The Giggaheim

The Giggaheim.com gives you an all-in-one summary of fandom for the week for comic books, video games, tech and dating advice for geeks. It will also feature guest creator interviews as well as listener feedback. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast for your weekly fix.

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New Post has been published on http://www.giggaheim.com/2013/09/19/giggaheim-podcast-episode-116/

Giggaheim Podcast Episode 116

Episode 116 of The Giggaheim Podcast brings you all kinds of great geekery. The crew starts out by attempting to give you the next best thing to being at DragonCon – a description of DragonCon. (It’s definitely cheaper and doesn’t smell anywhere near as bad.)

Moving into comics, Pete rolls out a black and white western with some neat ideas, followed by a comic depicting George Lucas’s original vision for Star Wars. Was it a revelation or part of the Book of Revelations? Tune in to find out.

Randis opens up Dating Advice for Geeks with a taboo topic: Why do some younger women date much older men? What about lolita’s? You don’t want to miss out on this segment.

Tech closes out the show with a quick recap of the LADEE spacecraft and some Google birthday news and laughs.

Got a question or bold statement for the show? Email us at [email protected], write your feedback or show ideas on our Facebook page, and tweet the podcast crew @Giggaheim. Rate the show on iTunes and tell your friends if you dare.

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Latest from Giggaheim Comics: Reviews | Info | How-To guides

New Post has been published on http://comics.giggaheim.com/comic-book-artist-interview-jimmy-cheung/

Comic Book Artist Interview: Jimmy Cheung

Jimmy Cheung is a long time friend of the Giggaheim, and we have wanted to interview his for years. Unfortunately, this Marvel Comics super-artist is VERY shy, and doesn’t like the sound of his own voice, so we agreed to keep the interview to Yes or No questions, and conduct the interview in a Captain Pike style with beeps. Here is a transcript of our interview with Jimmy Cheung that appears on the Giggaheim Podcast back in March of 2013. Enjoy!

  Giggaheim Comics: Jimmy it’s great to have you on the show and we are really appreciate you meeting us half-way to have a podcast interview. Everyone wants to hear what you have to say, or beep, so here we go.

First question: Did you have any formal training?

Jimmy Cheung: No. No formal training

  Giggaheim Comics: Did you finish a university degree in this training?

Jimmy Cheung: No

  Giggaheim Comics: Was being a comic book artist your first choice career path?

Jimmy Cheung: Yes

Giggaheim Comics: Are inkers tracers?

Jimmy Cheung: No.

  Giggaheim Comics: Do you still get excited to see your work for sale in comics shops across the globe?

Jimmy Cheung: Yes

  Giggaheim Comics: Would you ever consider working for another publisher?

Jimmy Cheung: Yes

  Giggaheim Comics: Is there such a thing as publisher loyalty?

Jimmy Cheung: Yes

  Giggaheim Comics: Do you have any creator owned properties you are working on?

Jimmy Cheung: No

  Giggaheim Comics: If so, will you publish them recently?

Jimmy Cheung: No

  Giggaheim Comics: Are there characters you haven’t drawn yet that you would want to?

Jimmy Cheung: Yes

  Giggaheim Comics: Are you making progress to get on those books?

Jimmy Cheung: No

  Giggaheim Comics: Do you see yourself as an artist who’s style is defining the current age of comics?

Jimmy Cheung: No

  Giggaheim Comics: Have you ever drank and drawn?

Jimmy Cheung: Yes

  Giggaheim Comics: If so has any of that art been published?

Jimmy Cheung: No

  Giggaheim Comics: Was the professional process of creating comics a difficult transition for you? EX: Coming to Marvel instead of smaller publishers.

Jimmy Cheung: No

  Giggaheim Comics: Do you listen to Music when you draw?

Jimmy Cheung: Yes

  Giggaheim Comics: Have you ever had to abandon a page/panel in order to realize a separate idea that dominated your process?

Jimmy Cheung: Yes. Many times and often.

Giggaheim Comics: Have you ever considered an alternate career path?

Jimmy Cheung: No

  Giggaheim Comics: Are any of your family/loved ones waiting for you to “get a real job”?

