~kh

My god, Tap, its Christmas, not the Boboobian Human Sacrifice Ritual to the Cookie God.Anyhow, good use of Chilly's character as always. And this new saga is looking to be pretty interesting as well. I wonder what will happen now to poor Toasterbot and his now body-less cranium...

I'ma have to agree here; the arm's not "hidden behind the cape", its clearly just not there.As for me, I liked the first Batman because from what it looks it seems to be emulating Frank Millar's Batman from "The Dark Knight Returns". But I eventually went with ManBat; the accuracy is top-notch, and the colors and build are very well done as well.This contest as a whole has interested me very much, being the comic book obsessed geek that I am. Of course, I sort of viewed this a bit differently than others and based my votes on accuracy more than build. Still, I'm very disappointed that a certain Harley Quinn MOC was disqualified; it was much better than any of the ones depicted here in my opinion.EDIT: Also I have to give credit the ingenuity of whoever made the semi-final polls for naming them "Superman Blue" and "Superman Red". Could have been lazy and just gone with "Flash and Professor Zoom" or "Captain Marvel and Black Adam" or even a "Plastic Man and Elongated Man", but choosing those two was pure gold.

Actually, what Windrider means is that topics in the Comics forum can no longer die. There is no revival limit anymore, meaning you or anyone else can post in your topic (that I presumed died, or at least, would have died 5 days ago) and still not have it closed.Anyhow, I'm very glad to see that this was put in place; it'll really help with making better comics and so on.

Why is that?-- Well, technically, all topics will remain open forever. =P I'm just happy that I don't have to constantly try and keep this alive during the school year. Man, what I would give for the option to homeschool through college...

EDITED FOR GREAT JUSTICE(also i thought of it before you mentioned it i swear)

That would be Gatotak, one of the many workers at LLL Tower. Don't worry, its not your fault you don't recognize him; being the slow-producing comic maker I am, I haven't used him much at all.Anyhow, no comic and all that. I know, I know, I'm a procrastinator. However, on the bright side, I have just procured a new laptop for my usage today (thank God for Cyber Monday NewEgg sales!). This means that will I now have 1. A computer that I can actually work on that doesn't freeze up all the time 2. A computer that I can install Photoshop CS4 on 3. A computer that I can work on comics at the college on. All ingredients to increase efficiency and work effort in future comics.Again, had I had Photoshop open without significantly slowing down my computer, you all would have another preview to enjoy. As of now, though, there's nothing. Patience is a virtue, procrastination is not.also also thanks to Windrider/Janus, this topic will remain open forever.also also also check out this random comedy

