Tag: walter koenig

Seriously Geeky Sundays are Back!

Posted on by in Geeky Sunday
Featured Image - Comic Books

Hello everyone! I am still alive. My brain just happened to take a trip across the multiverse of writer’s and artist’s block. It’s been years since I’ve had it this bad, and let me just say that I did not miss it. At all. I’m fighting it and fighting hard! 

Onto today’s Seriously Geeky Sundays topic: comic books: 

I was an avid fan of all things manga, so most of my answers are going to be about manga or graphic novels rather than your traditional comic book series. 

2nd – Comic Books

Normally the 1st of May is Free Comic Book Day, however, due to the pandemic, the organisers have chosen to move it to August with the hope of being able to celebrate it when stores are open again. I considered changing this week’s theme and then chose not to; it might not be Free Comic Book Day but we can still celebrate our love of comics 

Let’s start at the beginning; what was your first comic book?

Sailor Moon – I can’t remember the exact one, but when I was a junior in high school, one of my friends would bring her backpack full of manga and let us borrow them. I remember many a time slipping one inside a textbook during a particularly boring class and reading it. 

The first manga that I actually owned was also Sailor Moon related. Again, I can’t remember which one (it was so long ago). I remember buying every graphic novel I could. I sketched so many sailor concepts. So.Many.Of.Them.

Sailor Moon
Which comic did you read recently?

George Takei’s  They Called us Enemy

Which comic series would you recommend to someone just starting to read comics?

George Takei’s  They Called us Enemy because it has historical significance. It’s written and illustrated in a gripping way that is easy to follow. (I suggest this graphic novel to everyone. It is a must read about a not so great part of history). It’s a good graphic novel for someone just starting out. There aren’t a million characters or complicated quests (those are best saved for later).

What comic series do you have on your TBR (to be read) list?

I’ve been out of the comic book world for so long that I don’t know anymore. I enjoy a good manga or graphic novel, but I hate the ones that have a million issues and never end, which is the main reason why I haven’t kept up with them. I like stories you can start and finish without needing to read a 50 volume precursor.

With that being said, I’d like to read The Boys. Everyone who follows me knows how much I love Amazon’s adaptation of it. Another one I’d like to check out is Attack on Titan. I saw the first season of the anime on Netflix and was obsessed with it for a while (I have the  jacket and cape, just to give an example).

Photo courtesy of Prime Video
What are some of your favourite comic book series/titles?

My favorites tend to be stand alone comics or graphic novels (or ones with no more than 5 in a series for the reasons I mentioned in the last question). 

Babylon 5 – The Psi Corps and You
Things to Come –  written by Walter Koenig

Bablyon 5 - The Psi Corps And You!
I love this cheesy Psi Corps propaganda, okay! 😉
Who are your favourite comic book artists?

Naoko Takeuchi – creator of Sailor Moon
Hidekaz Himaruya – creator of Hetalia: Axis Powers (I love his style of eyes!)
Yuu Watase –  creator of Fushigi Yûgi. If you want to see beautiful art, check her stuff out! 

Fushigi Yuugi
Image courtesy of Wikipedia

All Your Fanart are Belong to Us

Posted on by in Alfred Bester, Babylon 5, Psi Corps

All your fanart are belong to us. Set up us the draw.

My mind is back on Babylon 5 (as if it would stay away for long!). I’m always striving to improve my art by testing new styles. Enjoy!
I got this idea from a Beauty and the Beast gif. I liked the mood the original invoked, so I made my own….Psi Corps, of course!

“Vy am I vearing all black?” Chekov asks himself as he gazes through the looking glass.

It’s a rainy day at your friendly Psi Corps headquarters!
And just for kicks and giggles, I wandered into the deep, ancient drudges of the Internet to uncover one of my old pieces of fanart. The .jpg quality is atrocious, but it just goes to show you can improve with practice.
Created some fanart of our own? Feel free to share!

Weekly Roundup

Posted on by in Alfred Bester, Babylon 5
 ~A quick recap of things around the Empire Earth over the past week.

This week in…
Science
Or should I say mass media hysteria? An infectious disease nasty enough to warrant its own horror movie? After hearing all the talk around the proverbial water cooler, it seems like the media is going nuts with the three cases in the US. Yes, ebola is a scary thing akin to some sort of eldrichian horror crawling out of the pages of a Lovecraft story, but it’s not time to panic.

