hold or foster, since they bring everybody down and no one wants that. As for my comic: I am happy people enjoy it.

Koltreg: Well I am glad to hear you are against beefs. I wish you luck with your webcomic and continued success in everything else.

Dave Shabet: Thank you kindly, sir.

Coming up this week, more Socialfist in the Making.