Comic for Monday September 15th, 2003

"It's the Joe Schmo Show" Thursday - September 11th, 2003

Okay here is the usual rant that should be up today. Let's first talk about the new highlight show of the week - "The Joe Schmo Show". This piece of genius plays upon the whole Reality Show phenomenon by creating a make believe reality show and making one guy think it's real. The whole premise sounds kinda cheesy, but believe me when I say that it makes for great TV. I think the whole show works mainly for one reason. That reason is that the Joe Schmo they got is genuinely a nice guy who you can feel for. He isn't a jerk and he genuinely seems gung ho about being on this show he thinks is real. He's fun to laugh at because of the geeky things he does, but you still can't help but sorta feel for the guy. Let me tell you, if they didn't get a guy like this, the show woulda bombed worse than Fastlane. Everything else about the show is fun too. It's fun to watch the actors who play the other contestants struggle to keep themselves in character and remember not to blow the whole thing.

It's on Spike TV on Tuesdays at 9 so if you happen to like reality shows, then treat yourself to this hidden gem.

I think that settles that.

Let's talk about the special strip known as Spirit 50. What can I say? It's the longest strip so far and it should come to no surprise that it also took the longest to draw. There's a lot going on and I was genuinely happy with the way the whole thing came out. I like the whole Lightning Execution scene. I think while there could be just a little more lightning effect, the whole scene worked well. The entire Joe and Kelly scene also seemed to flow well too. I didn't really care for panel 4 too much, but other then that I can't complain. The one where you can see Joe's expression of surprise over Kelly's shoulder I like.

Now what about that storyline? Like advertised, many of the questions that had been floating around for the last month have been answered. What the hell was Lord Hawk going to do to Yuki? Check. I even reused the last panel from Spirit 47 to segue into the Lightning Execution attack to further cement that was indeed Lord Hawk had been planning to use on Yuki. Is Joe really dead? Like many of you repeatedly repeated, he is not. Where the hell is the Hyourinken? In Kelly's right hand. You can't really see it this strip, but she mentions that she has it and where it has been for the last month or so.

With those questions answered, you are now left to ponder a whole new series of questions. What was up with Joe and his whole adventure with Vase Holystar all about? Was it real? Was it a hallucination? Does it have anything to do with why Joe's fatal wound is now gone? Was the wound there to begin with? And just how is Yuki going to try and defeat Lord Hawk?

Well you'll just have to keep reading and while I can't promise that all your questions will be answered by the time this fight ends, you will find out a few things...

River jumps up for 50!!

"Apple Picking" Sunday - September 14th, 2003

As you might have noticed, I added last week's real rant to this week's comic. I just didn't have the time to update the rant last week and I figured that it was fine as it was. I actually thought I was going to be working this weekend, but it turns out the guy who was going to work this weekend pulled through like Wedge Antilles. So I was able to go apple picking with The Kelly. We went to Beak and Skiff apple orchards and had a grand ole time. Though as I remember it, I think going to Beak and Skiff was one of the first things Joe and I did the first weekend he moved up to Syracuse. Going apple picking was fun then and it was fun this weekend.

Besides that I think the only piece of exciting news was that I got my 5 Spot messenger bag this weekend. I think it came out awesome and I think the only thing I would change about it would be to outline the Ninja Spirit logo. Unfortunately, I think cafepress has discontinued the gray colored messenger bags. I went in this weekend and looked to see only yellow. I hope this doesn't cause anyone problems.

Ahhhhh.... back to the normal length comics. It seems almost empty after last week doesn't it? It's going into the home stretch with this fight however. I expect this fight to be over within a month and a half. I know some of you have your theories about how it's all going to play out. Just keep in mind that Lord Hawk's greatest strength is not the Susanoyari, but the super mega genius level intelligence he possesses. I do think Kelly is coming out like I want her to. It's just like her to take control of the situation despite my or anyone else's half baked plans.

Speaking of which, I think the art came out well this strip. Kelly looks pretty damn cool in panel 4.

Well it's bed time for me. Hope you enjoyed 50 +1 comics of Ninja Spirit!!

River is dressed to the nines for the special comics.