News

Just a minor reference today. Nimmel got his fancy shirt from Milov at the conclusion of The Shadow of Siegfried. Not very important to the plot, but I know how some of you like the little details. I know I do.

A couple of you wrote me some very touching e-mails regarding yesterday's comic, and for that I'm very grateful. I also know some of you wanted me to go a more serious route today, but I swore that this storyline was going to be more lighthearted and (hopefully) funny. At least for now. After feeling sick for the last few days I needed a boobie joke in the vein of Police Squad.

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

Going to keep things brief again today.

As of this writing I'm still feeling sick, but not sick enough to keep me from making a comic.

Methinks there be drama ahead.

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

Poor Nikolai.
He never stood a chance against an assault like that.

I'm going to keep things brief today folks because, as of this writing, I've come down with something and I feel like crap.

Although I'm not officially listed on their website as a speaker (yet), I'll be returning to VERICON this year. I had a blast there a few years ago and I'm very pleased that they've invited me back.

I'll also be appearing at the first ever INTERVENTION, a start-up convention presented by some good friends of mine. This convention promises to give webcomickers and online entrepreneurs the spotlight they've definitely deserved and I'm happy to help with its maiden voyage.

That's all from me for now.
I need to go take care of myself so I can do a comic for tomorrow.
Rock on.

Why do dogs lick their balls?
Because they can.

I love that joke.

After writing The March Across Maltak for a whole year, which was a serious adventure with high stakes, it's refreshing to dumb things down to college humor for awhile. It's not a permanent shift, mind you, but one that's giving me a somewhat guilty case of the giggles.

That's all for this week, folks. Next week I'll have updates about some new destinations that have been added to my "2010 Convention Tour." Most are shows I'm returning to this year but there may be a surprise in there somewhere. Come on back next week to find out.

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

Well. Those of you who caught the comic in the first hour or so that it was online also caught one of the single biggest blunders I've ever made in the past eight years where Nimmel had no scar over his eye. Cripes.

Anyway.

Nimmel's plight is, sadly, based upon a true story.

A few years ago I rented a room in a house with some folks who shared the werewolves' penchant for walking around with little to no clothes on, as did their circle of friends. At first I was ecstatic, and for good reason. I met many attractive women who, within minutes of being introduced for the first time, would take their clothes off and just hang out. For a time, as a single guy, it was a dream come true.

But having regular access to anything that was once elusive soon takes away its lure. After a time that level of nudity just became expected, and for awhile it was... until that fateful day when I was just sitting around having a chat with a naked woman and I realized that I was totally unfazed by it.

I, like Nimmel, had become immune to boobs.

Whether or not I'm immune to boobs in anything but a casual context is another story for another day. Maybe.

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

In Nikolai's defense, I don't think any college guy I know would be able to concentrate on anything being said to him if a naked girl just strolled by. I know I wouldn't.

Other than that, there's really not much to talk about today. Or maybe there was something I was supposed to talk about, but now that I'm thinking about boobs myself... maybe I lost my train of... thought.

Hmm.

Boobs.

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

I'm going to go into more detail about why it sucks to be a runt in the Winter Archipelago tomorrow, but for those of you who are impatient here's a quick reminder about Katya's condition.

While we're on the subject of references, some of you have asked me to link to the Moon Dance where Nimmel impressed the noble werewolves. There you have it.

While we're still doing some references to older comics, here's where Nimmel learned his lesson about turning away offers of friendship. I have every intention to address this directly later in the story, but I figured a little reminder couldn't hurt right now.

I don't know whether to be proud or ashamed of the derogatory term I invented today. I'll put it right up there with "piggart," I guess.

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

I hope folks had a nice weekend because I had quite a memorable one. Here's a run-down of my eventful weekend, if you're the type of person who's interested in what goes on in my life outside updating things around here.

On Friday I saw The Wolfman and found it to be entertaining except for everything Benicio del Toro said and did, which was unfortunate because he's the leading man in that movie. Great supporting cast and fantastic monster effects, but when the lead (and normally great) actor is so wooden and flat it brings down the whole movie.

On Saturday night I had a reunion party with my old co-workers from the art store I used to work at. I missed my high school reunion a few years ago but this had the positive vibe I wanted that to have. I caught up with some friends I hadn't seen in a long time, made promises to rebuild some damaged bridges, and help some others explore a wonderfully idealistic dream.

On Sunday I went into Boston's Chinatown to watch the Chinese New Year celebrations continue. I took some pictures, which I plan to upload sometime this week, and those crazy lions even came into the restaurant where Alyssa and I were having lunch. Twice. It was awesome.

