Friday, February 22, 2013
"What Could Go Wrong?" - Teaser #2
Here's another fresh teaser for #200! Meet the crew and wonder who the hell would give them high-powered assault weapons.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Update on #200
Hey, fellas.
I'm still working on #200 and it seems like I'm going to have reshoot some of it. Glaring continuity errors too big to Photoshop out. I let some slide, but some of this... Yeah, it ain't gonna fly.
So, I'm going to get it all shot and corrected for you. The next update I post will be a new teaser trailer, the second and probably last one. Because the next video I post after it will be #200, in all its glory.
Sound good?
I'm still working on #200 and it seems like I'm going to have reshoot some of it. Glaring continuity errors too big to Photoshop out. I let some slide, but some of this... Yeah, it ain't gonna fly.
So, I'm going to get it all shot and corrected for you. The next update I post will be a new teaser trailer, the second and probably last one. Because the next video I post after it will be #200, in all its glory.
Sound good?
Friday, January 25, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Ages 25 & Update: #200 Teaser Tomorrow
So my good friend Dr Syn from The Smuggling Cove sent in this picture, which he describes as "Helix hard at work and updates for Ages 25 and up (right?)" And you'd better believe he's right!
Tomorrow, I am releasing an animated teaser for #200. Now it's going to be short, very short, as it's just a very small taste of what's to come. So sit tight, stay frosty, and check back tomorrow for the briefest of briefings!
Tomorrow, I am releasing an animated teaser for #200. Now it's going to be short, very short, as it's just a very small taste of what's to come. So sit tight, stay frosty, and check back tomorrow for the briefest of briefings!
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Numbers' New Years Newsletter: Target 2013, in 4-D
[Other years' letters: 2011 / 2012 / 2013 / 2014 / 2015 / 2016 / 2017 / 2018 / 2019 / 2020 / 2021 ]
My friends, I must ask you: what drives a man?
His thirst for power? His pursuit of material and wealth? His insatiable appetite for conquest? Or, is it something more? A sense of duty, perhaps? The defence of justice?
I know not the answer, and my struggles of the last year have crushed any previous desire to find one.
Perhaps you remember the letter I wrote to you in January 2012, or even the one that preceded it. If not, I will get you up to speed. I built an empire selling matches to schoolchildren and soon had enough money to build myself a giant robot suit which I'd use to keep the Earth safe. Perfectly reasonable, no?
My arch-nemesis, who had his own mech, had his evil plans thwarted by my hands multiple times. But I was completely unprepared for his "space program." Having established bases on Phobos and Deimos, the Martian moons, he turned his henchmen into... monsters. Worse, he opened some kind of Gate to Hell. Luckily, my mech was up for the challenge.
For months, I explored, slaying demons and struggling to find my way out. Many mazes later, I had no choice but to shoot a hotshot video game designer in the face to escape the Hell of... well, Hell. That was when I found myself back in 1993. My nemesis was nowhere to be found, and as a final insult, he must have sent me spinning through time and space, with way too much oversteer.
Somehow, the parts I required to repair my mech were unavailable in the mid-nineties. Don't ask me why. My only hope, short of an unlicensed particle accelerator backpack, was to harness the strength of lightning to power up my battleframe and send me back to my own spatiotemporal plane. After buying some sealed SNES games, of course.
With my armour's giant drill acting as a lightning rod (don't worry about the science), I created a thunderstorm in an unpopulated area using the secrets extracted from my nemesis' late weather-control device and one thunderbolt later, I was launched back to the present. Or future, depending on reference point and perspective.
Only, I'm not so sure. I find myself in a world in which people replace their useless hipstertech touchscreen devices every six months. A world in which kids who have never explored the depths of online subculture throw around catchphrases they couldn't possibly understand. This can't be the world I left; the world I built the mech suit to defend. I must have fallen into some kind of parallel dimension, one in which Idiocracy is a documentary. A world populated by ten-meter tall tentacle monsters, and not a schoolgirl in sight. The creatures in this place are terrifying, but nothing my mech cannot handle.
I hope.
