Nick Davis's Blog, page 128

Sigmartyr Vol.2 – A Stikfas Action Webcomic Updated

Sigmartyr the Stikfas Action Web Comic has been updated, and the epic story continues here – click here to view

Giving the Gift of a Memory at My Daughters Big 10 Special

Me on Tag, learning horse riding together

Today we did something very special for my Daughter, we celebrated her Big 10 by giving her a day out of her choosing. The Big 10 is important as it is the only time you turn a digit before hitting 100, it is a time to celebrate and give an extra special memory. My Daughter gave us four suggestions and we acted on one of them. She wanted to ride a horse, so we took her horse back riding.

After much searching we found Elk Mountain Trails, which is in the Harper Ferry area of Maryland. A great little Ranch that offers Trail riding at a fantastic rate. Yes, it was a little further than local ranches but they accommodated my 220+ weight, and Jean's disability at no extra cost or fuss.  They even did a fantastic job with my son, who was very scared, and one of the guides offered to tow him until her was comfortable, which took less than 20 minutes into the ride. If you ever want to go horse trail riding I highly recommend Elk Mountain Trails, and we will be returning for a longer ride in the near future. Check out their website at http://www.elkmountaintrails.com/

Of course my Daughter had a complete blast on her horse named Prince, I've never seen her grin so much ever. People may give their kids fancy electronics, or sparkling jewels, I like to think I gave her the most precious gift of all, a very good memory. She loved that horse as the last picture in the gallery below shows.

After the jump there is a gallery of pictures taken from our day tail riding, including my daughter on Prince, my son on Jack giving the thumbs up, my younger son on Houdini, Jean on Nugget (a horse very much in temperament as her) and me on my Nemesis Tag-A-Long, who wanted to drive one of my feet into every tree we rode past… Next time Tag, next time…

Found in the Archive – Thrud the Barbarian, a GW classic miniature

Found buried today in my miniature photo archive a Games Workshop classic Citadel Miniature – Thrud the Barbarian. Painted in layered Bronzed and Dwarf Flesh, then shaded using Snakebite Leather, Ole'Pinhead was a lot of fun to paint and the first time I really paid attention to flesh tones.

Thrud the Barbarian has the strength and ferocity of a Rhinoceros. The speed and agility of a Jungle cat. And the intelligence of a Garden Snail.

Published as a comic strip in Games Workshop's White Dwarf Magazine, the pinheaded Barbarian has long been a fan favorite of long time gamers everywhere, and the bane of White Dwarf Editors. Who are constantly asked when he will be back. Created by Carl Critchlow as a parody of Conan the Barbarian; Thrud is an enduring character and still much missed. You can find more information on Thrud on Carl's website here.

#RoyalWedding 2011 – HRH Prince William & Catherine Middleton my thoughts

I am by no means a royalist and many times in the last few weeks I've been asked my thoughts about the upcoming Royal Wedding. I guess it's because I am English and assumed to have some vested interest in it. In a way I do, they are my Royal family, they are what makes my home country so different to many others, in a way they belong to me and I am still a subject of the crown.

I do feel pride talking about the Royal family, it's long history, and their very special place in British constitution. A Head of State without any of the burdens of running that state, sounds powerless, but is an immensely powerful position should the need be. I take pride knowing that every member of the Royal Family has served in the Armed Forces, many taking part in frontline actions. To see them risking their lives, and their son's and daughters; when really they have no need too is inspiring and a lesson some in power in other countries could well learn.

However, in all honesty I don't feel anything about this marriage, I think it is fantastic that two young and seemingly well balanced people are getting married, and that this marriage seems to be built on a genuine relationship and love. I wish them well and hope the marriage lasts through all the enormous outside pressures that will come to bear. Bon chance to them both… Now where was my invitation? Lost in the mail I suppose, eh?

Review – Super Dinosaur Super Awesome All Ages Fun!

Super Dinosaur

Publisher – Image

Writer –  Robert Kirkman

Artist – Jason Howard

Super Dinosaur is a new series by Robert Kirkman (Walking Dead, Invincible), drawn by Jason Howard (Astonishing Wolfman). It's an all ages comic that follows the adventures of a 9ft T-Rex genetically altered to be Super Dinosaur, who wears a pretty neat and well thought out battle armor/harness.

