Brilliance.

Even in the 80's, anime was far ahead of western animation.

This was before anime became a bit self-replicating and cloned-plot rampant in terms of story after the late 90's.

In this video alone, you can tell several things, even if you've never seen the series:

A: the focus is on the boy, who's personality is already showing

B: he has a friend who is very feminine

C: the dog and robot, secondary characters.

D: the rythm moves perfectly with the music and color. That is difficult to accomplish even with digital programs. this was made about 20 years before anything like Flash was invented. Imagine doing all of those frames by hand.

Very cool.

Quotes and such

Here are some interesting quotes I found while swimming through the surging tides of the internet:

I'll break them up by person. Each one of their lives has significant meaning to everyone and each has lived a lesson that begs to be heard by those who are willing to hear them. Check it out!

Albert Einstein:



"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

"I want to know God's thoughts; the rest are details."

"The only real valuable thing is intuition."

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

"Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds."

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination."

"It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure."

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity."

"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education."

Thomas Edison:



"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

"Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work." (When asked about his thousands of tries to invent the lightbulb, each of which to that point had failed.

"If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."

"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk."

"Nearly every man who develops an idea works it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then he gets discouraged. That's not the place to become discouraged. "

Basically it comes down to: Use imagination all the time, and never give up when an idea seems bad. Advice anyone and everyone in the creative arts profession could use, eh?

Website is UP!

The randomfuzz website is up! Finally!

It's in beta version, so there are still a lot of kinks to work out. But at least it's up!

randomfuzzies.net

Thoughts on Science Fiction

A beautiful breeze is blowing through the pristine buildings near which I am sitting. In the distance a fountain gushes from a pool, the echoes of which cascade though the surrounding architecture. The lamps overhead illuminate the ground and work with the coffeehouse lights inside the windows behind me to create a multiluminescence.

Pretty night. Anyway.

As part of a random musing, I want to touch on Science Fiction as a genre for a moment.

I've seen a lot of movies, read a lot of books, and am a huge fan, honestly. However, I think the following things are interesting concerning the genre as of late. Specifically the last 50 years or so.

Granted the genre is fairly new (compared to previous forms of literature) and there is still unexplored ground, but there are several repetitive themes that continue though the genre as a broken record, and can be seen clearly in a lot of television sci fi shows.

Sci fi didnt start out as being equated with the horror genre, and it really shouldn't be. I don't understand how people, or stores, think that they are close together or are one in the same. Just because a monster is an alien, people automatically put the movie in the sci fi genre, when in my opinion, it shouldn't be.

The best sci fi, or in my opinion the true to form science fiction movies have question's man's place in the universe or humanity's ability to overcome obstacles, which can be seen in epics dating back to Mesopotamian times. In fact, mythological epics and fantastic stories usually told of a human or group of humans overcoming supernatural or un-human forces. It's been a part of human civilization and culture as a whole for thousands of years. Who doesn't remember the fictional stories of Hansel and Gretel, Rumplestiltskin, etc? 

In the same vein, humans always love to hear stories of triumph, real or otherwise. Stories convey truthes to us that can not be taken away. They communicate values and lead us in the direction of the Light, and instill in us the feelings of being able to overcome obstacles.

Even more riveting are the true stories of survival and overcoming, which seem to light up our imaginations even more and bring us back to the time of being pirates and princesses in the enormous wonderlands of our backyards.

The point I am making is that the best stories we have read were the ones that touched us and gave us meanings and feelings, and the 'aha' moments that no one could take away. This, in my opinion, rings true for science fiction as well.

That said, there dont seem to be many true-to-form stories of discovery and the ultimate view of humanity.

Jules Verne wrote the first science fiction stories concerning man's trip to the moon, and the unity of humanity to overcome an obstacle and the use of prose to put the focus on the current state of humanity.

SPOILERS OF CERTAIN SCI FI BOOKS BELOW!

The book "First men on the moon" chronicles the first humans to the moon who find insectioid life in a complex society, and for all the alien-ness, they are repulsed by the rumors or wars and travesty and greed on the Earth. They do not allow humanity to know of their existance because they do not want any war to come to them. Keep in mind this was written in the early 1900s.

