News

CONBUST was a blast. I spent the weekend at this intimate, friendly convention where I spoke with a lot of great folks, was included in some memorable panels ("Dragons Are Awesome!" alongside Jane Yolen stole the show, I think) and generally had a really nice weekend. Thanks to everyone who came by and thanks to the wonderful ConBust staff for having me back this year. I can't wait to do it again.

This weekend I'll be at the mammoth ANIME BOSTON. I don't believe I'll be doing any panels there this year, so come find me in the Artist Alley and say "hi!" For the third year in a row I'll be sharing a table with my curmudgeonly comrade, Scott Wegener. I imagine he and I will spend a great deal of time scowling.


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

As much as he may deny it, Stunt is actually a bit of a hugger himself. Now we know of two people he's embraced. At this rate he may become a certified softie.

This story will wrap up next week. It'll likely be a brief epilogue which leads right into our next tale, just in time for ANIME BOSTON. I usually prefer to have storylines end on Fridays, but if this story were to end here I felt it would be cut short. On the other hand, there aren't five comics worth of wrap-up to do, so stretching this one out to Friday of next week wouldn't work either. So we'll see what happens after the weekend.

Don't forget that I'll be at CONBUST this weekend! I'll be speaking on panels, selling some merch and happily talking with anyone who stops by to say "hi!"


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

As tempting as it may have been to put Stunt and Jayden in a steamy bathtub together, this story isn't really about that. As much as it's been about faith, regret, forgiveness and the search for redemption, it's also been about the blossoming friendship between an ex-con and a troubled priestess... with a touch of arcane drama, lost treasure and an ancient necromancer.

Don't forget that I'll be at CONBUST tomorrow and throughout the weekend! I'll be speaking on a number of panels, with topics ranging from "Creating Believable Heroes & Villains" to "Dragons Are Awesome!" to "Mooks" (which is a panel about henchmen, not about me). This is a charming, intimate convention so I'm sure to be in a good mood. Be sure to come by if you're in the area!

I returned to the comic book shop yesterday and, as predicted, ATOMIC ROBO: Real Science Adventures! was a real treat. I was also happy to discover that the latest issue of the elusive ORC STAIN was released sometime this month, and was waiting for me at the store in my subscription box. Oh, Orc Stain, how I've missed your disturbingly vivid and beautifully grotesque world.

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

I'll be heading back to the comic book shop today for the first time in weeks. I'll be picking up the first issue of a new ATOMIC ROBO series, Real Science Adventures. If it's as fun as Atomic Robo has always been, this spinoff should be well worth the money spent. Do yourself a favor and go check it out, even if you buy no other comics this week.

It's looking more and more like I'll be releasing SuperGreg/Snowsong as a stand-alone "comic book" instead including the story in a collected volume. It just makes sense given the superheroic theme of the story to release it in that form. That means I'll aim to release The Shadow of Siegfried by late summer / early fall, or perhaps in time for the mid-summer conventions. I'll keep you folks posted.

I'm sad to say that I've once again fallen behind in answering my e-mails, as those of you who have written to me have no doubt noticed. I read every email I receive, but it's just replying that's gotten away from me. Again. I'm going to aim to catch up on that before Anime Boston next weekend, so please bear with me in the meantime.

I didn't get a chance to pick up Meshuggah's new album after all, but I'm going to aim to remedy that before ConBust this weekend. Anyone who comes to see me shouldn't be surprised if my face has, in fact, melted off.

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

The white magic shield that Jayden cast to protect herself and Stunt from the tunnel collapse gives me a case of the giggles. In my mind, Stunt had to walk against the shield (which managed to trap some sand in there with them) in order to move it through the sand like a hamster in a hamster ball. It's funny imagery to me, at least, even if it's not "officially" in the comic today.

I keep going back-and-forth over what to do about the next book collection. Originally I was going to redo the SuperGreg/Snowsong story altogether, but then I decided to keep it and put it in a volume with The Shadow of Siegfried. Now I don't know if those two vastly different stories belong together in one collection. So I'm considering putting out SuperGreg/Snowsong as a lone "book" (more like a giant-sized comic book) and releasing The Shadow of Siegfried in late summer / early fall in a collection alongside Endings & Annoyances and The Oracle Hunter. Or maybe some other combination that will tickle my fancy. Sheesh. You'd think I'd be more decisive after all this time.

