News

I was originally going to go with "cosmic-powered-ultra-psychic-Dominic" with this, but the poor guy just got stabbed and he's "sick" with a magic virus spell, so I figured he's not exactly at his peak... and quite frankly this idea just gave me the giggles.

I seem to be incapable of keeping this arc serious for more than three strips at a time.

Personally, I find it refreshing.

This strip made me giggle. I always liked the idea of super-powered characters, like Superman-esque superheroes or archmages, who can do just about anything except for some of the simple things we take for granted. In Miranda's case, she's one of the most powerful archmages in the world but the woman cannot deliver a joke. I find it to be one of her most endearing qualities, but then again I'm biased because I draw her.

Anyway, not a lot to report this week, hence my silence. I would like to mention that at KATSUCON next month there is a contest called the EPIC WEBCOMIC WIN. If you can make it to Katsucon in a few weeks and you want to win a ton of free high-quality swag, then sign on up for this baby. Free stuff at a convention is always cool, in my opinion.

That's all from me for now!

The other title I was considering for this post was "O Brother Where Art Thou." In the end I was feeling decidedly more hair-metal than bluegrass.

I don't have much to report again this Monday, except to remind you fine folks again about the four conventions I'll be attending in February and March. They are, in order...
IKKICON
KATSUCON
NEO NOHCON
ANIME BOSTON

Come to think of it, maybe I should entitled today's newspost "Use Your Exposition." Nah. I'm feeling decidedly more hair-metal today. Rawk.

Anyone who's been to Buddha's Delight down in the Chinatown area of Boston knows that their bean cakes are little pieces of heaven. Man. I used to live off those little guys in college.

A couple of convention updates.

At KATSUCON there'll be a contest where you'll be able to win free signed copies of SEER'S DIGEST and ECSTASY & EVIL, along with a ton of other nifty prizes from the collected webcomickers there. Details about said contest ought to be going up on their website either Friday or this weekend.

It looks like I'll be attending Neo NohCon in Buffalo, NY! I'll have more details on this once my Guest status there is finalized and all that.

That's all from me for now!
Now I want those damn bean cakes, too.

This storyarc has become more fun for me than it has any right to be. I've given myself a case of the giggles with each strip over the past week and I can only hope y'all are giggling along with me.

Other than that I've really got nothing to report this week, except to remind you that I'll be attending IKKICON and KATSUCON next month.

I'll post more this week if anything of particular interest pops up. Otherwise I hope you're all enjoying The Oracle Hunter so far.

On the convention front, I'm going to be attending IKKICON and KATSUCON in February. I don't know what my panel situation is but I'm fairly certain I'll be giving my Writing Unique Heroes & Memorable Villains talk at Katsucon. I also may be involved in a game show or two, but more on that as it develops.

It looks like I will be returning to ANIME BOSTON this year. Nothing's official as of yet and I'm still speaking with convention peoples, but as of right now I'll be there... which is awesome, since it's just a subway trip away for me.

On the comics front, last week I picked up an adorable graphic novel called OWLY: A Time To Be Brave. I almost exploded from an overload of cute. Beautiful black and white artwork, endearing, expressive characters and a simple message of goodness and understanding all combined to make me go "AWWW!" for about an hour after I was done with it.

On comic books in general, there are only a few really stand out titles that make me want to wave my arms around and shout "You should be reading this!" Granted, having 52 and Planet Hulk being published at the same time is a hard act to follow, but a few titles really make me giddy to go to the comic book store every week:
Blue Beetle
The All-New Atom
Booster Gold
Nova
Atomic Robo
Action Comics
The Spirit
Superman
These titles are both well-written and well-drawn, so if you're looking for some great comic bookery I highly recommend them.

That's all from me for now, and so far I've been able to keep my New Year's resolution! Go me!

I'll have that proper news post tomorrow, complete with an update on what conventions I'll be attending in the upcoming months and what comics I bought this week.

And as you can see, January's Donation Wallpapers are up. I do hope you like them.

See you tomorrow!

Still feeling a little under the weather.
Stupid head cold.
January's Donation Wallpapers will be up later today along with a proper news update.

Ah-choo.

I was sick with a head cold all yesterday so I'm not terribly happy with the way today's strip looks. I am, however, very happy to have Szark back in the mix of things. I have missed writing him so much.

A couple of notes about the first two strips of the new year. First off, you'll notice that my signature in the corner still has the '07 mark. This is because these strips were drawn during my holiday break, so I was still in the habit of signing stuff '07. You'd think a guy who writes a strip about a seer would have that kind of foresight. Oh well.

Second, Madam Zanzibar from yesterday's strip is... me. A couple of years ago I dressed (in drag) as a fortune teller for Halloween and called myself Madam Zanzibar. I carried around a pair of crystal balls and asked people if they wanted to see their future... in my balls. I found the "character" so amusing that I'd always wanted to put her in the strip. So there she was. That's some new year's trivia for you.

Finally, I seem to have accidentally immortalized my godfather, Uncle Greg. He was my father's best friend from high school and tragically passed away a few years ago. I felt a pang of rememberance when I realized that our very own Gregory Deegan would be an "Uncle Greg." So there's some more trivia for you.

Now on to business.

