Monday's comic - Don't Ask

The New Stuff

Hey!

Great news... if you want to see this week's comic go to www.cartercomics.com !


I'm quite stoked to have the site FINALLY up and running. You can see a new
comic each monday, as well as all of my previous work.

There's even a store where you can buy your very own Robot! Vs. Ninja! gear. You can not resist.



For those that don't want any merchandise, you can click on any ads you see. 5,000 clicks pays me just as much as buying a mug!

A T-shirt would be slightly more.

I will be upgrading the site with a blog, a feed back box, and cosmetically. If you see anything buggy or broken, please let me know so I can fix it.

So maaaaybe 2005 is gonna be good. Not easy, but good.

Have a great week,

Jeff

Webcomics, short stories, and more @ cartercomics.com

It's ALIVE ! ALIIIVE !!!!

In the year 2005, my website www.cartercomics.com sprang to life!

I love the look of Blogger, and I am going to try to get it patched into my cartercomics site on aplus.net . Anyone know how to do that? I tried the help section but nothin' worked.

If you like original webcomics, robots, ninjas, or any combination thereof, RUN don't walk to cartercomics.com .

Pocky Archives

Here are the archives of all my Pocky Posts.
"Anata Mo Watashi Mo Pocky!"

• Ahem . I hereby declare Wednesday to be POCKY DAY !
  

Pocky, for those who don't know, are delightfully delicious
cookie sticks from Japan. They come in a mind boggling
array of flavors. They rock, and if you partake weekly
so will you.

Today's Comic link:

A Lesson Is Learned, But The Damage Is Irreversible .
Very odd, very deep. And, well, very odd.

Today's Game: Samurai Jack - Way Of The Warrior.

Enjoy all three, in any combination you see fit.

• I am having a hard time finding a great picture of Morning Musume, aka The Pocky Girls, but when I do I'll post it.
  
  In the meantime, check out this awesome Pocky commercial here ! Turn up the sound for the full effect.
  
  The tagline for the commercial is "Anata Mo Watashi Mo Pocky! ",
  which translates into "You and I are Pockys ! "
  (Thanks Jena !)
  
  Here's the main page for more Pocky commercials.
  
  
• Okay, as promised here's some pictures of The Pocky Girls, aka Morning Musume.
  
  
  

Morning Musume is a constantly expanding all girl pop group in Japan. Kinda like the Wu Tang Clan, minus Old Dirty Bastard.

In addition to doing commercials for Pocky, Morning Musume has even recorded a pocky song!

Go to this site and click on song #5 Yes! Pocky Girls (and then #9 in the pop up window).

• Happy Pocky Day!

Here are 3 different Pocky Quizzes.

Until Pockyology becomes a rigorously defined field of study, you are free to choose whichever results please you. Kinda like Astrology.

Click here to take the High School Pocky Quiz and find out what flavor of Pocky you are.

Apparently I am :

[c] sugardew

Here is another more general Pocky Quiz. This one says I'm Banana Pocky.

Hmm... this is a very short Pocky Quiz, that tells me I am...

"Sweet Milk Pocky! You're an elitist, since you're
not really suited to the American taste. You're
sweet, as your name implies, but sometimes you
do get a little haughty. "

Well, there you have it. All it takes is a little profiling for my sweeet, sweeet elitism to come out.

• Remember those crazy Pocky commercials I linked to a while back ?
  
  Dan's Horrendous Waste of Bandwidth has great explanations for all the crazy shennanigans.
  
  

Happy Pocky Day !

• Behold... Pocky Haiku.
  
  I am going to try my hand at some honest to goodness Haiku here. I haven't been able to incorporate a kigu (seasonal word) into any, but since these are all about Pocky Day, the time is pretty specific.
  
  here goes:
  

Chocolate Pocky
Full of such crispy goodness

Thank God it's wednesday

• 
  
  

Work week cleft in 'twain

I think we can make it through

It's time for Pocky

• 
  
  

Godzilla, Voltron,

Ninjas, Robots, and Pocky

Japan rocks my world

• ATTACK OF THE GIANT POCKY !

