News

Comic is up.

News post is not.

I'll have a more relevant and (hopefully) entertaining news post tomorrow, which will (hopefully) include various links to various things with various pictures and such.

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

October's Donation Wallpaper is up for your approval. If there's one thing I like about writing orcs it's that they're known more for using weapons other than swords in any given fantasy setting. This has led me to a brand new appreciation of battle-axes and warhammers, the latter as portrayed in this month's wallpaper.

Swords are pretty metal, don't get me wrong, but never underestimate the badass factor of a razor sharp battle-axe or a thundering warhammer. I even wear a Thor's Hammer pendant around my neck at all times. It's true.

In case you have trouble seeing the wallpaper, just Refresh your browser. That ought to do the trick.

If Monday's comic is a little delayed, that just means I was negligent in my duties (duh) and it's my girlfriend's brother's wedding this weekend. If there's a delay in Monday's update it just means I'm still recovering from the celebration.

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

Okay, so today's link to an earlier strip may be handy to remember in order to truly "get" today's comic. So, for your convenience, here's Hukthak remembering where he found the weapon... which is also called a Hukthak.

I like Hukthak. He's the orcish equivalent of a wandering fantasy hero calling himself "Blade" or something like that. Some days I wish I were badass enough to warrant having the same name as a weapon.

In other news, the newest issue of The Incredible Hercules had me laughing my non-bad-ass off. I mean, how can you go wrong when the whole premise is "HercuThor vs. Thorcules?" Not only was it funny and have a great superhero brawl, but now I know the term "elven tickler" and all that entails when it comes to any story about Hercules.

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

In case you were wondering, this happened the last time Reinholdt said "al dulaka." It's not crucial to the plot in any sort of way, but it's crucial to getting today's joke. If you can call it a joke. I dunno. I think it's funny.

Alyssa had the wisdom to take Brutal Legend with her to work yesterday after we got up early to buy it. This insured that I wouldn't be tempted to play it until she got home and all my work was done. It's a good thing, too... because it's pretty f*cking metal and it's taking all my willpower to stop rocking out to write a news post today.

A number of you have asked me how to make the werewolf cupcakes from a photograph I posted. The recipe is from a book called Hello, Cupcakes! Everything you need to know is in its hallowed pages. It should also be noted that I did not make nor eat those cupcakes, as they are very far from vegan.

I may not be able to have lycanthrocupakes, but I can have the best vegan pizza in all of Allston, MA. Mmm.

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

The biggest thing I have to talk about today is that BRUTAL LEGEND is finally out. I downloaded the demo and absolutely loved what I played. I can't wait to get my metal fingers on this (hopefully) awesome game.

Eddie's lament about the state of some modern metal during the game's intro eerily mirrors my own. Thankfully this is not the case across the board, as there are plenty of bands still putting out high-quality, ear-shattering metal for social misfits like me to enjoy.

Sometimes, however, in my search for great metal, I stumble across stuff that I never thought I'd see in a million years... like a grindcore metal band whose lead singer is a parrot. A parrot. What can I say? Hatebeak proves that birds are metal.

If there's no comic up for Wednesday, it just means I was totally negligent and totally enveloped in metal.

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

At the time of this writing, I have just spent a combined sixteen hours on trains going to and from a good friend's wedding in the Baltimore area. It was a lovely ceremony and I wish Katy and Rich marital bliss and all that... but after all that travel time I'm a bit lagged. Thus, I'm going to keep today's news post short.

After mourning my grandmother, and writing a week of Melna confronting her haunted past and the man truly responsible for it, I really needed to make a gag comic. The old "I think I'm cuddling one person in the dark but it's really another" joke never ceases to give me a chuckle.

October's Donation Wallpaper should be up this week.

Don't forget to come say "hi" to me at ONI-CON this month!

I'm aiming to have Dominic Deegan Volume 5: THE WAR IN HELL available for December. My grandmother's passing put a major delay in the progress of that, so I'll keep you folks posted if my aim is still true on this one.

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

Looks like Melna found that closure she was looking for. With a hammer. Made of lightning.

Was the lightning a bit too much? Was I emulating Thor? Was I just listening to too much Amon Amarth yesterday? You'd probably be right on all accounts. Still, I needed some natural element to channel through that hammer and none of the other ideas I had were bad-ass enough to warrant a man's head flying off his shoulders. So I defend my choice for lightning hammer because it's pretty f*cking metal.

