News

Looks like Jayden is finally getting her chance to be playfully dramatic with someone... as opposed to the kind of drama that sent her on this pilgrimage in the first place. That wasn't very playful at all, really. But certainly dramatic!

New comic books hit the shelves today. A number of concerned superhero fans have informed me that I ought to be reading Swamp Thing, O.M.A.C. and Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. Given my current level of disappointment with the superhero genre as of late, I figure I'll give them a try. At least I don't think I can get any more disappointed.

Finally, in comic-related news, congratulations to Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener on the ATOMIC ROBO ROLEPLAYING GAME! I've been a tabletop RPG nerd since I was in middle school, and I can't wait to sink my teeth into their world of action science (once the whole thing is written and developed, anyway)! But still! Congratulations, guys!

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

Apart from my participation in the COMIC CREATORS FOR FREEDOM fundraiser to fight human trafficking (which I'm thrilled to be a part of again this year), there really isn't much news to report today.

I haven't heard any new music I want to talk about lately. The state of superhero comic books is still disappointing. I haven't taken any new photographs in awhile. Further hearings on SOPA and PIPA aren't going to happen until the middle of this month (as far as I know). Today's comic doesn't even lend itself to linking to older strips in the Archive.

I guess it really is just a slow news day.

2012 is off to a relatively mellow start.

Cool.


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

Last year I was invited to be a part of a fundraiser with the Comic Creators Alliance, a project dedicated to raising money and awareness to help fight human trafficking. Now renamed COMIC CREATORS FOR FREEDOM, I was thrilled to be asked to participate in this year's fundraiser! I'm honored to be counted among so many talented people again. And thanks to Crystal Yates, who was very patient with me despite my nearly missing the deadline for submission, Luna is participating in this year's wallpaper, the "Epic Snowball Fight!"

Visit the COMIC CREATORS FOR FREEDOM website to learn more about this very serious issue, make a donation to the cause and get the epic snowball fight wallpaper for participating!


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

In Stunt's defense, no one who reads the comic really knows much about the Luanian Church either. But that is one of the purposes of this story, after all. To not only explore this unlikely pair and what they have to gain (or lose) from this encounter, but to shed some light on this priesthood. It's a journey I'm excited to take and I hope you all will enjoy it as much I'm planning to.

This week has been weird. I've had a buffer of comics prepared for most of the week, which I haven't had for years. That buffer is now gone, and to be honest I'm relieved. My sense of "what happens next" was a little off as I was working on comics a day or two ahead of the update schedule. But now that my buffer is gone (thanks to a combination of Star Wars and babysitting) things will be back to normal for me next week.

And so far I've kept my new year's resolution of answering my emails promptly! One week down! Fifty one to go! Whoo-hoo!

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

For those who may not remember, Bumper didn't exactly steal that Luanian pendant. It was more of a clerical error. Okay, so he did steal it. And he gave it to his best friend as a parting gift.

Picked up new comics yesterday... and it was only slightly better than I feared. ANIMAL MAN #5 was fantastic, THUNDERBOLTS is still a solid read and the new DEFENDERS series has caught my interest, too. But the rest?

- RED LANTERNS really should bear the subtitle "Ass Shots of a Space Vampire Chick."
- STORMWATCH is... wait, who did what to...? And who is this and why did he...? Screw this. I'm confused.
- Since Veil and Speedball left the team I've become more and more apathetic to AVENGERS ACADEMY.
- ACTION COMICS is... wait, who did what to...? Who's talking? Is that a...? I'm confused! Again!

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

Not much to say about today's comic. There isn't much being said in today's comic, either. So perhaps it's best to see where this unusual pairing will go.

We're a few days into 2012 and I'm going to make good on a new year's resolution that I've tried (and failed) many previous years. This year I'm finally going to get better at promptly answering emails. I've been relatively good so far, so if you've sent me an email since the new year, chances are I've replied to you already or I'll be replying to you shortly. I've said this many times before, and failed at it many times before, but this is the year I finally answer my emails promptly.

New comic books hit the shelves today. Here's hoping the last few titles I buy are worth reading. If nothing else, the new ANIMAL MAN comes out today, so I've got at least one new comic that I'm excited to read, and that is better than having no comics to read.

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

Gregory and Rachel are either doing that thing where you hold hands with your friend and jump up and down excitedly while squealing, or they're engaged in a friendly test-of-strength. Knowing Rachel, it's probably some combination of both.

I do not expect anyone to remember the last time the Desert of Eldariat was mentioned. In fact, it's only ever been mentioned once, by Hansi Reinholdt, at the beginning of the March Across Maltak. But now that Jayden is off on a dire-sounding pilgrimage to that very place, so it looks like we'll find out more about it.

For all its obscurity, the Desert of Eldariat was an important thing for Hansi to mention. Dominic and Luna had just come off their cruise, where they had apparently seen all the major countries in the world. But for all the "world building" that story had to offer, I still wanted to make sure that there were still places yet to be explored. Eldariat was a way to say, "you've seen a lot, but you haven't seen everything."

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

And we're back! Welcome to the new year! I hope you all celebrated appropriately and have come back to the comic in (mostly) one piece.

Last week's "signs from Bort" during my vacation were a spur-of-the-moment thing. I just thought it would be a funny little surprise for anyone who bothered to check the site, perhaps out of habit, while I was on my announced week-long break. I especially enjoyed the responses to this particular sign that were sent to me.

