Just Finished Reading

[DFA]

Okay so the book, just wow. I've never actually cried from a book but yours did it for me. It was an amazing novel one of the best I've read in a long time. This book really just shows your talents as a writer, there's only so much you can do with a text bubble I really had no idea your talents went this far. So what I loved was by far the characters. Each one was well done and you could love em all. My favorite has got to be Angus though just so damn hilarious. The plot was so well done and the twist at the end I knew there going to be something but never that! The spelling errors didn't really detract from the story. I also have to mention the underlining commentary on society brilliantly executed and so damn correct. I just can't get over how well you pulled this off it had everything I've come to expect from you as a writer and more.

One of the points I need to hammer home is interjecting yourself in the story. This is sorta dangerous cause if you screw it up you screw with the flow of the story. You pulled it off and I was impressed it reminded me of one of my favorite old cartoons, Freakazoid the randomness they'd have that detratced from the actual story made it all the more better and funny.

I do have to say the ending seemed kinda rushed and slightly confusing I had to re-read some paragraphs before getting certain things. All in all it was an amazing read and I can't wait for the sequel!

[Kurosen]

Thanks.

Looking back, there is a whole lotta stuff going on at the end -- I'd characterize the end as everything that happens after the final battle with Superion. I suppose it is rushed, but I was going for that. I wanted the reader to be inundated, just beaten mercilessly with events. But maybe I could've done that and made things more immediately clear by taking the occasional pause.

[DFA]

Oh I also have one question for you Brian.
IsAngus really dead? I'm pretty sure he is but I need confirmation.

[Kurosen]

Yup.

[DFA]

Damn well hewas my favorite character though he did have a pretty awsome death. Will we find out what happens to his statued self and armor in the sequel?

[Ponderosa]

DFA, I just finished reading it, too, and I couldn't agree more. At first, I just thought it was one of the funniest books I had ever read. The dialogue and the characters (especially Nuklear Man) were hilarious. There are very few books that make laugh out loud, but this was one of them. Then, of course, I got to the ending.

I don't think I realized what an incredible story it was until the very end. I was never aware of just how attached I was to the characters and how much I loved the story until it had to come to an end. More than just lovable characters and an amazing story, however, I really can't express how great a book it is. I'm still working on digesting those last several lines, but I think I understand. Either way, I feel better off for having read it.

On another note, though, I really hope there isn't a sequel. I think it would just defeat the whole purpose of the story. Either way, I loved the book and will treasure it forever. After all, we had some good times, right?

[Kurosen]

There is a sequel in the works, but don't worry. It's not a sequel "for the sake of a sequel." The events that take place in it were part of the plan all along for our characters and their world.

The humor isn't as "wacky" in this one since everyone has grown up a little, but it oughta be a fun read all the same.

[Ponderosa]

But I don't understand--that ending was so final, so drastically changed. Plus, the Apology at the end only seemed to reinforce the idea that it was all one complete, self-contained story. I can see the characters going on and having new adventures, but it seems like any sequel would have to be radically different in tone and content from the first one. If you can give us any hints ahead of time, will the sequel just pick up where the last one left off and continue the story?

Completely off-topic, could you maybe give me some clues as to what you felt those last four lines meant? I'm still pondering it, and as far as I can tell, it has most to do with the second and third lines, right?

[Kurosen]

The sequel, Atomik Age, will begin seven years after the conclusion of Nuklear Age. The tone is very different, but it is still primarily a work of comedy. The type of comedy is a bit different from Nuklear Age but that's fitting because it's a different world. It's still the same world in a great many ways, but there are some important differences. Think of pre-9/11 America versus post-9/11. We were all stunned for a while, but more or less, everything's back to normal now. Even so, there's still a kind of "darkness" out there now. Atomik Age begins quite a few years removed from the tragedy that came before, so there's enough distance for the characters to be themselves. But everyone is still dealing with that day in their own ways.

As for the closing lines, in the context they are given, I like to think of them as a giving of thanks to the makers -- and more importantly -- the readers of stories. I had a feeling my book would affect a great many of its readers in a fairly deep way, so I wanted to thank them for letting me abuse their emotions for the sake of their own entertainment.

[Ponderosa]

Wow, that sounds really promising! Plus, I love that title already. Atomik Age...

[icythaco]

'Course now, if he makes another book after Atomik Age, he's going to have one hell of a time coming up with a title for it...I can't think of anymore energy/power sources that have C's in them that he could change to K's...

