Hitmen Pin-Ups

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I've decided to celebrate the lovey-dovey month of February, I'm going to do a drawing of a hitman a day in my sketchbook! Each one taken from movies, tv shows, whatev's I can think of. Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or Tumblr's to see them! Oh hell, even my Facebook page if that floats yer boat!

And if you're interested in buying a print of any of them, they'll be available for sale to my Patreon patrons! So if you'd like a print, just chip in a wee $1 a month and you can purchase one!

Up first - La Femme Nikita! The Peta Wilson version, since she was my FAVE. She did love her crazy colored glasses oh so much.

End of 2014

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G'wan, get outta here 2014, move along, chop chop! Hey c'mere 2015, come sit down, how you doin'?

I've been so over 2014 for about 6 months now but also weirdly afraid to let it go. Some years are just all about plodding through stuff and making creative deposits for the future, and floating along impatient until stuff starts to take effect. As glad as I am that 2014 is over and sad that the holidays are done, I am nerdy enough to appreciate a good fresh start. However, before you can look ahead and promise yourself you'll eat more veggies, jog 24 hours a day, learn Ruby, and save enough to quit your day job, it's always important to take note of what you have accomplished so far. Then you can meet that future/better/snarkier jerk version of yourself that's got her shit together STRAIGHT in the eyes and say "SEE? Here is the proof I've got this future - a whole list of things I've already gotten!"

THINGS I MANAGED TO DO IN 2014:

SOME THINGS I LEARNED IN 2014:

  • Just keep swimming
    • You will get kicked in the teeth by life, but it's helped me to think that when horrible things happen and you lose loved ones - you appreciate those around you MORE and dwell on people/things/situations you don't have LESS. Keep them close, but also keep going.
  • Writing every day is important for my process as well as my sanity
  • Building/maintaining a comics community is incredibly important in encouraging/inspiring one another
  • Patreon is fun, ads are not fun
    • In terms of trying to make this crazy thing we call comics into more of a paying gig, being able to post sketches and videos and communicate directly with my audience (as opposed to chucking things into a void with each update) is IMMENSELY more satisfying. Plus, enabling people to support me directly instead of depending on icky sticky ads is really nice too. Yay new models for comics biz!

Okay, enough reminiscing about good ol' 2014. ON TO THE NEXT!

COMICS COMING OUT IN 2015:

  • Part-Time Princesses - released by Oni Press on March 25th. GET PUMPED!
  • Short story in Vertigo's Strange Sports Stories #1, March 18th. BIG TIME, Y'ALL
  • Another secret thing to be released March/April timeframe - yay/shhhhh!
  • Bonnie Collected book - I've put this off wayyyyy too long, but yes - I would actually like to collect and post a big book of all my Bonnie strips thus far

CONVENTIONS PLANNED FOR 2015:

  • Staple!, Austin, TX - March 7-8, 2015
  • Emerald City Comic Con, Seattle, WA - March 27-29, 2015
  • TCAF, Toronto, Canada - May 8-10, 2015
  • Heroes Con, Charlotte, NC - June 19-21, 2015
  • I'm also planning on spamming comic stores of the states with signings this year, so if you've got a kick-ass store I should put on my list, holler at me here!

Anyway, as always I couldn't do this whole crazy comics thing without you all out there reading my stuff! I mean, I'd probably still do it but it'd be WAY SADDER. A big, hearty, cheesy-face thank you to all of you out there for continuing to support me!

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Podcasty Love

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LET'S TALK PODCASTS!