At some point today I'm going to pick up the new Meshuggah album, "Koloss." I can't wait for that soul pounding math metal to melt my face off.


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

There's no comic missing between Friday's and today's update. We simply don't know what Stunt saw in Rilian's scrying pool... yet.

I'm heading to CONBUST this weekend! I'm thrilled they asked me to return this year and I can't wait to participate in what will surely be yet another enjoyable show! I had a ton of fun at all the panels last year and, with any luck, I won't make an ass out of myself at any of this year's talks. With any luck.

If you look down at this year's Convention Schedule at the bottom right of the page you'll see that I've added a few more shows that I'll be attending! I'm very happy to say that I'll be returning to A-KON, OTAKON, and INTERVENTION this year! Be sure to stop by and say "hi" if you're in the area of any of these awesome conventions! I'll either be in a good mood or delirious from lack of food. Whatever the case may be, I'll try not to make an ass out of myself if you come meet me in person.

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

I guess this kinda counts as a "cliffhanger" before the weekend. No one is in any immediate danger, but I'd like to think it's got enough of that "what's gonna happen next?" feeling that you'll want to come back on Monday to see how it resolves. What I can tell you is that another week's worth of flashbacks is not in store for you come Monday.

I'm mostly going to work on Dominic Deegan Vol. 7: THE SHADOW OF SIEGFRIED this weekend, as it's my last free weekend before April claims me for nearly the entire month for convention after convention. With any luck I'll have enough done to comfortably start taking pre-orders by the time ANIME BOSTON rolls around.

I'll have more shows added to my list of appearances next week, so keep an eye out to see where I'll be appearing throughout the year!

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

I didn't get much sleep the night before last because I tried to stay up as late as possible to update the comic as soon as ZeHosting migrated my account over to a more stable server. It didn't end up happening overnight so I stayed up way too late and...

...on top of some computer hardware problems that popped up at five-thirty in the morning...

...and on...

...top... of... blargh...

...so sleepy.

Me write better news post tomorrow. Me sleep head now pillow face. Blargh.


That's blargh from me for blargh.
Blargh on.

Sorry for the late update, everyone! The fine folks at ZeHosting were migrating the site over to a more stable server. We're back up and running now!

Those of you with keen eyes and long memories already knew the name “Masutel” when it was mentioned in reference to the soaring shadow over Eldariat. Today Rilian provides confirmation that it was, indeed, the Archmage of the Third Circle himself that exposed the ruins of the ancient empire.

And for those who'd like a reminder as to why Stunt is freaking out over the Lost Treasure of Luana, just one starstone is worth a LOT of money. Methinks our ex-con protagonist is going to have to exercise a lot of restraint.

Otherwise there isn't much news to report today. It's been a mellow couple of days here, what with the weather being lovely, and it's given me a chance to work on the comic outdoors. It's not as peaceful as it sounds, though. I live in a city, so instead of the chirping of songbirds and the whisper of the warm breeze I get the sounds of heavy construction, the fumes of cars and garbage, and the generally pleasant yelling of citygoers who are mad at each other. While it's not as idyllic as I'd like it to be, it's the best I've got and I'll take what I can get to enjoy the warm weather.

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

If you're confused as to what the Lost Treasure of Luana is and what it can do, as well as who Masutel is, don't worry. Stunt is just as lost in this conversation and he'll be demanding answers as soon as he gets over being called an "insignificant criminal."

And for the record, Rilian is referring to Urban Eddie and Jaxon, not Stunt's mother and Lizzy Sarkhas, as the "other criminals."

I'm still a sucker for tournaments (I played too many fighting games in the 90s), so I think it's neat that I made it to Round 2 of the ComicMix March Madness Webcomics Tournament! Thanks for all your votes in Round 1! Now let's do it again in Round 2!

