tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29855128612591275482024-03-05T15:08:47.529+01:00Ampersand ComicsWhere a common man shares his thoughts about comics and other related subjects.Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.comBlogger91125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-44041097877155748032011-04-01T19:35:00.000+02:002011-04-01T19:35:12.658+02:00Meanwhile at ThoughtBalloons - Artifacts<div style="text-align: justify;">Oh man, this has probably been the hardest week so far on Thought Balloons. Artifacts is a Top Cow mega event, and I have read very little in terms of Top Cow universe comics, so this was definitely a challenge for me. In the end, I did what I always do when in doubt: write a crossover with another property. What came out was a script called <a href="http://www.thought-balloons.com/2011/04/artifacts-man-behind-curtain-matt.html"><b>The Man Behind The Curtain</b></a>. My favorite part is these couple of lines...</div><br />
<blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">MAN: Ah, Sara, I was just educating all of you. Humanity is nothing without the knowledge we gather, you know? But yes, I think you have earned that much. The thirteenth artifact is what protects all of humanity against this holy war you are all fighting.</div></blockquote><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Go ahead and check it out. I was reasonably pleased with what came out in the end, considering how much I struggled to come up with something decent. </div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-76998502992839920852011-03-29T23:52:00.001+02:002011-03-29T23:54:43.733+02:00Photo: Fallas 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQF2L8gHm4tkt3xL3Jb1JmNph6WmCd7pCEQ9HeOGMzAUTusnpzKwFNfwDKNFLz1IjpI1cQ-WYJeFkNJhn80BZE22XcjRNQXFwWX_SUIF8dmktp-5q-NFvQgJnDHoffF80meB8fhX5cobI/s1600/Fallas+2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQF2L8gHm4tkt3xL3Jb1JmNph6WmCd7pCEQ9HeOGMzAUTusnpzKwFNfwDKNFLz1IjpI1cQ-WYJeFkNJhn80BZE22XcjRNQXFwWX_SUIF8dmktp-5q-NFvQgJnDHoffF80meB8fhX5cobI/s400/Fallas+2011.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Taken during Fallas 2011, here in Valencia, near Plaza del Ayuntamianto. Fallas is a weeks-long celebration that has been growing in popularity for years. The streets, as you can see, are packed with people.</div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-74990259349334166982011-03-27T12:49:00.010+02:002011-03-28T01:03:17.018+02:00Meanwhile at TWC - Free Comics Review 03/23/11<div style="text-align: justify;">Typical. The Friday where I actually decide to go out somewhere with some school friends, the comic companies decided to go all out and upload six free comics for me to review. There were some good ones, and some not so good. Click here to see <a href="http://www.weeklycrisis.com/2011/03/free-comics-review-for-032311.html"><b>the reviews</b></a>, which include:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Captain America: The Chosen #1</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Catwoman #1</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Flash #1</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ghost Rider #1</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pray for Death #1</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ultimate Fantastic Four #1</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm betting that next week I'll only have one or two comics to review. Such is how these things usually work. </div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-30848936905536746932011-03-22T20:05:00.001+01:002011-03-23T00:15:11.574+01:00Meanwhile at TWC - Batman & Robin Creative TeamI've mentioned it before, but these are my favorite pieces to write. Over at The Weekly Crisis, I put together a piece on the switches and changes that have affected the <a href="http://www.weeklycrisis.com/2011/03/whatever-happened-to-batman-robin.html"><b>Batman & Robin title</b></a>. I don't have any concrete answers, but I do propose several explanations and lay out the whole story as it happened (or at least how the readers saw it unfold). Here's a short excerpt: <br />
<blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Finally, with Batman & Robin #20, the creative team of Tomasi and Gleason started telling their tale. Surely, with months of preparation and hype behind it, it would be a long run by the two of them.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>As it turns out, this isn’t the case at all. Issue #22 is going to be their last for at least three other months.</blockquote>I've mentioned it before, but these are my favorite pieces to write. It's information that is all out in the open, but that must be pieced together to get the full picture.Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-49817694454441474732011-03-21T22:00:00.000+01:002011-03-22T00:53:06.344+01:00Photo: Final Day of Class<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/1818/img1801cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/1818/img1801cropped.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Taken on the final day of our course, after we had completely finished. We decided to go out to to eat to a restaurant to celebrate that we survived the course. From left to right: Richard, Edna, Me, Seámas (our tutor), Sandi, and Tania. </div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-36121582020144878552011-03-20T01:04:00.000+01:002011-03-22T00:48:38.943+01:00Never Lived in a War Zone (Fallas Week)<div style="text-align: justify;">...but if I had to guess, I would say that Fallas week here in Valencia is very similar to what living in a war zone is like. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">For those of you that don't know, Fallas is a week-long celebration/holiday of the Valencia region. It actually goes on for longer than that, and people actually prepare for it for the whole year, but there is one key week in March where the whole city grinds to a halt and stops functioning. It culminates on March 19th, when everything ends. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">During that week, stores operate under different hours, roads are closed, public transportation barely works, trash accumulates in the street, and there's people literally everywhere. And that's without even mentioning the fireworks. It gets so bad that some long-time residents just up and leave to another city during that week. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">You can hear the fireworks throughout the whole day. There are organized ones every day at 2 PM for almost a whole month, and the week before, there's an extra set at 1 AM (yes, AM) every night. And the people participate too. It's nigh-impossible to go to any of the local parks without running into a group of kids throwing fire crackers, or walking down the street without hearing explosions in the distance. At night, sleeping can become a real challenge, with loud booms echoing in the distance. We are actually pretty lucky because we don't live close to a Casal Fallero, which is where people concentrate to celebrate. Around those, the parties and fireworks usually last through the whole night, and sleeping soundly would not be an option at all. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Despite how horrible I make it sound, it can be entertaining. On Friday, me and my wife went to see the monuments that people build for this celebration. They are wonderful and humonguous sculptures (photos coming soon) that are peppered throughout the city. You just have to be patient if you want to, you know, go outside at all during Fallas week. </div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-23973021925652263782011-03-19T17:00:00.001+01:002011-03-21T00:54:18.908+01:00Meanwhile at ThoughtBalloons - Blue Beetle<div style="text-align: justify;">It was my week to choose a character for Thought Balloons, and I decided to go with <a href="http://www.thought-balloons.com/2011/03/why-blue-beetle-jaime-reyes.html"><b>Jaime Reyes</b></a>, the current Blue Beetle. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I was actually quite stumped in what to do with him. I normally pick a character based on a story I already have in mind (just to make things easier), but the character I wanted to choose was a Marvel one, and we had a long string of Marvel characters, so I wanted to break it up a bit. It also came at a time when it seemed like Blue Beetle had died (he got better). However, I still managed to make a short and fun story entitled "<a href="http://www.thought-balloons.com/2011/03/blue-beetle-world-is-yours-matt-duarte.html"><b>The World is Yours?</b></a>", in which Paco finally gets to play with the armor. Kind of. Read on.</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">BLUE BEETLE: It says that it can “Provide supplemental temporary armory” for you.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">PACO: What does that mean? What kind of weapon?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">SCARAB: (unintelligible sounds)</div></blockquote>Let me know what you think!Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-57815838555845672032011-03-18T17:00:00.003+01:002011-03-20T00:28:43.779+01:00Meanwhile at TWC: Free Comics 02/16/11<div style="text-align: justify;">Another thing I am proud of is that during my course I managed to stay up to date with my Free Comics Review column, with only some minimum delays in the process. This was partly caused by the fact that companies went all out during those weeks, uploading a LOAD of free comics. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now that I have all the time in the world to write these reviews? They go ahead and upload only two free comics for me to review. What the hell?! And on top of that, I had already reviewed one of them. <a href="http://www.weeklycrisis.com/2011/03/free-comics-review-for-031611.html"><b>Click here </b></a>to see them. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cable #1</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Wolverine #50</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And to make matters worse, the one comic I had to review was terrible. Let's hope next week is better. </div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-44405232493151360572011-03-17T12:19:00.000+01:002011-03-18T12:20:04.740+01:00Meanwhile at ThoughtBalloons - Venom & Moon KnightI actually managed to stay almost up to date with Thought Balloons. I say almost because I missed one of the entries, for Venom. However, I was determined to make up for it and catch up with the rest of my fellow ThoughtBallooners. I ended up coming up with a script that connected into this week's character, Moon Knight.<br />
<br />
Read the first part of <a href="http://www.thought-balloons.com/2011/03/venom-war-at-home-part-1-matt-duarte.html"><b>The War at Home</b></a> here, which includes this neat scene...<br />
<br />
<blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Description: Venom is jumping out of the airplane, falling through the night sky. An uneasy full moon shines in the background.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">VENOM: What’s the deal, control? I normally know who I’m going after way before I’m free-falling off a plane.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">CONTROL (through comm): We know, Venom. The general has been...unusually quiet about this whole enterprise. Anyway, target location should be in sight by now.</div></blockquote><br />
And the <a href="http://www.thought-balloons.com/2011/03/moon-knight-war-at-home-part-2-matt.html"><b>second part</b></a> here. Which brought it all home.<br />
<br />
<blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Description: Moon Knight is now standing over the badly wounded (but still alive) body of Flash Thompson. His missing legs are clearly visible and he is making an effort of staying conscious.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">MOON KNIGHT: You had lost everything, your career, your love, your... legs. You accepted an entity into your body that promised to give it all back to you. And it was changing you for the worse.</div></blockquote><br />
I am actually quite happy with how this turned out, and I have a full story behind the revelations here.Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-68801062954046634502011-03-16T17:00:00.013+01:002011-03-17T16:59:39.446+01:00CV Photo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN5ksQ3qzi5XwLuhfm0gUaw00c_F6MtaKuIiNbcJMEYjAKVPmjcjuguQNg34Josiss8QOAjpBGvOQu4t3VPfoFRAVC1PwsMkwp7QyeoBoJ1ADjORcnKtRj4JJ6Nlj7wYXemvLU83QMK44/s1600/CV+Photo+Big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN5ksQ3qzi5XwLuhfm0gUaw00c_F6MtaKuIiNbcJMEYjAKVPmjcjuguQNg34Josiss8QOAjpBGvOQu4t3VPfoFRAVC1PwsMkwp7QyeoBoJ1ADjORcnKtRj4JJ6Nlj7wYXemvLU83QMK44/s400/CV+Photo+Big.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now that I've finished the course, it meant that I had to update my CV. I hadn't done this in almost two years, so the photo I had there was outdated, and therefore I needed a new one. I'm not a very photogenic person, and getting a photo of me with both my eyes open is a quest harder than finding a photo Elvis and Bifgoot riding the Loch Ness monster like a surfboard on the outskirts of the city of Atlantis (I'm only slightly exaggerating). The above is as close as it gets, which had to be taken without flash because otherwise I just naturally close my eyes. </div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-9656030955615661502011-03-15T16:41:00.000+01:002011-03-15T16:41:58.932+01:00Radio Silence is Over<div style="text-align: justify;">I apologize for the lack of posts here in the past month. If you have been following me on Twitter, you might already know that I was doing an intensive course that ate up just about every bit of my free time. I still somehow managed to do some posts here and there in The Weekly Crisis and for Thoughtballoons, but not much else. With the course now over, posts here in my personal blog should resume as normal. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">On related news, I am now officially a CELTA-Qualified teacher of English as a Second Language. From now on, I shall only be addressed as "Teacher Duarte", "Professor Matt", or "Mr. D". Please keep this in mind whenever you try to contact me. </div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-17905494857713361942011-02-11T23:59:00.000+01:002011-02-13T15:58:09.443+01:00Meanwhile at TWC - Free Comics 02/09/11<div style="text-align: justify;">One day, companies will stop uploading great comics for free on their app, but until then, I get to review them. This week around was another wave of good comics, including on my favorite issues ever. The comics I <a href="http://www.weeklycrisis.com/2011/02/free-comics-review-for-020911.html"><b>reviewed</b></a> were...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Captain America: First Vengeance #1</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Devil's Wake #1</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thor: Blood Oath #1</div><div style="text-align: justify;">X-Factor #13</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So head over there and check them out. </div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-57037425991428631142011-02-10T23:59:00.000+01:002011-02-11T19:28:58.174+01:00Meanwhile at ThoughtBalloons - Batgirl<div style="text-align: justify;">This was one of those weeks where I barely know the character outside of the most superficial sense. Haven't read her current series at all, I think I've read some forgettable appearances of her as Spoiler, and pretty much it. So this week was Stephanie Brown's turn, a.k.a. Batgirl. While doing some research, I came across a story point that interested me, and extrapolated it to an idea I already had (but thought was not good enough). The result? A story called "<a href="http://www.thought-balloons.com/2011/02/batgirl-all-in-family-matt-duarte.html"><b>All in the Family</b></a>"...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">STEPHANIE: How DID you find me anyway? Even *I* didn’t know who you were.<br />
CHARACTER: You have to thank my grandfather for that.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"> And to be honest, I'm actually pretty happy about. And I only used four panels, which is always a plus, I think. <br />
</div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-5572576765024265152011-02-09T23:59:00.026+01:002011-02-11T19:14:09.223+01:00Pollution<div style="text-align: justify;">For the past week or, a strange set of climatological circumstances has settled on top of Spain. High humidity with no rain, almost no wind, and clear skies with mild temperatures (and I believe low pressure, but don't quote me on that). However, this has brought about a curious side effect, one that has been on the news quite a lot the last couple of days. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">You see, because of the weather conditions, the pollution caused by cars, factories and all other type of urban sources has NOT been dissipating. Quite the contrary, it has been accumulating for over a week, and in cities like Barcelona and, more importantly, Madrid, the situation has been pretty extreme. Video footage from outside the cities show a clear cover of smog all around and through them. Warnings were issued for people with health conditions, and all that. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I live in Valencia, which is a much smaller city by comparison (population around 1 and a half million), and I thought it wouldn't affect me much. However, just the other day when I went to walk my dog at night, I started to notice it. There was a very thick fog that wouldn't let you see very far, more so than normal, and a distinctive ashy smell in the air. At least here and in Barcelona, the cities are right next to the sea, which I can imagine plays a role in dissipating all this, but I can imagine it's much worse in Madrid. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the end, though, this smog cloud has a silver lining. It seems that some of the bigger cities are going to start implementing some restrictions to curb down the pollution. Still too early for any results, but in the long run this is probably going to raise awareness and public perception towards the issue. </div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-54129849800805582712011-02-08T23:59:00.000+01:002011-02-09T00:00:50.441+01:00Crunch Time!<div style="text-align: justify;">I have less than I week until my course starts, and that means it's crunch time for me. I am finishing getting ready with my pre-courses studies, which involve reading Learning Teaching, a book on teaching techniques, as well as some self-imposed grammar work. I'm almost done with the grammar book (I predict that I will definitely be finished by Friday) and I finished the other book weeks ago, though now I'm re-reading it some parts of it to give myself a refresher. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">My course starts on Monday, and I honestly don't know what to expect. I decided to prepare myself as much as possible, since I will probably have a handicap compared with everyone else (in the fact that everyone else in the class will probably be native to the United Kingdom). Even then, I will probably have to work twice as hard as everyone else to keep and catch up, but what's life without a few challenges, am I right? (the bravado is probably concealing the fact that inside, I am nervously trembling in fear and/or anticipation)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">As if I didn't have enough going on, I'm probably about 80% done with my campaign on Dragon Age: Origins. I want to finish it before I start school, since I know I likely won't be able to play while I'm busy with course and homework. I've tried to limit myself to only a couple of hours per day, so I don't think I'll be finishing before Monday. Damn priorities and acting like a responsible adult...</div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-36800064236070784642011-02-07T17:50:00.000+01:002011-02-08T17:51:15.935+01:00Photo: Aboard Tour Bus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnsv2R0iZqGi5wPajCmicgyzpr17FU9u1IiYlYao_oCPQ-sOhtQavwCoGqicU_x-5lwNVBsJ9EEgaUPZuXFVFvpJbllZUrMglp4c7m196ftBNZIiCyb6EafVkindx0oRyEhwo8dQVtYNg/s1600/Resize+P1050408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnsv2R0iZqGi5wPajCmicgyzpr17FU9u1IiYlYao_oCPQ-sOhtQavwCoGqicU_x-5lwNVBsJ9EEgaUPZuXFVFvpJbllZUrMglp4c7m196ftBNZIiCyb6EafVkindx0oRyEhwo8dQVtYNg/s400/Resize+P1050408.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>My wife Janett filming videos from the second floor of a tourist bus in London.<br />
<br />
(I bet she is going to say that she doesn't like how she came out in this photo)Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-3306467335285349882011-02-06T23:59:00.019+01:002011-02-07T23:49:25.396+01:00Kurt Busiek is a Genius<div style="text-align: justify;">In other occasions, I had heard about Kurt Busiek's fabled encyclopedic knowledge of Marvel continuity. The other day, I got to experience it first hand. The writer of titles like Avengers, Marvels, and his own Astro City must have the memory of an elephant. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I don't remember how, but I sent Busiek a message via Twitter about Spanish in comics. Earlier that day, I had read an issue of Thor were he passed over Mexico, and there were some funny scenes with the translation being screwed up. Almost instantly, he sent a reply (which is rare in of itself on creators, most of them just ignore you) and not only he knew what I was talking about, he knew specifically what issue and what scene I was referring to! Keep in mind that this was a comic that was released in 1979!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">As if that wasn't impressive enough, he even remembered a specific quote from it, and he recited it verbatim. Holy shit! Later, he said he remembered the issue pretty clearly because he had read it for his research when he was writing the Avengers title... in 1998! That is more than 12 years ago, and he still remembered it clearly. I can barely remember what I read 12 minutes ago, let alone 12 months or 12 years ago. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Therefore, the only logical conclusion is that Kurt Busiek must be some kind of genius with photographic memory. Either that, or he went and looked up the issue in question while he was chatting with me. But I am leaning more on the first one. </div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-18796458406661115592011-02-05T17:57:00.000+01:002011-02-05T17:57:00.215+01:00Photo: Camden Town<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXNTKfvVbmoq0uZglPXfnc0sEKgaO7mlggognQ5EsxElbKNRfoy2-ImHjU9ZqvqSICRSMVqCeHTJXAJYgVMBTpqsdF3Yx68ngel6cvkFI2OiW5xem525uCZhpOGI7_t_SR_O4Qa__HxtY/s1600/Resize+IMG_0645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXNTKfvVbmoq0uZglPXfnc0sEKgaO7mlggognQ5EsxElbKNRfoy2-ImHjU9ZqvqSICRSMVqCeHTJXAJYgVMBTpqsdF3Yx68ngel6cvkFI2OiW5xem525uCZhpOGI7_t_SR_O4Qa__HxtY/s400/Resize+IMG_0645.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Near the entrance of Camden Lock. What a wonderfully strange place!Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-2616964346644191782011-02-04T23:59:00.000+01:002011-02-05T00:25:52.743+01:00Meanwhile at TWC - Free Comics 02/02/11<div style="text-align: justify;">These Free Comics column are going to be the death of me. I don't know where I got the bright idea to run them on Fridays, but they are a pain to write. I really need to start writing them sooner, or at least write it in parts. In any case, this week <a href="http://www.weeklycrisis.com/2011/02/free-comics-review-for-020211.html"><b>I reviewed</b></a>...