Today marks the debut of a guest Automata "event," drawn by the incomparable Ben Caldwell and "Book of Eli" scribe Gary Whitta. We don't have any right to talent like this, and giving the site over to them for a week or so will probably get you accustomed to work of genuine quality, at which point they will usurp us and we will have to get new jobs.
The S Word
The room scenario described in the strip is brutally mega-real. My response was to haul out the big guns. Actually, it's my policy to leverage the big guns exclusively. I had a few little guns for awhile, and I sent them back. "Won't be needing these," I said.
Planting A Flag
Gabriel specializes in names like "Mantis Eaglehawk," that is to say, names that puncture the carefully calibrated drama of their setting. He has retained Dudefella lo these many years, long enough for me to substitute "Du'defaella" in my mind whenever I see it, with its notes of an elven upbringing grimmed with the dust of prophecy.
Here's The Stuff We're Bringing To San Diego
Seriously, all kinds of shit. We've got the new Mosey shirt, Wolfman/Dracula, some some new Automata stuff as well.
New PATV For That Ass
It's a 4th Panel, and it's more or less about what happens when things go wrong.
This Would Actually Be Rad
This holiday's Harry Potter offering forgoes the Grand Theft Hogwarts/campus crawling adventure for something like third-person cover shooter, which I have heard alternately called "Order of the Marcus Fenix" or "Gears of Wand." I am not without affection for Harry Potter, and I like Video Games, but I've only played a couple hours total of products set in the universe which I'm sure must strike them as odd. It's just that they've never given me a game I want to play all the way through.
PAX PRIME!
I had a dream the other night that we decided to hold PAX in a huge field this year. It seemed like a good idea for some reason but when we got there it was raining and everyone was all wet. Then I looked down and I had no pants. These sorts of dreams tell me that PAX is coming up pretty quick.
Duplicity
When Christian Bale was recorded in the middle of some kind of aggressive territorial display, we queued it up expressly to be titillated but ultimately came away sympathetic. It's possible that every moment of his "presentation" won't be to your liking, but as someone who attempts to communicate for a living (and also, as someone who is married to an actor) that shit isn't exactly a joke. Actors are incredibly weird people, they tap into a pervasive band of shamanic data, and when they're tuning in some kind of anguished spirit you probably just want to stay the fuck away from them.
Our Partial Future
I don't know exactly how prevalent "Sony Style" stores are. I know of exactly one in my town, and one in another town. If you have one close, if such a thing exists, you should certainly make it a point to penetrate their outer defenses and watch their astounding 3D demo reel. I've seen plenty of demos for 3D televisions, really quite a lot of them, and they've never managed to accomplish what this one did.
Blam! Blam! As In Blamimation
What I think is probably the best, best, best Blamimation yet can be found by clicking here.
Blizzard Partially Retreats
As seen here.
The Grim Curriculum
Blizzard's RealID thing didn't make any sense to me, but that's because I was relying on the official message to get a sense of it's purpose. It's a much more straightforward when you read the article at USAToday's Game Hunters entitled "Blizzard and Facebook's friendly social networking deal launches with 'StarCraft II'."
The Butcher's Bill, Part Two
The Butcher's Bill, Part One
Gabriel and I were talking, about something - I forget what - when we fell into a black slumber. Through the sludge of our waking stupor, we discovered that not one but two comics had been written and produced. Here is the first; prepare to be progressively harrowed.
Penny Arcade Television
Would you like some of that? Because we have a new episode. No, really!
Twisp & Catsby in: Der Dorbelgorbel
We put the word out - technically, a chirp - regarding what people might like to see in a comic. That is a rare request, truly, but while we're out of town for the Fourph of July you might as well get an approximation of what you actually want. Twisp & Catsby were the winners by far, followed by Annarchy and Div, though there was also a pronounced Wil Wheaton contingent(!).