Is Amon who I think it is?

The first season of The Legend of Korra culminates in less than twelve hours with the possibility that Amon, the main antagonist in the story, will have his true identity revealed. If so, I wanted to quickly put up my theory on who he is and how he can do what he does without being a bender.

As for my theory on who Amon is, I am about 85% sure that it is Bumi. No, not the King of Omashu in the first series. I'm referring to the eldest, non-bending son of Avatar Aang. Both his mother (Katara) and older sister (Kya) are water-benders while his younger brother (Tenzin) and father are both air-benders (of course with his father also being the Avatar). Growing up in such a situation could have caused feelings of jealousy and eventual hatred for benders in general. One thing that supports my theory is the way Amon moves when fighting benders. He dodges and flows with the attacks, just like an air-bender; my guess is that Aang taught Bumi the forms while he was alive. Another point is that, in the last episode, Amon takes over air temple island and seems to make it his base of operations in the finale preview.
Moving along now. Amon has two very strange abilities that have thus far been revealed. First off, he can take a bender's power away. Second, he can withstand blood-bending, something that even Aang couldn't do without some help. Assuming that Amon is truly Bumi, one could reason that it was Aang himself who taught Bumi to take bending away, since Aang is the only other person known who was able to do it. While that may be the case, it still doesn't explain how Amon was able to resist blood-bending.
In the episode where Korra witnesses Aang's battle against the blood-bender, Yukone, we see that Aang was at his mercy until the Avatar spirit took control. Where I'm getting at with this is that amon would not be able to escape blood-bending by himself alone. Someone, or something had to have been helping him. During his revelation to the equalists, Amon tells his followers that he was chosed my the spirit guardians of the world to do away with benders. What if that was only a half truth? What if a powerful, ancient spirit made contact with an angry boy and promised him his strength to equalize the world. It would have to be a malevolent spirit who has an issue with the Avatar and wants his revenge. The spirit that I'm referring to is Koh the face-stealer from the first season of ATLA.
We know that Aang went to him to learn of the ocean and moon spirits, that few knew of except the most ancient of spirits. When Aang confronts Koh, he reveals to him that a previous incarnation of the avatar tried to kill him for stealing the face of his beloved. When Aang leaves, Koh tells "the avatar" that they would meet again. Later in the last season, we find out that the Avatar who fought Koh was the previous water-tribe Avatar, Korin, so how sweet would it be for Koh, to wait and take his vengeance on the next water-bender.
So there's my theory in a nutshell. Amon is Bumi with Koh the face-stealer backing him up.
Now many of you might think it's a waste of time pondering on things like this. I'll agree, it is. But so are video games, movies and books in a sense. It's all just good fun trying to figure things out like this before they happen. If you can go an entire mystery novel or Christopher Nolan film without trying to guess who's behind it all, then you don't know how to enjoy it!

New Art for Monster Mash

Here's some new stuff I've been working on in relation to my Monster Mash idea. Once again these are the main four characters that I wrote about in my previous post, but now in full color and much closer to my final concept.

Dragon Dragging

Another year older, another year of realizing just how foolish I am. It was my birthday last week and I thought, now would be a good time to evaluate myself on the goals I set back in January. So here’s the reader’s digest summery of my objectives and how I’m doing on each one.

1. Get my EMT- This one, unfortunately, hasn’t gotten off the ground yet. I was trying to get into a local program but the class was already in session for a couple of weeks when I called about it. I still want to get it though. Not so much to get a job with it, more so because I want know what to do if a situation were to arise, instead of standing around with a dumb look with my finger up my nose.

2. Begin learning to play the violin- I have purchased a violin, or “renting” one, but will eventually be paying it off. I’ve learned the proper hand and chin positions and can play a shaky ‘three blind mice’. I found a good site on-line that offers in-depth instructional videos and I’m planning on starting on that soon.

3. Publish two short stories or a book- I have a couple of short stories written, but haven’t finished editing them yet. Just need to push myself a little harder on that.