I will battle my way through these monsters until I can charge up enough power for another slipgate jump, one which, with luck, would bring me home. Until then, I hope you all have the best 2013 possible, or at least a kickass one.
Oh yeah, and this whole time/space misadventure is why #200 is taking so long.
- 1337W422102, aka "Numbers," Intergalactic Planetary Planetary Intergalactic Guardian
January 2013
[Other years' letters: 2011 / 2012 / 2013 / 2014 / 2015 / 2016 / 2017 / 2018 / 2019 / 2020 / 2021 ]
My friends, I must ask you: what drives a man?
His thirst for power? His pursuit of material and wealth? His insatiable appetite for conquest? Or, is it something more? A sense of duty, perhaps? The defence of justice?
I know not the answer, and my struggles of the last year have crushed any previous desire to find one.
Perhaps you remember the letter I wrote to you in January 2012, or even the one that preceded it. If not, I will get you up to speed. I built an empire selling matches to schoolchildren and soon had enough money to build myself a giant robot suit which I'd use to keep the Earth safe. Perfectly reasonable, no?
My arch-nemesis, who had his own mech, had his evil plans thwarted by my hands multiple times. But I was completely unprepared for his "space program." Having established bases on Phobos and Deimos, the Martian moons, he turned his henchmen into... monsters. Worse, he opened some kind of Gate to Hell. Luckily, my mech was up for the challenge.
For months, I explored, slaying demons and struggling to find my way out. Many mazes later, I had no choice but to shoot a hotshot video game designer in the face to escape the Hell of... well, Hell. That was when I found myself back in 1993. My nemesis was nowhere to be found, and as a final insult, he must have sent me spinning through time and space, with way too much oversteer.
Somehow, the parts I required to repair my mech were unavailable in the mid-nineties. Don't ask me why. My only hope, short of an unlicensed particle accelerator backpack, was to harness the strength of lightning to power up my battleframe and send me back to my own spatiotemporal plane. After buying some sealed SNES games, of course.
With my armour's giant drill acting as a lightning rod (don't worry about the science), I created a thunderstorm in an unpopulated area using the secrets extracted from my nemesis' late weather-control device and one thunderbolt later, I was launched back to the present. Or future, depending on reference point and perspective.
Only, I'm not so sure. I find myself in a world in which people replace their useless hipstertech touchscreen devices every six months. A world in which kids who have never explored the depths of online subculture throw around catchphrases they couldn't possibly understand. This can't be the world I left; the world I built the mech suit to defend. I must have fallen into some kind of parallel dimension, one in which Idiocracy is a documentary. A world populated by ten-meter tall tentacle monsters, and not a schoolgirl in sight. The creatures in this place are terrifying, but nothing my mech cannot handle.
I hope.
I will battle my way through these monsters until I can charge up enough power for another slipgate jump, one which, with luck, would bring me home. Until then, I hope you all have the best 2013 possible, or at least a kickass one.
Oh yeah, and this whole time/space misadventure is why #200 is taking so long.
- 1337W422102, aka "Numbers," Intergalactic Planetary Planetary Intergalactic Guardian
January 2013
[Other years' letters: 2011 / 2012 / 2013 / 2014 / 2015 / 2016 / 2017 / 2018 / 2019 / 2020 / 2021 ]
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Status of #200
All right, so I'm a few days late to wish you all a Merry Christmas and too early to wish you a Happy New Year, so how about this? "I hope you had a Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Year." There we go. Still got it.
I wasn't able to make a new seasonal issue this year, what with the animation and all, so here are all of the Christmas/New Year A25U comics I could remember. Enjoy!
Oh, and keep scrolling down for news on #200, too.