Jimmy Cheung: No

  Giggaheim Comics: Are there cool and unspeakable benefits to being a Marvel Artist? (Ex: free disney tickets, premieres to movies, knowledge of unpublished books, future storylines)

Jimmy Cheung: Yes

  Giggaheim Comics: Do your children wear t-shirts with your character designs on them? (if applicable)

Jimmy Cheung: No. No children

Giggaheim Comics: Have you been able to successfully change a character design?

Jimmy Cheung: I think so. Maybe yes?

  Giggaheim Comics: Do you take commissions?

Jimmy Cheung: No

  Giggaheim Comics: Have you worked in commercial illustration?

Jimmy Cheung: No

  Giggaheim Comics: With your eye for framing and action, do you find yourself critical of visual components for movies?

Jimmy Cheung: Yes

  Giggaheim Comics: Are you currently happy with your haircut?

Jimmy Cheung: Yes

  Giggaheim Comics: Is your love life reflected in your artwork?

Jimmy Cheung: No

  Giggaheim Comics: Do you speak any other languages?

Jimmy Cheung: Yes

  Giggaheim Comics: Do you draw friends and loved ones into the backgrounds?

Jimmy Cheung: No

  Giggaheim Comics: Do you draw easter eggs or random images into the backgrounds?

Jimmy Cheung: Yes

  Giggaheim Comics: Do you enjoy driving where you live?

Jimmy Cheung: Yes

  Giggaheim Comics: Would you consider yourself a religious person?

Jimmy Cheung: No

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New Post has been published on http://comics.giggaheim.com/dragoncon-photo-gallery-sunday-09-01-13/

DragonCon Photo Gallery Sunday 09.01.13

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New Post has been published on http://comics.giggaheim.com/dragoncon-photo-gallery-saturday-08-31-13/

DragonCon Photo Gallery Saturday 08.31.13

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New Post has been published on http://comics.giggaheim.com/dragoncon-photo-gallery-friday-08-30-13/

DragonCon Photo Gallery Friday 08.30.13

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New Post has been published on http://www.giggaheim.com/2013/08/28/giggaheim-podcast-episode-115/

Giggaheim Podcast Episode 115

It’s time for Episode 115 of The Giggaheim Podcast and it’s up to Pete, Craig and Doug to hold down the fort with Randis on assignment in the Swiss Alps. Can it be done? What will become of the Giggaheim crew? The answers are yes, and, they end up strengthening their pimp hands of fandom. (Sorry, but we can’t stand suspense around here.)

The show gets underway with some Trek, which is quickly derailed and set on fire in a field behind the studio. What develops is an info dump regarding the implications and conclusions of the news that JJ Abrams will be directing hollywood’s finest in a galaxy far, far away. What does this mean for future installments of the Trek franchise? Should fans set the auto-destruct and abandon ship? Should we all swap our Folger’s Crystals for Dilithium Crystals instead? Have a listen to find out.

Getting back to the rails, Doug steps out of his usual Technology arena and offers up reviews of the Star Trek Comics specials which were published before and after this summer’s Star Trek: Into Darkness blockbuster. So what’s the story on the story? How about the artwork? Will it matter that Doug is essentially illiterate or will the pretty pictures give him enough to entertain the crowd? You know what you’ll have to do to find out.

The second half creates a lively discussion by bringing the sadness to the table. You’re a fan. You invest yourself in the realms of fandom you enjoy. You know when a show, movie or book decides to hit you right in the gut with something sad. The podcast crew attempts to wrangle up all the famous sad moments of fandom and maybe bring up some you might not be familiar with. It’s sad, but it’s good. You’ll be glad we had this talk. Hug it out. It’s gonna be ok.

All this and more is waiting for you on Episode 115  of The Giggaheim Podcast. Get it in your ears already!

  Got a question or bold statement for the show? Email us at [email protected], write your feedback or show ideas on our Facebook page, and tweet the podcast crew @Giggaheim. Rate the show on iTunes and tell your friends if you dare.

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Latest from Giggaheim Comics: Reviews | Info | How-To guides

New Post has been published on http://comics.giggaheim.com/comic-book-review-dead-west/

Comic Book Review: Dead West

Written By: Rick Spears

Art By: Rob Goodridge

Published By: Gigantic Press

  The Short Review

Western Meets Zombies

Classic Spaghetti Western Style

Quick & Violent Romp

  The Full Review

  Bitchfist writer and friend of the show, John Sims, recommended Dead West, after a afternoon of watching The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and I am so happy he did. His synopsis was dead on: “Man with no name meets zombies”. The man knows his comics.

  Frankly, I’m zombied out. Done. No more Living Dead, Walking Dead, Sprinting Dead, 28 Days, ect etc ect. Zombies are just prolific these days, and I’m sure other horror genre fans feel the same way this indie comic reader does.

  BUT!!

  Dead West by Rick Spears is damn good. It sticks with simple genre storytelling of a western. A dusty town in the middle of BFE is invaded by the undead by an Indian seeking revenge for the white man’s decimation of his village. The man with no name shows up, defends himself and a few others from the zombie horde. Spears demonstrates the strength of the Western genre story which is “less is more”. The intrigue of deeper character stories and minimalist narrative motives the reader to keep turning pages to learn all they can about the characters of the town.

    Rick Spears also made a smart decision by keeping the story of Dead West more along the linear path of conflict, and not getting side-tracked by the temptation of diving into the loss of humanity. Frankly, humanity’s characteristics are barren in a normal western story where people shoot one another over the simplest slights. So, when a mob of undead indians and convicts invades the town, we get straight to the action of man vs zombie and we are spared long monologues of missing the good ol days or a loved one. Just six-gun shooting, body parts flying, and blood spattering. Dead West  does take a couple pages to take a breath between waves of violence, and it’s a great pace for a western horror book.

  The illustrative duties of the book do a majority of the heavy lifting since the dialogue is typical of a Sergio Leon styled western. The tight shots on facial expressions, the broad shots to show action, the cool gunfights, all settle us into the feeling of a Spaghetti Western. Couple the great illustrative storytelling with the gore and violence of undead attacks and you have a great western horror genre book.

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Today has become a lazy day

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New Post has been published on http://movies.giggaheim.com/dr-who-for-beginners/

Dr. Who for Beginners

Part of Giggaheim’s ongoing mission is to bring the masses from Noob to initiated, and recently I was able to jump into Dr. Who. It’s pretty good timing on my part since the show is celebrating 50 years this year. Now, for those of you who may be new to the time-travelling wanderer on BBC, here is a primer of helpful information so you can hold a brief conversation with other Sci-Fi geeks. WARNING: A real Whovian will be able to sniff out your novice-level knowledge base, so don’t go wielding this around like your father’s shotgun.

Where to Start?

I would say start with the relaunch of the show that is available on Netlfix. Everything is available on Netflix, but the one you want is the rebooted series starring Christopher Eccelston in 2005. The reason I say this series, and not the David Tennant series, is that this is a great primer that demonstrates the Doctor’s quirky nature, adventures, enemies, and other essential bits. The exposition isn’t spoon fed to you, and you can get up to speed on what is going on in 13 episodes.

What’s important to know?

Doctor Who is a different Sci-Fi since it is part pulp science fiction, and part long-form fiction. Here are the important bits to know about the Doctor:

He is the last Time Lord

The Time Lords were killed in the great time war with the Daleks

Daleks are robots who are sworn enemies of the Time Lords

When Doctor Who’s body is damaged beyond repair, he changes bodies

Doctor Who normally has an adventuring companion with him since time travel can be lonely

Doctor Who’s ship is called the Tardis. It looks like an old Police Box

That’s it really. The rest is pretty easy to follow through the series, and I haven’t spoiled any of the 50 years of continuity for you. Below is a cool info graphic of the past 50 years for you to absorb as well.

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New Post has been published on http://www.giggaheim.com/2013/08/21/giggaheim-podcast-geek-out-battlestar-galactica/

Giggaheim Podcast Geek Out: Battlestar Galactica

The Giggaheim Podcast proudly presents the 2nd edition of our  “GEEK OUT SERIES.”

In this series, a veteran fan will speak with a rookie about a television show, movie, book, video game, or other arena of fandom that they’ve recently been exposed to by the guidance of the interviewer. As always at The Giggaheim Podcast, we strive to take the listener from “Noob to Initiated” so these specials will concentrate on the important questions for you: How did the new fan get into the subject? What made it a work worth seeing through to the end? What did they think of it, and, most importantly, would they recommend it to you? The second edition of Geek Out covers the 2004 television series Battlestar Galactica.

