News

Once again we delve into Jayden's past, only this time these are all events we've witnessed before. But, since it's been such a long time, this storyline needed a refresher so, when she brings it up again later, it won't be an out-of-nowhere revelation that relies on links to older comics down here in the news box.

But here are those events linked here for your convenience:
Jayden as Siegfried's cohort.
Jayden and Siegfried's affair revealed.
Jayden speaks the First Heresy of Hell.

In other news, I posted some photos from last Thursday's Slaughterhouse Sweethearts burlesque show, "Eat Your Heart Out," on my deviantArt page. I think I managed to capture some scandalous moments despite my very amateur photography skills, but take look and see what you think!
(Note: while there's no nudity in the burlesque photos, there are other pictures that contain nudity in my gallery)

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

For those who may have forgotten, Stunt revealed this secret once before. In my experience, a confession to someone while they're asleep isn't the best method for getting something off your chest. It may be good practice for the time when you actually build up the courage to speak face-to-face, but that's all.

This week has been filled with innuendo and other naughty things, so I'll finish things off with a photo I snapped from The Slaughterhouse Sweethearts' vicious Valentine-themed burlesque show, "Eat Your Heart Out," at which I was one of the official photographers.



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

Surprise! It's a twelve-panel comic today!

Sometimes I feel like certain strips need a little bit extra to cover everything I want in a given day. Sometimes it's exposition and sometimes it's emotional beats in the pacing. I tried to squeeze this into eight panels, but every version felt too rushed or left too much unresolved for tomorrow. So I decided to put a little extra work in and give you folks a bonus-sized comic for today. I hope you like it.

I'll be having a wickedly good time at EAT YOUR HEART OUT tonight in the Boston area! My friend "Femme Bones" (the real-life Tara Swift) founded this burlesque troupe and their shows are always sinfully spectacular.

Or perhaps "Sirlesque" is more your thing?

This news post got really scandalous. I think I'll stop now before I get all a-flutter.

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

New comic books hit the shelves today. I'm sad that the new ATOMIC ROBO won't be released today, but here's hoping I can salvage something out of my "comic book day," an event I looked forward to on a weekly basis. At least there's Animal Man, which has so far been tremendous.

I love comics. They've been a huge part of my life. Not just here in my little corner of the internet, but since my childhood. When I was a boy my father brought home a big box of old comic books a friend of his was getting rid of. I was too young to appreciate many of them, but the (superheroic) seed was planted in my brain. I grew up reading the newspaper dailies, classics like Calvin & Hobbes and The Far Side. I was introduced to webcomics just over a decade ago. Whatever form comics will take next, I'm sure I'll be following the medium, whether as a participant or a reader.

But I'll always be a fan.

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

It's been a little while (no pun intended) since we've seen any halflings in the comic. The last time we saw them was during Dominic and Luna's vacation, when they visited Olde Tucklebruck Island. Our battered priest is a grinning reminder that, while they may be small, halflings hit really hard.

Last year I mentioned that I was going to redraw and rewrite the SUPERGREG/SNOWSONG storyline because I wasn't satisfied with it, due mainly to my working on it during a difficult time in my personal life. While I'm still planning on doing that, I've decided to include it as part of the next volume, The Shadow of Siegfried, as opposed to its own separate, early 2012 release. I'll keep you folks posted as time goes on.


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

Sex humor is nothing new to this comic. It's been going on for years and, since I think sex-related humor is funny in the right dosage, I don't think it's going to stop.

In equally scandalous news, the Slaughterhouse Sweethearts, a Boston-based burlesque troupe (whose debut performance I sponsored awhile ago) will be staging their first performance of 2012 this Thursday in the Boston area! My friend "Femme Bones" is the founder of this troupe and their shows are always memorable. Here's a short video preview of EAT YOUR HEART OUT! (warning: "so many boobs")

Bit of trivia: Femme Bones is the inspiration for Tara Swift, Dominic's student who is an aspiring enchantress and scandalous dresser. She is the only character in the comic with a real-life counterpart that I have not killed off.

And finally, while we're being somewhat naughty, here's one of the dirtiest jokes I know that doesn't contain a single dirty word.

Why do blonde girls have bruises around their bellybuttons?
Because blonde guys are dumb, too.

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

Okay, so I lied.

We didn't find out why Stunt had such a profane outburst in yesterday's comic. He's not ready to talk about his past. Neither is Jayden, apparently, but we have the advantage of already knowing what's bothering her. Besides, I think this is a more poignant moment between these two... but, as always, I'm biased because I make the comic.

Other than that, there's little news to report today. So here's a couple of links to some cool stuff I ran into on the internet.

FDR: American Badass.
This is hilarious, but totally not safe for work. Lots of swearing, blood and awesome.

The First Word.
This is a beautiful and mind-blowing webcomic. It's also not safe for work, as it contains mature content, but the big giant warning on the front page explains that quite well.

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

While Stunt's misogyny is no secret, this outburst is certainly a lot meaner and more profane than his older remarks. But it's good to know that he's showing some level of regret, at leasy when swearing at clergy. As to what caused that nasty outburst? Tune in tomorrow to find out.

I picked up new comic books yesterday. Not many, as the current state of superhero comics is still lackluster at best, but what I picked up wasn't all that disappointing.

AQUAMAN #5 has the poor guy stuck in the desert, and appropriate jokes follow. This series doesn't ignore the fact that Aquaman is frequently ridiculed and embraces it as part of his narrative. He kicks a lot of ass and gets little credit for it. I still like him, though.

DEADPOOL #49.1 is a musical. I'm not kidding. You have to "sing" the tunes in your head, mind you, but it's still an entertaining read. Daniel Way's writing continues to crack me up and I highly recommend every one of his almost fifty issues of Deadpool. Oh, and the closing tune is a Misfits song. Rock.

