Geek Art Gallery: December 2014

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Sci-Fi Round-Up: December 31, 2014

Mobile Police Patlabor by Johnson Ting / Tumblr

"Mobile Police Patlabor" by Malaysia-based Johnson Ting

Interview: The Diane Rehm Show interviews Margaret Atwood.

Interview: Indiewire interviews Summer Glau.

Interview: The Playlist interviews Bong Joon-Ho, director of Snowpiercer.

2014 in Review: The Rise of Low Budget Science Fiction

A. Lee Martinez on The (Unearned) Redemption of Darth Vader.

BFI on The Best Sci-Fi Characters of All Time.

Guardians of the Galaxy Villains Get Funko Pop Figures.

Kirkus Reviews Blog (me!) on Making the Jump from Sci-Fi Films to Sci-Fi Books.

"Chimichanga" by Robert Retiano

Interview: Peter Stanbury talks to Isabel Greenberg of The Encyclopedia of Early Earth.

Best Comics: Behind the Panels | Bleeding Cool | CBR | Comic Alliance: Pt 2, Pt 3 | Creative Loafing | Entertainment Monthly | EW | Flickering Myth | Paste | Paul Gravett

CBM picks the Top 10 Comic Moments of 2014

Comic Book and Pop Culture News 2014 Year In Review

Five of the Wackiest Comics Cameos of all time

The staff of Geek Sushi post their picks for the best all-ages comics of 2014.

The Top 100 Comic Book Covers of 2014

Vulture looks at the revival of Valiant, which was once the third-largest comics publisher in the United States and now, under new management, aspires to reclaim that position.

What 2014 Taught Us About Comics, Movies, & TV

What Captain America 3: Civil War NEEDS To Take From The Comics!

What Will Be the Best Superhero Movie of 2015?

What You Need to Know About DC COMICS Headed Into 2015

Why the "Death of Robin" and "Robin Rises" should be animated movies

Link Round-Up: December 31, 2014

"Here’s to 2014!" by Los Angeles-based graphic designer Noah Smith of Scrap Labs

Beutler Ink commissioned this illustrated mash-up of memorable pop cuture news events from 2014 as a follow-up to their poster from last year, “Here’s to 2013!” A list of the items included in Beutler Ink’s collage is available to view on their blog.

The 10 best illustrations EW published in 2014

Film Sketchr posted these storyboards of a very different version of the Ellen Brandt fight in Iron Man 3.

This Little Kid’s The Princess Bride Theory Just Blew Our Minds

Moth City is a Webcomic About A Bioweapon Unleashed During China’s Civil War

Neill Blomkamp's Secret Alien Movie Looks So Good We're Furious

Nerdalicious offers a recipe for A Cthulhu Berry Pie With Real Octopus.

The Semi-Naked Statue of a Woman Dressed as Boba Fett you Were Looking for

Spectrum 21: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Comic Round-Up: December 30, 2014

"Mikasa Ackerman" by Kathryn Steele

Attack on Titan fan art

Interview: Former Batman writer Len Wein talks about the creation of Clayface.

News: Danielle Corsetto is ending her series "Girls With Slingshots." Girls With Slingshots started in 2004, and was a major work of the webcomic as classically-formated comic strip era. Early strips will reappear in color.

News: Pakistan’s first comic convention took place Saturday at the Defence Library in Lahore

Best Comics of 2014: Bleeding Cool | CBR | Comicosity | Comics Alliance

CNBC considers Why comic books are big business

io9 recommends the Five Best Desktop Comic Book Readers.

Michael Kaminer surveys Jewish women who made prominent graphic novels this year.

Rough calculations suggests 2% of millennials read comics

Why X-Men: Days of Future Past Restored Faith in the Movie Franchise

Link Round-Up: December 30, 2014

"Bow Ties are Flying Away" by Russia-based Lena (Nokeek)

"In Russian there is one word for "bow ties" and "butterflies". It's no wonder, because bow ties looking like butterflies... So I have this idea for a long time and tried to realize it recently"

KickStarter: Sandy Collora, the man behind the classic fan film "Batman: Dead End," World's Finest and the indie sci-fi Hunter Prey, is kickstarting an art book called The Art of Creature and Design. Collora not only created these awesome film projects, but he also has worked as a character and creature designer for films such as Men in Black, The Crow, Predator 2, Little Monsters, The Abyss and more.

