Basurake

So, sorry that took so long. That page has been done for a while, but I’ve been so busy working on Heckbringers that I hadn’t the time to post it. Shrimpy’s in for it now, seeing as Molly doesn’t seem like the type to take a little boy’s crap lightly. We’ll see what nastiness is in store for Shrimpson soon enough…

Sooooo…. VIDEO GAME TALK TIME! First off, Volume 3 of Life Meter is apparently on sale now at www.lifemetercomics.com, which is cool I guess. I don’t have a copy, but a friend of mine ordered one, and although it took its sweet time getting to him, he said it is quite nice! I’m not trying to shove this down anybody’s throats, but if you like the whole whimsical video game comic thing, or just like indie comics in general, check it out. Secondly, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is pretty awesome. So is Red Steel 2, as a matter of fact. I don’t remember if I talked about it at all when it came out, but I highly recommend it. I’m not gonna go all “this is the best game ever” or “its the second coming of Christ in video game form” or any of that nonsense, but I will say that it is a very rewarding action game that I personally had a blast playing.

OTHER STUFF! Dragon Ball Kai is on Nicktoons now, mysteriously renamed Dragon Ball Z Kai. I think alot of stupid people are probably lamenting this fact, but honestly I think its great. Funimation has really give DBZ a great localization, the one it deserved all along. The OST appears to be intact, the dub is pretty accurate from what I can tell, and the opening and ending, although a little hammy, sound pretty cool translated. There seems to be some minor censoring going on, probably due to Nicktoons, but its no worse than the original run of the show. I’m mostly excited at the prospect of a new generation coming to love what is really a classic series, as it makes me downright giddy to see my nephew watching Gohan kick Nappa into a mountain and loving it. Cartoon Network really dropped the ball by not picking this series up, I think.

As I said earlier, I’m hard at work on Heckbringers. The free comic book day promotional issue turned out pretty good, so I’m in full blast mode working on the full issue one. Hopefully that will be done before the end of June, but I guess we’ll wait and see.

THAT’S IT! Hopefully a new page next week!

New colored hotness for this week! Check out Molly in all her fishy goodness? Still hot? Not quite sure…

Every now and then, I draw throwaway characters that I can’t stand, and can’t wait to get rid of. Other times, I instantly fall in love. Unfortunately, this is one of those times, as all of Molly’s crew are simply adorable. Were this a life action program, I imagine they would be muppets.

Hey! I finally get to use the muppet tag again! Hooray!

Sorry about the super wait! Had various projects at my door that needed resolving, and so they were met with completitude. Anyway, here’s the first page of Episode 4: Aimlessly Adrift in a World of Infinite Blue! Like usual, the opening page is nothing but preachy nonsense, so tune in soon for some actual plot!

Also! Although this doesn’t have anything to do with Basurake, it IS worth noting that I am making my first attempt at a print comic! Heckbringers # 0 will be appearing in comic stores in the Philadelphia area for free comic book day! Check out Heckbringers on Facebook!

Well that word doesn’t really look like its spelled right, but whatever. I don’t have too much to show off for having been at this for a whole year, but for the sake of commemorating the event, I thought I’d post some neat bonus material over the next week or so until the next chapter is ready. These bits will hopefully remind everyone of what happened over the past year and get them up to speed wit the story. And if not, maybe it’ll motivate people to look back at the old pages and read again!

Anyway, not a whole lot else to say today. I got Cave Story for the Wii, which is pretty freaking awesome. I know its more or less the same as the freeware game that came out four years ago, but playing it on the big screen with a decent controller feels great, and considering this is one of the most fun games I’ve ever played, I don’t mind dropping twelve dollars. Here’s hoping more people give this wonderful game a chance!

Yup, that’s FINALLY the end of episode 3! Johnny’s dead! Or maybe not. We’ll see. ANYWAY, its been almost 7 months since I started this episode, and its clocked in at a hefty thirty one pages, making it the longest episode yet. Alot of that may be due to me adding in unnecessary elements, like the pool of violence and the Aku San Monji, but I feel like they contributed in their own little way. As the first of the standalone adventure chapters, I think it turned out pretty well. Of course, I’m determined to top it in every way in the next episode, so let’s all hope for the best!

Although I’m sure no one but me is keeping track, next Wednesday will actually mark the One Year Anniversary of this site! I’m planning some goodies to coincide with the event, so check back then for the celebration! Episode 4 will begin shortly, either next week or the week after depending on how I’m feeling. Overall, I’m very pleased with the comic so far, and I’ve gotten alot of great feedback over the past year. In this next year, I’d like to really bring more readers in and start doing alot more fun bonus stuff.