Verne also penned books such as "20,000 leagues under the Sea", "Journey to the Centre of the Earth", among others. these all had elements of action, drama, and a broader view of the human experience as a whole.


Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case with current sci fi writers.

But before I go there, let me continue.

Books such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Lost World", Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles", Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" series all continue that vein, albeit with a bit more maturity of the thematic elements. Granted, that is debatable considering Verne was writing his works when no one else was. How can you impove on a classic? You can't. If it isnt broken, don't fix it.


Anyway, The genre continued until people like Ben Bova and others who slighted the genre with more existential works that took away the wonder of discovery that existed with previous works. (mind you, atheism has only existed as a movement within the last 200 years. this is important) Bova wrote prolific novels, and I give him credit for that. However the novels were propogandist works which leveled attacks against organised religion. This said, it's difficult to see how many people consider his works great science fiction as they are propogandistin nature and only deals with the antagonists trying to colonize the solar system but are constantly fighting the antagonists who are an organized (and in his view) political group of radicals. While I can understand that this might parallel current events, at the time there were no well known radical religious groups, and it was more of a counterculture-flavored literary exercise.

The whole theme of propoganda and personal vendetta against a person or organization basically takes away from the original vein of Sci Fi into projecting personal agendas onto paper. Personally, I really, really, REALLY dislike propoganda literature or literature that is biased. Granted there is bias in some form in most prose, but I would prefer to not read a book that attempts to shove the author's political beliefs down my throat.

It's an intense statement, but with everyone so pluralistic these days, I get tired of the constant political banter and attacks in everything from rap songs to chewing gum. Some days, Dinotopia sounds like a great place to visit.

During this point in time, a plethora of sci fi movies were made. Several stand out as being true-to-form, such as "The Day the Earth Stood Still", and others. 

One movie whose name I can't remember but the plotline is basically: Aliens crash and humans think they are evil, and people become brainwashed by the aliens, however everyone finally realized the aliens (no matter how gross looking) are just trying to get home and at the end a human narrates and says that maybe humanity isnt ready for contact. I'll try to figure out the title for it.



Point being, at the same time some of these very true-to-form movies were coming out, there were a TON of bad sci fi movies coming out.

Prince of Space, anyone?



Now, granted, I understand that studios wanted to make money and there was money in sci fi movies, but unfortunately there was a lot of mediocre stuff that came out, and some movies tried to blur the like between horror and sci fi. This is kind of when it started. A la "Creature from the Black Lagoon." (funny movie, by the way)

So it continued until the present day. Now, two of the most popular sci fi TV series/Movie series/etc are these:

Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, etc. (Yes there are popular sci fi series right now that have 'cult' followings, but they have yet to stand the test of time, so I am only going to talk about those series that are 10+ years old)

As for Star Trek, the concept was strong early on. Humanity solving their differences and combating outside forces. In some ways it was Utopian drama, however it skirted the line because of latter installments of the original series movies. Either way, it has staying power and the most popular of the series stayed close to the vein in which sci fi started from. While this series was based on a Utopian theme, latter elements focused on the idea that the Federation WAS a utopian society, however the rest of the universe was not. It was a good expansion of the idea, in my opinion.



As for Star Wars, while I am not against it, there isnt much to say about the story. It's borderline distopian prose, however it comes across as a more mythological epic (and it presented as such) with a heavier focus on mythological elements, admittedly so from George Lucas. The first three were strong in prose. (I am very, very impressed by the graphics of the whole six movies, however. VERY.)



As for Stargate, it was more along the lines of the same vein, though not entirely.
The concept is interesting: humans find a gate to places across the galaxy and universe. It stands to reason that a series would follow. Now there have been 10 seasons of the original series and it's on the fourth season on the second series, with three dvd movies in the making). The prose has been very strong with a focus on character development and a 'switch up' of normal sci fi plots. It was also one of the first series to focus on continuous story arcs.



Point being, even though sci fi has migrated to TV and movies, some of the elements have remained true to form, though not entirely.