[Kurosen]

Naw, NA and AA have similar titles because they're linked. The three books I have in mind after them take place in the same setting -- more or less -- but aren't as directly related as those two. So I'll drop the naming convention after Atomik Age.

[icythaco]

Hehe, too bad you're changing the title scheme...I just though up a name you could have used: Hydro-Electrik Age :D

[Jaythe4th]

Hydro-Electrik Age? Thats crazy. Doesn't have a ring to it at all.

Clearly the next best one would be Lightbulb-Konnekted-to-a-Potato Age.

[houkama]

I also just finished the novel. I must admit I was completely suprised. I knew you were funny, but I was amazed at how insightful and creative you are. I found your explanation of KI fields interesting and the best "scientific" explanation for super/overpowers I have read to date. I finally have an inspiration for a new RPG again. (Not that I can't make up my own, just that my friends prefer to play as characters that are already created.) Anyways, I can't (but will) wait for the sequel.

[mdepalma]

I also just finished reading, and I have to say that I was hit so hard that I couldn't move for about an hour. It probably sounds like overreaction to a silly little...well, not so little book, but I literally didn't know what to do but just sit there and replay everything in my head.

I have to say I'm not crazy about the ending either. I think that's obvious, but I'm not going to say some stupid crap about how it should've been different. You're setting up for Atomik Age, and you had viable artistic reasons for doing what you did. I can't truly call that a bad move. I can only offer how I felt, and I felt...horrible. In fact, Brian, you yourself drew 9/11 comparisons, and while I won't say that I felt exactly the way I felt during that day, it was a similar emotional punch in the gut because (SPOILER) you so loved everybody, you felt that similar bond that Atomik Lad had with them, and suddenly they were gone. I almost CLOSED THE BOOK when Rachel died, because I didn't want that to happen. She seemed to be Atomik Lad's sole saving grace, the only reason he had to feel happy about much of anything, and the way she was ripped from his life like that...I almost couldn't do it. Point in fact, I don't think I did do it--much of the book was a blur from there. I may have missed something, and if I did, I apologize. (There's still spoilers ahead, but they're not as massive and I'm already assuming you read the book, so...)

I think that punch came harder because I wasn't quite prepared for your approach, even though you said it a million times, "It's a bunch of short stories strung together into one big honkin' book." I still expected it to be united with one common theme, and when Superion came to town, I thought I knew EXACTLY what you were trying to say and I LOVED you for it: We live in a society that mythologizes our heroes to incredible degrees, so it only figures that once they do something wrong despite their best intentions, be it banal or massive, they're immediately shunned. But we forget; perhaps they are superhuman, but they're still human. Even if their flaws run deep, be it the massive ego of Nuke, the dark history of Atomik Lad, the way Angus gets hot-tempered over his height, how Dr. Genius lets her fascination with her own research endanger the lives of her test subjects, crap, the way Mighty Metallic Magno Man can't say "MAGNOSMASH!" when he's supposed to...despite those flaws, does it negate all the good they've done?

People are so damn self absorbed over the things they lose after good triumphs over evil, that they never stop to think about what would happen if evil won.

Superion comes, and of course it's all chalked up to his Superior Charm(TM), but he gains the public's affection immediately. I don't think he needed any superior charm for that. He's the new thing, and he's promising to get things done swiftly and efficently, and that's all the public needs to hear. Unless my exhaustion-and-psuedo-grief-addled mind is playing tricks on me, I believe Hitler rose to power the exact same way. People are so dazzled, they miss what's in front of them.

Superion was "perfect," yet he did more harm than good. The so considered malcontents of superheroing were the true heroes because in the end, they had no other agenda* than what was good for the rest of mankind, despite every crippling character flaw they had.

What a perfect statement. What a NECESSARY statement.

I wish it ended on that note, and that everything after was saved as a prologue of sorts for Atomik Age. But I trust you, Brian. You led me into heartbreak, but I know that it's your story, and I trust your skills as a storyteller enough to order Atomik Age when it comes out. I'm not expecting "Oh, everything is going to go back to normal and the bunnies will hop through the forest and wonk wonk wonk." God no, I'm not expecting that. But I know you've got something great up your sleeve, and I can't wait to see what it is.

Best of luck to you. And if I read too much into the book, or if my arguments are severely flawed...uh, deal. I'm out of amnesia dust.

