Finishing

It began at the end of summer: I was away (you might recall) fiercely regressing and spending way too many sunny days reading comics. It began while looking at a map similar to this, I said to my brother, "The only thing I know about Hell's Kitchen involves Daredevil," to which he replied, "That's all there is to know about Hell's Kitchen." And then pointing somewhere Midtown he said, "Baxter building is here," or maybe it was "Daily Bugle," but the point is, by the end of the conversation I was looking rather like this:

go on....

It was going to be an epic collection filled with super-headquarters, living quarters and maybe even, uh, battle quarters around New York City! And then I put the idea on the shelf for 4 months. I mean, it was daunting collecting information about multiple universes, with multiple timelines and histories to figure out. I was asking for a massive nerd war over canon vs retcon. Plus the map in my head/heart had no stylistic relation to the vintage themes I had already. But I just couldn't help it -- with my penchant for imperfection and extensive internetting, this map was surely inevitable.

A little disclaimer: I only used locations I could get an address or at least a Neighborhood to pinpoint. There are many cases where a hero will just be "in Manhattan," and I did not want to simply place a dot anywhere. While most locations are fairly accurate (from at least one story line), I did have to guess a few times (namely Yorick and Stark Westchester). And one day, someone with a geekier heart than I will confront me at a show with startling news of a highly important and obvious figure I neglected to add to the map*, to which I will smile, acknowledge defeat, and inwardly thank Photoshop for making the world fabulous. But until then, you will have to deal with what I have.

So this is my last piece for 2013. Hopefully over the holidays I will work on something to dazzle you all, but most likely that will not happen until the scary unknown of 2014 (if ever). I hope you all enjoy a lovely and graceful finish to this year!

Kaz/Awk out



*Give me a direct and important home base for Spawn and I will put it on the damn map. But until then, Manhattan is just too general.

Oh, hello July

Summer is the time for imagination, exploration, taking shortcuts and scenic routes. A few weeks ago I received a custom order for a map of Neverland, and it turned out to be the perfect July project: pirate ships, mermaids, secret hideouts and adventures. If this spirit of nostalgia and determination-not-to-grow-up isn't an appropriate complement to Awkward Affections, I don't know what is!

On that note, if I ever grow up, I want to be this lady, taking my awesome cane-sword and self-driving moped to Comic-Con (which, incidentally, may be the first time I make it to SDCC). There, I will harass The Youth about not being able to read script and what life was like before the internet.

But what was I saying? Oh, progress photos:

So, my fellow Lost Boys and Girls, make sure you enjoy the rest of summer like you used to! (Unless you live in the Bay Area, and you'll just have to imagine what it'll be like in October).

There ain't no gettin' off of this train we on

It isn't hard to get me prancing gleefully back into the arms of nostalgia, but with all the E3 buzz going on, it seems to be happening more than ever. (Strange that discussing the future only make me regress...) Final Fantasy VII (perhaps the only reason we ever got a PlayStation) was probably the first time game graphics really blew me away. This might be hard to believe nowadays -but lets just say that game progress over the past 16 years is enough to make one feel supremely old. (I wonder if this how our grandparents felt when televisions were brought into the home and movies were made in color? Probably not. That was pretty monumental.) We might pine and scorn all over the new changes in the gaming industry, and that's fine. But once and a while, let's remember what it was like to be awed all those years ago.

They don't love you like I love you

Maps! How I love them. Truthfully, I have never attempted map drawings before this month, but they are strangely satisfying for my compulsive side. They will, however, give me early arthritis.


In all honesty, I wanted this book to come with a special fold out map of Hyrule so I could hang it up in my room like 12 year old me who stole pictures of sexy adult Link from my brother's Nintendo Power magazine. Since that wasn't going to happen, I decided to make the map myself (which is where the map obsession began).

March cannot come soon enough. For such long books, the tv series is too damn short. I'll keep up the geeky fan art until then, I suppose.

And this is more of a chart but it is close enough. Sandworms are just so happy!

The nostalgia will continue!