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Is Dominic upset because he missed his chance to look upon the Heart of Magic? Or is he upset because he's regretting his decision to look at all? We would've found out if Katya hadn't started yelling. Dominic isn't the only seer in his house right now.

Luna's "no secrets" policy is one I share with my wife. If there's one thing the both of us have learned from previous failed relationships, it's that communication and openness are very important. Even if it's an unpleasant conversation, it's vital to get whatever's bothering you off your chest and out in the open.

In the case of today's comic, however, it makes for some dramatic tension. At least I think so, but I'm biased because I make the comics around here.


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

Last week I mentioned that there may be a delay in today's comic update. Thankfully that was not the case and I hope you enjoy Dominic's very unwise decision.

Otherwise I've got no news to report today, as it's Labor Day and I just spent the weekend with some good friends doing nothing productive. I mean, I may have done some stargazing and spent some quality time in the Inner Sea, but I'd hardly call that "productive." Fun and nerdy as hell? Absolutely, and proud of it!

I'll likely spend today further organizing my new place. Ah, domestic living.



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

Dominic is not all that happy about getting his own vision of the Heart of Magic. Looking at it through extracted memories wasn't exactly as, well, horrifying as this is for him. I imagine he must have at least squinted a little before this.

Here's some (hopefully) amusing trivia about today's comic:

- Instead of "Don't open your eyes, Dominic!" he was originally going to say, "Don't turn around!" But that just made me go "Der Kommissar's in town, uh oh!" So I changed the dialogue to get that freaking song out of my head.

- The reveal of the blank background made me think of "Duck Amuck," but I didn't change it because that was, and still is, one of my favorite cartoons ever. Just don't expect Dominic to get into a duel with me.

And that'll do it for me! I hope everyone (who celebrates it) has a nice Labor Day weekend! I'm hoping to get some quality stargazing done, myself.

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

It's been awhile since we've seen him do it, but Rilian is quite adept at wielding the blight of the undead to make things rot and decay. If the king's plan succeeds and his power is amplified enough... yikes.

There may be a delay in the update of Monday's comic. With this weekend being a holiday, my wife and I are going to do some traveling. Normally I'd try to get a comic or two done ahead of time, but with our recent move there hasn't been a lot of spare time to make extra comics. Just thought I'd give you folks a heads-up in case Monday's comic goes up much later in the day.

Not much else to talk about today, and that's fine by me. Mellow news days are never unwelcome.



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

I'd had another title in mind for this flashback arc, but Broken Toys for a Mad King is sticking out for me right now. I just like the way it sounds.

This was posted a short time ago, but I neglected to mention it because I was so distracted by my recent move. I was interviewed by NASA's Blueshift blog at Otakon. I have a small feature in the article, which is about the relation between science fiction and science fact, and the science fantasy that lies somewhere in between.

I'm excited to do some science this weekend. And by "science" I mean "indulge in my amateur astronomy." And by that, given my limited mental capacity for actual science, I really mean "stargazing." I may even have another go at astrophotography.

Last summer I took my friends on a small tour of the late summer night sky, showing them such wonders as the double cluster in Perseus, the M13 globular cluster in Hercules, the double star Albireo, the Whirlpool and Andromeda galaxies, and (in the latest hours of the night) Jupiter. This weekend I hope to repeat my summer tour with those same friends, but with some new sights. There's a unique thrill in finding a celestial object with your telescope, but there's a somewhat greater excitement to be had when you can share that discovery with others.

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

In case you're wondering why there's blood all over the wall, it's not because the Infernomancer had a gory "reassembling." Well, he did, but it's also because he made quite a bloody entrance when he got back on his feet.

Yesterday was just one of those days. Our basement had some minor flooding and almost damaged some books, which in turn forced me to cancel a photoshoot with The Slaughterhouse Sweethearts to help promote their upcoming burlesque extravaganza. That put a little black cloud over my head, to be sure, but they were minor inconveniences at best.

But on a more personal note, I learned yesterday that the principal of my old high school passed away. I have nothing but fond memories of Doctor Santo Barbarino, or just "Dr. B" as we all affectionately called him. From encouraging me to chase whatever dreams for the future I was entertaining to trying to get me to listen to Chuck Mangione, he was a great man who genuinely cared about all us kids whom he took so generously under his wing.

See you in Valhalla, Dr. B.

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

A couple of linky reminders for some of the past events mentioned in today's comic:

The Beast's attack on M'ur'i, and subsequent loss of power, is revealed on the Planar Pathway.

The Beast is discovered siphoning power from Hell, much to the displeasure of Karnak.

The Beast is encountered in the Plane of Destruction and the psychoplanes.

There's not much other relevant or entertaining news to report today. The weekend was mellow, save for an epic cleaning spree by yours truly, but otherwise pleasantly uneventful. So rather than try to fill up the news box because I feel like I have to, I'll just leave things as they are for today.



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

This week ends with an exposition-heavy recap of events we've already seen. No new revelations here, but in case you forgot some of the key events mentioned in today's comic, they're linked below for your convenience:

Miranda unknowingly banished the Infernomancer to the realm of The Beast.