P.S. - Have you seen The Incredibles by any chance? You and (writer/director) Brad Bird have a similiar taste in town names...

*OK, Nuke wanted to dominate the world, but everybody else was certainly in it for the greater good. Anyway, wasn't that part of one of Dr. Menace's plans?

[Ponderosa]

I don't know about that. I did like the whole conflict with Superion, but I liked the ending even more. It was so much more dramatic, intense, and on a sheer epic scale. With Superion, you had one ramapaging psychopath. With the ending conflict, there was so much more. I have to admit, I really liked the bit about Dr. Menace, though. She became a more human character when the superheroes were forced to deal with her. But still, I liked the ending even more. When the heroes were pressed to their extremes was when you really saw just how heroic they were.

Yeah, and about that bit about Nuklear Power wanting to take over the world, don't forget the ritual murders and the "Cleansing" and "Purification" he referred to... :eek:

[Kurosen]

The ending is the way it is because I couldn't imagine it any other way. The book is about, well, a lot of things. But I really wanted to experiment with what I termed the Disruption of Expectations in The Apology. I chose to explore that disruption through the trope of comedy. And then I turned it in on itself to show that tragedy is comedy going in the other direction.

Besides, everything is so formulaic these days. Twist endings seem especially bad about it. You either see them coming a mile away or they come out of nowhere at the last minute through a mixture of plot holes and clumsiness. I wanted to write something that surprised the reader the way life does. You never see the end coming until it's on top of you. And then when you look back at the story, you can clearly see that everything was leading up to it.

[Artman317]

It's like airbud winning the big game then getting run over.
Then Airbuds kid owner goes on to the State chamionships against the undefeated team (the mighty mighty Nihels) then barely pulling out a win.

Unexpected, Sad, and Funny (if you have that sense of humor)

Actually, the story does share alot of those elements. (In a good way)

[Jaythe4th]

Besides, everything is so formulaic these days. Twist endings seem especially bad about it. You either see them coming a mile away or they come out of nowhere at the last minute through a mixture of plot holes and clumsiness.

Somewhere, Dan Brown is shaking his fist because someone is onto his secret.

The last few chapters of Nuklear Age bugged me only because it seemed like it didn't fit the rest of the book. I mean, I get it, I see that the turnaround was intended, but I prefered when there was a little more balance to the book (not to say I didn't like the end... I just thought it felt wrong after the overall goofyness of the rest of the book).

It was almost like reading Catch-22, only all the death comes at the end of the book instead of throughout the book. That said, I'm really looking forward to Atomik Age.

[Vivli]

There are probably alot of spoilers ahead...

I read the ending chapters in a very peculiar way actually, because I didn't think everything would stay like that. All through reading them, I had the expierene with Dr Never's time machine in my head, and how he escaped into time. I was expecting him to show up again, and for them to use that to fix everything, so I read it with a "everything will be fine again in a minute" mentality. Of course, this didn't happen, so I was pretty shocked at the very end. Definitely a story that'll stay with you. It's all Brian's fault for making the characters so dammed likeable dammit! Maybe the whole Dr Never thing will be picked up in Atomik Age in some way. Either way, I can't wait!

Speaking of time travel, doesn't that suggest a plot hole? As in fifteen years the Earth was still there, but surely Nihel would have destroyed it without Nuke around? Now THAT'S nitpicking!

Sorry, that was a bit offtopic.

[Kurosen]

Speaking of time travel, doesn't that suggest a plot hole? As in fifteen years the Earth was still there, but surely Nihel would have destroyed it without Nuke around? Now THAT'S nitpicking!

Nihel only bothered with Earth because Nuke was there. Had he been flung fifteen years into the future, Nuke would not have been on the planet while Nihel was passing by.

[Skyshot]

Regarding Vivli's comments, I kinda expected the same thing, especially after watching the first "Superman" movie -- you know, the one where Lex fires missiles at California, and Superman turns back time? The whole time after Rachel's death, I was basically thinking "Okay, that was too much, he's gonna bring her back somehow. I wonder how!" I became more certain of that after Nihel wiped out half the world population. There was no way he was going to let it stay that way!

Oops. Joke's on me, I guess.

Speaking of which, regarding the Apology, I figured out the other day just how it was funny, and kinda laughed at it. You know, almost in that "SUCKER!" way. It wasn't anything near the laughter Brian says he had for the chicken-crossing-the-road joke, though.

