News

Well. Those of you who caught the comic in the first hour or so that it was online also caught one of the single biggest blunders I've ever made in the past eight years where Nimmel had no scar over his eye. Cripes.

Anyway.

Nimmel's plight is, sadly, based upon a true story.

A few years ago I rented a room in a house with some folks who shared the werewolves' penchant for walking around with little to no clothes on, as did their circle of friends. At first I was ecstatic, and for good reason. I met many attractive women who, within minutes of being introduced for the first time, would take their clothes off and just hang out. For a time, as a single guy, it was a dream come true.

But having regular access to anything that was once elusive soon takes away its lure. After a time that level of nudity just became expected, and for awhile it was... until that fateful day when I was just sitting around having a chat with a naked woman and I realized that I was totally unfazed by it.

I, like Nimmel, had become immune to boobs.

Whether or not I'm immune to boobs in anything but a casual context is another story for another day. Maybe.

That's all from me for now.
Rock on.

In Nikolai's defense, I don't think any college guy I know would be able to concentrate on anything being said to him if a naked girl just strolled by. I know I wouldn't.

Other than that, there's really not much to talk about today. Or maybe there was something I was supposed to talk about, but now that I'm thinking about boobs myself... maybe I lost my train of... thought.

Hmm.

Boobs.

That's all from me for now.
Rock on.

I'm going to go into more detail about why it sucks to be a runt in the Winter Archipelago tomorrow, but for those of you who are impatient here's a quick reminder about Katya's condition.

While we're on the subject of references, some of you have asked me to link to the Moon Dance where Nimmel impressed the noble werewolves. There you have it.

While we're still doing some references to older comics, here's where Nimmel learned his lesson about turning away offers of friendship. I have every intention to address this directly later in the story, but I figured a little reminder couldn't hurt right now.

I don't know whether to be proud or ashamed of the derogatory term I invented today. I'll put it right up there with "piggart," I guess.

That's all from me for now.
Rock on.

I hope folks had a nice weekend because I had quite a memorable one. Here's a run-down of my eventful weekend, if you're the type of person who's interested in what goes on in my life outside updating things around here.

On Friday I saw The Wolfman and found it to be entertaining except for everything Benicio del Toro said and did, which was unfortunate because he's the leading man in that movie. Great supporting cast and fantastic monster effects, but when the lead (and normally great) actor is so wooden and flat it brings down the whole movie.

On Saturday night I had a reunion party with my old co-workers from the art store I used to work at. I missed my high school reunion a few years ago but this had the positive vibe I wanted that to have. I caught up with some friends I hadn't seen in a long time, made promises to rebuild some damaged bridges, and help some others explore a wonderfully idealistic dream.

On Sunday I went into Boston's Chinatown to watch the Chinese New Year celebrations continue. I took some pictures, which I plan to upload sometime this week, and those crazy lions even came into the restaurant where Alyssa and I were having lunch. Twice. It was awesome.

I hope everyone else had as pleasant a weekend as I did, and if you didn't then I'll just hope that some future weekend holds similar if not exceeding excitement for you.

That's all from me for now.
Rock on.

It's been quite a while since we've seen her, but in case you've forgotten who Katya is she first appeared in the infamous storyline The Shadow of Siegfried. She wore lots of loose clothing back then (as do most of the werewolves around here) but today she's wearing something a little tighter, perhaps inspired by some of the mage robes from Dragon Age: Origins. I love that game.

I also felt the need to have her point out just how naughty this week's dog pile may have looked to some people. I thought it was funny myself.

The fact that Nikolai's love of breasts drives him to a dramatic fall to his knees still gives me the chuckles. I may or may not have been like that when I was in college. I may or may not still be like that.

That's all from me for now.
Rock on and have a nice weekend!

Katsucon was, in a word, refreshing.

I didn't realize I was going through "convention withdrawal" until I was there at the show. Normally my convention season begins in January, but I didn't have anything scheduled this year so things didn't get rolling until last weekend.

Doing conventions provides a social aspect of this job that I wouldn't normally get if I did all my "socializing" online. Seeing some old friends as well as meeting some new ones, doing panels and, most importantly, meeting you wonderful readers face-to-face is what keeps me going and I didn't realize how much I missed being on the road until I was out again.

Thanks to everyone who came out to see me. I had a blast, thanks to all of you.

That's all from me for now.
Rock on.

Sorry for the lack of an update yesterday. After leaving KATSUCON a day early to drive five hours from Washington, DC to North Carolina, paying our respects to a brave young woman, then driving thirteen hours back to Boston... needless to say the combination of my first convention of the year, mourning, and nineteen combined hours of driving had taken its toll.

I'm honestly surprised I was able to get a comic up for today. For some inexplicable reason my body only wanted three hours of sleep after Sunday's odyssey, which made for a very punchy Mookie. I'm not entirely happy with the way today's comic looks, but one must push through when one faces a deadline.

I changed this month's Donation Wallpaper slightly. I wasn't happy with the version that I put up before I left for Katsucon so I decided to tweak it a little. Refresh your browser to see the newer thumbnail, which should have a blue border.

I'll have some photos from the convention and I'll tell you how Katsucon cured my curious case of withdrawal tomorrow.

That's all from me for now.
Rock... zzzzzz.

I left for KATSUCON late last night to do an overnight drive and, with any luck, I've arrived in one piece. And so the "2010 Convention Tour" begins!

My attendance at Katsucon will be cut a little short, sadly, as I must leave on Sunday to pay proper respects to a remarkable young woman and support my friends in their time of need.