Disney’s Exquisite Digital Eyes Bring Avatars to Life

I never thought I'd see the day. People are now turning to 3D printing to make their cutting-edge phones of the future look like old Walkmans. Yeah, it's the Walkman from Guardians of the Galaxy, but come on! Those things made me feel like a dork in the eighties. Why would a wear one now?

Joy, Sorrow, Regret, and Reassurance: The Singular Beauty of The Last Unicorn

Model Sheets is a Twitter feed where someone is collecting model sheets from all kinds of cartoons, including South Park, classic Warner Bros. and Disney, Don Bluth, cable cartoons, old saturday morning stuff, and anime.

Teaching Political Science through Game of Thrones

Monday, December 29, 2014

Comic Round-Up: December 29, 2014

"Steampunk Ironman" by Jason Kang

Interview: Artist Raúl Gonzalez III talks about illustrating the fanciful graphic novel Lowriders in Space, about three friends who detail their lowrider by driving it through outer space, and why the book is important: “This book has a full Latino cast. It has Spanish in it. It’s not a folk tale and not about the struggle. It’s just about dreamers.”

Interview: Writer Peter Tomasi and artist Andy Kubert talk about Robin Rises: Alpha

News: About 180,000 people flocked to the Tokyo Big Sight on Sunday for the first day of Comiket 87, the world’s largest convention dedicated to self-published comics.

News: Dark Horse Bids Farewell to Star Wars: In early 2015 the rights to the Star Wars comic book series will be transferred to Disney, and they will publish the comics in-house.

10 Superhero Extreme Makeovers: The Good, the Bad, and the OMG!

13 Unlikely Comic Book Crossovers (That Actually Happened)

Tenth Doctor Christmas by MEAD

Created for the Doctor Who Art Show CHALLENGERS Comics.

Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co. takes on a logo design challenge, describing how he goes about creating enduring designs. If you enjoyed Aaron and his style (bigger image), you can take a tour of his well-organized junk and join him as he scours an estate sale for more inspiration, and continue with him as he discusses the art of the side hustle, specifically Field Notes. Or if you'd prefer design tips, Aaron talks about workflow, moving efficiently, and how to make a laurel. But wait, there's more! Aaron also presented at TEDxPortland, discussing work ethics and giving back, and extends on some of those topics in this 22 minute interview. Getting back to the art of things, Aaron talks on logo design the Draplin way, and Aaron Draplin's favorite signs. Warning: obscene language abounds, may not be workplace appropriate.

Crafting a Shardblade for fantasy author Brandon Sanderson

Dungeons & Dragons strikes back: After a period of decline, the iconic game shows signs of revival thanks to an update and a greater diversity of players.

In an effort to not favor any of its member countries over the others, the European Central Bank decided to feature fictional bridges on a series of banknotes. So the Dutch built the bridges.

What’s behind Santa’s bloody rise? Three leading elven labor activists offer a class analysis of the North Pole “gift economy.”

Friday, December 26, 2014

Quick Pic: X-Mas Math

"This math teacher solves for 'X'-mas"

Source: Imgur via Reddit

Didn’t Jack Skellington already solve this equation?

Comic Round-Up: December 26, 2014

"The Thing on Christmas" by Chile-based Mauricio Herrera (El-grimlock)

News: DC Comics Confirms Shazam Set In Same Movie Universe As Batman V. Superman

12 Great Superhero Holiday Comics

The best 10 periodical comics of 2014, as chosen by NewsOK.

Get Every Single Dark Horse Star Wars Comic For Just $300

Golden Age Superman Strips Still Teach Us How To Make Comics

JoBlo picks the Top 10 Comic Book Events of 2014

Marvel Ruled the 2014 Comic Book Box Office, according to CBR.

What's The Best Desktop Comic Book Reader?

Link Round-Up: December 26, 2014

Greeting card being sent out by Lucasfilm this year

Rebelscum.com shared the bounty hunter-theme greeting card being sent out by Lucasfilm this year. Possibly my new favorite holiday-theme Star Wars illustration, it depicts our favorite headhunters caroling. Bossk’s face is priceless.

