News

Just to clarify before I go any further, the name of that halfling mountain guide is in no way a reference to my buddy Tim Buckley. Buckley Hussle was an old Dungeons & Dragons character of mine and putting him in the strip is pure self-indulgence.

And I didn't originally intend for my dwarves to look like a biker gang, but once I saw them like that on paper I decided to keep it. We've already got comic books, sports teams and superheroes around here. Biker dwarves can just be added to the ridiculous roster.

Anyhoo, PORTCON MAINE was a fun time, as usual. I missed it last year due to unfortunate personal issues, so returning this year was a treat. It's a very laid back and intimate convention so I get a chance to talk at length with readers, hang out with friends, and generally soak in that lovely Portland atmosphere. Oh, and winning the "Pretty Pretty Princess" contest was an experience, too.

Much love to the peanut gallery that helped me cause so much trouble this year:
Randy is my ideal bear.
Garth, you should be ashamed of yourself.
Andi can be hit on nearly 700 times.
Sketch now knows that the counter read 696.
Erica will have delicious sammiches with me soon.

July's Donation Wallpapers are up for your inspection and (hopefully) approval. I do hope you like them because I think they're adorable. But I'm biased.

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

I actually meant for this to be Sunday's strip while I was at PORTCON MAINE this weekend, but while I was working on the strips I was stricken with a mind-splitting migraine and was unable to finish it on time. I managed to finish this one during the convention this weekend so I figured I'd show it off today. I think it's funny. It's also a personal nod to my first long-term girlfriend from college, who was a short young lady with an impressive chest. It's also a nod to my best friend's wife, who is equally small and has an equally impressive chest.

PORTCON MAINE was a delight and I'll have a full con report, complete with links and pictures, up tomorrow.

Later today or early tomorrow I'll be posting July's Donation Wallpapers. I do hope you like them.

And finally, I have to geek out about the fact that this weekend a very nice couple brought their kittens to the convention and they played on my table. Oh em gee so cute wanted to melt in teh cutnessxxorzz and all that.
The kittens approve of the scarves.
I called this one "Marshmallow."
I called this one "Dusty."

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

A big, gigantic, huge, massive, enormous thank you to everyone who sent me happy birthday wishes yesterday via e-mail, MySpace, Facebook, GAIA and any other form I may have missed. I felt the love and you really helped make my 29th birthday a memorable one. Thank you all so very much. You remain the greatest readers in the world.

Here's hoping I get to meet some of you at PORTCON MAINE this weekend, and here's hoping the rest of you forgive me for the big-panel strips that will be up on Saturday and Sunday to cover my convention absence.

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

Happy birfday to me.
Happy birfday to me.
Happy birfday dear meeeeee.
Happy birfday to me.

Normally I'd be upset about reaching the ripe old age of twenty-nine since it's just that much closer to the dreaded thirty. However, since I stopped counting my age in years, being able to say I'm that much closer to reaching Level 30 makes today seem a little cooler.

The strip returns tomorrow, and I hope to see you at PORTCON MAINE this weekend.

And many mooooooore!

Luna loves beer almost as much as I do. Mmm. I'm happy about Olde Tucklebruck Island as I get to sing the praises of one of my favorite (and most misrepresented) beverages. Plus I got to introduce the island with one of my worse puns to date, so I consider it a victory.

The biggest bit of news to shout about this week is that I'll be heading out to PORTCON MAINE this weekend. I'll be there doing my usual convention thing, so if you're way up in the area stop by and say "hi." If I'm not at my table I'm probably off having a delicious pint of beer somewhere. Mmm. Frothy heaven.

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

I must admit to another moment of vain self-geekery here. Besides being excited about Dominic and Luna's vacation, where I get to do some raw world-building and explore the cultures around our heroes, this very conversation explaining the "executive" side of necromancy has been something I've been dying to get off my chest for years... no pun intended.

Their conversation has a little more to it, but not enough to break the flow of the vacation. At least I don't think so, but I'm biased because I write the comic. In any case, I do hope you fine folks are still enjoying this storyline as much as I am.

That's really all the news that's fit to print from me for now.
Rock on.

Okay, so I did it again. Another full-page one-panel comic. I tried drawing the dragon in the eight panel layout but it didn't come across as grand enough. So I decided to slow the pace of things down for a couple of days and give the dragon his own panels to show off just how freaking huge these things are. Maybe it comes across, or maybe I just come across as lazy. Either way, things go back to eight panels tomorrow.

Now then, on to my impressions of AnimeNext.

First and foremost I want to say that Connor and Andrew in the Guest Relations department treated me like a freaking king. They went above and beyond the call of, well, anything I needed this weekend and made me feel like the coolest guy in the world. My hats off to you guys for really making me feel right at home.

That being said, I definitely had an issue with the placement of the Artist's Alley. While the Dealer's Room, Main Events and the various Panel rooms enjoyed good lighting and cavernous space at the Meadowlands Expo Center, the Artist's Alley was quite literally down a hidden hallway and behind three curtains... in the parking garage. I'm honestly surprised anyone was able to find us at all, but my many thank to those of you who ventured down there and said "hallo" to yours truly.

So I'm unfortunately left with a conflicted aftertaste of the con. I had a great time hanging out with Connor, Andrew, folks who came by to see me at the table and those who came to my panels, and I would gladly come back to do it all again. An extra big thank you to those who came to see my Writing Unique Heroes & Memorable Villains panel and found me worthy of a very generous standing ovation. I was touched.