I am starting off my quest to try every kind of Pocky with a bang.

Giant Pocky scales quite nicely, providing all of the chocolatey goodness and pleasing crunch of the normal variety.

Another benefit: The giant pocky box makes me feel so small and dainty. It is bliss.

Giant Pocky, with regular sized Pocky and Lando Calrissian for scale.

On a scale of... um... Ninja Scroll, with Jubei being the best, I give Giant Pocky :

1. Jubei - Uber Ninja !
2. Genma - Immortal Ninja
3. Shogun of the Dark
4. Tessai - Rock Ninja
5. Yurimaro - Lightning Ninja
6. Shijima - Shadow Ninja
7. Benisato - Snake Ninja
8. Mushuro - Blind Ninja
9. Sakuro - Explosive Ninja
10. Oshizo - Wasp Ninja

• There are over 50 varieties of Pocky. I have decided to try them all.
  
  I could review one a week, but that would take me almost a year. So here's what I've had recently.
  
  
  Flava: Yogurt Pocky
  Notes: For a plain yogurt flavor it really tastes like lemons. Strangely similiar to Green Tea Pocky.
  Rating: 2 out of 10
  
  Flava: Green Tea
  Notes: Strange taste... vanilla with a tea aftertaste. My friends are split on whether it's good or bad.
  Rating: 3 out of 10
  
  Flava: Pocky G
  Notes: The G is for the hard, crunchy chocolate cookie (as opposed to the normal wheat cracker). Great texture, strong chocolate taste. There are other Pocky G flavors as well.
  Rating: 9 out of 10
  
  Flava: Reverse Pocky
  Notes: Bizarro Pocky ? Reverse Pocky has the cookie on the outside and the chocolate on the inside. The cookie is crisp and chocolate like the Pocky G. Addictive texture, very tasty.
  Rating: 9 out of 10
  
  That's this week's report. Every Pocky Day (Wednesday) I'll review more flavors.
  
  
• Snap into it! Snap into a... Pocky ?
  
  This week I'm celebrating Pocky Day with MEN'S POCKY.
  
  

Men's Pocky is made with bitter dark chocolate, and in my opinion it is even better than regular chocolate Pocky.

This site here has some fascinating theories on why they sell Men's Pocky, but not Women's Pocky.

Here's some more pictures of the Pocky Girls at the Glico site. It's good to be a man.

• Hulk crush puny almonds !
  
  
  
  FLAVA: Almond Crush Mild
  NOTES: Flavored coffee smell/taste. My coworkers all liked it, but it was not enough flavor for me. The packaging was very pretty, though.
  RATING: 3 out of 10
  
  
• Happy Pocky Day !
  
  
  
  Flava: Chocolate Strawberry Decorer (Decoration Cake)
  Notes: Very nice looking, and smelled wonderful. They really taste like Captain Crunch Cereal Crunch Berries.
  Rating: 7 outta 10
  
  
  Flava:Decorer Chocolat de Caramel (Caramel and Chocolate decoration cake)
  Notes: Tastes like a Mocha Frappachino with a shot of caramel. Yum!
  Rating: 8.5 out of 10
  
  
  
  Flava: Banana Pocky
  Notes: Not just a novelty, actually pretty tasty. Love the monkeys on the box.
  Rating: 7 out of 10
  
  
• Happy Pocky Day !
  
  
  
  
  Flava: Pocky Chocolate Crushed Almond Honey White
  Notes: I think the chocolate is "white chocolate"...maybe with honey ? I'm not sure how to compare this with Crushed Almond Mild, other than this tastes less like flavored coffee. Not bad, not great.
  Rating: 5 out of 10
  
  Bonus Link: Listen to the Morphine song HONEY WHITE here and read the lyrics HERE.
  
  Devil made of Honey !
  
  
  Webcomics, short stories, and more @ cartercomics.com

Flava: Reverse White
Notes: Reverse white was okay, it kinda tasted like a lite version of an oreo-cookie. I think I am biased against it because the Reverse chocolate is one of my favorites.
Rating: 6 outta 10

The Strawberry Pocky Conundrum

Strawberry pocky is definitely going to be one of the speed bumps on my Pocky Quest. Most of the flavors and boxes are different enough that I can tell them apart and mark them off my list regardless of whether the box is described in Japanese or English.