Interview: Why 'Firefly' and 'Jeff 1000' star Summer Glau loves making sci-fi. Indiewire talks to Summer Glau about what has emerged as the central focus of her film/tv acting career, in honor of her latest project - itself a collaboration with Wired Magazine.

The 15 best sci-fi and fantasy television episodes of 2014. The Agents of SHIELD Season 2 premiere features in this Blastr list.

An Artist 3D-Printed 100,000 Parts To Make This 26-Foot Long Sculpture

Chewbacca Is Beautiful as the Wookiee with the Pearl Earring (and more)

The chord used throughout Interstellar is the same from 2001: A Space Odyssey. A nice homage by Nolan and Zimmer.

The folks at Gracepoint are rewarding David Tennant for watching the Tenth Doctor growl his way through their remake of Broadchurch. The show’s creator Chris Chibnall—who has also written for Doctor Who—tweeted these great props from the desk of Tennant’s protagonist Detective Carver. The TARDIS phone must get great reception.

How The Millennium Falcon’s Hyperdrive Noise Was Recorded

Learn how to make a Concrete Death Star

Ten reasons why Grumpy Cat's 15 minutes are finally up. Good

This Is Not a Vermeer™ "Can anyone own a masterpiece? Five very dissimilar people share a common desire: To own a Vermeer."

Tron Inspired Disney to Make This Psychedelic Movie About Computer Art

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Comic Round-Up: December 25, 2014

"Lobo vs. Santa Claus" by Simon Bisley

Courtesy of Simon Bisley, arguably the artist that really put The Main Man on the map, Lobo takes on Father Christmas himself, Santa Claus, yet again in this cool 2003 painting that was meant for an eventually aborted video game for Lobo. In this painting, Santa came prepared with an arsenal of killer toys

Interview: Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, who teaches narrative technology and interactive media courses at the University of Hertfordshire talks about his part in Alan Moore’s Electrocomics digital-comics project.

5 Reasons Why The Fantastic Four Might Be 2015’s Best Comic Book Movie.

CBR picks Six comics perfect for Christmas reading

The Darkest, Most Violent Christmas Comic Of All Time is an 1958 Archie Comic

IGN looks back at the Top 10 Coolest Batman Things of 2014

"Season's Grootings" by Maichan-art

Christmas cards available for purchase from Society6. US$12

News: A Paul Cézanne oil painting has sold for $100 million at auction, making it one of the most expensive pieces of art ever sold.

In 1959, iconic Surrealist painter Salvador Dalí agreed to design several holiday greeting cards for Hallmark, "with several stipulations. He asked for $15,000 [$122,200 in 2014 dollars] in cash in advance for 10 greeting card designs, with no suggestions from Hallmark for the subject or medium, no deadline and no royalties."

Book, Actually: 10 Novels to Pair with Christmas Movies

Fans of Bioshock will enjoy this Rapture-themed fish tank.

From Papyrus to Pixels is a long essay in The Economist about the changing form of books, presented both as a traditional web-scroll, as an e-book and in audio form.

He is Bill Gates, and he is burdened with glorious Reddit Secret Santa purpose.

Lego X — 3D Print & Save Your Lego Creations the Way You Intended Them to Be

Morgan Freeman reads 'Twas the Night Before Christmas My new Christmas Eve tradition.

Tor.com continues their end-of-the-year tradition of reading Neil Gaiman’s short story, “I, Cthulhu, or, What’s A Tentacle-Faced Thing Like Me Doing In A Sunken City Like This (Latitude 47° 9’ S, Longitude 126° 43’ W)?”

Yes, Virginia, there is a Star Wars Christmas album.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Sci-Fi Round-Up: December 24, 2014

"Worlds Eater" by Poland-based Klaudia (AverrisVis)

Interview: Functional Nerds interviews Rajan Khanna, author of Falling Sky.

Interview: George Takei discusses Akira’s casting decisions.

Interview: The Guardian Books Podcast interviews William Gibson, author of Neuromancer.

Interview: IGN interviews Joss Whedon, director of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Interview: Larry King interviews Nathan Fillion, star of Firefly.

"Christmas with the Joker" by Thomas Boatwright

The holidays can really be murder.

Interview: Inkstuds interview Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter.