Guest relations made me feel like a king and the staff of AnimeNext were super friendly. The Artist's Alley placement made me feel like an afterthought. We'll see if they change things for next year, because if they do I'd gladly return.

Much love to the rest of the peanut gallery who kept me company this weekend!
Blue and Blond!
Onezumi!
Digital Pimp!
Paradox Lost!
Chugworth!

That's all from me for now.
Rock on, and dragons remain metal.

I feel kinda cheap giving you folks another full-page, one-panel comic after a con weekend, but AnimeNext kept me plenty busy and there were other factors involved that kept me from producing a full eight-panel update.

I'll have a full con report up tomorrow, complete with links to cool people and all that jazz.

That's all from me for now.
Rock on, and dragons are metal.

It's only taken me six years, but I've finally put something that's actually supposed to be in a fantasy comic into this strip.

A freaking dragon.

There won't be an update on Sunday. We'll just let this dragon here fill up the entire weekend while I'm here at AnimeNext. There may or may not be filler on Monday, depending on how much work I can get done during the con itself.

That's all from me for now.
And the dragon comes in the niiii-- aw, you know the rest.

I'm going to be a busy fellow at AnimeNext this weekend. If I'm not at my table I'll be running around doing a bunch of panels, including the nefarious Writing Unique Heroes & Memorable Villains talk. So be sure to stop by and say "hi" while you're in the area.

This Saturday and Sunday I'll either have crummy filler doodles or one-panel comics, just like I had a few weeks ago while I was at A-KON. Either way, you folks will have something to look at this weekend while I'm at the convention.

There aren't any Donation Wallpapers for June, I'm afraid. I'll just skip this month and hopefully give you fine folks some quality donation incentives next month. At least I think they're quality, but I'm biased because I draw them.

I fell a little behind getting all the pre-orders for THE STORM OF SOULS out, but if you pre-ordered your books are in the mail. If you ordered afterwards, I'll be putting your books in the mail once I get back from AnimeNext. Sorry for the delay.

That's all from me for now.
See you at AnimeNext this weekend!
Rock on.

I'm heading back to Mookie HQ from a last-minute visit to my parents' house for Father's Day.

I'll have a lengthier and (hopefully) more interesting news update tomorrow.

And don't forget that I'll be at AnimeNext this weekend, so be sure to stop by and say "hi!" if you're in the area.

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

And so Luna continues her epic streak of saying the wrong thing when she's trying to cheer someone up. It's become one of her more endearing traits for me to write and it makes me chuckle every time I do it.

I also made myself laugh yesterday when coloring Acibek. The last and only time we saw him in color was when he appeared before Dominic in The Elemecca in his "perfect form." I figured he wasn't all golden back when he was fighting in the elven rebellion. My friends who looked at his color scheme immediately pointed out that I'd sort of made Acibek look like Iron Man. I thought that was funny.

THE STORM OF SOULS is available for regular-old ordering now, and I'll also have copies of it for sale at AnimeNext in a few weeks.

June's Donation Wallpapers should be up later this week.

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

I know I promised pictures from AKON, but to be quite honest Hawk took much better pictures than I did with his superior (and sexy) camera. So I'm just going to hijack his hard work and post a link to every single picture he took. I'm in quite a few of them, and so are the awesome people I got to hang out with at the con.

Hawk's Complete Photos from AKON.

I had a picture of an awesome Celesto cosplayer, but unfortunately the picture came out blurry, which is a total bummer. My apologies to you, Celesto. Please don't 'splode me.

A big thank-you to everyone I got to hang out with, so be sure to clicky-the-linky and show them as much love as they showed me down in Dallas.

Hawk & Ananth!
Juno!
Scott!
Xero!
Jennie Breeden! She loves my butt!
Micha & Heidi!
Riot! "Ia! Ia! Shub-Niggurath!"
Jenn Brazas!
Brion!
Steve Bennett!

What a weekend it was. All I gotta do now is get ready for ANIME NEXT in a couple of weeks!

Those of you who pre-ordered THE STORM OF SOULS will have your books in the mail by the end of this week / early next week. There's just been a slight delay in my sending them out, but rest assured the books are here at Mookie HQ and you'll have them soon.

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

A-KON managed to do something to me that only one other convention has ever done... it ate everything I brought. Every single copy of both SEER'S DIGEST and THE STORM OF SOULS were completely sold out, as well as every home-made Dominic Deegan scarf. Volume 3 sold out so fast that I was out of copies by the end of the very first day. Holy crap.

The con was a blast and I had a great time. I met a ton of wonderful readers, webcomickers and general troublemakers this weekend down in Dallas. I'll have links and pictures up later this week.

I needed a bit of recovery time once I returned to Mookie HQ, so today's filler is proudly presented by "Bride," who has contributed numerous fillers over the years and I find this one to be very cute... and flowery.

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

SPS stands for "solar protection spell." I had planned to put that little tidbit into today's strip, but every attempt to do so either felt forced or ruined the pacing of the joke. So I put it here in today's news post, even though I'll "officially" address it later on in Dominic and Luna's vacation.

I'm heading out to A-KON today, and instead of scratching out crummy filler doodles I'm going to try and bang out three black-and-white "big panel" strips for this convention weekend. Friday's is already done and I'm going to (hopefully) bang out Saturday's and Sunday's before I head off to the airport. I'm still not sure whether there will be an update on Monday.

And finally, I am happy to say that Dominic Deegan Volume 3: THE STORM OF SOULS will indeed be at the convention. I think it came out looking great and I hope you fine folks agree when you see it.

That's all from me for now.
Rock on, and I hope to see you at A-KON!