As for prose, there doesnt really seem to be any major literary writer at the moment who has focused on the genre within the same vein as Asimov and the rest. It almost seems as though authors just keep rep-hashing old ideas over and over again. There doesnt seem to be much that is new, and what is 'new' is basically existentialist boring prose that has been done before several times. 

Granted, I will give you the fact that Michael Chrichton has put out some pretty good stuff. I will make that exception, but there doesnt seem to be more than that. At least not that I can think of presently. If there are then it's probably just a handful at most who are putting out strong literary works.



Also, much of the Sci Fi TV series and prose has become 'Politically Correct' in its themes, which makes for even more boring literature. If you go to a university library and wander to the "Slavery" section, you will find narratives that are probably too politically incorrect to be 'acceptable' to the public. That, I think, is what made Star Trek less popular as it went on, because it didn't really focus on the more 'incorrect' issues, and some series were just entirely PC and did not have much of a Utopian/Distopian theme at all. There is a difference. You can be politically incorrect to show that an issue is wrong or right, despite what current 'majority opinion' is.

I wonder who decides that, by the way. The best literature has been that which has shed light on the failings and succession of humanity. "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom is a non-fiction, first-hand account of this woman's excperience inside of a concentration camp. I couldnt put the book down. While it is non-fiction, the point is that any account, real or fictional, can be so gripping or impressive that you can't put the book down until you find out what happens.



Anyway, the best sci fi literature has not been politically correct, and I dont think it should be. I think it should be historically accurate and should acknowledge the fallibility of humans withhout gazing into the failures for 300 pages. Eesh. I've read some of those before. The balance is to see the failures without dwelling on them. Nothing in history is politically correct. Slavery wasn't politically correct. Racism wasn't, abuse of women's rights weren't, the white mans burden, trail of tears, nor the cultural views of any society ancient or modern.

The point being, every culture has a view of what is acceptable, and to dumb it down and make the characters get along and throw in a Deus ex Machina just makes in boring. (The term is latin for "God in the machine" where a machine solves everyone's problems. God knows we haven't had that happen in real life. Take a look at the Industrial Revolution. It took these countries 200 years to adjust to the technological breakthroughs)

Coming to this, there is an excellent series by C.S. Lewis which, in my opinion, is the bravest and best of all sci fi literature. This is so because it boldly steps into sci fi and asks the tough questions like "What would aliens believe spiritually? Where does God fit in if we met aliens?" and other pressing questions. Its a hard look at humanity through the eyes of aliens who have little concept of greed, anger, rage, etc. I strongly recommend it. The first and second books are the best of the series.





So anyway, just a musing of sci fi and the titles therein. Till later! Let me know what you think.


ADDENDUM:

Please understand that I am not saying that Sci fi shouldnt expand it's spectrum in literary works. I am saying that there is a lot od mediocre stuff out there that is simply re-hashing ideas brought about by the great science fiction authors. It's no problem to keep looking at a subject from a different angle or mixing stuff up, but again there is a lot of re-hashing and 're-inventing the wheel' by shows, books, and comics that try to 'improve upon the original'. To date I have not seen a viable 'improved original' other than Star Wars Episodes IV-VI, which only added better effects and didnt take away from anything that made the movies so popular.

Anyway, Sci Fi should continue to expand its horizons and ask the deep questions without getting stuck in the eddies of human regurgitation of symantics and already established ideas, or re-inventing a classic idea to appeal to a more 'modern' audience. I can list several 'revamped' movies that tried to improve on the original and failed at the box office. Again, if it isn't broken, don't fix it. Novels that are set in the future and alternate timelines are great, and that doesnt take away from the original vein that sci fi was going in, but again there are a lot of mediocre attempts at putting out literature versus people who have put out some exemplary works. (See Ray Bradbury's "Dinosaur Planet" series)

Spoon!

1:18 am. I'm waiting for gesso to dry on a bunch of clothing before I start drawing on it for a school project. Woot. The last semester so far has been rough but also good, because there's a light at the end of the tunnel! I actually sat on a bench today and talked to a fellow student, shooting the breeze.

that's amazing because I'm usually so determined to go somewhere or am late on campus that I dont usually sit. It was also interesting because it was pretty foggy. Our class was cancelled and the air was heavy with mist. Neither of us had class for the next hour, and I was in no hurry.

