Jedi Master
Phil C. has set up a great website with his Star Wars dioramas that is definitely worth checking out. Living Room Wars parodies some of the greatest scenes in the Star Wars films but places the scene in the context of a living room (it’s in the title!) with slightly more domestic enemies. The Vader in Living Room Wars promises to be as entertaining as ours (I realize that probably sounds conceited on my part, but with only one major scene, Vader is already stealing Phil’s show). Just check out his minions! There are five chapters so far. Head on over and leave Phil a comment if you enjoy it as much as I have!
There’s a new voting incentive strip starring the Emperor with a special (entirely random) guest star. Can you guess who it is?
Nominations are currently open for Washington Post’s Best Webcomics of 2011: Please consider nominating Blue Milk Special if you think us worthy. Does our Star Wars parody deserve a shot? We’re talking Washington Post! If we get a mention then this’ll be our first official recognition in nearly three years of making webcomics, but we can only do it with your help. You can go to Comic Riffs blog and comment or you can email him directly. See below…
Today, we begin with webcomics. In 2011, such perennials as “xkcd” and the commentary-enhanced “Pibgorn” proved as popular as ever; the history-laced “Hark! A Vagrant” and the graphical charts of “The Oatmeal” gained new fans as well as new books; “Girl Genius” (couresy of MATTHEW INMAN – The Oatmeal) repeated at the Hugo Awards; and the guys at “Penny Arcade” and “PvP” teamed for the new comic “The Trenches.”
So now we turn the stage over to you to ask: What are your nominations for your Favorite Webcomics of 2011? Feel free to e-mail them to comicriffs@washpost.com or share them in the Comments field below.
Based on your nominations, Comic Riffs will cull the finalists and conduct reader polls next month in the various comics categories.
I’m sorry. I love Leanne’s style, but I live in a cave and just can’t seem to recognize the guy in the incentive strip. I still voted though 🙂
Any help?
KHAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!!!!
Dang, beat me to it! 😀
Google tells me he’s from Star Trek. I AM NOT a Trekkie. Never have been. Never will be. Star Wars is far superior. Oh–my Carsick Senses are tingling! I feel another online nerd fight coming on! BRACE YOURSELVES!!!!!!!!
No fight necessary. Just a little bit of tolerance and appreciation for sci-fi as a genre and the randomness of the Emperor’s pals. 🙂
I’m just joking. 😛
I never watched an Star Trek when I was younger because I was a SW fan and felt it was wrong, but I’ve seen the films now and they’re pretty good. Can’t really get into all the various tv series, though. 🙂
This might surprise our readers, but we’re not exactly Star Trek “fans”. Leanne grew up with The Next Generation. I grew up with re-runs of The Original Series and then watched TNG intermittently along with the films. I enjoyed Star Trek, but never to the point of feeling drawn into it’s universe, so I’ve never been much more than an appreciator of the material. Likewise, we gave Captain Apollo and Starbuck a guest appearance in BMS, not because we are terribly familiar with Battlestar Galactica, but rather that we appreciate its slice of the late Twentieth Century pop culture. I love the fact Ralph MacQuarrie’s designs give it a touch of Star Wars, visually. Are we big fans of Babylon 5 or Firefly. Not really. Are we open to giving those shows nods. Definitely.
We’re actually enormous Doctor Who fans (original late Twentieth Century series) and Blake’s 7, but as both are British shows they are less well known in the States. The great thing about Blue Milk Special is that it’s so crazy that we can be random and throw in the odd cross-over now and then. In BMS, it’s made more relevant by Vader’s strange obsession with his Star Trek mug and the world of Star Trek in general. It doesn’t reflect any obsession on our part other than nostalgia and a fundamental appreciation for something that has had a cultural impact on a genre we love.
Oh and the Chuck Norris part is great.
Chuck Norris! Brilliant – makes me laugh.
Thanks for the incredibly awesome plug! As I said, I was inspired by you and Leanne, T. Gatto, John White et al to try and make something myself!
Oh, and my Vader will never rise to the level of your’s. He’s not made of the right stuff. He’ll always fall short, and he doesn’t have the stature for it!
Chuck Norris and Kanh in BMS, do their cartoon Ego’s fit on your hard drive, or did you have to get an external device?
Good Show PhilC, I will surely be linking your page. 🙂
@Zayne if you only ever watch 1 Star Trek show/Movie watch Wrath of Kahn. I agree it’s not as good as Star Wars, but it still kicks Butt!
I like Spock, but other than that, I think the aliens in Star Trek are kind of strange. I have seen the latest Star Trek, but no Khan. Oh, well. Now I know.
Oh yeah, and the aliens in Star Wars aren’t strange at all? Check out that weird vegetable thing in Jabba’s Palace.