News: Artist Norm Breyfogle, best known for his memorable Batman work, suffered a stroke last week, and a fundraiser has been set up to help him. People have already been generous but there’s a long way to go. Jason Latour and other creators tweet about overwork . in the light of Norm Breyfogle's recent stroke.

Reviews: Chris Ware on Here. Don Simpson on Second Avenue Caper.

Best Comics of 2014: Comic Book Resources | Comicosity | Comics Nexus: DC, Indy, Marvel | Cult of Mac | GoodReads | Gotham | IGN | io9 | Kotaku | Paste | Publisher's Weekly | Topless Robot | UpRoxx |

Rocket & Groot decorate for Christmas, but don’t seem very happy about replacing the weapon with a candy cane.

"Rocket & Groot decorate for Christmas" by Nina Levy

5 Reasons Why The Lego Movie Is More Feminist Than You Think

All issues of Starlog Magazine are available free on-line now. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that "Comics Scene" gets a similar treatment. There's lots of material there to be mined...

CoverBrowser.com is a great resource for drawing reference.

Doctor Who series 8 concept art is dark – very dark indeed

The Folio Society on Re-Imagining the cover of Dune.

How To Throw A Sci-Fi New Year’s Party.

Lauren Davis looks at the best new webcomics of 2014.

Professional Swordsmen Demonstrate How to Fight with The Crossguard Lightsaber

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Comic Round-Up: December 23, 2014

"This holiday season, Christmas cookies are Bane’s allies."

Source: Bane Thursdays

Interview: Marisa Stotter talks about her just-released documentary She Makes Comics

News: Humble Bundle sold $3 million worth of DRM-free digital comics in 2014, the first year in which the company included e-books and comics in its bundles. Total e-book revenues were $4.75 million, of which $1.2 million went to charity (including the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund).

News: The site Broken Frontier has released its yearly awards winners, this time for the year 2014. The post says it's the site's 11th annual list. The analysis from Frederik Hautain notes the dominance of female creators and the continuing appeal of Image Comics as a publisher.

Reviews: Matt Adams on Guardians of the Galaxy: Guardians Disassembled and Thor, God of Thunder. Brigid Alverson on Bad Machinery: The Case Of The Simple Soul. Tim Hanley on Wonder Woman: The Complete Newspaper Strip. Thad Komorowski on Funnybooks: The Improbable Glories of the Best American Comic Books. Heidi MacDonald on The Amateurs. Richard Pachter on a bunch of different comics.

Welcome to the Future by Olivier Fritsch Gomez

"Welcome to the Future" by Spain-based Olivier Fritsch Gomez

As a follow up to her popular What If Girls Were Internet Browsers series that blew across the World Wide Web at the end of last year, fashion photographer Viktorija Pashuta imagined a world where we started dressing like our social networks. The results are... slightly disturbing.

This toy that re-imagines Darth Vader as a samurai is incredible.

Guy sends his family Hilariously Twisted Christmas Cards every year

LOTR-inspired litter box features Hobbit-hole and Tower of Sauron scratching post

Many things could have been cut from the Hobbit movies. Here are some of those things.

Reddit user Macbubs has four sisters. All the siblings are married except for one: Bridget. Rather than be left out of the holiday card tradition, she’s embraced her single life with these only slightly bitter Christmas cards…

Simon Schama's Power of Art is available in full. Part 1 Caravaggio. Part 2 Bernini. Part 3 Rembrandt. Part 4 David. Part 5 Turner. Part 6 Van Gogh. Part 7 Picasso. Part 8 Rothko.

These Optical Illusions make Superman soar and your head spin

This Is How A Physicist Lights Up A Christmas Tree

Unsurprisingly, Welcome to Nightvale makes the list of The 25 Best Podcast Episodes Ever.

Monday, December 22, 2014

Gaming Round-Up: December 22, 2014

"Merry Gamey Christmas" by Singapore-based Dorothy Josepha Hwee

News: Ex-dev leaks existence of The Last of Us sequel

Rumors: Cross your fingers. The Saga comic series could become a video game!

After receiving a stay of execution earlier this year, Computer & Video Games magazine is coming to an end. Its editors share their memories of working for the magazine and site these past 33 years.