[Vivli]

I have to admit, I giggled to when reading the apology. Got me even worse because of what I was expecting. Felt like when you've just had a hilarious pratical joke played on you. (If you're not the vengeful kind).

EDIT: Thanks for clearing that up Brian. Missed it when I replied at first. I actually thought of that, but dismissed it because I thought Nihel would have checked out such a legendary planet anyway. This was actually a stupid thing to think, because (assumably) it was Nuke's power that lured him there. So yeah, thanks!

[gaffit]

I just finished this book and this is a masterpiece. Unfortunately while on this wonderful internet of ours i read someone was crying when they finished the book. I thought it was probably only minor like a city being demolished or something but nothing prepared me for that. By the way what happened to MMMM and Shiro, I was in shock through issue 56-58 and think I missed something about them.

[Kurosen]

Mighty Metallic Magno Man had the melting point of his tungsten body reduced to something below room temperature. He then melted and was conscious enough to experience every agonizing moment of it. He is now a solidified blob of tungsten and presumably quite dead.

Shiro is alive and well. He escaped the Negabomb by a close shave and survives. He's not mentioned too much after that as his part in Nuklear Age has come to a close. He will re-appear in Atomik Age.

[White_Knight]

Warning! Spoilers!

Well, I finally finished reading the book. Wow. I am truly amazed. The book was well thought out, and well written. It was also very deep at times. I was astonished. It was different from what I expected, and no one can say differently on that point. A unique read! I laughed, I cried, I wondered what Haggis was. However, contrary to Popular (AKA Brian's) belief, the book is not episodical, with the exception of the beginning. I would be confused if I turned on Cartoon Network, only to see Nukie and Sparkie in a courtroom with a Texan judge and a Vampire.
Now, what I enjoyed the most was the ending. I will probably be back-stabbied for such blasphemy, but hear me out before you go Black Mage on my butt!
SPOILER!
At first I expected a Standard Issue: Justice Wins Ending. I was pleasantly surprised. The events led up to a showdown, as expected. I had read enough Fantasy/Sci-Fi to know what was coming. Here come the aliens, bearing main character's dark past. Nuklear Man kills off strangely overpowered demi-villians (AKA Minions). Then, Rachel died.
Truth be told, I was expecting that. Rachel, being the main love interest, had to die temporarily. I was pissed, but I knew that it would be okay, because that's how it works.
Then, my knowledge was turned against me as, in short order (HA!) Angus the Iron Scot was smote by his beloved Bertha. I was sad, because that he was my favorite character. You could say a little piece of me died then (No more puns, I promise).
However, I was ready for him and also MMMM to die, because they were still the 'extra' characters, and they would somehow be back (I'll miss Angus. Poor little guy.[sorry...]).
I was ready, and Sparky broke free of his bonds of mere mortal concrete, after freeing himself from the much heavier bonds of his own denial.
Then, I was caught off gaurd. Atomik Lad died. I was unready for that. My knowledge had failed. I have a Knowledge: Comic Book/Fantasy Lore check of 23! How could it happen? Inconcievable!
Then, I started laughing. I had underestimated you, Mr. Clevinger. You had caught me off gaurd, and I knew it too. After realizing that I had severely underestimated the author of 8-Bit, I was ready for the rest of the book.
The final fight took place, and what a fight. It did not dance around you, like the swordplay of Drizzt Do'Urden (R.A. Salvatore), and yet, it was equally mesmarizing. Nuklear Man awoke, and he was angry. After the caption boxes proclaiming "POW!" and "BIFF!" had faded, justice had indeed won... but at a terrible cost.
I finished the book at 9:45, and due to some posting error, the origional draft of this message, unsaved, was lost around 10:30 (CA time). I endavored late into the night, and typed what is now before you.
The epilogue was non-conventional in some aspects, and not the cliche ending I had expected. Rachel and Sparkie were together, Katkat was still quietly running the universe (You know that he was.), and Nuklear Man was... not Nuklear Man. I was sad, because Nukie had gone, and left this ancient overbieng in it's wake, tired from death and fighting, yet knowing that he had to continue to fight for justice.
The end was perfect. Nuklear Man passes the baton, and Atomik Lad stares down at the world, now resting on his shoulders, and, as every good hero should, has the last word. "From this height, everything looks so small." Thus, the new age begins.
I'm not a professional critic, but I am a fan of 8-bit, as well as an aspiring writer. I have been amazed by your ability, and will know now not to ever underestimate a book. Brian was right! The first 2/3 of the book nearly made the last 1/3 impossible. Inconcieveable. Yet, somehow, because of that last 1/3, Nuklear Age became more than a book. It was a story.
Well... I'm out of Commendation/Accolade/Laud. My kat wants attention, and I cannot resist the fuzzy-wuzzy.