----Chapter One---- Time: 4:16 PM Location: Po-Wahi, Mata Nui ------------Javan: Alright, let’s do this.Shorn: Wait, you mean now?Javan: Yes, I mean now. We pick a random, isolated hut on Mata Nui, we storm in, we grab the Kolhii stones, we grab the lavaboard, we grab whatever we can get our hands on. That’s the deal. That’s what we do.Shorn: Okay, okay, I got it.Javan: We go in on go, okay? One, two…Shorn: Wait, do we go on three or do we go on go?Javan: We go in on go. That’s what people usually mean when you say “we go in on go”. It’s one, two, three, and then go.Shorn: Yes, but when you say “one, two, three” it’s sort of implied that you actually want to start on “three”. If you want to go on “go”, then you should have said “ready, set, go”, because that’s already associated—Javan: Will you just Do NOT bypass the word filter -B6 shut up? We go on go, alright? Is that so hard to do? Just live with it. Okay, so one, two—Shorn: Wait, wait. Let me load my gun.Javan: Oh, for—this is a robbery! A Do NOT bypass the word filter -B6 robbery! How did the thought no cross your head that “Oh, we're probably going to hold someone up at gunpoint! Maybe I should take the time to at least load my mother Do NOT bypass the word filter -B6 gun!!!”.Shorn: Look, at least I remembered, okay? At least I didn’t hold up someone at gunpoint without the gun loaded, like someone I could—Javan: Alright, we’re actually going in now, okay? Okay. For reals. We are going to do this, okay? Okay. One, two—Shorn: Wait, look!Javan: You have got to be kidding me.Shorn: Look at that shadow!Javan: Who the frick cares about a mother What part about Do NOT bypass the word filter is so hard to grasp? Is it the NOT part? Do the bold and capital letters just not do it for you? -B6 shadow? Maybe you’ve just never thought of this before, but just about every single solid thing on this entire planet has a shadow.Shorn: But this one moved. It’s alive.Javan: No, your brain was probably just entertaining itself by tricking your eyes because it hasn’t been used in so long, you I can't believe I actually have to sit down and do this -B6 moron.Shorn: No, really. It moved. Right there, man. It moved.Javan: Just shut it and load your gunoh my Mata Nui you’re right.Shorn: Is someone behind us?Javan: How am I supposed to know?Shorn: Turn around and look!Javan: You turn around and look!Shorn: Yeah, and what if he overheard what we’re going to do? I’m not turning around and letting him get a good look at me just so he can identify me later!Javan: Oh, so you’ll let me get caught. I appreciate that so much. Really, I have better things to do with my life -B6 backstabber.Shorn: Just turn around!Javan: Look, we’ll fight for it, okay? Rock paper scissors.Shorn: Alright, fine, fine. I’ll do it.Javan: Okay. One, two—Shorn: Wait, on go or on three?Javan: Will you just This is ridiculous -B6 do it?Shorn: Okay, okay. One, two, THREE!Javan: Aw, for—two out of three.Shorn: No way, man. You lost!Javan: Two out of three!Shorn: Fine, fine. Again. One, two, THREE!Javan: Ha! Dragon beats scissors!Shorn: What? That’s paper! You have your palm flat out! That’s paper!Javan: No, when you have your thumb down, its paper. When you have it up, it’s dragon.Shorn: There is no dragon! The title clearly says, “Rock, Paper, Scissors”!Javan: It doesn’t say “Rock, Paper, Scissors, No Dragon”! It's totally legit, man.Shorn: You know, while we’re wasting all this time, that guy behind us could be up to someth— *** Time: ??? Location: ??? ------------ Shorn: …ugh…Javan: …what the…Shorn: …my head…Javan: Where are we? What…what happened?Shorn: Look, up there. There’s a sign. It’s…it’s in shorthand.Javan: It’s…where…Shorn: What? Where are we?Javan: I don’t know. I’ve never heard of this place before.Shorn: What does it say? What does the sign say?Javan: It…what…where the Okay, screw you. I'm playing Skyrim. -B6 is Las Vegas?

I'm really liking your use of lighting and backgrounds, and its good to see an actual plot-advancing NWI series after all this time. Though I find it quite odd how you find time enough to make these while you're eating that rice ONE GRAIN AT A TIME.

You know, I can't really blame Alena for that. I mean, look at where your hand is when you land on top of her.

It is, although I admittedly thought it a little tiresome the first time I went through it. And its not one of the cases that I really want to replay again.Also, Apollo Justice y/n? Personally, I find it an interesting game, but it lacked the charm the Phoenix Trilogy had and I'd rather have Phoenix back. I am sort of hoping that the cosmic retcon that Ghost Trick pulled also made Apollo Justice's continuity go with it.

Be thankful they are not Makito shoulder angels. Indeed. And you'll find out the answer when (if) the comic gets released.

Okay, okay, I lied. No comic. I've hit an impasse in making this one: I'm currently stuck with nowhere to go. Its at the sort of position where its not long enough to be released as-is, but its too long to just discard. I'll have to go back and check my notes for punchlines and joke situations and such, play around with it in my head, maybe just start talking on Skype again and see where that goes.I can at least give you guys a preview, though:

You know, just remind me to send you that background to you via Skype one of these days =PAlso, loved your use of the "VOIP" sound-effect.

