The Grand Machine - Rough Pages PT.1

Ok folks, Decided to go ahead and start posting this and get people's views and opinions. PLEASE comment, good or ill. This is the rough cut, and edits and inks are still in the future. Here are the first five pages of The Grand Machine, written & lettered by me and drawn by the amazing Claudio Avella (seriously, if you can throw this guy some work, shoot me an email at jagorfain@gmail.com and I'll pass the word along.). I'm also available for hire too...Without further ado...

Avatar: My Take On It.

Howdy folks, just came back from Avatar and wanted to give you all a bit of a review of it. Not that if I tell you it's complete shit (which it isn't), you are not going to see it. Face it, you are going to see this movie. Accept it and move on. If you can see it in IMAX 3D, do so - - it's worth the extra bucks.

Anyhow, the reason why this movie works so well is on two fronts. One, the obvious one, the special effects are spectacular. The Nav'i and everything else on Pandora (not the most original name...) break through the Uncanny Valley (that's where CGI looks so close to real-life, but just too perfect where it creeps people out) and comes out on the other side, looking great. They're aliens, and look alien..but real enough to be believable. Even the hair-braid tentacle link bits. It just looks dead on and real. Not simulated real, REAL. It was so good, it didn't detract from the story one bit.

The other bit is the story. It's simple and straightforward. We've seen this story before when it was called Dances With Wolves. It's pretty much dead on copy with a sci-fi gloss over. Hero goes to remote world (outpost), forced to deal with indigenous people, falls in love with people and girl, soldiers come back looking for Hero...yadda yadda yadda. But it's ok. It works. There are no overly convoluted plot holes or twists and everything kind ends up happy in the end. What happens after the end, well...

Overall, this movie is beautiful and definitely worth the watch. Expect groundbreaking effects, not groundbreaking storytelling.

Happy Channukah!

And...here's my recipe for Potato Latkes!

Yields 12 Pancakes

2# Potatoes, peeled and grated

2 Eggs

6oz Finely Chopped Onion

2oz Flour

1TBL Baking Powder

1TSP Nutmeg

S&P to taste

Oil for frying

1. Combine potatoes, eggs, onions, baking powder and flour. Season with nutmeg, S&P. Mix well

2. Heat oil, add mixture shaped in proper pancake shape. Pan fry til golden.

That's it!