Posted May 26, 2012 at 12:58 pm
A couple nights ago, the folks over at Evertide Games put together tester decks for Kore and The Goblin Adventuring Party (GAP). In the words of Richard James (who understands game mechanics like Rainman understands how many toothpicks are on the floor), here's how that game went...
"For a first test of the game mechanic, things went well... Kore was appearing at the GAP's location and the GAP party was generally trying to evade him.  I think in one particular duel, the GAP party was in combat with an adventurer caravan that turned out to have Kore in it and Fumbles needed to charm his way out of the situation in order to avoid getting everyone killed.  I was definitely digging the underlying story."
 
The more I hear about this game, the more I desperately want to play it.
 
As always, thanks for reading.
~Thunt
Posted May 18, 2012 at 4:24 pm
Today, as you probably noticed, is not a comic page. Today I posted stats for the Shield of Wonder. "Um... Thunt? Where's the actual list that comes with the shield stats?" You might be asking. "I'm still typing those all out. I'll post them tomorrow (May 19th)". I reply. "But why didn't you post a comic page today? Also, I'm low on ammo. Pass me a clip." You'd say as you leaned up against our sandbag barricade, firing into the mob of zombies. Oh, I figured I'd set this hypothetical interview in the midst of a zombie uprising to stop it from being boring. "Well," I'd say while pulling an ammo clip from my belt pouch and tossing it to you. "I think it's obvious to everyone, how much trouble I've been having, keeping up with the schedule. So today's update is about the Shield of Wonder, tomorrow I'll post the actual list and the next update will be a comic page." Just then, a zombie will have climbed over our barricade, only to be shot in the head by one of my six handguns I keep ready. "And then you'll return to the twice a week schedule?" You'll ask between gun fire. "Not exactly. Here, let me just draw the schedule in the sand for you. Look out, zombie on your left." I say as I grab a stick and draw out the following update schedule... May 18th - Shield of Wonder stats May 19th - Shield of Wonder list May 22nd - Comic update May 25th - Map of the Goblins world May 29th - Comic update "I see. So then you return to the usual schedule in June? Look out, two zombies coming up behind you." You'll say while zombies explode and collapse due to your gun fire. "Thanks. Not exactly. You see, it's been a long time since I've updated on time (noon) and even longer since I've updated a page with completed shading. There's also the fact that I'm working seven days a week, sometimes as long as 18 hours. I'm slowly sinking under the weight of this schedule. Look out, Dracula on your right." I answer as I pull the pin from a grenade and lob it over the sandbag barricade. A loud BOOM then precedes a shower of sand and decomposing body parts that rains viciously down upon us. After shooting Dracula through the heart with a wooden crossbow bolt made from the Awesomewhupass Tree, you turn to me. "So then what's the solution? One update a week? Look out, Bizarro Superman riding Godzilla on your left." "No, no. One update a week is too slow. Hell, two updates... Hang on." I then pull out a vial of ten billion Nano Pacmans, load it into my special gun and fire it at the Bizarro Superman and Godzilla team. "Two updates is even too slow. But since I have to make some kind of change, I'll be updating with some kind of filler on the last update of every month." At that moment, Godzilla and Bizarro would melt into a sickly, yellow paste. The sound of near infinite Pacmen eating furiously permeating the air all around us. "Oh I get. So starting in June, the last update of every month will be filler, but other than that, you're still updating twice a week." As you begin to understand my plan, you pick up your mini-nuke shoulder cannon and fire it at Giant, Mecha Bigbird from Dimension Twisted-Ouch-Hell. "Exactly! It's not a huge change, but it might just give me enough of a chance to catch up with things and maybe get a day off from time to time. Look out, Dire Galactus at three o'clock." As always, thanks for reading. ~Thunt
Posted May 14, 2012 at 3:32 pm
Criticising someone's work accomplishes a number of things, but I think that two of those accomplishments rise to the top more prominently than others. Firstly, it can help the creator of that work spot weaknesses that might otherwise go unnoticed and improve upon future creations. This is healthy and wondrous. Secondly, it can make the critic feel superior to the creator. I mean, if Mr. Creator has been deemed "amazing" by making something that's entertained a lot of people, and I then belittle his work, I must be even more amazing than Mr. Creator! This is unhealthy and pathetic. So how does Mr.Creator know which critic to listen to and which to ignore? Have you ever seen those American Idol clips of people who were just terrible at singing, but were convinced that they're actually very talented and that the broken notes they were belting out sounded breathtakingly beautiful? Singing just seems to be one of those things that some people think they're good at, when they're actually not. Some activities, like weight lifting, are obvious as to whether or not one is good at them. Can you lift that barbell? No? Then you're not really, really good at this yet. Simple and obvious. But with singing, tone-deaf people can believe that the tones they're producing sound fantastic. In this regard, I think that criticising the work of others is less like weight lifting and more like singing. Here are fourteen ways to know how to spot a bad critic. 1. Anyone who says "This is the worst thing I've ever seen in my life". Sometimes, people who are unable to properly and succinctly make a point, reach for ridiculous extremes. Odds are, your work is not so terrible, that it's genuinely the worst thing your critic has ever seen in his entire life. If it is, then your critic has led far too sheltered a life to be criticising others' work. Someone throwing a phrase like this around, should probably be ignored. 2. Anyone who criticises your work without seeing the whole thing. It really doesn't matter how adamantly a critic defends the swiftness at which he's come to judgement on your work. If he didn't encounter your entire project, then he's unqualified to critique it. I've had someone loudly and hatefully critique my entire comic after reading just one page. I've even had someone see me drawing a panel live online, then rush to my forum to offer a biting critique of the art in that particular panel before I had even finished it. There's no excuse for this. If they didn't completely see, hear, taste or otherwise experience the work in question, they're bad critics who should be ignored. 3.  