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I know I've said this before and I'll say it again. I love doing these "vision quest" comics. It's a much needed break for me from the strip's traditional eight panels in two rows. I really enjoy playing around with layout in these comics, even if it means less happens in one update. I hope you folks enjoy them, too.

Dominic is probably not going to enjoy himself too much, though.

A photograph I took of my friend Tarah, who's a frequent contributor to the site, was used as the cover for the new single by The Death Blossoms, "Bass Down Low." It's funny to me that only the creepiest, most morbid pictures I take of this lovely lady end up getting the most attention. But she's a bigger horror and splatter fan than I am and most of the macabre themes for her photos are her ideas, so it all works out in the end.

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

Nothing terribly profound or complicated today. It's not even a very long comic. Just Dominic showing off a little and being proud of himself. I think he's earned it.

Unlike the past "interludes" with The Beast that featured Miranda for only a week, these searches and other monitoring excursions to other planes are going to last a little longer. Not months or a year, mind you, but just a little more than a week. Maybe two.

We'll see what the plane of Destruction has in store for Dominic, and if he'll be as slick throughout this metaphysical expedition.

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

I hadn't forgotten that Dominic only has one leg. Since his vacation and subsequent "recharge" he's sometimes been projecting himself as having both legs when he delves into visions, psychoplanes, other planes, etc.

As for his swan dive? He used to be a dancer, after all.

A new Donation Wallpaper ought to be up this week for your approval.

I should also have news about the next book, Two Thief or Not Two Thief, which I'll try to make available earlier than usual.

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

It may not look like I ate much from this picture, but I originally ordered three pizzas. Best vegan pizza ever, too. Yummy.

UPDATE #1: I didn't mean to imply that anyone who isn't the genetic offspring of their parents is not "truly" their child. It was just a statement of genetics/DNA/etc. but I confess that it may be poorly worded. I'll likely change it over the weekend. My apologies.
UPDATE #2: Dialogue changed. If you're still seeing the uncorrected strip just Refresh your browser. Again, my apologies for the poor choice in wording earlier.

And so ends the first storyline of 2011, Altered States. I wouldn't say it's really over, though, since the issues introduced have only been partly resolved and new questions have been raised. Still, this is a nice place to stop (for now) and move on to more magical stories.

I've already gotten a lot of comments from you wonderful folks, but as always I welcome your feedback about the story as a whole.

And on this lovely Friday, I'll leave you folks with some links that have given me the chuckles:

The Most Illegal Move in the History of Professional Wrestling.

Carl Sagan and his fully armed Spaceship of the Imagination.

This may seem sad at first, but watch it all the way through. Trust me.

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

I envy my cat's life except for that one critical aspect of his existence.

Every so often Dominic gets a reminder that he's busted up and physically frail. Really. I think an eight-year-old could kick his ass. And when the weight of your physical flaws is heavy upon your shoulders, wedding magazines are the way to go for a smile. I think.

Seriously, when you begin to plan your wedding these freaking magazines show up everywhere. They're all over our apartment. I know I've tripped over a few in the middle of the night and the cats like to perch upon the piles. Pages upon pages of flowery decorations and glittery... things. It can either overwhelm you, or it can serve as a reminder of your upcoming special day.

With me, it's both.
And the reminders are all over the freaking apartment.

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

I had to have Dominic do one more sweater-shield freak out. Planning a wedding will send anyone searching for their safety blanket at times, but Luna looks to be jumping right into it.

And, once again, the snow in the comic is a reflection of all the freaking snow up here in New England. We've got walls of the stuff along our streets and, while awesome for a snowball fortress, is more aggravating than anything when you live near a major city.

You may have noticed that I've updated my convention schedule for 2011. This is the most up-to-date schedule I have, but it's still subject to change and/or additions. Unfortunately I won't be at Katsucon this year. It'll be the first time since 2004 that I haven't been there in some capacity, so if you're attending be sure to say "hi" to the other webcomics folks for me. It's going to be a little strange not having a convention to go to in February.

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

I do enjoy Dominic's use of his sweater as a shield. It's a gag I wish I started using earlier in the comic.

Other than that, it's a slow news day. Unless you count the fact that it's February as news. If that's the case, then happy February!





Yeah. Nothing to report.

I'll just hope I have more interesting stuff to talk about tomorrow.

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

That joke still makes me laugh, even after all these years.

I also like that alterists resemble real-life surgeons. Theirs is a very "physical" magic, as was revealed in this story when Dominic was describing himself being the subject of many alteration visions, so it made sense to make Kaldonia's sanctum sanctorum resemble a doctor's office.

