A Far Out Fantastic Site

(Photo removed for reasons of copyright.) Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons  I just got back from seeing The Dark Knight Rises . It was awesome! I'll admit that I liked the first and second of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy better, especially when I prefer the Joker much more over Bane since he's Batman's arch enemy and the most grotesquely psychotic of the Batman villains. Even so, out of all three of the movies, I like Batman Begins (the first in the trilogy) best simply because I'm one that believe's no sequel or remake can beat it's original (with very few exceptions). But Dark Knight Rises was good. It went further into Bruce Wayne's character and his interaction with the other characters, including Alfred the butler, Salina Kyle/the Cat Woman, and Commissioner Gordon. And Bane's character was chilling especially with that mouth mask that he wears which looks like a pair of an alien monster's jaws but is really an oxygen mask ...

As we all know, the premiere night (early Friday morning) of  The Dark Knight Rises  really was a dark night for an auditorium of movie viewers in Aurora, Colorado. My sympathies go out to the victims, including the wounded, and their families of the attack. Many headlines have been indicating the shootings as movie fantasy having become horrid reality. Sadly, those headlines are true. Along with this, there have been fears of people wanting to blame movies with violence such as "Dark Knight Rises" for these killings. But the majority of media hasn't even been likening the gunman to the star character of Christopher Nolan's third and supposedly final installment of his Batman movie series.The media's been likening the shooter to the Joker of the previous film. Batman has never even used a gun, perhaps save once or twice in all his crime fighting career. He has been known to prefer fighting without fire arms. Batman is a symbol of justice, though in a very grim w...

Photo Credit: Thayne Multimedia Productions/Wikimedia Commons It looks like a lot of you liked my final concept sketch for my book cover. Thanks, all of you who left me those great compliments/Facebook Likes. Now that I've finished the final concept sketch, my next step is to make the final drawing, complete in full colour and detail. I really want to get this book out and available to you. There may even be a contest where you can win a free book cover promotion poster for The Fool's Illusion ! So stay tuned! If you're in the Sacramento area, then I suggest you take a look at my " This Weekend " schedule of sci fi/fantasy events going on in the area this weekend of the 13th to the 15th.  Speaking about the 13th, "Are you superstitious" as Stevie Wonder sings in his famous song? I'm not superstitious, but this past Friday the 13th wasn't a very good day for me. And 13 is my lucky number! (Yeah, right. I just said I'm not superstitiou...

Here's my final concept sketch of the cover illustration for The Fool's Illusion with the lettering. Thanks to those people who gave me their feedback so far, much of it very positive (including Facebook likes). Feel free to give me feedback on this finished version in the comments box below. Again, never mind the Linux Penguin in the background, that's Larry Ewing's that accidently got in there. (Please see last week's post .) I'm aware of the title coming too close to the right edge. I will center it correctly on the final drawing, of course. I may move the byline (my name) closer to the title since it appears to be too isolated from it. Because the title looks to be drowned out a little by the illustration, I may enlarge it or may move it closer to the illustration. Again, please feel free to let me know what you think in the comments box. Please include any of your own personal suggestions you may have. It doesn't mean I'll use them, but I would...

Here's my concept sketch for my upcoming fiction collection, The Fool's Illusion , that I promised you centuries ago. It's only the illustration itself; I have not put the lettering in yet. I plan to have the lettering in by next weekend. You can see the title in its font, "Twisted Roman", by itself by clicking here . Let me know what you think of the illustration (or the font, or both) by leaving your comments in the comments box. Until next time . . . The Fool/magician will be coloured black and white (especially his costume) and the background will be solid black. I'm trying to give the surreal effect of a magic show (gone wrong?) performing in an eternal black space. The spotlights are to be the only signs of grounding (if any). The black background will be included behind the title and author's byline once the two are put in there. Never mind the penguin in the upper right hand corner. That's Larry Ewing's that got in there by mistake ...