4. Read through the Standard Works- I’m half way through the Old Testament right now and after that my goal will be completed.

5. Overcome social anxiety/ make some friends- Honestly, I’ve sort of neglected this one. I do have the desire to hang out with friends and such every once in a while, it’s just I like my alone time even more. I’m going to get back into church institute this summer, as soon as I find out when registration is, and hopefully things will start moving then.  

6. Become at least conversant in Japanese- I am happy to say I am improving steadily in this goal. I ordered the Pimsleur Approach program back in February and I’ve been working through the CDs with consistency. However, it’s only focusing on the spoken language. So later I’ll need to find something that’ll teach me to read and write it.

7. Go to Japan- Last November, I heard that the Japanese government were giving away free round-trip tickets in April to a number of people who would be willing to visit Japan and blog about the time they spent there. They were doing this because tourism took a harsh drop in Japan during the aftermath of the Tsunami and Fukushima power plant incident. However, I haven’t found anything on that since. If anyone knows any details about that, let me know, please!

8. Go back to school in the Fall- I have the money saved up, now I just need to study up so I can pass that #$@! Math exam so I can make it to a class that actually gives me credit this time!

9. Read fifty books- I’m going a little slow right now; mostly because of this new job I’m working that’s making me work 10 hour days. Since January I’ve read only five books, so I need to step up on that as well.

 10. Have a fully written journal- This one has been suffering big time also. I think the reason I find it hard to keep a journal is because my life is exasperatingly boring. I’d might as well write about a day in the life of a blade of grass, that’s how dull it is.

Well, I’ve definitely got some work ahead of me. Hopefully things will start progressing a little faster here in a bit. In the mean time, I’ll just keep chugging along. I’ve got new ideas and projects I’m working on to keep me busy. Like my Monster Mash idea, that it blooming nicely in my head and on paper. More on that and other things that really don’t carry any significance whatsoever to you, after these short messages… :P

Blast from the Past: Pokémon!

This is for all those ten year olds back in the late ‘90s who were addicted, and maybe still are, to the Japanese phenomenon that took America and the world by storm, Pokémon. I remember when I was in fifth grade, and we used to trade those little pocket monster cards like they were currency. If Pokémon cards were currency, many of us would have been some of the greatest entrepreneurs in existence! But as with most things from childhood, the cards and video games get thrown away, lost, or packed away in some shoe box in the attic. However, my cards from over a decade now, have remained on the bottom level of my bookshelf that my little brothers like to look at occasionally.

While on a trip to St. George, Utah, my brother and I were arguing over the finer points of Avatar: The Last Airbender compared to Naruto. . . In other words it was a geek brawl, which is always a good way to spend an evening. Anyways, we were going on with that when we got onto the subject of Pokémon. We began talking about how the critters “could” be real and what a movie would be like with “realistic” Pocket monsters. We got talking about it again last night and I decided I wanted to draw some sketches of a few Pokémon with realistic characteristics. Below are five Pokémon that I drew up combining animal concepts and draping them over the basis set up by the Nintendo creators, along with card comparisons of each one. 

 The first I drew was Bulbasaur because he is the first on the list of Pokemon. When making Bulbasaur I used frog, lizard and even elephant concepts to make something as close to the card as I could.

 When I finished Bulbasaur, I realized I needed more of a challange, which is why I decided to try Diglett out. In the cards, video games and cartoon, all you ever see of Diglett is his head popping out of the ground. So here's my interpretation of Diglett in his entirety. I based him off ground hogs and prairie dogs with a more canine nose.

 Of course Pikachu had to be in the mix somewhere. Even though the card depicts him as a 'mouse' Pokémon, I had always seen him more as a cross between a rabbit and a ferret. His tail was dificult to create a realistic version of so I came up wit hthe idea that his tail is normally soft and fox-like unless electricity is surging through his fur, then it takes on that more lightning bolt look.

My first Pokémon card was Charmander and he has always had a place in my heart ever since. The reptilian features was a no brainer but I also based his build on the pachycephalosaurus, or in other words, those head butting dinosaurs.