Arcade Review offers an intriguing take on the history of the computer glitch: "I agree with the claim that they are horrifying and hilarious, and also that they invented videogames. Glitches both predate and predict videogames, and in many ways they have allowed digital games to become something other than their analogue counterparts superimposed onto a computer."

Arcadian Rhythms complains that video game homes are generally shit. This isn't news, but it's a fact worth commiserating. Personally, I once spent a summer earning an apartment in Project Entropia, only to face bitter disappoint at just how little you could do with the space.

Best Games of the Year: The Guardian | Nerd Reactor | Newsweek | San Jose Mercury News | USA Today | Wall Street Journal

"Hulk Sit on Santa" by Toronto, Canada-based Mike Del Mundo

Interviews: Brian K. Vaughan talks about his hit series Saga

Interviews: Comic Riffs interviews Matt Bors, editor of The Nib, the comics section of the website The Medium, which has become the go-to site for journalism and commentary in comics form.

Interviews: Hoodline interviews Frank McGinn, owner of San Francisco’s Amazing Fantasy comic shop, who has worked in the store since the 1980s and bought the business in 2000. Named after the comic that introduced Spider-Man, the store has been around longer than most other businesses and is one of the few in the area that still takes orders for back issues, McGinn said.

Interviews: Joe Keatinge and Leila Del Duca, creators of the Image Comics series Shutter, talk about how they got started, how they create the world of the book, and how they work together and with the others on the creative team.

"Star Wars Christmas" by Laurent Connabel

Infographic: The Complete History Of Earth

DIY idea: Using ping pong balls and LED lights to make a festive garland.

Doctor Who Fan 3D Prints & Finishes Unbelievable Peter Capaldi Bust on Form 1+ 3D Printer. A more industrious person than I could turn this into a seriously legit business.

Hey graphic designers, did you see these 50 Vintage Text Effects?

If you have fond childhood memories of your Spirograph set, you need to bookmark Inspirograph, and online Spirograph clone that lets you download your work once you're done.

The latest photo essay by Wesley Verhoeve features creative types from Portland

Neil Gaiman’s buttery voice melts all over A Christmas Carol...

To promote its travel service, railway company SNCF teamed up with ad agency TBWA Paris to create an ad campaign in the form of a series of doors opening onto other cities.

What color is it? A simple website that showcases time in hex color values.

This year’s National Geographic Photo Contest Winners

Friday, December 19, 2014

Sweets: Gingerbread Barad-dûr

Dark Tower of Barad-dûr in Gingerbread by Finland-based Jarno Koivulan

Source: Turkulainen

Two Finnish students decided to build a slightly more hardcore gingerbread house. Two students, Jarno and Roy, recently made the news in Finland for winning a gingerbread house competition with a 13.5 pound model of the Dark Tower of Barad-dûr from The Lord of the Rings. You'll remember it as being the one with the giant flaming eye top it. The two friends are (of course) computer science majors, and they speak briefly to a reporter in the article about the competition. Unfortunately, the article isn't in English.

Gollum Cake by Karin Klenner of Sweet Little Treat

This Lord of the Rings Cake is approximately 30 centimeters high and took 1.5 kilograms of fondant and 1 kilogram of modeling chocolate to make. Gollum’s single strands of hair were made out of sugar. Gollum took about thirty hours to complete. The core of Gollum is fondant. The outer layers are modeling chocolate. The eyes were painted with petal dust. The name plaque was made using fondant and rice paper and painted using edible gold and black paints.

Honestly, the whole thing may be too realistic if you ask me. I mean, who wants a taste of that mug?

"GingerBORG Cube" by the Nerdist

Borg cookie cutter available for purchase from Etsy. US$10

This Borg Cube Christmas ornament is super simple to create using this cookie cutter from Etsy. I seriously doubt it would last long on my family's Christmas tree, but hey, maybe your family has more self-restraint.

"Resistance is futile when it comes to holiday sweets and this gingerBORG cube is no exception. Sturdy, fragrant gingerbread make up the sides of this 3D cookie vessel which can be used to store cookies, candy or even some Klingon Gagh. You will be assimilated and it begins with cookies."

