Update on commission contest

Yep, the commission contest is officially up and running!

Today I am going to answer a couple of questions that I got over the weekend in regards to the contest.

1.) Can I collaborate with others to make the art?

Yes, you may!  There is great fun in working as a team on something like this!  However, be aware that no matter how many of you collaborate in making your awesome artwork, there will still be only one $125 prize.  That is, if there is more than one of you making this artwork, then you will have to split the prize money among your associates. 

2.) Who owns the art after it's done? 

Well, you own the physical artwork.  That is, if you put pen and ink to paper, then that's yours to put to your physical portfolio and show off to others and display in a gallery if you wish.  Some artists are quite willing to send me the physical copies of their work, and I'm quite willing to accept them! ^.^

That's up to you though, if you want to send us the physical artworks themselves.  I cherish each and every one that I happen to get, but I will totally understand if you want to hold on to them.

However, because we are paying you for your services, once you've sent the completed work to us, then we will own the finished piece.  What this means is that we reserve the right to display it on my blog, on FB, and whatever means we have available to us later.  That is, if I get an official website or even a comic book, then we may use it in those as well. 

But understand this one very important note:  No matter where we display it, we will always, ALWAYS give you credit for it.  That's why I ask you for the URL to whatever site you keep your artworks, if it be deviantArt, Tumblr, or whatever.  I'm a big believer in giving credit where credit is due in regards to artists, so know that I will always give you credit for your hard work. 

In turn, wherever you display the finished work on your own sites (such as deviantArt), we likewise ask that you note something like "This is a commissioned artwork for a blogger named Andromeda.  Her blog can be found at: http://bustysuperherochick.blogspot.com/".  It's doing little things like this that will help you get future commissions.  :-)

As I get more questions in regards to my contest, I will post them here.  Thanks for the interest! 

BSC patch 2.2: Commission Contests!

Last month, I had my first-ever patch for my first-ever expansion!  Now I’m starting my second patch, otherwise known as:

BSC patch 2.2: Commission Contests!

The rules are basically this: I set the themes of the contest, and any interested artists will submit rough drafts of what they will do if they win.  After a certain deadline, the boss and I will decide which rough draft will win the prize.  The boss agreed to raise the prize from $100 to $125, just to give you artists a little extra incentive to make the finished project nice and pretty!  On top of the $125 commission, you'll also get an awesome review from me of how great your work is, and who doesn't want an awesome review from me?  :-D

This time around, we’re going to have two themes for you to choose from.  You can choose to submit your rough drafts from one or the other theme, or you could submit entries for both themes if you wish.  In any case, there will be just the one $125 prize.

***By the way, the boss pays by PayPal, so if you use something besides that, we’ll need to know that before you put in the grind for your awesome artwork. ***

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FIRST THEME:  I want an artwork of me punching a killer robot.  It can be a robot like one of the Terminators, or it could be someone in a killer robot suit. The angle/pose, etc. is up to you.  You're the artist!

For this artwork, I would like a landscape format, because I may use it for my FB timeline banner and maybe even my blog banner.  Because of this, I would like the action to be like so:

Killer robot on this side <----------> me on this side about to throw a punch, or me throwing a punch.  If it makes a difference, I'm right-handed, but I can punch with either fist.  

So if you’re going to show me about to throw a punch, then you will need to capture the tension of the moment.  I want to feel that I’m about to really, totally, and completely unload the Mother of All Haymakers on this killer robot.  That’s one of the challenges of being a comic book artist – to capture such tension-filled moments to increase the drama of the story.

If, however, you’re going to show me just after I land the punch, then I want to see the utter devastating results of my punch.  That is, I want to see robot parts flying!  Boom!  Bam!  POW!

SECOND THEME: This will be a nighttime scene, downtown in a large city.  I want this to be a mid-air fight with another flyer.  The bad guy can be male or female, but he or she will need to look like a bad guy.

