The Discarded: Ronin Revolver #1

  It's been a little while since I commented on my campaign to make the Ronin Revolver Anthology.  Of late, I've received much interest in the project, in the form of illustrators interested in working on the project with me.  I believe this is in large part to the great concept artwork Aaron McConnell has collaborated on with me.
  So far, other than descriptions of a couple of stories, not much has been put forth on my part to reveal a writing style, or that I'm even capable of writing the stories I'm lobbying to get published.  It's difficult to convey what a project is and whether a person is capable of the writing level needed for the wide range of stories I've planned without revealing the stories themselves.
  In response to this notion of proving myself, I present the rough draft of the first issue I ever produced of Ronin Revolver.  It's part of a mini-series called "The Nanban County Purchase."  I originally wanted to publish this mini-series, and hopefully someday I will, but those goals have since shifted.
  The current goal's to create several short, illustrated stories, available free on the web to both introduce the mythology of the series and the some of the characters involved with the original mini-series.  Two short stories have already been completed, with a third being worked on, hopefully to completion by the end of this week.  I have artists lined up for those stories, but since money is tight, it'll take time for them to be produced.
  If you like the script you see, please think about donating to the Kickstarter.com site.

Naruto #560-561 Review

I decided to wait to review Naruto #560 until #561 came out to gain perspective on the significance of the events occurring.  Madara Uchiha is back, and knows who's behind all this fuss with the Shinobi World War.  It seems all the bad guys know who's who, but the good guys can't catch much of a break.

What I found interesting was that the Madara could use the Rinnegan.  This comes as not much of surprise, seeing as how it is rumored the Sharingan evolved from the Byakugan.  So all the eye techniques have share an origin.  Not only can Madara use the Rinnegan, but use it effectively.

Naruto #560, Page 13

Naruto #560, Page 16-17

The opponents just keep getting more powerful, forcing the good guys to grow more powerful exponentially.  A good thing if you want them to survive, but the increasing amount of their power makes one wonder what'll happen when the war is over.  Will the series end since no more opponents can match the strength of the heroes?

Naruto #561, Page 10

  A few curious revelations occurred over the span of these two issues.  One, that Madara can use the Summoning Jutsu to summon the Nine-Tails; it's strange that it seems that the fox speaks with the clone Naruto.  Since clone have their chakra distributed evenly among one another, I guess it does make sense that the fox would be "in" the clone, too, but I think it reveals something people might not have guessed: even though clones can pass on information back to the original after dispersing that this is a two-way street, a network connection on some level which may provide a strength or vulnerability later on.

  Two, that while locked up in Naruto, Madara is unable to summon the Nine-Tails.  Whether this is due to the strength of the seal used, or because the beast is simply "locked away" is unknown.  The summoning itself is curious, as I previous was under the impression that to summon a creature, a contract must be made between the summoner and summonee.  Did, at some point, Madara and the fox strike a deal?  Or is it possible to summon a creature without the contract?

  Three, exactly how much chakra power does Madara have?  A ninja is limited to the amount of jutsu they can use by the amount of chakra they possess, even a resurrected ninja, as was the case when the former Tsuchikage when he tried to summon Madara; he had to wait for his chakra to be replenished before being able to summon Madara.  In previous issues, readers have seen Itachi die after using just a few Mangekyō Sharingan in the span of one battle.  Yet Madara not only uses his Sharingan, but Rinnegan techniques in quick succession without any ill effects.  Even absorbing Naruto's Rasenshuriken technique, how can Madara keep using such techniques and even the Wood Style technique without skipping a beat?  It'll be interesting to see how events will transpire.  Overall, I say both are stellar issues, leaving me wanting more in the now rather than having to wait a week.

8-Foot Lego Man Found on Beach???!!!!

Apparently an 8-foot tall Lego Man washed ashore on the beach in Siesta Key Village, Florida.

Siesta Key, Florida

Zandvoort, Holland

To make matters even more curiouser, this isn't the first time something like this has happened.  About three years ago, Lego Men invaded the shores of Zandvoort, Holland, and Brighton, England.

Brighton, England

What's more curious is that on its chest was written "No real than you."
Tourist footage from the Holland landing shows the same message on its Lego Man's chest.
What could have possibly gone into the planning and thinking of these incidents?  Are all three incidents related?  What does the message mean?

