New artwork by Rick Celis! Megan in crisis mode!

Presented below is the latest artwork of Rick Celis!  He's done previous artworks of me, Lucky (who is currently on my blog's banner), and even Megan.  Unlike the last time that you saw Megan, in which everything is cool and normal, this time she is in crisis mode - and we don't mean that her WoW guild is late for the weekly raid!  Yeah, the crap has hit the fan, and Megan's trying to keep everything under control and everyone in touch with everyone else while things are sorted out!  Multitasking is this woman's middle name!

I didn't get to this last time I posted artwork of Megan, so now I'm going to give a brief bio on her and what she's about.

Megan O'Donnell, is on the staff at the U.S. Dept. of Superhuman Studies as our resident engineering and electronics expert.  She also serves the role of contact and dispatch between the superhuman agents "in the field".  In other words, she serves the very same role as DC's Barbara Gordon when she was Oracle.  If you saw that Megan has red hair, green eyes, and a last name that starts with "O' "  and yet haven't grasped that she is of Irish descent, then you need "-less" added to your "clue"!  >.<

Megan is the daughter of a well-to-do family.  Her father is a successful businessman in the field of computer technology and her mother is a socialite.  In fact, Megan's mother had hoped that she would follow in her footsteps onto the social scene, and that might have indeed happened if not for a certain book that came into Megan's life about the age of seven.

Megan was visiting her cousins Maya and Lee Maldonado (Megan is related to them through their mother, Mary).  She was browsing Cousin Maya’s extensive library, and among her books was a book on how to build radios.  As she flipped through the book, she realized that she could build a radio, and it was like a light switch flipped on in her mind.  Something in her 7 year old reasoning told her to stash the book in her backpack rather than ask Maya if she could borrow it, and once she got home, she ran to her father's workshop where he has all kinds of electronic parts, and looked for the materials listed in the book.

It took several visits to her father's shop before she recognized the necessary parts to build the radio.  Once she had all the pieces, she took them to her room and assembled the radio, and it worked on the first try.  When her father heard the radio, he came into her room and saw the obviously cobbled-together device, and asked where she got the parts.  When she admitted that she got them from his workshop, he then asked how she knew how to build a radio.  She then confessed to having taken Cousin Maya's book.  The very next day, Megan's father drove her to Cousin Maya's house to return the book and to apologize for taking it.  A very remorseful Megan approached Maya and apologized, and handed her the book.

Maya took the book, and then saw the radio that Megan had built.  She was impressed.  She then accepted her apology, and handed the book back, saying "Let's see what else you can do."  While Megan's father disapproved of Megan's taking the book and the parts, inside he was impressed as well, and was glad to see that his child seems to have inherited some of his engineering talents.  Megan still has that book and that radio, tucked away in her closet.

As Megan grew up, she spent more and more time in her father's lab learning engineering skills from him and taking on more responsibility as her engineering abilities grew.  She managed to finish high school at age 17 and went on to college.  After having received her Master's degree, she went to work for her father for a couple of years before a position working for the DSS opened up, and Cousin Maya invited her to apply for the job (since it’s been awhile since I’ve mentioned her, Cousin Maya is Dr. Maya Maldonado, whom I have mentioned before). 

After Megan talked with her father, he decided that it was time for her to go out on her own; and also to make some connections that might be beneficial to the family business later once she comes back to run the company.  Megan has found working for the DSS to be every bit as exciting and challenging as she expected it to be, and despite the stress the job comes with, Megan has never been happier working at a job.

Other notes:
Along with being an extremely gifted engineer and electronics geek, Megan is also very much a nerd.  She plays World of Warcraft as a gnome mage, and one of her mage's professions is as an engineer. One of the few hobbies that she has outside of computers and WoW is collecting various garden gnomes, and the construction of steampunk-themed animals.  The mechanical animals’ gears and other parts work with such precision that Megan could have been a clockmaker in the pre-computer days. 

Anyway, a big thanks again to Rick Celis for the awesome artwork, who captures both the tension of the moment as well as Megan's cool-headedness in a very stressful situation.  I just love the contrast between the dark background and the lighted keyboard and screens.  If you'll notice, the screen she is pressing is of me calling in, and in the profile pic is the artwork that Damo made for me!  

Below that screen is another screen with Rick's own character, Hazelel.  Hmm.   Is this artwork hinting at something?  Stay tuned, true believers!