I'm actually beginning to remember how that feels!! And it's awesome!!

Work is going well. We're making a lot of changes at the paper which, imo, is for the better. I was invited to go to a bluegrass concert tonight (YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW TEMPTING THAT IS), but I hadnt had any sleep and had a drawing project due the next day, which is tomorrow. Anywho.

Since the gesso is still drying, I'm going to narrate the bench scene. Tell me what you think.

Early morning.

I arrived before the usual bustle of cars and feet pounded the streets, before any crowd clogged the sidewalks with the sheer volume of human presence that usually surges its way through the veins of the campus. It was quiet, the air heavy with mist, shrouding the distance in a veil of the unknown. I passed through the weightless sea of humidity into the stout, strong building of red brick and plaster, its glass doors open to the few others who were up so early. I made my way through the marbled floors and large caverns of the entrance to the second floor, which held the book I was searching for. Gazing across the myriad of covers I found the book which I had been search for.
I made my way down the library in the silver conveyor to the first floor, the nearby computer labs now alive with activity. People searched the web, chatted either with online counterparts or other students, or intensely pounded the keyboard, letter by letter in a fury of academic might. Possibly in an attempt to turn out a paper due within a very short period of time. I arrived at the circulation desk, where a woman with hair washed in shades of black and grey took my card and swiped it. However before the card was swiped, she turned to say something to another librarian and lost her grip, sending the card twirling out of control and her hands in furied gymnastics as she attempted to regain the card. I checked out and left toward the English building.

K, i need to go help the gesso dry. Till later.

Also

This rocks as well.

BTW

I come across random stuff on the internet, and found these Chinese girls who, by the way, happen to rock at their traditional chinese instruments. Look at how effortlessly they play those things! Amazing, eh?

Comics and more

The latest comic dropped a huge hint as to what is going on.

Here's what follows with Nick's account:

Nick's journal:
Nick's log: It happened again. It was late one night, I was writing a paper.
One of those with 50 sources, when I felt something happen.

If I told anyone
about it...

No one would believe me...

Procrastination nation

So, I should be working on a six-foor drawing due tomorrow, but I'm not. So i figured I would write some blog stuff.

Usually the way that the comics are put together is by isolating several images and digitally coloring them, then placing the individual pieces together. It saves time and memory, and leaves less room for mistakes to happen.

As for Squirrelman, the comic was never resolved, and I dont think it will be. However, this image below was supposed to be the beaver's hand that defeated the giant cloud-thing bad guy. The beaver, who was chewing on wood, was supposed to lift a hand and blast the bad guy, al la anime style or...yes, Dragon Ball Z. (DBZ was the Naruto of it's day. It just got old when it took, what, 10 episodes for Goku to level up to Super-Saiyan? I dropped the series by that point, even though I had faithfully recorded it through the first season. Sigh.)

Inside of the hand should be a swirly energy beam.
For the comic, the images are usually drawn several times, and then put into the computer. This image was created that way.

The final drawing before the digital coloring.

and after. the background was added later.

This comic was actually a lot of fun because I was able to try some new techniques for it.



The above picture was actually a lot of fun because it was so random that it was cool. (a la anime "Special-insert-weird-japanese-name-or-butchered-english-term" attacks.) remember those super hero anime movies that took them SO LONG to power up that the super villain could have gone to starbucks, ordered a latte, chatted with a few friends, and still make it back in time for the super hero to actually attack? Yeah buddy. Im not bashing anime, but if you think about it...
BTW, I was talking to a comic artist guy today at the newspaper, and we talked about how so much of Anime is based off of Asian Art and the Asian culture, which is probably the reason why it doesn't make a lot of sense sometimes. (Except for Bobobo. That was just stupid.) A la, one of the anime shows had Kabuki music playing in the background, and unless you know about Kabuki music or what it means, you won't get the reason for playing the music in the background. I didnt until I learned about Kabuki.

Lighting was also something this semester saw more of as the digital coloring became better. I was able to explore more dramatic situations, such as Nick finding an odd floating white object in the middle of a cavern in an old Olmec ruin that changed time and space? Or at least he thought it did.

