News

And the mongrelman makes the save!

Bort was last seen checking on Celesto before the two of them seemingly vanished.

He leaves us, quite literally, with a cliffhanger for the weekend.

Speaking of the weekend, I'm at CONBUST! This is a really great, intimate convention with amazing attendees, guests I'm flattered to be counted among, and panels that are some of the most fun I've had the pleasure to be a part of. Some panels will be new to me this year, like "Geeks In Love," while others are so memorable that I specifically ask to be a panelist again, like "Dragons Are Awesome." So if you're in the area, be sure to stop by and say "hi!" This ought to be a fun weekend.


That's all from me for now.
Rock on, and see you at CONBUST!

In case you missed it during my annual holiday vacation at the end of 2012, Celesto was trying to recover in relative peace and quiet of the Wild Edge.

Celesto has been after The Beast for a long time.

From his first encounter in its home "dimension" in the Elemecca...

...to his entrapment and eventual escape... twice...

...to swearing a bloody crusade against The Beast. And it was certainly bloody...

...but The Beast's influence lingered in Celesto's mind...

...which helped him to imitate The Beast to such a degree that the disguise finally began to wear him.

So yeah. Celesto's got a bone to pick.

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

A few links to the past, for your backstory convenience:

The Prophet Luana had a vision of God, and many Callanians regard her as "the first seer."

In truth, she was one of many oracles who had significant visions, all at the same time.

Rilian has been emotionally cold for a long, long time.

The Prophet Luana tells Dominic that the truth of her discovered words was the last thing she ever saw.

In other news:
- Ingenious and Small World are my two favorite board games nowadays.
- Replaying Skyrim is just as much fun as I remember. I love that game.
- I'm not allowed to play the last Mass Effect 3 DLC, "Citadel," unless my wife is around. She wants to see what happens next.


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

In light of this sad reminder that he fell in battle, here is a small selection of some of my favorite Quilt moments throughout the years:

Quilt's first physics joke.

Quilt feels the explosive effects of the war in Hell.

There are a lot of Detective Quilt scenes to choose from, but my favorite has to be consulting Gerald.

Quilt's bubble pipe scrying.

In other news, I'm really excited to return to CONBUST this weekend! I'll be talking on a number of panels and otherwise chilling out at my merch table, so be sure to come by and say "hi!" You may even have a chance to preview my next webcomic. But you won't know for sure unless you come to CONBUST!

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

Other necromancers who had plans for their deaths:

Helixa had a resurrection trick she used on a few occasions.

Adrak Bulgak and Jacob had spell wards in place to protect themselves. Rilian appears to be using similar magic, only his body isn't in stasis. It disintegrated.

I picked up new comic books yesterday at my local comic shop, and I have to say that I am now definitely done with superhero comics from the "big two." I've been saying that for awhile now, but I was clinging to hope with a few titles. But as those storylines came to their conclusions, I found myself less and less interested in what happened next. Why get invested when it could all just be rebooted in a year? So, screw it. I still love superheroes, but not the mainstream comics any more.

Comic books I still enjoy:
- Saga
- Atomic Robo
- Blacksad (magnificent graphic novels, if you can find copies of them)

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

Dominic first encountered the Prophet Luana, and the words she discovered, when he touched the Lost Treasure of Luana...

...and Rilian is back to his old self. Very old self.

I've added a couple of shows to my 2013 Conventions! Check down below on the right to see where I'll be in the coming months. Some are close to home, some are far away from home, but they're all shows I'm returning to and I'm so flattered to have been asked back. Be sure to stop by and say "hi" if you're nearby!

In other random bits of news:

- A new Finntroll album is coming! Nice! My heavy metal is usually flavored with demons, dragons, vikings, and sometimes flying whales, so it will be nice to have the trolls back... and not the internet variety.

- I still love Chikara Pro Wrestling. Even my wife, who never liked professional wrestling, finds it a lot of fun.


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

The last time Dominic was approaching the Elemecca, things got just as distorted and broken as they are now. Only last time he was doing the catching instead of someone catching him. Even if it looks to be Dominic catching himself. Sort of.

The approach to the Elemecca is bizarre.

In other random bits of news:
- I wish it would stop snowing in the New England area.
- Instead of buying new video games, I've decided to start replaying Skyrim. This is a good way to save money, but a bad way to save time.
- I've had "Believe" by Savatage stuck in my head for days.
- Alyssa and I have been watching Chowder. What a great show that was.

As you can see, March has been mellow. And I'm going to finish the month off with a return to CONBUST, a lovely and equally mellow convention that was kind enough to invite me back for a third consecutive year.

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

Just like Celesto fell through the void locked in combat with the Infernomancer, Dominic plummets towards the Elemecca, locked in combat with The Beast. Only he's falling through a... Lost Treasure of Luana spiral.

I finally spotted Comet PanSTARRS last night, thanks to my mother-in-law who was kind enough to lend me binoculars. It was a little difficult to spot, what with errant light pollution and my unsteady hands, but despite all that I was still able to see an actual comet with my own two eyes, in real time.

