Author: jason

Sunday Science: Gravity

I have always been fascinated by physics. Waaay back when, I was a freshman in college with dreams of being a gravitational astronomer working with LIGO.
LIGO is the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory in Louisiana or Washington. Much like optical telescopes capture light and let us view distant objects, LIGO reacts to gravity waves. By using precisely positioned mirrors and lasers, these waves can be measured.

That brings us to this weeks topic. Gravity.

What it does is easy to explain, but how it does it, well, that’s the tricky part.
We know gravity is a force that is exerted between objects with mass.
We know that the more mass an object has, the greater the gravitational field it has.
We also know that objects that are closer exert more gravitational force than distant objects.

The same force that keeps us on Earth is the same force that keeps the planets in orbit.
Some scientists searching for the Unified Field Theory claim that gravity, electromagnetic force and the forces at the atomic level are aspects of the same force.

Tega Jessa over at UniverseToday.com has a great article to get you started.

Go learn! Your brain will thank you.

April 28, 2013
Saturday Sneak Peek: Saucers, baby!

A retro spacegirl needs a retro saucer!

Just what every spacegirl needs! Flying saucers rock, and flying saucers with twin rayguns rock even harder!

I use a variety of tools in making Suzi.
One of my goals is to get her animated later this year, so I have been designing the strip using tools like Cinema 4D, then working the image in Photoshop.

I keep my options open and thanks to my publisher, I plan ahead and design for reuse.
This will save me a lot of time during the animation process.
Suzi is definitely a long term relationship…

April 27, 2013
Inspirations: Warren Publishing

I grew up reading just about everything I could get my hands on. Comics, library books, you name it. But my most favorite reads of my teenage years were all produced by Warren Publishing. With titles like Famous Monsters, Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella, I was hooked from the start.

Featuring fantastic art and some really mind bending stories, these books started a flame that still burns in me today. I loved Famous Monsters, the way they would show you the behind the scenes photos from the set of Planet of the Apes, or showing the flying rig used for Ghidorah in the Godzilla movies. For a kid like me, it was a gateway into a magical world of imagination and storytelling.

Creepy and Eerie told some really great, really different stories. Eerie seemed to have more sci-fi related material. They would feature recurring characters in semi-serialized stories (a pattern that I am totally using in my worlds, btw). Heros like Darklon or my favorite, The Rook, really broke the superhero mold. The art and the stories were very strong, for the most part. I have seen a few of them adapted to TV. I have always wondered why more didn’t make it to Hollywood. It’s funny how after all these years, there are still stories that I remember so well.

And its completely easy to see why Vampirella was a hot seller. I think that helps explain my obsession with dark haired beauties! Eckerds Drug Store was the only place in my hometown that carried these magazines, and in junior high, I would save my lunch money to buy them.

I would read them from cover to cover, and the ads were especially cool. They would offer Super 8mm reels of classic horror movies for sale, along with the projector. My biggest dream as a kid was to get the money to get those films, then open my own monster theater at my house and have the Saturday Afternoon Movie of the Week.

Check out ebay and if you can find them, they are well worth the reading. I haven’t looked at any of the newer ones that came out in the past few years, so I can’t vouch for them. But I can totally stand by the older runs from the 70’s and 80’s.

Good times, man, good times…

April 25, 2013
Sunday Science: Cosmic rays

Cosmic rays. Where would the Fantastic Four be without them?

So what is the real deal with cosmic rays?
Cosmic rays are super tiny particles that slam into the Earth’s atmosphere.
Billions of rays every second!
But most of these are very low level impacts.

Most of these rays come from inside our galaxy, from events such as supernovae, black holes and neutron stars.
These rays are able to travel great distances at fantastic speeds due to the low density of matter in space.
Cosmic rays are one of the limiting factors in space travel and colonization of other planets, as we would need a strong way to shield ourselves from these particles.

Jerry Coffey has written an article on cosmic rays over at UniverseToday.com.
As always, go read and learn about these particles and what part they play in our everyday lives.

April 21, 2013
Saturday Sneak Peek: The Outpost!

The Outpost

Saturday!
It comes and goes way too fast for my taste.
Here’s another WIP that shows Suzi on her quest to find a way home.

There are a lot of classic sci-fi elements that go into Suzi.
I’ve been posting weekly about the inspirations that went into Suzi, many of them coming from the books I read as a kid.
Mix in classic shows like Lost in Space, Voyage to the bottom of the sea and Land of the Giants (Irwin Allen ftw!).

What are some of the shows and comics that you remember from growing up?

April 20, 2013
Inspirations: Cartoons

Growing up in the late 60’s and early 70’s, cartoons were a huge part of my life.
Like most kids, I was glued to the TV on Saturday mornings.

Hanna-Barbera shows were a staple of the time, and I watched countless hours of their cartoons.

