The Power Cosmic - In T-shirt Form

Last week I posted about a cool Photoshop Filter that creates Kirby Dots. After playing around with it for a while it inspired a new comic book themed T-shirt design for Otter Disaster Designs called the Power Cosmic:

You can purchase this design HERE.  I've also created another Secret Origin shirt, this one inspired by the mutant X-men. 

One last design, adapted from a sketch by my Little Disaster is this Doodle Skull and Bones:

She drew it in pen on a scrap of paper a few weeks ago and I decided it would look great on a shirt.  Basically I just scanned the drawing, added some color (her choices), dropped in the circular background, and it was done.

Classic Atari Games From the Olden Days

Atari offers several of it's classic arcade and Atari 2600 games for play in your browser. Choose from Asteroids, Crystal Castles, Battlezone, and even Yars' Revenge! There is also a new online version of one of my all time favorite games Missle Command:


Play fun multiplayer games

You can play online in a cooperative mode with others or create your own match which provides an invite link so you can play with your pals.

Awesome Photoshop Filter Creates Kirby Dots!

Game company Octopus Motor, has created a really great Photoshop filter that allows you to create Kirby Dots!  Here's a quick image I worked up using my avatar from Bitstrips:

It allows you to adjust several variables including Maximum and Minimum dot size, distribution, softness of edges, and foreground and background colors. NEAT!
Download the filter HERE!
Tutorial on installing and using the filter HERE.

Heavy Metal Heritage: Metal as Religion? Part 2

I posted last week about British Metal fans trying to get 'Heavy Metal' recognized as a religion in the 2011 UK Census.

According to this article the UK census does not 'officially' recognize any religions and does not define what is or is not a religion, it only lists the percentages of respondents to a given religion, which is how Jedi Knight ended up 'recognized' in the 2001 Census.

The notion seems to be gaining steam though. There are almost 17,500 fans on the movement's Facebook page (as of this posting).

If any band embodies the notion of Heavy Metal as religion (or at least as lifestyle) it's the incomparable Manowar.  Here's Battle Hymn, from their 1982 debut album Battle Hymns:

I'd be willing to bet no other band has done as many metal songs about 'metal' than Manowar: Metal Daze, Gloves of Metal, Kings of Metal, Brothers of Metal, The Gods Made Heavy Metal, Metal Warriors, Die for Metal, and any number of songs about swords and steel.

 This blog post at the UK Guardian suggests some other musical forms that might also qualify.

Otter Disaster #30: Fandom

Bitstrips presents a Theme of the Day.  Yesterday's theme was Fandom, here is my entry:

These kinds of arguments are of course the bread and butter of pop-culture aficionados the world over.

Heavy Metal Heritage: Metal as Religion?

Via the always awesome Neatorama comes this item from the UK Telegraph:

Fans campaign for heavy metal to be recognised as religion
From the article:

They are being asked to officially register their faith as ''heavy metal'' while filling in the next Census questionnaire...Rock magazine Metal Hammer launched its campaign last week and has already attracted nearly 10,000 followers to a Facebook group...

It has even gained the backing of a metal figurehead, Saxon frontman Biff Byford, whom the magazine says will become the proposed faith's ''world metal peace ambassador'' if the campaign proves successful.

If you are unfamiliar with Saxon or Biff Byford here's the video for the 1981 New Wave of British Heavy Metal Anthem, Denim and Leather:

This movement is partly inspired by the recognition of Jedi as a religion by several English speaking nations in 2001.

Of course Metal has a long history of viewing itself in quasi-religious terms. A fine example is Judas Priest's 1984 album, Defenders of the Faith.

The album had this quote on the back cover:

"Rising from darkness where Hell hath no mercy and the screams for vengeance echo on forever. Only those who keep the faith shall escape the wrath of the Metallian... Master of all metal."

Sounds biblical, in a metal sort of way...

You also have the examples of bands with religous sounding names like Metal Church, Armored Saint, Iron Savior, and of course Black Sabbath. Sabbath is largely responsible for a lot of the religious imagery in metal. Ozzy Osbourne wore large crosses from the very earliest days of Black Sabbath.

There is also a metal obsession with angels, particularly fallen ones. You have bands like Death Angel and Angel Witch as well as albums like Angel of Retribution (Judas Priest), Angels Fall First (Nightwish) and Angel Down (Sebastian Bach). I'm sure there are literally hundreds of other examples of fallen angels in lyrics, song titles and artwork throughout the history of metal.

Here is a rather lengthy piece on heavy metal and it's similiarities to and odd relationship with religion.

If they're successful in their attempt to have metal officially recognized as a religion, maybe this could be the official uniform of the faith.

