News

It's another extra-sized comic today, as you can see, but as this is an important part of this story I felt the bonus panels were warranted. Stunt's been having some trouble with this, and it's a doozy of a confession.

I wanted to keep going. There's more to his story and I wanted to get the whole thing out as quickly as possible, but this would've turned into a double or even double-and-a-half sized comic. I think this is enough tragedy for one day as it is. But who knows? Maybe tomorrow's update will also be twelve panels long if I think it's warranted.

In other news tidbits:

- I'm looking forward to picking up some new indie comics today. Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions!

- Alyssa and I just started watching Downton Abbey. We're only a couple of episodes into the first season, but... man! Why did I wait so long to get into this? It's amazing!

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

No comparisons to old comics in today's strip. Just a little joke after a few days of drama and dune buggy action. But feel free to look back through the archive anyway. There's lots of stuff to look at.

New comic books hit the shelves tomorrow. I've got a bunch of suggestions for new titles thanks to you fine folks, so I'll be sure to keep an eye out for new reading material. I'm going to finish up February with all my current superhero titles, but come March I'll be taking a break from the mostly disappointing landscape of superhero books from the big two.

And maybe, just maybe, a new issue of Orc Stain will finally come out. At some point. Possibly. Ah, indie comics.

Oh, and I just remembered that Mass Effect 3 comes out in two weeks. If I vanish for, like, a few months, you'll know what's happened to me. Blame the Reapers.

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

It looked as though Stunt was about to have a repeat of his adventure across the Wild Edge, where he had to care for a wounded traveling companion, but the "stored spell medallion trick" has saved Jayden's life once before.

Thanks to everyone who sent me recommendations for new comic books and graphic novels. I've got a lot of non-superhero, non-big two (Marvel and DC Comics) titles to check out the next time I'm at my local comic book shop thanks to the suggestions sent by you fine folks!

And finally, I spent last night playing board games with my friends. I'm not much of a board gamer. I play casually and usually get my butt kicked, but I enjoy the time spent goofing around with my friends. However, last night we played a game that really struck a chord with me. It's called Small World and I highly recommend it. High fantasy fun and quick-to-learn rules made for a really great night of gaming. And, shockingly, I actually won! My lucky combination of seafaring orcs and swamp dwarves led to an unexpected victory. I highly recommend this game and will likely add it to my own (small) collection of board games.

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

Looks like Jayden wasn't kidding when she said that priests with white magic aren't invincible. Looks like Stunt may have a big problem on his hands, besides the giant desert insect monster. And he has it in more of a headlock than on his hands. And it looks like... nevermind. It's a cliffhanger for the weekend and I make no apologies. Mwa ha ha.

Thanks to everyone who sent me comic book recommendations yesterday! Friday is now my "catch up on the emails I fell behind on answering during the week" day, so with any luck you'll hear back from me before the end of the day today. Unless I fall behind again. Which I hope I don't. Because then I'd be falling back into old habits. Like cliffhangers for the weekends. Mwa ha ha.



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

Stunt hasn't had a misogynist rant in awhile (which is a good thing), and even though this one is pretty nasty I don't think it's the worst we've seen him deliver. I think Pamela got one of Stunt's worst verbal tirades during Two Thief Or Not Two Thief. He also doesn't look as happy about it as he used to (which is also a good thing).

Sometimes I get emails from folks coming to me for advice on writing. I came across this interesting piece the other day and figured I'd share its wisdom with you. It starts off a very blunt truth: People Are Going To Shit All Over You.

I think I need to take a break from superhero comic books. I only picked up a few yesterday and most of them left me a little apathetic. Even Thunderbolts and Wonder Woman, which were good reads! I'll likely finish up February's releases and then only buy indie comics in March. Any and all recommendations for quality books not released by Marvel or DC (or any of the companies they own) are welcome.


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

Stunt has nothing but bad experiences and memories of the Royal Knights. Besides the fact that the knights were indeed known to kill thieves on sight, he and Bumper were chased and caught by Lord Siegfried's "knight vision."

I've been linking a lot of old comics down here lately, even when it's unnecessary. I think with the comic's tenth anniversary coming up in May, I've begun to realize that I've made almost ten years worth of comic strips and I'm rather proud of that. I've said before that these links to older comics are a trip down memory lane for me, and I hope you folks enjoy the occasional stroll as well.

Speaking of comics, new comic books hit the shelves today and... man, there's only two reasons I really go to the comic book shop any more. One is to make sure my subscription to ATOMIC ROBO has arrived, and the other is to visit the awesome lady who works at my local shop. Superhero comics have me so down and disappointed lately. Even Ghost Rider, the first superhero comic I ever collected, is in the news for all the wrong reasons. There are plenty of great non-superhero comics and graphic novels out there, and I encourage you to support your local comic shop, but my superheroes just don't feel so "super" any more.