Here's the very first Christmas issue, from way back in 2008. Appropriately enough, I posted it late, too. Click on the image below to check out the comic, #19 "Special Occasions":
There was no New Year's issue that year, but the Christmas 2009 issue proved to be one of the most important of the entire series. It started a subplot that lasted for the entirety of 2010! Check out #71 "Merry Cobramas" by clicking on this image:
There was a New Year's comic for the first time that year, posted on 31 December, 2009. It was called "G.I. Joe: Resolutions," which wasn't very clever, and still isn't:
For Christmas 2010, I'd decided to break out the custom Cover Girl figure my buddy D.Chan had made for me and try a new pairing. Decide for yourself if it works in #121 "That Time Of Year":
New Year 2011 saw the Cobra Commander back in power in #122 "The Big Broadcast of 2011":
The Cobra Commander was also the star of 2011's Christmas issue, #170 "And To All A Good Night":
New Year 2012 began a new story, one that introduced two original characters (each created and whose figures were custom made by D.Chan -- thanks again, man!). Stinger Driver Roy (who first appeared in #172) and Meredith, the sassy redhead from Cobra "Supplier Relations" would work against Clutch in their story arc, but it began with her getting her drank on in #171 "Dropping The Ball!":
Right, so, about #200. It's going to be an animated short, but nothing like #100, which was just a cut-to-sound. This one is much more ambitious, with sound effects and even voices. Yep, a full talkie! And it even features a guest writer, sort of. I'll try to have it ready by mid-January, but I'm still not sure if I'll be able to make that release window.
I took on a much bigger project than I had expected and I should have planned this out better. Had I not encountered those technical issues in the summer, I would've been able to finish it during my break, but as it spilled into my final university semester, it unfortunately had to take a back seat to studying, papers, and exams, not that that is any excuse for not keeping you guys up to speed with updates and previews. Thanks again for your continued patience and support, and speaking of previews, here are a couple new stills and the ones from last time:
So, Season's Greetings and whatnot, and stay tuned for a bright 2013 and the return of Ages 25 & Up with an animated short for #200.
I wasn't able to make a new seasonal issue this year, what with the animation and all, so here are all of the Christmas/New Year A25U comics I could remember. Enjoy!
Oh, and keep scrolling down for news on #200, too.
Here's the very first Christmas issue, from way back in 2008. Appropriately enough, I posted it late, too. Click on the image below to check out the comic, #19 "Special Occasions":
There was no New Year's issue that year, but the Christmas 2009 issue proved to be one of the most important of the entire series. It started a subplot that lasted for the entirety of 2010! Check out #71 "Merry Cobramas" by clicking on this image:
There was a New Year's comic for the first time that year, posted on 31 December, 2009. It was called "G.I. Joe: Resolutions," which wasn't very clever, and still isn't:
For Christmas 2010, I'd decided to break out the custom Cover Girl figure my buddy D.Chan had made for me and try a new pairing. Decide for yourself if it works in #121 "That Time Of Year":
New Year 2011 saw the Cobra Commander back in power in #122 "The Big Broadcast of 2011":
The Cobra Commander was also the star of 2011's Christmas issue, #170 "And To All A Good Night":
New Year 2012 began a new story, one that introduced two original characters (each created and whose figures were custom made by D.Chan -- thanks again, man!). Stinger Driver Roy (who first appeared in #172) and Meredith, the sassy redhead from Cobra "Supplier Relations" would work against Clutch in their story arc, but it began with her getting her drank on in #171 "Dropping The Ball!":
Right, so, about #200. It's going to be an animated short, but nothing like #100, which was just a cut-to-sound. This one is much more ambitious, with sound effects and even voices. Yep, a full talkie! And it even features a guest writer, sort of. I'll try to have it ready by mid-January, but I'm still not sure if I'll be able to make that release window.
I took on a much bigger project than I had expected and I should have planned this out better. Had I not encountered those technical issues in the summer, I would've been able to finish it during my break, but as it spilled into my final university semester, it unfortunately had to take a back seat to studying, papers, and exams, not that that is any excuse for not keeping you guys up to speed with updates and previews. Thanks again for your continued patience and support, and speaking of previews, here are a couple new stills and the ones from last time:
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
The Lego Space Marines need your help!
Anyone here like Lego? I know I do.
