Okay El Moochadores, you already know what a talented and handsome young man I am (desired by women around the world), but it’s all too rare when you get to actually see my vast (ye gods I love that word) talents actually in use. Well, fret not, because our Brethren Moo, and good buddy, Numbers (aka: Helix Mary Sue, aka: 1337W422102, aka: the Ayatollah of Rocknrolla), of Ages 25 & Up, put together this great stop motion animation using G.I. Joe Action figures and of few of his Atomic Moo buddies, like me! Here’s the set up for the animation:

The long-delayed special animated two-hundredth issue spectacular is finally ready! Two Iron Grenadiers are sent to recover Destro’s mysterious briefcase, stolen by a Cobra Trooper and a Techno-Viper. What could go wrong?

#200 “translates” one of the most famous scenes from Pulp Fiction into G.I. Joe terms, and features the voices of the staff of http://www.atomicmoo.com/
Music by Kenji Yamamoto, Minako Hamano, and The Lively Ones.

Numbers does a great job of not only animating the video, but also providing the lead voice for the scene. Also voicing the figures are none other than Atomic Moo’s creator: Chudd, Atomic Moo’s spiritual guide: Buttery Wholesomness, and (of course): me as the lovable, yet doomed, Brett! I think numbers has a real talent for stop motion and hopefully he’ll be making more great animations in the future! Go suck a dick Robot Chicken! Anyways, check out the video below, and also be sure to go visit Ages 25 & Up for more great comics!

Enjoy!

Hey El Moochadores! The other day our good buddy (and Atomic Moo spiritual mentor) Buttery Wholesomeness showed us this cool Web comic called; Band vs. Band! Now, granted, I didn’t think I would be into the “Gem”, everybody’s happy, stay positive, sort of stuff featured in this comic, but it has a really cool art style! Written and drawn by Canadian artist Kathleen (sorry, I couldn’t find her last name), this comic is about two competing bands; The Candy Hearts and the Sourballs. Check out what the creator had to say on her about page:

…I’ve been making comics in one form or another as long as I can remember. Band Vs. Band is probably my favorite project ever – it really just started as an attempt to make something I thought was fun that drew heavily on all my favorite stuff. Any ideas you’ve got about cartoons and cartoon bands and actual bands that might be part of the background inspiration are probably correct. (Also, yes, for the record, I am a very openly gay lady.)

There is a lot of energy and a unique style in this comic that I’ve enjoyed studying and I think many of you will get a kick out of too. I’ve posted a few sample comics below, but go visit the Band vs. Band website (link above) and check out the archive. Also, Kathleen does a great thing where she illustrates her responses to some letters. At least that’s what I think she does. So, if you like the comic, send her a message, and see what sort of fun response she comes up with.
On an unrelated note; I dunno. I kinda dig that Turpentine chick. The whole “bad girl” thing (and being named after a distiller) does it for me. weird, huh?

Enjoy!

Hey El Moochadores, Titan Books recently published the action packed zombie novel, Plague Nation, the sequel to the 2012, Plague Town, by author (and Zombie lover) Dana Fredsti. Before I get into the review check out a short synopsis of the novel:

Sequel to the thrilling zombie novel PLAGUE TOWN. Ashley Parker was a ordinary woman who was also a “wild card,” immune to the emerging zombie plague, drawn unwillingly into a shadowy paramilitary organization. Having stopped the wave of the undead that swarmed their facility, the wild cards are forced to travel to a secret laboratory in San Francisco. En route some are killed, while others are kidnapped by an unknown enemy. But the worst is yet to come, as the plague begins to manifest in key locations worldwide. And the truth begins to emerge about the paramilitary society, the Dolofónoi tou Zontanoús Nekroús.

Okay, I’m tired of zombie stories. I feel like it’s a genre that’s been very “played out,” and with few exceptions (1985′s Return of the Living Dead, 2004′s Shawn of the Dead and Dawn of the Dead) I don’t feel there’s much you can do with it. Dead people eat live people and some other lucky people try and survive it… wow, I just wrote my own Zombie story! So (anyways), I kind of went into reading Plague Nation with a groan that sounded vaguely like, “grrrrnotanotherzombiestoryroan…” and then started reading pages with the enthusiasm of a teenager having to listen to a days worth of NPR. The thing is, though, Dana Fredsti is a good writer. Her story was a lot of gory, action packed, fun with some humor thrown into the mix. Fredsti has an increadible descritive ability that effectively translated words into mental images of gushing blood and rotting flesh. However, there were a few moments were I felt like the story of Ashley (Ash) Parker was turning into something from the CW. After all, most of the story is about beautiful people getting to do exciting things, and then romancing and dramatizing the way only “CW-esque” beautiful people do. I’m more of an “mostly normal people surviving abnormal situations” (e.g. Shaun of the Dead) kind of guy. Also, Ash’s narrative is full of nerd and pop culture references that, at first, seemed like the author was pandering to a geeky audience, but then she made a reference to “Return of the Living Dead,” and that brought me back into the book. Heh, I guess I can be pandered to. Eventually, I just came to accept that sort of “geekiness” as part of Ash’s character and her way of dealing with a zombie outbreak.

Overall, this was a fun book and I enjoyed it a great deal. If you’re a lover of zombie and action stories and want to see the two genres in a good mix then you’ll want to get a copy of Plague Nation as soon as possible from your local book store or online from Titan Books! Now, I’m going to listen to some NPR! G’ah, I’m so excited! Market Place is about to start! Ha!