Green Lantern: New Guardians #5 is a decent space adventure. Kyle Rayner is my favorite Green Lantern, I'm a sucker for color-coded cosmic heroes (I grew up watching Voltron) and I like the other Lantern Corps. This series isn't amazing, but it's a fun read.

My only complaint with Superman #5 is that he's still wearing that awful new costume. Bring back the underwear on the outside, dammit!

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

Tarvis's elemental form had a few versions before I settled on this one. I tried for a more monstrous look, like a wispy, smoky belker from an RPG bestiary (double nerd points to everyone who knows what a belker is), but that ended up looking too sinister. I tried for a crystalline dragon-like form, but that ended up looking too majestic. In the end, a cloud-centaur-genie-thing was just right for our newest elemental changeling.

New comic books hit the shelves today, even though I've been groaning about the lackluster state of superhero comic books lately. However, some of you sent me very nice words of encouragement (via email, my Twitter feed or Facebook) in regards to the very early drafts of the superhero webcomic I'm planning out, so I'm excited to grab some new comic books for inspiration! Or, at the very least, roll my eyes and complain about what should have been done differently.

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

We've only had exposure to one elemental changeling before, and he wasn't a pleasant fellow... even before he had a rock in his chest and returned as a necromantic abomination of... yeah. Being an elemental changeling is a dangerous bit of business. Let's hope Tarvis is a bit more stable than Neilen was. Then again, drugging Stunt probably isn't a good sign.

We're almost at the end of January and so far I've kept my new year's resolution about answering my emails! I fall behind on the weekends, but I catch up on Mondays. Comments and complaints, praise and critique, I've replied to all of them so far. Keep 'em coming, folks!

Okay. That's enough links for one news post.
Rock on and geek out.

Today I want to talk about comics. Comic books. Comic books about superheroes.

I've been moaning about the current state of superhero comics and mourning the lack of great, memorable stories like 52, PLANET HULK and NEXTWAVE: Agents of H.A.T.E. for a while now. There are a few exceptions nowadays, like Thunderbolts, Animal Man and Wonder Woman, but they're far and few between when one sees the number of superhero titles being published. Atomic Robo is a great comic book, but Robo is more of an action hero than a superhero.

If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself. I've begun the first drafts of what I hope will be a fun and adventurous superhero webcomic. It's probably way too early to even begin talking about this, as superpowers have yet to be defined, names settled upon, and the first "issue" isn't even close to being completed, but I was on a writing kick this weekend and I'm excited as to how it's coming, even in these very, very early stages.

That, and I had nothing else to talk about today.

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

Don't bother looking through the archives for the name "Lizzy Sarkhas." It's never been mentioned. If you mention it to Stunt alongside his real name, however, it's enough for him to draw a knife on you.

In somewhat related news, Alyssa and I were given a beginner's home-brewing kit as a wedding gift. The whole process took about a month, and at the conclusion we had our first homemade beer. It wasn't the most amazing thing ever, but it didn't poison anyone either. So we're counting it as a success.

In comic book news, Wonder Woman remains one of my favorite new titles. The heavy mythology story has me nerding-out like I'm back in middle school. The design for Poseidon in this month's issue made me squeak a little.

In internet news... well it turns out there were more "major developments" to speak of, though I won't go on at length about them. In case you missed it yesterday, Megaupload was taken down by U.S. officials and there was a coordinated retaliation by Anonymous. It looks like an interesting time to be online.

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

And we're back! For those of you who may be confused by today's comic, you can now view yesterday's "censored" comic normally.

Thank you for standing with me and the thousands of other sites on the internet during yesterday's SOPA/PIPA BLACKOUT. It was a memorable day across the internet, and amidst the protests eight lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Senate withdrew their previous support for SOPA & PIPA. It's not the end of this fight yet, but it's certainly a step in the right direction and it made some people think twice about these dangerous bills.

As of this writing, PIPA (Protect IP) is still scheduled to go to the floor of the Senate for a vote on January 24. If you haven't already, contact your senators and encourage them to oppose this bill. Emails are good, but phone calls are the best. I called John Kerry's office. The staffer there was very polite.

Okay. That's enough politics from me for now. Barring any further developments, I'll probably talk about comic books tomorrow.
Rock on and Get Your Censor On.

STOP AMERICAN CENSORSHIP.

WIKIPEDIA BLACKOUT & government representative contact forms.

SOPA STRIKE.

STOP THE WALL.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT SOPA.

SOPA markups to resume in February.

Contact your Congressman and/or Senator. Tell them not to support these bills.

Piracy and theft need to be fought online.
These bills do it wrong.

Much like Stunt's daydream yesterday, we've seen this exchange between a young Jayden and Luna before, albeit briefly during The Storm of Souls while Dominic was having visions of the past on his way to the Planar Pathway. I wouldn't expect anyone to remember that one passing panel from seven years ago, nor is it necessary to remember it for this story, but I like providing these links to comics past. Like the dreams for Jayden and Stunt, they're a bit of nostalgia for me.

The SOPA/PIPA Strike is tomorrow, with Wikipedia joining the protest in a 24-hour blackout.

That being said, tomorrow's update will be "censored" to show solidarity with the SOPA/PIPA Strike. I guess you could call it a "soft blackout," since the archive will still be accessible and only the newest comic will be affected. This is not the same as a "crummy filler day" or me just taking a day off. The comic will update, only in a censored manner, and once the protest is over you'll be able to see Wednesday's comic normally.

While I know quite well that "webcomicker delays update" is not even remotely new or surprising, I've been pretty vocal about this issue and I feel I should participate.

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