And following another unexpected delay (sigh), we're back with a review of Marvel's The Avengers. I was a kinda disappointed with it, honestly. More in the review, but it seemed like for everything it did right -- or at least every "cool" nugget -- there was something it did wrong, and the things it did wrong occurred on a more substantive level. I suspect some folks out there would blast me for actively searching for flaws in the film. And yeah, that's true -- I was looking for them, just as I was looking for things to like about it. I tend to watch movies with an eye to evaluate them on all levels, and I'm not one to cover my eyes and stick my fingers in my ears (or devise my own theories to resolve issues that weren't sufficiently explained in a movie/show/etc.) when I find something that doesn't gel. That's just me.

But that's not necessarily you, and that doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be at all down on The Avengers -- as I note in the review intro, I suspect most readers of Scary-Crayon will enjoy it immensely. For an alternate take on the film, check out this review by Jeffrey K. Lyles.

Also, admittedly, this is probably a movie I'd enjoy more on DVD after I fished it out of the $5 bin at Walmart (or, even better, a cart at Dollar Tree). It's legitimately flawed, but somehow those flaws are less bothersome to me when I didn't pay $12 for a ticket -- and when I'm not noting them in a theater filled with cheering, clapping people. Like, many of the one-liners were amusing, but they certainly weren't substantive -- so they weren't the kinds of things I'd walk out of the movie quoting and discussing and referencing endlessly as if they actually made the movie significantly better for their inclusion. And while there were a few really good ones, most of the lines were hardly hilarious, so it was a little annoying to hear the theater erupt into raucous laughter in response. At moments, watching The Avengers in a crowded theater reminded me of watching a sitcom, and I generally despise sitcoms. The reason is this: if a joke in a show falls flat and there's no laugh track, it's not irritating -- it's just another throwaway line of dialogue and (unless it's really bad) I forget about it. But if the joke doesn't work and it's punctuated by five seconds of yukking, as is the case in most sitcoms, it's fucking stupid.

Anyway, yeah -- thanks for reading; leave a comment if you like. See you next time, which will hopefully be sooner rather than later!

I meant to post this yesterday, but here it is -- a review of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1. It's a fantastic film and you should watch it as soon as possible.

In other news, our "Todd & The Book of Pure Evil" DVD giveaway ended last week -- I've notified the winners and will be mailing their prizes very soon. (Hopefully once they receive them, we'll be able to hear a little something from them.) I'm admittedly a little disappointed in how it went, though. The article and blog post didn't appear to receive any fewer views than any other new entry on the site... but apparently folks didn't read the text or found the entry methods too bothersome because only two people entered! Lucky for them and easy for me, since that made them the winners by default, but yeah. Nobody even entered by following SC on tumblr (so I still have an extra "Todd" Season 1 DVD set to give away via other means).

So if you're reading and have something to add, feel free to give us some feedback about what you might have preferred from a contest. Do you hate Facebook and/or tumblr? Dislike leaving comments? Were the instructions unclear and/or too lengthy? Were you simply uninterested in the prize? (Or if you're new to the site and didn't see the contest, let me know what kind of contest prizes and/or entry methods would appeal to you.) Really, I'd appreciate anything you have to say on the matter. I'd like to do more contests, and I want them to be events that readers find appealing!

Thanks, folks. See you next time!

And we're back with more blog content! Today's feature, which comes to us from Andrew Perry of Poker Junkie, is a review of Poker Night at the Inventory. It's a game I'd never heard of until very recently, but one that will probably appeal to a lot of you netizens out there! Anyway, enough from me -- let's hear what Andrew has to say about it.

If we told you about a poker title that has only one form of poker to play, most of you would immediately go elsewhere. Instead, we are going to tell you about a poker title that allows you to get cussed out by Tycho from Penny Arcade. Interested? If so, you should check out Poker Night at the Inventory.

Poker Night at the Inventory is a poker title released by Telltale Games for the PC and Mac that pits you against several popular characters from games and the web. You get to play in an underground poker game at a secret club called "the Inventory" against the aforementioned Tycho -- as well as the Heavy from Team Fortress 2, Strong Bad from Homestar Runner, and Max from Sam & Max. (more...)

More content so quickly?! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE??? XD

Yeah, I was obviously inspired to mock up the poster that comprises Dusty Plastic HELLside #34 by the recent controversy over Michael Bay's revelation that the Ninja Turtles in the 2013 movie will be "from an alien race." I admittedly don't have a whole lot to say about the matter (ha ha, of course I do), but I will say this -- that's completely stupid. Not because it's inherently or necessarily stupid, mind you; I'll grant that it is entirely possible to tell a great story about four alien creatures who touch down from outer space and just happen to know martial arts. But that story won't be the story of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and there's absolutely no good reason to go about making such radical changes to their origins. (more...)

That said, as seen below, I was planning to make Celestia pink here, as I used the toy as my reference when drawing up this comic. The cool thing about flood fill coloring, though, is that it's super easy to implement color changes on a whim!

So yeah, here's another quick HELLside comic -- this one featuring the aforementioned pony princess but otherwise in keeping with the theme of these strips as of late. I think we'll go back to action figures for at least the next couple of comics... and then who knows? Also, in the last comic and this one, you might've noticed that I dropped the word balloons in favor of naked text with a line to designate the speaker. The drawings themselves are fairly simple, and I found myself thinking maybe the word balloons didn't mesh as well with that style. I doubt it really matters to readers either way (I have a tendency to overthink things!), but if you do have any feelings about the change I encourage you to share them. Feel free to comment on anything else about the comic as well! Hopefully you find the joke less offensive than Celestia did...

Anyway, that does it for this post. Remember to enter our "Todd & The Book of Pure Evil" contest if you haven't already (you've got through Monday, March 26, to do so; we'll be giving away three "Todd" Season 1 DVD sets), and stay tuned to Scary-Crayon!

I probably should've saved that title for a comic that's actually about HEAT -- which I anticipate, seeing as how we've had the warmest winter I've ever experienced and it's already hella warm in the middle of March -- but whatever. Here's Dusty Plastic HELLside #32, which is totally not about heat at all in that it is not terribly exciting. Honestly? I wanted to do something in keeping with the sad/rejected author avatar theme, and I kinda liked the "not even to save the whales" line. Don't ask me why.

So yeah, that's that! I should have another similar comic in the next few days. See you then! And don't forget about the "Todd & The Book of Pure Evil" contest we're running -- you've got through next Monday to enter!

Hey, folks! So here's a new Spectare review -- a commentary on "Todd & The Book of Pure Evil" Season 1. As noted in the review, you can buy the set on Amazon... or you can win one right here!

Yep, the good folks at Foundry Communications sent me a review screener -- along with three copies to give away via a promotional contest of sorts. So we're going to do this three ways. (more...)