Don’t knock Amanaman (The weird vegetable thing).
I spent a small fortune on his action figure, back in those days before kids when money grew on trees, and someday I’ll even take his card out of the box and dust it off.
The big mantus in the Cantine takes the cake though.
You mean Awomanawoman? That was corny. :/
Don’t worry, BMS itself is corny!
Thanks for that! Yes, I have heard it is amongst the highest of blogger commandments: Link unto my page as I shall link unto yours!
Test Post.
BTW PhilC loved the ATcATs!
AT-cATs, that’s great! I might use it! Although, in ESB, did anyone ever refer to walkers as AT-ATs? Or even AT-STs in ROTJ?
As far as I remember, no. Thing is, as a kid, I called them A.T. A.T.’s, actually pronouncing each letter. I’ll explain the logic. You don’t say “AT STUH” for an AT-ST do ya? Due to Leanne preferring to pronounce them phonetically rather than treating them as abbreviations the two of us are at odds over which is correct. I simply call them Imperial Walkers to avoid the whole issue. The secret of sustaining a marriage right there!
A wise man you are! I do remember seeing “AT-AT” on toy boxes and catalogs in 1980-81 and thinking, what the heck is that?
Always wanted one. I got an AT-ST (Scout Walker) for Xmas instead. I’m younger than you! I think.
As I recall Slave 1, was never the official name of Boba Fett’s ship until the toy came out, and several of the action figures were named/or renamed after the toys (Walrus Man, Hammer Head, Death Squad Commander).
Kenner had an influence on Cannon (they even made several of the guns in the movies, which were repainted toys).
I love the Kenner Toys, the newer ones will never compare.
Agreed!
Rod, I’m a child of the ’60s – by half a year, but it still counts!
When I was a kid everyone called AT-STs “at sit” walkers. I still liked to call them by the letters like you do though, but for different reasons: I thought it sounded more technical or military, while “at at” and “at sit” sounded like nicknames.
Look out Luke, there’s another fist under his beard!
I can see the training now… First we start with Total Jedi workout package….
I wonder if this is a one-strip joke, or if the storyline will take a Chuck Norris Training turn. Either would be awesome.
I’ll predict one-strip joke. Going with Chuck Norris would be one heck of a departure from the ESB story. On the other hand, this is Chuck Norris we’re talking about…
Right! It’s a moral dilemma!
I remember standing in Sears in 1980 with my Mom, gazing in awe at the giant AT-AT box and wanting it soooo bad! But it was expensive, and my parents got me other Star Wars toys that helped fill the void, but that memory sticks with me to this day. And in regard to feeling “bad” about liking Star Trek and therefore being a “traitor” to SW, well, that’s just wrong headed thought. 🙂 One shouldn’t feel one must like one franchise exclusively, without liking any others.
Is Doctor Who really not that well known over there?
It’s known by geeks and getting better known again entirely because of the new series, but it’s not on the level of its popularity in the UK. Geeks are familiar with it, and awareness is increasing, but I believe its tied to just one network with a much more limited audience than in the 80s when the original series would air on Public Broadcasting Stations all over the country. I’d say it’s probably like Farscape (perhaps a bit bigger) or one of those type shows where there’s a following, but it’s not super-massive like Stargate was, or Star Trek. I’d say, in the UK, it is the equivalent of what Star Trek: TNG was to America in the early 90s
If it were not for my brother, and his High school friends, sitting around a VCR and watching re-runs taped off the BBC, I probably never would have even known of Dr. Who’s existance untill the new series came out.
They surely have a following in the States, but it’s difficult to find a Die-Hard fan (especially when you want to borrow old episodes to watch).
I have them all, digitally. Just a few clicks away from any scene at any time! Love it. 🙂
I only have the Tom baker ones digitally. I’d like to get the Peter Davison ones and the Sylvester McCoy ones, but I never liked the Colin Baker era.
A big part of the problem is that it isn’t really broadcast in the US. BBC America has it, allegedly, but BBC America is one of the more esoteric stations: it isn’t available in all areas or on many cable packages, and most people aren’t even aware of it’s existence. Sci-Fi channel used to air it… in unreliable time slots and with syndicated rerun style episode order.
Word of mouth and pop culture osmosis are the only ways to be exposed to it in the US, and for most people the only way to actually watch it is via DVD (you can watch it online in theory, but in practice BBC likes to region-limit it’s streaming content, so no joy unless you’re a proxy user). Small wonder it only has the pop culture presence here of, say, Firefly, as opposed to Stargate or Star Trek or BSG.
