Thursday, December 23, 2010

#015 - The Christmas Episode!



Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates Christmas! Here's a special episode, where we talk about Christmas and snakes! Please tell us about yourself on Twitter (hideousenergy), Facebook, and hideousenergy@gmail.com. Visit FanOff.com and talk to us on our forum, or even use your internet to download us on iTunes. We can't stop making the internet do our bidding. We won't.

Episode 15:
• Intro: Harry Potter and awkward naming; easy jokes; we turn into Oprah; and ohhhh boy we sort of lose control, surprising no one.
• Top 5 - People Who Would Be Better Santas Than Santa (We promise we won't just do Top Fives from now on)
• Outro: Hideous Energy gets sued!

David Hopkins and Austin Wilson celebrate Christmas, and so does guest star Caleb Schmreen. This show runs 45:47. Talk about your favorite things on FanOff.com and our forums. Download us on iTunes and put our show on your brand new iPod. We'll be back to normalcy next week, promise.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Webcomics - The Worlds Within the World

Hideous Energy: "We read everything."

That is a direct quote from our interview with Liz Suburbia. She's a comic artist and writer, and does a webcomic called "Sacred Heart." During our interview we asked Liz what comics she reads (both from the shelf and online), and she gave us a huge list and made us realize we don't read anywhere near "everything." That's a good thing though. She gave us a list of things to discover, and we thought we'd share her suggestions. We won't be able to post a review of them, as it would mean we'd have to put the list up a few months from now after we could formulate opinions on them. For right now it's just a list. Maybe there's something new on here you've never heard of. There definitely was for us.

- • -

Achewood - Written and illustrated by Chris Onstad, the site says this: "“Achewood,” like wormwood, was used by antebellum slaves in the production of “achewater,” a long-since outmoded and outlawed Southern beverage. Drinkers of achewater experienced hallucinations and euphoria, but the after-effects of the liquor produced a deep and lasting melancholy (hence its name). Modern science has confirmed that achewood oil, the active ingredient in achewater, is a powerful depressant which causes irreversible neurological damage. Achewater is generally thought to have inspired many Southern folk songs and fables, such as “The Story of Poor John Ritch,” “Sullivan’s Bear and Dried Bird” and “I’m Following a Little Round Lord.”" It looks like a book that can cause pangs of nostalgic melancholy, or force you to laugh at the ridiculousness of everything. It definitely has us intrigued.

Templar, Arizona - Here's what the "Templar, Arizona" site says about the comic, written and illustrated by : "I’m Spike. I’m a lady. I live in Chicago, with a dog and a man. I was born in Washington, D.C. the day that Jim Jones poisoned 900 members of his doomsday cult in Jonestown, Guyana. I’ve been thinking, drawing, and writing about Templar since I was a kid. I started the comic in summer of 2005. I’ll finish it before I die, but probably not soon. It’s pretty long. Templar, Arizona is a story about a town that doesn’t exist, and the people who live there. I alternately describe it as speculative fiction, an alternate timeline, and an alternate history. This isn’t the Arizona you’re probably thinking of. This is a different Arizona. This is a slightly irregular Arizona that fell off the back of a truck somewhere, and now all the power outlets are a weird shape and a couple of wars never happened. Templar’s populated with junkies, fuck-ups, pretty girls, millionaires, hockey teams, weird religions, dumb subcultures, and people in love. So it’s a lot like the cities you might already be familiar with, except the air there gives you Miner’s Lung and nobody has a cell phone." Yep. We are reading this now.

Girls With Slingshots -This comic is written and illustrated by Danielle Corsetto, and she says: "In October of 2004, [I] began Girls With Slingshots, and a couple of years later [I] was doing the strip full-time. It’s now updated 5 times a week at some god-awful hour. In addition to GWS, [I] wrote and drew The New Adventures of Bat Boy for the Weekly World News, taking the reins from Bat Boy’s kind & talented former creator Peter Bagge."

Eat That Toast! - Written and illustrated by Matt Czap. This webcomic has all kinds of great shit happening. I read one about weather and suicide, one about a beauty contest where a lumberjack wins, and one about a bird peeing into a cup for a drug test. Read it? Yes.

Moon Town - This one I accidentally stumbled across while reading "Eat That Toast!" It's written and illustrated by Steve Ogden. Here's his plot synopsis: "The year is 2087. Earth has been mined into a shell, so mankind is mining the moon. But when ore shipments begin vanishing amid rumors of pirates, a new sheriff comes to town in the form of rookie security guard Cassandra Quinn. Can she solve the mystery of the missing ore? Or will she find out too much? Some secrets can get you killed…

Curvy - With art that is somewhat reminiscent of Alex Robinson, "Curvy" is described as: "A sexy sci-fi adventure comic for adults. New pages every Saturday." I read a little of it and saw a girl with her head implanted on a guy's body.

A Softer World - The synopsis of this webcomic is as follows: "A Softer World is a comic that was created by Emily Horne and Joey Comeau so that people would recognize them as important artistic geniuses. Sometimes the "comic" is sad or harsh. It should be noted that this is in the tradition of George Simenon's 'romans durs' (or 'hard novels') and not in the lesser traditions of comics like Peanuts or anything else not French. Comeau is a French name. (Pronounced kuh-moe, by the way. Joey is very important, please say his name correctly. Emily is also very important but her name is easier to pronounce.)"