But there are many kinds of strawberry.

Today I had some kind of strawberry, but I'm not sure which one.

It definitely had strawberry chunks - making it Tsubutsubu Ichigo (crushed strawberry).

The box I had was white with the strawberry chunks on the pocky.

It looks like box #1, but it is white. Box #2 has 40% more bits, and box #3 has 50% more.

Oddly, the inner package doesn't even match the inner package shown on the back of the box.

I know I'm obsessing, but I need to focus if I am to sample every type of Pocky known to man.

Flava: Strawberry bits (?)
Notes: Better than the plain strawberry. Extremely fragrant.
Rating: 6 outta 10.

I'll get to the bottom of this mystery. Happy Pocky Day.

Flava: Choco Banana
Notes: Not very chocolatey, but the overall effect is smoother than plain banana.
Rating: 7 out of 10.



Flava: Caramel
Notes: Japanese caramel has more of a lemon cream/yogurt taste, and this pocky tasted like "lemon cooler" cookies. If they concentrated on making lemon cooler pocky that would be great.
Rating: 6 out of 10



Flava: Coconut Chocolate
Notes: Definitely one of the nicest Pocky boxes I've seen
Rating: 6 out of 10 (I don't like coconut, but it's a well made pocky)



Flava: Lemon Cheesecake
Notes: In the Caramel Pocky review, I compared the flavor to lemon cooler cookies. This made me wish for Lemon Cooler Pocky, and the Lemon Cheesecake is pretty darned close (but without that white powdery stuff)
Rating: 10 out of 10 !

Pocky Day Link: This gallery has some neat pics of the Pocky Watch and Pocky Vending machines!

Flavor: Azuki
Notes: Azuki is a 'sweet red bean paste'. A traditional japanese treat, it shows up in cookies, ice cream, etc. An azuki loving friend of mine was excited to try them, but says that they don't really taste like azuki. No one else was able to place the flavors either - guesses ranged from 'Fajitas' to 'Burnt cinnamon toast crunch'. While not bad, per se, it certainly wasn't very good.
Rating: 4 out of 10 (because I didn't like it, and because it didn't taste like the real deal)

Flavor: Whipped Chocolate Mousse
Notes: I am trying to close out the 'Mousse' category on my pocky list. I'd give my own notes, but this review I found at Animecastle is perfect:
"these pockys are so delicious, their flavor is to glory and its chocolate flavor is huge, 2 months ago my cousin went to study to japon, and when my prime return, brought 2 boxes of pocky flavor chocolate (small and giant) of strawberry, of mousse of chocolate and of almond, when it observes them seemed rare to me... but when I them probre... I could not stop to eat, if you have not tasted pockys..... you plows an idiot"
Rating: 8 out of 10

Pocky Day link: POCKY SHRINE , a terrific source of pocky info.

FLAVOR: Royal Milk Tea Mousse
NOTES: I've never had Royal Milk Tea, but this pocky was perfume-y and lemony, sorta bland
RATING: 5 out of 10

FLAVOR: Chocolate Banana Decorer
NOTES: Another strong entry in the Chocolate Banana Arena. It's a nice arena, you should visit.
RATING: 7 out of 10

Soylent Pocky is made of PEOPLE !

"Whatever happened to Pocky Day?," The rioters scream.

It seems I have exhausted the local supplies of Pocky variety.

I must now enter Phase II of my plan - Invade Japan.

I have made contact with a vendor in Japan and am awaiting exciting new kinds of Pocky.

In the meantime I will revisit some of my favorites and update the blog with other odd Pocky stuff, like the picture above.

Today's Pocky Link is a surprisingly indepth and ongoing review of Japanese snack foods (including Pocky) from Boonyverse.

Happy Pocky Day!

Today pocky link is Depths of Addiction: a ground breaking documentary series which reveals the tragic truth about Pocky Addiction.