Anyone who uses the word "history" in a comparably definitive way. This is similar to point one, but in an even more arrogant manner. "This is the worst thing of its kind in history". "Throughout history, no one has made anything this terrible". "In the history of art, no has ever..." Alright, stop right there. The person critiquing your work is unlikely to be aware of history's entire archive of the genre or medium being discussed. If he's wielding the kind of delusions needed to confidently say something this encompassing, he's a bad critic. 4. Anyone who writes "period" as a way of re-enforcing a previous point. "This is terrible. Period." This is a great way for a critic to demonstrate an inability to accentuate. Using the word "period" like this, would suggest that there's no room for debate. That what's being said is final and absolute. That there's nothing left to say on the matter. This contradicts so much of what being a good critic is all about. If you have nothing much to say, then you're not much of a critic, are you? To quote what I used to say to my kids when they were toddlers who were having trouble getting a point across... Use your words. 5. Anyone who jumps to conclusions about behind-the-scenes reasoning. "The creator of this work is just trying to get more money because she's panicking because the last thing she created sucked because she's probably pissed off because Madmen might not be renewed for another season which I assume is her favourite show." This is far more common than it should be. I've seen people come to crazy assumptions about my personal life and then use those assumptions as spring boards for why my work is the way it is. An actual critic will understand that he doesn't know you personally and doesn't have any inside information about what's going on behind the work being critiqued. A real critic will simply review the creation on its own. 6. Anyone using multiple exclamation marks or caps lock. Have you ever seen anyone discard an intelligent point because there was only one exclamation mark at the end of the sentence? Have you ever seen anyone have trouble understanding an insightful statement purely because it wasn't in 'all caps'? Whether the review is positive or negative, a good critic has intelligent things to say and a vast army of well placed words to say them with. A BAD CRITIC HAS NONE OF THESE THINGS AND SO INSTEAD TRIES TO RAISE THE VOLUME OF HIS POINTS LIKE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "Multiple exclamation marks are a sure sign of a diseased mind." ~Terry Pratchett  7. Anyone who uses the phrase "One word comes to mind...". "One word comes to mind when I see this work. Terrible." The "one word" can be anything, but if that's all that comes to your mind while reviewing someone's work, you're not a very good critic. On the other hand, if plenty of words come to your mind and you incorrectly use this overused statement in an attempt to sound witty, you're not a very good critic. 8. Anyone who uses the phrase "I want my X minutes back". If you have ever used this phrase in a critique, I'd like you to stand up, go find a mirror, look at yourself and realise that other people are creating original art while you can't even muster up the creativity to insult that art without vomiting a pathetically overused phrase like this. 9. Anyone who tells you to stop creating. You know how companies will say "Our employees will never ask for your password"? Well an actual critic will never tell you to stop creating. A good critic would genuinely like to see you improve and make something better next time. 10. Anyone who says "This sucks". That's not a criticism, that's an insult. If you can't tell the difference between those two things, you're a bad critic. 11. Anyone with terrible spelling/grammar. Let's be clear here. A good critic doesn't need perfect spelling and grammar. Every painter drops his brush from time to time and there's no shame in that. But if you're dropping your brush evry singal tim u tuch teh canvus... well, you might not be very good at what you do. And if you're purposely mistyping in an attempt to save time or look cool, then you're definitely a bad critic. 12. Anyone who brags about themselves during the review. "This work sucks. And I know it sucks because I once fought a bear! Who was driving a tank! Plus I'm very handsome! Wait... what was I reviewing? Anyways, the point is that I fought a bear!" Sometimes I'll be reading a review of something and I start to get the impression that the critic is just looking for ways to point out how many awards he's won or how often he's been published. Once, someone justified his critique of my artwork by stating "I happen to own a guitar signed by the comic book artist Jim Lee!". Yes, this stuff really happens. Good critics don't use their review of your work as a way to brag about themselves. 13. Anyone who tries too hard to be funny or focuses too much on creative ways to insult your work. A good critic is entertaining as well as informative. This means that sometimes they'll find funny ways to point at a flaw in your work. Don't be upset by this, the critic is just doing his job. However, if the review briefly states "This is awful" and then follows with an entire paragraph colourfully explaining how he had to pour gasonline on his eyes and light a match while having a team of tap dancing priests cast satan out of your work before throwing it into the fires of Mordor, he might be working harder at trying to be funny than at trying to fairly review your work. 14. Anyone who says "You can't take constructive criticism". This is possibly the most cowardly thing that a bad critic can say. Sure, it's possible that a good critic can review someone's work and that a creator can over react, causing the critic to fairly exclaim "Wow, that person can't take constructive criticism", but I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the cowards who use that phrase as a shield to defend themselves against creators justly reacting to hateful insults. There's nothing constructive about telling someone that they suck and there's nothing truthful about claiming that the creator can't take constructive criticism at that moment. Most creators thrive on constructive criticism and welcome it. Very few of us thrive on being told that we should "get a life". As always, thanks for reading. ~Thunt
Posted May 8, 2012 at 5:58 pm
Here's a quick look back at the last few moments of Dies and his friends before the story switched over to Minmax and Co. Or if you'd like to roll your sleeves up and read from the point that Dies, Fox and Klik were walking down that creepy staircase, you can go here. Don't forget that after 1-3 days, try refreshing the most recent page (some people need to hit Ctrl + F5) to see all the completed shading. As always, thanks for reading. ~Thunt
Posted May 3, 2012 at 2:05 am
Sometimes when I draw, I like to have a movie on in the background. The movies I choose to have on are usually things I've seen many times. Otherwise, I end up spending half the time holding my pen and watching the screen (which sounds much dirtier than I mean it to). However, sometimes I notice things. Click on the images for full size.