Watercolor, ink, acrylic

[Previously: Hobbit Watercolors]

Hobbit or There and Back Again by Pervandr

"Hobbit or There and Back Again" by Russia-based Andrei Pervukhin (Pervandr)

Paintings: Bilbo Baggins

"Bilbo Baggins" by James Hance

"Sam & Frodo’s Journey" by Portugal-based Soni Alcorn-Hender (Bohemian Weasel)

Drawings for the end credits of The Hillywood Show YouTube parody 'Lord of the Rings: Let it go!' by Soni Alcorn-Hender (Bohemian Weasel).

"The talented parody sisters Hannah and Hilly Hindi asked if I could provide some sketches for the end credits of their LotR parody (to mimic the credits of Return of the King), but they specifically asked for Sam and Frodo ‘with all the feels.’

Here’s what I drew for them. (All 10.5×7″, graphite on watercolour paper)."

Hobbit Illumination Series by Portugal-based Soni Alcorn-Hender (BohemianWeasel)

This series of beautifully illuminated bookplates by Soni Alcorn-Hender is utterly brilliant. I was heart-broken when there weren't prints for sale.

Better yet, scroll down to the bottom for a little insight into the backstory of Thranduil compiled from the series' appendices that may shed some light on his motives. If you've seen the movies but never read the books, they may help you understand what's up with the Elven King.

"Hobbit 'Illuminations': using European medieval illuminations and bookplates as an inspiration, this was an experiment to create illustrations that might look like they came from the books of Middle-earth itself.

16 x 24 cms, very mixed media on heavyweight, coldpress watercolour paper. Finished in oil paints."

"The Hobbit - Gandalf" by Zach Jordan (HeroforPain)

Gandalf Fan Art Gallery

[ Bilbo Baggins | Bilbo Baggins | The Hobbit Dwarves | Gandalf Part 1 | Gandalf Part 2 ]

"Gandalf" by Turkey-based Okan Bülbül (ArtofOkan)

Gandalf Fan Art Gallery

[ Bilbo Baggins | Bilbo Baggins | The Hobbit Dwarves | Gandalf Part 1 | Gandalf Part 3 ]

"Gandalf Pencil Drawing" by Norway-based Dino Tomic (AtomiccircuS)

Gandalf Fan Art Gallery

[ Bilbo Baggins | Bilbo Baggins | The Hobbit Dwarves | Gandalf Part 2 | Gandalf Part 3 ]

Yeah, it's called The Hobbit, but we all know who the real star of the franchise is, don't we? If I had been the one to write this series, it would have been called "The Gandalf Chronicles." That, and there would have been a lot more dragons.

"The Hobbit" by MaryDoodles

Watch the time lapse video of this painting being made.

Bilbo Baggins Fan Art Gallery

[ Bilbo Baggins | The Hobbit Dwarves | Gandalf Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 ]

The cool thing about Hobbit art tributes is that creators have over 75 years of source material for inspiration, so some of it is based entirely on the books, some on the 1977 cartoon, and some on Jackson's films. The result is a dizzying gamut that demonstrates just how much impact this story has had throughout the years.

"The Hobbit" by New Zealand-based Hannah (Nitefise)

Faber-Castell colouring pencils, A3 paper. 25+ hours. WIP sequence here.

Bilbo Baggins Fan Art Gallery

[ Bilbo Baggins | The Hobbit Dwarves | Gandalf Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 ]

We here at The Geek Art Gallery couldn't be happier about the completion of the Hobbit trilogy. We've been eagerly anticipating this release for almost fifteen years - since the initial announcement of the adaptations. To celebrate, we've decided to round up some of the best fan art to be found around the web.

"A whole bunch of dwarves (and a hobbit)" by Julie Dillon

The Dwarves of The Hobbit Fan Art Gallery

After thirteen long years of waiting (and then some), the series is finally complete! To mark the occasion, we've rounded up some of the best illustrations of Thorin's company to be found on the internet.

"Batgirl & Supergirl" by Mike Maihack

I love this series. I'd seen the comic where Supergirl keeps changing her outfit, but before today, I didn't realize that this was an on-going series. For some reason, when I read these, I keep reading the conversation in the voices of Alex and Hailey from Modern Family.

