The Helm...Animated!

I am getting excited about the animation of The Helm I'm working on with Joel Brinkerhoff. He sent me the first lip sync test last night, which was awesome, and I can't wait to see more. Back when I was a full time animation director working at Will Vinton Studios, I got to see this kind of stuff come together every day, but I've been out of the field for over fifteen years now and I forgot how fun it is to watch the characters come alive.

I'm tempted to post tests of the animation here, but it feels like that would spoil the surprise. In the meanwhile, I've posted these design sketches Joel did to translate Mathew from comic book illustration to 2-D animated character.

We decided early on that we shouldn't try to duplicate the awesomely detailed art of Bart Sears and Randy Elliott, but should instead take it in a more animation-friendly direction that would best capture the sense of humor of the story.

Well, that's all for today. I hope to have more animation related news soon.

Animated Helm

Well! I haven't blogged anything here in quite a while, but I do have a couple of little things that might be fun to share. One is that I am working with a colleague from my old animation days (Joel Brinkerhoff) on a short animated Mathew/Helm adventure. It's about Mathew's recent trip to Mexico and what he encountered there. Joel is a brilliant animator and I very pleased to be working with him again. It will also be fun to bring Mathew and the Helm to life in animation.

Another quick tidbit is that I've been talking with Randy Elliott (he did the finishes on The Helm graphic novel) and he's playing around with the possibility of doing some Helm-based illustrations with me! Randy's art is beautiful and it will be awesome to continue Mathew's adventures in a comics format.

In non-Helm news, I recently completed the manuscript for a fantasy novel called Fish Wielder, and it was just picked up by Fiery Seas Publishing for release in August of 2016. If you're interested, you can check out the details here: http://www.fieryseaspublishing.com/j-r-r-r-jim-hardison

And finally, I also just launched an author page that brings together my writing work in comics, books, movies and TV. You can check it out at http://www.jimhardison.com/  if you are so inclined.

 Thanks for dropping by!

Jim

Grape Lightsabers

Well! It's been a long time since I've blogged on the Helm site, but today is Mathew Blurdy's birthday and it's also Halloween, so that seems like it deserves some kind of special notice. Happy birthday Mathew! Good luck in your never ending battle against evil.

I should probably note that many people might mistake me for evil at the moment, but only because they are ignorant of how lightsabers work.

As I sit here at my desk, sipping a glass of cherry Crystal Light, I am a little warm in my hooded Jedi robe and I have finally realized why lightsabers have retractable blades. It's not just because you have to turn them on for the blade to appear, I think it's also because it's really hard to sit at a desk with your lightsaber attached to your belt when the blade is out. First, it's just awkward because most desk chairs were not designed with sword-wielders in mind. Second, if your lightsaber were real, it would probably cut right through your chair every time you adjusted your position. It could also cut off your leg, which would be bad. My lightsaber is just a plastic one with a non retractable blade (but it looks way better than those ones where the blades telescope out, has cool sound effects and is way cheaper than those ones where you can take the blade off) so I mostly have to deal with the awkward part. The other awkward thing about my lightsaber is that it only lights up red. I guess, in the Star Wars universe, that makes me look evil.

It's not that I didn't try to get one of the blue or green lightsabers (I really wanted a purple one, but I guess they don't make those), it's just that every place I checked only had red ones. It didn't even seem like they only had red ones left--it actually seemed like they only stocked the red ones, period. Maybe it's because I only checked Fred Meyers (three of them) and the people who make the purchasing decisions for their toy section are evil. Or maybe they're trying to imply that people who buy lightsabers are evil. Or maybe they're reacting to market research that shows that most people only really want the Darth Vader lightsaber.

Whatever the case, the impact is the same. I am wearing a Jedi robe but sporting a red lightsaber. This will make most people think of me as an evil Jedi. If that were the case, I would probably have to be Anakin Skywalker just as he finally switched over to being Darth Vader but before he got burned to a crisp. I can live with that, as long as I don't have to be the kid version of Anakin. That would blow.

Here's my question though. Do you think the color of your lightsaber is based on whether you're good or evil, or do you think it is it just a mechanical thing or a style choice?

Until yesterday, I labored under the misperception that it was based on your disposition. When I complained that my red lightsaber would make me look evil, Mathew gave me a scornful look and noted that Anakin's lightsaber didn't change color from blue to red when he switched to being Darth Vader, he actually got a different lightsaber. It has nothing to do with good or evil.