We will work in another Doctor Who cameo soon. BMS will do it’s part. 😉 The New Series Dalek did appear in our A New Hope parody a couple years ago. 🙂
Doctor Who’s revival via the new series has benefited us old timers in terms of a resurgence in merchandise for the original (Classic) series. I’m not a fan of the New Series. We’re currently re-watching the original series (we’re up to Mawdryn Undead) and once we finish Sylvester’s era we’ll watch the Elisabeth Sladen episodes in the New Series and give it a second chance. I was extremely resistant to Chris Eccleston and his obvious unwillingness to really embrace the role. I’m also not keen on the soapy stuff in the show, so I don’t think I’ll ever be able to love it the same as the original. Still, 26 years wasn’t bad for it’s first run!
I didn’t like Christopher Eccleston as Doctor Who at all, but I did like David Tennant. My main problem with the new series was the shortness of it. I missed the long storylines, and though a lot of the new stories could have benefited from being extended – even just to two parters. I thought there were some interesting comments in the episode where K9 and Elisabeth Sladen were re-introduced. I’m also enjoying the fact that Matt Smith’s Doctor now has two companions and he’s not romantically linked to one of them. It’s almost exactly what i thought Steve Moffat was going to do.
My concern with Steve Moffat’s direction for the series is how convoluted it sounds. It could drive the stake into the heart of the show if it’s inapproachable for more casual viewers.
didn’t care as much for Eccleston either, but it did get me into the series – so i thank him for that. I thought Tennant was a phenominal Dr. and Matt is growing on me. Really like Amy Pond and River Song’s arc. Moffat impresses me, but it has definitely been a brain-burning experience to try to keep up sometimes. His weeping angels are one of the most frightening thing i’ve seen on TV in the last decade!
Chuck Norris? Pfft…
SAXTON HAAAAAAAAAAAALEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Saxton_Hale
http://saxtonhalefacts.net/
Leanne deserves extra props for her depiction of Chuck Norris. Dude is dead sexy. Brava, Miss Thang!
After reading the incentive stripe I immediately went to Wookiepedia.
And dang…that is a pretty long page.
It’s no lie. I… er, the Emperor… pasted it into a a word document and it REALLY IS 120+ pages. I mean, think about that for a while. Think about how much information that is. It’s like when you talk about how there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on the Earth. A 10 page article would be mammothian, but 120?!?!?!
Is that confirmed to be the longest page?
The only thing longer would have to be infinity itself!
Do any other characters have excessively lengthy Wookieepedia pages?
Everyone says that Chuck is the invincible one who can do anything, but guess, what, Bruce Lee is tougher, and can beat him in a fight!
That’s true and I’ve seen it. Of course it was just a film, and the whole Chuck Norris invincible thing is just a bit of fun. 😉 We could have chosen Steven Segal or Jean Claude Van Dam, but Norris has the meme’s.
Jesus can walk on water but Chuck Norris can swim through land.
Chuck Norris can sneeze with his eyes open.
Chuck Norris has already been to Mars; that’s why there are no signs of life there.
There once was a Chuck Norris toilet paper, but it wouldn’t take shit from anybody.
When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.
Chuck Norris won a starring contest with Medusa
Superman sleeps in Chuck Norris Pajamas
Chuck Norris eats babies and carps out Delta Force commandos
You were thinking of sylvester stallone too right? lol
Actually, not Stallone.
I got the Khan reference from the voting incentive link at the side of the page! Your drawing of him is spot on.
I also note that you’re linking to the Order of the Stick which just happens to be the only other webcomic I read! Permit me to re-recommend it. The quality of writing is extremely high, and you’ll be surprised how expressive stick figure characters can be.
Some of the expressions that Rick Burlew gives his characters were inspirational. Although I got stuck half way through Order of the Stick, it’s still a brilliant WebComic and I intend to finish it sooner or later!
Well, since there are all sorts of random cameos from other sci-fi juggernauts, any chance of Ripley or one of the xenomorph Aliens showing up? I’m thinking only one of those xenomorphs could spook the otherwise-vacant Vader. >: )
ZOMG I love xenomorphs! And Yautja. They too Have a special place in my heart :P. Hey, maybe a cameo from the time traveling Abe and Preston of Alien Loves Predator. Another great webcomic to check out if you don’t mind me saying so, Rod. I’d say it’s The best webcomic out there besides, BMS and Star Wars Age Nine, but now there’s Living Room Wars to throw in the mix. Also, it comes to an abrupt end at strip #349. Tragic, really. 🙁
you’re in a galaxy far far away because Chuck Norris allows you to live there 😀
Kind of took me out of the fun adding in that racist p.o.s. but, as others have said, his publicists *did* make a successful meme, so….
I hear ya. Not a fan of him myself.
But I can definitely ‘get’ tapping into that running joke, especially for making humor for a broader audience. (Love your comic, and all your great insights, so no slight was intended your way….)