Webcomic Pick: Block Party

Ah, the glory of 8-bit graphics. The blocky design, the simplified colors, the use of checkerboard shading. Young video gamers may not recognize the style, but those of us who grew up through the age of Atari and spent hours on the NES playing the first Legend of Zelda know the artform well. Just the change of a pixel here or there can make a face look happy or sad, irritated or amused.

That's the beauty of the webcomic Diesel Sweeties. Written by Richard Stevens, this witty 8-bit comic strip has grown a cult following online and just this past year has found its way into syndication. Start with a girl named Maura and her robot boyfriend Clango, add in a cast of characters that range from the lame Indie Rock Pete, the cynical Lil Sis, the optimistic Metal Steve, the always angry human-crushing Red Robot, a toaster and a couple cats, and let them talk about the ridiculousness of love and youth and rebellion (both real and staged).

Stevens takes on topics ranging from illegal downloading, the cliches attached to hipsters, dating online, and the occasional plot to take over the world, and does so with wimsy in comics that pay off with a solid punchline or clever twist of words every day. With an extensive archive of comics to check out, make a point to get started reading Diesel Sweeties sooner rather than later. You just never know when Red Robot will finally get around to Crushing All Humans.

Concert Preview: Michael Penn

Few artists define underground success as well as Michael Penn. Known mostly for his famous brothers Sean and the late Chris Penn, or for his equally talented and slightly better known wife Aimee Mann, few people recognize Michael Penn for the music he's quietly produced for almost 20 years. When hard pressed, people may recognize his song "No Myth (Romeo in Black Jeans)" or his distinct pitched voice from a song they might have heard on a soundtrack, somewhere. But when you take a moment to look back at the 6 albums he's produced since 1989, you find a dozen or more gems surrounded by interesting noises or sounds. Songs with concepts that hearken back to literary references (Brave New World) or political outrage (Walter Reed), bitter songs mourning a terrible breakup (Long Way Down, Seen The Doctor) or offering words of comfort (OK).

It's been 15 years since he's produced a top 100 single, but you might have heard his instrumental work on the soundtracks to such movies as Boogie Nights or The Last Kiss, or maybe you heard Walter Reed played on an episode of House. Either way, his latest album - Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947 is a mix of tightly written songs and interesting sounds that harken back to a specific location and time.

Michael Penn will be playing at Schuba's in Chicago on Wed. May 9th. Tickets are $20. You can hear him on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/michaelpenn

Webcomic Pick: A Little Girl named Minus

There are a few people who can still recall the golden age of Sunday Comics. Bright, colorful pages filled with full-page multi-panel comics drawn by talented artists. Story arcs took weeks to unfold, characters developed distinct personalities and backgrounds were as detailed as a landscape painting. Not too long ago, Bill Waterson brought a return of fantastic detailed landscapes back to the funny pages with Calvin and Hobbes' many sojurns into the world of Dinosaurs or far off spacescapes, but since Watterson disappeared years ago, the world of vivid Sunday Comics seems to have gone into hiding.

Fortunately, some true comic artists have started to emerge on the web. One of the most talented comic artists can be found drawing the story of a little girl with mysterious and whimsical powers in the webcomic Minus. Drawn by artist Ryan Armand, Minus is a small child with magical powers she uses as an impulse moves her. Whether she’s using it by capturing bullies by entwining them in spontaneously growing trees, having a snowball fight with an angel statue, or jumping from one painting to another, there is a childhood innocence to Minus’ travels. Captured in beautiful watercolor with painstaking detail, Armand’s panels each look like a painting in and of itself. Armand handles sophisticated high concepts like greed and selflessness with a blend of mischief and sweetness. It’s a very sophisticated comic that leaps from the screen, in a form that can only be presented on the web in its full size and full color glory.

With 66 comics in the archive, you might be able to scan through the entire archive quickly, but the images are so iconic that you will certainly find yourself visiting those archived comics often.

Minus is updated every Thursday.

Webcomic Pick: That Rascally Queen

With the recent visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Colonial Williamsburg, to visit with the President and to watch the Run for the Roses, there has been a bundle of coverage of the grande dame and her travels. With a good sense of humor and impeccable style, watching the graceful Queen of England visit our shores seems to be a popular pasttime for those caught up in both fame and politics.