And now to put this to my FB album!  :-D

Don't panic! I'm still here!

Just to let you all know, I'm still here.  And I plan to keep posting to my blog.  :-)

I've just been insanely busy these past couple of weeks, and that's why I've posted so little lately.  Trust me, it's not because I have nothing to write about - quite the contrary, my little nerdlings! 

I will do my very best to resume posting to my blog next week, so don't worry your nerdy little heads! 

And just to let those of you who know me only through my blog, I am also on Facebook under Andromeda Perseus, and I have at least been diligent about posting there! LOL  >.<

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Dawn of the Dead (voters)

 It's coming, friends!  The zombie apocalypse is on the horizon!  And they're gonna vote Democrat!

New Rick Celis artwork: Me at the movies!

Yes, my little nerdlings, I do indeed go to the movie theaters!  And they love it when I do!  Well, it's not because I frequent the theater that much - you all know of my continuing protest over the crap that Hollywood puts out nowadays, so none of my local theaters can depend on my trips there to put them into the black.

However, when I DO go, I tend to buy the largest size popcorn and drink, as shown in this latest artwork by Rick Celis.  I help clean out their soft drink fountains and popcorn bins!  Why do I get such large orders?  It's because of my superhuman metabolism.  My speed healing, flying abilities, and super strength take energy, more than your average human metabolism would take! 

I love how the popcorn and drink are each taking up a whole seat!  For you kids: Do not try this at home, or at the movie theater!  I have the metabolism for this, while you do not.  Eating and drinking this much would be very bad for your health.  You'd end up looking like this! 

Anyway, thanks Rick, for another excellent work.  These are so cool, and I love the expressions of the people behind me! 

I'll be using this artwork whenever I do movie reviews, so you'll be seeing more of this artwork soon.

Never forget: Tiananmen Square oppression of 1989

Many liberals think that the so-called "Occupy" movement began last year.  In truth, the "Occupy" concept began in 1989, in China in a place called Tiananmen Square.  23 years ago today, students chose to "Occupy" that square in protest of their country's harsh system of government.  That system of government was - and still is - Communism. 
Yes, the very same Communism that today's boneheaded Occupy leaders want to establish in this country. It boggles my mind that liberals claim to love freedom, and yet choose Communism as the system of government that they believe will get it done.  Communism as an idea, a concept, a philosophy, and as a way of life has been the grandest epic fail ever in human history.  It's never worked anywhere it's been tried. 

There is no freedom in a Communist country; all its citizens are de facto prisoners in a country that is run like a prison.  They're captive audiences that are made to listen to state propaganda day in and day out.  Does that sound like freedom to you? Name any Communist country that you can think of, and you will find many, many multitudes of stories of citizens trying to escape their home country.  It's only the occasional delusional ideologue that wants to move to a Communist country and expect their way of life to prosper. 

The Tiananmen story is an example of how Communist countries are failures in regards to the betterment of the lives of their citizens.  Students stood up to their government because they wanted a better way of life, and their government took them down.  Meanwhile, our liberal "betters" sat on their hands, because the very Communist system that they say will make things better for us all was clamping down in a very public way on the freedoms of its citizens - the very freedoms that they say they love.  It was one of the most pathetic failures of leftists to live up to the alleged ideals.

And now the Chinese government continues to try to erase the event from the country's public memory, and our liberal "betters" continue to sit on their hands, for basically the same reasons that they did back in 1989.  Here we have the examples set by the Occupy movements about peace and love and freedom, etc., and when the opportunity arises for them to put their money where their mouth is, they continue to fail by not saying anything. 

Fail, fail, fail.

Of course, I was very young with the Tiananmen massacre was going on, but I have read their stories and have read how the liberals in this country failed to stand up for freedom fighters.  The protesters even fashioned a statue similar to our own Statue of Liberty called the Goddess of Democracy. 

While our country and its leaders may fail to speak out enough against this tragedy, the rest of us should continue to honor the memory that the Chinese Communist government is trying so hard to erase.  Let's hope that one day, the iconic photograph below will come to represent all acts of resistence against tyrannical and oppresive forms of government.  One day, hopefully, that one brave student will become an international symbol for freedom fighters everywhere.  What a grand way for freedom to rise up against a government that tried so hard to suppress. 

New artwork by Rick Celis: Andromeda in the comic shop!

Today I present to you the latest artwork by Rick Celis! Now when it comes to shopping, there's nothing I like more than shopping for comics!

