№28: The Drawing/Writing Exercise Experiment | This Week’s Comic Book Haul | Toy Review: Marvel Legends & McFarlane DC Multiverse Figures | Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness | Black Widow Movie
July 16, 2021
Welcome to the tedi.substack.com weekly newsletter! At the beginning of each week*, this newsletter will touch on any number of entertaining, informative, or (possibly) useful topics.
I know… I know…
The newsletter was really late this week. But in my defense, I feel that I more than made up for any tardiness with an abundance of content.
Drawing/writing exercise [√]
Comic books [√]
A couple toy reviews [√]
Netflix show review [√]
Movie review [√]
What are you waiting for! Scroll down for more.
As we move further into 2021, your comments and feedback will also be of immense help in shaping the direction of the newsletter.
Thank you in advance for your time and constructive feedback. Read away!
* - Unless something exciting comes up that necessitates an additional entry.
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The Drawing/Writing Exercise Experiment
Lifted from a design school drawing exercise that I recently read about, the original activity involved creating art—any type of art—out of the pages of an existing and unused book that you happen to have lying around.
But what if you stink at drawing? (Like me!)
The answer: That’s not the point of the exercise. Any kind art is art. It just depends on who is looking at it. ❤️
With this good vibe in mind, I decided to do a 30-day deep dive into this drawing exercise BUT with a caveat: I need to add a sprinkle of writing in it as well. Hopefully something interesting will spring forth from this endeavor.
A book perhaps? (Well, one can always hope right?)
Now onto my five rules, and the first one is the key.
Use an existing book that you happen to have lying around.
You guys have no idea how hard it is to do this to a book that you own—any book for that matter. Books are our friends right? I actually had aspirations of using either a paperback of Fight Club or High Fidelity. But even if I did have a spare copy on-hand, I don’t think I could ever see myself doing that to one of my favorites.
This leads us to a new #1 rule:
With a budget of say $2 USD (P99 PHP), find a book to get this endeavor started.
The paperback has to fit in your everyday bag.
Throw perfection out the window. Allow yourself to make happy mistakes.
Be spontaneous, yet in the moment. Draw and write as often as you can.
Most of all, enjoy the creative process. Any output is great output!
Get back to me in 30 days. Would love to know how your very own experiment turned out.
The Static Page
Updated my website over the weekend. It’s probably the site’s third major revision since its inception in 2010.
This Week’s Comic Book Haul (June 28th - July 4th, 2021) the volume of books that I
This Week’s Comic Book Haul (July 5th - July 11th, 2021)
Here is a breakdown of each title:
1) Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point #6 (Donald Mustard Variant | Cover F | 1st Print) - The last issue. Glad to put this title finally to rest.
2) G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero Yearbook 2021 (Michael Golden Variant | Cover A) - In Manila, this would have never made it to the shelves as the demand from local fans just doesn’t seem to warrant it. But true fans will have a copy :)
3) The Nice House On The Lake #2 (Alvaro Martinez Bueno Variant | Cover A and Anand Radhakrishnan Variant | Cover B) - Walter’s decades long plan to bring longtime friends and acquaintances to the house on the lake begins to unravel. With enough re-reads, you’re bound to tell The Accountant from The Reporter…The Scientist…The Comedian…The Consultant…
4) Skybound X #1 (Charlie Adlard Clementine Variant | Cover K) - First comic book appearance of Clementine (From Telltale’s The Walking Dead video game series). The new book also gives The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman another platform to tell even more Rick Grimes stories.
5) The Walking Dead Deluxe #18 (Dave Rapoza Variant | Cover C) - As I’ve picked all of the David Finch and Dave McCaig second printings to date (The Walking Dead Deluxe #1-#12), I’ve given serious thought to dropping the obligatory 1st printings entirely.
Last Month’s Comic Book Haul (June 14th - June 20th, 2021)
This is a really late comic haul post. Yet! It dovetails nicely with The Nice House on the Lake book that I mentioned above.
Here is a breakdown of this week’s titles:
1) Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point #1 (3rd Printing) (Mikel Janin Recolored White Variant | Cover D | 3rd Print) - Missed the boat on the two earlier printings. Ended up settling for two copies for the family.
2) Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point #4 (2nd Printing) (Mikel Janin Recolored Variant | Cover C | 2nd Print) - A second print! *Augh* Initially thought I picked up a couple of first prints for my son and I.
3) Black Hammer: Visions #5 (Leonardo Romero Variant | Cover A) - Skulldigger from start to finish. One of my favorite Jeff Lemire Black Hammer characters to date.
Fun fact about this book: The entire book is done digitally.
4) G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #282 (Andrew Griffin Variant | Cover A) - More Sherlock in this one.
5) The Nice House On The Lake #1 (Alvaro Martinez Bueno Variant | Cover A and Martin Simmonds Variant | Cover B) - Walter reaches out to several longtime friends and acquaintances and invites them to a house on the lake. Then things get interesting.
Fun fact about this book: Much like Black Hammer: Visions #5, the entire book is also done digitally.
6) The Walking Dead Deluxe #16 (David Funch and Dave McCaig Variant | Cover A) - With store exclusive variants becoming increasingly challenging to procureToy
Review: McFarlane DC Multiverse: The Polka-Dot Man (July 11, 2021)
The Polka-Dot Man (Abner Krill)
In an interview with Total Film, Director James Gunn shared that when considering villains for his new The Suicide Squad (2021) film, he went online and did a search for “Who’s the dumbest DC character of all time?” The result was: The Polka-Dot Man.
Gunn added, “We’ve turned that character who’s a sad, pathetic character into a character who’s depressed because people think he’s stupid. He has a very tragic story that you learn about throughout the film—to be able to add depth to characters who are thought of as the silliest is a fun thing for me to do.”
At this point, it is unclear if The Polka-Dot Man’s gimmicked dots are anything like his comic book counterparts (e.g., Bubble Dot, Fist Dots, Flying Buzzsaw Dot, Flying Saucer Dot, Hole Dot, and Sun Dot). But if it is even remotely close, in the right (and creative) hands, it can be more formidable than stupid.
But I digress, the big winner here are the fans! Ladies and Gentlemen, thanks to James Gunn we have another figure to add to our Batman’s Rouges Gallery!
It wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
Review: Hasbro Marvel Legends Series Action Figure: U.S. Agent (July 8, 2021)
The U.S. Agent (John F. Walker)
I can go on for hours talking about John F. Walker, his time as Captain America, and his subsequent transition to government operative. Walker played a large part in my all-time favorite comic book run Captain America No More which ran from Captain America (Volume #1) #332 to #350 (and a tie-in issue in Iron Man #228). If you have yet to read this Mark Gruenwald run, drop what you’re doing!
You can thank me later.
Without giving away too much, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier drew heavily from this source material and it was—to a certain extent—nice to see familiar characters like John Walker making their respective appearances in the small screen.
I just found it somewhat unsettling to watch a Steve Rogers story without Steve Rogers. I would catch myself saying, “Steve should be in this.”
But don’t let my personal bias deter you from watching The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, it’s still worth you time. Especially, if it’s your thing.
Now here is the most important question that I needed answered: What does the “F.” in John F. Walker stand for?
Netflix Series: Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness (2021)
Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness (2021) is a four-episode, self-contained story that honors the Resident Evil mythos. I liked its pacing and even if I wasn’t that familiar with all of the key characters from the game, I caught on pretty quick.
If your into survival horror, then this is the show for you.
Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness (2021) is now available on Netflix.
Movie of the Week: Black Widow (2021)
Fourteen months following its original release date, the world finally got to see the Black Widow movie (2021). Although not specifically mentioned, the film takes place sometime after the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016) and prior to Avengers: Infinity War (2018).
The rest, you’ll just have to see for yourself.
Black Widow (2021) was released in Manila, Philippines on July 9, 2021.
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About
Tedi Gustilo Villasor, Ph.D. is a former columnist for Baby Magazine (Philippines) as well as a past contributor to NBA.com/Philippines. His other works include the indie comic books Lindol and OBIsessions.
Click here for more information on his work as a psychologist.
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Click here to order Lindol (with artist and co-creator Randy Valiente) from our online partner Secret HQ.
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