 Now here was a challenge! Humanoid Pokémon like Mr. Mime I knew would be a problem since Pokémon are animals, not people. So I based him off a chimpanzee and a baboon. I put color to this one so that I could better picture what he'd look like.

So that's all the pics for now. I'm going to try and draw a more complete version of the three starter Pokémon in the first games, Charmander, Bulbasuar and Squirtle. Until then, give me some feed back if you'd like. Critiques are always welcome! 

The Legend of Korra

From nearest to farthest: Avatar Korra , Pabu the fire Ferret, Bolin,
his brother Mako and Master Tenzin.

So the first two episodes of The Legend of Korra were just released earlier this night online for a limited amount of time which will then be gone until April 14th. They were so good that I ended up watching them both twice late into the night!

Avatar Aang from the second sea-
son of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

For those who don’t have a clue as to what I’m talking about, The Legend of Korra is the follow up to Avatar: The Last Airbender, a television show that takes place in a world with four major civilizations: the Water Tribe, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation and the Air Nomads. In each respected country you can find people who can “bend” or manipulate the elements using movements inspired by traditional Chinese martial arts. In Avatar: The Last Airbender or ATLA, the story centers around a young airbender named Aang who also happens to be the Avatar (While normal benders can only bend one element depending on where they come from, the Avatar has the ability to learn all four elements. Also, the Avatar power is reincarnated with a new host after the previous Avatar dies, passing on the experience and wisdom of all the past Avatars). For a hundred years, Aang was frozen in an iceberg, sustained by the power of the Avatar spirit. When he is awakened, he finds out that during that time, the Fire Nation has been at war with everyone else and that his people, the Air Nomads, had been wiped out.  So it becomes his duty to learn the rest of the elements and defeat the Fire Lord to bring balance back.

The first promotional art for The Legend of
Korra that was released nearly two years ago.

The Legend of Korra takes place many years after the defeat of the Fire Lord, in which time Avatar Aang passes away and a new Avatar is born in the southern Water Tribe named Korra. Korra shows a natural talent with water, earth and firebending at a very young age. Years later, Korra has mastered the previously mentioned elements but must still learn air. So she travels to Republic City to learn from Tenzin, the son of Aang who is the Master of Air Temple Isle off the coast of the city. This new municipality is very different from anything before seen in ATLA. Whereas in ATLA, the time period could be comparable to the 1800’s, (only with the exception of guns and an increase in mechanical technology) Republic City is pretty much the booming 20’s. You’ve got amazing music that is best described as Chinese jazz, towering skyscrapers with great zeppelins souring between and “Sato-mobiles”  being driven all over the place! Another thing that I absolutely loved about the city is that it was inspired by two real life cities: Shanghai, China and Vancouver, Canada. Last year I visited Vancouver for a week and I love how it's integrated so well with the design of Republic City. The mountains by the sea and the layout of the bustling metropolis makes me almost feel like I was back there.

A statue of Avatar Aang stands at the entrance of Republic City

Though there are major changes that have been made between ATLA and Korra, there is still that same energy and incredible art/animation that won me over in the beginning. If anyone is interested, check out http://www.korranation.com/. The episodes will stay on the site until Sunday night so if you want to get your geek fix in before April 14th, I suggest you hurry and check it out!

John Carter of. . .Who Knows?

So I found out a while ago that the new John Carter movie has flopped in the box office and the worst part is that it was a really good movie! Sure there were some cinematic corners cut to fit the first book into a two hour movie, but it stayed true to the source and had everything needed to deliver an outstanding film…except for the title.

                I was disappointed to see that the show was called, simply, “John Carter” using bland, block font without any real hook to grab people’s attention. I mean, if I’d never read the books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, I wouldn’t have had the foggiest idea of what this movie was about. It’s like painting gold nuggets brown and throwing them in a rock quarry. Everyone would pass them by not knowing the worth behind the paint, which is exactly what happened with this movie. You had action, romance, an amazing tale from a master storyteller and cutting edge CGI, but the first thing people see is John Carter and they end up confused; not intrigued or curious, just confused.