I know everyone's all about the Serial right now (myself included - only 12 episodes, wha-WHAT??), but I wanted to give a shout out to some of my tried and true faves over the years (as any comicker will tell you, we go through a LOT of podcasts and audiobooks, crammed in amongst pencilling and inking and computerizing hours). I always try out some new ones, so this isn't ALL I'm listening to just now, but these are some oldie reliables:

Stuff Mom Never Told You - A big one for me - Cristen and Caroline are not only informed and thorough when presenting a lot of women's issues, but somehow manage to keep it from succumbing to OH GOD WHY with a good blend of sassy humor. Cristen dons her fake British accent and Caroline talks about everything in relation to her mom Sally and we all learn something without feeling depressed. And - check out how awesome Cristen's youtube channels are - the muppet is strong with this one!

Mysterious Universe - Another one I've been listening to for years, this podcast run by two Australian gents about everything paranormal is a real treat. They dish about all the latest sightings, mock Time Travelling Yowie followers, and admit to ghost encounters of their own that still leave them terrified. If you LOVE paranormal stuff like me but are afraid of the crystal worshippers, check this one out.

The Guardian Tech Weekly - A newer one (to me) that I've been trying out to get my fix of tech news. It always features a panel with a variety of topics, and the panelists are knowledgeable without being boring.

The Thrilling Adventure Hour - Oh man - my obsession with live radio broadcasts began with an episode of Frasier and WILL NEVER DIE. I was so happy to find not only an old-style radio broadcast but one that blends in heaps of nerd culture and amazing storytelling altogether. WITH tons of guest stars. And incorporating the ghost of a pterodactyl who's a deputy private eye. I LOVE THIS.

Jill on Money - Money slash financial podcasts are boring and awful but Jill answers questions, listens, and makes fun of her producer while not making you feel like an idiot AND passing on good advice. She's awesome.

99% Invisible - A design podcast that points out the design in the everyday - I love its subtlety and appreciation of the minute details. Plus I love any podcast that exhibits city planning that was actually, you know, thought about a bit.

RadioLab - Beautifully crafted sounds and discussions around several stories making up one scientific topic - I've had many a walk while listening to all the little bips and beeps Jad throws in the background, which really fill each episode with surprising depth.

StarTalk - Neil DeGrasse Tyson is a hero for all of us, leading the charge to bring scientific discovery back into vogue. His podcast is super informative while being exciting and encouraging, in true NDG fashion. Plus, every now and again he has Eugene Mirman co-host or run one of his live shows, which makes my day every time.

Savage Lovecast - I go through phases where I alternate between his snarky antics and Sex Nerd Sandra's zippy, fun answers to sex questions.

Stuff you Missed In History Class - The latest host pairing has done a great job (past pairings have been UBER awkward) - Holly especially in bringing some heart and feeling (and hella knowledge about historical clothesmaking) to the show.

Stuff You Should Know - A classic, general informy podcast on a wide range of topics with a HUGE back catalog. Josh & Chuck do a good job of balancing hardcore facts with rambly tangents without being annoying. Their banter is genuine, and funny, and rare.

I also go back and forth on WTF, Welcome to Night Vale, and The Daily Show Podcast. What are YOU PEOPLE listening to? I always love trying out a new one to throw in the pile!

 

Bmore Into Comics #5 - THIS SUNDAY!

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It's time for another edition of comics creators hanging out in a local bar in Baltimore, drawin' things, drinkin' things, and selling their books for all to enjoy!

Come on down to The Wind-Up Space this Sunday, December 14th from 12:00 - 5:00pm for the fun and squeeze in some holiday shopping while yer at it!

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Penny Wonderful

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I recently finished watching the first season of Penny Dreadful, which I've managed to drag out over the last few months. I liked it right away, mainly due to the cast and the moodiness of it, but then another characteristic of the show popped up that i found interesting. From the onset it seems very League of Extraordinary Gentleman, and it's tempting to do (which I totally did) the game where you spot the vampire, and the werewolf, and the frankenstein, etc. Ho hum, boring, we've seen this before. Look! Even a Dorian Gray thrown into the mix.