Bravo, Mr. Clevinger! I eagerly await your next book.

Oh, and on another note, just so your ego doesn't explode, Brian, smash your spell check. The typo-daemons are rampant, and they got a hold on even Nukie. I quote: "You may just be the 'on' thing I did right."

Ok, I'm done.

[Kurosen]

Rachel and Sparkie were together

Re-read that there Epilogue. Ol' Atomik Lad is only dreaming on that part.

The typo-daemons are rampant

That's what happens when two out of two editors die and your publisher screws up even more stuff all on its own with the formatting while you are being hammered by more hurricanes in a single season that has ever happened in recorded history. It's difficult to get in touch with people regarding the state of particular digital files when you have no power or phone lines. Alas. We've got the non-typo version, Nuklear Age: Volume 2 or Nuklear Age: Turbo Edition (not sure which I'll go with) coming up in '05.

Glad you enjoyed it though. There's more Nuklearverse stuff to look forward to.

[White_Knight]

Ah! I noticed that right after I posted (Rachel/Sparkie comment)! I think my sleep deprived mind somehow warped reality and made an alternate dimension... 'n stuff.
Let this be a lession to ye, children. Never post after 12:10 PM, or your mind kinda explodes.

[MFD]

I'd like Magnetik Age as a title for the third book in a trilogy, if that happens... I mean, come on, he]'s at Uberdyne, and Genius is trying to fix him.

As for the typos, it made the book seem rushed out. Quite upsetting. Would people be able to sell back or trade in Nuklear Age for the Turbo Edition?... it's alot of money to spend twice.

The book was great, plot and humor both. At least we have 8BT until AA.

[Kurosen]

As for the typos, it made the book seem rushed out

In a sense, it was. I had a few weeks to make any final changes or say "Stop the presses." These were the weeks I was without power, phone lines, cell phones, etc. I speed-edited as best I could under evacuations and constant hurricanes, but as one might guess that's not a very productive environment.

I doubt highly that my publisher would do any kind of return/exchange thing. On the bright side, the typo-ridden first edition of crap would become a collector's item. Or something.

[Freeq]

Hey, maybe we could get a special message if we were to get our Typo Editions signed. Or something. Some form of consolation. >.>

[Jaythe4th]

Man, its frustrating to post stuff on a forum to talk about the next book knowing the author can read it and is still writing it. I'm going to pretend he's not paying attention and speculate on Atomik Age.

In regard to the talk of MMMM, even though he's 'presumed dead', he sure seems like he could be brought back. So that's cool... but on the other hand, if you were melted and tortured, and left in that state for years, you'd likely never be the same again even if your body was restored.

That and the very sketchy "ends justify the means" attitude of Dr. Genius revealed as the book went on seems like there could be a conflict between former friends in the next book.


Darn you 2008, hurry up and get here.

[Phusion Man]

just finished the book yesterday. so awesome. and of course, the end was angrifying. i honestly thot yuripsiko was gonna pull something out of the hat. or at the worst, the negabomb was gonna kill nihel and nukie. altho i never expected a sequel, so thats a bonus. props to u, Mr. Clevinger, the characters wre very relatable-to, so thats cool. Magno's awesome (i too where sunglasses way too much) and Angus makes me proud to be scottish (so how come he's the only one who actually died? or is he dead?). But Nuklear Man was awesome. the whole arrogant bumbling, thats me. from the minute i started the first book, im like "holy crap, that's me". but from beginnning to end, the book was well-written. i still think there were so many ways to end the book fairly happily, so im not gonna say the ending rocked, but you're doing a sequel, so i can't complain to much. but the main question is, like, does this mean that Nuklear Man is now 100% non-wacky now? cuz that would kinda suck. but the book was great, so once again, serious props. thanks

[MFD]

(so how come he's the only one who actually died? or is he dead?)

Just him, Rachel, and half of the Earth's population.

Yeah... I liked it.

[Kurosen]

Don't forget Mighty Metallic Magno Man. Even if we assume he somehow lived through being melted alive, we also have to assumed he'd have suffocated or died of thirst eventually.

