News

With the moving process I admittedly fell behind in sending out orders for books, but now that things are (more-or-less) settled in around here I'm all caught up with that. So, you know, if you're feeling anxious to order some high quality collections of comics about a grouchy seer, now's the time to do it.

There I go again, sounding like a salesman.

I should have two Donation Wallpapers ready for you fine folks before the end of the week.

In the meantime, I'm going to go ahead and show off what is probably the most accurate picture of me and my girlfriend taken to date. Two grinning nerds... ankle deep in city pond water. Go figure.

And finally, in even further geek-tacular news, I have recently had my attention turned to a tabletop roleplaying game called Pathfinder. I'd been playing Dungeons & Dragons for decades and was perfectly happy with their 3.5 rules, even though they had their flaws. D&D 4th Edition felt more like Dungeons & Dragons: Tactics and while it makes for a great board game, I don't feel like it's a roleplaying game. Even the rulebooks look and read more like video game manuals. What Pathfinder has done is (legally) take the rules of 3.5 and tweak them into... 3.6, I guess. I haven't had the opportunity to check out the core rulebook yet, but from everything I've read and the testimony of some very trusted friends of mine, this game is the next evolution of that beloved system. Check it out and see if you come to share my excitement about this.

Then again, I was sold on the idea of half-orcs being a flexible race... and the hundreds of dollars I put into 3.5 books over the years could still be used because they made their rulebook compatible with them oh thank you god!

Ahem.

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

I have to admit that Jacob's only dialogue in today's strip made me chuckle when I wrote it.

And so it is that September is upon us.
Good gravy, when the hell did that happen? Wasn't it just August, like, yesterday?

Anyway, as you folks can see I was able to tear myself away from my... er, our new gaming computer long enough to get a comic done for today. I know it's not very "professional" of me, but I challenge anyone with an ounce of nerd in them to not be tempted by shiny new electronics that only serve to make things you already own look cooler.

In my last, desperate attempts to cling to the summertime I'm heading to Maine for the weekend with my friends. I don't anticipate an interruption in the comic but I do anticipate pestering you wonderfully patient people with even more photographs once I'm back.

There may, however, be a slight delay and/or interruption in comics in the middle of next week due to urgent family issues that need my attention. Just giving you folks a heads-up just in case.

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

Oh man. Things don't look that great for Jacob today.
In fact, I'd venture to say he looks downright... dead.
Hrm. This probably isn't good.

In geeky news, this past week my gaming computer (which had been generously built by my pal Tim) started acting haywire for no reason. I had to finally put my Frankenputer to rest and go shopping for a new way to play my PC games. Turns out my girlfriend is just as big a nerd as I am and helped me pay for a pretty spiffy new machine. As I write this it's sitting in the box next to me, waiting to be opened and powered up. If there's a delay on Tuesday's comic, you'll all know it's because I was too busy playing with my... er, our new toy.

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

I'm not a big fan of swearing, which is why I've tried my best to keep it out of the comic for so long, but when I originally wrote Jacob saying "oh crap" it just didn't seem to convey how absolutely screwed he knows he is.

If you're like me and you like a soundtrack to certain things, I'd say a good song for Thuen Gor's rage would be "Ov Fire and the Void" by Behemoth.
WARNING: This song and especially this video are not work safe in the slightest, and if you're a particularly religious person I wouldn't recommend watching the video. Ever.

Other than that it's a slow news day. This is a free weekend for me so I'm going to spend it straightening out the last of the unpacked boxes in my new apartment. It'll be nice to walk across my living room without stubbing my toe or worrying about tripping and breaking something important.

A metric crap-ton of comic books came out yesterday and, as of this writing, I still haven't finished reading all of them. Most of them have been very good so I'll talk about the ones I got to that really left an impression on me.

Teen Titans has become the bleakest, most depressing series I've put myself through. If Blue Beetle wasn't on the roster I would drop this title after this month. It seems that every major storyline with them has become "they need to learn how the real world works. They need to learn the meaning of loss." After two consecutive team member deaths and the loss of their leader I think they've gotten the picture! Geez! Writing a story with a happy ending doesn't make you a crappy writer!

I was going "oh crap!" all throughout the newest Green Lantern, but it was in that good way where things keep getting worse and I want to see how our heroes get themselves out of it. I hope Larfleeze gets what's coming to him, that jerk.

Batwoman in Detective Comics is probably the most artistically interesting comic I've been reading. It's got creative layouts and a great use of varied coloring and inking that helps set the mood of the comic when she's in and out of her costume. Incidentally, the Batwoman costume has to be one of the sexiest superheroine outfits I've seen in a long time, and it doesn't even reveal a hint of skin.