But what this show does differently, which I came to appreciate, is that it doesn't make a huge big deal of "GUESS WHAT ONE OF OUR CHARACTERS IS A WEREWOLF". The werewolf reveal isn't the point. The point is the character behind the werewolf, and how he's behaving and managing his shit and all the other aspects of his personality. So that once the werewolf is finally revealed, there's a LOT more to pull from his character (and be curious about - how does he have priest powers, for example?) and you don't have to just rely on BOOM WEREWOLF for all the character drama.

I haven't really witnessed this approach before - it's usually been the instant reveal, meant to surprise, and then backtracking to develop the rest of the character behind the werewolf. I really appreciated that the paranormal alter ego was almost an afterthought.

The main character Vanessa has power NOT as a vampire or werewolf, but in so much as things don't fuck with her because she's already possessed by something really awful. Something which she continually wrestles with and beats down by force of will. As horrific as her encounters with her possessor are, I do appreciate having a character who isn't known for her overblown outward powers as much as her inward strength.

It's an interesting thing to think about in terms of story development, and since I'm currently immersed in coming up with new ideas to pitch around, I appreciate finding shows like this that screw with boring ol' tropes.

Well . . . I'm never gonna be sick of werewolves, that's just a fact.

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Yet MORE Goddess Prints

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. . . Because you can never have enough drawings of Greek Goddesses, right? Or, like my classmate in college said when I turned in yet ANOTHER Greek Mythology-themed piece - "Typical Gallagher subject matter". ALL THE GODDESSES ALL THE TIME!

You can find all of these Power Ladies in either my Etsy Shop or my Storenvy one!




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Sales n' Things

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I know you're all being inundated with CRAZY FRIDAY POST-THANKSGIVING FOOD COMA SPEND MONEY NOW offers, so allow me to quietly, respectfully, slip this into your discount pile ...

It expires at midnight on Tuesday, December 2nd to, y'know give you an extra day to relax a bit.

And hey, if you're a Patreon person, you get even more off! Check out the activity feed for deets.

(if you're not a Patreon person, it's super easy to join in the behind-the-scenes comic talks we're having!)

 

ComfyCon!!

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Hey guys, I'll be hosting a panel for this year's ComfyCon TOMORROW!

(if you don't know what ComfyCon is, it's a fabulous webcomics creators convention run by comics peeps from the comfort of their own beds/pajama pants, created by Randy Milholland and Danielle Corsetto!)

The con is going on all weekend, so make sure to follow @ComfyCon on twitter to get the youtube links as they go up - also, here's the full schedule.

I'll be hosting the Making Comics Around a DayJob panel tomorrow at 2:00pm with Jeff Zugale and Gordon McAlpin! If you'd like to know how we juggle comics n' jobs, or what the interior of one room in our house looks like, or want to witness Google Hangouts in their purest awkwardness, join us!

***EDIT: In case you missed it, you can check out the panel here!

 

On Anxiety and Cake

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I borrowed a copy of Allie Brosh's Hyperbole and a Half book a while back from a friend of mine, who recently reminded me that I still hadn't returned it. I figured it would be just another in a long line of books I borrowed from people - intending to read it, and then realizing I am really bad at reading/finishing books that aren't audiobooks.

And this isn't because I don't LOVE Hyperbole and a Half - I not only do, but also think Allie Brosh is uncannily brilliant at drawing facial expressions not seen on any human but likewise deeply understood in the human brain. (In my whole life, I will never create anything as perfect as The God of Cake)

Unfortunately, I have this thing where if I think something will affect me in a specific negative way, I avoid doing/reading/watching that thing entirely. Like my emotions are controlled by a series of buttons and once the wrong one is pushed it's impossible to pop it back out again and return to neutral. I mainly do this just in case they reiterate feelings of anxiety. I have gotten a LOT better about managing my anxiety in general (getting older helped a lot, as did volleyball, weirdly) but sometimes I forget all the work I've done managing my anxiety and worry that one little teeny tiny thing will push it back all up in my face. Because that's what anxiety does - it stays hidden in the corner with its ears pricked up, waiting to see if you'll fall for any of its filthy tricks again. Anxiety is those ghosts in Mario that follow you around and only stop when you look directly at them.

