Superhero for a Day

In honor of my oldest son's birthday, today's post touches on the innocence of a child's imagination. It came to my attention that my four-year-old wants nothing more than to be a super hero when he grows up. He believes that Gotham City is a real place, that Clark Kent is somewhere out there disguised, and that monsters actually can creep from under his bed in the night. To think of such a innocent mentality might sound silly or childish. But that's the point, in fact, all of us at 3Twins.net have to dig deep down to find that creative mindset.

You may be able to recall a time in your life, even if it's many years ago, where everything was worry free, full of milk and cookies. And the worst thing you had to face was a skinned knee. The days when playing outside until the sun hit the hills, and you heard your named called name across the neighborhood ringing in dinner time. Believe it or not, video games were a luxury rather than a pastime. For some of us, video games were not even a possibility yet!

In today's day and age, playing outside until dusk isn't even a reality anymore because of the long list of parental worries. Working that nine to five grind can also make it exhausting to take the kiddos outside, to the park or for a bike ride. It is important though, to take the time to embrace that inner hero inside your heart. Kids are only kids for so long, after all. Whether you are a parent now, plan to be soon, or not even considering it at the moment; it is important to remember to dust off your super cape and put it back on for old time's sake. Be a super hero for the day, or be one forever, the choice is yours and yours alone!

If you could be a superhero for a day, who would you be?

Photo courtesy of Rodgers Photography of Grand Junction, CO

Heroes

Greetings All,

Steven Ware here, just wanted to share a few thoughts that i have been considering.

i saw "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" when it came out and i am very pleased to see that it is still the #1 movie in America some three weeks after its release.  There is more to my pleasure at seeing the movie do so well than just fannboy excitement, though (not sure how much more, but there is a measurable percentage more).  I am excited to see a movie that deals with the complex issues of what s of what it means to be a hero in today's society (especially here in the U.S.A.)doing so well.  i really like the fact that a comic book movie is striving to say something more than "Might makes Right", in fact this movie may come as close to saying the opposite of that sentiment than any other comic book adaption ever has (including "Watchmen", imho).

Which brings me to the question i would like to pose to You All;  In today's world, how essential are heroes?  This world seems to meandering toward chaos more and more each day, is touting the actions and character of heroes (real or imagined) akin to some kind of Sisyphusian mental torture...in a nutshell, what is the appeal of looking to the best in mankind when the worst is running rampant?  

A fair assessment, no?  But maybe the whole symbol represented in the "Starfish story" is the key to the necessity of hope - which is what heroes embody in our minds, in our souls.  The need to reach for what Abraham Lincoln called “the Better Angels of Our Nature”.  Heroism inspires heroism, hope breeds hope.  In a society inundated by anger, angst and apathy don’t Our hearts cry out for heroes?  As the world spins into shadow, aren’t we all desperately craving the light of compassion, civility and self-sacrifice?  

I submit to You that the current spate of Superhero movies is touching more than a childish desire to see Our costumed vigilantes finally robed in flesh, but the fulfillment of the yearning that We feel to see Someone overcome insurmountable odds for the sake of the greater good.  Walt Whitman said; “ I understand the large hearts of heroes, the courage of present times and all times,” .  

I salute You Captain America for doing so well at the box office, and even more so for letting us believe, if even for a little while, that there is better in Us and that We can aspire to that better in Ourselves.

~Steven 

SUPERHEROES

Who doesn't love them?  I think that even if you weren't into super heroes before,  you are now! The Marvel universe has grown in the movie industry the last few years and these movies have reintroduced these amazing characters to generations young and old! Those that have read the comic books have a deeper connection (like Jason), those that have seen the movies (like me) enjoy the new adventure and the way the others light up as they pop off the page. I love the fact that my whole family enjoys it all!

~Michelle Kuder

Superheroes part 3 Teaser page!

Greetings Hatmaniacs!

I thought it might be fun to show you all a page from Superheroes part 3! What is Hatman up to? How does this fit into the mysterious Dr. Beakman's plot? Well, you'll have to wait until Superheroes part 3 comes out to find out those answers!

In the meantime, check out one of my favorite Hatman stories while you wait. Our first 4-part story, Hatman & Indigo Issues 36-39: Back to the Beginning!

-Jason

The Return of Superheroes!

In all the frenzy that is wrapped up in the life of our humble 3twins executives (namely Andy, Steve, and myself) the Futurama review has still not appeared. However, I bring you other exciting news from the realm of lost Hatman comic issues!