Lightsaber colors don't really have anything to do with the personalities of their weilders. A lightsaber's color is determined by the type of crystal used to power the blade. That's right, it's crystal light. Thousands of years before the Star Wars movies, the Jedi used to give people different colored blades to indicate their role in the Jedi order. Green blades were for peace keepers. Blue blades were for warriors. The sith and other bad guys used red lightsabers because they thought they looked scary and badass. If you were a Jedi or another Force manipulator, you could get a lightsaber in almost any color, including hot pink.

So, yes. I am wearing a Jedi robe and swinging a red lightsaber. That doesn't mean I'm evil. But I do kind of wonder if the color of a lightsaber does indicate one thing...its flavor. Mine is probably cherry. Mace Windu's was grape.

Ivo Tobin Is Real!

So, I got an email message the other day. It read, "My name is Ivo Tobin and I found your comic by websearching my name. I can't imagine there are a lot of us in the world..."

I think that Ivo is correct as, up until he wrote to me, I firmly believed that I had invented his name. You see, as I was fishing around for an appropriate name for an undead bad guy, I decided to combine two references from the movie Ghost Busters. The first was Ivo Shander, the mad architect who created the building that Sigourney Weaver's character Dana lives in. The second was the book Tobin's Spirit Guide, a tome that Dan Akroyd's character Ray refers to.

When I explained all of this to the Ivo who wrote me, he explained that his name was also a combination. His parents apparently named him after Ivo Pogorelich, a Yugoslavian pianist of some renown whom they happened to see in concert while he was still a passenger in his mom. And Tobin was pulled from a baby naming book. Not that they pulled his last name from a baby book. Tobin is his middle name and I have merely withheld the information that he has a last name so as not to breach his privacy. Because, I would never breach anybody's privacy.

Anyway, the Ivo who wrote me concluded by saying, "...I kind of think I should get a free copy."

Ivo, I agree and one of these days I'll be sending you your very own autographed copy of The Helm.

Any other Helm-named real life humans out there? Write me and maybe I'll send you your very own copy.

REQUIRED READING: ENGLISH 406 Literature for Young Adults

Sometimes I google The Helm to see if anyone is posting anything interesting about it.

Yes, that's kind of self-infatuated behavior, but I never said I wasn't self-infatuated. And if I don't google it, I don't think anyone else will. The Helm's not going to just google itself, you know. Anyway, today I got a link to a college syllabus that features The Helm as required reading! Required Reading!! Whoo Hoooo! People are being forced to read The Helm!!! For college!!!

The class is called Literature for Young Adults: Postmodern Adolescence and it's worth 3 credit hours. The Helm is on the same list as books by Neil Gaimen (Death, the High Cost of Living) and Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games), which is pretty cool. At least, it's pretty cool for me. I don't know how Neil and Suzanne feel about it.

Okay, so there's also a book by Stephenie Meyer (Breaking Dawn) on the list. I haven't actually read any of the Twilight books, but I have seen the movies and I like two of them.

Stephenie Meyer, I know you read this blog religiously and I'm sorry if I've surprised you by revealing on such a public forum, read by millions, that I didn't like one of your Twilight movies and that I haven't read your books. I have simply been too busy googling The Helm and The Creature from Lake Michigan and my various other wildly successful intellectual properties to get to them. I will strive to do better in the future.

Chewbacca Shocka

Well, Mathew was kind of surprised to find the Chewbacca page getting so many hits! He's not normally used to anyone paying any attention to his artistic endeavors, unless it's his mother, yelling at him because he's playing his Gibson Corvus too loud. The Helm even thought it was a mistake, but the visitors keep coming.

Anyway, Mathew wanted me to post a blog entry to invite anyone who is interested to submit their own ideas for Chewbacca mashups which he will use his clumsy Photoshop skills to try to realize to the degree he thinks they're funny. He'll even list your name if it was your idea. Just post a comment to this blog entry with your suggestion.

He also wanted me to remind everyone that he is still busily working on his rock-opera/concept album Master Beastie .

Anyway.

The Helm Banned in China! Well... probably

Apparently, the Chinese government just issued new entertainment guidelines meant to discourage "fantasy, time-travel, random compilations of mythical stories, bizarre plots, absurd techniques, even propagating feudal superstitions, fatalism and reincarnation, ambiguous moral lessons, and a lack of positive thinking."

Now, while this announcement has left a lot of people scratching their heads and wondering what the Chinese are doing, it seems perfectly clear to me that this is a well disguised attempt to specifically block The Helm from reaching China and transforming their civilization with its amazing power. I'm pretty sure that they heard that The Helm was getting published in France and became very concerned that their country was next.