So when I read Brosh's strips on depression, outlining her experience drudging through it, and then heard Terry Gross bully her into talking about her suicidal thoughts on Fresh Air, I worried reading the whole Hyperbole and a Half book would make me too upset. (I'm not even linking to that crap interview)

Dumb, right? Yeah, reading about other people's struggles and hardships might upset you, yeh toolbag.

But then yesterday, while cleaning out my old podcasts on my phone, I discovered Marc Maron had recently interviewed Brosh and gave it a listen. The two of them had such a wonderful, caring, complete conversation not just about her depression, but about her life and experiences and intelligence and brilliance in general, that it was the perfect palette cleanser after the crap Terry Gross put her through. Yes, Maron can be a bit of a blowhard who loves to hear himself talk, and even though they still touched on a lot of really, REALLY, difficult stuff, I felt like this time it was more at Brosh's own speed, with someone who made an effort to understand an inkling of what she was talking about.

Which made me finally buck up and read the book, which is AMAZING and HILARIOUS and thought-provoking and I'm so glad I did.

So I think my takeaway from this experience (and the reason I've decided to bring it up here) that I've learned is that hey - talking about this stuff, whether anxiety, depression, mental illness, weird cravings, whatev - may actually make it a wee bit better! Maybe I shouldn't be so scared that just by saying the word ANXIETY three times I'll invoke the creature out of its corner.

Now -- my fear of invoking Bloody Mary just by THINKING about her name three times whilst in the bathroom -- that one I'm pretty sure is conquered by drinking Bloody Mary's every chance you get.

Maybe now I can move on to listening to the "How Panic Attacks Work" podcast from How Stuff Works that I intentionally skipped over ...

 

Boring Post-Wedding Blog Post #2: Table Decor for Days

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In Part 2 of my boring post-wedding recap, we get to the part I was most excited about … the DECOR! Well, excited when I wasn't paralyzed with overwhelming fear at how to put it all together. First I casually browsed some Pinterest ideas - specifically, looking at things like this and this, but THIS one is where I got my main inspiration from:

So rather than having table numbers, I decided to do drawings for each table, each one an interest of mine, or my fiancé's, or both - which lead to these:

Handwriting_31.png

Next I needed to figure out what ELSE to put on the table. Since we knew it'd be outside in Fall, I was happy to do minimal runners as tablecloths (plus, hello - just renting table linens, I found out, was hella expensive). For a while I considered these tablecloths from Susty Party because they were simple, cute and cheap:

But we ended up throwing out that idea as being too unpredictable in a possibly windy outdoors. We were all set doing only burlap runners until the caterer and my fiancé convinced me that the tables needed full coverage, not just for aesthetics but because the uneven, splintery wood bits might snag the guests' clothing. So now we had white tablecloths with burlap runners as our base. Good deal.

We rented stemless glasses and linen napkins from the caterer too, but instead of using their dishes we found some super cute compostable dishes from Verterra that we wanted to incorporate:

Unfortunately, they were all sold out of their cute cutlery by the time we got to them, but luckily we found this place that had a similar alternative.

Next I had to figure out how else to fill up the tables. I'd seen on Young House Love a long while back that they'd used recycled wine bottles as water/lemonade/tea servers at their wedding, and figured maybe there was some way we could use our *ahem*MASSIVE*ahem* collection of empties at ours. I didn't want to use them to serve drinks, but thought it'd be fun to have them serve as vases. I spent a LOT of time trying to use this method to soak the labels off of the bottles, while my fiancé rubbed them with olive oil and then scraped the label off. Neither method was perfect, but both eventually worked. I threw some wheat stalks in them that I found at Michael's (and kept hidden in a closet until the wedding so my cat wouldn't continue to be mesmerized by them) so voila - more table stuff.