Could Apple's iTablet bring me back to monthly comics?

There is much anticipation of Apple's big announcement this Wednesday, with pretty much everyone expecting them to reveal some kind of slate or tablet style computer. As someone who gave up on reading monthly 'floppy' comics in 2006 because of ever-increasing prices, the notion of a digital comics reader is somewhat intriguing.

I'm sure the comics industry will have some sort of app/reader for comics available for the device when it finally ships (if they are smart).

One key here for me is pricing.  If the price of the iSlate/iTablet/iDunno is reasonable out of the gate, or falls to a reasonable price in the next few years I'll consider getting one.  I'll probably be in the market for a laptop in a few years anyway, and all the apps that will be available will just mean added value. If Marvel/DC (or any other publisher) wants to recapture lost readers (and entice newer ones) they will have to price their digital comics reasonably.  They will have an opportunity here to win big, or shoot themselves in the foot.

The print version of Fantastic Four #575 will be in stores on the same day as Apple's announcement and is cover priced at $2.99, which is now pretty typical, with some titles hitting the $3.99 mark.  I stopped when most titles hit $2.25-$2.50 an issue.  I was reading anywhere from 10-15 titles a month at that point and spending about $35 a month on my comics habit.  My choice was to cut back on titles, which I did for a while, or spend more money, which I couldn't afford to do.  Ultimately I decided to pick up the odd trade paperback, OGN, or collection, and get a complete story for my comics dollar.  This of course took me out of the shops regularly and my comics consumption has dropped accordingly due to the price of the books.

If an iTunes style, digital comics service could deliver a title for $.99 per issue (or less), I'd seriously consider reading them monthly again.  At that price, I could afford 10 regular titles a month and the ability to sample newer releases or limited series without breaking the bank.  Additionally if I find a series or story arc worth hanging on to, then I can always purchase a collected print version when it becomes available.

Another obvious key factor will be how these comics read on the device, and if the portability can help with the loss of that tactile experience of the printed page.

The T-Shirts of The Big Bang Theory

As a guy who digs t-shirts so much I started to design my own, I'm a big fan of the geeky shirts worn by Sheldon and Leonard on the CBS comedy 'The Big Bang Theory'.  I'm not the only one.  The folks over at Sheldonshirts.com have catalogued and located many of the shirts worn by the guys on the show.  They've even determined which shirts are no longer available, and tracked down several of Howard's belt buckles.  I myself have Leonard's Cassette tee! :

Save Free TV!

I was looking for some retro audio at the Internet Archive and stumbled across this amusing gem from the early days of Cable Television:

Peter Sarsgaard is Hector Hammond

Actor Peter Sarsgaard has  been cast as Hector Hammond in the Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern movie. I've always liked Hammond's freakishly large skull, so I mocked up a Sarsgaard-Hammond in Photoshop:

A-Team Trailer and an Alternate

Well, the A-Team Trailer has been available here and there today:

If that one gets taken down, which seems likely, check out this fake trailer from 2007.  I kind of like the idea of them keeping the team as Vietnam veterans, acting as aging Soldiers of Fortune.  Morgan Freeman as B.A. seems oddly inspired:

The A-Team trailer | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

Hey Kids, Comics!

The University of Nebraska has a pretty cool collection of Government Sponsored Comics.

Many are available for download as PDFs, including one on the Operation and Preventative Maintenance of your M16A1 Rifle illustrated by comics legend Will Eisner.

Read about Captain America fighting drugs, Yogi Bear prepping for earthquakes, Lil Abner joining the Navy, or Supergirl and the importance of safety belts. Lots of civic-minded stuff about Zip Codes, Nutrition, and the invasion of Grenada.

Heavy Metal Heritage: Hit Parader Magazine

As a high school headbanger I had no internet for keeping up with my favorite bands and the town I lived in was so small it didn't have MTV, so there were few ways to find out about new bands or even what was up with the bands I followed.  I actually used to bring videotapes when I visited my sister Traci in college because she had MTV, and I'd record Headbanger's Ball to see videos of my favorite bands.  I'd play those tapes over and over.


With no access to MTV, and living in a part of the country where the odds of hearing my kind of metal on the radio was impossible, I had two outlets remaining for learning more about 'my' bands.  The first was the very reliable 'word of mouth'.  If you had a buddy who liked a band you could always borrow the records and sample their music for yourself.  If a group was good, you could then go out and buy the cassette or you could fire up the dual cassette deck and do a little peer to peer music sharing, analog style.  The other information outlet I relied on lived on the racks of the local grocery and convenience stores, the heavy metal magazines.  They had names like Rip, Circus, Creem, Metal Edge and my rag of choice, Hit Parader.