Sorry there aren't more in-depth reviews of these comics. Maybe it isn't such a bad thing that you'll be going into reading them with no one's opinion other than your own, though. If you check any of them out, let us know what you think. Thanks to Liz Suburbia for the list.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

#014 - Liz Suburbia Hangs Out With Us On the Phone


So what all gets mentioned on this episode? Prison, Harry Potter sex, body counts, more sex, lots of cussing, and a tiny little bit of serious discussion. You can discuss all of these things with us on Twitter (hideousenergy), Facebook, and hideousenergy@gmail.com. Go over to FanOff.com and hop onto our forum. We've already done a Top 5 based on a fan's suggestion, and it accidentally made us go nuts. Who knows, you could do that to us too! Download us on iTunes, too.


Episode 14:
• Intro: Fatboy Slim via Daft Punk; Kanye West; pregnant heads and other gross things; and drunk Tweets!
• Topic Thunder - Thor has a questionable accent, maybe; Jon Favreau has another job, don't worry; and the internet makes people say dumb shit. Obviously.
• Interview: Comic artist/writer Liz Suburbia. We talk to her about her webcomic "Sacred Heart," then all decorum and pretense that we're doing an interview falls away; we end up just hanging out with her over the phone. It was fun as shit.
• Outro: Nikola Tesla. That's how you know it's a normal show.


David Hopkins and Austin Wilson love comics. It's simple. Talking to Liz Suburbia was a ton of fun, and she is awesome all around. Go read "Sacred Heart," and swing by her LiveJournal. Thanks to Liz for her time and rockingness. This show runs 1:36:04, and is mostly dedicated to us just hanging with Liz Suburbia. Check out FanOff.com and our forums, and download us on iTunes. Thanks! NOTE: Art by Liz Suburbia, from her LiveJournal.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Art - The Word and the Concept



This is a - shit, the name for it hasn't really been determined yet. There are plenty of labels one could throw onto it, but the technology that allowed it to come into existence has temporarily stunned language into this still zone where the silence is really the buzz of everyone talking at once.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is an image created on an iPad. It's something that isn't obvious at first, but after you find out the information your brain lurches over into understanding. Upon looking at it closer you can see the wide swathes the digital brush tools left behind as artist Sean Phillips brought this image to life. Did he paint it? Did he draw it? What the hell did he do exactly to make this piece of art exist?

If the biggest problem is the inability to label something, then everything is okay, right? Also, trying to wring some sort of philosophical discussion out of this points toward the obvious answer when someone asks themselves about the future of the world (comic book or otherwise); Will we be okay? This image gives us the answer.

Yes. Yes we will. There are gorgeous iPad - shit, let's call it a painting - paintings that exist which prove everything will be fine. These paintings prove that there are artists working within the comic book industry who elevate the form to a level of majesty and beauty worthy of that one huge word, the one co-opted by anyone with an opinion or a feeling, that sometimes scary word; art.

Whether you embrace or reject technology, or the idea of comics as art, this is a joy to look at. Phillips even posted a time-lapse video of the painting coming into existence. I suggest you go watch it. If it made me react like this, who knows what it'll do to you.

-Austin

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

#013 - Top Fiiiiiiiiiiiives



UPDATE: iTunes is fixed! Go download the shows!

Every day cannot possibly be the same as the one that came before, and the one that has yet to happen, right? Well we are here to try and make sure that we don't get bored...with ourselves. I'd like to say that's the impetus behind why we did this episode, but really, it was basically a casual decision. What does all of this mean? Hoooo boy. Talk to us on Twitter, Facebook, and hideousenergy@gmail.com.


Episode 13:
• Intro: Lots of discussion about Deacon Frost, masochists, and Top 5 lists.

Top 5 - We bring you a show of nothing but Top 5 lists! What are you in store for? Here, look.
      
               1. Baby Names Influenced By Comics (Suggested by a fan!)
               2. Comics That Would Make Amazing Video Games
               3. Characters Who Should Join the UFC
               4. Awesome - But Probably Impossible - Comic Characters Making Cameos In Other Properties
               5. Worst Ways Villains Could Destroy the Planet


• Couch Change: We cut to the chase, directly. Whooooo holy shit this show is long.
• Outro: We'll see you again?


David Hopkins and Austin Wilson are both recovering, still, from recording this show. Caleb Green is too, he guest stars on the insanity here. A show that runs 1:43:06 could maybe kill you. Please visit FanOff.com and click on forums, and talk to us. There's a Top 5 on this show that was suggested by a fan! That could be you! Finally, please be patient with iTunes. We are trying. So hard.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

#012 - In and Out of Sanity


Like all really interesting insane people, you can't always tell if we're completely nuts, or maybe just having a bad day. Here on episode 12, we wander around in auditory format. Follow our digital wandering on Twitter, Facebook, and even hideousenergy@gmail.com.

Episode 12:
• Intro: Lil Wayne proves his love for us; nicknaming, and FanOff.com!
• Read 'Em and Weep: Detective Comics, Batwoman, and Locke and Key. This is mostly where some of the sanity shows up, barely.
• Couch Change: Here we tell you what to buy in order to keep your happiness
• Top 5 - Worst Case Scenarios For Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.
• Outro: We never, ever leave without saying goodbye.

David Hopkins and Austin Wilson lose their minds every Tuesday, all for you. We even included a picture of what happens to David after the show ends. Episode 12 guest stars Emergy Peck, who normally comes along for the ride on insanity. There is 1:04:24 of your day to be spent here. And hey, go over to FanOff.com and click on forums. We have a forum there for us all to yell at each other about all kinds of things!