Next I convinced my parents to pick up a zillion flameless candles they found at Costco, which ended up being not only perfect for table decor, but also for port-a-potty decor, bar decor, and now for all-over-my-house-decor. They even have remote controls and timers, so you can have a BAM ROMANTIC atmosphere greet you whenever you get home from work! (which may or may not feel appropriate EVERY day)

These things and these cinnamon-scented pine cones I also picked up at Michael's really saved the port-a-potty experience, too. You feel less like an ass asking people to use a port-a-potty on a cold November day when at least it smells like cinnamon and has some candlelight ambience.

The only thing left to throw on the tables were some mason jars, because hello - rustic wedding, of COURSE there had to be mason jars! Which turned out to be a good thing, since the metal rods I'd gotten to hold the table cards immediately fell over, and needed to be braced within a mason jar in order to stand at all. They still tended to lean off-kilter, but maybe people would assume that was on purpose. Wouldn't want the drawing of the Muppets to be perfectly straight and upright, where's the fun in that??

It was pretty funny, the caterer had some design helpers who took it upon themselves to decorate the tables for us, using gourds and tree stump things and pumpkins from the venue. But we blew in, all "HOLD YOUR HORSES, WE'VE GOT EMPTY WINE BOTTLES AND DRAWINGS OF CATS WE NEED TO USE - I HAVE A PLAN". They stared at us and our wood cutlery and fake candles, but somehow throwing everything together worked out.

Here's what the final table setup looked like:

DSC_1903-2.jpg

Part-Time Princesses Party Preview Party YAY

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AHOY-HOY!!

I'm using Mr. Burns's phone answering technique to excitedly share with you guys that my NEW book Part-Time Princesses (penned/drawn/stressed over by me, published by the amazing Oni Press) is now in Previews for pre-ordering!

(Yes, when this comes out it WILL have a title and my name on it)

I've illustrated a comic for Oni before (Glitter Kiss by amaze-tastic Adrianne Ambrose) but THIS one will be completely my fault! My wonderful, princessy fault, all powdery because it's stuffed full of funnel cake (spoiler - it takes place in an amusement park).

If you're a comic shop, please go forth and pre-order and support! If you're not, looky - the thing I've been mysteriously alluding to (who are we kidding, complaining about the work of) is finally going to be released!

MARCH 2015. Mark it, dude!

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Adventures in Hand Lettering

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I loooooove hand lettering. I'm obsessed with how messy and flawed and carefully crafted it looks.

I think I've been obsessed with hand lettering since before I realized it, back when I used to inhale as many Baby-Sitters Club books as I could. And what did they have every time there was a super special combined book that featured every BSC member getting their own chapter? A sample of their hand-writing!

Although I was a preteen and therefore kind of stuck in Stacey hand writing mode for a while - upright curvy letters and circles dotting the i's - I slowly gravitated toward Dawn's more tilted, casual script. Eventually it evolved into the messy, unattractive handwriting I still hold onto today, crafted by years of taking notes in college and work meetings. Speed became way more important than how it looked. I've never been a fan of my own handwriting, but lately I've gotten sick of how much it's devolved and have been consciously trying to spruce it up.

And what better excuse for testing out some handwriting skills? Wedding invitations, of course!

When we first started planning the wedding, I knew invitation design was one of the few things I'd really get into (not terrified by, such as catering and venue holding and money spending). The invitations themselves were cobbled together in a collection of handwriting-like fonts (I'll post those post-wedding -- actually there's a BUNCH of stuff about the wedding I will be posting once it's all over and I can get back to breezy, casual reality!) because I was too chicken to try my pen at them, but I decided to just go for the gusto with the envelopes.

