News

Today's strip makes me giggle more than it probably should. I think it's Celesto's look of outrage in the last bit of Heliner's sloppy bit of sword-scrying.

I'm leaving for CONNECTICON tonight, but Friday's comic will be going up normally.

There will, however, be filler for Monday, either in the form of some guest art or a convention-related photograph from the weekend.

That's all from me for now.
Rock on, and I hope to see you at CONNECTICON!

The theme of "my father's sword" is pretty common in classic fantasy. I wonder if "my mother's sword" will be a new theme someday? Or maybe even "the blade of my father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate."

Some of you mentioned that Dominic was incredibly nimble yesterday, given how physically frail he is. I hope today's comic clears up that the wards' attack were psychoplanar, not physical. I had tried making yesterday's comic with some text to explain that, but in the end I thought it looked better without any dialogue.

I continue to look forward to ConnectiCon this weekend! Whoo-hoo!

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

Wards are serious business if you don't know how to get past them.

I hope everyone who celebrated it had a happy 4th of July. I hung out on my back porch with some friends, some food, the neighbor's bulldog, and my copy of Big Bang Mini on Relax mode.

This weekend is my favorite convention. CONNECTICON. I have a great relationship with this con, having attended each and every show since its maiden voyage, and every year things get more and more fun. I will be hosting the Cosplay Deathmatch again this year, as well as doing panels and generally being available for those who want to stop by and say "hi!" If you're in the area, I encourage you to do so.

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

Happy Fourth of July, everybody!

And if you live in a country that doesn't celebrate this date, commonly known as "the rest of the world" to those of us here in the U.S., then... well, happy Monday, everybody!


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

Someone asked me if the Dominic-getting-thrown gag was a reference to the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Honestly I'd forgotten all about that recurring joke, so if there's any similarity it's an honest coincidence. Still makes me laugh, though.

The only other bit of news is that it's my birthday tomorrow, but since it's a weekend the comic's updating will not be affected. Whatever I may do to celebrate tomorrow (i.e. sit around and drink expensive beer), the comic will update normally on Monday.

And next week is the wind-up to CONNECTICON.
I'm so excited.

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

More fun with visions!

I'm very happy with the layout of today's comic, with Dominic using the panels as "vision bleachers" and Celesto's coat hanging in a very Rilian-esque manner over the borders.

I haven't tweeted about new comic books in awhile because there are very few superhero titles that I seem to care about nowadays. Between Flashpoint and Fear Itself taking over every title that I read in some big "crossover event," I find myself shrugging at the shelves.

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

Playing around with panel layout in these vision comics is always fun for me.

I'm particularly fond of the last panel because Dominic and Celesto look as though they're having an uncomfortable city subway encounter. If you've ever ridden the subway in any given city, you've probably seen something resembling this... though hopefully without the tentacles and displaced eyeballs.

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

Not much news to report today.

It's even a quiet day for the comic, with only a cryptic dual vision in Scarlatti's dual swords.

I'll have more news this week regarding some upcoming conventions I'll be attending, otherwise...


Yep.


Slow news day.


Rock on.

PortCon Maine was a mellow, relaxing convention. Thanks to everyone who came by to say "hi" and chatted with me. I had a lot of fun, as always.

But something altogether wonderful happened on Friday night. I had just come home from dinner in downtown Portland and caught the live feed of the NY state senate vote to legalize same-sex marriage, which passed. It was thrilling to watch. I may call myself a "Bostonian" nowadays, but I was born in New York and it's nice to see my home state embrace compassion and equal rights on this issue.

While I'm on the subject, I hope the repeal of Proposition 8 in California gets out of its legal limbo soon.

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

I'm at PORTCON MAINE today! Be sure to stop by and say "hi" to me at this charming convention that I'm happily returning to!

Or, if you feel so inclined, you can yell at me for today's weekend cliffhanger. Just don't yell too loud. I startle easily.

Monday's comic should update normally, but I apologize ahead of time if there's some form of filler.

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

Today's news post has little to do with the comic or anything relevant to it. There's just been some music I've been digging lately and I want to share it with you fine folks.

"Perform This Way" by Weird Al Yankovic.
I've loved Weird Al since I was a kid, and years later he still cracks me up. Do yourself a favor and check this out.

"Of Blood and Salt" by Gojira.
This track has been floating around the internet for about a month now but I only just became aware of it. Gojira is one of my favorite bands and I've been waiting anxiously for new material from them. This monstrous song was worth the wait.

"Winter Winds" by Mumford & Sons.
I'm normally all about the metal and the yelling and the RAWR! around here, but I'm also a sucker for some folk and bluegrass music. Their sound is unique and I really dig it.

Hope you fine folks like these musical selections.
That's all from me for now.
Rock on.

If you pre-ordered TWO THIEF OR NOT TWO THIEF from me at ANIME BOSTON and you have not received your book, please email me ASAP. A couple of books have come back to me with address problems, and since I foolishly didn't ask folks to write down their email addresses when I took those pre-orders in person, I have no way of contacting them.

Email me soon so I can get your orders out to you. And next time I take pre-orders at a convention I'll be sure to request email addresses to avoid this problem should it arise again.

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

Yes, Heliner's reason for bullying Chance is pretty bad and everyone in today's comic knows it. Then again, there are no "good" reasons to bully someone.

I want to take a moment to address something. Over the last few weeks I've received a small handful of emails where people have claimed that they were told that I don't care what anyone says about the comic and/or I don't listen to criticism because I don't like hearing negative feedback.

I don't know where these claims are coming from, but I want to say that they are simply not true. I've been listening to your feedback for years.

- When I did The Storm of Souls some people said that they didn't enjoy the comic's turn toward sweeping planar epics and that I should scale the stakes back down. So I did, with The Battle for Barthis.

- Some folks said that Dominic & co. were winning too often and that there should be a story where the good guys lose. While The War in Hell wasn't a total loss for the good guys, Karnak, the bad guy, definitely won.

- During The March Across Maltak, the criticism I received most often was that I had introduced too many new characters and ignored all the others that readers had fallen in love with over the years. So after it was done, I left every character who was involved in that story out of the comic for a whole year.

What is true is that I'm awful at responding to emails, so maybe that's where some of these claims are coming from. Anyone who has ever known me can tell you that I'm a terrible email correspondent. But I do read each and every email I receive, good or bad. So while I may not reply to you personally, you can rest assured that your feedback is being received and recognized.

As always, your opinions and feedback are welcome.
That's all from me for now.
Rock on.

There was originally going to be dialogue in today's comic, but I think it works better without any.

TWO THIEF OR NOT TWO THIEF is officially up for sale in the SEER'S CATALOG.

This weekend I'll be returning to PortCon Maine! I always have fun there so be sure to stop by and say "hi" if you're in the area!

Today's news is brief, but (I think) it's important.


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

If you were to point out that Dominic was able to scry Celesto pretty easily in today's comic while the whole point of his venture to Prontus was to find roundabout ways to find him via second sight because it's otherwise impossible to scry him... well, you'd be right to be suspicious of me. Don't worry. This will be addressed next week.

Otherwise it was a slow news week in the aftermath of AKON, and that's fine by me.

TWO THIEF OR NOT TWO THIEF will be up on sale next week.

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