Nick Davis's Blog, page 65

It Was Said – Prologue from Nevermore, Book Three of the Tether Saga

Prologue – It Was Said…

The children of men multiplied and spread across the land singing the praises of their Lord and in turn the land prospered in his light. The Watchers who protected man from evil grew jealous of the attention man was getting from their Lord, some wished to walk among them to bathe in his praise, to take wives, for the children of men had many beautiful daughters and the Watchers did lust after them. The Watchers rallied around a leader and he said onto his followers, “Come let us take wives from among the children of men and beget us children, for do we not deserve a price for the service we do give?”

This caused discord amongst the Watchers for they were commanded to never lay with the children of men, to not think, speak or commit the deed for it was the greatest of sin, and their leader embolden spoke again, “I fear if ye will not agree, then I alone will pay the penalty of sin for speaking all ye thoughts so freely.”

As one the score of Watchers answered him and said, “Let us all swear an oath and bind ourselves by our imperfection to not abandon this thought, but to do this thing.”

The Watchers took the oath and bound themselves to it; vowing to never use their powers again lest they be discovered and their sin revealed. They descending to earth placing their feet onto the summit of Mount Hermon and took wives amongst the children of men. For years they lived among the children of men hiding their powers; but without them to guard against evil Earth became bereft of the Lord’s light and without his guidance the children of men became corrupt. Even the Watchers began to yearn for power and other vices and it was not long before they fell on each other. First it started with simple treachery with several of the Watchers falling to their brother’s blades and the slaughtering their families. With brotherhood now shattered the Watchers scattered to the corners of the Earth and formed thirteen great tribes from the children of men, teaching them much forbidden knowledge, made war on each other and the land was blasted, paradise became a wasteland in a cycle of violence that would last for an age.

Spying this turmoil, Michael appealed to the Lord to judge humanity and the fallen Watchers for they had turned from his light. The Lord did give his judgment and the Hosts led by Michael, Uriel, Raphael and a reluctant Gabriel did do battle with the Watchers and their tribes. This battle was so fierce that the land burned under foot, and many died on both sides until only seven of Watchers remained held up in a fastness built upon a high mountain. In desperation they appealed to the First Fallen Lucifer, that he rise up and help them overthrow the Hosts. But the Great Betrayer saw the folly of this and was content in his realm collecting corrupt animus and wished no quarrel with the Lord. Knowing they were now doomed the eldest son of  each of the Watchers was banished across time to preserve their legacy. This deed did Gabriel spy though he did not tell what he saw.

Then the remaining Watchers fought their last battle, one that saw mountains fall and the Earth heave as great powers were unleashed. One by one the Watchers fell until only their leader remained; for his sin for first voicing the deed he was not killed like his brothers, he was judged unworthy of the Lord’s mercy and light. Instead he was bound and thrown in the great pit of Tarturus in a new land far across the greatest sea and then buried under rough jagged rock so he would see only darkness. Seeing the land so corrupt the Lord called forth a great flood to wipe it clean and saved only a few righteous to rebuild.

To be continued…

From the Cuddly Doctor Who set the Second Doctor Patrick Troughton is now complete!

The Second Doctor by Nick Davis

Continuing on my quest to complete a set of Cuddly Doctors I have moved onto the Second Doctor played by Patrick Troughton in the 1966 Doctor Who series. Regenerating after the events of The Tenth Planet this incarnation of the Doctor was much more a ragged cosmic hobo than the prim and proper Edwardian Gentleman he was before.

The Second Doctor was eventually seen in color in the Three Doctors , the Five Doctors and in the 1985 Two Doctors. Most of his adventures though were filmed in Black and white, so in respect of that I again restricted my color palette. The Second Cuddly Doctor is finished in black ink and watercolor.

The First Doctor Will Hartnell is now a Cuddly Sketch Card and the start of a new whovian quest

The First Cuddly Doctor by Nick Davis

Over the next eleven days I will be producing the Doctor from Doctor Who as a Cuddly Sketch Card and posting them here as I get them done. First one out of the gate is the very first Doctor played by William Hartnell in the Doctor Who TV series in 1963. This illustration was finished in black ink and watercolor and because we only ever saw the first Doctor in black and white I restricted my palette to grays.

You can view the entire Cuddly Sketch Card range by clicking here and keep checking back as the second Doctor will be making an appearance tomorrow.

Is this concept art from the First Avenger Captain America? Will we marvel at this animated feature?

 

Bopping around the Internets I encountered this little gem. Kris Anka put together a series of concepts for a Captain America animated show. The idea is making it more of a secret agent type show and closer to how Ed Brubaker was writing Cap before he left the title. I for one would be very excited to see this type of show. Sadly I don’t think it is going to happen. Enjoy the next two concepts including Cap’s Rogues Gallery and his S.H.I.E.L.D allies including an interesting look to Agent 13.

I want to share with you the joy of art… How hard can that be?

Daisy by Nick Davis

Well… It seems pretty damn hard… I’ll figure this out I didn’t jump all those Grumbacher hoops for nothing. Even if I have to do this out of my own home I will share the joy of art and what it did to save me.

The Royal Birth and if you care it is a Prince!

Monday was an interesting time on twitter and facebook, a good chunk of the social media sphere was alight with the news that Prince William and his wife, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge were heading to St. Mary’s Hospital; and that Catherine was in labor.

