News

All I have to do to make today's strip complete is implement the theme song from Last of the Mohicans. I'll violate copyright laws but it'll be worth it, I tell you.

As usual, I'm kind of a meathead.

I promised this month's Donation Wallpaper would be up by the end of the week as well as an update to the Fan Art pages, but as you can see neither of those things have been done. As usual, whenever I say something's going to get done by a certain date, you really have to add a few days. I'm like a Monty Python sketch.

The good news is I should have those things done over the weekend. My girlfriend will be out of town so I'll have the whole apartment to myself. Unless, of course, the cats take advantage of her absence and do kitty-like things to me.

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

See? Smoking is bad for you.
Then again, I did spend a some time glorifying a beverage that's probably just as bad for you.
Oh well. I guess we all have to pick our poisons.

Yesterday was a particularly good comic book day. Lots of great comic books came out and I read a few of them over and over again. Here are the ones that inspired such behavior.

The latest issue of The Blackest Night was as good as the first. It's only the second issue in this eight-part tale so things are still in the "getting worse" phase. This is, so far, everything I've hoped for and I'm hoping it doesn't disappoint. Then again, I learned that hope is a bad thing when dealing with the Black Lanterns.

Deadpool has three separate titles being published, but my favorite has to be the one written by Daniel Way. The way he writes the merc with a mouth cracks me up every single month. Deadpool's latest scheme to become a pirate was nothing short of comedy gold. I also love Hydra Bob.

Wednesday Comics has some great stories each week, but one of my favorites has to be the one featuring Supergirl and her super-pets. This week she sought help from Aquaman and anyone who's been reading these little comic reviews knows how I feel about the king of the seas. For an "issue" that's only one page long I was thoroughly entertained. His "cell phone" alone cracked me up.

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

Some people may accuse me of being a misogynist from the visions in today's strip. It wouldn't be the first time I've been called that, either. The reason these accusations may fly again is because all of the victims in those smoky visions are women. Someone, somewhere, may cook up some elaborate theory about me and my "deep hatred for women everywhere and how this is a symbolic representation of..." and so on. Say what you will. The fate of Maltak may very well rest upon the survival of these four women so I think I'm showing them in an important light, even if it's in the form of a warning.

Truth be told, it's kind of flattering when someone projects some complex theory about my thought processes based on what they see in the comic. Most of the time it makes me seem far more intellectual than I really am! Some thought there was some greater symbolic meaning behind this infamous comic, and a couple of readers actually analyzed it as a representation of my feelings of women being inferior. Honestly, I just wanted to put Dominic in a He-Man harness because I thought he'd look silly.

Today's rant wasn't inspired by anything anyone's said to me recently, nor was it a reaction to any particular comments. Sometimes, on the internet, you just feel the need to cover your bases. Just in case.

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

Things don't look good in Dominic's vision. Because of that, I'm going to show you folks some nice things to look at. Here are some pictures of the readers who got dressed up for me at ConnectiCon last weekend.

Detective Quilt!
Dummy Dominic!
Jacob!
An impromptu group cosplay!
Dominic!
Jacob!
Dominic!

Thanks to all of you who got into costume. You looked awesome.

I also forgot to extend another special thank you to everyone who submitted artwork to cover my vacation last week. I had a bunch of excellent submissions and it was difficult choosing only five. Thank you all for sharing your talent with me. Those pieces that were not showcased last week will be posted in the Fan Art pages later this week.

And finally, for those of you interested, I added some more photographs to my deviantArt gallery. They're from my vacation and most showcase my bikini-clad girlfriend. I also find her very nice to look at.

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

I'm back from my vacation and what a wonderful time I had. I've got some nifty pictures to share, but we rolled back into town very late last night and I was too tired to upload them for your general viewing pleasure. I'll have them up for you folks to look at later this week.

I should also have August's Donation Wallpaper up later this week.

But right now I'm going to tell you fine folks the story of Eruk, the orc who got brutally murdered in today's comic by the Bikta. A fine gentleman named Eric was the winning bidder at this year's Webcomic Auction during ConnectiCon, where we raised money for Child's Play. He was bidding on a named appearance in the strip, which in this story meant getting "orc-ified." He not only told me how he wanted his name changed, but he specifically requested that he be brutally murdered. Eruk, I hope your death was satisfactory.

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

ConnectiCon was the perfect end to my summer of conventions. Not only was I surrounded by a horde of fellow webcomickers and old friends, but I got to meet some of you, my fantastic readers, and I got to host a couple of events that really made this convention memorable for yours truly. I'm exhausted and drained... but man oh man, was it ever worth it.

I'll upload some photographs once I return from my vacation.

In case you've forgotten, this week I'm on vacation with my girlfriend. In place of the comic will be five pieces of fan art filler so generously donated by some very talented readers. They're all related to the current storyline so I do hope you enjoy them in my absence.

That's all from me for now.
Rock on, geek out, and enjoy the guest art!

If you're reading this, then you're probably not at ConnectiCon with me right now, to which I say... why not?!

Next week is my vacation and five wonderful pieces of fan art will be showing instead of comics. I do hope you folks enjoy them as much as I did.

That's all from me for now!
Rock on, and see you at ConnectiCon!

I ship off for ConnectiCon today and I'm looking forward to what should be a stellar weekend. The comic will update normally tomorrow and next week will be five days of Fan Art Filler! I've selected the five pieces to showcase from a bunch of awesome submissions and I do hope you folks will enjoy them. Those submissions which were not selected to be on the front page will go into the Fan Art pages once I get back from my vacation.