I never subscribed to any of these mags, but I would pick them up off the newsstand at the grocery store or Stop 'N' Shop (later C-Mart), if one of the bands I liked appeared on the cover. Hit Parader was always on the stands, where Rip and Circus were only occasionally available, and Metal Edge was expensive if I recall.  I don't think I ever saw more than one or two issues of Creem in my life. So Hit Parader was usually it.


Hit Parader heavily focused on the 'hair bands' of the era, and I read the magazine in hair metal's heyday from about 1987-1991.  I think they were legally obligated to put Brett Michaels (of Poison), Jon Bon Jovi, or Vince Neil (of Motley Crue) on the cover 9 months out of 12.  When Iron Maiden or AC/DC made a cover you could bet I'd buy it.  In fact I specifically remember having this issue featuring Angus Young of AC/DC on the cover:

I loved the magazine for being the only source of music news I could get my hands on.  My sister Pam had a subscription to Rolling Stone, but it rarely featured metal even when metal was extemely popular, so it wasn't good for my needs.  In a addition to news, Hit Parader had lots of filler in the form of pinups.  My bedroom was plastered with pictures of AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Tesla, and of course the lovely ladies Doro Pesch, and Lita Ford.


The magazine was also well known for intellectual debates, like 'Who Rules Heavy Metal?':

These debates often played out in Hit Parader's letter page where a metalhead would write in and explain in very passionate terms why Dio 'rules', and Ozzy 'sucks'.  The editor of said letters page would then usually make fun of the writer.  Poison vs. Motley Crue and Metallica vs. Megadeth were also extremely popular in these diatribes, and seemed to account for about half the letters published in the magazine in any given month.  


My other favorite thing about these metal mags were the ads for upcoming releases.  I'd often see some horrific image coupled with a scary band name, and a release date.  I bought at least a few albums based on these ads alone, music unheard.  One album I specifically remember buying was 'Another Return to Church Hill' by Artch.  I remember the ad being a black and white image of the albums cover, and I thought it looked totally cool, so when I saw the cassette shortly after seeing the ad I bought it immediately. It was a decent power metal record, and while I don't have it anymore I do have an MP3 of the title track.


I just learned today that Hit Parader  ceased publication a little over a year ago, Circus and Rip are also gone, but Metal Edge still seems to be in publication.  Maybe those high prices paid off after all.

Otter Disaster #29 - 2009: See You...(My Year in Review in 4 Panels)

Merry Geeksmas

I had a very nerdtacular Christmas this year. Various gift givers indulged my love of comics this year and I was lucky enough to receive the book of Genesis as illustrated by R. Crumb, Vol. 1 of the complete Bloom County, a volume of Moomin by Tove Jansson, and a Pearls Before Swine collection. I also received a Lego Star Wars Encyclopedia with a small Lego kit. Mrs. Disaster gave me a Wally West Flash ornament, the complete Brisco County Jr. On DVD, a Mach 5, some small JLA figures, and of course Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas. Thanks everyone! Oh, and to top it off I'm blogging this from my new phone thanks to my mom!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Gorilla my dreams and other monkey puns!

Anybody who reads comics for any amount of time will almost certainly run across hordes of gorillas, chimps,  and other miscellaneous simians.

I was recently thinking about a duct tape based t-shirt design idea, and as I considered the term 'duct tape' my mind deleted the second 't' and I began repeating the phrase 'duct ape' which led to this t-shirt design, better than, and completely different than my original idea:

You can purchase the shirt HERE.

I always suspected this was how it worked: Tetris God

Having wasted many otherwise productive hours playing Tetris, I was pleased to find this video explaining how the 'random' pieces are chosen:


via videosift.com

Ask Me About My Secret Origin - 3 Shirts at Otter Disaster Designs

As a big comic book fan, I've always loved the stories about how superheroes became superheroes. I'm working on a series of T-Shirt designs based on those 'secret origins'. The first three are now complete and available for purchase at the Otter Disaster Designs shop.

The first design is inspired by the nuclear origins of Marvel's Incredible Hulk:



The second is inspired by the chemical and lightning birth of the Barry Allen Flash:



And the third was inspired by origin of the first modern superhero, and Last Son of Krypton, Superman:



I'm aiming for something iconic, but non-specific, in the realm of homage and tribute. I want to evoke the origins of certain heroes without referencing them by name...for obvious reasons. I have a few other 'secret origin' shirts in the works, that will be available over the next month or so.

Context is Everything #27: The Suicide Doctor

Here's a dumb joke that's been rattling around in my head for a while, finally made into a strip:

Context is Everything #24, #25 & #26 Otters, otters, otters.

I've been a bit Otter obsessed lately in my Context is Everything series at Bitstrips...