Category: Features

Amish Otaku, Comics, Features

Caught My Eye: Dracula vs. King Arthur

Guest Post

If there is one comic that most influenced me over any others, then Dracula vs. King Arthur is it. I fully attribute my comic-buying decisions of the last two years to on this title. Before I met Christian at a small comic show in Dallas, I was curious about other comics published from outside the “Big 2” but I was afraid to dish out the money. I picked up issues 1 and 2 of Dracula vs. King Arthur and something changed in me. I saw for the first time that other types of stories were out there, and they were good!

Dracula vs. King Arthur was written by two brothers, Adam and Christian Beranek. They started the small press publishing company Silent Devil to help up-and-coming creators have an avenue to tell interesting and different stories. Dracula vs. King Arthur falls squarely in this category. At first glance, it sounds like it would be super-cheesy, but story is done very well. That’s what surprised me the most when I read it. I figured I was in for some over the top mash-up story, but it turned out to be an intriguing concept. It’s a bit of a mixture between the horror and history genres, but it doesn’t come across as hokey or absurd. Continue reading “Caught My Eye: Dracula vs. King Arthur”

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Amish Otaku, Comics, Features, Viper

Caught My Eye: A Dummy’s Guide to Danger: Lost at Sea

Guest Post

I was recently given the opportunity to do an advance review of A Dummy’s guide to Danger: Lost at Sea, which is a comic book that I was already jazzed to read. I don’t normally like to review books that are offered to me, but I had a good feeling about this one since I just reviewed the mini series that this one spins out of. My initial feelings regarding this comic were well founded and I am glad I jumped at the chance to read it so I could report back to my faithful readers the good news. This one is for you Mom.

A Dummy’s guide to Danger: Lost at Sea is the sequel to a mini series that was titled A Dummy’s guide to Danger. First off, don’t let the fact that it is a sequel stop you from checking this title out. Very little from the first series is referenced and everything you need to know is explained in the opening scenes of this book. I was interested in seeing how Jason M. Burns was going to kick this series off for new readers and I am happy to say he did it well. For all purposes, you could read this series and never know that there was a previous mini series. That is something that all writers should strive for since you never want to leave your readers out in the cold. Continue reading “Caught My Eye: A Dummy’s Guide to Danger: Lost at Sea”

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Amish Otaku, Comics, Features, Interviews, Viper

Interview: Joe Eisma on Dummy’s Guide to Danger vol 2

I recently spoke with Joe Eisma, the artist on the upcoming comic A Dummy’s Guide to Danger: Lost at Sea. In this interview, we discuss everything from how he got into comics to details regarding the new miniseries from Viper Comics.

Clint Page: You have a pretty interesting career up to this point. So far, you’ve worked in TV, video games and now comics. What’s it like to be the envy of just about every male from the age of 12 to 35?

Joe Eisma: I also worked in the newspaper industry for awhile! You could say I have career ADD. I wouldn’t necessarily think I’m the envy of most people – I have my own share of stresses and commitments that go along with my work, just like in any job. Doing work in the creative industries that I’ve worked in has been difficult, with a lot of passionate personalities, deadlines and busy schedules, but overall it’s been the most rewarding. And I’m at the point now where I can work from home in my pajamas if I want. Continue reading “Interview: Joe Eisma on Dummy’s Guide to Danger vol 2”

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Amish Otaku, Comics, Features, Viper

Caught My Eye: A Dummy’s Guide to Danger Volume 1

Guest Post

For the most part, every single idea that you can think of has already been thought of by someone else. Sadly, that’s just the way it is. So what else is left? Well, you can take a traditional idea and think of a hook that hasn’t been thought of yet and run with it. A Dummy’s Guide to Danger does just that, and does it well.

A Dummy’s Guide to Danger is a miniseries written by Jason M. Burns, drawn by Ron Chan, and published by small-press publisher Viper Comics. I recently picked up this series in its newly collected digest form at Wizard World Texas at the insistence of a good friend of mine, Joe Eisma (who happens to be drawing this title’s sequel.) The trade dress of the digest caught my eye and since Joe has a similar taste in comics as me, I decided to give it a try.

At the core of A Dummy’s Guide to Danger, you have a murder/mystery comic with a pinch of gore and a dash of comedy. Basically the makings of a fun guy movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is intended to entertain versus enlighten. The basic plot of this series follows a private investigator named Alan Sirois and his partner Mr. Bloomberg as they attempt to track down a gruesome killer by the name of the Flesh Collector. The catch is that Alan’s partner is not actually alive and is, in fact, a ventriloquist’s dummy. Now you see what I was referring to when I mentioned the hook! Continue reading “Caught My Eye: A Dummy’s Guide to Danger Volume 1”

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Amish Otaku, Convention Coverage, Features

Convention Coverage: MAGFest 6

With over 72 straight hours of events, concerts and games, it’s hart to know exactly where to start when talking about MAGFest. On the surface, the Music and Gaming Festival is just a small (around 1000 attendees) video game convention on the east coast. But if you actually dive below the surface and attend one of these annual events, the reality is so much more than that.