In more metal news, the new Meshuggah album "Koloss" leaked and is all over the internet. From what little I've listened to, it's a fucking monster and I will most certainly be buying it when it's released in the US next week. Meshuggah is a technically masterful powerhouse of a metal band and, while my brain goes into seizures trying to figure out what time signatures they're playing in, I highly enjoy them.
(pardon my language, but when metal is this heavy and awesome an uncensored F-bomb is the only adjective that will do)

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

So technically it was Miranda who first told Jayden of Rilian, but it was Luna who had more recent and personal dealings with him. I imagine she didn't have too many nice things to say after he left her to die.

Though it's been quite awhile since she's done it, Jayden has blasted zombies in the past with her white magic.

The site was down for awhile this weekend, but as you can see things are (hopefully) running smoothly here once more. If for some reason the site is down for an extended period of time, the best way to stay informed is to check either my Twitter feed or ZeHosting's Twitter feed. Besides being an admitted Twitter junkie, I try to keep folks as in-the-loop as possible regarding site issues when they arise.

Thanks to everyone who came to see me, Chris and Aaron on the webcomics panel at VERICON this past Saturday! I had a blast and I hope they invite me back next year.

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

He's baaaaaack. Again.
Last year ended and this year began with an appearance from Rilian. And he still doesn't look happy to see, well, anyone.

This was brought to my attention yesterday, and I think it's neat. ComicMix is holding a "March Madness" tournament of webcomics and Dominic Deegan is among the 128 "competing" comics that you can vote for! I know it's silly, but I'm a sucker for tournaments. Whenever I see a tournament bracket I either hear the Mortal Kombat theme or remember the Karate Kid tournament montage (is that Stunt fighting for Cobra Kai?).

It's been a week of interesting dates being turned into weird "holidays." March 14th was Pi Day and I heard a rumor that today, March 16th, was Stone Cold Steve Austin Day. 3.14 and 3:16. I don't know if the second one is true, but professional wrestling is a not-so-guilty pleasure of mine, so I'm hoping it is.

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

Jayden did mention that the Desert of Eldariat was an ancient nation before it became a wasteland inhabited by magical monsters. Looks like whatever flew over their heads unearthed some of those ruins. And just who, or what, is living there?

There was a bit of webcomics news about an android app called DailyComix that was hijacking other webcomics' RSS feeds to make money. Dominic Deegan wasn't on the list of comics being "offered" (not that I'm complaining) and that's probably because there is no RSS for this comic. People have been asking me to implement one for years but I've never felt it was an urgent issue. I understand that it would be convenient for folks to be reminded that the comic has updated, but it's been updating at around the same time every weekday for the past decade. I figured after nearly ten years people would remember that. But who knows? Maybe this is the kick-in-the-pants I needed to actually get one this year. Maybe. I dunno. It still doesn't feel like an urgent issue to me.

Also, if you see anyone offering some kind of RSS feed for Dominic Deegan, I've got nothing to do with it. There is no official RSS for this comic. Yet. Maybe.

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

I finally finished Mass Effect 3 yesterday. I was very invested in the excellent story (as I have been for the past two installments) and powered my way through to the end. I won't talk about the controversial ending because I don't want to give away any spoilers, and I'm still processing what I really thought about it. But I imagine what I would have to say about the ending has likely already been said by countless gaming articles either praising it, condemning it, or both.

But I will list what I loved about Mass Effect 3 without giving anything away:
- The last level leading up to the final confrontation was intense.
- The Shepard and Tali romance is the sweetest one in the game.
- "I am the very model of a scientist salarian."
- A beautiful soundtrack.
- "Eve." What a woman.
- The quarian missions.
- Everyone I've spoken to who imported save files from the previous games has had a remarkably different story to follow.

I'm sure I'll have more to say on the subject as time goes on (and downloadable content becomes available) but, as I usually say, that's all from me for now.

Hackett out.

No news to report in any great length today, so I'll keep things short.

- Still working on my first Mass Effect 3 playthrough. I should have been done by now, but I've been hijacked by some friends into the admittedly addictive multiplayer mode. I should complete it sometime this week.

- I'll be speaking at VERICON this Saturday at their webcomics panel! Be sure to stop by and check it out!

- Slowly catching up (again) on my backlog of unanswered emails. Thanks for all your patience!

- Oblivion Folder made a "guest appearance" over at NINE SHOT SONATA. Rawk.


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