This is going to wrap up my summer conventions. After my vacation is over I'll be focusing on moving into a new apartment, getting my Fall-Winter conventions lined up, and trying to get Volume 5: THE WAR IN HELL ready for a holiday release. Busy busy busy.

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

Today is the last day to get your artwork to me if you want to submit a piece for next week's Fan Art filler week. As I've been saying, after ConnectiCon this weekend I'll be going on vacation with my girlfriend and will need five pieces of artwork to fill my week-long absence. I've already gotten some killer submissions but there's still more time if you want to get your artwork to me. Thanks to all of you who've been sending me some stellar artwork!

In regards to today's strip, I'm pretty sure anyone who knows anything about archery is going to get me on how absolutely wrong those Rhazgala orcs are holding their bows. I noticed the mistakes too late to fix them but I still think it looks pretty dramatic. I'll try to be more on-target in the future. *rimshot*

In other totally unrelated news, I just downloaded Behemoth's new single, "Ov Fire and the Void." Holy crap. If really, really aggressive and brutal metal is your thing, then this song is going to blow your head off. Wow. Their upcoming album (with a name I still hate) is going to be off the charts.

That's all from me for now.
Rock on and stay metal.

With ConnectiCon around the corner so is my week-long summer vacation with my girlfriend. I'm still accepting submissions for fan art filler until the end of day on Wednesday, July 29th. Five pieces will be selected to run in place of the comic from August 3 - August 7, so be sure to get that artwork to me if you want a shot at being on the front page! I've received some great pieces so far but there's still one day left to submit! All I ask is that the artwork have something to do with the current story.

On a side-note, I made myself chuckle writing today's comic when I decided that "Parunok" roughly translates into "wanderer" in orcish. Bonus points to anyone who gets that very old-school reference (without having to look it up on Google).

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

At the end of this week the last of my summer conventions is upon me. ConnectiCon, my favorite of all the conventions on my schedule, is set to be a blast again this year. Not only will I be doing a bunch of panels but I'll be hosting the Webcomic Auction and the Cosplay Chess Game. Both are very popular events and I'm always honored to be a part of them. Whether or not my evil twin will appear at either event has yet to be determined.

After ConnectiCon I'll be going on vacation with my girlfriend for a week. I'm still accepting artwork for that week but the deadline to send your work to me is this week on July 29th. I've gotten some fantastic submissions so far, but keep 'em coming!

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

Regarding yesterday's post about defective copies of Ecstasy & Evil that are missing pages, there's something I should clarify. Every single copy of Volume 2 has a page numbering error that mysteriously jumps from page 76 to page 81, even though there is no missing content. This is a cosmetic error that I'm aware of and not a "defective copy." The real defects jump from page 20 to page 37 and there are actually seventeen pages of missing strips. If you received one of these at Otakon last weekend, please notify me so I can take steps to replace your copy.

Other than that, there's not all that much to report on this mellow Friday. This is my buffer weekend between conventions, since next week I'm off to ConnectiCon! This one ought to be a blast so be sure to stop by if you can.

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

It's been brought to my attention that I may have sold some defective copies of ECSTASY & EVIL this past weekend at Otakon. If your copy is missing a chunk of pages please notify me so I can take steps to replace your book.

In other news, if you look over to the right you can see I've added a small box that links not only to my LiveJournal, but to my brand new Twitter thingie. I'll probably update them both very infrequently, but in case you folks are interested in what I do with my spare time there's one way you can get your fix. I warn you, though... it's probably going to be very dull.

Otherwise I'm still recovering from last weekend and gearing up for ConnectiCon, which promises to be a blast.

I'm also still looking for Guest Art submissions for my summer vacation in August. You can read yesterday's news post below for the details.

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

For all the problems associated with my trip to Otakon there were some really marvelous things about the convention itself that made the trip worthwhile.

There was the chance to meet you, my most wonderful readers in the world. This is always the highlight of any convention and you folks always make me feel like a million bucks.

There was the chance to hang out with some very good friends of mine for the weekend, where good times were had and new projects were discussed.

There was not one, but two home-cooked meals delivered to me at my little table! Lots of rice, corn on the cob, sauteed vegetables, mushrooms(!) and an impressive bento box. Many thanks to Larom and Rob for the belly-filling surprises.

There was the chance to grope a very naughty lady and have her grope me back. She also approves of my mutton chops.

And now on to the proposal I mentioned yesterday after I was done complaining about my Otakon journey.

After ConnectiCon I will be going on vacation with my girlfriend for about one week. So I come to you, my talented readers, to supply me with fan art to go up as filler while I'm away. I will choose five different pieces from five different artists to post from August 3 to August 7. I'll be looking for pictures that are related to the current story.
The deadline to get your artwork in will be July 29. Just e-mail your art to me but please be considerate of my inbox. 5MB files tend to clog things up a bit.

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

Otakon was great and I had a fantastic time, but my journey there and back again was filled with annoyances, delays, and every inconvenience one could imagine.

There was the biblical rain storm that nearly blinded me and delayed our trip by three hours.

There was the waste and contamination that was the George Washington Bridge.

There was the fact that our hotel room wasn't ready when we arrived and I got a precious one hour of sleep in the parking lot before having to go to the Artist Alley.

There was the fact that, due to fire hazard rules, I had to put an entirely separate hotel room on my credit card to accommodate some good friends of mine.

There were the stomach problems that delayed our trip home for a few hours.

There was the obscene amounts of traffic due to late-night road work that made me want to kill everyone within a one mile radius of me.

But for all its problems and obstacles, the convention itself had some very pleasant surprises and some very awesome moments. I'll talk about those tomorrow... as well as a proposal to you, my wonderful readers, to help me out with something.

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