Every time a clue appears, it's researched a lot before a final drawing shows up. The writing on the 'jade' pendant above is in Mayan, which complicates the mystery because the beginning of the Fuzzes dates back to about 1000 years before the Mayan civilization.
Alright, back to schoolwork. Till next time.

Randomness

Some more random images. This one was based on japanese woodblock prints and will be used for a product catalogue (after which it will be colored digitally) for a company I created.



Wahoo.

Ukiyo-e woodlbock brints have some very intricate details carved into them. I have a HUGE poster of Hiroshige's "Wave of Kanagowa" on the wall of my office at the School Newspaper.

Which is this:

Beavers, squirrels and platypuses, OH MY!

So because of a combination of this horrible class during the summer plus wanting to expand my abilities a little, I created these incredibly useless super heros over the summer. THE SWAMP SQUAD.

This consists of:
Squirrelman!
Powers: Throws giant acorns
Beaverlad, warrior of the wetlands!
Powers: wood-chewing
and Platypus patti!
Powers: swamp water control.

When I mentioned Platy patti to my mom, she was less than pleased. (As it's very close to her name.) it wasnt intentional. It was either that or Platy Polly, which seemed like it had been used before.

Anyway, i got to do a little super-hero work which was really fun to try and make these useless characters useful. I considered it a challenge and thought it was fun. (Think about it, other than the Tick, how do you make useless heros useful without delving into their egotistical inner psyche?)

Anyway, the class I was taking was so bad that I ended up not finishing the arc i started. The superheros were actually Nick's (the main character in Random Fuzz) creations and it was a comic he created for a newspaper. Anyway, it was a fun little jaunt into an alternate universe for a while.

Also, at this point it's really more about a continuing story, instead of just one-liners like the first semester. Unfortunately the problem with continuing stories in the Verm is that there aren't a lot of people who read the verm on a regular basis, but the website will fix all of that, so stay tuned!!

Here's an excerpt:





it's hard to see but there's a lot of detail in there. It's beginning to look more and more like a comic, which is good. It's looking a little less akward too.

PS, here's a screenshot of the upcoming website:

New Techniques=better viewing

So it's been a steep learning curve for comics, and the problem i'd been having with the solely-illustrator drawn versions was that the images looked akward and it wasnt drawn by hand, as in other than clicking and making shapes. This new technique saved time and just looked better. That means I could do more with a smaller amount of time and make them look like actual comics. I probably wouldnt return to the old way because it took way too long.



I was then able to mix illustrator and photoshop techniques to futher streamline and get a more desired effect. The style just happened to be anime-derived. I'm not trying to make a 'manga' or stay close to any real anime rules. I chose an anime-derived style because it's easier and more recongizable than, say, abstract expressionsim. Or cubism, for that matter.

I could have been true-to-form with the human characters, but it just doesnt work. The fuzzes were anime-like and it was better to keep the rest of the comic like that. Needless to say there have been challenges with the humor because the character dont look nearly as sunday-morning-comicish as they did. But hey, it's all a learning curve. Plus, considering I hadnt touched illustrator for more than a few months before I started doing this, I think I'm learning quickly. I prefer hand-drawing to computer drawing anyway. I'm probably a purist like that in a sense. That's why this new technique helped me stay closer to a hand-drawn style that I prefer.

and now, another random image!

This was a random concept sketch i drew. It was a fan-boy moment. if you can guess what series it's close to, you get brownie points. I'm still a college student so I dont have any money to give. Sorry.

Things and whatev

Aight, so apprently this is just a blog now. Not specifically about Random Fuzz.

Anyway, so the new website is in development and should be up in a few weeks, schedule allowing. Everything will be up and the GRAPHIC NOVEL that finishes the series will be done (part one at least) by DECEMBER hopefully.

Sigh, life without graphic design classes is interesting. On one hand no deadlines and crazy professors or inter-student drama. On the other hand, no cool people to hang out with or share quality time at Kinko's while we get angry over some minute problem with our file or a malfunction in the printer.

good times.