"Black Bat / Cassandra Cain" by Brazil-based Cassio Yoshiyaki

Interview: Blacksad writer Juan Díaz Canales and artist Juanjo Guarnido explain how they created a story set in the United States in the 1950s, despite having never been there, and why they chose to portray all the characters as animals.

Interview: Dylan Horrocks talks about finding his own voice as a creator again, after feeling that he lost it after a stint at DC Comics.

Interview: Ed Brisson forms a Sci-Fi "Cluster" At BOOM! Studios

Interview: Mark Doyle Promises a Batman "For Every Fan"

Reviews: Richard Bruton on Calculus Cat. Johanna Draper Carlson on My Love Story!! Vol. 2. Richmond Clements on Zenith Phases I & II. Sean Gaffney on Assassination Classroom Vol. 1.

"Blackest Friday" by Paolo Rivera

Ink on board (digital color by Jim C.), 11 × 17″

8 Changes In The Hobbit Movies You Didn't Know Were A Huge Deal

Flight of the Binturong is Firefly Meets Alien in a webcomic

Gary Tyrrell walks his webcomics-oriented audience through the Society Of Illustrator juried awards process

Hear Neil Gaiman Read "A Christmas Carol" Just as Dickens Read It

A history of the maligned, beloved Star Wars Christmas Album

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit: How to Speak Elvish Conlang

Lucasfilm's Animated STAR WARS Holiday Card

Make your own dinosaur menorah with this tutorial from MomFluential.

Make your own Paper Whoflakes for Christmas!

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Sweets: Smaug Cake

Smaug Cake

Source: The Winter Senpai

"Last year, my sister in law surprised me with a Les Mis/Phantom cake, this year, I’ve been surprised with a Hobbit cake! The Smaug is made with cereal and everything was edible but I refuse to eat the dragon and Bilbo. I loved this cake!"

Smaug Cake

Source: MiscellaneousStuffBlog

"So my mum made me this AMAZING Smaug cake for my birthday! CRAZY!"

"Smaug Cake" by AngelaBermudez

"Very proud to learn the art of baking. This is my first cake made of fondant, inspired on the epic story of The Hobbit. Smaug sleeping peaceful into the huge dwarfs's treasure... also I made the Arkenstone near his face. Smaug is made of cake too, not only fondant!"

Sweets: Smaug Cake

"Smaug Cake" by Australia-based Holly (Whisk-us-away)

"This is a cake of Smaug from the Hobbit, made before the movie came out.

It's modelled off of Weta Workshops' Bronze Smaug sculpture

The base of the cake is covered in fondant, but smaug is made of rice krispy treats covered in modelling chocolate and painted with gel food colours. The wings have food safe wire framing in them (I tried to do it without the wire.. it was way beyond me.)"

"Star Trek Gingerbreads" by Food Replicator

Sculpture: Judge Dredd Penguin

Judge Dredd Cosplay Penguin by Daniel Balmforth & Steve Scholz

Prints available for purchase from BlindMouseToys. US$40

Designed by Daniel Balmforth & Steve Scholz and sculpted and painted by fan favorite sculptor Joe Amaro, this is a must have for any Judge Dredd fan.

"Calvin and Hobbes Commission" by Emily Coleman

My favorite comic moment captured in Apoxie Sculpt. Sadly, this piece isn't for sale.

"Sculpting comic strip characters is very very hard! This piece is based off the cover of one of the Calvin and Hobbes books, though many changes needed to be made for 3D."

Download: Superhero Snowflakes

Superhero Snowflakes by Sonia Harris of Comic Book Resources

Here are five snowflake templates to print and cut out, each based on a different superhero. There's Batman, Iron Man, The Punisher, Storm, and Wonder Woman.

Nobel Physicist Snowflakes by Symmetry Magazine

Symmetry Magazine has just posted three awesome designs for paper snowflakes depicting Nobel physicists Erwin Schrödinger (complete with paradoxical cats), Marie Curie, and Albert Einstein.

Download the PDF patterns, print them out, and then, use an X-Acto knife to cut away the gray areas. Unfold your pieces of paper and - voila! You've got yourself some science-tastic snowflakes.

"Paper cuts: Legend of Zelda" by Seattle, Washington-based Cameron Garland

Adventure Time Quilling by Aimie Holdorf

[ Previously: Game of Thrones Quilling ]

Via: Reddit