One Day... Will Subside by realm7G is a complex, beautiful music project spearheaded by my pal Barry Neely (or as everyone I know calls him, Barry F*ckin' Neely). It's thirty-five minutes of progressive rock seamlessly cut into twelve separate songs. I'm particularly fond of this project because it's a collaboration of artists I went to college with and it's always awesome to see people you like doing what they love. Check it out and rock it out. Highly recommended by yours truly.

The debut album from Absinthe Junk is available for pre-order as well. Blair, the band's frontwoman, is another long-time friend of mine and not only has she been a total sweetie to yours truly over the years, but her band's music rocks. I've linked you fine folks to their music in the past and she tells me you really dug what you heard. If you want more, here it is.

Sorry about the lack of a news post yesterday, folks. I honestly forgot that I hadn't written one.

I've been eager to write Melna's showdown with the Doma chief for a long time now. It's almost weird for me to see it finally in the comic. I hope you folks are enjoying her verbal smackdown of the chief as much as I've enjoyed writing it over the last few days.

And in case you forgot where she got this insight from Dominic she'd been speaking of, here's their unheard conversation.

My habit of planting plot seeds and resolving them months later seems to be a theme with this sprawling story. If you folks have stuck with it this long, I thank you for your patience and long attention span.

In other news, there are some more examples of my amateur photography for you to look at, in case you're interested. There's some artistic nudity in this latest batch of pictures, so be warned... because, you know, boobs corrupt the young.

I'll have more links tomorrow of a more musical nature. Some musician friends of mine have put out some high-quality tunes and I'll hopefully turn you folks on to some jewels.

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

My "blah" levels were sufficiently high yesterday and it took me much longer to put a comic together. My biggest problem with today's strip is that my attempt to make Melna's eyes all dark and dramatic looks like she's been possessed by Celesto Morgan. I could've gone back and fixed it, but I feel like putting this mistake online will snap me back into the working groove I need and force me to lower my "blah" levels.

Who'd have thought that a week of mourning would put a person in such a funk?

I want to thank everyone again who sent me and my family condolences via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, and all that other joke stuff I said yesterday. I probably won't get the chance to answer your very kind words personally, but rest assured that I've read everything you all sent and appreciate your thoughts wholeheartedly.

October's Donation Wallpaper should be up by the end of the week.

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

Hey gang.
I'm back from visiting my family for my grandmother's funeral.

It was a very, very draining week for me and my family. There are lots of things to take care of when a loved one passes on and I felt the need to be alongside my mother, father and brother through this very trying time.

Today's comic was the best I could produce given the stressful and sad circumstances of last week. I'm not entirely happy with it, but I don't hate it either, so put the two together and you get the best I could do.

Thanks so much to all of you who sent me love and support via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, telegram, carrier pigeon, morse code and even time travel. I am, as always, overwhelmed and grateful for all your continued awesomeness. I cannot express my thanks enough.

With any luck I'll get back into the swing of things relatively soon.

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

I think the extra-crummy filler doodle says it all.

I'm with my family, preparing for the wake and funeral.

Thanks so very much to all of you who have sent me and my family your condolences and sympathies. Your love and support is very much appreciated.

I'll keep you folks posted as much as I can about when things will be returning to normal. If I don't post here I'll likely post stuff to my Twitter page.

That's all from me for now.

Hey gang.

At the time of writing this news post I was just informed that my grandmother on my father's side passed away. She was eighty-eight years old and it was just her time to go.

Today's comic was completed and uploaded long before I received this news so I decided to let it update for today.

I really don't know what to tell you all about what the update schedule will look like for the rest of the week, since my family will be giving me more details about the funeral and such, but don't be surprised if the comic doesn't update for the rest of the week. This is a time I need to be with my family.

I'll keep you folks posted as I know more.

That's all from me for now.

Many thanks to those of you who pointed out the cosmetic errors I'd made in Friday's comic. I have since gone back and fixed them so the strip looks as proper as it can.