As always, thanks for reading. ~Thunt  
Posted April 25, 2012 at 1:45 pm
For years, Goblins has been on the TopWebComics list and it's been fun and awesome. I remember watching Goblins hover in the 40s and thinking "wouldn't it be cool to be in the top 10". Then we hit the top 10 and I thought "wouldn't it be great to be in 1st place". Then we hit 1st place and for awhile held that top spot only if I worked at it. That is to say, only if I presented regular vote incentives in the form of  upcoming panels from the next comic page. Then we reached a point where incentives were no longer needed. Goblins started to dominate the top spot with little or no incentives. The competition battled against us with daily postings of regular pics of their characters wearing little or nothing or of seperate comics that could only be read by voting for them on the TWC list. Often, this resulted in knocking Goblins into 2nd place, but it wasn't long before Goblins would lazily float up to 1st again. Please note: I feel like a total douchebag who's bragging and building himself up. I HATE this kind of egotistical crap, but it needs to be said to explain what's going on. So allow me to bring balance to the force with these unflattering facts... I can't grow a full head of hair. I dance like a moron. I suck at most sports. I'm 38 and I have never had a driver's licence. Whew, that feels better. Okay, back to the topic at hand. Ironically, while I write this blog, Goblins is currently in 2nd place on the list (way to go, Two Kinds!). Still, I feel like Goblins has enjoyed the 1st place spot enough and it's time to move on and make room for the other comics on the list. Some of them are brilliant, by the way! Please check them out! Of course, nothing is actually changing with Goblins. I'm still updating twice a week, tweeting daily and drawing live on cam almost daily. However at the end of April, I'll be removing the vote button from my site (you know... that goblin with the shield over there to your right). Now can I please stop talking about Goblins being 1st and go back to making jokes at my own expense? Thanks TopWebComics and thanks to everyone who's been voting for Goblins over the years! And thanks for reading! ~Thunt
Posted April 9, 2012 at 10:58 pm
I'd like to offer a huge congratulations to Gunnerkrigg Court and its fans for winning the ComicMix tournament. The comic deserves it for being a breath of fresh air in the genre and the fans deserve it for being a fantastic group of fun folks that I've really enjoyed getting to know. If you haven't read it yet, here's the article about the results. I'd also like to thank the Goblinites for getting us all the way up to second place (and a very close second at that)! I hope you're all as proud and overjoyed as I am with how well we did. The $50 we won is being donated to Child's Play along with the $100 that Gunnerkrigg Court won. So everyone wins! Finally, I'd like to offer one more movie clip in honour of Gunnerkrigg Court (well, at least the music from the clip). It's a bit earlier than the 80's, but I can't help myself. It fits so well. As always, thanks for reading. ~Thunt
Posted April 6, 2012 at 4:08 pm
I can't believe that myself and the Goblins fans have made it to the final battle! Go us! For this most epic of battles, we're dueling Gunnerkrigg Court! A comic with multi-layered, well thought out writing and breathtaking artwork by creator Tom Siddell. It's nigh impossible to find anyone with something bad to say about GC. By "GC", I mean Gunnerkrigg Court and not Goblins Comic (notice the synchronicity there? It really adds to the 'final battle' ambience). So if you haven't already, check out Gunnerkrigg Court. I also want to say that no matter what happens during this last fight, I'm incredibly complimented and humbled just to make it this far! Thanks SO much for the support! And incase you missed it on my last blog post, I'm going to be posting the Shield of Wonder list and the Goblins map regardless of the tournament results. For the final fight video, I've chosen the cheesiest sword fight ever put on film. You really need to watch this one all the way through to believe it. It's deliciously awful. Click here to vote on GC vc GC and see the current results! Click here to watch the horrible yet strangely epic final battle to represent this fight! Click here to follow Thunt on Twitter! As always, thanks for reading! ~Thunt