Handwriting_1.png

That's right, no pencilling beforehand, straight up ink! I wanted some way of combining the big and the swoopy with the thin and straight - so I decided on swoopy for the people, and organized for the address. However, it wasn't long before I abandoned doing the address part and outsourced that to my fiancee - he was much more concerned with being neat than I was, and it was way more fun to make it a team event.

I was quite pleased with the messy result, and it was so much fun I decided to extend it to the table decor as well. I knew I wanted each table to hold a drawing of one of our interests. At first I envisioned (as I usually do when starting a project) that the drawings would be very neat, precise, and I would draw with very thin, detailed, simple lines using only a tiny Micron pen. Of course that didn't happen, because like most things I do I end up working larger and messier than I plan and things take on a loud, weird life of their own.

Handwriting_2.png

So I abandoned tiny neatness and went for mimicking the swoops of the envelope handwriting. This time I used a brush pen for the swoopy, which defeated the purpose of the thin spidery lines I like, but was fun nonetheless.

Here are how some of my favorite ones turned out:

Handwriting_31.png

Now, I anticipate EVERYONE will want to sit at the Muppets table and I'll be the sole nerd at the Greek Mythology table . . .

In the Slowness

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Watching The Shining last night (on the big screen for once, ow owww!) made me realize how much I love the sloowwwww build up to impending doom in stories. I've been criticized a bunch of times for how slow things progress in a lot of my comics *ahem*especially Gods & Undergrads apparently*ahem* and I kind of knew I liked that style, but I didn't realize how often that pops up in some of my faves.

Seeing The Shining in the theater obviously took advantage of all of Kubrick's big, empty rooms and loooong shots cycling behind Danny in the Big Wheel, but it also gave the audience a LOT of time to take in all the little things that were slowly happening. My friend and I used to laugh at the subtitle screens shouting TUESDAY at us, after a particularly long shot of Jack doing nothing but staring out a window and drooling.

We thought it was there just to provide absurd drama for no reason. Really it was breaking up the hypnotic shots of calm eerieness that we'd been sucked into - and didn't even realize we were being sucked into -- until TUESDAY or SATURDAY rolled around on the screen and we snapped out of it. It's a perfect way of showing both just how quickly the meltdown starts to occur in the hotel (only a month, and what - a week into their 5 month stay?) while also making you feel like - as it says at the end - that Jack has always been there.

And I was just realizing that - as much as I adore Jack's wacky insanity from the get-go in the movie, his over-the-top goofiness combined with those endless open spaces make the climax all the more terrifying. After running around with a bat through endless corridors swatting at imaginary threats, Wendy is finally cornered into a cramped bathroom and the impossibility of fitting through an even cramped, tinier window as her only escape. There in that tiny space she has to confront all of the suddenly lethal (and only mildly funny) rage of Jack and his axe. All of the terror and buildup of the movie is suddenly all up in her face, and it's terrifying to see her complete meltdown.

But then she still manages to hack at him with her knife, get out, rescue her son and leave him to freeze to death.

 

Filthy Cartoon-itations

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Last week I embarked on my most terrifying illustration gig TO DATE: Illustrating Baltimore Craigslist "Missed Connection" ads. They're absurd, vague, and strange - and I was told right off the bat: "Don't be afraid to go dirtier".

Now, I'm the comics equivalent of a Never Nude:

tobias-never-nude.jpg

. . . Not really used to drawing nakeds, sexies, or any vulgar absurdities in-between. So I'm viewing this as a fun challenge - not only am I drawing six quick-turnaround sketches based on ridiculous, grammatically curious ramblings, but now I'm pushing the boundaries of what I can actually draw. And if that happens to be dirty. It'll probably just be cute - so far it's cute. Oops!

Here are some of my favorites (although it is kind of necessary to check them out with the actual Craigslist ads):

Missed_5.png
Missed_1.png
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Patreon Time!

