DTZ #7 is getting close...

Jon and I spent the last two weeks in Vermont, teaching summer workshops at The Center for Cartoon Studies.  After each long day of teaching we would drag ourselves up to the studio to spend the rest of the night putting Drop Target #7 together.  Our initial goal was to try and finish the zine during those two weeks, but unfortunately we were not able to get it done...  There were just not enough hours in each day!

All that being said, we're very close to being done!  Jon is heading off to Europe for a few weeks and by the time he gets back I will have all of my assets done and then we'll be able to finalize the layout.  Our plan is to debut the zine at Replay FX at the end of July, which Jon will be tabling at, and then it will be available here on our website in early August.

Thank you, dear readers, for your patience and we hope that this final issue will be worth the wait.  Okay, I better get back to it!

DTZ orders delayed until June 3rd!

Hi everyone, just a quick head's up to let you know that I am heading to England for two weeks on my honeymoon.  Any DTZ orders that come in while I am gone will be sent out upon my return, on June 3rd.  Sorry for the delay and thanks in advance for your patience!

Pinball in the West Wing

I mean in the show...not the actual West Wing.  If I could get confirmation that in the very deepest inner sanctum of government, there was a pinball machine, I would be ecstatic.  No, however, I am talking about the Martin Sheen classic, West Wing,  The show ran seven seasons from 1999-2007.  I'm on season 3, presently, and earlier in the season, the cast of main characters is in a bar somewhere, presumably in New Hampshire.  The camera pans across the bar and there is a man playing a pinball machine.  Or... I should say that the man appears to be playing the machine.  I've gone over this clip again and again, and I don't think he is actually playing.  Can anyone out there in internet tell me what is going on on the DMD?  Is this actual gameplay?  The game in question appears to be Junkyard.  I would not be surprised if this poor extra was just asked to pretend that he's playing pinball, but there's a part of me that also wants Aaron Sorkin to be, like, "keep playing!  I want you to be getting jackpots when the camera's on ya!"

Great Simpson's Pinball Joke

I was watching an old episode of The Simpsons the other day and there was the great joke that had to do with pinball.  I just thought I would share it here.  Listen to the joke HERE

Fantasy Arcades: Gilmore Girls

It's a no-brainer that now that I'm cued into pinball, I always keep my eyes open for whenever a machine pops up in a TV show.  Recently, I've been obsessed with Gilmore Girls.  I had thought that I knew every square inch of the tiny CT town, Star's Hallow, but at some point in season...5?...there was a scene that took place in an arcade!  Let's see what they've got!

Alright!  Pinball!  A Night Rider machine. For the life of me, I can't figure out what the machine just to the right of it is.  The character pictured (Luke) keeps on passing in front of the camera at the PERFECT point to obscure my view.

Cool!  A Revenge from Mars machine!  Hmmmm, it doesn't seem to be working, though.  Someone should call the operator.  Between those three pins, "Chase the Rainbow" (!?!?!), a Galaga machine, and a couple other assorted video game cabinets, Star's Hallow has a pretty good arcade going!  My biggest question is with the machine that the character is playing in the image to the left.  The art on the side is, without a doubt, from the Megaman X series (a video game series that was for the Super Nintendo).  I'm really curious as to what that cabinet is from.  I've been doing some research, and I can't find any evidence that there has been a cabinet version of any of the Megaman X games.  Maybe it's a cabinet just running an emulator?  

Getting Started

Very excited to start working on DTZ#7.  At the beginning, Alec and I share a blank folder and start filling it up.  I always have the thought, "oh, this should be easy!  Every issue gets easier than the last, right?'  Spoiler, the answer is no.

This issue is going to be a blast!  We have a lot of rad stuff planned!