Click on the banner to visit the site

• 
  FLAVOR: Reverse Strawberry PockyNOTES: Another tasty addition to the Reverse Pocky family! This Pocky is so rare I could not even find a picture of it online, so I had to take my own.RATING: 7 out of 10
  While looking for pictures of this online, I came across MORE NEW flavors of pocky! There seem to be 2 new kinds of Decorer (White Chocolate and Strawberry) and 2 new kinds of Mousse (Custard Fondu and Chocolat Chaud).

FLAVOR: Kurogoma Black Sesame
NOTES: This pocky has a strong and unusual aroma. I was a bit reluctant to try it, but it was really good! The closest I can describe the flavor is "Honey Nut Cheerios".
RATING: 6 out of 10



FLAVOR: Kinako Soybean Flour
NOTES: This is a subtle taste, and not one I am used to growing up in America. It tasted unlike any other pocky I've had, and more like a Pretz. It had a buttery cracker taste.
RATING: 6 out of 10

Movie Madness Archives

Welcome to the Movie Madness Archives

...Movie reviews, rants, comics and links...

"Emperor Penguins always travel single file, to hide their numbers."

My girlfriend and I were watching MARCH OF THE PENGUINS and she wondered allowed why the penguins travelled single file. I said "to hide their numbers" and laughed like an idiot.


Because she didn't get the reference but could see how much I had amused myself she deduced that it must be one of my 'Star Wars jokes'.

This is only noteworthy because I just turned 30, and am now officially a GEEK.

I will not be outgrowing this stuff anytime soon.

May the force be with you.
Check out the King Kong official website and look at the SPECIAL FEATURES in the right hand corner - there is all sorts of fun 'back story' about the Skull Island natives, ruins, monsters and this cool interactive time line on Historical and Mythological 'Lost Cities'.

Click on Skull Island to read 'forward story', about what happens when Carl Denham leads expeditions back to Skull Island.

• 
  
  
  
  The Hell Cycle from the upcoming GHOST RIDER movie. I am so stoked.
  
  Click here for a full sized pic at SUPER HERO HYPE.

• 
  
  
  
  WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW ---
  
  I was priviledged to see an advance screening of Star Wars III on Monday.
  
  I refrained from commenting until the movie officially opened so people could make up their own minds. This isn't a formal review, just my humble thoughts on the movie.
  
  Revenge of the Sith was too similar to Attack of the Clones. Better than Episode I, but far worse than any of the original trilogy.
  
  What I found so depressing was that, while Episode I and II may have been so-so, there was always a chance that George would get the magic back for part III, the movie with the most dramatic potential.
  
  Well, part III has come and gone. It's done. There will never be another star wars movie. EVER. This was as good as it is ever going to get (barring infinite special editions and redux versions from Lucas in the coming years).
  
  Every single scene with Padme and Anakin was painfully bad. Painfully...bad.
  
  And Anakin all sliced up and burnt didn't floor me, remember - when we saw STAR WARS as kids we saw the charred corpses of Luke's foster parents.
  
  Sure, there were lots of light saber fights. Good, right ? I don't know. The new light saber fights were so complicated and flashy that I couldn't really tell what was going on. That took some of the fun out it...these light saber fights weren't as accessible as the originals.
  
  Try recreating THESE fight scenes with a couple friends and some cardboard tubes.
  
  People say that the original trilogy was just as cheezy and over merchandised. Maybe I'm too nostalgiac.
  
  But consider this: We don't remember the original trilogy through the fog of time. We rewatch them constantly. They hold up. They are classics, with a mythic story independant of any one era.
  
  These movies, with their clumsy plots of trade embargoes and speeches about democracy will seem incredibly dated to the Bush Administration.
  
  And why did General Grievous sound so much like Triumph, the insult comic dog ?
  
  "Yyyeeeessss.... Count Dookoo taught me your Jedi arts.... FOR ME TO POOP ON !".
  
  UPDATE:
  
  Perhaps the most damning testimony in this whole debacle comes from Lucas himself.
  
