So on 17 October (in about a week from today) I turn 36. Not quite old, but no spring chicken either. And I try and look at what I've done with that past year. So on my last birthday 35, I had just served a tour over in Iraq and had been promoted to Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy. So how does this year compete with that?

Well I actually got to finally spend a whole year in Hawaii. And let me tell you "It's very nice!" I've seen my first born start his Kindergarten year and my second born continue to overcome her autism by leaps and bounds. I couldn't be prouder of either of 'em.

I worked very hard to see my comic title get off the ground only to watch it crash and burn. My involvement with X-Comikz has taught me a lot of things. Sadly, not all of them good, but lessons I think I needed to learn none the less. I wish I hadn't invested so much money into it, but given the chance to see a dream come true I probably would have done it the same way. What did come out of it was the fact that I got to meet some decent people. One thing John was able to do was bring good people together, even if he in the end disappeared. I'm not done with Comics and Writing by any means. Hopefully I will be able to start again very soon. Turbulence wouldn't go down for the count so easy and neither will aye.

I was able to help a friend who was deployed to the gulf recover from when his house was flooded in Denver. He lost a lot, not as much as some of my friends in the Philippines by far, but I was able to get him set back up again. And for that I'm both grateful and proud. I only wish I could help more people the same way.

One thing that will happen just past my birthday is the birth of my third child. Another strong male heir for the my empire. He seems healthy from what the doctors say, if not a bit skinny. He's due early November, but if we make it past October I'll be surprised. The wifey is ready to go. 2 Boys and a Girl, for those of you keeping count at home. And I love 'em all.

All in all it has been a regular year filled with ups and downs that were normal without to many major spikes in either direction for me and mine. The bills were paid on time, the family was fed and for the most part happy. For me that's a pretty good thing.

Now normally I see people on here ask for art for their birthdays and I'm not opposed to that at all (hint hint nudge nudge) but if you feel like doing something for me this year, here is my Birthday request. Read one of my stories and leave a comment. Tell me what you liked or didn't like. Leave constructive criticism. Something... anything... I'm a writer and well... we like feedback too. So if your so inclined any of those things would be cool. If not that's cool to.

So for those of you who made it this far I wish you all 2 points of good karma for whatever you might need it for. I lift my Miller Light in your general direction in cheers. OR if you prefer a Cider & Black or even a mug of Orion. Thank you Navy for all the drinks I've had around the world. And if any of you are in Cambridge, go down to the Yippee and have some noodles for me.

UPDATE 17 OCT 2009

The Happy Birthday Song [link]

Well looks like I made it. 36 years old. Took my official PT test the other day fro the Navy. 13 minutes for a mile and a half. I've done better for sure, but I've done far worse, so that's not to bad.

My mom flew in to visit, to get the news that my son may be born early. He's due on 4 Nov, but my wife is 2cm dilated already. So could be any day. Here's to another good year. Cheers everyone!

EDIT UPDATE 18 OCT 2009

I just wanted to send a big Thank You out to everyone who wished me well yesterday. You guys were great. I'd like to give a super shout out to my friend for giving me this wonderful present:

It's a take on Turbulence and Siphon taking on Corruption. I think it's great. And it was the only present I received, so many Kudoos to him for taking his own time and effort. I truly appreciate it.

Wayne

Lately there has been more interest in my heroes and heroines so I thought I'd give everyone a little background on each.

Turbulence



Thomas Blackthorne has always been healthy. All though his life. It wasn't until he had a very serious fight as a teenager that he had an amazing ability to heal. To say he heals quickly would be an understatement. But this ability allowed him to do sports very easily an so it led to a full scholarship to college. Always the bit of a tinkerer, and followed a career in science and engineering. Finding work shortly after college, Thomas invented a device that was one of the first stepping stone into antimatter technology; the A.R.C. (Active/Reactive Chamber) generator. However the firm that Thomas worked for was in bed with a terrorist organization. Not wanting this technology to fall into the wrong hands Thomas stole it. The Corporation reacted by naming Thomas as a thief and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Now on the lamb, Thomas uses his abilities and devices to stop crime and clear his own name.

He has since used his creative genius to create and arsenal of weapons design to emulate the devastating effects of weather; Tornado Grenades, Lightning Strikes, Fog Generators, etc. Unknown to Thomas is one more latent ability. An immunity to Psionic powers. Telepathy and similar powers don't work around him, as if he also puts out a personal dampening field.

Sadly I've only ever seen one person playing Turbulence, this guy [link] Scary, I know. But if anyone has a good suggestion, I'm more than willing to listen. Think of someone in there late 20's/early 30's who would look good bald in a goatee.

Phade



Samuel Toda joined the United States Navy hoping to be a Navy S.E.A.L.. Coming from a proud Japanese family, failure was not an option. When he failed to make it through BUDS training for medical reason he was given another option. A special test serum was being created to create ultimate soldiers with special abilities. Sam eagerly agreed. As the first test subject he was an immediate success, grafting the powers of Invisibility and the ability to Phase through Solid Objects. He was supposed to be used in covert operations and infiltration. But when they tried to force him on an assassination mission, Sam delved deeper into the origins of this program. While funded by the military, the ultimate purpose was held under a shadow organization. Warning his intended target, Samuel went U/A trying to report what he had found to higher authorities. Labeled as a rogue agent and an assassin, his warnings fell on deaf ears. He tries to find this shadow organization... and end them.