As with the robot one, this artwork needs to be landscape, so that I can use it as my blog banner and also my FB banner.   And like the first theme:

Bad guy on this side <---------------> Me on this side

Now for this artwork, you can show us about to fly into each other and about to throw punches at each other, or you can show us having a mid-air war of words, or maybe the bad guy has some laser-eye power or can shoot energy bolts from his hands or something.  I just need to see that something’s happening!  Again, you’re the artist, so use your creativity to figure this out!

You could, of course, combine the two themes by depicting a mid-air duel with a killer robot.  That’s up to you, my creative friends!

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There will be two stages to this contest.

STAGE 1:

The first stage is where all interested artists submit a rough draft of what they might do.  At this point, just a simple pencil sketch will do, but I may ask for clarification if I can’t see exactly where the action is going.  If the boss and I are really tossed up about which submission to go with, we may ask you to add some color to help us decide between submissions.

The rough draft needs to show enough so that I can see what you'll be doing if I select your artwork for the commission. You don't have to go all out on the detail - I need just enough to see what you plan to do.  Also helpful are links to any sites of your other works.  I suggest using the site that you will want me to link to if you are the winner.  This will serve as a little promo for you.  :-)

Here’s the e-mail address to send them to: bustyherochick@yahoo.com

* Submit as many entries as you like, but remember to make them rough drafts.  Label your entries in this format: “yourname_robotrd1” (or “yourname_downtownrd1”, for the second theme).  So a rough draft by Jack Kirby would be labeled thus: jackkirby_robotrd1

Sorry... I nerd-drooled on myself for a second there at the thought of actually receiving a rough draft of me by Jack Kirby.  To continue...

* Refer to this link for how my costume looks, but if you need further info, ask me.  One thing to note, though: My boots do not have stiletto spike heels!  Simple flat heels please.

UPDATE: The deadline to submit rough draft entries is now Friday June 21, 2013.

STAGE 2:
I will notify you if you're the winner.  If you are the winner, then you agree to provide a full colored finished awesome artwork based on your rough draft.  I prefer a PSD or JPEG format for the finished work, but other formats are fine so long as it is high resolution so that it will show up nice and pretty on my FB timeline and on my blog banner.

I would like the finished colored work by the end of July, but if you need more time, I'll be agreeable up to a point.  Hate to go a little negative here, but this comes from having dealt with artists before.  ^.^

If you're going to dawdle until December, then I'll award the commission to someone else.  It's why I won't award the commission payment until I get the finished artwork into my greedy little hands.

But wait!  There’s more! 

Did I happen to say above that this is BSC patch 2.2: Commission Contest*s* – that is, more than one contest?  Yes!  If this works out, then I might have other commission contests with different themes. For example, I may do the commission contest for October to have a zombie apocalypse theme!

Whoohoo!  It depends on how this contest goes, and the awesome artwork that I get out of it, so do your best to impress me so that I'll want to do more of these contests!  Oh, and the boss too, since he’s funding this little operation.  :-D

Good luck, everyone!

New Damo artwork of me! WHOOHOOO!!!

And now I present to you the latest artwork of me by the aweseome and creative hand of Daemion Elias George-Cox!


Excuse me while I engage in several minutes of happy, girly-giddiness noises!

(several minutes of happy, girly-giddiness noises)

Whew!  Okay, I'm back! 

A year ago today, my FB friend Daemion Elias George-Cox pleasantly surprised me with a portrait that you see to the left above.  Today, he surprises me again, with the portrait to the right.  Over the time I've known Damo on FB, his artwork has evolved.  He was already very skilled and talented when I first came across his artwork a few years back, but he just keeps getting better and better, and it's a real treat to watch his creative talent develop. And yes, I said this last year, too!

Now check out these two portraits and look how his style has changed in just one year. A year ago, I had mentioned that the first portrait looks like he captured me in mid-animation.  Today, it's a softer look, like I'm sitting across from a friend sharing a meal.  It's those eyes, though - they have a "come hithery" look to them, don't they?  :-D

This is so awesome.  Thank you very, very much, Damo.  I'm very flattered and honored that you'd do this for me. 