What the frack happened to September? This was just the last weekend of the month and October is already looming its busy head upon me. Next weekend is stuff for my girlfriend's brother's wedding. The weekend after that I go to another friend's wedding. The weekend after that is my girlfriend's brother's wedding. That next weekend I get to breathe. The last weekend in October I'll be spending Halloween at ONI-CON, where I will totally be in costume.

On the bright side, I have been generously helping myself to delicious autumn brews. Mm. Oktoberfest beer and pumpkin ales.

This is also the season for apple picking and engaged in said activity on Saturday. There are few things in life I enjoy as much as the crunch of a freshly picked apple. That, and Alyssa is totally psyched about making delicious apple-based goodies for me. Apple pie for me!

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

Yesterday I mentioned two big crossover events in comics that I feel are going on far too long. I may have mentioned my dislike for one or both of these in the past, but I feel like talking about them again. My two big problems are with Marvel's Dark Reign and DC's World of New Krypton.

For months upon months upon months now I've been given very little choice as to whether or not I actually want to read about these stories. Being a Superman fan I braced myself for the worst, and at first liked it, but now that the main storyline is carrying over into three separate titles plus annuals and one-shots and oh god I've totally lost track of who's done what to who and where and why. In any given Superman title I pick up (with the exception of Secret Origin) I don't really seem to have a choice but to read about General Lane's very long, exhaustive, complicated behind-the-scenes manipulations. Honestly, I've gotten bored watching an old general smirk at a screen every time something happens to Superman.

Dark Reign has a similar problem with me. I have no choice but to watch Norman Osborn be devious and crazy across every single Marvel title being published, and it's been going on now for months and months with no sign of stopping. I've gotten bored with the revelation that "Osborn was behind the whole thing." Whoop de friggin' doo.

Now you may point your finger at me and say, "You freakin' hypocrite. The March Across Maltak has been going on for months and months now with no signs of ending any time soon. How can you complain about these complicated, long, involved stories when you yourself have been writing one since January?"

And I would defend myself by saying that The March Across Maltak isn't a crossover. If you hate this story, the characters, the heroes, the villains, the length of the tale, or if you just hate me, you can click over to any one of countless other webcomics and be free of this story for however long you like. You won't see Johnny Wander: The March Across Maltak or Questionable Content: The March Across Maltak. You wouldn't even see ads for this comic! You'd have the choice not to read it. Period.

I wouldn't have such a problem with these major comics events if I had the choice not to read them. Blackest Night is the only "event" going now that's keeping its story and its tie-ins totally separate from the regular books, and that's awesome.

Still, it would be nice to have that kind of influence in the webcomics community to have everyone do a crossover based on an idea I had. Oh well. Maybe one day I'll do it and then I'll really be a hypocrite.

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

Lots of good comics came out yesterday.
Lots of comic bookery to talk about.

First of all, I'm very sad that Wednesday Comics is over. Twelve weeks, twelve issues, one-page stories that really captured the feeling of old-school newspaper weeklies. My favorite stories were those that featured Batman, Superman, Hawkman, and my two absolute favorites, Supergirl and Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth. This was a great experiment and I hope DC decides to do this again. If a collected edition of this comes out (or if you can find all twelve issues at your local comic shop) I highly recommend picking it up.

Superman: Secret Origin kicked off to a great start. I love Superman. I love it when he's written well. I love it when he's drawn well. The writer/artist team of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank nailed it in this first issue. Seeing Clark deal with his inexplicable alienation and difficulties of being hopelessly different from everyone as a child is really touching, as is his parents' initial hesitation to tell him the truth of his birth. I have high hopes for this mini-series.

In even more Superman goodness, Blackest Night: Superman was one hell of a brawl. Watching Kal-El go up against Kal-L, seeing the full range of the emotional spectrum glowing through Superman's body (without looking ridiculous), the "return" of Psycho Pirate... and who knew Martha Kent wanted to kick so much ass? Thumbs-up on this title, too.

Detective Comics featuring Batwoman continues to artistically blow me away. If you like the different layouts I've done here when Dominic has a vision, you'll love this title. The fight scene alone between Batwoman and High Madame Alice gave me an artgasm. I cannot say enough good things about how great this book looks.

Tomorrow I'll talk about two big crossover events in comics that are driving me bonkers, why I think they've gone on way too long, and why I don't think I'm a hypocrite for saying so even though The March Across Maltak has been going on since January.

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