"SPIRIT 400!!" Thursday April 17th, 2008

WOO!!! Almost 5 years and 399 comics later, here we are at Spirit 400. I had originally planned for a more eventful comic, but I forgot to count the splash page as a comic when I was writing the scripts for chapter six and consequently the events I wanted to happen in Spirit 400 will happen in Spirit 401 and 402. So I apologize about that. Before I get to this week's comic, the Battle of Spirit IV, and various other things I want to just say that thinking up, writing, and drawing this comic continues to be an amazing experience. I know I gave this mushy speech when we hit the 6th birthday of NS, but I wanted to just repeat that I really thank everyone for their support and for reading this really small webcomic. You guys are awesome. Though I do write the story, some of the characterizations and events are culled from my real friends and life. I'm not saying we're all crazy ninjas saving the world, but without my friends and family there wouldn't be this thing I call a world. So thank you guys and girls for being some of the best friends and inspirations to a warped mind and letting me use your namesakes as characters in this crazy webcomic. Shout outs to all my current ninjas; Joe, Dave, Tom, George, Rob, Jennifer, Izzy, my bro Tom, and Mikey. Also a hats off to the girl who inspired Key now that she is a much larger part of NS. I swear that while I have no idea what happened to this girl, she was the nicest girl to ever show an interest in me. I hope that she is faring a much better fate then Miss Pitrowski. Who would like a fool like Misaki anyway?

On to the comic... I think I'm starting to get back in the swing of things. I think the drawings for today's comics turned out a lot smoother than last week's. The last comic wasn't bad at all, but I just felt like it wasn't really where I wanted it to be and this comic is definitely more in step with what I want. I think it's partly because I am getting used to drawing Yuki and Key in their updated looks. I'm trying to stay a bit more consistent with the looks of the characters and hopefully I'll be able to pull it off. I will say it was tough drawing Masamune after not having to draw him for so long. I even forgot his mustache when I drew the pencil art for the third panel. I added it afterward and it may not look perfect, but it's not bad. Although NS Forum members should like the continued innuendos provided by Masamune's appearances in the comic.

There wasn't a lot to talk about in this comic. I just wanted to point out what Yuki had been up to while he was training. He talks about training with Masamune, shadowstepping, and the Rouga Armband. You can actually see Yuki wearing it in the Spirit 400 poster though it's not as detailed as it is in this comic. There's also some odd marks that swirl around on Yuki's arm and I'll get to the details of that sometime later in this chapter. It should be good.

Let's move on to the Battle of Spirit IV shall we? It started this Monday and the voting will happen every weekday. The polls open up sometime around midnight EST. I try to get it up on the dot, but chances are I'm also being distracted by the Giants (more on that later) or the comic itself and the poll ends up being minutes to hours late. Anyway I think it's been an interesting go so far. There was already one upset in the first day when Salem St.George toppled Reiko. I love this bit of fan interaction and I hope you are enjoying the Battle as it unfolds!

In related news, I have finished the Spirit 400 poster by doing a much needed touch up on the buildings in the background of the picture. Here are the before and after of what I did over the week. The first is the image I provided in last week's rant and the second image is the final version of the poster.

It may not be a big thing, but I really wanted this poster to be something really professional looking. To me, the difference is night and day. At any rate, I am very happy with the final result and I have already put in an order for the poster. For those of you who won't win this beauty by winning the Spirit 400 Battle of Spirit Contest, then fear not. I will have the poster up for sale in the NS store right after the contest ends. Be on the look out!

In other news I just wanted to mention the San Francisco Giants. With the NHL sucking the life out the sport of hockey with their Versus television deal, I am stuck with the Giants as my favorite team. Like the Kings, the Giants are posed to have a horrible season. The difference is that because I can actually watch Giants games, I actually give a crap. I know the Giants might not seem like a good team, but I think it's not as bad as people are making them out to be. They are 6-10 and minus the few blowouts, they have had some really great games. I should mention that every Tim Lincecum outing is REQUIRED VIEWING. He is easily my favorite player of the current Giants. I love watching Bocock play defense even if he can't hit for shit. The greatest thing about Bocock is that every time he's up to bat the fans will chant his name. That in itself is not great, but the way they do it is. They start by having one group chant "BO!!" and then the second group will chant "COCK!!" If that isn't the kind of entertainment you can expect from a ballgame then call me a No Fun League fan. Also I love watching Eugenio Velez play as well. The guy is built like a marathon runner and runs like the wind. After having to be envious of the Mets with their speedy Jose Reyes tear up the base paths, it's nice to have a guy you can expect to steal and affect the game with his speed every time he's on base. (And yes I keep the visions of FREAKING ARMANDO F'ING BENITEZ balking home the tying run after Reyes totally psyched him out last year.) The only real downer to this year is that StratusFox isn't around to talk baseball with especially since the Dbacks are red hot right now. It's a shame she's missing the season, but maybe it's karma helping her team when she is selflessly volunteering her time overseas helping the less fortunate.

Quick side note, I want to link this video of the ESPN NHL Hockey Night Theme because A. It's one of the greatest sporting themes of all time,  B. It reminds me of how awesome hockey was back when people still cared, and C. it's also the theme for one of the greatest YTMND fads ever. I remember hearing this come on before every Stanley Cup telecast on ESPN and it didn't even matter if the Kings were playing, I'd watch because it was playoff hockey and this song pumped you up like there was no tomorrow. Forget it if the Kings were involved because then it turned into a life changing experience. The sad thing is even if the Kings become great again and they get to the Stanley Cup, this song will not be played and it's going to tarnish the experience. F Versus, the channel previously known as OLN and F Gary Bettman. I'm a very bitter hockey fan.

Well I think that's about everything. I was going to go to NY Comiccon this weekend, but unfortunately Rob couldn't make it down. All that means is good news for my brother cause now I can help him move into his apartment this weekend. JOY. Anyway maybe I can rope Dave into coming out and hang out/help. Heh. Anyway have a great weekend all and I will see you back here next week. Remember to check back on Monday when the Battle of Spirit voting resumes with the Rob Roy VS Beth Renqvist match up!

River's Favorite LA Kings
1. Luc Robitaille (The best LW of all time)
2. Kelly Hrudey (The coolest hockey name of all time)
3. Anze Kopitar (Best King on ice right now)
4. Rob Blake (Blake would be 2 if he hadn't played for the Avalanche, a team I despise.)
5. Mattias Norström (Held down the fort for the Kings through the crap years. 3rd best captain in my lifetime.)
9999999999+Infinity. Sean Avery (A dirty player who wasn't even liked by his own teammates in LA. A complete piece of garbage and a disgrace to hockey and sports. Unfortunately I can't even say he's my most hated hockey player since that distinction goes to Patrick Roy.)