Rock and roll

Notes from the continuity nerds: Fuzzy's problematic memory -- or lack thereof -- was first discussed in this strip.

Penny Arcade's depiction of the Mega Man 9 effect almost perfectly mirrors my own transformation, with one major exception... I'm pretty sure when I was a child, I didn't use the phrase "cheap-ass robot whore" quite as liberally as I do today.

Mega Man 9 is great. It's extremely difficult, sure, but also brilliantly constructed and surprisingly creative. I guess this should come as no surprise, considering it was developed by the same team responsible for the fantastic Megaman ZX Advent. But where 9 distilled, ZX Advent embellished -- one game rolls back the clock to a kind of retro-perfection, while the other thoroughly infuses the old formula with radical new ideas and gorgeous artwork.

They're two completely different approaches, but in both cases the execution was absolutely stellar. And so, 21 years and roughly two-hundred-bajillion games later, old Mega Man is experiencing a bit of an unexpected renaissance! Good news for everyone... or at least, everyone who enjoys being killed by the same freaking lava beam five thousand times.

Sam Logan

Dumm

Did you know: a fine selection of extremely gorgeous cartoons can be found at Dumm Comics, a webcomic collective populated by several super-talented animation vets. Where would we be without the likes of Skadi and Through the Port-Hole brightening our internet experience? Nowhere good, my friend. Nowhere good.

Sam Logan

Who watches

I'm still not sure how I feel about the Watchmen film, but one thing is for sure -- the publicity definitely seems to have gotten a lot of folks reading the original book! I saw no less than nine copies of that distinct yellow paperback this weekend alone -- five on prominent display in bookstore windows, and four in the hands of captivated-looking strangers in various random locations. But I suppose it's no surprise, considering the huge increase in orders being placed by retailers over the last month or two.

I don't think I've ever seen a comic movie renew so much interest in the book on which it was based... not even the previous film adaptations of Moore's work. But personally, I'm just glad that this surge of new comic readers is being directed towards one of the medium's greatest classics, and not something like... I don't know... Uncle Funny Bunny and Chumpy.

Sam Logan