By the way, if you're going to make this an annual thing, you won't have any complaints from me, buddy!  :-)

I'm a troll - for truth!

Here's the situation: On FB, one of my FB friends posted this article.

In response, I posted this article.

In short, I had to respond to the article, because according to American history, it was the Democratic Party that had defended and fought for slavery during the Civil War, and it was the Democratic Party that fought against civil rights for another 100 years. 

Of course, my FB friend (and her friends) responded by saying that those same Democrats are now Republicans.  After that, the conversation devolved into regional discrimination and elitism, and it went downhill from there.  During that devolving conversation, I got called a troll. 

A troll?  Moi?

For those of you who might not know, a troll in this Internet age is someone who causes problems for the sake of causing problems.  That is, they're not out for debate and discussion, but simply to be a pain in the ass. 

Technically, I wasn't trolling; I was simply pointing out historical facts.  Everything I said is exactly as I said it was: the Dems were the racist haters for all that time, and not the GOP. 

Let me also add here that while the Dems fought for the institution of slavery, the current crop of Southern Republicans - the "former Democrats" - are not like the Dems that had dominated the party for those years leading up to the 1960s.  I challenge anyone to find a prominent member of the current GOP who wants to bring back slavery.  I don't mean some backwater extremist nutjob, I mean someone in leadership who is on the record in saying that he or she wants to bring back slavery.  Find me ONE.  

While the current GOP certainly has its 99 problems (give or take a few), wanting to bring back slavery is not one of them, and if the GOP is ever stupid enough to adopt slavery in its platform, I will be the first in line to protest that stupidity. 

So with that, if a person telling the truth is now going to be called a troll, then so be it - I'll be a troll for truth!  And as I said on FB, I will stand with my Horde brothers and sisters and carry that banner of truth -

 - FOR THE HORDE!!!!

Comics talk

Time for some comics talk!

First, what the eff is up with killing the newest, latest, brattiest Robin, Damian Wayne?  It's not like I was all keen on him or anything, but it had looked like the introduction of Damian was going to provide Bruce Wayne some sort of closure over the deaths of his parents in a "life goes on, and it's what your parents would have wanted" sense.  But nope, they go and kill Damian off!  It makes me feel really bad for Bruce, because not only has he lost his parents, he's now lost his son.  C'mon DC, that's just too mean!  Color me confused over this plot development.  Well, the death rate for being a Robin is still much less than being a Green Lantern, so there's that...

Next, I'm still not sold on the "Doctor Octopus is the new Spiderman" plot.  I don't know, it just seems - creepy.  I'll keep up with it for now.

Currently my favorite comic is Uncanny Avengers, because of the potential storylines that can come out of a "X-Men/Avengers" team.  The starting storyline with the Red Skull now having Professor X's telepathic abilities was downright scary, when you think of someone like him having an ability like that!  Right now it's on the top of my "get this first when I go to the comic shop on Wednesdays" list. 

Batgirl is still on that list too, by the way.  I am very curious to see how the writer, Gail Simone, takes the character Barbara Gordon. I was a bit ticked that she was taken off of the title for a couple of issues for no reason other than a new editor wanting to "clean house", but she was quickly put back after fans protested this clueless and stupid move on a title that was doing just fine thankyouverymuch.  See, you guys do matter!  :-)   

Now that Gail has had some time breaking herself into writing the character, I look forward to seeing where she goes next with Barbara.  I have to be honest that it had been my fear that she would take Barbara down a feminist "empowered victimhood" (and other left-wing gobbledygook blatherings) path, but so far that hasn't been the case.  In fact, for a time, Batgirl was my favorite title.

Oh, and speaking of the Green Lantern titles, the two recent storylines, Rise of the Third Army and The Wrath of the First Lantern, were meh, although I was glad to see Mogo brought back.  The Green Lantern titles (including the Red Lantern title) may need to be given a respite.

Now that I have access to a Netflix account, I have been making up for lost time in catching up with a lot of movies that I haven't seen.  So far I've been hitting mostly the DC and Marvel animations so that I can write my reviews about them later.  At this point, let me put a call out to you all to ask for your movie suggestions for me to review.  It doesn't have to be superhero movies; it can be action/adventure, chick flicks, or others (except porn).