Apart from the time travel bit, they've pretty much covered all of The Helm's bases! Those Chinese are thorough!

Misplaced Priorities and Bart Sears

I just posted a new movie review on the Flaming Sword page of the Helm site and realized that it's been months since I've seen a movie on the big screen and even longer since I've reviewed one on the Helm site! Holy Crap! I have my priorities all wrong! I guess I should make a current year's resolution to see more movies, write more movie reviews and generally consume more pop culture while I am still young enough to enjoy it.

In other news, Bart Sears was kind enough to give me the original cover art work for the Helm #1 as a gift! Not only is the guy an amazing artist, but apparently a pretty nice guy too. He's doing some really cool things over at his new gig Ominous Studios. Check out his site at http://www.ominousstudios.com/index.html

Okay, I suppose that's it for today.

Bulls Eye

Well, I haven't blogged any Helm stuff since January, so it seemed like time to post something. Conveniently, I just happened to notice this morning that The Helm is for sale at Target. Well, at target.com anyway.

I was surprised to see The Helm at Target because... well... it's Target. That would be like finding the Helm available at Walmart. Thinking about that caused me to search the Walmart website to see if The Helm actually was available there. Nope. But the Walmart website was so kind as to refer me to the website for Barnes and Noble. On the Barnes and Noble site, The Helm is cheaper by $2.18! Now that's some savings!

That got me wondering how the B&N price stacked up against the price at Amazon. They were the same--which isn't all that interesting except that they are both cheaper than the listing at Things from Another World. Cheaper by $2.93! That is surprising because TFAW is the retail outlet for Dark Horse comics, publisher of The Helm--where I guess I would have expected to get the best price anywhere.

What does all of this mean? Nothing really except that I have work to do and that the internet is the most dangerous invention ever created as far as writers are concerned.

And...the $999 Party's Over!

Well, the $999 used copy of the Helm graphic novel has been delisted from Amazon. I suppose this suggests that I was correct in my speculation that it was merely an error. It did seem like quite a markup and it was considerably higher priced than copies in similar condition. Oh well...

Unless... Unless what really happened was that the person who owned that $999 copy of the Helm--let's call her Jane Buck--suddenly realized that, in the grand scheme of things, money can't buy happiness and that, no matter how much money she might get for it, there would be a hole in her life and maybe even her soul if she let the one graphic novel that truly moved her slip through her fingers in the pursuit of material gain.

Yes! That's probably what happened.

Unless... Unless what really happened was that Jane woke up in the wee small hours because of a faint scraping sound coming from the richly appointed library of her mansion. Frightened, she rang the silent call button beside her bed to summon her hulking manservant Nixon. But, despite her insistent pressing, no one came to her room. Shivering in the chill air, she struggled into her white, silk dressing gown and took up a candelabra from the dresser. Silent as a ghost, lit only by the flickering flames of the candles, Jane descended the grand staircase toward the library. The mansion was as still as the grave except for the continuing sound of scraping. Scraping like the fingers of a skeletal hand, fumbling to claw its way from the cold hard ground.

As Jane neared the library she felt a sharp and sudden stab of fear. No, not fear for her safety--Jane was an expert in the ancient art of Chung Mu Quan--but fear that some intruder might be attempting to steal her most prized possession, her Very Good Condition copy of the Helm graphic novel by me, Jim Hardison.

Jane's breath caught in her throat at my mere mention of the Helm. She loved that graphic novel like no other graphic novel she'd read in 2010. She had only recently listed it on Amazon.com in a fit of pique when she'd learned that there was not yet a follow-up graphic novel in which she could read of the continuing adventures of her beloved Mathew Blurdy. Of course, she never truly intended to sell it--hence the ungodly high price--but what if someone had spotted the listing and then broken into her home to secure such a valuable copy? That was completely plausible.

Jane stepped to the door of the library, intending to fling it wide and catch the intruder in the act. But she hesitated, her hand on the cut crystal knob. No light streamed from beneath the door, and the character of the scratching struck her as oddly repellent in a kind of creepy, H.P. Lovecraft sort of way. What if it wasn't a crazed Amazon.com purchaser on the other side of that door, but some kind of Elder Being from dimensions outside of our own? Or worse, just a smell from out of time? A smell inexplicably capable of making a scratching sound and of stealing a comic that was voted one of the top ten great graphic novels for teens of 2010?