We all love Darth Vader (well… maybe not Captain Needa), but I think Deviant artist, Rono22 (aka: Marta), might love the big guy a little more. After all she made a really, freaking, amazing Darth Vader cloth doll, with a removable helmet. Check out what she had to say about making the doll on her Deviant page;

Here’s my opus magnum, my most favourite character of all the times, Darth Vader. One month of work, sometimes up to 8 hours a day. Roughly 40cm tall, random fabrics, felt, faux leather, ballpen parts etc. No wire frame. Hand sewn. Based the look mostly on “The Return of The Jedi”, the costume references found on 501st website and Sideshow’s Darth Vader bust. Not to mention I made some serious research on Sebastian Shaw (the man who played Anakin in the Original Trilogy)

You might say he’s a product of a little bet with my mum (or a challenge rather). Back in the day when I was 10 or so I started to make Star Wars dolls. When I was, like, 18, I bought a Darth Vader plush. And my mum was all like “pfff, he looks lame, even you could do it better!” And I was like yeah, how about no—- wait- you are right! I can make it better!

And I did! (although, 3 years later)

Good job Rono22! My only problem with it is calling it a doll. I’m a boy and that’s a Darth Vader. Boys don’t want to play with Darth Vader “dolls.” So, great work on that cloth replica of a Sith Lord! It’s very much a CLOTH REPLICA I’d want in my collection of ACTION FIGURES and REPLICAS. Not dolls.

Hey El Moochadores! The good people over at Steam Crow have a great new Kickstarter project called Wall Monsters! Wall Monsters are a unique take on the giant, paper, monsters that we use to decorate our houses with every Halloween back in the 70′s and 80′s, but this time in that unique Steam Crow like style. There are still several days left to contribute, but check out the video below then hit the link above to go see some of the really cool stuff you get for being a contributor to this project!

Enjoy!

Holy shit it’s been awhile, but we’re back with another edition of the world’s greatest -no budget- podcast! For this episode of the Atomic Moocast, Chudd and I talked with animator, graphic artist, and creator of the online comic (Kiosk); Geoff Munn! Geoff was really cool, and had a lot of great information about making a webcomic and life as a graphic artist! Of course, before the interview we also have our State of the Moo and a review of Iron Man 3. I know, we’re kinda late with all this, but lady life has been kicking us in the crotch pretty hard of late! But it’s done! It’s here! And now you get to relax and listen to all this wonderful Atomic Moo goodness! So, go get that frosty beverage out of your fridge and hunker down in a comfy place, then hit the button and start the best damn podcast your friends don’t know about!

Enjoy!

Free music used by the Atomic Moo cast is royalty free and was created and composed by Kevin MacLeod and can be found at Incompetech.com. Please support this site!

Songs used:

• Kool Katz
• Aces High
• Who Likes to Party
• Funk Game Loop
• Just Funking Off
• As I Figure

Links!

• Kiosk; Life in Neutral
• The Kiosk Kickstarter

Kiosk Samples

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:26:58 — 79.6MB) | Embed

Via Geek Tyrant; Okay, not a game I would want to play! Well, at least not without glancing at the rule book first. Check out this very funny short video of four friends who sit down to play a round of Risky Settlers Knights and Allies of Lords of Dominion of Earth; The Pandemic edition. Posted on Youtube by Rhett and Link this funny short shows us why we should always avoid playing board games with friends and a gimp in the closet.

Enjoy!

I want to make comics! It’s taking me a long damn time to realize that, but it’s something I’ve been kind of doing my whole life in a sort of, half assed – “if only”, day dream kind of way. For years I’ve collected comics, doodled in sketch books, and obtained a rather large (and mostly unused) collection of “how to books” on subjects like “figure drawing” and “perspective”. Then, recently, I had a bad bit of depression. I started to do what I always do when bummed out and I started drawing. What was different this time, was I came up with a few characters I actually liked and I wanted to make them into a comic, but here’s the thing; I didn’t know how! So, I went to that large collection of books, and buried in there, I found possibly the best book on the subject of how to make a comic (dash dash) EVER MADE!

Making Comics (published 2006 by Harper) by Zot comic artist Scott McCloud is fun, easy to understand, yet dives deep into the dynamic world of making comics. Done as a graphic novel itself, this book helps readers learn fundamentals about character creation, clarifying stories, body language, styles, genres, framing, and everything else you would ever want to know about what it takes to make a good story! I love how McCloud didn’t try to teach the reader how to draw. Instead his book focuses on how to use whatever skills you already have and make the best story possible. Making Comics is a history lesson, technical manual, and motivational speaker all rolled into one, and for all of us out there who want to make comics (regardless of genre or skill set) this should be the first book (yes even before Making Comics the Marvel Way) that a budding (or veteran) comic creator, should read! I’m going to start making comics! Hell, I’ve already started, and McCloud’s Making Comics is a vital resource I will be using many (many) times from here on out!

Making comics is sold at bookstores or online at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com!

I’ve posted a couple of sample pages from the book below, check them out and if you have a comic you’re working on let us see it! We won’t judge you, much.

Good damn morning, El Moochadores! Take a long look at some amazing art I found on Deviant Art this morning while looking for Bronie art…er… porn. Yeah, I found this while looking for porn. Anyways, digital artist, Dmitry Grebenkov is a Russian digital artist who has a real knack for making fun geek art! Below are a few samples of his work, but follow the links back to see more of his portfolio!

Enjoy!

Hey El Moochadores, did you watch the last weeks Game of Thrones? Brienne of Tarth fought a bear! Sorry, didn’t mean to spoil anything, but it has been in the book for the last decade or so. Also, putting a bear fight in a book is really easy to do. All you have to do is write, Brienne fought a bear. That easy! Done! She fought a bear because I said so! However, making a bear fight for television is vastly harder! Check out the is cool little video put out by Making of Game of Thrones which shows all the effort that went into the making of the bear pit and the woman v bear battle of the century! Also included are some storyboard samples from the site, but I got just a small sample. Go visit www.makinggameofthrones.com for more images and other behind the scene videos!