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Black Panther #1</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Box 13 (Vol. 2) #10</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Celadore #1</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thor #283</div><div style="text-align: justify;">War Machine #6</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pretty good haul this week, with one exception. See if you can find which one it was! Check out the rest, and as always, I appreciate any comments! </div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-3113012580708087612011-02-03T11:59:00.014+01:002011-02-05T00:21:12.412+01:00Meanwhile at TWC - Roy Lichtenstein<div style="text-align: justify;">Over at The Weekly Crisis, I wrote a pretty long piece about Roy Lichtenstein, his contribution to pop art, and his connection with the world of comics. You would be surprised how many people don't realize how much he copied from actual comics, as opposed to just using the style. Check out <a href="http://www.weeklycrisis.com/2011/02/on-roy-lichtenstein-pop-art-comics.html"><b>what I had to say</b></a>...</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The modern equivalent of what Lichtenstein was doing in the 50’s and 60’s would be to run some other artist’s artwork through a Photoshop filter, hang it on a wall, and call it your own art. While there is something to be said for remixing, collages, and other forms of art that incorporate elements from other artists, I think we can all agree that such an argument is thrown out the window when 99% of the artwork is exactly like the original. </div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's a personal and passionate piece, and one I'm actually pretty happy about. I wish I could write more like it, to be honest. *sigh*</div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-47154363091588500492011-02-02T23:59:00.039+01:002011-02-03T23:48:36.564+01:00Matt vs. the Stereotypes<div style="text-align: justify;">I'm originally from Argentina. Not everyone might know this, but the stereotype of Argentinians is that we are loud mouthed, vain, full of ourselves, and that we think we are smarter and above everyone else. That's without even mentioning our speaking pattern, which means we pronounce everything with a hard "SH" sound (like in "cashier"). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I am probably as far from that stereotype as you can get, or at least I try to be. I try to be respectful, I try to be humble, and I even try to modulate my speaking, so people don't realize I'm from Argentina. I've got plenty of experience of this, when I was living in Miami, and half the population was from Central and South America. The moment they noticed you were from Argentina, the floodgates opened for all the jokes you can possibly imagine, to laugh at all the stereotypes of Argentinians, whether I had earned them or not (more often the case). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And you know what's the crazy thing? Even I will admit that the stereotypes are true. The majority of Argentinians I've met since I've left the country have fit comfortably into the stereotype. Not all of them, mind you, but enough for me to see why it was formed in the first place. Some of them are even part of my family, but they are not as bad as others. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">There was one memorable occasion, where my wife and me went to a family dinner (it was one of my cousin's birthday, I believe). She's already used to my family, and pretty used to my extended family. One of the invited people, however, was a friend of theirs, not a family member. This man was exactly how most people imagine the Argentinian stereotype to speak and act like. Loud, thinking he was the smartest person in the room, and spoke with an incredibly heavy accent. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">After the dinner was done, and we were heading home, my wife asked me what his deal was, why he was acting that way. You see, it was so incredibly over the top, that she thought he was putting on act, being incredibly <strike>obnoxious</strike> Argentinian on purpose. No way could someone be like that. And yet, he was. </div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-12751816768167340042011-02-01T18:05:00.000+01:002011-02-03T18:05:43.895+01:00Photo: Near Big Ben<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2pHObelF0IDPPQhlHrD9L572DfaXgtAEv9S4tipV3Hgs3YM9oDZ9NOzg67UDNGfDGri9yRj0EHO-h8ThuEUtveI3r6UEzv1C_UIKNgLHvDZN9gsOYzOWJOmapE6bBvE_rJetIjcA-0Rw/s1600/Resize+IMG_0573.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2pHObelF0IDPPQhlHrD9L572DfaXgtAEv9S4tipV3Hgs3YM9oDZ9NOzg67UDNGfDGri9yRj0EHO-h8ThuEUtveI3r6UEzv1C_UIKNgLHvDZN9gsOYzOWJOmapE6bBvE_rJetIjcA-0Rw/s640/Resize+IMG_0573.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">You know, I realized I never posted photos of my trip to London from way back in September. I think it's time to amend that! </div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-28059381282402938632011-01-31T23:59:00.008+01:002011-02-01T21:07:38.795+01:00Meanwhile at TWC - Hickman writing Icon Book?