True, but only half true. While its definitely true that there are times where the past should be let go of, the past can also shed some light on both past mistakes and also remind us of better times (something you yourself seem to realize, seeing as IIMT is in and of itself a remake of your original series, IMT).My mistake in this instance was using Illustrator to word my comics instead of directly using Photoshop itself because Illustrator took my originally 900px wide comic and nearly doubled it in width. To resize it, I used Nearest Neighbor to shrink it. A close look at the original comic will reveal that this made the sprites and background themselves are horribly resized and have parts "stretched out", along with giving the word bubbles as well as the text inside them a pixellated sharpness to them.This time, I tried a Bicubic resize meathod to try and retain its original shape, but while the text and backgrounds look fine, the sprites themselves were made very blurry (similar to what Decei notes in the post below). Still, I find it a bit easier to look at than the original one.This is also why I want to go back and remake it: not only will it be a harken back to my original days as a comic maker, it will also let the comic look how I wanted it to look, not how it turned out. True, that. I'll hopefully fix it all someday.Also, I am fully basking in the feeling of procrastination. However, getting out of it may be the hard part. I am partly done with a comic right now, and with some sort of luck, hope to get it done today. Then it'll be on to another one either later today or tomorrow, and hopefully I'll get a buffer set up for future releases.

Quite honestly, I'm not sure why I even wrote this in the first place. I think I wrote it during my break for lunch at the college out of sheer boredom; it took maybe about fifteen minutes to a half hour while I was eating. That's probably where all the randomness here comes from.If I really get that bored again, I suppose I could write another. There may be something to be made from all this, I don't know.