Anyway, this is the last semester for the comic (because I'm GRADUATING, FINALLY.) This semester will basically wrap up the series and set the stage for the graphic novel. The novel will explain EVERYTHING... kind of. What it doesn't explain will be explained later, in another series perhaps?

The reason the website hasnt been posted in the newspaper is because it's technically work-for-hire, and the fuzzes are technically University property. But that hasnt stopped me! Besides, if enough changes are made to the characters while keeping the premise the same, the novel can be legal. Meh. Well, it's going up nonetheless.

Meanwhile, feast on these random images i made during my spare time:

Race and Random Fuzz

On a side note, you might find that Nick and Jen have a slightly darker complexion than other characters. I wanted to point out that I let them be darker so you wouldnt figure out their race. However Jen is Native American, which is important for something a LONG way down the line. Nick is vague, as I dont really have a race picked out for him. I don't believe in getting political with cartoons as there are too many out there already. I make fun of things but not in a mean way. Or I try not to at least. Anyway, you'll probably find these stories less political and more character/story driven which always makes for good writing and reading in books. That's what I hope to doo.

Soo. OOkay then. On to the next comics!!

By the way

I just found out James Gurney is making a third Dinotopia Book. I am STOKED. Check out this art from the new book.

Japanese Toilets

Okay, so I've been reading a little about Japanese toilets lately from blogs (and 'vlogs') of people who travel a lot. On the one hand, it would be an experience to test out the 'bum wash' feature, but on the other, I'm not sure I want to. Anyways. Here are the next few comics. I'm putting them up here because my current website is not supporting the mass of pictures I want to put on it. So until I get a better website (a la design my own using dreamweaver) the comics will probably go here. Keep in mind I want to end the series with a bang, with a graphic novel explaining everything. So until then, mysteries abound!!



Okay so the above comic continues Nick and Jen's perilous pursuit of the diploma, through the obstacles of weird and wacky (ugh, sounds like the 90s) professors. Sometimes I wonder how some people are allowed to teach.

Here's what the teacher says in the middle and last cells:
Teacher: Hello Class. I would tell you my name but I find names constraining and a product of our shallow and materialistic society. However if you must be a conformist, you may call me MOONPRANCER.

Nick: This is gonna be a long semester.




Okay, so for this one the professor was kind of a Doc Brown meets the Borg. I had this idea a while back and originally the professor was bald, but the einsteinesque hair just kind of happened with the process. Plus I finally figured out that the spot color was fromt the KOOM. That spot color had messed up the file so much that after a few tries I finally figured it out. No more downloading 'free comic expressions' from the internet without spot checking.


OKAY, so I am going to exclude the next comic in the series because it was done so quickly and had a low grade of quality that I actually winced when I saw it in the newspaper. On we go then.
In the comic that was excluded, Nick and Jen run into eachother as they cross a corner.
I had needed a way for them to meet, but hadnt written anything or sketched anything about it. The deadline had
come and I needed something so I came up with that. Oh well.



Okay so this comic continues from the first, showing the intro.



In this one I got a little random. You know, spice things up, keep readers on their toes. It got a little too manga-equse, probably.



Okay, so this and the next comic were probably the most important for the semester, laying the groundwork for future semesters and setting up the mysteries. There's only so much info I can put in each comic, but I tried my best. However post-fact it seems like I need to re-arrange the cells as it doesnt help the story telling. Eh. Well it seemed logical at the time.

So here's what's being said:
Cell2, right below the coffee shop at sunset, looking over the table:
Nick: I found them when I was heading home one day. The weird thing is, they speak spanish, and write it, but their spanish is bad, as in incorrect. Sometimes it's really bad.

Cell3, right of the table cell:
Nick: They don't speak english, but I dont think spanish is their first language either.

Cell4, Jen, next to the cafe at sunset:
Jen: The entire fact that they speak at all is weird. I guess I wasn't freaking when I heard them say something. It that all that's strange about them?

Cell5, right under Jen Speaking:
Nick: Nope. Sometimes they'll be gone for a few days, then just come back. Sometimes they take stuff like my ipod, and other devices. One day they took my toothbrush. For all I know they're making a nest somewhere. I didn't think anything of it until I saw something really weird. Take a look at this:

Cell6, the book picture:
Nick: This is from my history book. This tablet dates back to around 4,000 years ago, in middle america. Apparently the writing is in an unknown language, with no known linguistic roots.