Well, actually I like shopping for clothes first, then shoes... but comics are a strong and close third!

 I know what some of my GFs are thinking, but I have to disagree. Shopping for accessories such as jewelry, purses, and the like are actually fourth on my list of favorite shopping activities. As for shopping for make-up and hygiene products (soap and shampoos, that is) and the like - heck I actually would prefer to do the laundry, because a lot of that crap's expensive! That's why I buy that stuff at Wal-Mart!  But I digress..........

Know what I like most about the artwork below?  It's all the covers of actual comics!  How many can you name?  This is what a comic shop looks like.  I love it!  You're probably wondering why the comic shop owner is glaring angrily at me.  Well - it's because I've pulled aside so many comics.  In his mind, he's thinking, "Is she gonna buy all that, or is that half an afternoon that I'm going to spend getting off of my ass and putting them all back?"  By the way, do all comic shop owners look like that?  It seems to be a commonality.  Maybe it's a job requirement or something.

Anyway, This is a great artwork demonstrating the love of comics that I've been saying that I have for all this time.  I especially love the fact that the artwork looks like it should be in a comic book!  Once in a while, I like to go to the section with the back issues of comics or graphic novels and flip through those to see if I find something that I missed before.  When I find a good one, it's like finding buried treasure!  If I really enjoy it, then I'll look for other back issues. 

Thanks so much Rick!  This is so nicely done, and the actual comic covers are a bonus!   Whoohoo!  I'm still working on figuring out all the comic covers.  Don't tell me - I want to find out myself!  This is like giving candy to a kid!  :-D

Oh, one last thing, everyone.  On the side of the comics shelving is Rick's own character, Hazelel, wearing Hulk gloves!  How cool is that?  LOL

WotI #3 page 20 - a startling approach

On page 20 (posted below) of the latest War of the Independents (#3), the character El Gato Negro broaches a topic that is rarely brought up in comics - mainly because a vast majority of comic artists and writers are of a liberal bent, and usually of the kind that not only look unfavorably upon Christians, but some are downright hateful and hostile.  This does not occur here with EGN's discussion with the character Atomika. 

Before I continue, let me say that this is the first time I've seen Atomika, so I don't know anything about him, but I did find this site.  Because I don't know Atomika, this means that I don't know how significant it was for EGN to be having this particular discussion with him.  Anyway, I have to admit that I was a bit startled to see such - unhateful - discussion taking place about Jesus that didn't start out or eventually devolve into a venomous spiel about the evils of Christians and Christianity.

I had to think about what word to use there, and "startled" was the best I could come up with, because it was that unexpected.  I then had to think if that was a good thing or bad thing.  Had I become that accustomed to hearing only bad things about Christians and Christianity; even in the genre that I love?  Have the left-leaning writers and artists not only of comics, but other entertainment media drifted so far into pushing their ugly attitudes about Christianity into their entertainment creations that we now expect it?  I can't say anything other than yes, because that's the only explanation that I could come up with for my startled reaction.  Understand that like any huge fan of comics, I love plot twists and turns, but this was wholly unexpected to the point of being startling.

The thing is friends, I am fully accustomed to hearing angry, hateful, and hostile things being said about Christianity, because that was the attitudes that my Marxist parents had about Christians.  To my parents, Christians are lowbrow knuckle-dragging troglodytes that are barely literate and intelligent.  My exposure to these sorts of attitudes continued into the schools I went to and even into college.  This is the norm for me, in other words.  How I ended up being a Christian is really a tale for another time, but even after my conversion, I still expect to hear ugly things about Christianity in everything I read - even in comics.  As Christians, we expect it.  Not necessary accept it, but we expect it. 

Think about how ingrained these attitudes are.  When was the last time you heard anyone complain about how the Lord's name is taken in vain in all our entertainment media?  How many times have you heard G** damn - even in comics?  Any other faith system will get the "be respectful, open-minded, and tolerant" treatment from the left, but when it comes to Christianity (and sometimes Judaism), all that goes out the door and they feel fully entitled to unburden themselves of the worst sorts of ugliness that they can come up with - and boy, at times they let their imaginations and sick fantasies run wild!

For example, last year on Bill Maher's show, even NOW had to weigh in on one of his guests stating that he hopes that Michele Bachmann's husband "fucks her angrily" (apologies for the f-bomb, but I thought you should read it as it was said).  Can you imagine such rape fantasies being expressed publicly about Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, or Barbara Streisand, and it being allowed to slide? 