As per request, here is my paragraph by paragraph review of "Struggle in the Sky". Do bear in mind that most of the things I address here is very critically-based and nitpicky in nature. You told me to "bring my worst", so if I ever enter this contest you're completely welcome to go over my ramblings and show me how hypocritical I am in pointing out faults in your writing that are much more evident in what I pass as writing. =P Good intro, love how you just throw us into the action. It gives the reader an automatic sense of worry, a good step into identifying with the character himself. However, unless I am mistaken, it should be "other than the massive Venom Flyers" rather than "other then the massive Venom Flyers". Then again, grammar isn't exactly my strong suit, so I digress. I think the Venom Flyers themselves could do with a bit more description; while I can envision the Toa and his actions quite clearly in my mind, his opponents aren't as clear. I can't really remember what they look like off the top of my head, so it'd be good to have something to coax me along to envisioning them. For instance, I only became aware that the Flyers had wings when you mentioned Aima kicking them. While it may work for imagery that the viewer is more familiar with (for instance, Aima is assumed to be a Toa, so when you just mention the Miru later on in the paragraph, it works well enough), but as for things that the reader may have trouble imagining, you may want to think about clarifying a little more.Nonetheless, I like how you're using more descriptive words to describe the motion, "ebb" and "tendrils". I especially like how you used the word "bashed", as it is not only more specific and direct, but it much more empowering than just "kicked". Again, more good use of description here. Finding different words for the same action can be a bit of a hard work, because you don't want everything to become too repetitive; thankfully, you've avoided that here. On a more story-centered note, however, I found it kind of odd how his first reaction is how much he hates killing Rahi; I would assume care for animals would severely diminish while being chased by venomous airborne creatures. Still, that has nothing to do with the writing and may be a part of his overall character, so I will move on. Now, here is something that got me a little confused when I first read it: why would he be caught by the Visorak if he didn't kill the Flyers? Was he flying above a giant Visorak nest at the time? Are the Venom Flyers just a winged subspecies of Visorak that serve to deliver to them their prey? There has been no mention of Visorak before, and there's no mention of why exactly he was in danger of being mutated by them. Perhaps if you had told us the connection between the two, it wouldn't be as abrupt, at least to me.Also, he seemed to go rather quickly from a PETA mindset to my mindset when it comes to killing animals =P. I do remember several instances of Toa killing Rahi before, but then again, this is your universe, so it is very possible that the Toa here have different rules that the canon one. I like the use of "air pulses", they are a good use of a elemental power in a way that I haven't seen used much in official story. Also, while you now established the Visorak is below him, there's several other question that have me wondering. For instance, where are they flying over? Are the Visorak chasing him below while the Flyers try to kill him above? Why aren't there any spinners being launched at him by the Visorak? Is the entire place Aima is flying over just a gigantic mess of web, or are the Visorak actively pursuing him?On the bright side, there is more descriptive action here. I really admire about this piece, mostly because of the fact that I can't do it well at all. As I said above, the use of specific verbs really help the reader with the visualization of the scene, and that's well represented throughout the story. Its good that you factor in the use of elemental powers into his fading strength, that's something I oft see disregarded. You're sort of playing up the fact that he's losing strength but still has to survive, and that is both showing a sign of weakness and increasing the danger that the main character is in. You described the pain he went through rather well. The only thing I would have to say is that you used "ignoring" twice in that same sentence there at the end; it looks a tad repetitive IMO. I do find it interesting that the Rahi have managed to chase him for so long, or that there were enough Rahi to give him over an hour's worth of trouble. Its good that you've at least addressed that in the story. Also, I do believe its "victim", not "victum". Bashed is used here again, although since you used it before for the same action (and with the same body part), perhaps another verb like "ramming" could be used in that stead? That last part is a little confusing...did you mean the new attacker made his hand thrust forward, or that his hand was thrust forward as a reflex to hit the attacker, or what? Two small potential mistakes (potential because I don't actually know for certain =P) here: "A flutter of feathered wings" instead of "feather wings" and "'Just relax,' came a playful voice" instead of "'Just relax.' Came a playful voice". Its really small, but something to look over. That phrase "mistaking the battle with a different outcome" just sounds a little...odd to me. Maybe it has something to do with mixing different tenses together? Not much to say here, you did everything quite well. Hmm...I find it a little odd that he flew over an hour with this figure and in all that time was not able to get a good look at him. Still, I digress. Huh, this I was not expecting. The introduction of the Bald Eagle is certainly a plot twist, and a rather unexpected one at that. The fact that it also alludes to the fact that it doesn't even exist here adds some more mystery to the sudden appearance. I'm very curious to see where it will go with this. And it seems we've reached the ending. It was a little too abrupt in my opinion, and it does leave a lot of questions. I know you wanted a cliffhanger ending, and this does certainly achieve that. However, seeing as this is a contest and will be judged on this story alone, you may have wanted to try and answer a few more things before then.What I got from this story is that this seems to be a snippet or preview of a book. A very well-written and engaging book indeed, but one that seems to have a beginning and a end that is not clearly referenced in this story. It seemed to open with an already defined character and location, and seemed to end on a cliffhanger that left too many questions unanswered. The ending had a good plot twist, but it seems to end without doing anything with it. And while I definitely would read any sequel you gave to this, as it stands by itself it may be too abrupt for the contest judges to really get a feel for the entire story.Still, I enjoyed the pace and energy you gave to the action scenes, and any actual spelling mistakes or grammar errors were very minor. The variety of words you used were well placed and very descriptive, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it through. I guess my real complaint is that it needs more, and that's not a bad of a place for a writer to be in.

Nah, alternate dimensions give you two different versions of the person in question, so Tav can meet his alternate self no problem.That being said, the saga is indeed getting interesting, although I did find it a little odd how even though this alternate dimension is very different from the ICCverse, you and Alternate Tavakai still had the same password.

Caught up on a ton of comics today, Gav, and I have to say I love that one with Chilly (wintergear.png is the name of the file, dunno if it has a different title). I love how she's an actual character with personality and traits, not just a gimick one.

