Comic Update

I've had a number of people ask once again where the next page is. A few days ago, page 41 was 65% complete. As of the time I'm writing this, I have now got the page completion up to 85%, so sometime in the next 24-48 hours I should finally have a new page to release. While I'm pleased with it, I can't help but feel I'll get an 'Indy 4' or 'Episode I' reaction to it.

Question of the Month

This month's question comes from a posting made almost a year ago by 88jacks, who asks:

After you complete "Beach Blanket Blueberry" will you write the rest of "Blueberry Idol" in August?

Blueberry Idol I feel, is destined to be an unfinished work. It was a written piece that comes from a time and concept 4+ years old. The main point of it was to take a somewhat plain girl, have the blueberry thing happen to her, but instead of it turning into a curse, actually makes her a unique person. I just figured that given how strange Japanese society was, the idea of a girl with blue skin could be seen as a unique thing. She'd be in commercials for products and print ads, but I had figured the girl would find her major hook in becoming a gravure idol.

There's a whole industry where well-built girls are paraded about in leotards, bikinis, or other clothing, just acting innocent, cute, and playful. Normally, most of these girls never show off certain areas, which I find leads to a great and playful tease to entice people to buy the products (it's also interesting to note that almost all the girls wearing bikinis seem to be wearing one that is 1-2 sizes smaller than normal).

I had the concept all in my head, up through the second act of the story, but never did have an idea how to finish it. I was sidetracked because I was an American trying to figure the thinkings of Japanese society and schoolnorms. It was almost like the old movie serials where they never really did research, and just took a flying leap as to what Africa was like, or how people in Abu Dhabi would talk and look.

Of course, maybe I could do like George Lucas or Steven Spielberg, have someone pick my brain for the information, and then see if they could fashion it into a workable and interesting story.

And after that long explanation, I will say that I have already decided on my next project once Beach Blanket Blueberry is over. Another concept did pop into my head a few months ago, but that is so far just a concept, and a story to go with the fantastic idea and concept art I created is still a long way coming.


A word to the wise about Blu-Ray

A week ago, the planets aligned, and I ended up saving about $75 on a Blu-Ray player I wanted. The picture quality truly does bring out the greatness in films by PIXAR as well as the atmosphere of Henry Selick's Coraline, which was a prime reason for me buying the player. However, the SONY player that was recently released is rather unique, taking me back to the days of the first VCR's. Why is this? Because the remote for Sony's recent player (BDP-S360) has no eject button! Yes, there once was a time when I believe remotes did not have these.

Also, I have not become like some and decided the time has come to upgrade all my discs. I am only doing so with my PIXAR films. Maybe when some must-have new releases come out near Christmas, then I'll get some of those titles. Naturally, right now Blu-Ray is 1/4 decent releases, and 3/4 crap. We're once again in the vicious cycle where the studios will now dangle the movies we want over our heads, making us anxious when those classic trilogies or masterpieces will come out. While we instead have to put up with Blu-Ray releases of The Love Guru and Beverly Hills Chihuahua.


When is the next step in blueberry comics going to get here?

I have often wondered this. There is a person on a forum out there who posted some images of a Poser-created comic involving juice and expansion. The person cited my comic and Johnny Swell's comic as inspiration. While it is nice to see that I can be considered in the same breath as Johnny, I was a little non-plussed to see that the content of the comic was more focused just on the expansion and 'leasure,' with nothing really in the way of story.

I talked with a couple expansion fans in the last week, and some asked if I had read any fanfiction or other blueberry stories out there. I have to say no to that question. I have skimmed some of the stories, but most of them that I have found, seem to usually be ones that deal with Violet, a girl named Violet, or have some connection into a world where Wonka exists, or where Charlie Bucket or Veruca Salt has some involvement. Or others where the girl is a brainless bimbo, eager to be the recipient of the transformation and of her horny boyfriend's juicing methods.

It's kind of like asking someone to do a stage production and trying to do Oompa Loompas without being influenced by the 1971 film. It proves to be almost impossible, as every other stage production utilizing the Loompas either uses the song stylings, or the orange skin/green hair aesthetic.

It's been almost 2 years since Beach Blanket started, and I had hoped some would take up the baton and try for some new ideas that would bring about a new concept for berrygirls that hadn't been considered before. Sadly, it looks like we'll have to keep waiting.