The sixth MAGFest, or M6, began on Thursday, January 3, 2008. At this early stage of the weekend, you can only get an idea of what’s about to happen over the next two and a half days. Only half of the attendees have arrived and not everything is completely set up. By about 1 o’clock Friday morning, things start to come together and the festival picks up the pace it will maintain until Sunday afternoon: crazy. Continue reading “Convention Coverage: MAGFest 6”

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Amish Otaku, Comics, Features, Image

Caught My Eye: Firebreather

Guest Post

With this review, you may notice a little pattern with the comics that catch my eye. I suffer from a little-known affliction called “glutton for good comics.” Once I find a topic or creator that interests me, I can’t move on to another until that hunger is satisfied. The current creator that has me occupied is Phil Hester.

In my last review, I checked out the comic Thirteen Steps, written by Phil Hester and Chuck Satterlee. That introduced me to Hester’s writing ability, where before I had only known his art. I was pretty impressed with the different type of story it was and wanted to see what else he had up his sleeve. I went to Wizard World Texas in November and saw that he had a book called Firebreather, and I couldn’t wait to check it out.

Firebreather is a creator-owned book that Phil Hester and Andy Kuhn worked on together. Until I discovered this series, Andy Kuhn wasn’t really known to me (but I’m not the most knowledgeable on various creators yet). I will say that I’ll be following him a little more now since I’m a fan of the style he draws in. If you’re not familiar with his work, his most recent projects include Blue Beetle, Brit, Hulk and Power Pack, and Marvel Team Up. What I like about his style, and others who draw similarly, is that it’s a cartoony look that is not overly realistic, but at the same time not kid stuff either. I really don’t have the comic technical vocabulary to describe it, but it’s my favorite type of comic art. Continue reading “Caught My Eye: Firebreather”

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Amish Otaku, Features, Q-Treats

Q-Treats 2: Italian Chicken Rolls

Ah yes… It’s been a while since the first Q-Treats. To be honest, I had about three dishes documented visually and ready to write articles on. However, an upgrade to the newest version of OSX and somehow messing up my backups left me without those pictures as well as a few other things. Ah, well, such is life in geekdom.

However, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been thinking up things to cook… In fact, this will be the first of three dishes I’ll be bringing you in the next couple of weeks. This recipe was an experiment for dinner a few days ago and it turned out pretty well.

Oh, and it’s pretty easy! There’s a little bit of work involved, but you’re not going to spend hours in the kitchen over this one. Continue reading “Q-Treats 2: Italian Chicken Rolls”

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Amish Otaku, Eastern Culture, Features

What’s with Pocky?

I’m sure, if you’re reading Amish Otaku, you already know what Pocky is. If not, let me give you a quick rundown. Pocky is a thin breadstick dipped in chocolate or some other flavor of melty goodness (like strawberry, “almond crush” or vanilla crème) and then packaged in bundles and sold for exorbitant amounts of money at anime and gaming conventions. And that’s usually where the knowledge of Pocky ends. Hah! But not today, my friends! Continue reading “What’s with Pocky?”

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Amish Otaku, Convention Coverage, Features

Con Report: Tandokucon 2007

Guest Post

As the latest addition to the “major” anime convention schedule for the East Coast, the first Tandokucon took place in the Pennsylvania Convention Center on the weekend of November 9-12, 2007. The convention staff had hoped to take the Philadelphia anime community by storm with an ambitious approach to making a convention that would be on the same scale as many of the well-established events in the region. That approach played no small part in making it one of the most controversial conventions in recent memory as well.

Almost all anime conventions tend to have rocky starts. The first year, in particular, is the most difficult, as often the people involved have little to no experience in planning such an event, a scarcity of resources with which to work and a general lack of understanding precisely what needs to be done and how to go about doing it. In this, Tandokucon was no exception, as it suffered from a host of issues pertaining to planning, location, timing, advertising and programming.

Unfortunately, some of the problems Tandokucon ran into came up long before the convention even took place. These were doubly unfortunate, as many of them were entirely avoidable and likely arose from misunderstandings as much as anything else. Continue reading “Con Report: Tandokucon 2007”

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Amish Otaku, Convention Coverage, Features

Convention Coverage: Diplocon 2007

Guest Post

Although the existence of such fine information outlets as Amish Otaku belie the existence of a not-quite-underground network of gamers, anime-addicts and DDR freaks in Lancaster, PA, it’s not entirely unfair to say this network is rarely used to its full potential. This isn’t to say that the otaku of Lancaster go without their respective fandoms most of the time, but rather that the various pockets of these oft-linked fandoms remain largely distinct for the majority of the year.

Then, of course, there is Diplocon (the most recent instance of which was on Friday-Sunday morning, November 2-4). Continue reading “Convention Coverage: Diplocon 2007”

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