Christina "Smudge" Hanson's Blog, page 4
November 1, 2014
Baron’s art and Smudge’s NaNoWriMo
Sorry things have been quite here lately. Mostly it’s due to having our noses to the grindstone.
Baron’s been working hard getting commissions done while getting work together for FC next year. Will post new stuff on that, hopefully, Monday.
As for me, Smudge, Fox Den and I have got ‘the Keeper’s Warrior’ edits in the can and hope to have the proof copy from the printer any day now. ePub version will also be released at the same time so you have your choice of digital or dead trees. Oh, and I was able to include all the art in the digital version too. It was a pain, but I think it will be well worth it in the long run.
To ‘Kill a Dragon’ is still chugging along. I’m in talks with MadeFire, a comic app, to have it posted there.
And last but not least, I’m participating in NaNoWriMo this year. Mostly to try and kick me outta my mental block when it comes to writing. This past few years have not been good to me stress wise and it means that my writing creative juices are not only not flowing, but acting like molasses… in Montana … during winter. And before you ask, ‘To Kill a Dragon’, story-wise, has been sitting on my desk complete for nearly ten years. But with luck, and a little nudge, now that the worst of the stress is off me, I can get things not only going again, but completed.
I’ve decided this year, I’m going to get Dis’ tale done. Right now, it’s under the working title of ‘the Inn of the Cat’, but I am hoping to find something better. After all, the current title, while descriptive, is pretty dang common. Wish me luck!
Dis was a wanderer, but not by choice. All he wants is a place to call home. And he finally thought he’d found it, in a small inn run by Edio within the bustling trade city of Daleport. Yet, politics, the coming of a new lordship for the city and fear are threaten to, yet again, force him to flee. After all, it’s hard to be a magical being in a city that faces any magic with torches and pitch-forks.
Current word count: 1770
October 8, 2014
Hand of the Dragon
Hand Of The Dragon
Getting close to releasing issue #3 of ‘To Kill a Dragon’. Here’s the cover image to prove it. ^.^
Sorry I’ve been so quite as of late. Usually when I drop off it’s because I’m either dealing with RL drama, or have my nose to the grindstone. This time, happily, it’s been the latter, not the former. Not only have I been working on getting ‘To Kill a Dragon’ out the door, but I’ve been doing a lot of work behind the scenes here setting up a new eStore and programing needed plugins.
The program work is nearly done. As soon as it is, I’ll be posting ‘To Kill a Dragon’ at SmudgeMarks & EngelWerks as well as a test of our new subscription model for comics, stories, and podcasts.
I’ve also been keeping busy domestic side as well. Been on a slow rampage of house cleaning/organization/getting-rid-of-crap since the emergence room visit a month ago. A lot of this is my vain attempt to get the house a little less allergen friendly. My long standing dream at this point is to get it in shape enough for Roombas to be able work. Yeah, probably never happening, but I can give it the collage “GO”.
Back to the grindstone for me – Issue three won’t letter itself.
August 18, 2014
Radio Comix Store having a Big Summer Blowout Sale!
Just a heads up ~ Radio Comix (Smudge’s Publisher for BMI, Ebin & May, Liberty from Hell) is having a big clearance sale.
Super End of Summer Warehouse Blowout Sale on the Radio Comix Online store!
It’s too hot to do inventory, and we wanna clear out some boxes from storage so you get bargains galore! Discounts from 15%-50% on comics, graphic novels, back issues and more! Everything from furry to anthro to manga to yaoi to adult, every genre is on sale!
If you ever wanted to get your hands on hard copies of these, now’s the time to do it. ^.^
August 6, 2014
On Being Sued – pure comedy gold!
The other day I get a text from Elin. Apparently, a law firm from New York had just contacted her stating that she (Radio Comix) had been named as a defendant in a copyright suit that just hit the public record. Oh, and the property in question was “Bureau of Mana Investigation“.
At first I was like “Wait. What?!” as panic and dread set in. Baron and I have been living law-drama Hell for the past few months due to family. I *really* did not need another thrust upon me.
Elin quickly assured me that was not the case and nothing needed to be done. Mostly due to a ruling the judge had already handed down. Then she sent me a link to the public court record.
“Read it. Preferably with popcorn. It’s comedy gold.”
Oh, boy. Was she right!
Apparently said Plaintiff, who shall remain nameless*, was trying to sue Radio for (come on, say it with me now in your best Dr. Evil voice) ten miiiiillllion dollars over the fact that, he claimed, I had stolen his character idea of an anthropomorphic unicorn with blonde hair and sun-glasses that he had published in 2007 by FurNation.
Yeah. I’m going to let that horrid run-on sentence sink in for a moment.
She’s normally a blonde who dyes her mane before DJ performances, right? That counts! (NOT)
DJ Pon3/Vinyl Scratchtm Hasbro Animated Gif by FaithBringer
Lets break this down.
You cannot not copyright characters, you trademark them. You can copyright an illustration of a character, or a body of work of a character, but not the ‘idea’ of a character. Trademarking is a whole other kettle of fish law-wise. Much more expensive to file and much harder to prove in court. His petition for suit was filed under copyright law.