Lego has this website where fan-made models can become real, official Lego sets, and make it to production, which is awesome. One of these projects is a badass-looking Space Marine theme:
They need enough people to say they like the idea by clicking on a big green button. At that point, it will go to review, and if it passes, we'll have some Lego Space Marines on our shelves soon enough! So far, there are about 9,800 supporters, and the project needs 10,000 to go to the review phase. To make the winter review phase, it needs to hit 10,000 by December 3, I think.
If you get a minute, please visit http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/5127 and show your support for Lego Space Marines!
I'm just a fan; I have nothing to do with the Lego Space Marines project myself other than digging it. Yes, there is an official Lego space marine minifigure so far, but he's only available in a series of blind-bagged of minifigs, so it's hard to find him, much less army build them! And the upcoming Galaxy Force line looks disappointing, with garish colours and motocross helmets instead of the bulky space armour these guys have.
So please, visit http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/5127 and support the project. Thanks a lot!
Lego has this website where fan-made models can become real, official Lego sets, and make it to production, which is awesome. One of these projects is a badass-looking Space Marine theme:
They need enough people to say they like the idea by clicking on a big green button. At that point, it will go to review, and if it passes, we'll have some Lego Space Marines on our shelves soon enough! So far, there are about 9,800 supporters, and the project needs 10,000 to go to the review phase. To make the winter review phase, it needs to hit 10,000 by December 3, I think.
If you get a minute, please visit http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/5127 and show your support for Lego Space Marines!
I'm just a fan; I have nothing to do with the Lego Space Marines project myself other than digging it. Yes, there is an official Lego space marine minifigure so far, but he's only available in a series of blind-bagged of minifigs, so it's hard to find him, much less army build them! And the upcoming Galaxy Force line looks disappointing, with garish colours and motocross helmets instead of the bulky space armour these guys have.
So please, visit http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/5127 and support the project. Thanks a lot!
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Happy Remembrance Day
It's once again November 11th; Remembrance Day in Canada. I don't have much to say, so I'll let Rick Mercer do the talking.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
AGES 25 & UPdate: Still Alive
NEWS AND PREVIEW IMAGES BELOW!
Numbers reporting in. Contrary to popular belief, I'm alive!
First of all, I want to apologize for my radio silence recently. And by "recently," I mean "for the last few months." I've been around and busy. Busy with what? Busy piecing together the next comic, aided by the computer you guys helped me acquire!
Thank you for contributing and for being patient while I got my crap sorted out. If it wasn't for your help, I'd probably have to make the comics by hand, by cutting up 35 mm film, or something. Things have been hectic here at the A25U HQ, where production of
Well, first of all, #200 is the largest A25U-related undertaking I have ever undertook. So much so that I couldn't even do it alone and have enlisted the help of my friends and brothers-in-harms from the AtomicMoo.com, the most Refreshingly Geek (TM) site you are likely to find on an entire internet. This isn't just some remastered #100. It even has a guest writer... sort of! Here, have a preview image:
Unfortunately for me, real life is duking it out with #200. I'm currently in my final semester of university, so I often find myself writing papers when I'd rather be editing up the new A25U. So it's taking a while and will continue to take a while.
No ETA yet, but I want to get it posted before the end of November. Whether this happens or not, I'm still not sure. Rest assured: I don't think I'll do something this elaborate for #300.
So here's what I'll do. I'm going to keep working on #200, while providing occasional updates to you guys, with production stills. A week before #200 is released, I'll put up #199.5, which will recap the story arc that #200 is a part of. You remember, that one about Destro coming back or something.
I've also removed the spam-filled Cbox comment field thing from the left sidebar. I've replaced it some kind of twiddler comment box. I'm not sure if it's an improvement, but at least there won't be spam now. Do with it what you will.
Here's another preview. That's right: #200 has Cobras, Iron Grenadiers, and even beer! Surely that's worth the wait, right? ...right?
So, enjoy the photos, post some comments or questions or whatever you want, and stay tuned. I know I ask a lot of you guys, but I say this as honestly as I can: #200 is coming!
Thanks again,
- Numbers
Monday, July 30, 2012
SITREP: Well, crap.
Pic extremely related.
Long story short, I'm screwed.