That thought settled Jane's hash. No smell from another dimension was going to steal her precious Helm, and there was no way she was going to continue the travesty of listing it for sale when she knew that she could not bear to be parted from it and that a second printing wouldn't be available for at least a month, possibly a month and a half! NO! She threw open the door and burst into the library like a plastic shopping bag full of water might burst into a library if it was tossed into the open door and just happened to burst as it crossed the threshold. Only, she didn't soak the tasteful oriental rug the way that water would have because she didn't literally burst, just figuratively.

She was confronted by a sight that made her blood run cold. Not literally. Blood pretty much only varies by a few tenths of a degree on its own--mostly staying around 98.6. There before her, lounging in his indecently revealing boxer briefs, was her faithful Nixon, reading her copy of the Helm and scratching his stubbly cleft chin with his own personal Discover card--not Jane's American Express Black card or even her Capital One Puce card-- but his own, $1000 limit Discover card.

"What?" Jane cried in semi-confusion. "Nixon...what are you doing? Why are you thumbing through my copy of the Helm?"

"I..." Nixon stammered. He had never been much of a talker. "I... Well, that is to say, Miss Jane... That is to say, I was..."

"You were trying to ascertain whether the copy of the Helm currently in my possession was in Very Good Condition so that you could determine whether it made sense to buy me the copy you found listed on Amazon for $999 and give it to me as a gift so as to convey your smoldering but hitherto unarticulated longing for me, based on the assumption that any copy of the Helm selling for that much money must be of superior quality and not knowing that it was the selfsame copy that you now hold in your powerful hand?" Jane asked huskily. She let the neck of her silk dressing gown, previously clutched tightly closed, fall just enough open to reveal the hint of the top of her perfect but heaving breasts.

"Yes'm," Nixon confessed, his alabaster cheeks flushing pink with embarrassment and passion.

"That's my copy listed," Jane whispered, and with that, she crushed the hulking bodyguard to her chest and covered his lips in firm but tender kisses that smelled of lavender and tasted of elderberry syrup.

Which is why the $999 copy of the Helm is no longer listed.

That's probably what happened.

Sky High Helm!

Well, not that I'm vain or anything, but I was checking my Amazon.com author listing this morning and I happened to notice that there was a used copy of the Helm for sale for $999.00. Mind you, it was in "very good condition". I've been watching the prices of the used versions on Amazon for about a week now, not that I'm vain or anything, and have seen them steadily rise from a high of about $40 to more than $90.

Now, I know that the graphic novel version of the Helm is out of print at the moment, and of course, out of print books are more rare and therefor more costly than books that are readily available, but this new $999 price still seems a little steep. I got to wondering if perhaps the price was a mistake. There are several copies for sale in the $70- $90 range (as well as the $7.99- $9.99 range) so it's conceivable that someone just misplaced a decimal point when entering the price.

I have optimistically decided to take this ungodly high asking price at face value, not that I'm vain or anything, and assume that somewhere out there in the world there is a vendor who truly feels that a copy of the Helm in "very good condition" is worth about a thousand dollars.

Anyway, mistake or no, it seemed like a potential subject for a blog entry, and it makes me wonder how much an autographed copy might go for...

Thong Wars!

Well! Thong Wars have begun on the Helm website. That's right, due to popular demand, there are now two stylish Helm themed thongs to choose from. And in true Helm style, they are all about conflict.

The first is the warm and inviting "Welcome Warrior" thong on which Jill and Mathew are depicted in a sexy clinch from issue #2 of The Helm. The second is the harsh and combative "Entry Denied" thong on which Jill is seen kneeing Mathew in the testicles from issue #3. So, pick up one, or both, and signal your intent to all who glimpse your Helm thong!

Stuff! Helm Stuff That Is!

Yup, we got stuff. Due to the crushing volume of fan requests, we have begun to offer Helm merchandise on The Helm website. What kind of merchandise, you ask? Well, mostly t-shirts, but there's also a coffee mug, a baseball cap, a bumper sticker and a thong. Yes, that's right, the only authorized Helm branded thong on the market is available right now at the Helm Store page. So, if you are in the mood for an awesome bit of Helm related memorabilia that will clearly indicate, like a blinding banner, that you are cool beyond measure, then head on over to the link below and blow your monthly bankroll on some stuff. Helm stuff that is. http://www.cafepress.com/gabproducts/7201633

SDCC!

So, looks like I'll be attending the SDCC this year. Anybody else got SDCC plans?