However you feel about Bachmann and her views, that was a pathetic and disgusting thing for Maher's guest to say about her, and yet these hateful attitudes are so ingrained in our society that it got barely a peep from the left - and it certainly didn't spark anything like the sort of outrage that came out of them over the Rush Limbaugh/Sandra Fluke issue.  I think Maher's guest hoping that Bachmann's husband "fucks her angrily" would warrant a more outspoken reaction from the left than Limbaugh calling Fluke a slut, but I guess that's just me.

This illustrates how far we've come in accepting hateful attitudes towards Christians and Christianity.  It's gotten to the point that I was actually shocked to see something positive being said.  And for that, I feel very sad for our country, our entertainment media, and for the state of our educational system that has fallen so far in how it educates our students.  I feel disappointed, like I should be doing more, because what have I done besides bringing it up on my blog and on FB?

I also think that those on the left who do truly adhere to the ideal of being open-minded, tolerant, and respectful towards others should do more to speak out against the sorts of ugliness that comes from their side of the aisle.  I truly believe that there are more of them out there than we know who are disappointed and maybe even angry over the hostility that their fellow ideologues have for Christianity, but for some reason, they can't muster the courage to say so; probably because they risk getting labeled as a "closet conservative" and thus will lose all cred with their liberal kind (not to mention being fatal to their career ambitions). 

The barbarians have taken over the marketplace of ideas, and those of us on both sides of the aisle who hate this turn of events seem to be able to do nothing more than vent about it on the Internet. And here I catch myself being startled about a page in a comic book that exposed to me how much I've accepted this, and it leaves me feeling ashamed - because I feel that I am failing to do more to defend the faith that I say I love.  And that's where I'm at right now; asking myself "Now that I have come to this realization, what shall I do next?"  Well, I guess the first step is to blog about it!  LOL

Friends, this is why I love comics.  A lot of people out  there think of comics being just for kids, but those who think that way are those who haven't read comics since they were kids.  Comics today broach all kinds of adult topics.  Comics can encourage, inspire - and yes, even startle - just as much as any other entertainment media.  To the creative staff of WotI, I say "thank you", from one comic nerd to another, for making me fall in love with comics all over again.  :-)

As for the discussion in WotI that is at the center of my own discussion in this blog post, I will say that I am curious as to what direction it goes from here.   Again, I don't know anything about Atomika, so I don't know how significant his discussion is with EGN.  EGN has previously expressed his Catholic faith in the past, waay back in his origin story (yes, I have that book, thanks to the boss!).  It's good to see that he still is a faithful Catholic, so kudos to EGN's creator, Richard Dominguez, for keeping him that way.

I will say that if Atomika did know Jesus back in the day, then I think that he probably would have seen him as one of many "Messiahs" of that time that had gained popularity and then lost it.  Jesus might have drawn at least some interest because of his miracles, but then being crucified would have "sealed the deal" in Atomika's mind as to how genuine he was in being the Messiah.  Who has ever heard of a Messiah being executed - much less crucified as the common criminals were at that time?

It would have been very easy for Atomika to dismiss Jesus after that, but how would he explain how his followers continued to evangelize their crucified prophet, and how they kept getting followers after that?  There's a disconnect here, because if Atomika is immortal, then he would have seen the rise of Christianity a long time ago, and yet he tells EGN simply that "your God is dead".  Perhaps this will be explained in future issues.  Anyway, I love it when comics make me think.  :-)

And again I say to you all, go Occupy Marvel and DC by buying these WotI comics!  Show support for the 99% of the comic artists and writers who get left out of the "1%" that are the Big Two!   Support the Indys! 

Super bras and bra ninjas!

At the Department of Superhuman Studies where I work, we have a clothing designer who also happens to be superhuman.  His code name is Alloy, and his power is the ability to combine materials that can't otherwise be combined and make an all new substance that has the property of both. For instance, he can combine cotton cloth with something like steel to make steel cloth, which has the softness of cotton but the sturdiness of steel.

He makes all the costumes of the superhumans who work for the DDS, including the virtually indestructible one that I wear.  Anyway, I am going to send the comic strip below to Alloy, so that he can make that bra for me!  LOL  (from the webcomic, Wapsi Square By the way, the ninja in the comic is a bra ninja! LOL)