  According to George Lucas' interview in Entertainment Weekly :
  (paraphrased)
  Lucas: "When I was creating the first 3 movies, I knew I had to have some backstory, so I brainstormed about 90 minutes worth of material. It was all character study and political expose, which I realize isn't the most thrilling cinema.
  
  For the prequels, I knew I wanted to leave all the good stuff for the 3rd, climactic episode. I put 20% in Episode I, another 20% of the story in Episode II, and the remaining 60% of the backstory in Episode III.
  
  Unfortunately, Episode III ran way too long, so I cut out everything that wasn't all about Anakin. "
  
  Right.
  
  So, if I understood the man correctly:
  
  EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE - 80% Filler (Jar Jar, Pod Race, Gungans) and 20% of a THIRTY YEAR OLD rough draft that George Lucas admits isn't very interesting as cinema.
  
  EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES- 80% Filler (Bad love story, wise cracking droid soldiers) and 20% of a THIRTY YEAR OLD rough draft that George Lucas admits isn't very interesting as cinema.
  
  EPISODE III : REVENGE OF THE SITH - The remaining 60% of the story, which was ruthlessly cut down for time.
  
  I'm sorry, but there is no way in hell any of the prequels could have been good.
  
  Case closed.
  
  
• I found this hideous piece of merchandising over at I-MOCKERY.
  
  I dare you to listen to THE STARWARS CHRISTMAS ALBUM.
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  This was a labor of love/hate. When I see the Darth Vader M&M I feel like the classic trilogy has been betrayed... and yet, I want to buy them.
  
  Lucas' Sith powers over my formative years were strong.
  I will eat his Vader M&Ms and weep bitterly for my lost childhood.
  
  
  So bitter... so chocolatey.
  
  
  
• Create-A-Cantina let you make simple STAR WARS Cantinas. Which is better than nothing.
  
  
  
  
• "That's a mighty good Gin n' Tonic, R2. Why don't you mix me up another ?"
  
  The new Special Edition of the Star Wars Gangsta Rap has much better animation.
  
  

Clizick hizere to see it, beyotch.

• 
  Behold ! The awesome power of The Star Wars Character Generator !
  
  
  

And the Wookie E-Card feature at the Starwars M&M's site translates your message into wookie roars !

Click here for a special Wookie message !

Send a wookie message back to me at Jeff@cartercomics.com
and I'll send you a
SUPER FANTASTIC BONUS PICTURE !

• 
  
  I saw Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy last night.
  
  It was really bizarre. Wonderfully bizarre, in fact.
  
  I have read and reread the books many times. I bought the horribly impossible computer game. My best friend and I made up a role playing game based on the books. I even memorized Vogon poetry.
  
  So I am a fan, to be sure. I'm also a fan of Mos Def and Sam Rockwell.
  Unfortunately, the movie didn't really work. It was entertaining, inventive, gorgeous, and bizarre... but not much of a story.
  
  Mos Def was vague as Ford Prefect... hard to understand and not very compelling.
  
  Sam Rockwell made some strong choices as Zaphod Beeblebrox, President of the Galaxy, but mostly he seemed interested in channeling George W. back in his cocaine heydays.
  
  The aliens from Jim Henson's company were absolutely stunning, and the production designer, costume designer, and set designer were the real stand out stars. The movie had a crazy Muppet being attacked by a Sony Aibo look to it.
  
  The narration and illustrations of the Hitchhiker's Guide book itself were definitely the best part of the movie.
  
  I recommend the movie, though maybe as a matinee. It's fearlessly weird and original, with the tone set wonderfully by the opening musical number. If nothing else, the movie should lead people to the original books.
  
  
• For everyone that hate's Lucas' constant revisions of the original
  STAR WARS Trilogy, here's a very funny comic by Sam Davatchi.
  
  Click here to view the comic.
  
  
  
  
  
• I like the Hulk's Blog, but Darth Vader's blog is really well written !
  
  
• You haven't seen a trailer for Star Wars: Episode III until you've seen it in Lego.
  
  CLICK HERE to check out Cartoon Network's awesome trailer for
  Revenge of the Brick.
  
  On the official Lego Star Wars site there is a gallery of employee creations. My favorite is this giant lego AT-AT.
  