Celesto falls into the makeshift plane and is defiant in the presence of The Beast and the Infernomancer.

The blast that breached the planes, which allowed Celesto to escape the first time.

After the Infernomancer was taken to Capitol City in pieces, Maltak's rebirth allowed Celesto to escape imprisonment a second time.

I'm hoping to finish unpacking this weekend, and to catch up to my emails once we get this place looking more like a home and less like storage space.

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

At the conclusion of the last "Beast Interlude," Miranda discovered that something, or someone, had been blocking her magic for years. Now we see that she'd been doing it to herself all along, albeit due to a devious spell from the king.

You might say it was a bit like an... BBBRRRAAAAWWHHH... inception.

I haven't been online much this week despite my internet being set up in my new place, and it's because my old computer desk didn't make the trip from the old apartment. Sitting on a hardwood floor looking down at your monitor with your keyboard balanced on your lap is not as comfortable as it sounds. Definitely going to treat myself to a nice new desk this weekend. Then I'll be back in business.

Ah, the exciting domestic life I lead.


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

Some folks were asking me why the king was referring to The Beast as "his lord" when it owed its existence to him. I hope today's comic answers that question.

Autumn is my favorite time of beer. The pumpkin ales and oktoberfest brews hit the shelves around September, heralding the coming of cooler weather and changing leaves. This year, however, the autumn brews are already available! I should be more excited about this, but it's still August! I'm still enjoying the various IPAs from my favorite breweries in this hot weather! While nothing is forcing me to buy these beers before September, the temptation is staring me in the face, and in the words of Oscar Wilde, "The only thing I cannot resist is temptation."

Otherwise there's very little relevant news to speak of. I won't bore you folks with any further details of my move-in-progress, as it's pretty much down to "there are boxes everywhere" and "we're still moving stuff from our old apartment" and "unpacking is going to take forever."

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

Orcs "ask" for their spells from the land rather than using command words.

Luna's vision walk with the Crone of Maltak sums up some of the Orc War, such as why not all orcs were conquering warriors and the "official" reason for the war.

When Melna first appeared in the comic she was called an ecomancer, which is a name I readily confess I took from The Pirates of Dark Water in a one-time nod to that great cartoon. "Noy jitat!"

Hope these links were helpful! I'm strangely "off" because my wife and I are still in the process of moving, so these linky reminders also helped get my head back into the groove of making comics.

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

The weekend's move was a great success. My internet is up and running (as you can see) and we've got ninety percent of our belongings in our new place. But after four days of packing and moving boxes, I was sorely tempted to resort to a crummy filler doodle for today. Moving is always significantly more draining than I anticipate it being, and when it came time to produce a new comic my body switched into "holy crap you've been moving boxes since Thursday night" mode.

I need to catch up on some much-needed rest so I can be in proper shape to 1) unpack and reorganize all of our belongings and 2) make comics for the rest of the week.

Me am tired.



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

It was mentioned during Around The World that the halflings and dwarves have a long, complex and violent history. Now we know that they were once the dominant "land of wizards" in the world, and they used that magic to kill each other.

My wife and I are slowly moving into a new place, and a significant portion of our move is happening this weekend. Our internet service is getting changed over. I don't anticipate any problems, but in case there is one and I don't have an internet connection for a few days, that will be why there's no comic on Monday. While it's only a small possibility, I figured I'd give you folks a heads-up just in case.



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

In the past, The Beast's speech bubbles have been much "busier." Bold letters, strange symbols behind the words, and so on. I felt that keeping the lettering simpler in today's update not only prevented the comic from looking too cluttered, but helped show (in a small way) the connection between David and The Beast.

I made it back to the comic shop yesterday to catch up on some titles. While there wasn't much there I was interested in picking up again, there were a few gems worth mentioning.

Atomic Robo, of course, remains my favorite comic book going. Do yourself a favor and pick up any of the collected editions, or start reading the newest storyline, "Flying She-Devils of the Pacific."

Aquaman is entertaining. That's all. No groundbreaking storylines here. I just enjoy seeing Aquaman in the spotlight.

Animal Man is mind-bendingly awesome. I really like what Jeff LeMire has done with Buddy Baker's origin, and I'm looking forward to the upcoming "Rotworld" crossover.

Wonder Woman, meanwhile, is mythically awesome. The showdown on Olympus in the latest issue was impressive, and the ending made me fanboy just a little bit.

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

A little more of The Beast's gruesome origin revealed.

It had been speculated that The Beast was "born" in the Elemecca, and when Luna visited its realm she noticed familiar elements instead of alien ones.

I'm actually heading back to my local comic book shop today. Not because of any renewed faith in the current state of superhero comic books, but because I've fallen behind in picking up issues of ATOMIC ROBO and this needs to be remedied. He may not wear a cape or an emblem on his chest, but the action-packed adventures of Nikola Tesla's robot "son" are everything I love about comic books. And there's occasionally a talking dinosaur who hates you.


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