Cell 7, with the fuzz drinking coffee:
Jen: What are they?




This one kind of futhered the mystery. I didnt have the time to do the photoshop skills I wanted to, but it might be revisited and now I have the photoshop skills needed to tell it like it should be, pertaining to drawing/designing scrolls and whatnot. Now I did do my research on this. Etruscan paintings and whatnot. Thats probably the one use I had for the humanities class I had to take. I must say that History 101 was better than Humanities 151 any day. It told a lot more history, and there was a lot less preaching. Ugh. Anyway, here's the translation since the text is so small and I am having trouble getting it just big enough to read on the web:

Cell1/Library:
Jen: So you said the tablet was from Middle America, 4000 years ago?
Nick: yeah, apparently the images show up in several of the major ancient civilizations.

Cell2, right beside:
Nick: So far I've found that the Minoan, Incan, Mayan, Egyptian, and even Persian Empires had similar images on their walls. The images of these things aren't divine by nature, but somehow they interacted with all of these civilizations. Well, I take that back, two out of five thoughts they were divine.

Cell3, Jen, right beside:
Jen: Take a look at this. Apparently some images were seen in these cliff formations that resembled Anazasi ruins were in the middle of Mexico. These ruins were in the wrong country, far removed from the Anazasi.

(Michael's note: The Anasazi ruins are in New Mexico and date back to about 4000 years ago, this is significant. No anasazi ruins were found in mexico in real life, the anasazi were directly linked to North America and you had to climb up STEEP stairs to get to the tops of the city ruins that were carved literally into the mountains. Hence, this is significant.)

Cell4, Directly under the library:
Nick: Here are some images from the Incan and Minoan civilizations. The Incan is in an unknown language, and the Minoan is in Linear A, another unknown language. The odd thing is, most of these start 4000 years ago, and lead up to 100 B.C.

(Michael's Note: Yes, that is Linear A on the minoan picture of the girl holding the fuzz, I did my research!)

Cell5, fuzzes looking down:
Nick: and for some reason, the languages seem linked.

Cell6, Egyptian Scrolls:
As if there's a link between these civilizations and the creatures. Odd...

Cell7, Fuzzes:
Fuzz1, Red, Paco: Tenemos una problema. (We have a problem)
Fuzz2, green, Taco: Si. (yes.)

Until next time then!

More and More

Okay, so here are some more comics furthering the story.



Okay, so for the one above (it was rushed, as this was in the middle of the semester I believe) I had to basically get Jen and Nick to meet other than "Oh they just knew each other". That doesnt always go for good serial comics unless they're married or whatnot, and it was something I didnt want to do. I wanted to have the serial see them meet. Of course, the fuzzes needed to be more for Nick than Jen, so all of this will play up. Please forgive the next few after this. These were rushed as well, and I was still trying to find my feet with Illustrator and their own style. (Yes anime, but I needed to have their own style as a comic. Something that was relatively easy to look at and understand.)



As for this one, you can see I got a little more anime with it. Woot.



Ha. Now for this one I modeled it after a few professors I had had, and it was also supposed to be kind of representative of all the weird and wacky professors that everyone has probably had when they were in college or even in high school. No joke, I had some professors like this.



Same same. Ever had a supposedly easy class that threw a ginormous truckload full of tests and papers at you? Ha. Yes.

More Comics

Okay, so here are the next three comics in the series.

These basically introduced the other protagonist, Jen. Together Nick and Jen were going to find out what exactly these little guys were.

Comic 2

Okay, so for the next comic I wanted to start setting up the mystery that was going to be through out the series. That was the main question: What are they?

There will be a few hints, but no answer until the end of the comic.

The other mystery I wanted to set up was why they kept "spelling" or saying guacomole wrong. That is also part of the mystery. The questions themselves were basically questions everyone kept asking me when they saw the fuzzes. Were they chicken nuggets, furbies, etc? Sooooo I decided to put that in. So here you go: