If you missed the announcement, we have made The Revenge of Dr. Elvis, our FCBD comic, available for download. And since everyday is free comic book day here (aside from our the print collection of the first case, which you should TOTALLY BUY), the pdf is…well…free.

Get your grubby hands on it here:

Registered Weapon: FCBD Special Edition (PDF)

and here:

Registered Weapon: FCBD Special Edition (CBZ)

Big ups to Weaponeer Chris Sims for taking a break from cracking jokes on Twitter and writing awesome comics to post this Comic Alliance article about the issue!

The RW Team

Hey Weaponeers-

All week we’ve previewed the The Revenge of Doctor Elvis, which functioned as a primer for the fourth case and as a fun story too. We have just a few copies left at HQ that we’d love to send some Weaponeers out there. To receive one, be one of the first three people to send in a piece of RW fan art. Frank, FELIX, TATM, Rotunda, Dr. Elvis, Kirsten, Sounder, Shanklin–pick your favorite(s), depict them in the medium of your choice (even drawn on your iPad), and send it to registeredweaponATgmailDOTcom. We’ll post them here, send signed copies of the FCBD issue to the first three Weaponeers to respond, AND the one we like the best gets something even cooler on top of that! So break out the pencils and get crackin’.

ALSO, we need ONE MORE ARTIST for the something super cool we have planned before case 5 starts in a few weeks. This will be a lot of fun. So please contact us at registeredweaponATgmailDOTcom. Or on Twitter here, here or here.

Hey Weaponeers! I wanted to give some kudos to a couple of cool things I’ve seen recently that celebrate comics (and that ESB poster needs a rest) since the majority of words dedicated to comics on the internet are largely negative (Ummm…Kyle Rayner rant anybody?). But our buddy Chris Sims, of Awesome Hospital and The ISB fame, wrote a fantastic article for Comic Alliance counting down the 20 greatest Superman panels ever…EVER! We need more articles like this that promote the fantastic moments in comics instead of tearing down creators, ripping the latest costume redesign or hyping some storyline that is 4 months out from hitting shops. There is no cynicism or criticism in his words. Just pure love. Basically, we need more dialogue about why comics are awesome, which the Top 20 list accomplishes. It encompasses all that is great about Supes, from Silver Age absurdity to earnest, cutting emotion. All of his choices are worthy of making a list like this. There is one glaring omission though. I’d even argue it should be in the top 5.

In JLA #6, the League is turning the tide against an invasion of vicious warrior angels. Led by the bull-like Asmodel, the heavenly army has the JLA on the ropes. After Asmodel defeats Martian Manhunter in single combat, Superman thanks his battered friend as he steps up to take on the angel. I’d to see Grant Morrison’s script because it was inspiring enough for this panel to crackle out of Howard Porter’s pencil.

Superman wrestles an angel

Except that doesn’t look like Superman. Because the story takes place in the maligned Electro-blue period, the iconic costume is missing. Everything else about the scene is Superman to the core though.  When facing a renegade agent of God, Superman’s defiant refusal to yield is one those fist-pumping, F-yeah moments that are so rare now.  Even The Flash took a second to appreciate the moment. I remember reading that comic 4 or 5 times straight lying on my dorm bunk in college, growing more in love with it with each subsequent reading. Other than the electro costume, I have no idea why Chris wouldn’t include that panel in the list.

The second thing I want to point out comes from Bully the Stuffed Bull and his great blog; Comics Oughta Be Fun. While the X-Men have cast of hundreds, the A-listers are the most used. They are the default X-Men. The boring X-Men in the wrong hands. I’m always disappointed when I see line-up of just Cyclops, Wolverine, Emma, Storm, Beast, Angel, Iceman, Kitty, Colossus and Jean or any variation of because they are overused as a unit. When Scott Lobdell was writing the X-Men, he adhered to the philosophy that team should always be a mix of old and new. The X-Men are at their best when the headliners are saving the world standing next to some lesser known mutants. The X is about fighting for your right to exist. And that means all three-fingered hands on deck.

In response to David Finch’s covers to X-Men Legacy 208-212, Bully put together the only mural cover of  these secondary X-characters you’ll see.  To some, this roster is the cannon fodder for writers looking to score a few mutant scalps in their stories. Or they are viewed as examples of  a bloated brand that lost its way.  But I’d argue these are the characters that make the mutant world interesting. Take Maggott for example. Here is a guy with a digestive system that is two armored,external insects that eat anything and give him super strength. Bad ass! Or Cannonball, a tough Southern kid with enough grit to lead to X-Men if needed. Nice to see some love thrown these guys way instead of forgotten or culled (DON”T GET ME STARTED ON THE FATE OF THE GEN-X CHARACTERS!). I think I can name everybody except for the guy in front of Thunderbird I. Maybe Thunderbird II?