So, to review:
- Boston to Washington, DC in an overnight drive.
- Washington, DC to North Carolina on early Sunday morning to attend a funeral.
- Back to Boston from North Carolina by car.

There will, more than likely, not be a comic on Monday.

There is, however, a new Donation Wallpaper for February which arrives just ahead of the new storyline which begins next week! I promised to lighten things up and now that we're done with this interlude featuring Celesto and The Beast, I intend to do just that.

Oh, and here's another quick reference to what Celesto mentioned today, in case folks forgot.

That's all from me for now.
Rock on!

I'm going to keep things brief today.

Yesterday I received some very sad news regarding a remarkable young woman whose battle against cancer was so brave and epic that she is, without a doubt, celebrating in Valhalla as we speak.

I had several versions of witty and/or bad-ass remarks for Celesto today, but drawing came easier than writing for me yesterday, so in the end I decided on a moment of silence... albeit angry, splattery silence.

While this sad news will not affect my Katsucon appearance this weekend I may need to put a hold on updating the comic later in case my friends need me for anything. I'll keep you folks posted, as always.

That's all from me for now.

Oh dear (elder) god that was a lot of tentacles to detail for today's comic. I'm happy with the layout and the look, but... man, that's just a lot of tentacles!

Here are some suggested songs for today's strip if you're a soundtrack type of person, as I am:

Metallica - "The Thing That Should Not Be"
The Pixies - "Where Is My Mind?"
Gojira - "To Sirius"
Bloodbath - "Eaten"
Svenson - "Sunlight Theory"

That's all from me for now.
Rock on with your tentacles out!

I had forgotten how much I enjoy drawing The Beast. Not only am I not limited by pesky things like anatomy and biology, but I love the way that the Lovecraftian thing always seems to find a way to slither and sneak between the panels of any given strip. H.P. Lovecraft often wrote about things that lived "in the space between spaces" and other such things, so I hope I'm doing him a little bit of justice.

And everybody knows that it's just not a Lovecraftian monster unless it has a lot of tentacles.

Don't forget that I'll be at KATSUCON this weekend! The weather here on the east coast of the U.S. has been memorable to say the least, but as of right now I'm still planning on attending the show. I'll keep you folks posted one way or another if there are any changes.

That's all from me for now.
Ph'nglui Mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.

On average I watch about one football game a year.
The Superbowl.

No matter which teams are in the championship game the day is usually an event for me and my friends. Yesterday's Superbowl was no different as I watched an underdog team come from behind and win it all for the very first time.

Go, Saints!

Things are moving along here once again, as you can see. After a year of orcs and a barren landscape it's time to get back to the shady politics of Callan and a fan favorite antagonist doing what he can to mess things up. Celesto fans will (hopefully) like things this week.

And don't forget that this weekend my "2010 Convention Tour" kicks off at KATSUCON! Be sure to stop by and say "hi!" if you're in the area. Those of you who always come to see me at Katsucon always make this a memorable show, and I'm eager to meet some new readers, so be sure to come if you can!

And yeah, calling it a "tour" fulfills just about every one of my rock star fantasies. Rock on.

That's all from me for now.
Rock on, I said!

I think today's filler pretty much says it all.

It's been a nice week off and I feel properly rejuvenated.

The comic resumes normally on Monday.

I do hope you folks have enjoyed a week of random, funny-looking monsters from the Wild Edge. I know I did.

That's all from me for now.
Rock on and have a nice weekend!

And today we have yet another batch of sketches of monsters (and Bort) from the Wild Edge territories because it's liberating and creatively rejuvenating and all those other things I've been saying this week. Honestly, these have just been really enjoyable and I'm sure you folks don't need me repeating myself.

Some comics came out yesterday. Here are a few which I felt stood out for one reason or another.

I really, really wish the Justice Society of America would stop yelling at each other. It's all they seem to have been doing for months now.

Red Robin is on the upswing in the mood department. I'm not a fan of dark, gritty superheroes and Tim Drake never seemed to fit that role comfortably. Now that he's smiling again I find this series much more enjoyable.

The conclusion to Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire was nothing less than satisfying. Jason Aaron breathed some much-needed life into the Ghost Riders and, seeing as how Ghost Rider was the very first comic book I ever collected, it's nice to see him getting a proper, respectful treatment.

The "ending" to Superman: World of New Krypton was less than satisfying. When a limited series ends with a "To Be Continued!" that only provides a tie-in to the next limited series it makes me want to read that series LESS. You folks didn't see me ending The March Across Maltak with that. Whether you liked that story or not I wrapped it up with a definite "The End," not a "To Be Continued in The March Across Maltak: The Tuskening!"

I don't know what a "tuskening" is. I feel like I should now invent it.

That's all from me for now.
Rock on and geek out.

Nimmel may have been through a lot since I introduced him to the comic during The Storm of Souls, enough perhaps to warrant my leaving him alone, but the truth is I'm not done with Nimmel Feenix by a long shot.

The story of Nimmel studying abroad will be coming up very shortly around here. Not next week, since there's some "fallout" to be addressed from Maltak's rebirth, but soon after. As promised, the storylines from now on will be shorter and more lighthearted, even if college may be a struggle for our young mage.

If there's one thing I would have done differently with this comic when I was getting started, it would be not making the werewolves a race of people. Granted, I was into that sort of idea almost eight years ago, but my tastes have changed and I've seen the "noble, nature-loving werewolf people" concept done nearly to death. While it's too late for me to change the fact that this world has a race of shape-shifting wolf people, it's not too late for me to change other aspects of them... and hopefully make it funny.

That's all from me for now.
Rock on.