News

As of this writing my internet connection remains crap-tacular and I'm working to resolve the issue with my provider. Anyone who's had to deal with the run-around these companies give you and twelve million different suggested solutions to one problem that arose out of nowhere... I'm sure you can imagine the size of my headache.

This was, once again, written in one of those rare windows of time where I actually seemed to be able to connect to the internet.

My crummy connection has me falling behind on my e-mails again (shocker!) so if you've sent me anything particularly important, please be patient while I deal with these headache-inducing connection problems.

Grawr.

My internet connection has been crap this entire weekend, and as I'm writing this it's during one of those rare moments when my freaking provider is actually allowing me to get online, so you'll have to forgive me for keeping this brief.

This week's comics ought to be fun. At least I'm excited about writing the development of this band. I hope you folks will enjoy the ride, too, as this musical storyline is nearing its conclusion.

That's all from me for now.
Rock (disconnected).

I'm sure many of you saw this coming a mile away, but it was still a lot of fun to draw this fun reveal of Gregory's new band. As usual, I played a great deal of heavy, aggressive, maybe even "explosive" music to help me get the inspiration for today's comic. My muse was totally headbanging.

My favorite part of the comic is likely the tiny, crummy drum set that Taz MaDara is playing. I originally drew a bigger, more impressive drum kit for him, but when I was a teenager with dreams of "making it" with my own rock band I played in a rehearsal space that provided guys like us with tiny, crummy drums. Taz's tiny drum kit is totally on purpose and an homage to those days of my youth where our drummer, who was a big, lanky dude, was cramped behind a tiny little drum kit.

If only I'd known about the "circular headbang" technique back in those days. My neck wouldn't nearly be as sore today.

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

Some cool comic books came out yesterday, but I'm only going to take the time to talk about one of them. It's one I've mentioned before and will continue to sing its well-deserved praises for as long as I can.

If you only go to the comic book store to pick up one title this week, or even this entire month, you must pick up the newest issue of ATOMIC ROBO. I've loved this book since its first issue and its only gotten better over time. This month's issue has to be one of my favorites. Ever.

"Why Dr. Dinosaur Hates Atomic Robo" has excellent pacing, great humor and one of the best evil geniuses I've seen in comics in a long time. Scott Wegener deserves much, much praise for making each and every panel that features Dr. Dinosaur a freaking visual meal. Every facial expression and gesture of this reptilian supervillain is absolutely nailed by Wegener.

You. Must. Read. This. Comic.
Please.

This is the ring I used to propose to Alyssa, and it's the last bit of engagement news I'll be sharing with you folks, if only because I think the story behind this engagement ring is really freaking cool.

This was my father's grandmother's ring. It's over one-hundred years old and I was blessed enough to have it set aside for me. Besides its beautiful design, I can say nerdy-sounding things about it like, "This ring was forged over a century ago in the fires of love."

I'll quit bugging you folks now with all this stuff.
Rock on.

Thank you all so much for the wonderful e-mails you sent me regarding the announcement of my engagement. My inbox is literally flooded with love and I cannot express my gratitude enough to you wonderful, kind readers.

Before I gush any further about how lucky a nerd I am, I'm going to take the rest of this news post to address something sad. I only found out about this yesterday, and given the musical theme of this current storyline I feel it's necessary to give it the proper respect it deserves.

Ronnie James Dio, a god of metal, died over the weekend.

I'm going to have "Holy Diver" and "Rainbow in the Dark" playing in a loop for the rest of the week. The "Kickapoo" song from The Pick of Destiny will sneak its way in there, too.

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

I'm actually amazed that I was able to get today's comic done. Hell, I'm amazed that I was able to get any comics done at all last week. The reason I'm patting myself on the back for being as productive as I ought to be is because I've been holding on to some very exciting news. News that I'm so excited about that I can't keep it from you fine folks any longer.

Last week I asked my girlfriend, Alyssa, to marry me.

She said "yes."

We spent most of last week telling our families and close friends the good news, and this weekend it just really sunk in and hit us that we're engaged to be married. Now I can announce it to the world! And by "the world" I mean you fine and awesome readers who've shown me so much love over the years.

ACK! I'M ENGAGED! WHOO-HOO!
Rock on!

Drawing this strip was fun. To achieve maximum inspiration for Gregory's "RRRRAAAAAGH!!" I was certain to play a lot of angry, aggressive and brutal music from my collection. Actually, I just played Behemoth's superb album Evangelion from start to finish. It did the trick.

Here are some other recommendations if you ever need to ignite your own personal "RRRRAAAAGH!!"