Actually, LEGO can do something about this. Its all a matter of whether they want to or not. LEGO may not see it profitable enough to pay for the expenses it would take to take this matter to court, because they're really losing little profit on the books being sold and although it does violate a contract, they may not see it worthwhile. Same with Scholastic; while they could indeed sue the company itself for including such work in printed media, they also may not see it worthwhile.It may be possible that a cease and desist letter is all that's needed, however; I'm somewhat certain that "Books LLC" will not want to pay for the court expenses themselves, and with the relatively little sales books detailing fanon BIONICLE work bring it, they may not see it as worthwhile.Basically, the only ones that are really effected is us, the authors of said work, and even we aren't losing too much from it in a material sense. It is true that it should be considered morally wrong, but then again, most big companies may not want to spend so much cost on something that would gain them so little.

"Ye are naught but a lowly pirate, sailing on the seas of olden glory." -Abraham Lincoln They art but one heretic, exclaimed the Nui Jama, one heretic to one's own pleasure.You make no sense, claimed his compatriot the Mahi, not even in context nor taken out of it does that make any sort of meaning. Aye, that is but true for one, said the Nui Jama, for what makes no sense to you may not but be crowns of ocean kings.The ramblings that you make with your mouth with randomness make me want to rip my eyes apart, said the second, for this is naught but a waste of the hourglass that is time.You remind me, said the first, of the hopelessness of forlorn child who has dropped his ice cream cone into a nuclear power plant.Why, said the second, would said child even be in said plant if it were not one mistake of extreme duration on his supervisior?'tis a true model of what education is treated like these days, replied the first, for when I was but a young Jamaling--Hello and greetings of tremendous gratitude! said the newcomer Takea Shark, may I thus join your merry group? For I will thus enjoy our talkings and conversations that we may have in short notice with the extreme redundancy that is repeating enjoyment in the same sentence!Begone with ye, groaned the second, I have had enough beings with the mental health of cases of nuts for one day.Surely you jest, laughed the third, and even if your werns't I t'would still irritate your wellbeing by joining you regardless of your previous statements.Then why, said the second, did our permission you consider asking for in the first place?For naught but courtesy, replied the third, as I do not want your permission as much as I want you to thus know I asked for it.Mayhap he wants to plant seeds of sorrow within the grey skies that cover our very minds, said the first, such seeds that will thus grow into stalks of horror and torment to be harvested among the brave.I hear sounds resembling spoken language coming out of his mouth, but understanding them is a matter that is separate from the matter that I was previously referring to, cried the third.This is the club that you now can join, moaned the second, for in dealing with this I have now committed myself to disregarding his very existence save for the times in which it is suitable for me to be aware of his presence again.Disbarring that previous comment that may or may not have been directed towards my own personage, said the first, as I was saying, when I was but a young Jamaling--I will pretend to come to a sudden realization while in truth cutting off the long and potentially bore of such a portion of your life's story to ask our newcoming personage here how exactly he manages to breathe without suffocating without the water that so permeates the ocean, interrupted the second.Just as you disregard your comrade's existence, so do I disregard the laws of physics, which while physically impossible is thus ignored by me for I disregard the physically impossible, replied the third.There is a hammering inside of my head that first began when you began to speak and has not ceased even though your mouth has, mumbled the second.It was at this point that everyone thus contracted cancer and died.I say, cried the third, is not that previous sentence one of such an extreme form of plagiarism and already a predictable ending that regret is only half of the feelings that I now have?I just take what small victory I have in knowing that I have thus wasted minutes of some poor souls' life in reading this, said the second.

Oh man, the ToM Kit 2. I haven't seen that used around here in a long time; shame, because its still a pretty good kit.Anyhow, I've meant to post here for a very long time now. Your comics are great, and its awesome that you've kept them running for so long. I'm glad that there's at least still one active veteran in the new forums.

Huh, I could have sworn there was another post here...Anyhow, with the new forums back up, I have nothing to show for it because I've been procrastinating and playing Halo: Reach and watching the English Dub of Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva.But there was something I haven't posted before, or at least, I don't remember posting. I went back and reshrunk the first comic with Bicubic instead of Nearest Neighbor to make the lines more smooth. While it's still blurry, its better looking than the original one.Anyhow, here is the slightly remastered version. I'll actually remake the original comic at some point later this year.

