KakuJomics

New games, old games, middle-aged games: I’ve “let’s played” ’em all! (not really)

Comic:
And so ends my longest story-arc yet. Another HUGE thanks to everyone for humoring me the deviation. It was originally 3 parts, but I ended up fleshing it out a little more. I’m not super satisfied with how it panned out, but the experience has inspired me to begin studying comics theory (it’s a real thing and is super. Duper. Serious >->). From even the 1.5 books I’ve already read, I’m learning about composition, pacing, clarity and the tools/techniques to convey these concepts. I’m actually learning about a great deal more than that, but the aforementioned things are areas I feel I’m especially lacking in. In the past, I’ve generally drawn comics by the seat of my pants– and that’s fine. There are plenty of artists out there who have never read a book on the “form” of comics that get along just fine. Personally, I want to understand the deeper art– the meaning behind it. I want to know more about comics than “it’s funny drawings you put in little boxes”. I guess delving deeper is partially a way to keep comics fresh to me, as well. Before looking into alternative and otherwise experimental comics and comic artists, I was feeling kind of jaded (see:bored) with my comics the way they are. Reading about the history and seeing other artists try such radically different approaches is very stimulating. Art Spiegelman’s work is my current study (generally heavy/nsfw stuff, just fyi) and I find him fastinating. I want a copy of Maus so bad, now.

Perhaps this seems like obvious stuff. To a generally anti-social, work-at-home dad who never kept interest in a single art class, however: It’s fresh, and I’m excited. Having said that, don’t expect any radical changes in the comic. I’m going to first work on developing my storytelling skills and current style before even thinking about further changes. Basics, basics, basics! Also, it’s still a gag-comic, for now.

Video Games:
Disregarding actual release dates, 2014 has so far been a year of SO MANY GOOD GAMES. Indie games, mostly. These days, indie titles are feeling less like World of Goo and Gish (both good games in their own right, mind you) and are more aptly capturing the essence of what got me into games in the first place. In simpler terms: They’re more and more reminding me of SNES-era games, they’re probably heavily banking on our nostalgia to push sales, and I am totally fine with that. I don’t think too hard about the things that make me happy, I’m just… happy to be happy!

Life:
Tenoreo’s brother and sis-in-law came and went. Life’s back to normal, other than me trying to improve my life in the form of task-management techniques recommended by an indie dev (for a game I’m VERY interested in, btw). It’s kind of like a to-do list, only it works, taking all those future engagements and obligations bouncing around in my head and putting them on paper. Takes some stress off me, anyway. Also, Lily finally made a friend! And she lives in the same apartment complex as us. Lily seems more balanced for it, which is nice to see.

Closing Comments:
Man, it hasn’t even been that much time since the last gag-comic, but it still feels weird to come back to it. As much as I wasn’t entirely satisfied with this arc, I enjoyed the experience, overall. Anyway, until next one…

SEE YOU THEN~