The odd thing is I only learned about this via social media by the several dozen status updates I read proclaiming their complete lack of interest/care about the Royal birth. In fact many of my friends put so much effort proclaiming their lack of interest it made me start thinking that perhaps they are more interested than they want to world to know.

Me… My surprise that Catherine was in labor you can tell how much I was following the story and a true representation on how I cared. It was though good to start a Monday with some good fluffy news for a change. Congratulations on ‘Baby Cambridge’ a boy born on Monday July 22nd 2013 at 4.20p.m.

Now brace yourselves as the too cool to care posts continue

A Giant Robot storms SDCC and then does what every Giant Robot does befriends a little girl

Ahh… It is that time of the year when my Facebook, Twitter and Geekery related websites I follow light up with movie exclusives, cosplay outfits, games and Adrianne Curry news from San Diego Comic Con aka SDCC. Sadly though for a comic-con we actually get very little comic related news…

However, this one news item is pretty cool. A Giant Robot built by Stan Winston Studios, Legacy Effects, and Conde Nast Entertainment. This is an insanely detailed, one-of-a-kind, 9 foot 9 inch Mech with four arms was introduced to the world by Adam Savage on Friday. And what does this Giant Robot do? What every Giant Robot does from the best of stories… Makes friends with a little  girl… See how after the jump.

Happy 95th Birthday Nelson Mandela – we should all aspire to be better than ourselves

Nelson Mandela, is perhaps the most remarkable men in the world. With everything he went through he had every right to turn on his tormentors instead of dividing, instead of casting hate, instead of casting anger… He united a nation…

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

Over the last two months we have seen this mans health fail, age finally catching him up, but even now he has beaten the odds. Come back from deaths door. Proving you just cannot keep a good man down.

Happy 95th Birthday Nelson Mandela

The Flying Man a real-world look at superheroes and a disturbing insight into unchecked vigilantism

This amazing short called The Flying Man by Marcus Alqueres has been doing the rounds. It is a very well made look into what would happen if Punisher-like vigilante with superpowers is rampant on our streets. Some of you may think that is pretty cool… This short after the jump paints a much more disturbing picture.

 

 

Opinion – Trying to make sense of the entire Trayvon Zimmerman media storm and my random thoughts

Unless you’ve been under a rock you could not miss the gripping trial event of the year. The murder trial of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. It has been everywhere with fancy graphics, 24 hour coverage, talking heads and program interrupting news flashes over the last two weeks. It has been sensationalized and pushed to the nth degree all in the Media’s increasingly desperate grasp for ratings… And for this the story of what really happened buried because why let facts get in the way of a good story? Remember when we first heard about the shooting of Trayvon Martin? Headlines all over the place of a white guy shooting an unarmed, unsuspecting black kid for no other reason than walking through his neighborhood, and he had a bag of skittles (something the media focused on). That was the story that we heard, the various media channels picked up on it and upped the coverage, and then patted themselves on the back as they saw advertising dollars roll in. They simple stopped being journalists forgot the other aspects of the story that would have stopped it being a pitch perfect race-bait event.

Then it all kind of went away for a few months.

Then boom… It was trial time, the media went fever pitch with their race-bait pre-trial coverage and then the wall-to-wall coverage began. It was only then we started to hear the full story, we saw the prosecution become inept in their presentation of the facts as it became increasingly clear that Trayvon himself had an active role in this confrontation as well. The facade was cracking fast and the trial really just became a testimonial to what I call a tragedy.

The moment the Forensic Expert was on the stand and put Trayvon on top of Zimmerman it stopped being a murder trial, it became something else, it became an easy push for the defense to call on self-defense. The prosecution scrambled because the political grandstanding charge was now unattainable and they just fell apart.

The verdict after that point was moot; the case had swung in the favor of the defense I knew Zimmerman was going to walk.

I’ve watched, read and sometimes commentated on people’s reactions all over the internet and my stance has been the same throughout. This was a case blown out of all proportion by a Media looking for next big thing to sensationalize for ratings. Because of the additional attention this case got the Prosecution puffed out its chest and went for Murder I and the easier to get Manslaughter charge which the facts presented. You saw how the justice system works, how important proving how important a protection beyond a reasonable doubt is and while the trial may not of got the verdict you wanted the only one to blame here was the Prosecution failure to present their case.

The attention this case got did Trayvon a disservice as we learned that this kid wasn’t as innocent as he was painted, he certainly, just like Zimmerman was an angry person. And there lies the issue…

About six years ago I was walking through the Avenue at Whitemarsh up here in Baltimore, the place is a series of stores set against an American street background. I was with my kids, and as ever my son was dawdling so I called out, “Come on Big Fella” which is a term of affection I have for my son.  Now just at that moment a huge guy walking in the opposite direction, and remember I am a stocky chap, stopped in front of me and got right into my face. He thought I was challenging him to a fight I tried to explain to him that I was talking to my kid, he got further into my face. In the end I had to shout and cause a scene for him to back off.

You see that was an angry person looking for an excuse for a confrontation, had that been somewhere else less public or maybe even later in the evening it could have so easily turned into something else.

The Trayvon/Zimmerman situation was the same thing, accept this time it was two angry people with egos confronting each other… And after that a series of increasingly stupid mistakes on both there parts ending in tragedy.

There are no words that make this situation any better, nothing I can say that will appease anyone, to many shades of gray in a case that didn’t actually deserve the coverage it got and in-turn suffered because of the coverage it got.