The Incredible Hercules features the origin of Amadeus Cho, the seventh smartest kid in the world whose hung out with Herc since his own series began. Not only is Greg Pak a talented writer but I like seeing kids and teenagers in a heroic role that doesn't involve boatloads of angst or annoying dialogue. It's the same reason I love Blue Beetle.

Deadpool as a pirate. Freaking hilarious. Absolutely freaking hilarious. Daniel Way, in my opinion, is the definitive Deadpool writer. Suicide Kings or Merc With A Mouth (Deadpool's two other comics) are okay but they don't feature the same kind of insanity that Way captures, runs with, and makes a joy to read every month. I highly, highly recommend this book (if Daniel Way is writing it).

For a series that started off quite slow, The Flash: Rebirth kick-started last month and blasts off this month. The Flash and the other speedsters have a very complicated history that can be quite hard to follow... with time travel, alternate dimensions, backwards-aging relatives, mathematical formulae and so on... but my god, Barry Allen has never looked more badass than on the last page of this month's issue. Wow.

Still more to read. Maybe I'll talk about the rest tomorrow.

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

I'm mostly happy with the way today's comic turned out. Writing, drawing, and even scanning it felt odd because this was the first strip produced in the new apartment (yesterday's was finished and uploaded ahead of time).

It always takes time to get back into a working groove when I change locations, and with boxes and belongings still strewn about the apartment finding a place to work was a challenge all by itself. Still, I found a cozy spot that works for now and updating the comic shouldn't be a problem while the rest of our collective stuff is unpacked, tucked away, and then moved around again because we didn't like where it went the first time.

Speaking of which, I had every intention of showing off more photographs but I can't seem to find the cable that connects my camera to my computer. I'm sure it'll turn up once the rest of the stuff is unpacked, tucked away, and then... you know.

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

I've successfully moved into my new apartment with my beautiful girlfriend and our sassy friend.

My internet is reconnected and working smoothly.

My apartment is strewn with boxes and my cats are very confused.

After two days of moving the belongings and furniture of three people I have become so obscenely exhausted that I barely have the energy to finish typing this.

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

Tomorrow is my "big moving day" which, if you read yesterday's news post, isn't really much of a "move" and more of a "shuffle." Still, I'm excited to be moving into a new place with my beautiful girlfriend so I'll continue to call it my "big moving day."

Now the smart thing for me to do would be to work on Monday's strip today and upload it for Monday's update just in case anything goes wrong with getting my internet reconnected, but knowing me I'll be so distracted by the idea of moving tomorrow that I'll spend the day organizing and cleaning in preparation for Saturday's move that Monday's comic won't get done.

Cross your fingers that I can make a practical choice for once.

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

Yesterday was a slow week for new comic books for me, but there are a couple worth mentioning... in my humble opinion, at least.

Atomic Robo & The Shadows Beyond Time is probably my favorite Robo story so far, if for no other reason than I have a soft spot in my sanity for Lovecraftian monsters. That, and the revelation of Atomic Robo's greatest fear was highly entertaining.

Blackest Night: Superman was as freaky as all the other Blackest Night-related stuff has been. Seeing the range of Superman's heart in the emotional spectrum almost made him look like a flying rainbow, but somehow the art team managed to pull it off so the Man of Steel looked pretty badass. Go get 'em, Superman!

Wednesday Comics continues to thoroughly entertain me. The stories featuring Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth, Superman, and Supergirl are my favorites, with Aquaman making another memorable appearance in Supergirl's story again this week. I highly recommend picking this weekly title up.

In other news, I'm moving this weekend. Well, it's not really a traditional "move" in terms of packing up my stuff and lugging it across town. I'm moving from one floor of my apartment building to the one below me. It's more like "just carrying all my stuff to another room" but I think it still counts as moving. The cable company tells me my internet ought to be switched properly on that day but just in case there's no update on Monday, you'll know why.

And I'm still trying to get in the habit of using my twitter more often.

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

This strip was fun because I got to let Spark use one of the oldest tricks in his arsenal of kitty weapons. Granted, it's not a very reliable cat trick, but who knows? Maybe Dominic will have a change of heart anyway.

When my girlfriend was looking at today's strip before I uploaded it she made an observation that many of you have shared with me over the years. "I love how Spark seems to change size all the time. It's an endearing thing you do." I think she was just being nice because I give her back rubs all the time.

But it's true. For the longest time around here, Spark changes size. I want to give some reasonably complex reason as to why this happens, but the truth is I don't even realize I'm doing it until after I've finished the comic. Call it whatever you like... artistic laziness or ineptitude or whatever... but it's something I'm aware of. I'm just not quite sure I'm going to go out of my way to fix this little quirk because, after all these years, I've come to amuse myself with it, too.