I'll be attending IKKICON and KATSUCON in February.

January's Donation Wallpapers will be up by the end of this week.

My New Year's Resolution is to finally get my ass in gear when it comes to answering e-mails. If you wrote to me over the holidays I'll be doing my best to reply to you by the end of this week. If you don't hear from me, feel free to write me another e-mail reminding me of my Resolution. I'm serious about this. You're all the greatest readers in the world and you deserve to hear back from me ASAP if you have a question or comment. I just have a bunch of e-mails to sort through after being away for the holidays.

Wow. Long news post.
That's all from me for now!

Happy freaking New Year!
Dominic and company are back for 2008!

Yeah, that's about all I've got to say for New Year's Day. I'll have a more informative and (hopefully) entertaining news post tomorrow concerning what conventions and events I'll be attending, January's donation wallpaper, a makeover for the site and other such goodies.

Right now I'm going to try and remember what I did on New Year's Eve. Oogh.

Welcome back, everybody!
The vacation was nice, but now it's back to work for me.

I'm on my way out the door to go back to New York for the holidays. The strip will continue to update through the weekend, with the last comic of the year going up on Sunday.

Things will then resume here on January 1, 2008.

I hope each and every one of you has a safe, happy and loot-filled holiday, whatever it is you may be celebrating. I've had one hell of a year with you all and I can't wait to have another come 2008.

Thank you all for everything.
I couldn't have done it without you.

Wow. In a few weeks 2007 will be behind us and 2008 will open its doors. That's pretty freaking crazy, in my opinion. Not just because of the "where did the time go?" cliche, but mostly because this has been a fairly tumultuous year for yours truly. Emotionally speaking, at least. Between relationship troubles, moving and other life-changing decisions I have to say that I'm happy I made it out of 2007 in one piece. I'm also happy to say that I am glad that most of you have stuck with me through all my personal drama.

I've been keeping the internet at arm's length the last few weeks. I don't know how wise that is for someone who makes his living on the internet, but that's where I've been anyway. It's been refreshing, actually. Going out into the snow, hanging out with the cat, working through some other creative stuff in my head. It's like spending time in a jacuzzi. That hot water is really nice when you first get in, but every so often you just have to get out and sit on the edge of the hot tub til you cool off. I guess I've been cooling off a bit, and will probably continue to do so until things wrap up for the year around here.

In order to help me put some closure on this very eventful year I will be sending out little "holiday cards" to those of you who wrote e-mails to me but I never responded. And by "holiday card" I mean it's just going to be a DD picture that's holiday themed and quite possibly spoiler-iffic. Maybe. It won't have anything to do with whatever you originally wrote to me about, but I'll feel a little better knowing that I responded to everyone in some form and can clean out my inbox with a relatively clear conscience. Hopefully in 2008 I'll finally get better about answering e-mails. Hopefully.

Things will wrap up here around next weekend, and the strip will resume on New Year's Day.

So that's where things stand as things wind down around here. 2007 was quite a year with tremendous ups and downs, but I'm humbled and flattered that you, the greatest readers in the world, are still reading. I cannot express my gratitude enough. I couldn't have done it without you.

That's all from me for now!

The NEW YORK ANIME FESTIVAL had its ups and downs. It was a big show with big ambitions in a big location. If you've ever been to the Javitz Center in New York City, you'll know how big I mean. There were a good amount of people there and I got to meet a bunch of really nice folks, both readers and fellow webcomickers. Thanks to each and every one of you who came up to my little table and said "hi." You helped make my weekend.

On the other hand, the con had its first-year problems along with some setup difficulties. The company that presented the NYAF usually does comic book conventions and trade shows, so the convention was mainly a giant exhibitor's room with only a couple of small rooms for panels and screenings. That, and I wasn't actually in the official Artist's Alley. I, and some other folks, were put into the "additional" alley which happened to be off in a hallway across from the toilets. That's actually a more strategic location than it sounds, but on principle I felt a little, well, flushed away.

In essence, the NYAF was a big anime convention that lacked the heart of an anime convention. I'm still glad I went, though, since I got to meet you wonderful readers and hang out with my fellow webcomickers.

I want to say "hallo" to...
Juno
Ananth
Dave & Jamal
Garth
Brian
Spike
Dirk
Jen
and Abby.

If I've forgotten any of you folks who talked shop with me, I'm sorry. I know I'm prone to forgetting people I hung out with at a con all weekend. My bad.

I hope y'all like this month's free Holiday Wallpaper! It's been cold here in Boston and I decided to go with two cool mages who really made an impact around here this past year.

That's all from me for now! I'll be posting information later about next year's conventions, how things will be wrapping up around here as the year ends, and what to expect from me if you've written me an e-mail and I haven't responded to you.

Between a Sunday panel, short exhibit hall hours and a train to catch back to Boston it was impossible for me to get today's strip done yesterday. I'm proud of myself for updating the comic during the convention itself, but I arrived home late last night and needed to catch up on some much-needed sleep. So I colored an old sketch of Hansi Reinholdt to make up for the lack of color yesterday. It seemed appropriate.

The strip resumes tomorrow along with a con report of the New York Anime Fest and December's new and improved Holiday Wallpaper, free for you folks to download.