And last, mark your calendar for the upcoming Free Comic Book Day on May 4th!  Bring family and friends to the Dork Side!  Muahahahahahahaha!

That's all for now, my little nerdlings!  Now hie thee to the comic shop! It's Wednesday, you know!  Whoohoo!

Catch-up Day Part 2

Today I'll finish getting caught up on various stuff that happened while I was away. Here we gooooooooo.....!!!

Sequestration "issue"
The sequestration "drama" didn't turn out in the way that the Democrats had hoped - that is, with the GOP handing over even more of our rights and liberties to the Almighty Government.  What this whole drama showed is that it wasn't at all about saving this program to save those children or whatever - it was always about stripping away yet another layer from our freedoms.

Remember chums, I was born and raised among this leftist bunch, having an even greater exposure to leftist thinking than a great majority of my generation, because I was raised by uber-leftists; that is, Marxists.  (Have I mentioned this before?  LOL)  I know the thinking of leftists inside and out, and it's not our benefit that they are after - no, instead they're after consolidating power into their greedy little hands.  Deep down, they are elitists who think that the vast majority of us are stupid idiots.  You can tell this by the kind of humor that they enjoy.

 The way the sequestration issue played out was interesting, because no one was fooled by the threats of doom and chaos that would occur if the issue didn't fall in the Democrats' favor.  Pardon my french for a second here, but even our group of idiots knew that the whole thing was a load of bullshit.  And yet, the Dems kept playing their violins like we were all going to hell in a handbasket if things didn't play out their way.  But the deadline came and went, and nothing happened.  Have to go comic nerd here, but it reminded me of the ending of Infinity Crusade, in which the Goddess had wished the end of all existence, but discovered that what she - and all of existence - saw was only an illusion of the end of all existence.  (Yeah... I love comics).  There's too much to explain here about the storyline of IC, so just go buy it.  :-P

Anyway, things didn't fall the way that the Dems had hoped, so now they're resorting to canceling stuff like White House tours and this year's tour of the Blue Angels to show the rest of us "Oooo, see.. look what happened because you didn't believe us!"  We're still not buying it, but the Dems don't know what else to do, so they're resorting to these pathetic displays.  Bleh. I almost feel sorry for them, but they deserve the egg on their collective faces.

Speaking of my generation...
While I was away, I heard that old line once again that my generation (those born mostly in the 1980s) is doomed to be less than the generations before.  Friends, that's another line for you to not buy.  In fact, I know how to guarantee that we DON'T fall into the self-fulfilling prophecy of being less prosperous than those who came before us.  This is going to taste bitter at first, because we have all been raised on the ideological equivalent of junk food all our lives, but if we're going to have any chance of changing things for the better for us all, then this is what my generation has to do:  We all have to reject our liberal past and embrace conservatism.

Again, it's going to taste bitter at first, because after eating ideological candy all your life, then being given actual ideological substance is going to taste like boring, bland veggies.  But liberalism as it currently stands is a path to fulfilling that prophecy of ineptitude for our generation.  However, I have no desire to see us go down that dark path, and I hope those of you who are of my generation feel the same way too.  So think about it, guys.  Join me.  Come to the Right Side.

Here's a link to my previous discussion on my generation, which I named the Worgen Generation.

I got a raise!
Regular readers to my blog know that I hate going to the movies, because I think a lot of them aren't worth the crap that's in the movie theater toilets.  I'm of the belief that if we keep patronizing Hollywood for crappy movies, then they won't be motivated to make something better.  Add to this the fact that I'm stingy with my money, so it pisses me off royally to go to a movie only to find that it wasn't worth the money I spent on it.  This applies even if someone is treating me to the movie.  At those times, I feel guilty for them having spent money on me for a crappy movie! 

The boss, however, would like me to do more movie reviews, so for my birthday, he gave me a little gift.  On top of the usual payments I get with comic books, I now have access to a NetFlix account! For a mere pittance per month, I get to watch as many movies as I want!  So be prepared for more movie reviews!