[Jaythe4th]

Thats good logic Kuro, but certain unnamed webcomic authors have been known to mislead their audience in the past in order to catch them offguard, at which point suprise/hilarity ensues. But you're right. The odds of MMMM surviving that are about a million to one.

[Ponderosa]

Well, I just noticed this after I finished reading Nuklear Age for a second time. At the end, it mentioned something to the effect that MMMM was being kept in suspended animation by Dr. Genius, who hopes to someday revive him. Of course, seeing as he has been transformed into a blob of half-melted tungsten, it would be difficult to restore him to his previous, unmelted form.

As I recall, Nihel observed how MMMM was able to turn his entire body into a block of solid tungsten that was human-shaped. In that form, he was still mostly human, as when he began to melt, he also began to lose the ability to see, hear, etc. So, it seems likely that he could survive the process of repairing his tungsten body and becoming human again.

[Phusion Man]

u kno what? i always thought that the symbol on Mr. Clevinger's shirt was like a convoluted pic of black mage, what with it being the best selling and all. thats cool. oh ya, and i btw, just from what ive mentioned about the book, both my brother and my dad (also a long-time fan of douglas adams) want to read Nuklear age

[StacMaster-S]

My turn!

I just finished the book... and, jeez I don't even know what to say. I don't think I ever would've imagined that a book could go back and forth between such extremes of comedy and seriousness and still work so well. In fact, I think it probably made the genres work even better.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the book. So much so, that I think I began reading thru it exponentially faster as I went, which I think is a testament to how engrossing and addictive the story was. And I do so little recreational book reading I'm practically an illiterate... so reading this was like tackling War & Peace.

Now my only question is... why doesn't Nuklear Age have it's own website?

[MFD]

It's called nuklearpower-dotcom for a reason!

Anyways, the symbol on Brian's sprite shirt is Sparky's A.

And one idea for 4M is that Genius could create an exosuit that keeps its interior environment below 4M's melting point... an anatomically correct exosuit, if I remember her motives correctly.

[StacMaster-S]

Hmm, well I think Nuklear Age deserves it's own site... with lots of orange and yellow!

[Vivli]

This is sort of off topic, but also on topic, as it's the reaction of my friends who read a few pages the other day. This is interesting for influence of this book, especially what the publishers said about it not selling, I found some evidence to the contary yesterday. I told a friend of mine about Nuklear Age, and he thought it sounded interesting, so I brought my copy (at 600 page hardback, I had to sacrafice my English folder for it) into school to show him. Alot of people read the blurb, and many read the first chapter, (or more), and all found it hilarious. And considering only two of them have ever read 8 Bit (out of about eight) it was an impressive reaction. I even said that it hadn't been published properly because publishers thought it wouldn't sell, to which one guy replied in shock "That would definitely sell!" Looks like there's alot of people who would enjoy, showing a huge positive reaction even for people unfamiliar with it. People who don't even like superheroes!

As for the speculation of Atomik Age (maybe we should make a seperate thread for that), I still think Dr Never will show up again. Maybe allowing them the option to go back and change what happened.

[StacMaster-S]

That would be a pretty crazy way to change the end of the first book...

Nonetheless I'm sure Dr. Never will return for Atomik Age!

[Moridin]

Or will Brian see that and say "Yes, yes you're very smart, now shutup", and not put Dr. Never in the book JUST because we're talking about him?

/straps on tinfoil hat

[houkama]

Dr.Never was a him?

[Moridin]

Yeah, and what are you doing up so late/early

[Phusion Man]

u kno i was thinking about that. wat if he decides not to do good stuff just cuz we mentioned it? i'm scared. please dont do that

[houkama]

I'm sure that he wouldn't. Half the board foresaw Vilbert becoming the fourth dark warrior and he still was. Also please adhere as much as possible to the rules set for this forum. For the sake of fellow forumers please spell to the best of your ability.

[Phusion Man]

seriously, i coulda sworn vilbert died

[Skatzo]

He's a vampire and the 'light warriors' never actually punctured his heart

[NolanSpalter]

I really liked the pretty pictures. Look on page 23. Turn it sideways. Do you see the dwarf?

I will buy 2 of the next book.

[Rhana]

......Damn, Brian...

I just finished Nuklear Age for the first time.
...damn.

You made me laugh, you made me cry, you made me think. Thank you.