The filed complaint, “anthropomorphic unicorn with blonde hair and sunglasses” is pretty damn nebulous and vague. Judges hate vagueness. Don’t even get me on the gambit of what “anthropomorphic” means and the great range of mental convolutions that covers.
The first published instance of Amark, the unicorn in question, is actually back in 1989 when I was in high school, under the stories original name “Demon Hunters”. As far as I can tell, that was before this person was even born.
Blonde? Check. Unicorn character? Yup. Sunglasses? Close enough….Full Frontal (Char Aznable)/Gundam Unicorntm Sunrise Vetor art by patgarci
As for Radio Comix incarnation, the first issue is dated 2002 and ran like clockwork, bi-monthly, for 8 issues until 2003. Quite a time gap there between when Radio officially published the issues in question and the stated FurNation’s date.
Fortunately, it looks as if the Judge found this just as laughable as Elin and I did since the Plaintiff’s claim was “dismissed with prejudiced.”
It is apparent from these images that “an average lay observer” would not recognize the Radio Comix character “as having been appropriated from [plaintiff's] work.” Peter F. Gaito Architecture, 602 F.3d at 66 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). That both characters are unicorns wearing sunglasses is not a sufficient basis for a valid infringement claim. See Mattel, Inc. v. Azrak-Hamway lnat’l, Inc., 724 F.2d 357, 360 (2d Cir. 1983); Nichols v. Universal Pictures Corp., 45 F.2d 119, 121 (2d Cir. 1930). Put simply, it is clear that the two characters are not “substantial[ly] similar[].”
The Judge also handed down a “Stop darkening my court room with frivolous lawsuits”.
Plaintiff is hereby warned that if he continues to file repeated frivolous complaints he may be subject to a filing injunction or the imposition of monetary sanctions upon notice and opportunity to be heard. See Lau v. Meddaugh, 229 F.3d 121, 123 (2d Cir. 2000).
So, thank you Mr. Judge, for being a sane human being. And for the warm, fuzzy feeling that, at least in this case, the system DOES work.
*Munches popcorn, happy in the knowledge that I did not have to get involved.*
–
* You can read the court doc yourself if you really want to know.
July 17, 2014
To Kill a Dragon issue 2 Cover
To Kill a Dragon issue 2 cover
Got the next issue cover done. Hope to have the comic go live Wednesday next week on Crunchyroll. Keep your eyes peeled for it. ^.^
July 16, 2014
LiveStream!
trying a stream embed as i work on a new cover for “to kill a Dragon”
July 11, 2014
‘To Kill a Dragon’ Issue 1 on DA
Because I am dorky and like playing with new tools, I posted the first issue of ‘To Kill a Dragon’ over onto DeviantART. Come check it out if you haven’t given this a read already. ^.^
To Kill a Dragon Issue 1 by SmudgeDragon on deviantART
July 9, 2014
Next “to Kill a Dragon” issue coming soon!
While Baron busies himself with commissions, I’ve been working hard on getting the next issue of “To Kill a Dragon” ready for posting on Crunchyroll. I have all the pages colored, and lettered. Now it’s just proofing my lettering and get the cover/chapter illustration done. I really hope everyone’s been enjoying the series so far.
To wet your appetite, here’s a couple of the colored, lettered pages. ^.^
June 11, 2014
Getting back on track with SM-EW
While the family drama is still ongoing, we are trying to pick up steam here; as much to preserve our sanity as anything else.
Baron’s been turning out sketch commissions each week. Sometime soon, he’s looking at reopening his black and white sketch docket again. We’ll announce here when he’s ready to take more on.
Smudge, on the other hand is nose deep with two projects: proofing ‘The Keeper’s Warrior” and getting ‘To Kill a Dragon” ready for issue 2 release. The proofing is going slowly atm. We’re on round 4 of passing printouts around the office and bleeding on them. Will continue to do so until no one can find any bad spelling, typos, homonyms or malapropisms. This will take a while. Doh! In the meantime, new art pages are being inked and colored for “to Kill a Dragon”. Now that Crunchyroll has the first issue properly posted for viewing, it’s time to get full steam on the second of four.
Also, once Smudge is done with an outstanding sketch from FC, she’s thinking about reopening her commission docket for high-quality color badges. Still weighting the pros and cons for it. Will defiantly have examples before opening it up.
We’re also looking at running a Kickstarter Campaign for doing a run of full-body T-shirts of Heading Out. Just waiting for a little more money in the company account before ordering a sample shirt to see if the quality of the printing is up to our standards from our chosen vendor.
Lots of good things incoming so keep your eyes peeled here!
May 26, 2014
Going quite a bit to deal with Family Emergency
It’s been a rough Memorial Day weekend here. This past weekend, we had a family emergency which resulted in Baron and I having to drive to Reno on extremely short notice. We’re back in town, but this is going to drag on for a bit, so please bare with us.
I can’t say much more except that both of us are feeling emotionally drained right now. Drained and resigned to the situation.