I think the most important thing I learned from all this is that size doesn't matter to my girlfriend.

To those of you who wait until the comic updates for the day, which is 12am Pacific Standard Time, so that's 3am Eastern Standard Time (where I am), I have a really stupid reason as to why the comic came up a little late. Turns out I'd actually gotten the comic done hours prior, but numerous things happening during the day made me forget to scan the comic in. So at 3am, when the comic's supposed to update, I realize that I'd forgotten an important step to actually letting you folks read it. Grumble. Sometimes I'm amazed I can tie my shoes.

In case you missed the announcement yesterday, SEER'S DIGEST is back in stock! Many of you have been asking as to when it would be available online again, so... ta-da!

Besides the infuriatingly humid August heat around Mookie Headquarters, there's not all that much else to report today. So I'll just keep this brief and try not to be so scatterbrained for tomorrow's update.

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

Melna and Luna already touched upon this a few stories ago, but it's been such a long time I felt the need to reiterate what was said. Plus, given what's on the horizon, those two could use a reason to smile.

I should've known better than to think that a weekend to myself would result in a productive couple of days. Turns out two unwelcome weekend warriors, Laziness and Procrastination, came to visit me and rendered me unable to get August's very late Donation Wallpaper completed. At this rate I'm tempted to just call it a lost cause and do two for September.

I was, however, able to update the Fan Art pages. The artwork in today's update includes the submissions that I didn't end up using for the fan art filler week during my vacation. As usual, there's some fantastic artwork to be seen so go and have a look-see.

Finally, SEER'S DIGEST is back in stock. Some of you had been e-mailing me with questions as to when all four volumes would be available again, and this announcement comes just in time. Looks like my stock of The Storm of Souls is running low, so take advantage of all four volumes being in stock while you can! (Wow. Did I actually sound like a real salesman there?)

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

All I have to do to make today's strip complete is implement the theme song from Last of the Mohicans. I'll violate copyright laws but it'll be worth it, I tell you.

As usual, I'm kind of a meathead.

I promised this month's Donation Wallpaper would be up by the end of the week as well as an update to the Fan Art pages, but as you can see neither of those things have been done. As usual, whenever I say something's going to get done by a certain date, you really have to add a few days. I'm like a Monty Python sketch.

The good news is I should have those things done over the weekend. My girlfriend will be out of town so I'll have the whole apartment to myself. Unless, of course, the cats take advantage of her absence and do kitty-like things to me.

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

See? Smoking is bad for you.
Then again, I did spend a some time glorifying a beverage that's probably just as bad for you.
Oh well. I guess we all have to pick our poisons.

Yesterday was a particularly good comic book day. Lots of great comic books came out and I read a few of them over and over again. Here are the ones that inspired such behavior.

The latest issue of The Blackest Night was as good as the first. It's only the second issue in this eight-part tale so things are still in the "getting worse" phase. This is, so far, everything I've hoped for and I'm hoping it doesn't disappoint. Then again, I learned that hope is a bad thing when dealing with the Black Lanterns.

Deadpool has three separate titles being published, but my favorite has to be the one written by Daniel Way. The way he writes the merc with a mouth cracks me up every single month. Deadpool's latest scheme to become a pirate was nothing short of comedy gold. I also love Hydra Bob.

Wednesday Comics has some great stories each week, but one of my favorites has to be the one featuring Supergirl and her super-pets. This week she sought help from Aquaman and anyone who's been reading these little comic reviews knows how I feel about the king of the seas. For an "issue" that's only one page long I was thoroughly entertained. His "cell phone" alone cracked me up.

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

Some people may accuse me of being a misogynist from the visions in today's strip. It wouldn't be the first time I've been called that, either. The reason these accusations may fly again is because all of the victims in those smoky visions are women. Someone, somewhere, may cook up some elaborate theory about me and my "deep hatred for women everywhere and how this is a symbolic representation of..." and so on. Say what you will. The fate of Maltak may very well rest upon the survival of these four women so I think I'm showing them in an important light, even if it's in the form of a warning.

Truth be told, it's kind of flattering when someone projects some complex theory about my thought processes based on what they see in the comic. Most of the time it makes me seem far more intellectual than I really am! Some thought there was some greater symbolic meaning behind this infamous comic, and a couple of readers actually analyzed it as a representation of my feelings of women being inferior. Honestly, I just wanted to put Dominic in a He-Man harness because I thought he'd look silly.

Today's rant wasn't inspired by anything anyone's said to me recently, nor was it a reaction to any particular comments. Sometimes, on the internet, you just feel the need to cover your bases. Just in case.

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