Doug, our technology editor and interviewer for this episode, managed to get Pete, our comic book editor, into the re-imagined space series. As a good mentor should, Doug guided him through the colonies, and, in this interview asks Pete all the questions needed to spool up the Geek Out FTL drive. Have a listen. Who knows? Maybe you’ll Geek Out over Battlestar Galactica too!

Got a question or bold statement for the show? Email us at [email protected], write your feedback or show ideas on our Facebook page, and tweet the podcast crew @Giggaheim. Rate the show on iTunes and tell your friends if you dare.

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New Post has been published on http://movies.giggaheim.com/movie-review-kick-ass-2/

Movie Review: Kick-Ass 2

Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jim Carrey

Directed by: Jeff Wadlow

Distributed by: Marv Pictures

  Movie sequels are normally pretty bad, and when we see the number two attached to the title of a film our instincts are to wait to watch it on Netflix. With Comic book movies, this seems to be the opposite of what we believe to be true. Superman 2 is thought to be the better action-packed sequel to the mythology-packed Superman. X2 is a fantastic sequel to X-Men. The Raimi Spider-Man 2 is a fantastic sequel to Spider-Man. Batman: Dark Knight is probably an academic study of how to escalate a hero’s journey. Superhero genre movie sequels should be better from the standpoint that the origin story is out of the way, and now you can get to the “good stuff”.

  Unfortunately for Kick-Ass 2, the origin story is where its strength is, and once we establish the characters, their motivations, their adversity, and then resolve the origin story of Kick-Ass, we are left with a feeling of satisfied completion. Kick-Ass 2 has the damning feeling that it really didn’t need to be made. We learned what we needed to in the first movie, and that was all that was necessary. Coupled with the weak story, the Kick-Ass franchise is also burdened with what South Park easily overcame. Kick-Ass was a look at what would actually happen if someone attempted to fight crime in real life, and Dave Millar served up a brutal and shocking look at how cruel and violent crime actually is compared to the gossamer representation it gets in comic books. So what do you do for a sequel?

  Millar answers this in the comics better than what winds up on screen. The keyword for this premise and plot trajectory is escalation. In the real world, we are programmed to evolve, migrate, or die. And when you look at the escalation of technology in the past 10 years, you can see how a world of costumed crime fighters would quickly get out of hand. In the books, Dave finds others who are inspired by Kick-Ass and they form a crime fighting group to fight crime in New York City. Members of this group actually press the envelope for Dave as he realizes his ideas aren’t exactly shared with his fellow crime stoppers, and the idea begins to run away from him. On the flip side, Red-Mist escalates his efforts to avenge his father’s death on Kick-Ass, and hires a squad of killers to enact his revenge. The conflict in the book feels organic to the story’s trajectory as Dave has to reign in a group of crime fighters, while aspects of his life are torn apart by his nemesis.

  I didn’t feel any of that came across in Kick-Ass 2 the movie. While movie sequels generally amp up the various aspects of the origin film, Kick-Ass 2 had nowhere to go. Kick-Ass was already violent, and It already had enough vulgarity to rival a ship of sailors. What was left? While the end of Kick-Ass boiled down to 4 people fighting, Kick-Ass 2 does escalate to groups of people, but no matter how many people they piled onto screen, it never felt like it had enough weight to be important. The escalation of brutality on Kick-Ass’ family and friends by his enemies didn’t seem any more shocking or brutal on screen because to do so as it happened in the comic would bring the movie into an NC-17 rating, so escalation of visuals wasn’t possible for the director.

  I do believe that there were many editorial choices that might have crippled the film, and weakened the ideas behind the plot points that took the “magic” out of the story. The main complaint was the blatant editing room decision on Mindy’s story. “Since they liked her in Kick-Ass, let’s use a ton of her” came across, and it weakened the title character and his journey. Instead of fighting moral ambiguity and hard choices of being a leader, we saw a shiftless Dave, who couldn’t function unless Hit-Girl was around. While Chirstopher Minz-Plasse was an interesting casting decision for the first film, the ideas of an angry and obsessed evil fanboy don’t play out well onscreen. The jarring depiction of Chris D-Amico/Motherfucker rips a viewer out of the suspension of disbelief everytime he is on screen, introducing a jarring discomfort.

  With a weaker story, plain visuals, and forced characters, the sequel that should be free of the burdens of the origin story feel like a weak attempt to come back to life. Kick-Ass 2 should be titled Meh Again.