     If I were at the reins of the advertisement for this movie, here’s what I’d have done differently: First off, instead of calling it John Carter, I’d have gone with "Barsoom: A Princess of Mars". In case you haven’t either read the books or watched the movie, Barsoom is the name of Mars in the Martian language and is the title heading of the chronicles written by E.R.B., while the first book of the series was A Princess of Mars. Both parts of the name would draw much more curiosity and intrigue than John Carter ever could. Would you have been just as interested in Pirates of the Caribbean if it were called Will Turner? And, of Course, I’d change the font into something more captivating and, dare I say, Boisterous instead of a font that figuratively hides back in the corner.

                Secondly, I would have republished the first three books of the Barsoom series a year in advance to gain a following with the newer generations. Look at how Harry Potter and, more recently, The Hunger Games, have driven such a devoted fanbase. Republishing those first three books (A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars and Warlord of Mars) would have completely changed the game opening weekend.

                 Another thing that ought to be considered is that movies based on older books don’t always do well at the first go because there isn’t a huge fan base accumulated yet. Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings:The Fellowship of the Ring, though did very well in theatres, was completely eclipsed by the following two films because of the inflated fan base. Then again, New Line Cinema rereleased the trilogy in bookstores which helped to bolster fans, unlike Disney who’ve seemed to turn a blind eye to the concept entirely with this movie.

Monster Mash

You know when you have an idea and you just can’t seem to get rid of it until you put it out on paper? Well I’ve had this idea running through my head for about two weeks now that I’ve been sketching and creating story for whenever I got the chance. It’s kind of out there, but it’s been bouncing off the walls of my skull for a while now.

Until I come up with a better name, the idea’s called Monster Mash, yeah, like the song. You’ve pretty much got the entire pantheon of Halloween characters existing within a fictitious city called Walgrimm (name also in the works). The story revolves around four kids. Here's some descriptions and sketches I've made for it.

Franklin- The first and main character is named Franklin. He is a flesh construct or ‘golem’ created by the eccentric scientist, alchemist and Kabbalah practitioner, Doctor Barone. Unlike golems created by past alchemists, Franklin is self-aware and, with the exception of his sown on body parts and above average strength, is your typical twelve year old who loves baseball and making friends. Another fact about Franklin is that he was named after Benjamin Franklin and not Frankenstein.

Jezebel- Unable to remember hardly anything of her past life, Jezebel is a quiet yet dangerous vampire without pity or remorse. She is part of a sect of vampires making an “existence” in Walgrimm. She is a skilled fencer and attends a private school for girls where Mistress D’Agonia—leader of the Vampires in Walgrimm—poses as principle.

Natilee- Only eight years old, Natilee has already begun to feel the effects of her ancestral curse. Her father is a werewolf and so was her mother before she was killed by witch-hunters two years ago. Leaving the dangers of their homeland behind, Dmitri Volkov brought his daughter to Walgrimm to begin a new life. Unfortunately, the trauma Natilee experienced awoke the wolf within her early on causing trouble for both of them as well as the people of Walgrimm.

Dodger – A mischievous poltergeist with a flair for the dramatic, Dodger is the result of a séance gone wrong where the medium couldn’t control the summoning and accidently manifested the ghost of a thirteen year old boy into the physical world. Able to interact with the physical world, Dodger has been having the time of his after-life zooming around the city pulling pranks.

Right now I’ve been working out the bad guys to this idea. A society of witch-hunters is one idea that I will be using later on, but for now I’d like to focus more on Franklin’s story, his history and the source of his consciousness. My idea for the first bad guy will be another alchemist like Dr. Barone, only he wants to steal Franklin and dissect him to find the source of his self-awareness.

I want to try making this an online comic. I really don’t have a whole lot of experience with that but I’ll try drawing up a few pages and see how it goes. 

Also, I really hate the set up on Blogger. I can't get these pictures organized to save my life!