The Life & Times of Optiluiz - Part I

Greetings, Epic Clubbers!

Optiluiz here with an unexpected new post! I just got home from a nearly 10-hour voyage, but that won't stop me from bringing you the first chapter of the ECB's latest story.

Feels good to post something new for the first time in forever. For a while there, I was actually considering going back to one-shot / three-panel stories like the good old days, but I figured that I had at least one more good arc in me before throwing in the towel.

If all goes well (and I don't disappear for another year), this will be the funniest and most personal tale the ECB's seen in nearly a decade. For now, however, I hope you enjoy my mediocre drawings and ramblings. I've been in a bit of a melancholy rut lately, and was revisiting old hotmail conversations with friends (along with the blog's early days on Wordpress). All that cheerful cringe actually managed to motivate me to go back to posting regularily, and I hope things work out now.

If anyone's curious about what's become of Optiluiz in these past years, I'll give you a brief rundown of where things are at the moment: I'm nearly done with college, juggling two online writing gigs in order to stay alive and buy overpriced popcorn at the theaters, working on several projects that I hope to share with you all and trying to be less of a fat, lazy fuck.

The rest is just details, but if you guys ever want to know more you just have to hit me up in the comments (or social media). Now, I'll leave you guys with something that's been playing on repeat in my head this past week. The so-called "Most Mysterious Song on the Internet" is actually pretty good, and I hope they find the artists behind it soon. Thank you all for visiting.

Chainsaw cheers,

- Optiluiz out.

PS: Watched several fun movies during this year's trip to Maringá. Arachnophobia, Slaughterhouse Rulez, Hobbs & Shaw and Long Shot are all worth a watch in my book!

PPS: Expect to see the Mothman again *real* soon.

PPPS: I wonder if any of my stuff will be remembered like this song one day. Hm.

Veteran of a Thousand Meme Wars - Part I

Greetings, dear readers!

Holy shit on a crucifix, I've missed this. Has it really been so long since the last season of ECB comics ended? So much has changed since then. I know this is a cliché by now due to our frequent hiatuses, but this time I really mean it. God, it feels like we're in a whole new world. I'm not sure if that's a good thing, but I hope you guys enjoy today's introduction to Veteran of a Thousand Meme Wars!

It's been a while since I've practiced my drawing skills, so I hope things don't feel too different, but this is the best I can do under these circumstances. I guess I have some catching up to do, don't I? Well, let's get to it then. I'm still only halfway through college, but things are finally moving forward this year, and I'm excited to see what my academic and professional future holds. My horror articles and reviews at Bloody Disgusting are getting serious, and I'm writing in my free time again. My personal life has also improved quite a bit recently, after a prolonged period of absolute fuckery. Oh, I'm also on my way to getting my long-delayed driver's license!

Even so, my social skills remain as shitty as ever, and I guess I should get this announcement over with. I haven't spoken to Max in quite some time, and we'll be moving forward without his involvement from now on. He wasn't very active during the last season of comics, but due to some creative differences we've sort of parted ways, so he won't be appearing in any future comics. 

That being said, I think this season's script is top notch, and I'll do my best to entertain you guys. I realized long ago how important this blog is for my mental health, and while I'll try to keep my semi-weekly ramblings to a minimum, I can't make any promises. It seems that life sometimes makes an effort to convince us that everything around us sucks, so it's good to stop sometimes and remind yourself of the things that matter. I think there's some merit in attempting to tidy up your house while the world around you is falling apart.

I'm not entirely sure what that metaphor is supposed to mean, but it felt important, so I'm keeping it. That's all I have for now, but I'll certainly be back soon with more silly comics. For my own sake. For now, I'll leave you with a song that's been creeping up on me a lot recently. Thank you for still being here.

Chainsaw cheers,

Optiluiz out.

PS: We've had some kick-ass movies so far this year, I'm glad I've been saving up! Hell, even Ghost in the Shell was pretty good. Would have been amazing with a better script, though.

PPS: Sorry to say that the Epic Club Show has been canceled, but that teaser trailer still makes me smile. I'll have more video projects for you guys soon, though.

PPPS: My girlfriend has been working on a super-secret ECB-related project as well. You'll be seeing it next week if everything works out as planned.

PPPPS: Since I mentioned Ghost in the Shell above, I might as well rant about my recent habit of zoning out and falling asleep while listening to cyberpunk-inspired music and thinking about the crushing loneliness inherent to human existence. It's not the most cheerful hobby in the world, but it does help to deal with life's more unsavory moments. It dawned on me during one of these sessions that we are undeniably living in an actual cyberpunk dystopia, it's just a lot more subtle than the fiction led us to believe. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing. I'm not sure if that matters.

PPPPPS: Happy Easter everyone!

PPPPPPS: Words are very... unnecessary... they can only do harm.

Optiluiz's Day Off - Part I

Greetings, Epic Clubbers!

Optiluiz here with some good news, for once! The blog is back, baby, and it feels to good to post here again, despite the hectic schedule and broken promises. How have you guys been? Our last real post was in November of 2015, so I bet you've had some interesting adventures in the mean-time. I sure have, but I think I covered most of that in our recent video update (yeah, we do that now!).

First of all, I think I should introduce our new comic format, where every three-panel comic is a part of a larger story, which will eventually be combined into 3x4 pages for your reading pleasure! Max is busy for now, sadly, but will be helping us out eventually. I'm in charge of the art for now, but that's alright since I'm taking a story-boarding course at college, which is certainly improving my drawing skills (I hope).

In other news, our Magic: The Gathering inspired film is finally taking shape, as I've finished most of what we consider our 'script', and have obtained exclusive rights to shoot at our local game store. All that's left is to secure props and some more equipment, and production will commence! For now, I'm just playing with a new Shadows Over Innistrad deck, which is one of my favourite sets so far due to the numerous horror references present in a lot of the cards.

That's all for now, folks, but I hope to get back to you soon. If I do manage to maintain a regular schedule this time, we'll be dealing with one comic a week, forming a full page every month, with over-arching stories that can last anywhere from a few months to a full year. I'm happy to be back, Epic Clubbers, and I hope you'll stay with us on this new journey into the internet beyond.

Chainsaw cheers,

-Optiluiz out.

PS: Check out my jam of the week below! Radiohead is back in this charming new video with a pinch of 70s horror!