This has all the earmarks of a good story to me.  Also, I'm awaiting any conspiracy theories regarding this Lego invasion with open ear.

Check out the following link, which may be directly or indirectly related: Ego Leonard.

Finished artwork

Here's the finished artwork for "the Knight" character.  Definitely not how I originally intended him to look, but Aaron's prelim. work bowled me over.  This character is now one of my favorites.

Naruto #559 "Reinforcements Arrive"

  So we end up with another issue of tie-ups, but there are some major developments that go along with it.  One is that we see more of Naruto's growth, as he states to Kimimaro that quality over quantity will determine the battle.  The most prominent development, though, is that we learn what Kabuto's trump card is: Madara Uchiha.  While I should be surprised, I kinda expected that "Tobi" wasn't who the series inferred him to be.  One clue was that Tobi kept the mask on long after it was "revealed" he was Madara.  But if not Madara, then who is "Tobi"?

#397, page 3

  The obvious answer would be Madara's younger brother, Izuna.  I believe that is too easy an answer, though.  For a while I contemplated who, other than Madara, Tobi could be.  The only answer I could come up with was Fugaku Uchiha, Itachi and Sasuke's father.  Way back in Chapter 397, "Tobi" nearly revealed his face to Sasuke, but Itachi had caused Amaterasu react to the masked man's face, so it's conceivable that he never saw Tobi's true face.  The images we've seen of Izuna show no crease marks under the eyes.  Fugaku's does.
  While preparing for a coup on the Leaf Village, Fugaku could've discovered that Itachi was a double-agent (or realized from Itachi that the village had planned to eliminate the clan), and realizing that a coup was no longer an option, instead welcomed Itachi eliminating the Uchiha's and disguise himself in the cloak of "death."  Otherwise, why keep the mask on when speaking of Kohona's history.
  One more clue in support of my theory of Fugaku being "Tobi," to date Tobi has only shown Kisame his face, possibly Zetsu, too.  the Amaterasu trigger in #397 only activated upon seeing Tobi's face, not the man himself.  This suggests that Itachi knows who Tobi really is, otherwise, how could the trigger activate?  It's conceivable that a Madara's image from the Valley of the End could've allowed Itachi to know Madara's face, but in light of this new information of Madara being dead, who else does Itachi know who could be Tobi?

    Of course, there is the question of Madara's eyes.  I believe that Fugaku may have been able to locate and retrieve Madara's eyes, causing the tome seen for Madara's eyes to be his also.  Of course, this is all speculation.  But maybe we'll see soon.

Naruto #558 "Kabuto's Trump Card"

  The majority of this issue seemed to lean towards tying up the some of the lingering story lines, such as the White Zetsu impostors and the battles with the various deceased Kages.  The beginning of the issue, though reveals that Kabuto has some sort of "trump card" concerning the Kage Mu.  What is this trump card?  A summoning jutsu.  But what summoning?

  More character developments appear, though they can easily be missed.  Development #1: Naruto's clones are more powerful than anyone thought; this revelation comes when it's mentioned by Gaara that the Naruto on the battlefield is a clone.  Cool.  Development #2: sort of goes along with the 1st, Naruto's capable of transferring his "Nine-Tails" Chakra State.  Combined with his "Sage" State, Naruto has access to nearly limitless chakra.

  Overall, I give it a two out of five stars.  This issue primarily is used to tie up some of the mess being thrown around by events in Naruto's world.

  Now, a simple question has been bugging me for some time.  I've thought about it, but cannot figure out an answer.  If only the Nine-Tails Fox's Yang chakra is sealed within Naruto, how does Madara intend to resurrect the "Ten-Tailed" beast mentioned a while back?  The Yin chakra is sealed away within Minato's "Dead Demon Consuming Seal."  Another question, which springs from the simple one, why was the Yang chakra sealed in Naruto, and not the Yin chakra?  Is there some significance to it?  Did I forget something mentioned in a previous chapter  (not all too surprising considering the amount of issues)?
  Probably could come up with more questions, but I think I'll stop my brain for the meantime, especially since I'm sure the answers will be forthcoming in future issues.
  Oh yeah, one more: with clones taking the battlefield, where is Naruto and Bee going?  Did I miss something?