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So I've created a Patreon page! If you're unfamiliar with Patreon, it's basically a super cool way to directly support an artist whose stuff you dig (here's the page with all the info!). You can contribute monthly amounts that help me keep this comic party going, as well as gives you guys a peek into my process, videos, the latest prints and books I’ve got, original art – all sorts of fun stuff! And I know I’ve said that I plan on wrapping up G&U soon – I’ve got at least fourteen more pages to go in this storyline before I put it on hold, but you never know – I’m opening up Patreon to see what happens, and what you guys might be interested in seeing! So please do let me know in the comments on any of these pages!

I've actually been meaning to do this for a while, but kept holding off on the video part. I've got it storyboarded and ready to go, but I thought it might be fun to get a little community involvement from you guys from the get-go - because that's the main reason I wanted to do Patreon. To create more interaction betwixt you and me! (and, of course, MORE COMICS)

So since I have SPX this coming weekend, it'll be at least a week before I start taping this video thang (do people still use the term "taping"?), which gives you guys time to fill out the survey below!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Thanks everyone! STAY TUNED, this is gonna be awesome!

 

One Con Down, One to Go!

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Woo! Still riding high on the fun that was Baltimore Comic Con this past weekend. This show is still one of my faves, not just because I live in dear ol' Bmore, but because it's the most diverse con I've still ever seen. People of all ages, backgrounds, costumed families, roving packs of preteens - it's pretty special. I get such warm squishes from seeing all the costumed folks bond with one another - "Hey aren't we in the Avengers together? FIST BUMPS!"

I was spoiled by all the familiar faces who returned to catch up and chat with me, and by being across from Locust Moon and their GIANTASTIC LITTLE NEMO ANTHOLOGY. Holy god - have you guys seen that thing? On Friday I thought it was a prop, but on Saturday I dared peek inside. No book can be that big and gorgeous, folks - no book.

And I got a lot of sketches to do - MY FAVORITE. I noticed after the fact that I drew almost ALL my ladies with their arms crossed in front of their boobs. What's that about? Should that be my thing now??

Emma Frost in her scandalous non-outfit

So now that SPX is looming on the horizon for this coming weekend, let's talk table displays! I like to mix things up at each convention, but I also like to figure out what works and what doesn't. Here was my table display for Baltimore:

I'm thinking it might be a little ... cluttered. Am I bringing too many different things? I feel like I either need to reduce/streamline my books and prints and things, or at least group them into different sections. Usually I think less is more, but then I get paranoid I'll leave out the one thing people might want to look at.

As exhibitors/visitors to conventions, what do you guys prefer? If I come up with anything special before SPX, I'll post it here and see if it made a difference.

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That First Webcomic Love

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Hey all you loyal, lovely Gods & Undergrads readers. I unfortunately have something really tough to tell you -- I've decided to put G&U on a sort of permanent hiatus for the time being. This is a really difficult thing for ME to do, but I'm sure for all of you out there who've managed to stick with it all this time, it's way more obnoxious! G&U has always been the book I've been MOST passionate about and the majority of people have been the LEAST interested in, and it was only recently after interventions from some friends and colleagues that I realized it was time to throw in this G&U towel for the moment. Not because I don't think it's worth it to put time and work into a story no one reads - hello, I'm in comics - but because the story itself is now REALLY suffering from my lack of attention. So I need to grow up and realize it and do something hard . . . like ending my first comic.

I started Gods & Undergrads wayyyy back in the year 2000 when first discovering an early love for (and awareness of) webcomics. While working at my college's art office and photo lab, I alternated between reading Scott McCloud's Zot, Derek Kirk Kim's Same Difference, and Jason Little's Bee Comix. I especially loved Dylan Meconis's Bite Me and Faith Erin Hicks's Demonology 101, too.