Samuel has the ability to use his powers in conjunction, but is limited in his Phasing ability as he needs to breathe. A special mask apparatus was created to allow him to breathe while phased. Pressurized air canisters provide a feed of oxygen while phased.

I have always seen Shin Koyomada [link] playing the role of Phade. A wonderful Japanese actor I first saw him in The Last Samurai [link] And have since seen him in many of his movies. Many of you may have seen him recently in the Disney production Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior

Siphon



Cheyenne Willowbrook was in a terrible car accident as a little girl, losing all the members of her immediate family and was completely paralyzed. The only survivor she became the heiress to a Casino fortune. As a quadriplegic her uncle took over the Casino and her grandfather became her legal guardian. She now lives in a room she may never leave, a prison of complete luxury. In the only way she could she reached out... with her mind. Unable to have any experiences of her own she lived vicariously through everyone else around her. Soon she found she was able to imprint these feeling and emotion on others. As she reached out she found she could see farther and farther each time. Soon she was even able to imprint an image of herself into peoples minds so she could communicate with them. Appearing as anything she wanted to; any sex, race, etc. it allowed to to experience even more from people.

Her heroine costume actually came from the stories of her ancestors her grandfather would always tell her at her bedside. Taking those ideas and merging it with a super hero persona she becomes Siphon.

I have always seen Tamara Feldman [link] playing this character ever sine I first saw her in an episode of Smallville called Skinwalker. She played Lyla Willowbrook [link] a Native American shape shifter who could turn into a wolf. As with a women who are hotter than the main characters she didn't last long and died in the end of the episode.


When Samuel Toda entered her casino on assignment she became fascinated by him. First following him in his own mind and then later helping them. When finding out about Thomas Blackthorne from another party she knew she had to bring the two men together. Unable to touch Thomas's mind due to his immunity, she can only communicate through Sam. Together the three form a bit of a rag tag hero group known as The Fugitives.

All Of These Characters are copyright of Wayne Matthew Thomason
If anybody has any questions please let me know, I'd be happy to answer anything about any of these characters.

Here are some of the artists I have commissioned recently for all my heroes and fantasy characters. They are all excellent! And very fairly priced!! All could definitely use your business.

For Great Lines!





















For Great Colors!








Everyone these are all wonderful artists and great friends. They will do right by you and your art. So please if you are looking to commissions some work check out these guys.

After two weeks of I have received almost all of the X-Comikz crew results and the online poll I held I finally have the results. The X-Comiks staff all chose their top three as well as the rated three fro the poll. The first choice in each has a value of 3 pts, the next choice has a value of 2 pts, and the final choice has a value of 1 pt.

As of Midnight my time here on the 31 Aug the top three from the polls are...
coming in 1rst Entry 5 S.E.A.D. Brute vs Turbulence with 59 votes,
coming in 2nd Entry 2 Total Turbulence with 51 votes,
And coming in 3rd place is Entry 12 Candice vs Siphon with 43 votes

That would give Entry 5 three pts, Entry 2 two pts, Entry 12 one pt.

Everyone understand?

OK with that in mind I'll list all the winners and their awarded points

Coming in 1rst place with 15 points
Entry 5 - S.E.A.D. Brute vs Turbulence


Coming in 2nd place with 6 points
Entry 1 - Wargods


Coming in 3rd place with 5 points
Entry 9 - Siphon vs Heatwave


Winners please contact me with your Paypal information. For those who are interested points wise there were a fourth and fifth place. While these have no prizes I still think they deserve mention.

Tying for 4th place with 3 points each
Entry 10 From the Depths & Entry 12 Candace vs Siphon
&

and Tying for 5th place with 2 points each
Entry 2 Total Turbulence & Entry 3 The Fight
&

Now all that being said I would lie to point out that every entry received votes in the poll. I personally am extremely grateful to everyone who entered and made this, my first contest, a success. Thank you all. It's with this success I may hold contests again in the future.

I have some questions for you all though, that might help me with contests in the future.
1. How was the overall time frame? A month & a half for entries, and two weeks for voting. Could this be better, worse, or was it just fine?
2. The prizes $75, $50, & $25; were these good incentives or do you think it should have been something different?
3. Was the task explained enough, or could it have been explain better. And if Yes, then how?
4. Any other suggestions for future contests?


Thank you all again for entering. It's been a fun ride, and I'm glad you all came along for it. Viva la X-Comikz!

The Time of Judgment is upon us. I received a total of 12 entries. And now they are up for you to vote upon. Now I ask that you all only vote for one entry. I have had to break up the entries into two polls. Each has a selection for voting in the other poll. These results will add up to one more vote with the fellas from X-Comikz.

Take a fair look at all the entries. A lot of people put a lot of hard work into these pictures. If you are a contestant I ask that you show a little good sportsmanship and not vote for your own entry.

I will run the polls until the the end of July. Winners will be announced on 1 August. Good Luck everyone. And thank you kindly to everyone who entered.

Wayne Thomason