Roykirk’s Enterprises

Seems a lot of creators I grew up with are passing on lately, in all industries.

Dave Stevens, artist extraordinaire, and creator of the Rocketeer, passed away from leukemia.

I loved Dave’s work. His clean, detailed, and nostalgic art really gave a sense of history to his tales. But most of all, he loved the lines and curves of the female figure like no other. I’ll always be thankful to him as the man who introduced me to Bettie Page, through Betty in the Rocketeer.

Thank you, Dave. I only wish there had been more of Cliff Secord and Betty to leave us even more of a legacy.

Tags: Comics, Entertainment, Movies by Roykirk
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I know I’m a little late with this and some of you may have heard the news, but an icon of my adolescence that still affects me today passed away on Monday…

Together with Dave Arneson, E. Gary Gygax created Dungeons & Dragons, the game that I have played on and off over the decades, and regularly now, in one of its computer incarnations, Neverwinter Nights.

Dungeons & Dragons was what first started my socialization in high school, with lunchtime games in Mr. Welsh’s biology classroom, and weekend, overnight crawls at the home of one or another of our little cabal of geek gamers. And now, with the advent of the internet and Neverwinter Nights, it’s allowed me to make friends beyond the local, including one who is quite close, even though we live days and miles apart.

Thank you, Gary, for the enrichment your game has given my life, and for helping turn me into the techno-geek I am today. May your legacy live on for centuries.

UPDATE: Wired magazine has a wonderful article on Gary, the development of Dungeons & Dragons, and the impact it’s had on the world and gaming.  It has some nice personal insights from Gary as well, for the interviews were done not long before his passing.

Tags: Comics, Entertainment, Gaming, Hope, Humor, Technology by Roykirk
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I think many of us who enjoyed the Spider-man films were disappointed with #3, especially after the wonderful second movie, one of the best comic book films ever put to celluloid.

Jay Garmon, one of my favorite bloggers, has his own take on how the movie should have gone, and I find myself very much in agreement.

As Jay points out, this is another reason why perhaps science fiction writers should be in charge of Hollywood.

Tags: Comics, Entertainment, Movies, Science Fiction by Roykirk
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