Well, that’s it I think. I hope everyone enjoyed this little romp through Zipang, and is looking forward to the next adventure! I sure am, cause I’m sick of drawing Zan Onigiri!

Well Johnny’s engaged the dragon god in a dialogue, now perhaps they can begin moving towards a peaceful resolution of their issues. See kids? Violence doesn’t ALWAYS solve problems!

Lot to talk about today! First off, with this chapter nearing its close, I’ve been thinking heartily about the next chapter. You’ll all be glad to know that I’m well into writing its fourth page! Isn’t that exciting!? In addition to writing the next episode, I’ve also been thinking of some neat bonus pages I could to to keep things spicy. I may begin posting end of episode summation pages, which sounds dumb on paper but in practice will be neat if I pull it off correctly. I can’t lie, I’m borrowing this idea from Kia Asamiya’s Steam Detectives, but flattery is the most sincere form of theft, right?

Okay, next up is some Castlevania goodness! The lost gem of the series, the Japan only PC-Engine title Dracula X: Chi no Rondo is out on the Wii’s Virtual Console! For anyone that didn’t feel like buying a PSP and slogging through Konami’s recent remake to get to the original version, this is great news! This game is considered to be among the best old school Castlevania games, and it really is just dripping with charm and detail. This one kinda slipped onto VC without much fanfare, possibly because the PSP release has made the original seem old hat, but the chance to play this previously unavailable game for nine dollars, on an actual TV screen is still exciting to me!

Next up Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom. Although I really enjoy the game, I have to say that I dislike the direction fighting games are taking. The emphasis on spamming cheap, unblockable super combos and the general necessity of absolutely lame tactics to play the game with any sort of proficiency is disheartening. He online component unfortunately only seems to serve as a window into how sad and pathetic the hardcore fighting game community has become. Shame. That said, the game is still a blast to play with friends when the focus is fun, not victory.

Well, that’s about it! With how much I talk about games here I might as well be running a different site altogether! Maybe next time we’ll discuss literature!

So Johnny’s big plan basically boils down to “SORRY DON’T BE MAD!” Remember when you were a kid, and you did something that you knew was a little bad, but that you didn’t think you’d get in THAT much trouble for? Remember the horror when you did get in trouble, and it was ALOT of trouble, like way more than you expected? Remember your parent or teacher asking firmly why you did what you did?

“I didn’t think I’d get in this much trouble.”

I know I’m not the only one this stuck with…

Johnny makes a choice… we’ll see if whether or not he gets to live with it! When jacked up violence jockies with swords the size of airplane wings can’t solve a problem, then what can!? I guess we’re gonna find out soon!

Finally got Shiren 3. Compared to the previous games, this one is supposed to be a bit more easy on players, but that certainly didn’t stop me from messing up and dying before even getting to Karakuri Mansion, the actual main dungeon of the game. I found myself alone on the 5th floor of Catfish’s Nest, having lost party members Shiren and Sensei to plot twists prior to entering the dungeon, starving from lack of riceballs, with the game threatening me for lingering on the floor for too long, pursued by freaking spear fish and ghosties, mysteriously missing my jar of holding that contained my Escape Scroll. Lots of herbs and two revivals later, my story ended quite literally on the stairs to the next floor, felled by three goddamn enemies. I discovered later that my Jar of Holding had been stolen by one of the enemies without my noticing… After some prep in one of the easier dungeons, I found my way back, re-equipped, regained Shiren and beat the freaking Catfish with relative ease. Still, this doesn’t bode well…

Watched a clip of God of War III recently, and decided that I hate the game more than I already thought I did. The sex mini game, which was already stupid in the first game, is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever witnessed in a video game. The attempt at sexuality only reveals the games lackluster character models and animation, the writing is worse than even the cheesiest porno parody, and they don’t even have the stones to show the actual act. Its good to see that in a supposedly mature game, we still can’t touch on the topic of sexuality as adults… the fact that anyone over the age of thirteen will play this game and not find it an insult to their intelligence is amazing. PANDER TO MY MASCULINE FANTASIES MORE, SONY!

Dragon God totally owns the faces of everyone. Not really a surprise, I hope. WHAT WILL JOHNNY DOOOOOO!?

So I’m pretty sure I talked about MegaMan 10 a little bit last time, but I’ve played more of it since so I’m going to talk a bit more. I love SheepMan. He’s freaking adorable. NitroMan is also very cool, though I didn’t feel that way until I actually fought him and saw his moves. He’s basically SUPER MetalMan, which is pretty awesome. ProtoMan mode is stupidly hard, but I knew that would be so. Looking forward to Bass mode!

Still didn’t pick up Shiren the Wanderer 3, but I’m gonna try to do so soon. DOesn’t realy matter though, since I’m sure I’ll never beat it anyway.