I'd trust a doctor that wore a cape over her scrubs, too. Mostly.

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

There. Cliffhanger resolved.
Storyline resolved (for now) in about a week or so.
I do hope you folks have been enjoying this one.

Just a quick note to clarify something in today's comic, as it may be misinterpreted. Luna is not literally donating all of her eggs. Only the "very small number of them in an unusual state of 'dormancy'" as Kaldonia had revealed earlier this week. I think that was made clear today, but you never know who's going to misread something or miss an important word.

Finally, I could lie and say that there's something symbolic about the snow in the last four panels of today's comic, or even that I was making a veiled "sad girls in snow" reference... but the truth is we're up to our freaking eyeballs in snow here in New England and I put it in to today's comic because it's everywhere.

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

This is one of my meaner cliffhangers, I admit. But hey, at least I didn't pull this one tomorrow. Now you just have to wait one day as opposed to an entire weekend to see what Luna's decision is.

However, we here on the east coast of the US are getting hit with another snowstorm this week, so there may be a delay in Friday's update if the snow knocks out my internet connection. I'm not anticipating that happening, but you never know what could happen when the weather starts acting up.

I picked up a bunch of great comic books yesterday. Here are some quick comments about some of them:

- The newest issue of Deadpool proves once again that I am completely gay for writer Daniel Way. The fact that Deadpool is willing to physically mutilate himself for the sake of a pun is fantastic.
- What? The ending of Chaos War isn't depressing as hell? It didn't kill any major heroes? It didn't just serve to lead in to yet another big crossover event? It was, dare I say it, FUN?!
- I continue to love the Thunderbolts.
- Justice League: Generation Lost continues to be a great read. Gavril's broken English never gets old to me. But I swear, if anything happens to Blue Beetle I may boycott superhero comics forever.

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

Dominic's little freak-outs, whether real or imagined, are always fun for me to draw and I hope you like them as much as I do.

In researching causes of infertility in both men and women for this story (and on those occasions where I made the mistake of trying to diagnose myself by looking up my symptoms on the internet) it's amazing to discover just how many illnesses, conditions and disorders are simply caused by stress alone. A few years ago when I was experiencing mystery chest pains I spoke to a gastroenterologist who, after being as baffled as I was about the cause, told me, "Well, it could be stress."

So from chest pains to infertility in both real life and fantasy comics that skirt along real life issues, stress sucks. I recommend getting rid of as much of it in your life as possible. Easier said than done, I know, but I think it's good advice.

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

This is the part of this story that I've been the most concerned about getting right. The part where the "magical twist" on a very real and sensitive issue is introduced. It has such potential to go wrong and make you roll your eyes with a groaned, "Oh, you've got to be kidding me." I hope you folks like it, as well as what happens after this strange revelation, but I have a feeling I'm really going to get flak today from some people. Maybe I deserve it for no other reason than the pun at the end of today's strip.

To quote Craig Ferguson, "I look forward to your letters."

My pal Zack Finfrock has made an amazing Fallout fan film called Fallout: Nuka Break. I loved Fallout 3, having logged over ninety hours of gameplay over months and months, and Zack (with writer Brian Clevinger) really paid tribute to an amazing game. Even if you've never played a minute of Fallout the film is worth a look because it's well produced, well acted and it's got some great dialogue. And make sure you stay through the credits.

Finally, I'm a little behind sending out book orders and donation wallpapers because I'm switching stuff over to a new computer, and a few orders and donations are still on the old computer. I apologize for the delay.

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

There isn't much news to report today down here in the news box, but a couple of things are worth mentioning.

A few of you have e-mailed me in regards to the "grammatical error" in a comic from last week where, in a flashback, Luna's mother says "you a orc princess, remember?" This is not an error. It's Croona mimicking Luna's proclamation from when she was a child, as shown in a flashback in the previous comic. I guess I should have made that clearer. Oh well. Lesson learned.

And my thanks to the reader who gave me an amusing example as to just what an alterism-themed adult magazine would need a double centerfold to showcase. Hee hee.

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

The gag in today's comic gave me both a case of the chuckles and the heebie-jeebies. The latter because I didn't want to imagine what you would need a double fold-out centerfold to showcase in a magazine that features alteration porn. Whatever it is, it's obviously huge.

For those of you interested in my amateur photography I posted more photos to my deviantArt gallery. The newest photos feature the lovely and spooky ladies (and gentleman) of The Slaughterhouse Sweethearts, a local burlesque troupe. It should be noted that all the costumes, poses and themes were chosen by the ladies themselves. I was just there to take the pictures.

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