Name: DatoroGender: MaleAge: ~117,000Species: GlatorianPerks: Veteran, Elemental Powers (Magnetism)Allegiance: AgoriWeapons: None.Appearance: Much older Glatorian, but one who still has fight left in him. Has taken to wearing a cloak in his older years. Dark metallic armor, slight rust beginning to form at the edges. No helmet, but wears a conical Asian-style hat.Personality: Gruff, brash and blunt, to put it nicely. At his core, he's a fighter. He'll scrape and he'll kill and he'll do whatever he deems necessary to not only win, but survive. He doesn't like to back down from a challenge, something he's had a problem with ever since he was young. Doesn't take kindly to insults either. When he was younger, he had some great notion of honor, but he discarded that the farther the war went on. Now, he has no qualms about anything he does to his opponents.Bio: A promising young Glatorian warrior, years and years of war have made him a bitter killer, bent on trudging through life amidst the bodies of those who got in his way. Throughout the years, he lost many allies, friends, honor, and eventually his hope for the once flourishing world. He now lives just to survive, and he's taken it in mind that if fighting is all that's left, fighting is what he'll do best. Can get into fits of rage easily, and when he does the adrenaline gives him an edge that he's become to rely on.Weakness: While he would never admit it to anyone's face, the old warrior is already past his prime. However, he does not know when to back down. He values his pride above all else, and can be goaded into doing things he would not normally agree with. His strength in hand to hand combat has grown weaker over the years, and he relies more on his elemental powers.Name: MalakGender: MaleAge: ~930Species: Matoran of IronPerks: Swift of Hand, Ashlar MasonryAllegiance: MatoranWeapons: None. These must be scavenged or made before use.Appearance: Has a Mask of Sensory Aptitude along with a dark orange color scheme. The "goggles" on his mask seek to hide his eyes.Personality: Enthusiastic and energetic best describe the Matoran. He seeks to pave the way for a better future powered by technology. Likes to talk, and does so quite frequently. Always trying to keep up with the new technology that is being developed around him. He constantly tries to reinvent things around him, along with things he's already worked on before. However, he's also obsessed with possibilities, and often states the probability of certain results in situations. He's a visual thinking, and can model things in his head quite clearly. This also has the side effect of him being able to calculate mathematical equations in his head both quickly and efficiently. A little airheaded, and like most inventors, thinking too much of how to work something that he often forgets things that others tell him. He has a very logical way of thinking, but he tends to do it took much. Has a photographic memory.Bio: Growing up, the Matoran grew to have a love for inventions. He observed the world around him with wonder and wanted to push the limits as to how far he could bring them. Many of his inventions were failures, but they did have several good design points in them. However, he had to place inventing as his hobby to pursue the then much more profitable art of masonry. When the war started, he began to start building defenses as usual, but then began to construct several war-themed inventions to pass the time. Being not a fighter himself, he is always concerned about his safety in such a war-torn era and specializes in small, inconspicuous and portable devices.Weakness: As said before, he is airheaded and doesn't pay as much attention as he should to what goes around him. He's a bit of a talker, and sometimes may reveal information on his latest inventions when he really shouldn't. He's also not a good fighter, depending on his inventions to do the work for him.

Oh, I remember you, Cee. I met you once on the wiki, I believe; a while back, but yes. Happy birthday nonetheless.

You've got it wrong. Scotland and Wales are both in Britain, and as such are British accents. And there's hundreds of separate accents that could be identified as "English". (I'm not complaining that Americans can't identify individual accents from within England- heck, I can't most of the time- but leaving out Scotland and Wales from Britain is stupid.)On-Topic: So I'll be introduced through this? =DPerhaps; it depends on how fast I get stuff done. Meh, everyone knows that America is the only country in the world, so who cares, right? =P