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

It looks like the Desert of Eldariat may indeed be the arid cousin of the Wild Edge Territories. Both lands seem to have weird underground worm-like ambush predators, only this one was less successful.

It may also look familiar to anyone who's familiar with a certain RPG bestiary. Just my little nod to a great game and the frightening-looking death worm.

I finally picked up Nightwish's new album, "Imaginaerum." I've liked Nightwish for a long time and this new album is a great offering. Some of the songs, like "Storytime," contain their signature sound and some are sweeping orchestral compositions. "Slow, Love, Slow," manages to successfully blend metal, classical and jazz influences (my three favorite musical genres) into one song. There are some ambitious ideas behind this album's concept, and the final song even feels like a movie's closing credits. I found "I Want My Tears Back" and "Song of Myself" to be just a little too corny for my taste (and I have a very high threshold for that sort of thing). Overall, this album has a lot going for it and I highly recommend it.


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

While it's not important to remember the one comic where the Wild Edge Territories' origin was briefly explained, here it is for your viewing convenience. Is the Desert of Eldariat the arid cousin of the Wild Edge? One way to find out.

Much like Stunt's appearance in Walk the Wild Edge, it's an interesting shift for me when he's in the spotlight. Normally it's Dominic and/or Luna driving the story forward, and their encounters are usually magical or set in the highly malleable psychoplanes. Stunt's adventures are more physical in nature, and it's almost unusual for me to have a character who can pull off death-defying stunts (no pun intended).


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

Other than ending this week with a bit of slapstick, there's not much news to report today. So here, for your quick perusal, are some news tidbits to bring you into the weekend.

- I've decided not to redo the Snowsong/Supergreg story for the next volume and will instead use the time to make an exclusive story for the book.

- The conclusion to Atomic Robo & The Ghost of Station X was amazing.

- HR 1981 and ACTA are two dangerous laws that threaten internet privacy. Here we go again.
(note: the same Congressman who authored the infamous SOPA is behind HR 1981)

Think that's about it. Hope to see you folks on Monday as Jayden and Stunt begin their trek across Eldariat. How long of a journey will it be? One way to find out.

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

These two really needed a laugh. Jayden has spent most of this storyline in prayer or silent regret. Stunt has spent most of this storyline baffled, ignorant of religious practices, or in silent regret. These two really needed a laugh.

That, and "Bobert T. God" gives me the chuckles (and no, it's not really the name the Scapilans gave their God, whose lightning-bolt attitude is borrowed from Zeus).

Throughout this comic's history I've made a conscious effort for every character to not refer to their God as "Him," or with any gender specification. It's been almost ten years and I don't think I've ever slipped up on the issue. The dialogue in today's comic hopefully reinforces that.

I also decided not to give the world's only deity (however a religion interprets Him/Her/Everything) a name, like the case in so many other works of fantasy. I did this because I never liked it when fantasy characters shouted things like "by the gods!" I thought a nice, visceral "oh my god!" is something easier for readers to relate to.

Now that I think about it, I could have established a pantheon and people could still have shouted "oh my god!" in preference to their favorite deity. Oh well.

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

I'm one of those people who needs breakfast. Some people, like my wife, are "breakfast optional" people who can wait until lunch. Me? I need breakfast. Like Stunt, I'm grouchy if I don't eat when I wake up, even in the face of religious philosophy and belief-powered enchantment (not that I've experienced any of the latter). The only exception to this is a convention weekend, where my body goes into a three day work mode where I realize food is going be randomly scrounged up at best.

New comic books hit the shelves today, and with them will (hopefully) be the latest ATOMIC ROBO! As for the other superhero titles I collect, we'll see which ones remain and which ones fall off my pull list. Perhaps I ought to focus more on some indy superhero titles. I've heard good things about Irredeemable and Incorruptible. While it's not a superhero book, I wish a new Orc Stain issue would finally come out. What a bizarre, disturbing and fascinating world that was.

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

It appears that Jayden didn't get over the First Heresy of Hell as easily as she appeared to have way back during Visions of Doom. It also appears that Stunt is as grouchy and disagreeable first thing in the morning as I am. And many other people I know. Like my wife. She's been known to kick me if I wake her up too early.

I've spoken before about the SuperGreg/Snowsong storyline and how I originally planned to redo the whole story and offer it as an early 2012 release. Then I recently said I was going to redo the storyline and make it a part of the next book collection. The reason I keep pushing this back is because I've been unhappy with my attempts to redo the story. Upon further inspection, I keep finding more and more moments from that story that I really liked. If this keeps up I may just scrap the idea of redoing the story altogether and use the time to make some exclusive bonus comics for the new book instead.

Hmm. Now that I think about it...

Anyway, I'll keep you folks posted.
That's all from me for now.
Rock on.

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.