The Flaming Sword

Hey folks,

There's a new page up on the Helm Website: The Flaming Sword. It's a review site where Mathew and the Helm rave or rant about books, movies, TV, music, games or whatever. The inaugural review is of the movie Kick Ass. Check out the page and see how many flaming swords the boys gave the movie by clicking this link: FLAMER

Mint Condition Copy of The Helm Available for $1.5 Million

That's right. And what's more, I have several mint condition copies of The Helm available at this astonishingly good price so that anyone with $1.5 million can buy their own. You see, The Helm is not just for the elite few, it is a comic book for regular folks--especially those who happen to have $1.5 million to spend on a single graphic novel.

Now, I know what you're thinking. $1.5 million? Isn't that a little...cheap? Yes, you're right. If I go by the popular pricing model, I'm undervaluing mint condition copies of The Helm by nearly $223.5 million. So, what am I thinking? Yes, I know that Action Comics #1 originally sold for only ten cents and it just went at auction for $1.5 million, whereas The Helm has a list price of $14.95--that's nearly 150 times more than Action Comics #1. I know that means that The Helm should sell for almost $225 million--it's just simple math. Even a rat could figure that out. Well, a genetically modified rat with an enlarged brain capable of conceptualizing the idea of math and then doing simple calculations like multiplication. But, and this is important to me, I want The Helm to remain a graphic novel for the masses. If I restrict the book only to people who can afford to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for it, I'll be limited to a pretty small audience. Sure, I'd only need to sell four or five copies a year to maintain my modest lifestyle, but I'd miss the satisfaction of knowing the book was being read not just by a handful of chortling billionaires but by dozens of other, less massively wealthy (but still rich) people.

Also, I'd have to live with the serious possibility that people who could afford to pay $225 million for a copy wouldn't actually read it, but would probably put it in a vault or something so as to protect their investment. I didn't write The Helm so that it could languish in Bill Gate's or Phil Knight's comics vault (no offense Bill or Phil--having been in both your comics vaults, I understand and respect what you are doing.) I wrote The Helm so that fantastically wealthy teenagers could delight in its pages. So that ostentatiously rich 40-year-old males with great computer but poor social skills could thrill to the adventures of Mathew Blurdy. I wrote The Helm so that people with the modest sum of $1.5 million dollars to spend on a single comic book could enjoy a full graphic novel just like people with hundreds of times that much money.

And so, as a matter of principle, I won't accept a penny over $1.5 million for a mint condition copy of The Helm. Unless it is autographed.

PLA Signing

Just wanted to say thanks to all the folks who stopped by the Dark Horse booth at the Public Library Association show at the Oregon Convention Center for The Helm signing. It was great meeting you all! And thanks again to YALSA for naming The Helm one of the top ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens of 2010.

I got a Brazilian

That's right! I got a Brazilian. It makes me blush a little to say so because I'm modest, but it's true.

I was checking the stats on the Helm Website and saw that someone from Sao Paulo, Brazil was on the site! I don't know who it was specifically, but I have my suspicions.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Hey, isn't Brazil the fifth largest nation by population? Don't they have something like 192 million people living there and more than 10 million of them in Sao Paulo alone?"

Well, aren't you a cynical smarty pants. Yes, they have all of those people there, but how many of them read comic books? And really, how many of them would enjoy the Helm so much that they'd check out the website? There's only maybe three or four possibilities. In Sao Paulo, I mean. The Helm is absolutely huge amongst the 67 or so uncontacted tribes of Brazil, but they don't have computers with which to visit the Website. We air drop the copies to them after translating them into the various native dialects.

Anyway, given the browser my Brazilian used, and that he is in Sao Paulo, I think it's probably Luiz. In fact, it pretty much has to be Luiz. I'm not going to tell you his last name because I respect his privacy.

Anyway, that's my Brazilian!

The Helm is an ALA Top Ten Great Graphic Novel for Teens 2010

I just got a nice email from the chairperson of the Great Graphic Novels for Teens committee of the American Library Association letting me know that The Helm has been selected as one of the top ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens for 2010. Whoo Hooo!

Gronland, The Helm and the Largest Island on Earth

Well, the emails from Greenland have been pouring in to the extent that my server was overwhelmed and my whole system crashed. Thank you, Greenlanders, for the outpouring of interest and support, but please lay off for a while--I've got work to do and can't handle the pressure.

I didn't think there were any Helm readers in Greenland until now, but boy was I wrong. I guess I should have expected more from the largest island on Earth! You Gronlanders (as the Danish would say) are alright in my book--even if you don't really consider yourselves part of North America despite the geography. Go Kalaallit Nunaat!

That is all.