  

Impressive. Most impressive.

• 
  
  
  I saw the box and just had to have it.
  
  
  Hmmm... crystal not included.
  
  
  "I see you have constructed yourself a new Spoonsaber.
  
  Your breakfast training is complete."
  
  
  Darkness shall never thwart my cereal again.
  
  
• Ah yes, Star Wars fans are great for lining up before the movie.... for me to poop on!
  
  Here is a very long, very funny, very sarcastic look at the fans lining up for Episode I as they deal with Triumph, the insult comic dog.
  
  Click here for the Milk & Cookies site with the video link.
  
  
  
• Kung Fu Hustle was awesome.
  
  Shaolin Soccer was fantastic, and if this film does well, hopefully we can look forward to more films from Stephen Chow.
  
  I can't wait to see what he'll come up with next.
  
  Sony's Kung Fu Hustle website has cute little games. I like the Axe Gang Rampage game. It's very simple, but you get to chuck axes at people.
  
  
• SIN CITY

My main fear was that SIN CITY was going to be like SKY CAPTAIN, a lifeless, stilted movie of bored and confused actors posing in front of green screens. SIN CITY was better than SKY CAPTAIN. It was a lot better than ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO. But was it a good movie? Not really. Could it have been great? I think so.

Kudos to Director Robert Rodriguez for breathing some life into the Sky Captain approach. I think he succeeds here where George Lucas fails. No doubt Rodriguez’s flexibility and energy on set was crucial, as well as his ability to adopt and adapt new filmmaking techniques.

They got the look down perfectly. Some of the casting choices were inspired. Elijah Wood was perfect as Kevin the Ninja Cannibal. Mickey Rourke was probably the only person I would want to see play Marv. Bruce Willis and Clive Owen did very well with the material. Rutger Hauer and Benicio Del Toro were likewise comfortable in familiar roles. The rest of the casting was distracting at best.

I have only read one Sin City graphic Novel – The Long Hard Good Bye. This story, featuring Marv, Kevin, and Goldie was the best part of the movie. This chapter deserved more breathing room and screen time. I think if this part was expanded and the last two parts were cut the movie would have been great.

I admire Rodriguez for making a bold, risky, and experimental project. I just wish he had taken more time with it. Even after my disappointment in the theater I still can’t stop thinking about the trailer. The trailer will stay in my mind, along with Marv and Kevin from the Graphic Novel, somewhere between memory and imagination. That’s the movie I want to see.

• CURSED
  

I have a curse.

I am cursed to see Werewolf movies. I like to think it's more of a gift, but for movies like CURSED it feels like damnation.

Brought to us by Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson, this movie was described by one reviewer as "A little bit of LOST BOYS and a whole lot of SCREAM !"

It was more like "A little bit of SCREAM 3 and a whole lot of DAWSON'S CREEK !"

This wolfman had no nards.

Had I known that the production has been stopped several times for rewrites, reshoots, and new special effects, and then recut from an R-Rating to PG-13, I probably would not have seen it in the first place ( but then again, it's my curse).

Something tells me the DVD is going to be very interesting, provided they spend any more money on this flick.

Here's a killer page for WEREWOLF the TV Show. This 1980's TV show from the producers of The A-TEAM had better effects, characters, and scares than Cursed.

And, for your viewing pleasure, here's Teen Wolf ready to shoot some hoops.

• BLADE III / ELEKTRA
  
  Grrr... I'm not sure if I like the recent trend in Comic book movies.
  
  Blade III was just, OFFENSIVELY bad. Like, the WB meets Super Soul Brother. Actually, that sounds kinda good. It wasn't good.
  
  Elektra, I must admit, had me pretty excited. Not just Ninjas. SUPER POWERED Ninjas. I was all psyched up for serious Naruto-style action. It was a lot more Gilmore Girls than Ninja Scroll.
  
  And now, Fantastic Four. I am not hopeful. I have always thought that Fantastic 4, although a good title, belongs in 2D. It's just a bit too cheezy for 3D. Or 5D, for that matter.
  
  Here's PennyArcade's take on it.