<div style="text-align: justify;">Through some digging from Hickman's Formspring and previous interviews, I was able to piece together a possible future book for Icon. Check out <a href="http://www.weeklycrisis.com/2011/01/jonathan-hickman-to-write-icon-book.html"><b>what I had to say</b></a>...</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Does this mean that the creator owned projects that Hickman was working in the past year will be released by Marvel through the Icon imprint? It would certainly be a smart move on their part, having all of a creator’s work under one roof. And now we also know that creators can release graphic novels through Icon, which is what Bendis is going to do with Takio.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"> I love doing these kind of articles. Although I have to say, I am somewhat surprised that it hasn't gotten more attention. Places like Robot 6 and Bleeding Cool usually link back to pieces like this. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-17587095958711816682011-01-30T23:59:00.001+01:002011-02-01T20:24:46.705+01:00Bike Patrol<div style="text-align: justify;">For all the bad stuff I say about living where I do, there's something that I am thoroughly impressed about. The city of Valencia, where I live, has a public system of bicycles.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yes, you read that right. Public transportation bikes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">You pay a minimal yearly fee (18 euros), and you can use public bicycles to get around the city. There are stations peppered throughout the whole city where you can park and take them out, and when you are done, you leave them at any other station. The whole thing, aside from the yearly fee, is FREE for people to use as many times as you want. The only catch is that you have limited time of 30 minutes to make your trip. If you run over that, they charge you 50 cents, or an extra euro if you go over the hour. This is easily avoidable because 1)Valencia is pretty small and you can get halfway across with those 30 minutes and 2) You can park the bicycle and take it out again for an extra 30 minutes as many times as you want.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The system was implemented earlier last year, and it was a HUGE success. The public bikes have become another common part of the urban landscape. I have been using it almost since the beginning, and I looked like a weirdo at first (people would stop me and ask me about the service while I was riding it) because no one else was using it. As the weeks and months passed, more and more people started joining up, and they are easy to spot because the bikes have a distinctive dark purple cover. Now, it is a common sight for me, when I ride a public bike, to see every person around me is also riding one.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's a relatively cheap, alternative transportation system. It's not without its faults (sometimes it's hard to find a bike or where to park it), but it has worked out incredibly well for this city. I know for a fact that more cities are beginning to implement it (when I visited London in September, I saw that they had them too), and I hope the idea really takes off. If you want to read more about the system here in Valencia, you can go to <a href="http://www.valenbisi.es/misc/maintenance.html"><b>their website</b></a>.</div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985512861259127548.post-60393010416290669092011-01-29T23:59:00.000+01:002011-01-29T23:59:44.542+01:00Meanwhile at ThoughtBalloons - Batman, Inc.<div style="text-align: justify;">This week was my turn to choose, and rather than a character, I went ahead and chose a concept: Batman, Inc. I think the writers will be able to turn in some fun concepts and it expands our pool a bit, by allowing us the possibility of creating new characters. For example, in my story <a href="http://www.thought-balloons.com/2011/01/batman-inc-tilting-at-windmills-matt.html"><b>Tilting at Windmills</b></a>, I created a new character: </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>BRUCE WAYNE: Hidalgo has proven more than capable of handling his region. </blockquote><blockquote>BRUCE: He’s young, idealistic, and impulsive but ready and eager to fight for the greater good. Does that remind you of anyone? </blockquote><blockquote>ALFRED: I could think of one or two men I have known that fit that archetype, yes.</blockquote><br />
Now I can sit back and enjoy the show. I really want to see what other people come up with this week. <br />
</div>Matt Duartehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07320627525337447814noreply@blogger.com0