When my next door neighbor or a coworker has it, cue the panic attack. I learned all I ever wanted (and more) about ebola when I read The Hot Zone. I even wrote a review about it on goodreads: Untitled Review of The Hot Zone.

One word of advice: don’t google “ebola” and then click on images.

Geekdom
As I contemplate and stare aimlessly about the room for a geeky fun filled topic, my eyes drift towards my latest autograph. I can’t believe that I neglected to share it on here!

Walter Koenig as Bester!

A friend went to a convention and got this for me (shout out to you! You know who you are!). Anyone who has been following this blog for a while knows how much I love the character Alfred Bester on Babylon 5 and like Walter Koenig.

When I got the picture in the mail, I immediately framed it and put it up!

Currently Reading

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin. Yes, I’m still reading it! I wasn’t kidding when I said it was quite the heavy tome. You don’t want to know how long I’ve been at it. 

Matters of Opinion
My blunt, unabashed thoughts in 140 characters or less:

I saw Christmas stuff out as early as September. I don’t want to see a single jingle bell, Santa Claus, or festive tree until Black Friday.

Video of the week:
As much as I liked Frozen, I found this video hilarious!

Walter Koenig’s Raver – Review

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I am a huge fan of Walter Koenig’s Buck Alice and the Actor Robot and graphic novel, Things to Come. When I saw Raver in the iBookstore, I had to get it. It’s not available in paperback even though the first three issues of the comic are.

Raver had a different flair to it, but I found myself enjoying it. It is more of a psychological thriller than anything else. If you want a good picture of it before you dive in, read the description. This sounds very lazy of me considering I’m writing a review, but it’s true!

There are some novels/comics/etc with descriptions that fail to meet the mark, but this one? It states everything like it is and leaves no room for questions….In other words, there are no surprises. You know exactly what you are getting yourself into.

The worlds Norman creates in his mind have a good amount of action, monsters, and everything that makes a comic book entertaining. One world is a sordid mess of fairy tale characters trapped in their own lives, and at first, I cast a skeptical eye.When I read comics, I want super powers and action–lots and lots of action!

The scene held my interest as it progressed. It also helped that Koenig weaved some of his views into it, views which are on the opposite end of the spectrum as my least favorite philosopher, Ayn Rand. Hey, what can I say? I’m human to the core!

The first three issues were written in 1993 and were drawn by the same artist. The graphic novel includes a fourth issue drawn by another artist (equally as talented as the first). The style is a little different and makes heavy use of digital mediums. I want to go out on a limb and say that issue #4 was written years later. I couldn’t find any solid evidence for it, but parts of the dialogue lead me to believe that it was written sometime in 2012.

The final issue was good up until parts of the dialogue got a little too political. It doesn’t matter if I agree with the politics or not; if politics are going to be put into a story, I prefer them to be subtle and weaved seamlessly into the storyline. Regardless, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of Raver!

I give Raver 4/5 imaginary super powers!

I recommend it for avid comic book readers and for fans of Walter Koenig. If you enjoy his other works, you will enjoy this one.    

End of Month: March!

Posted on by in Alfred Bester

Well, it’s a bit into April now…I’m late! Oh noes!

March began with an art trade. I must say that I am enjoying the art trades! The friend wrote me a fun, short story in return. I completed one illustration…I wish I would have done more, but I think I had burnt myself out in February on them. I need to find a happy medium that won’t burn me out, but still allows me to keep up a decent pace.

My goal for April is to complete two illustrations because one per month is just a snail crawl pace that I don’t want to repeat! If I finished only one per month, it would take nearly two years for me to complete the illustrations…No thanks!


Rudy – my friend’s character.


General Bester – one of my characters in the MMO, Star Trek Online. He is a joined trill who is about to kick some ass. Yes…I sort of modeled him after a certain Alfred Bester from Babylon 5!

Books read
I caved into the craze and bought The Hunger Games. It was only 6 bucks at Walmart, and my fellow literary snobs said it was a good read and nothing like Twilight. Much to my own shock, I loved the book, and, indeed, it is nothing like Twilight. I finished it a few days ago, so it doesn’t go towards the March book count. I plan to write a review and post my thoughts on my goodreads account.