I'm a pretty callous reader anymore; I go through an armload of paperbacks in a day or so, and think I've seen most everything interesting my local library has to offer. I had given up hope on finding another good book to get me through the last few days before I return to school and this site (formally). Then I finally got ahold of a copy of Nuklear Age. Consider me deeply, deeply impressed.

I promise to be more coherent after I have a day or so to mentally digest it. Probably won't sleep tonight for thinking and remembering, which is my acid test for a seriously good book. Your bank account can be assured that I will be spending the next semester harrassing my friends into buying a copy.

Once again thank you, for...well...you know what I mean.

[gaffit]

I don't know if this has been pointed out or not but I just relized Marge (from the simpsons) uncle is a jugde named shootemall letgodsortitout. Is it a coincidence that Brian named the judge hangemall letgodsortitout? If this has already been posted please don't flame me.

[Kurosen]

Must be a coincidence or hallucination 'cause I've never heard that.

[talse]

I don't know if this has been pointed out or not but I just relized Marge (from the simpsons) uncle is a jugde named shootemall letgodsortitout. Is it a coincidence that Brian named the judge hangemall letgodsortitout? If this has already been posted please don't flame me.

marge's cousin/uncle wasn't named that, nor was he a judge, he was just a nut with that philosphy. which btw, is bad because the more time you spend on earth the longer you have to fix or come to terms with any problems you have, like gambling, drunkeness, misogny or just being a jerk in general. while there is a way out of hell, you really, really, really don't wanna do it, it's a bitch.

[Kairamek]

For my full exposition, check out the "Am I the only one so pleased with the ending?" thread. For stuff I didn't put there, keep reading. I am seriously concidering finding out how employee's can make product recomendations to Home Office. Which leads to three questions: 1) Can iUniverse supply the demand my employer would make? 2) Could they do it for the price my employer would demand? 3) Wouldn't it be funny as hell to see this book in your local Wal-Mart? I mean the mall/dungeon crawl part, with consumer zombies and goblin children? That's Irony, with a capital I.

Anywho, my cracking up with this book scared my coworkers. Not so much as my actually being able to use some of the lines in everyday conversation. I'm just glad I didn't read the "punchline" of the whole book in the breakroom. They would have thought I have gone insane. For that matter, I'm glad I didn't the "Wherein Angus has to much crab meat" gag there either. Ten minutes of me say "Damn" would have earned me that padded cell for sure.
Tangent: It probably doesn't help that this town views people who have lived over 15 years as "interlopers." Or that they loath whites, or "Anglos," as they call us. I'm not even of anglo decent.

[RMS Oceanic]

Well... (Train of thought-esque spoilers)

What can I say? This book blew me away. My first major tee-hee came from NM wishing he knew trigonometry. There were so many one liners and paragraphs that were funny, among them the plot-hole about the Minimum Wage Warriors (What happened to them at the end, anyway?) SAV being on the road, despite Crushtachean eating it. Your style of satire of society reminded me of Terry Pratchett, and that's not a bad thing. The court scene was indeed hilarious, but I was screaming at the blatant injustice, 'cause I'm that kind of guy.

Then, you casually stop on a dime, change the direction of the book with a 270 degrees turn and induce an Apokalypse. When Nihel kills half the planet, I was terrified should the same happen here - not for myself, but for my family and loved ones. I was half tempted to call my family and tell them I love them. It is indeed sad that everybody AL cares about either dies or leaves, probably filling him to the eyeballs with angst and loneliness. Does he ever get through this? I'll be waiting to find out.

What I like about your writing, is that Death is usually permanent. Be it Rachael, Angus or even Black Belt. You remind us, perhaps uncomfortably, that we all die, and it is the most irrevocable change of the universe.

I accept your apology.

And one more thing. What of Shamus and his Lepre-cannon? Did he escape the cannibals? Did he survive the Apokalypse? Will he be in AA?

[TimHayes2005]

I was wondering what happened to the Cheesiediluvians? They obviously survived, as they were on Nuke's jury, but what became of them afterwards?

[gaffit]

Just a thought but where was radar near the ending. I mean if he can take on nuke just from speeding, then by the time Nihels chuckin satelites Radar should be able to beat up Nihel with his left pinky. Or was he simply killed with the rest of 3/4s of the earths population

[Kurosen]

I don't know what happened to Radar, really. We never see him again after he gets crushed by Crushtacean. Maybe that killed him. In any event, his "joke" was over then anyway :)

[Crucival]

Brian, just a quick question. What was the real-time difference between the beginning of nuklear age and the last chapter? As in...when did you finish episode 1, and when did you finish the epilogue? Did you go back to beginning when you finished, or was it just start to finish one long stream of as-usual-incredible Brianspiration?