I'll explain. I'm one of the poor saps who owns an HP laptop. Or rather, one who got owned by an HP laptop. Their Pavilion dv6000 series (among others) is known for its piss-poor construction and absurd failure rate. Using the machine since 2009, I've coped as best as I could as a bullet list of parts failed, falling off as if struck with some horrible, incurable disease.
The laptop is built like shit, which is why we got it at such a low price. Hell, there was a class-action lawsuit against HP, and the dv6000 is one of the models that lead to such action. I've made due as the speakers died, the optical drive and USB ports took on lives of their own, the screen hinges fell out of place (rendering the devices in the lid other than the screen useless), and other such trials. But this was the end of it.
The problem that killed my laptop was, appropriately enough, the same issue that caused all those Xbox 360s (including mine) to develop the Crimson Circle of Cancer: a ridiculously unbelievable design flaw that, in both cases, was left in because WHO CARES, LOL MONEY
I'm writing this from another, more reliable Lenovo laptop I borrowed from my other brother. I've installed Photoshop on it and some other programs to try to still be productive, but needless to say, production of #200 has hit a major, serious snag. My dead laptop's hard drive has been removed and is sitting in an enclosure, so I haven't lost any data, only progress. I'll have to start over what I had already. Maybe this wouldn't be such a big deal if #200 was just a regular issue. But trust me, it's far from one.
I'm going to need more time, and if you're willing to, perhaps a bit of your help. I need to get myself a new computer, which might be tough, being a broke-ass full-time student with a soul-crushing assembly-line summer job. So if anyone wants to help me out a bit, I've added a donation button and explanatory page to the blog. Friends suggested this, and though I have been extremely reluctant to do so, they were ultimately right when they said that if readers wanted to show their support, they should at least have that option available to them. This is not some kind of cashgrab attempt.
So that's what I wanted to say. Please, be patient, thanks for your encouragement, and if you want to, there's now a donate button if you want to throw some change at me. Thanks for sticking around these last four years. We're not done yet.
Yeah, sorta like that.
Long story short, I'm screwed.
I'll explain. I'm one of the poor saps who owns an HP laptop. Or rather, one who got owned by an HP laptop. Their Pavilion dv6000 series (among others) is known for its piss-poor construction and absurd failure rate. Using the machine since 2009, I've coped as best as I could as a bullet list of parts failed, falling off as if struck with some horrible, incurable disease.
The laptop is built like shit, which is why we got it at such a low price. Hell, there was a class-action lawsuit against HP, and the dv6000 is one of the models that lead to such action. I've made due as the speakers died, the optical drive and USB ports took on lives of their own, the screen hinges fell out of place (rendering the devices in the lid other than the screen useless), and other such trials. But this was the end of it.
The problem that killed my laptop was, appropriately enough, the same issue that caused all those Xbox 360s (including mine) to develop the Crimson Circle of Cancer: a ridiculously unbelievable design flaw that, in both cases, was left in because WHO CARES, LOL MONEY
I'm writing this from another, more reliable Lenovo laptop I borrowed from my other brother. I've installed Photoshop on it and some other programs to try to still be productive, but needless to say, production of #200 has hit a major, serious snag. My dead laptop's hard drive has been removed and is sitting in an enclosure, so I haven't lost any data, only progress. I'll have to start over what I had already. Maybe this wouldn't be such a big deal if #200 was just a regular issue. But trust me, it's far from one.
I'm going to need more time, and if you're willing to, perhaps a bit of your help. I need to get myself a new computer, which might be tough, being a broke-ass full-time student with a soul-crushing assembly-line summer job. So if anyone wants to help me out a bit, I've added a donation button and explanatory page to the blog. Friends suggested this, and though I have been extremely reluctant to do so, they were ultimately right when they said that if readers wanted to show their support, they should at least have that option available to them. This is not some kind of cashgrab attempt.
So that's what I wanted to say. Please, be patient, thanks for your encouragement, and if you want to, there's now a donate button if you want to throw some change at me. Thanks for sticking around these last four years. We're not done yet.
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