That's the thrill of amateur astronomy / stargazing for me. To search for a celestial object, without the aid of tracking computers or electronic maps, scanning the night sky with binoculars or a telescope, and triumphantly proclaiming "there it is!" when you find it. Some nights you don't succeed, and there are no triumphant proclamations, but you wait for the next clear night and try again. The victory is worth the wait.

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

Originally, I had Miranda asking for Dominic last. A concerned mother asking about her son's whereabouts is a good way to end the week's worth of comics, and sets up a little cliffhanger for the weekend.

But I felt it was more appropriate to remember the one that fell in their attack on the Sanctum of the Magi. Instead of a "we did it!" celebration or cheers from onlookers, I wanted a more somber feeling for this battle's conclusion. Dominic's is missing, Luna is somewhere in Maltak, the Beast is still loose, and the future of Callan is uncertain.

In less depressing news, I'll be adding more photographs to my deviantArt gallery throughout the day today! So keep an eye out for new additions from new and older photo-shoots. I hope you like what you see.



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

The last time Laurie pulled this stunt, the ground was a lot closer. And there wasn't a massive explosion (that is a pretty big explosion for such a tiny beam). And he wasn't protecting as badly a wounded (and unmoving) person.

Their fate certainly seems up-in-the-air.

This sort of thing is still odd for me to put into the comic. After ten years of having a title character whose physical frailty has increased over time, having someone like Laurie doing heroic athletics and daring stunts is almost jarring for me.

I've still had no luck in seeing Comet PanSTARRS. The skies were very clear last night, and I think I even found a spot where I could look low enough on the horizon to see it... but I gave my binoculars to my pal Garth back in February so he could start enjoying the night sky, too. Oh well. Telescopic searches await me in later months!

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

Losing your head isn't necessarily "the end" for you around here. If you're a servant of The Beast, you have head insurance. Or if you're Runcible Spoon, you lose your head for fun.

I forgot to mention that a possible "soundtrack" for yesterday's comic was "Beheading of a King" by Amon Amarth. I guess it could also work for today's strip, as Stunt soaks in his victory over authority at its highest level. Going to be a pretty cool thing to put in his Rogue Resume... if he manages to catch Fierla's hand, that is.

I seem to be out of luck in trying to observe Comet PANSTARRS this week. I can't find a decent spot by my house and the next few days are forecast to be cloudy. Oh well. While I may miss this comet's closest best show, I'll still have a chance to find it with my telescope when it's higher in the sky later this month, but dimmer.

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

Another reminder that Miranda is an excellent illusionist, just like her father.

It's comics like today's that make me realize that things around here are really ending. Normally I have to be concerned with the fallout of a character's actions down the road, and how it will effect future stories, but this is the big finale. Heads will roll. Literally, as we see today.

Daylight savings time has begun once again, so that means the comic's updating time will once again be 3am U.S. Pacific Standard Time.

The auto-update time changes because of the way it's coded into the website, and whenever I try to adjust it, all the news posts get shifted under the wrong comics in the archives. I could get someone to fix it, but I'll just keep this funny little website quirk for the next couple of months.

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

In lots of old-school fantasy the villain's castle, tower, or other dwelling always crumbles after their defeat. In this case, it seems to be Rilian's death that's toppling the Sanctum of the Magi.

Happy (belated) birthday to my best friend, who is the partial model for, and namesake of, our villainous king. Hope you had a nice day, pal! And I hope your evil headquarters didn't crumble around you.

I've added lots of photos to my deviantArt gallery of photographs! I'm really lucky to have the opportunity to work with so many wonderful models and performers, and I really do my best to showcase them to the best of my ability. Take a look, and I hope you like what you see.
Note: Some pictures in the gallery, including some of the new ones, contain artistic nudity. You need a DA account to see them, but I figured I'd give you a heads-up anyway.



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

This isn't the first time Dominic has vanished because of activity in (or out) of the mindscape.

Katya was aware that using her fledgling second sight would be dangerous. She just agreed to risk it anyway.

I had the privilege to photograph a wonderful performer yesterday. I'll post photos from our shoot later this week. Likely tomorrow, which is all that will be left of this week. Yay Fridays!

I'll be returning to the very charming and always fun ConBust at the end of this month! I'll have news on more 2013 conventions next week, too.


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

It was a happy accident, but I like how the Beast's appendages look like a toothy maw as they separate from the king.

Three months into the new year, which makes three months since I shaved my head and facial hair. In that time, I'm pretty happy with the way my hair and beard have grown in. Since I've only been shaving my mustache (my wife hates kissing a hairy upper lip) I've been getting my fair share of Amish and Abraham Lincoln jokes. I don't mind, but I'm sad that not everyone knows who I'm talking about when I call it my "Uncle Iroh beard." Oh well. I guess it doesn't help that I'm not an old man who can breathe fire.

Not yet, anyway.

New comic books hit the shelves today, though I can't say I'm terribly excited about any new titles. ATOMIC ROBO and SAGA remain incredible, but I just don't have the heart to get invested in any new superhero titles. They're just going to get rebooted someday. Again.


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