Galaxy Trio

I still have many fond memories of shows like the Galaxy Trio and Space Ghost.
The Herculoids were also required watching, along with Mighty Mightor, Frankenstein Jr., Samson and many more.

The Herculoids

Jonny Quest and the beautiful backgrounds easily captured my imagination and is probably the single biggest cartoon influence on Suzi. The walking eye, the jet-packs and that fantastic Hoyt Curtin score.

Battle of the Planets (yes, I know it’s Gatchaman!)

As I got older, more and more animation from Japan started appearing.
Shows like Battle of the Planets, Star Blazers and Robotech soon caught my attention.

Star Blazers

By the mid-80’s, I was out of high school and into the world, but my love of animation never died. My goal is to get some Suzi animated shorts online this year. I have already created some test footage, and I am always working on refining my process.

I think I have the technical skills down, but I am finding that my hardware is just too outdated for the task.

Once I get my computer upgraded a bit, I will have some pretty cool stuff to show you.

all images are copyright of the original copyright holders.

April 18, 2013
Wow, Bettie fans unite!

I just wanted to give a quick hello to everyone stopping by thanks to the link from Bettie’s Facebook page!
The comic is still very early on, and there is a lot more growing going on!

This is definitely a labor of love and a tribute to a strong and amazing woman.

I would love to hear from you guys! This is awesome!

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit us!

April 15, 2013
Sunday Science: Galaxies

Galaxies.

Now there is a BIG topic.
The basic definition of a galaxy is a system of millions or billions of stars, together with gas and dust, held together by gravitational attraction.

Earth is a part of the Milky Way galaxy, which is one of hundreds of billions of galaxies in the Observable Universe.
But just how big is a galaxy? Our galaxy is roughly 100,000-120,000 light years in diameter.

Wow, thats pretty big, you say?

Well, for comparison, the largest known galaxy, IC 1101, is estimated to be 5.5 MILLION light years wide.
Million.
That’s equal to 50 Milky Way galaxies side by side.

Like I said, it’s a big topic.

Jason Major wrote an article about the size of the galaxies over at UniverseToday.com, and included a galactic comparison chart by Rhys Taylor that will make you feel very tiny.

Go learn more about our Universe! It does a body good!

April 14, 2013
Saturday Sneak Peek

Deco Print

This is from one of the series of deco style prints I am working on for Suzi.
This is sort of my action take on Dave Stevens Betty print.

The store is in the works, and while the website is still pretty young, there is a lot of art that is already done.
My natural inclination is to post it all at once, but I am pacing myself.
This way I give myself a sizable buffer for finishing up Issue 2.

Lots of fun ahead. I hope to see you there.

April 13, 2013
Inspirations: Bettie Page

Queen of the Pinups!

Bettie Page. A woman as mysterious as she was beautiful. Bettie Mae Page was born April 22, 1923, in Nashville. She lived a pretty normal life until 1950, when an encounter with an amatuer photographer would change her life, and the world of pinup’s forever. In 1955, she was voted Pinup Queen of the World. I first saw a picture of Bettie thanks to Dave Stevens’ Rocketeer. This iconic print was all over the place in the 80’s, and after hearing that this was based on a real woman, I had to find out more about this beauty. I would read the fanzine, The Betty Pages, every time I could find it.

Dave Stevens Betty

Remember, this was the 80’s, so all these underground zines were usually photocopied and sold in head shops and alternative bookstores. You had to really look for them here in North Texas. While the woman had a gorgeous body, it was her face that mesmerized me. She had the smile of the girl next door; and her eyes made you wonder what she was thinking to make them sparkle like that. She could be so naked, but look so…pure. This wasn’t the face of pornography. This wasn’t a woman that had been jaded and burned out. This was a woman who was so at ease with her body, she looked natural while she was naked. She radiated a vibrancy that transcended a mere photograph. I would look at this woman and believe that she could make eye contact with you across a crowded room and make everyone else just disappear.

The eyes have it…

It’s like you could walk in on her and catch her totally undressed, and she would ask “Oh hi, you like some lemonade?” Even the bondage photos she did during Irving Klaw (what a name for a bondage producer, huh?) still had that tongue-in-cheek innocence to them. It was the way she was just at complete ease with her sexuality that made her so disarming. This was a woman that knew the power and beauty of the female form and she wielded that energy with a smile and a wink. Sadly, we lost her in 2008. But she knew how popular she still was, and she was amazed by it. If you’re a Bettie fan, check back here every Tuesday. I think Suzi will be right up your alley. If this is your first time on the site, then please click on the header and check out the story so far. If you haven’t heard of Bettie, close this window and go look the woman up. There is so much more to her than a bunch of nude photos. Bettie has inspired women for over half a century and her influence continues to grow. I invite you to discover this for yourself. And if you do, let me know what you think. I would love to hear from fellow Bettie fans

all photos are copyright of the original owners.

April 11, 2013