I hope everyone else had as pleasant a weekend as I did, and if you didn't then I'll just hope that some future weekend holds similar if not exceeding excitement for you.

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

It's been quite a while since we've seen her, but in case you've forgotten who Katya is she first appeared in the infamous storyline The Shadow of Siegfried. She wore lots of loose clothing back then (as do most of the werewolves around here) but today she's wearing something a little tighter, perhaps inspired by some of the mage robes from Dragon Age: Origins. I love that game.

I also felt the need to have her point out just how naughty this week's dog pile may have looked to some people. I thought it was funny myself.

The fact that Nikolai's love of breasts drives him to a dramatic fall to his knees still gives me the chuckles. I may or may not have been like that when I was in college. I may or may not still be like that.

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

Katsucon was, in a word, refreshing.

I didn't realize I was going through "convention withdrawal" until I was there at the show. Normally my convention season begins in January, but I didn't have anything scheduled this year so things didn't get rolling until last weekend.

Doing conventions provides a social aspect of this job that I wouldn't normally get if I did all my "socializing" online. Seeing some old friends as well as meeting some new ones, doing panels and, most importantly, meeting you wonderful readers face-to-face is what keeps me going and I didn't realize how much I missed being on the road until I was out again.

Thanks to everyone who came out to see me. I had a blast, thanks to all of you.

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

Sorry for the lack of an update yesterday. After leaving KATSUCON a day early to drive five hours from Washington, DC to North Carolina, paying our respects to a brave young woman, then driving thirteen hours back to Boston... needless to say the combination of my first convention of the year, mourning, and nineteen combined hours of driving had taken its toll.

I'm honestly surprised I was able to get a comic up for today. For some inexplicable reason my body only wanted three hours of sleep after Sunday's odyssey, which made for a very punchy Mookie. I'm not entirely happy with the way today's comic looks, but one must push through when one faces a deadline.

I changed this month's Donation Wallpaper slightly. I wasn't happy with the version that I put up before I left for Katsucon so I decided to tweak it a little. Refresh your browser to see the newer thumbnail, which should have a blue border.

I'll have some photos from the convention and I'll tell you how Katsucon cured my curious case of withdrawal tomorrow.

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

I left for KATSUCON late last night to do an overnight drive and, with any luck, I've arrived in one piece. And so the "2010 Convention Tour" begins!

My attendance at Katsucon will be cut a little short, sadly, as I must leave on Sunday to pay proper respects to a remarkable young woman and support my friends in their time of need.

So, to review:
- Boston to Washington, DC in an overnight drive.
- Washington, DC to North Carolina on early Sunday morning to attend a funeral.
- Back to Boston from North Carolina by car.

There will, more than likely, not be a comic on Monday.

There is, however, a new Donation Wallpaper for February which arrives just ahead of the new storyline which begins next week! I promised to lighten things up and now that we're done with this interlude featuring Celesto and The Beast, I intend to do just that.

Oh, and here's another quick reference to what Celesto mentioned today, in case folks forgot.

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

I'm going to keep things brief today.

Yesterday I received some very sad news regarding a remarkable young woman whose battle against cancer was so brave and epic that she is, without a doubt, celebrating in Valhalla as we speak.

I had several versions of witty and/or bad-ass remarks for Celesto today, but drawing came easier than writing for me yesterday, so in the end I decided on a moment of silence... albeit angry, splattery silence.

While this sad news will not affect my Katsucon appearance this weekend I may need to put a hold on updating the comic later in case my friends need me for anything. I'll keep you folks posted, as always.

That's all from me for now.

Oh dear (elder) god that was a lot of tentacles to detail for today's comic. I'm happy with the layout and the look, but... man, that's just a lot of tentacles!

Here are some suggested songs for today's strip if you're a soundtrack type of person, as I am:

Metallica - "The Thing That Should Not Be"
The Pixies - "Where Is My Mind?"
Gojira - "To Sirius"
Bloodbath - "Eaten"
Svenson - "Sunlight Theory"

That's all from me for now.
Rock on with your tentacles out!

I had forgotten how much I enjoy drawing The Beast. Not only am I not limited by pesky things like anatomy and biology, but I love the way that the Lovecraftian thing always seems to find a way to slither and sneak between the panels of any given strip. H.P. Lovecraft often wrote about things that lived "in the space between spaces" and other such things, so I hope I'm doing him a little bit of justice.

And everybody knows that it's just not a Lovecraftian monster unless it has a lot of tentacles.

Don't forget that I'll be at KATSUCON this weekend! The weather here on the east coast of the U.S. has been memorable to say the least, but as of right now I'm still planning on attending the show. I'll keep you folks posted one way or another if there are any changes.

That's all from me for now.
Ph'nglui Mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.