Some of you may recall that before releasing "The Revenge of The Big Giant Pumpkin Headed Man" story we had an unfinished story titled "Superheroes." The first two issues of that four part story had been released and then we ran into a snag with finding artists for it. However, we have recently caught up with Kendall Stump to help us finish that story! Kendall was the artist who penciled and inked the first issue and part of the second for that story (his art is featured to the right for a previously unreleased cover). Initially he had to leave work on the story due to a death in the family, but he is back now and working his magic on finishing it up!

You may recall that the second part of that story ended with the reveal of a new villain known only as Dr. Beakman, Indigo trapped in peril, and Blonde worried about Hatman's absence at her graduation party! Part three (currently in production) picks up right where part two left off. In preparation for its arrival I will be uploading a few Hatman stories that preceded "Superheroes" to our blip account, and Andy will be working on a whole new Comic's page layout. Our current Comic's page is full to bursting and we need to offer a better way to access all of our comics without it feeling too bogged down.

Production on Zapman Reimagined is also continuing. At this point we don't know which one of those stories we will have finished first. However, I think in order to avoid long wait times the best choice is going to be for us to wait to start releasing either of them until we have a whole story done. In the meantime we will continue to re-release old material to our blip account and hopefully get onto some reviews!

Here's hoping that 3twins hits it's stride again in 2012!
Stay brimming with anticipation, Hatmaniacs!

-Jason

Hatman & Indigo 48: Brawl

Dr. Beakman Strikes!

As you might have guessed from the title of Hatman & Indigo Issue #41, our newest villain is Dr. Beakman, a character who remains shrouded in mystery. As of this blog post, we still haven't revealed much about Dr. Beakman in the comic, so I don't want to give too much away, but I thought I'd share a bit about how I came up with this character.

Ever since I was a kid I've been inclined to find images in the seemingly random patterns in nature - maybe some of you can relate. A lot of us do this with clouds. We'll look up at the sky and see a dog, or a car, or Mickey Mouse. I tend to do this with other things as well, like seeing faces on the bark of a tree or a character in the wavy shapes on a stone floor.

Well, back in the fall of 2005 I was sitting on the deck outside my apartment reading a book and apparently I got bored because I started looking at the wood-grain lines of the deck boards. True to form, I picked out an interesting pattern in the flooring that I thought looked like a strange bird-like character. I immediately ran inside, grabbed a notebook and drew a sketch of the character, and then named him Dr. Beakman and wrote up a quick back-story. Later that day I proposed the idea to Jason and Andy and a new Hatman & Indigo villain was born. It wasn't long before I'd written a first draft titled "The Beakman Saga," which ultimately became the five-part series that started with Superheroes and is now continuing with Dr. Beakman Strikes.

So I hope you enjoy the story. And next time you're analyzing the patterns on your hardwood flooring or wooden furniture, who knows, maybe you'll come up with the next great comic book character!

-Steve

Superheroes

Fans,

Now that Hatman & Indigo plan on attending the Superhero convention. What do you think will happen?

The story is left open for your interpretation (until the sequential issues are released).

Will Hatman join the Galactic Superhero Force?

Will this be a trap by The Terrible Trio?

Will we meet new heroes or maybe even villains?

Share your thoughts... I always love hearing where our viewers think we are going with a story.

Thanks for your input,

Andy

Issue 40 Preview

Last night the final installment of Hatman & Indigo issue #39, Shocking Science Fiction Stories, went online. This means that next week we're ready to begin a new saga in the world of Hatman & Indigo titled Superheroes, written by yours truly.

I wrote the first draft of this script a couple of years ago and it was one of the first three-part stories we ever wrote. I remember back then that seemed like quite a saga. Now there are six three-part stories and a four-part story on 3twins.net! But just as our story-telling over time has grown, so has this story and by the time it is completely unveiled it will be our first five-part issue. The first part of the story was drawn by guest artist Kendall Stump.

I don't want to give too much of the story away, but I can share a little for our valued blog readers. The story begins with Hatman, Indigo and the Damsel family planning a party for Blonde. But the plans are quickly interrupted when Hatman gets an invitation to a super hero convention and decides to take Indigo along for the ride. There's something odd about the convention and it's up to our heroes to figure out just what.

"So who's behind the mayhem?" you might ask. While I can't say exactly who, but I will tell you that it's a brand new villain. You'll just have to stay tuned to find out just who that new villain is and what his or her motives for provoking Hatman & Indigo just might be.

By the end of this saga we promise more mystery, more action, more characters and more battles than ever before. And we hope you'll get a lot of good laughs in there too. So don't miss next week's launch of our newest story!

-Steve