Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the SykoGrafix.com domain name being opened to the public. Word.

It’s no coincidence that I let this place loose on the first Hallowe’en of the 2Ks. Getting this place off the ground was important to me, and still is, and I wanted to make a bold statement right off the bat.

I like Hallowe’en a lot. It suits my personality. Other holidays are based on love. Christmas is based on love. Blech. Valentines day is based on love. Please. Thanksgiving is based on love. Give me a break.

Hallowe’en is based on fear! Now that’s a holiday for me!

It’s too bad that I’m not really in the mood to celebrate the only day of the year where I’m not a complete freak, but that doesn’t really matter. This is SykoGrafix, and here, every day is Hallowe’en!

Sayonara.

The long awaited Transformers art book has finally been released. I was able to scrape together enough money to buy a copy this week, and let me tell you that after going through each and every page several times, it is amazing. It’s totally full of awesome artwork from all of the various generations of Transformers. Dreamwave covers and lithos, CGI shots from Beast Wars and Beast Machines rendered by Mainframe, convention exclusive characters, and a whole wack of some of the best fan art you’ll ever see.

Not only is this book nice to look at, but its release is a very important event in the history of Transformers fandom. A book like this proves the far reaching influence that the Transformers have had, and continue to have, on a lot of people. The artists featured in this book have been inspired by Transformers to create great artwork in a wide variety of styles, and I think that says a lot about the power that a franchise like this can have over people’s imaginations. Transformers isn’t a dumb fad or a trend or something childish without merit. It’s the real deal. It has a rich history and a wide variety of characters. It’s here to stay. And this book, appropriately labeled as “Fine Art“, proves it.

What’s more is that this is just the first half. The next part, to be announced later, will contain official artwork from Hasbro and Takara. I do hope that these books are met with a lot of success, and that perhaps further volumes would be released in the future. If that were to happen, I’d personally do my best to be one of the included artists.

If you have any interest in Transformers at all, please buy this book. It’s worth every penny. Not only will you be getting over 100 pieces of awesome artwork, but your purchase will also be proving to the world that Transformers rock!

My hat is off to 88MPH Studios for a job well done against seemingly impossible odds.

Sayonara.

The response for my “Stupid People HATE Ninjatron” article has been tremendous. I’m really glad that I was able to make so many people laugh. Just read some of the reactions at the Allspark, here. And of course, I’d still love to know what everyone thinks, so please let me know! I really appreciate it.

I’m way behind on buying comics. I just bought Dreamwave‘s TMNT #4, and it was great. It’s an adaptation of the 4th episode of the animated series, but mostly from the perspective of Casey Jones. It’s really a fascinating twist on the old story. Casey is really messed up! Highly recommended. Next issue is when original stories will start, so be sure that you’re reading then.

On Friday I was at a basketball exposition game between the Toronto Raptors and a team from Greece. The Raptors played well and really took it to them, leading by well over 20 points. But with less than a minute left to play in the 4th quarter, something really weird happened! The power kicked off and out went the lights! It was crazy. It happened right before my eyes and I’ve never seen anything like it. They couldn’t figure out what happened so after a while they just called the game finished. It was crazy.

Sayonara.

Ok, so we got new updates. Whoo.

This week the site was visited by several Germans! Interesting. I wonder what exactly brought about this German influx, but it’s welcome all the same. “susi” sent me some sweet kisses, which is a European thing, I guess, and “schmitti” said “nette seiten“, which bablefish translated as “Nice Sides“. Thank you, schmitti! I have been working on my sides! I also think that they are coming along nicely.

Please enjoy this temporary Hallowe’en design. It’ll be around until early November. But don’t worry, our 3 little Trick-or-Treaters will have a permanent spot in the art gallery at that time. Thanks to all of the board members for their fun suggestions.

I hope you dig my new written digital smackdown, “Stupid People HATE Ninjatron“. I think it’s pretty funny, and the irony of it all is quite intentional. Let me know what you think of it, and anything else, new or old, that you see around here, on the message board.

If you’re on the mailing list, then the newsletter should have gone through. If you did not get it, please let me know. There seem to be some problems with sending it, so I don’t know if it worked or not. In fact, even if you did get it without any problems, please let me know any ways so that I know it worked (and so that I know people are reading it!).

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians out there.

Sayonara.

Yesterday I watched one of the greatest pieces of animation that I have ever seen. It was called “Secret of Cerulean Sand” (Patapata Hikousen no Bouken) and it was just beautiful. Not sure how many episodes it is, but I saw 4, and that was more than enough to say that it was awesome. The animation was incredible. The backgrounds kicked ass. And the story is complete and utter magic. It’s a classic kind of story, with a adventurous young girl obsessed with trying to build a flying machine. It’s really an accessible story line, set in what seems to be the old-time southern US.

This is a show that going to make a lot of anime-haters eat their words. Everyone needs to see this show. Kids essepcially need to see this show. It’s phenomenal. Fansubs are currently available for download online, but this series really needs to be licensed and given a wide release. Anime fans are going to love it, but it’s my hope that non-anime fans or people who generally don’t give much thought to animation will love it too. It’s a hundred times better than anything I’ve ever seen Disney put out. It’s just that good. Keep an eye on it!

Other anime that I’ve been into include Bomberman Jetterz, Slam Dunk, Gundam ZZ, and Matantei Loki Ragnarok. All of these are also, at the time of this writing, available online as fansubs. If you’re going to be joining me at Comic Book Masters this October, then perhaps you might be getting a taste of some of these shows.

Speaking of which, I’ve added some Photos to the Comic Book Masters website. If you were a student there last winter or spring, then there might be a shot of you there now. Since I was holding the camera, there aren’t any shots of me, but there is a picture of something I drew. Check it out.

Sayonara.