[Kurosen]

It took four years to get from the first page to the last. It took another four to get it published. I went "back to the beginning" several times to make it do its job better. And by that I mean start out a little clumsy and then evolve into something more interesting and complex. I've explained this elsewhere, but the idea was that the text itself would act as a sort of history of comics. Golden Age comics and modern comics have very different voices and I wanted to capture that difference.

[TimHayes2005]

I just noticed something. In This Comic (http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=020912) Fighter gets into the Armoire by his strong belief in cartoon physics. Isn't that exactly what happens the first time Nukes Cape is ripped?

"It's like in the cartoons. Everything gets fixed when you go of screen" Or something like that.

[Samwize]

Well. I ordered the book from Amazon, but accidently had it shipped to my old address. No help for it, so I ordered another copy and just finished reading it.

Blew my socks off. Period.

Yeah, the editing was an issue, but not too bad. Frankly, every time I saw a colon, I'd assumed Brian had wanted a copyright or trademark symbol. I was a bit surprised to read that it was inteded that way.

But like I said, not a big deal.

But the ending, man. Wow. I _get_ it, Brian. I understand what you went for and what you achieved, and I applaud you for it. Spoilers:

Most of the deaths I didn't have a problem with. Angus went out the way he would have wanted to: in battle. Rachel had to die the way she did, just out of narrative imperative. But what happened to Norman was just COLD. That really _hurt_ to read.

A few bits were a little predicable, but only in the sense of "Certain conventions must be adhered to to be respectful of the genre" so that's ok. I was actually thinking that Nuke might _be_ Loki by the time I hit the fifth chapter or so. "He's capricious, too powerfull for his own good, and essentially a fire god. Yeah, he's a brain damaged Loki." I can't believe I didn't twig to the fact that he was Loki's _son_ until he had the dream with his father's face underground. Well done!

But I think the best part was the explication/reversal of Menace and Genius. That was masterfully done. After Psiko, I felt like standing up and clapping with noisy whistles and cheers.

Of course, now I'm looking forward to Atomik Age. Frankly, the bit that most interests me is finding out about the reprieve of Avalondon. That little throwaway about "Avalondon's darkest hour" opens the door to all kinds of Arthurian goodness. And of course, more Heirophant will be fun.

On the whole, I loved this book. (In fact, I just bought my _third_ copy to give to a friend (who's very poor but a huge 8-Bit fan) for his birthday.) I'm sticking it on the shelf next to Neal Stephenson's "The Big U".

Good job, man.

[Phusion Man]

kay, i honestly didnt completely understand the "punchline" but the way you just described it, the "history of comics" that actualy gives it a lot more meaning. and you know what, i actually thot black belt was going to come back. he died just after i started liking him. (not sure i ever figured out where he died)

[Chaos Sepher]

Well, I just finished the book, just a few minutes ago in fact and here are my thoughts.

From beginning to end, this book was possibly the GREATEST F****'N THING I HAVE EVER READ!!!!

It was endless hilarity and one surprise after another. The following scenes I absolutely loved. That whole thing with Crushtacean, the warring spiders (though I REALLY felt bad for Anne :_: ), that whole courtroom scene, and many many more.

Then when it all got super serious and dark. Seriously, I read that same scene twenty times before I could believe that Rachel died. And then there was gruesome deaths. My god I couldn't believe this was the same story. And between that stuff and the other complicated crap that was going on I thought my brain was going to implode in on itself. Not that it made the story any less awesome. It seemed that it went on the complete opposite side of the spectrum from funny to serious to the point it was the same level of awesomness on the serious side as it was on the funny side.

I could rant on much more about the greatness about this book, but that would take waaaaaay too long. I just want to say I can't wait to see Atomik age.

Oh, and one more thing. About the apology.... SICKEST JOKE EVER!!! and apology accepted. Hell, it was still a fan-fuggin-tastic story.

[talse]

fantastic book, but i must say, this book as closely resembles a joke as modern resembles real art. only vaugely. at best. lets just call it a kick but comedy drama, shall we? and we should totally animate this or turn it into a movie. it would make my skin tingle with magesty.