His mission is to defend Earth and stop the Dino-Men created by Max Maximus from exploiting the deposits of Dynore found in the layer between our Earth and Inner Earth. He is aided by Derek an Awesome Boy Genius (his words not mine) and his robotic companion Wheels. There is also a third element in the fight too led by Tricerachops who is trying to free the Dino-men. All the main characters are introduced and get a nice little set piece to establish who they are, and their motivations.

As mentioned this is an all ages comic which I picked up for my son from Chucks Comics, but once I peeked under the cover I had to read it. Super Dinosaur is super awesome fun to read and is the makings of a Saturday morning cartoon show in comic book form. It's snappy, dynamic, has an amazing hero in the form of Super Dinosaur and simply awesome visuals by Jason Howard. You will love the 'I brought Missiles' splash.

I really cannot find anything wrong with this comic, after all it has Dinosaurs, insanely silly action, huge battle armors and stunning fights. Pick it up for your kid (so you can read it too), it will get them reading comics; this is one title you want to share and talk about.

4 Thumbs Up out of 5

Available Now for the #Ninja Ladies! Everyone Loves Ninja Girls T-Shirt

Following on with the amazing success of the 'Everything is more Fun when you add Ninjas' T-shirt we've created a shirt for the ladies.

"Everyone Loves Ninja Girls"

Is available in contrast white and styled to fit to help distract your Ninja opponents in sizes S-XL click the Paypal button below to order your unique Ninja Stylin today.

 




Sizes




Small $14.99
Medium $14.99
Large $14.99
Xtra Large $15.99






 

Kickstarter has approved Project Fabula details to follow…

Peace

Now this is cool news to share, after waiting a week the good people over on Kickstarter has approved Project Fabula to be featured on their website.

I still have some ground work to do as I pull the remaining details together, but the first hurdle to push Fabula forward to publication for Baltimore Comic Con has been cleared.

As you know Kickstarter is a community sourcing website, and is a place for artists and creators to find funding for their projects. I hope to use it to kick start Fabula and get it moving in the right direction, oh this is going to be good.

As of now the first issue stories have been sorted out, the scripting for the first comic strips are done, and a slight rework of Fabula's original brief has turned the project into something I feel is real special.

More news has it happens, watch out for the Project Fabula button that will be appearing on the sidebar in the next few days. While you here though please checkout our Alt-World Exclusive 'Everything is more fun when you add Ninjas' T-shirt.

Sigmartyr Vol 2 – A post apocalyptic Stikfas Action Web comic Updated

Sigmartyr the Stikfas Action Web Comic has been updated, and the epic story continues here – click here to view

Available Now! Everything is more fun when you add Ninjas T-shirt

By popular demand, The Ninjas of the Bloody Metacarpal now have their very own T-Shirt for your own Ninja styling.

'Everything is more fun when you add Ninjas'

T-Shirt is available in Ninja Black in all sizes from S-XL click the paypal button below to order your own unique Ninja shirt today.

 




Sizes




Small $14.99
Medium $14.99
Large $14.99
Extra Large $15.99

Coming to an Anthology near you…

Over the last month my fellow members of the 3C writing group and myself have been working towards producing an Anthology novel for the month of April. The collective theme of this project was The Cruelest Month, from the line April is the cruelest month from The Waste Land by TS Eliot.

While I admit the theme doesn't lend itself to the most cheery of subjects I was determined to have fun with it. Throughout most of February and March I have been working on first set of Wonder Tales, my collection of all ages fairy tales. So this was a good opportunity to write something for an older age group and get back into the swing of things.

Apart from the Steampunk stuff I've published here, my long form novels have been a gritty fantasy action stories that pitched a girl named Sarah against the Darkness, with a little help from an Angelic Guardian called Paul and CT her long suffering guide to The Tether universe.  So I seized on the chance to try something out of my comfort zone and use a very different writing voice.

Using the Anthology theme of The Cruelest Month I came up with the idea of a writer who had writers block, who was up against a deadline, and hadn't slept in days, and who started to imagine his characters having conversations with him. I wasn't sure which way it was going to go, and for a while I struggled with it. Then for some reason Ninjas appeared and things just came together. Odd how inspiration hits you, everything seems to be much more fun and easier when you add Ninjas to it.

So coming to a Anthology near you, the 3C first story collective entitled the The Cruelest Month will be released in the next two weeks in eBook form, and in about 3-4 in printed form. This book is a collection of short stories from budding and very talented writers from the 3C writing group ranging from the serious to comical, from mysteries to fantasy adventure. I hope you all check it out when we release it, it simply is going to be a brilliant read.