Webcomic readers, however, have been following the exploits of another of England's famous Queens since February of 2006. You see, it was in February when Pab Sungenis introduced the world to The New Adventures of Queen Victoria. With an entirely different kind of wit and a cast of oddball familial characters, TNAoQV introduces this anachronistic lady (Born in 1819, died in 1901) to the modern world of pop culture. With her son Edward, her best friend Liz and her new friend Mary in tow, she bravely fights against impropriety, the French and any of a number of bizarre situations with typically catastrophic outcomes. Funny from one strip to the next, be sure to start at the beginning of the archives as odd patterns and running jokes begin to emerge.

There's very little pomp but all kinds of circumstance in each panel of TNAoQV, so be sure to enjoy every screwball minute of it. You will certainly be amused.

Webcomic Pick: Cute Gone Bad

With the ongoing popularity of the It’s Happy Bunny mugs and t-shirts and other assorted trinkets and doodads, “Cute Gone Bad” is a trend that doesn’t seem to be going away.

Thankfully, we have innovators like Meghan Murphy taking this trend in new directions.

Kawaii Not is a relentlessly cute webcomic featuring mundane items like fruits, blank paper, and little clouds saying and doing amusingly naughty things. Whether it’s the burlesque orange peeling off its skin or the blank page taunting you about your deadline, something I’ve come to know quite well of late, you can’t really feel angry or upset by the intensely cute little drawings. With a couple of simple dots for eyes and a thin smile, Murphy’s anthropomorphic things take on a life of their own. Each panel is self-contained and ready for a trinket or a t-shirt of its own.

Kawaii Not is updated twice weekly and with a small archive, it should be a quick and amusing afternoon’s read.

Behind the Glass: Holy Cow what a Finish!

Working for the Rockford IceHogs this season has been a dizzying experience. Never so much, though, as it was on Thursday Night.

It all came down to Game Seven at home – over 6,200 screaming fans chanting and singing along to Mony Mony as the Rockford IceHogs winger Kevin Ulanski got an early score. The Kalamazoo Wings, however, came roaring back quickly to tie it up at one goal apiece, which held until the end of the first period. In the second, the battle on the ice went back and forth with plenty of scoring chances denied by both goalies on the top of their games. With every shot on goal, every gasp was amplified and the crowd stood up and sat down as if the seats were electrified, when Jason Noterman notched a surprise goal, picking up the puck and dumping it into the net after his first shot had been knocked away.

2-1 isn't a safe score in a Game Seven, and the crowd grumbled and muttered nervously as the third period clock ticked down to 15 minutes... 10 minutes... 5 minutes... Chris at the PA called on the crowd to chant louder and louder still while down in the tunnel, the office staff looked on, nervous about the close score and, at the same time, amazed at how every fan filled the MetroCentre to the rafters. It looked like every one of them were shouting at full volume "Let's Go Hogs!"

Then, with 1:18 remaining on the clock, The IceHogs scored again!

By now you know the story. The wrister scored by Nicolas Corbeil turned the anxious crowd gasps and mutters into an aircraft-engine roar, drowning out all the clanging cowbells. Even Corbeil had to yell to celebrate with his teammates a mere foot away from him. Down in the tunnel, we didn't have a word to say - the smiles said it all as we looked up at the crowd going wild.

And just like that, in Game Seven, the IceHogs earned our first Colonial Cup in eight seasons in the last game of this era.

As you know we're changing leagues next year. The IceHogs are leaving the UHL - the league we've played in since our inception - to join the elite member clubs of the AHL, becoming the Chicago Blackhawks top minor league affiliate. Most of this year's players will either retire or move on to play for other teams around the country. Some will try out for an AHL team next season, others will leave for Europe.

But for one deafening moment, every one of us in that building knew what it felt like to be a champion.

Webcomic Pick: Pirate and Alien

What happens when you put a Pirate, an Alien and a Coffee Barista in an apartment? I’m not entirely sure. Fortunately for me, though, Pirate and Alien is there to answer the question.

Billed as “The Oddest Couple in the Universe,” this apartment adventure begins as the time traveling Alien “Interstellar Zoologist” got lost looking for Czarist Russia and instead comes upon a mutinied pirate captain, “Filthy Jerome,” afloat in the ocean with his parrot Bartholomew. In their attempt to escape the cannon fire of Jerome’s former vessel, they flash randomly through time and crash land in the 20th century. Each character offers his own odd point of view on modern times as they are rescued and given shelter by a coffee shop worker named Seth. Predictable difficult roommate scenarios occur when Pirate and Alien see TV for the first time, learn how to clean Seth’s apartment, take a Driver’s exam, discover the internet and learn how to blog.

Pirate and Alien are good for a laugh and their archive is brief enough that you can get caught up with the story in no time. It'll be just the cure for those of you who can't wait till they make another Pirate movie.