UPDATE: Here is my own shoddy photoshopped cover of a few more X-Men absent from Bully’s mural:

And, finally, Kevin Church is branching out into the superhero genre with his latest Agreeable Comic:

When hyping the book, Kevin uses the tagline “It’s everything we love about superheroes and none of the stuff we hate.”

If that doesn’t sound like it celebrates comics, what does? Artist Tracie Mauk looks like she is bringing it too. And if this is anywhere near as good as She Died in Terrebonne, we all win. I can’t wait to read it.

Chris

Rob Simmons, ladies and gentlemen. Click here to see it Wampa-sized. And check out the original poster here. We’ve got to get FELIX a tauntaun.

I don’t know if I have a whole lot to everything that has been said about The Empire Strikes Back over the last thirty years, from examinations of its impact on Generation X to nerdy arguments over its place in the pantheon. There’s a lot of well-trodden ground around this movie, and many many of us have left footprints there. It’s not my favorite movie ever, but it’s up there; it’s my favorite Star Wars movie, but not by as wide a margin as you might think. I wasn’t even a year old when it came out, so I didn’t even get to participate in the film’s cultural moment, didn’t get the thrill of being there when it all went down; my fandom only came into full flower in its wake. (I did see Return of the Jedi in its original run, or at least part of it; Yoda scared me so bad I ran out of the theatre and refused to go back in.) Anything I have to say about this movie is going to be something you’ve heard before.

But I will say this. More than any of the other Star Wars movies, Empire is a collection of indelible images: AT-ATs lumbering across the icy plains of Hoth, Chewie mournfully crying out for his lost friends, Vader’s pale, fragile head in his weird pyramid meditation thing, Yoda’s sour little face, C3PO in pieces, riding in Chewie’s backpack, Han in carbonite, Luke and Vader’s lightsabers flashing in the dark. These images, and dozens more from the film, have been a part of my mental slide carousel for literally as long as I can remember. They are bound up with my memories, just as they might be with yours, if you’re of a similar age and disposition. For many of us, they have become primal memories, something we all know and draw on. And so when I think of Empire, I don’t think of it just as a film or as a story, as  a product or a cultural artifact; I think of it as an experience that I’ve shared with the people I’ve loved, a hundred different times and in a hundred different ways. Its energy surrounds us and binds us.

Plus the original draft of the screenplay was written by Leigh Brackett, possibly the only person who ever collaborated with both William Faulkner and George Lucas, and that’s pretty awesome.

–Gardner

p.s. The Policeman’s Ball case resumes on Monday, with shocking revelations about the mysterious cufflink! Have you figured out what the numbers mean yet?

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Man, I love me some Registered Weapon, but I’d love it even more if Frank could speak like an excitable Tyrannosaurus Rex?” Guess what, buddy–YOUR PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED.

You see, back on April Fool’s Day, the great Ryan North of the equally great Dinosaur Comics came up with a way to replace the dinosaurs in his comic with characters from other comics. And now it’s possible to slot Frank and FELIX in in place of T-Rex and Utahraptor. Click here to check out this unholy mutant! And the awesome thing is, it works with every single Dinosaur Comic! Just add the code “&butiwouldratherbereading=registeredweapon” to any Dinosaur Comics URL. Lots of other webcomics have made overlays as well, so check those out too. This is all entirely too awesome.

If you came here from Dinosaur Comics, here’s the deal: Registered Weapon is a comic about two LAPD Homicide detectives, one of whom is a robotic cash register. It’s the reason the term “and they fight crime” was invented. It’s more of a long-form story thing instead of a gag-a-day deal, so hit the Casefiles for the full archive, or start at the very beginning right here. Right now we’re in the middle of the boys’ fourth case, so there are three full murder investigations and bunch of odds ‘n ends to read. Enjoy!

Rob Simmons has put on his luchador mask and climbed into the Linn v Lee ring with this sweet version of The Thing.

The Thing

Speaking of things, enjoy this thing.

Linn versus Lee….The Finger Paint War continues.

The second piece of John Locke fan art from the RW team.