"Solsagan" - Finntroll
"At The Left Hand Ov God" - Behemoth
"Midvinterblot" - Unleashed
"While You Were Shouting At The Devil, We Were In League With Satan" - Zimmer's Hole
"All The Tears" - Gojira
"Live for the Kill" - Amon Amarth
"Before the Hangman's Noose" - DevilDriver
"The Sacrilegious Scorn" - Dimmu Borgir

Next week is going to be fun around here. Hee hee.
That's all from me for now.
Rock on and have a nice weekend!

Sometimes you guys absolutely crack me up.

Anyway. Sorry about the lack of news updates this week. I was switching over hosting services to ZeHosting and there were some hiccups with the transfer process, such as news being unable to update and some navigational glitches. Everything should be running more smoothly from now on, as things get used to running on the "new" hosting around here.

I say "new" because Pierre (the gentleman in charge of ZeHosting) has been graciously hosting me for years now. He's just changing things up a bit and I'm along for the ride. Whee!

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

I am aware that the navigation buttons are currently gone.

The site has been in the process of switching / modifying hosting services and some things are still a little glitchy while templates and folders are renamed, reorganized and otherwise changed.

I'm working to fix this problem ASAP.

Don't worry, folks. We're not heading back into Maltak. It's just that Donovan being able to sense a bad review... on the wind... from another country... gives me the chuckles.

Other than that, no news to report today.

I'll be spending part of the weekend with my family for Mother's Day, so there's that. Otherwise... yep. It's a slow news Friday, and that's fine by me.

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

Some cool comic books hit the shelves yesterday.
These are a couple that I picked up and my impressions of them.

The only thing I really like about War of the Supermen is that the lengthy, drawn-out New Krypton saga is finally drawing to a close. This multi-year massive crossover storyline has done absolutely nothing for me and I cannot wait for J. Michael Straczynski (one of my favorite writers in comics) to take the helm of Superman once this is all over.

I cannot say enough good things about Red Robin. Chris Yost and Marcus To are an amazing writer/artist team who manage to capture Tim Drake as a kick ass street superhero who isn't weighed down by crushing angst or moral dilemmas. This title manages to be dark and gritty while being fun and adventurous at the same time. It's a great mix, but I'm sad to see Yost leaving as writer next month. Fooey.

I love Aquaman. I freely admit it. And the dark revelation of his "new" powers in the first issue of Brightest Day was impressive and disturbing. With Martian Manhunter and Hawkman & Hawkgirl also being spotlighted in this series, many of my favorite DC superheroes seem to be getting a push, so I'm hopeful that things go well. I hope.

Last month's issue of JLA All-Stars almost made me drop the title entirely. Anna Fortune's debut was a cheap deus ex machina save for the team, and the fact that she looks like a steampunk sorcerer ninja just made me angry beyond belief (note: I hate ninjas and steampunk). This month's offering saved the title for me and made me reconsider the character, as all her "ex machina" saves came unraveled and her inexperience almost killed, well, everyone in the world. The rest of the team is finally getting along, shines in their own title (finally) and looks like they're actually 1) competent and 2) enjoying each other's company. I'm going to give this title another chance... but I'll miss you, Damage.

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

That sure looks like a weird case of tusk-mouth, doesn't it? But didn't Luna "give the curse of tusk-mouth back" during The March Across Maltak? Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about that. More on this little development coming soon.

And in case the name "Gar MaDara" was a little familiar to some of you, it's in reference to an old crummy filler sketch of Donovan's first band that I did a couple of years ago.

And, finally, I am happy to say that all the problems with the proof of The War In Hell were successfully fixed and that printing of the fifth volume is underway. This is a huge weight off my shoulders and I can't wait to deliver the finished product to you fine folks.

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

Offended? Amused? Confused?
If so, then Taz MaDara did his job today.

I was out of it yesterday, but today I want to thank the fine folks at NOBRAND CON for giving me another lovely weekend with them this year. For two years in a row this has been an unexpectedly awesome convention, with great attendees and a staff that exceeds all expectations. If you're in the area and want to attend an intimate, friendly convention with an awesome staff and guests who are very happy because they've been treated far better than they should, then I cannot recommend NOBRAND CON enough. Give it a try. You won't be disappointed.

In closing... I want to go to this bar.

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

I just flew in from NO BRAND CON... and boy are my arms tired!

Actually, I'm so travel-weary and jet lagged that I'm in no shape to write a proper news post today.

I'll have a (hopefully) more entertaining and proper news post tomorrow. Right now I'm going to readjust my body to my time zone and that whole "not being in a plane" thing. Blargh.

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