So, I somehow ended up being the team leader for the Surreal Level on the massive Art Forum Game collab, which is hilarious because I am probably one of the least qualified people to be leading it since I don't know a damn thing about programming, animating, or game making.

I am excited about it though, and we have a truly great team of artists assembled for this project. As of 11/12/09, Team Surreal is:

johnnycancer

idiot-monarch

JessePants

KillHammer

ReNaeNae

Spaghetti14

TimFrommeyer

UltraPitchFork

zooominsh

Check out the Discussion Threadfor our level if you want to see what ideas we've come up with so far.

Also, anyone else who's interesting in contributing to the surreal level, contact me at johnnycancer@live.com and we'll see what we can work out.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

So VanillaBear and I are participating in ReNaeNae's Story Book Collab! Anyway, VanillaBear's submission is entitled "Girl with the Bee," and it is reproduced here in its entirety for you:

Of course! Now i can see what you see
An amazing insight into what could be!
"well this is just me..." said the girl with the bee
With a twinkle in her eyes, and a spring in her step.
We charged out the door, now we were free!

"Nope we still ain't free" said she with the bee
"Do you see that thing upon the cliff?..."
"I think i do", i said with glee
It was the free and it spoke to me
"Come up the cliff and have a sniff"

Strange i thought but hey,
the girl thought it was okay
up we climbed, higher and higher
the sky grew dark, the weather was dire
at the top, i held my breath
i could smell the scent of death..

I was scared
the girl just stared
the free whispered,
"there'd be no one spared"
The girls body fell,
what a terrible smell
the free took her soul,
and it swallowed her whole.

Rooted to the spot in fear
the free sneered, "the end is near"
and as it touched me, everything was clear
Of course. Now i can see what you see.
A terrible insight into what could be.

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

Anyway, I've taken a decidedly strange slant on the poem. The way I envision it is that G.E.R.L. (Genetically Enhanced Relict Lifeform) and B.E.E. (Biologically Engineered Entity) are both test subjects who have just escaped from a sinister research lab.

G.E.R.L. is in fact a type of biological weapon. She is a humanoid, but not human, as humans no longer exist in the future world she lives in. She was created using remnants of human DNA. What makes her a weapon? G.E.R.L. has the ability to control her blood (which has been chemically altered to be a paralyzing bio-toxin) and can make projetiles and other weapons out of it.

B.E.E. is essentially a genetically enhanced suicide bomber. He is small - maybe not much bigger than a first grader - but there is an explosive substance resting inside of his chemically altered brain that ignites when it comes into contact with his brain's electrical receptors. How does that happen? The explosive is mixed in with B.E.E.'s dopamine - and B.E.E. has been programmed with the mental image and coordinates of the specific location where he is to detonate himself. When he reaches that place, his brain triggers dopamine as a reward response, and this interacts with electrical synapses, and the result is that B.E.E. explodes and pretty much kills everything within a 1 mile radius of him.

So what do GERL and BEE do when they bust out of their research lab? Why, they take on the folks who put them there - the villains of our story - the F.R.E.E. (Free-Roaming Electronic Essence). The FREE have replaced humans as the dominant lifeform on the planet. The FREE are essentially biological computers which support their society using genetically engineered slave labor. GERL and BEE attempt to take them on, and, well..the results are not so good.

So, that's the vision for the story so far. I am currently in charge of art direction, and am working on concept sketches. But, VanillaBear and I really need a flash artist who can give this story a cinematic flair to it, and we need voice actors. We need at least one male and female voice actor to get this off of the ground. If anybody is interested, please send a PM to me or VanillaBear, or post in the Story Book Collab thread on the art forum.

And, so that you know this isn't all talk, here's the concept sketch for G.E.R.L.

Anyway, it's gonna be fun, so I hope people get involved, if not with me and VanillaBear than with any of the other really talented people who are putting together other stories.

Bionic Penguin! Jesus! El Luchador! Perverted Killer Robot!

Thrill to the horror of the Metropolis Disaster Art Collab!

Download a full-sized version of the the promotional wallpaper HERE!

Jesus wants you to join the Metropolis Disaster Art Collab! Do it NOW!