Weaponeers-

The RW brain trust does our best to steer away from controversial topics like politics, religion, sex and Taco Bell’s Pacific Shrimp Taco. Other than this incident, we’ve done a good job (well…aside from April Fool’s 2010 too). But, earlier this week, a federal appeals court ruled that the FCC has no right to regulate Internet service providers use of bandwidth. This is a blow to the fight for Net Neutrality. The decision opens the door for Comcast and others to legally control the amount of bandwidth allotted for particular sites and services for users on their networks. In the simplest terms, Yahoo could pay Comcast a fee for more bandwidth on their network over other search engines. Someone could still use Google or Bing but those sites would have a lower tiered priority and would load slower than Yahoo on the Comcast network. Or, as this graphic below shows, ISPs could start nickel-and-diming users for increased bandwidth to popular sites.

Your future online packages?

The implications of this decision are huge and could break the Internet in half (or into a few large slices of unregulated, online corporate pie).  Internet providers already hold a significant monopoly over where and how you connect, we can’t give up our online freedom to them as well.

The crux of the court’s decision is that the FCC lacks regulatory power over the Internet. And they’re probably correct depending on how you interpret different federal communication acts. The decision does not mean the FCC should not have the regulatory power though. Please take a few minutes to read this email from a lawyer fighting for Net Neutrality. Now is the time that we need to speak up. Regardless of where you fall politically, Net Neutrality is good for everyone. Let’s keep it that way.

Dear Chris,

The future of the Internet is in grave danger.

A federal appeals court ruled today that the FCC doesn’t have the authority to protect Internet users. The decision means the agency can’t stop Comcast from blocking Web traffic. It can’t carry out the National Broadband Plan. It won’t be able to safeguard Net Neutrality.

Let’s Win Back Control of the Internet:
The FCC Must Act on Our Behalf.

I’m a policy lawyer at Free Press. They don’t usually let me send you e-mails, but today is different. Let me explain how we got into this mess:

Two years ago, the FCC ruled that Comcast could not block online content, and Comcast challenged the ruling in court. Today, the court ruled in Comcast’s favor, effectively placing the Internet in the hands of big phone and cable companies.

This decision exploits a loophole in current law — the result of overzealous deregulation by the Bush administration — that threatens Net Neutrality and leaves the FCC unable to achieve the crucial goals of the National Broadband Plan.

Thankfully, this FCC can correct its predecessors’ mistakes, reassert its authority, and close the loophole. (Get ready, this is a tad complicated.)

The FCC needs to “reclassify” broadband under the Communications Act. In 2002, the FCC decided to place broadband providers outside the legal framework that traditionally applied to companies that offer two-way communications services, like phone companies.

That decision is what first put Net Neutrality in jeopardy, setting in motion the legal wrangling that now endangers the FCC’s ability to protect our Internet rights.

But the good news is that the FCC still has the power to set things right, and to make sure the free and open Internet stays that way. And once we’ve done that, the FCC can ensure that Comcast can’t interfere with our communications, no matter the platform.

That won’t happen unless thousands, even millions, of us take action now.

To be clear: This court decision hurts. But it’s created the opportunity for us to fix what was broken so many years ago.

It’s our Internet, not theirs. Let’s take it back.

Thanks,

Chris Riley
Policy Counsel
www.SaveTheInternet.com
www.FreePress.net

P.S. We need thousands of new supporters to contact the FCC. Forward this e-mail to your friends and family, and share our action on Twitter and Facebook.

Want to learn more? Join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

If you haven’t already, you can also join our E-Activist list.

Inspired by Jim Lee’s iPad sketches, Gardner smeared out a portrait of Felix on his iPhone.

Although individual artistic influences are hard to identify, the clear lack of feet shows that Gardner is not afraid to dig into Rob Liefeld’s over-sized thigh pouch of tricks.

Yes, as you may have surmised, the RW porno was in fact just a bit of April tomfoolery. Sorry to disappoint those of you who wanted to see a cash register get its freak on. Perhaps someday this dream will become a reality. In the meantime, here’s the original post for posterity. In retrospect, we think the tagline should have been “SPREAD ‘EM.”

***************

CLICK HERE FOR THE NSFW POSTER/BOX COVER ART

Like all webcomics creators, we have but one goal with Registered Weapon: to sell it to a movie studio for a swimming pool of cash. With that in mind, we are proud to announce that Engorged Pictures has bought the rights to RW and plans to release not one but a whole series of live-action films starring FELIX and Frank. And as you can see from the poster mockup above, they’re going to remain extremely faithful to the comic. (And FELIX is going to be practical FX, not CGI–we fought hard for that one!) We had a lot of suitors lining up to bring RW to the big screen, but we went with Engorged because they respect our vision, and they respect you, the fans. First and foremost, these movies are for you.

As you can tell, we’re all extremely excited here at RW headquarters. This is a dream come true for us, and the culmination of a year of hard work and sacrifice. Drink up, boys! We made it!