But what all of these people DID with their web sagas I failed to do -- they eventually finished them. They moved on to other things. While I, also, moved on to other things, other stories I wanted to tell . . . and yet I still dragged Gods & Undergrads along behind me, bumping it onto every pothole and street sign along the way. Leaving months, even years between updates sometimes. The audience I'd managed to build up until that point put up with a lot of unknowns, changes in style, even going from its initial full color format to all black and white, . . . but eventually most people have stopped reading. That's just one of the troubles with continuing a story after 14 years (and intermittent shoe-horning between other comics projects). It gets lost among the shuffle and doesn't get the attention and care it deserves.

HOWEVER, one of the reasons for me to tie it off now and put an (abrupt) ending on this 14-year-long saga is not just to stop me from dragging it through the mud, but also to give myself a chance further down the line of resurrecting it in a newer, more planned out storyline (rather than its current Frankenstein one). Oh, did I not mention that I would totally reboot this? I WOULD TOTALLY REBOOT IT.

So anyway - sorry for the lame news, everyone. I'm going to be posting the final, abruptly-cut-short 10 pages of Gods & Undergrads over the next few weeks. Sure, if I'd pulled the trigger earlier I could've ended it at the end of Book 3, with Lelaina gone and seemingly dead but WHO WANTS THAT ENDING??

I'll still have the books for sale (tons and tons of books) and will do sketches and things for anyone who wants them. And the archives will all remain online indefinitely. A BIG, HUGE, HEARTFELT THANK YOU to all of you who've kept up with the story all this time! Again, this definitely isn't the END end of Gods & Undergrads . . . just the end for now. *sniff*

And, of course, I'll still be doing Bonnie twice a week. And other comics. And I love you guys!

***UPDATE: I've decided this last chapter will be a FULL chapter, hooray! 48 pages of fun coming your way, so stay tuned! You'll have more G&U for a while yet. :)

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Local Times and Sportscar Designs

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Hi guys, it's me! What have you been up to this summer?

After running around to different states the last couple of weekends (Boston 2 weeks ago, California 1 week ago), I'm finally here to stay! So here are some of the (exciting) things happening that I get to tackle now that I've got the whole rest of the local year ahead of me ...

  • My next graphic novel (written/drawn by me and published by Oni Press) is ALL DRAWN! Now it just needs to be scanned, sent and VAMOOSH you guys will be seeing it soon! Can't wait!!
  • My comic 4 States 2 Months, which you may/may not have been following in its sporadic spot on my website, is now almost complete and will be available in print at this year's SPX!
  • Speaking of SPX, I will be there this year but FIRST I will be at Baltimore Comic Con at Table A-234!
  • And . . . oh right, I've got a wedding to finish planning! Expect some possibly-complainy blog posts about that to come.

As far as my trips went, my fiancee and I checked out Monterey Car Week for a few days (total lifelong dream of his to be basked in hot cars and foggy, perfect weather) this past weekend. Not being a car person myself - I see my car as IT BETTER LAST FOREVER rather than a stunning piece of engineering equipment - I was surprised at how enjoyable it could be for a spectator. I mean, yes, most of the car "shows" took place on gorgeous Carmel Valley golf courses, on breezy/sunny days, where all you do is walk around with your solo cup of wine and peer at the most beautiful vintage sports cars you'll ever see - so really, what's not to enjoy. My favorite part was seeing the crowd of fans - a perfect blend of fancy European men in tailored suits and old, chubby white men who dress like my dad. I overheard a lot of important conversations, but the people who really knew what they were doing were the wives who brought pop-up picnic tables stocked with wine, cheese, and camped out behind their husbands' cars for the duration. I was more than a little jealous of these women.

One of the things that fascinated me the most was the combination of colors and textures people chose for the exteriors/interiors of their car. So while my fiancee was snapping off engine pics and getting the full car in the frame, I was focused on all of these lovely combos:

Oh, but then I couldn't help but take a picture of this little guy too:

I love when form and function are considered and put together in such a fun way. You sportscar fans out there can have all the horsepower and torque you want, but throw in a good deep orange and some houndstooth pattern and I'm sold.

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