As you may recall, I was very disappointed with Capcom earlier this week. They had announced that to battle THE SCOURGE OF USED GAME SALES Resident Evil: Mercenaries 3D would only support one playthrough. Well it seems that enough fans have given them flak for this, and they have now retreated and announced that they will never pull something so absolutely stupid again. My faith in Capcom is restored! Well, at least for now.
In my infinite sea of absolute wisdom (*cough*) I've realised how much my art-style in All Sorts of Happenings has begun to resemble that of The Peanuts. Now I'm a big Charles M. Schulz fan, So this really doesn't bother me THAT much. But it occured to me how sad it is that while Superheroes and Manga is flourishing well into the new millenium, newspaper strips is a dying breed. One could argue that the webcomic is the modern reincarnation of the newspaper strip but this is where I have to disagree. Popular webcomics have a habit of either being about a single hobby (Penny-Arcade with Video Games) or having a complex storyline (El Goonish Shive). The classic semi-philosophic family-oriented newspaper strip doesn't really have a modern equivalent. Series like The Peanuts or Calvin & Hobbes presented us with (at the time) unique stances on life. They taught us something about ourselves while at the same time being witty. In my upbringing at least, Newspaper strips played a role in shaping me into the person I am today. Sociologists theorize that we are in a post-modern era, in which our lifestyles are comparable to that of a charmeleon. We are no longer brought up solely by our parents, but by the instituions we frequent and the group of friends we create for ourselves. we resemble the Charmeleon in that while at work we may be the one that makes the jokes all the time, we can still fall into the role of the braniac at school. I believe that comic strips and fiction in general plays a much larger role in our upbringing in post-modern society. As an Atheist, I reject the fact that any God exists. Our morals are shaped by experiences and outside input, factual evidence that gives us our place in the universe. That said, I am honored to live on a planet where people feel fullfillment in learning about the world around them. To look back at our history of philosophers, Theists, Deists, Atheists or otherwise and see that some have spent their entire life building the modern zeitgeist that I'm privileged enough to live in is a humbling experience. And I truly believe that the future shapings will come from comics. While we may no longer have a Charles Schulz around, new comics like Scott Pilgrim and Nemi embrace the fact that our generation. My generation. Consists mostly of men and women who's concept of masculinity and feminism largely comes from a backdrop of fairytales and adventures as told to us by loving parents, or inspiring individuals.
In other news, Nintendo pulled a fast one on Legend of Zelda fans. At E3 this year, they had a showing of a HD rendition of Link in the Twilight Princess style battling a giant spider. The showing was absolutely gorgeous, but Nintendo has announced that it was only meant as a tech-demo to show off the Wii U's capabilities. That's what we in the fanbase call a total cockblock. That's sad. Well at least Skyward Sword won't be anything like any other Legend of Zelda game ever, right? Right? Who am I kidding? It's repackaging, and I'm probably gonna buy it along with everyone else. Fun.
And now for something completely different.
In my infinite sea of absolute wisdom (*cough*) I've realised how much my art-style in All Sorts of Happenings has begun to resemble that of The Peanuts. Now I'm a big Charles M. Schulz fan, So this really doesn't bother me THAT much. But it occured to me how sad it is that while Superheroes and Manga is flourishing well into the new millenium, newspaper strips is a dying breed. One could argue that the webcomic is the modern reincarnation of the newspaper strip but this is where I have to disagree. Popular webcomics have a habit of either being about a single hobby (Penny-Arcade with Video Games) or having a complex storyline (El Goonish Shive). The classic semi-philosophic family-oriented newspaper strip doesn't really have a modern equivalent. Series like The Peanuts or Calvin & Hobbes presented us with (at the time) unique stances on life. They taught us something about ourselves while at the same time being witty. In my upbringing at least, Newspaper strips played a role in shaping me into the person I am today. Sociologists theorize that we are in a post-modern era, in which our lifestyles are comparable to that of a charmeleon. We are no longer brought up solely by our parents, but by the instituions we frequent and the group of friends we create for ourselves. we resemble the Charmeleon in that while at work we may be the one that makes the jokes all the time, we can still fall into the role of the braniac at school. I believe that comic strips and fiction in general plays a much larger role in our upbringing in post-modern society. As an Atheist, I reject the fact that any God exists. Our morals are shaped by experiences and outside input, factual evidence that gives us our place in the universe. That said, I am honored to live on a planet where people feel fullfillment in learning about the world around them. To look back at our history of philosophers, Theists, Deists, Atheists or otherwise and see that some have spent their entire life building the modern zeitgeist that I'm privileged enough to live in is a humbling experience. And I truly believe that the future shapings will come from comics. While we may no longer have a Charles Schulz around, new comics like Scott Pilgrim and Nemi embrace the fact that our generation. My generation. Consists mostly of men and women who's concept of masculinity and feminism largely comes from a backdrop of fairytales and adventures as told to us by loving parents, or inspiring individuals. 
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