- While I have always used Photoshop for the comic this time around I decided to ink the comic in Manga Studio 5. I can’t attest for any other part of the comic making process yet but inking was a dream. Photoshop’s great but I could never get my linework to not look like it was done during a low grade earthquake. In time I can see moving my whole process into Manga Studio but not just yet. I’ve still got a lot to learn.

In the process of teaching myself something new though, I’m reminded of the fact that no matter how fancy, tools don’t make you any better as an artist. My habits, both good and bad, follow me in every medium, whether it’s on a piece of scrap paper or a high-end Cintiq. I think it’s safe to say that’s a universal thing.

- So this current story has me thinking of the Young Earth vs Old Earth debate. I don’t really have a horse in that race. I believe Ye Olde Judeo-Christian God made everything but I find myself indifferent to how long it took Him to make it. Six literal days? I’m ok with that. Six metaphorical days? Sure, sounds good. Everything exploding into existence for no particular reason but mainly cause it was hot? Yea…I think I’ll pass on that one. Either way I don’t find my faith shifting one way or the other when I think on the matter. So, when it comes to the comic the Earth is…whatever age I need it to be for story purposes.  I’m thinking your average ancient man didn’t worry too much about the subject so I’m not going to either. That might bite me in the butt at a later date, but it works for now.

- I’m making some new Heroes of the Bible coloring pages. You can see them over at my art site: www.artistxerocreations.com 

- I leave you with this scene from Sanjuro..because I can.

So Disney bought Star Wars. It made the nerd world shiver with both hope and fear. For me I’m totally and completely…indifferent.

That’s not something I ever thought I’d be when it came to Star Wars. It’s a foundation stone of who I am. I saw the original movie when I was four, it’s one of my earliest memories as a human being but I’m one of the great mass of Original Trilogy fanboys that think Lucas threw the whole franchise into the crapper with the terrible prequels.

With Lucas no longer in control things could pick up for the franchise but I don’t really see how. With Disney immediately announcing a new series of sequels it’s already off to a bad start. What story is there to tell? The six core Star Wars movies are about the rise, fall and ultimate redemption of Anakin Skywalker. And, let’s be honest, that story was paper thin and full of holes at best. What, therefore, would three new movies be about? My thinking is it will be a lame retread of the rise, fall, redemption theme but with Luke Skywalker or his children instead or some such. Something that’s been done to death already, in various forms, in the Star Wars Expanded Universe of comics, books, games, etc.

Also, what about the Expanded Universe? I doubt Disney gives a crap about any of it (even if it’s Lucasfilm Approved and all) because only extreme Star Wars fans care about it. The General Populace only knows the 6 movies and little else. So Disney is not likely to try and stick to any continuity with anything that’s been done with the Star Wars license since Return of the Jedi came out which is likely to send hardcore fans into a tizzy alienating them more than Lucas managed to do.

In the end I think Disney just sees Star Wars as a cash cow that can be milked until the end of time. We’re more likely to see more nonsense like  Angry Birds: Star Wars than an actually decent set of sequels for both old and new Star Wars fans.

So I’m indifferent, even though I just wrote a 350+ words about it.

Ok, so maybe I have a little…hope. But only a very little.

Having spent the last 5 days without power (in both the dark and the cold) due to the wrath of Hurricane Sandy, I found myself doing some thinking. My thinking is I am just going to stick to 1-3 page stories for Samuel for now.

While I would love to tell a long grand epic one page after another, I’m just not capable of it at this time. It overwhelms my brains, especially when I have deadlines to meet and the like. So I dialed back the last update and compiled the batch of strips into three pages and call that a story.

It was either that or dramatically throw it all away in a back alley trash can like Peter Parker does every time he wants to stop being Spider-Man.

Anyway, I sketched out a new three page story with the little daylight I had this week and hope to get them up before the land withers or the seas dry up. Whichever comes first.

So, that’s that. No more Kings of Israel posts to look forward to. Don’t cry…maybe I’ll draw some comics now. Maybe.