So far I've checked out a few DC animated movies that I didn't even know existed, so it's like Christmas to me all over again.  I'm giddy!  Okay my little nerdlings, this catches me up for now.  Later in the week I plan to discuss current events and other stuff - like comics.  See you then! 

Ketchup day! BSC patch notes and so forth

Today is Ketchup Day!  :-D

You know, where I ketch-up from having been gone for almost a month and a half?  Well, it was funny when I wrote it!

There are many things for me to cover, but I'll save those for next week, because I want to devote some time to discussing the various topics.  Today, however, I want to talk about the patch notes for my BSC patch 2.1.   Most of you who are my readers are also gamers and know what a patch is in the context that I'm using the term, but some of you might not be familiar with it.

So before I continue, I'm going to spend a couple of paragraphs to define what a patch is so that everyone is up to speed.  In this context, a "patch" is a gaming term.  It will be easier to explain by using the game, World of Warcraft.

There is World of Warcraft, the original game, sometimes referred to as the "original content".  A couple of years after WoW launched, an addition followed.  That addition is just that - additional content to the original game.  These additions are referred to as expansions, because they expand the field of play for WoW users.  WoW's first expansion is called The Burning Crusade.  WoW has since had other expansions.  In order, they are Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, and the current expansion, Mists of Pandaria.  

Each of these expansions came out roughly every two years after WoW came out in 2004. Within each expansion are minor additions to the game - not to the point of being an expansion themselves, but just enough to be a significant change from the expansion's launch date.  These additions to the expansions are called patches.  For example, Mists of Pandaria so far has had two patches, one called 5.1 Landfall, because the patch's content was about the two factions arriving on the new continent of Pandaria. The current patch is 5.2 The Thunder King, and there is a patch 5.3 and patch 5.4 in the works. 

So when I say "BSC 2.1", I am saying that this is my first "patch" since my first "expansion".  Last year, I had BSC 2.0, and this year is simply an addition to the addition - a patch.  So there ya go.  :-)

My very first patch is called: BSC patch 2.1: Rise of the Independents.  Another quick lesson:  When patches come out in WoW, there's always notes to them that explain what that patch contains.  The same is going to apply to me and my patch.  So without further ado, here are the patch notes for BSC patch 2.1: Rise of the Independents.

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BSC 2.1 Patch notes:

“Rise of the Independents”

The War is over, but the battle rages on. 

The warchief, having succeeded in his goal of bringing together a disparate group of comic creators, has stepped aside, and the creators themselves must now make an important decision: How much do they want the warchief's dream of a united front?  How much do they want to stand under one banner; the banner of Creators United?

Follow this ragtag band of comic nerds from all corners of the world as their creations sort out their differences and work together to confront a dire threat that could potentially affect them all. 

*         In Andromeda’s universe, a superhuman that goes by the name of Freedom has the ability to create portals to other universes.  Ever since the battle on his world that resulted in the suppression and oppression of superhumans everywhere, Freedom has helped superhumans escape to other universes in the hope that they might live a life of freedom that they don’t enjoy in their own universe.  

*        His act of selflessness, however, comes at a price.  Creating a portal to other worlds takes a physical toll on Freedom’s body.  Each time Freedom creates another portal, his health declines a little more. 

*        More significant is the toll that is being taken on the time/space continuum itself.  Holes in time and space can’t occur without consequences emerging later on.  That time is now.

*        Random rips in time and space are now occurring throughout the comic universes, and characters from one world have suddenly found themselves appearing in strange new worlds.

Can the creations of these comic creators band together to find the cause of these disruptions to the time/space continuum – and more importantly, can they unite in time to save the multiverse from a cataclysmic end?

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So that's what this patch is all about, my friends.  I'm hoping that there be crossovers in the near future for us to all enjoy.  Will it happen?  Stay tuned, true believers!  I'll definitely keep you all updated!  

Yes, I am! 

I'll start playing catch-up tomorrow!  :-)