I want this to be a memorable year. In about five months, near the end of May, the comic will be reaching its official tenth anniversary. In the words of Ron Burgundy, that's "kind of a big deal."

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

Just a reminder that the comic officially resumes next week on Monday, January 2, 2012.


Bort was kind enough to leave us a sign.



I wonder if he left any more signs for us this week?



Only one way to find out.

I think this is a nice, festive, uplifting image to finish off the year as we head into the holidays. Nothing quite like the return of a bloodthirsty murderer who's been dragged through multiple dimensions and happens to be aligned with one of the most powerful and influential wizards in the known world. Nothing to stress out about.

For those who may have forgotten, the last time we saw the Infernomancer (although I don't think that name qualifies for him anymore) he had twisted Gregory's white magic into his black gauntlet before he was blown to pieces and carried off, piece by piece, by Royal Battlecasters. And both the king and the Beast did refer to "the herald's recovery," though now I think "harbinger" sounds more wicked.

And that's it for 2011! I'm taking next week off, as I do every year, and the comic will resume updating on Monday, January 2, 2012. Have a great holiday, everyone, and thank you for another memorable year!

That's all from me for 2011.
Rock on, and see you next year!

The first time we saw the king and his hapless lackey he was asking for an update, too. Now we see the king again... only this is the last time we're going to see that other guy. At least in one piece. There's a lot of him on the wall there.

Funny bit of (useless) trivia about the king. I drew him to resemble my best friend, Dave, who at one time sported a very dashing chin-strap beard. Dave no longer has any facial hair, but I recently chopped all my hair off (which I do every few years when I get bored). Prior to that I tried to grow a beard in November, but my ill-fated "Novembeard" had to be modified because my wife didn't like my moustache going up her nose when I kissed her. So I shaved only the moustache, effectively giving myself a chin-strap beard. I didn't realize it at the time, but I now resemble my own comic's most dangerous villain more than Dave does.

I guess I really am my own worst enemy.

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

Dominic and Luna's "announcement spell" seems to have made the rounds with everyone who they thought would care that they're married. The exceptions being Hansi Reinholdt and Barnet Travoria, who are preoccupied being the First Knight of Maltak and serving a jail sentence, respectively. Rilian seems to be doing a fairly good job keeping his "Brian" identity a secret from Dominic and Luna.

In further SOPA-related news, further discussions about the bill have been postponed until early next year. Granted, that's only 2-3 weeks away, but at least we can relax (a little) during the holidays. Still, this is not a "victory" by any means and if you love your internet the way it is you should keep an eye on this awful piece of legislation. Should online piracy be fought? Absolutely. But not with this ugly, rotten piece of... ahem.

And now, music in protest of SOPA. It may not be metal, but they're pretty catchy tunes:
"Firewall (Don't Let Our Government Ruin the Internets)" by Leah Kauffman
"SOPA Cabana" by Dan Bull

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

Dominic and Luna's "announcement spell" continues to make the rounds today. I confess that the panels with Milov and Nimmel turned out looking a little more Christmas-y than I originally intended. I guess snowfall and a shining star-like object are reminiscent of the holidays no matter the context. That'll teach me.

Expect to see more of Nimmel Feenix next year.

In SOPA and PROTECT IP news:
Stanford Law Review says SOPA and PROTECT IP are unconstitutional and will likely break the internet if passed into law.

SOPA is supposedly going back into hearings with the House of Representatives tomorrow, so be sure to keep an eye on this if you love your internet the way it is... because this may affect all of us.

Finally, there may be a delay in the updating of tomorrow's comic... because THE OLD REPUBLIC launches today and I may be pretending to be a Jedi Knight all day instead of being a responsible webcomicker and working on Wednesday's comic.

Is "responsible webcomicker" an oxymoron?
That's all from me for now.
Rock on.

I wanted to spend this week talking about the comic and all the characters who are going to make an appearance over the next few days, like Jacob in the final panel there, as Dominic and Luna's "announcement spell" made the rounds. I had planned on talking about what was going to lie in store for the comic for 2012...

...but instead I feel the need to talk about the STOP ONLINE PIRACY ACT (SOPA) and PROTECT IP. I hate talking politics nowadays but I think this is pretty serious. From everything I have heard and read these are dangerous pieces of legislation going up for a vote in the US Congress. Legislation that, if passed, could allow for internet blacklisting and censorship on a massive scale.

Here are some links to help you get better informed:

WTF is SOPA? (aka the American government trying to ruin the internet)
A twenty-minute, passionate but factual rant/summary on what SOPA and PROTECT IP are and how they're going to ruin the internet as we know it. Not only for us in the US, but for everybody.

How SOPA Could Ruin My Life
A Forbes.com article describing how the easily-abused legislation could put someone out of business.

Dear Congress, It's No Longer Okay To Not Know How the Internet Works
Funny title, but an unsettling summary of how clueless about the internet the people in charge of this bill are.

SOPA & Everyday Americans
A great post explaining how SOPA might impact the casual internet user.

This is not me being "right" or "left" in my government opinions. These crappy bills have been put forth by both Democrats and Republicans, so I'm equally mad at everyone in that den of contempt and ineptitude most people call "Congress" (and the Senate, but I've been mad at Congress for months).

If you've made it this far into this news post and you're as worried and outraged as I am, help STOP AMERICAN CENSORSHIP and let your voice be heard about this.

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

No big drama. No jokes. No nail-biting cliffhanger. Not even any links to previous comics down here in the news box! Just the moment that everyone who attends a wedding, no matter how impromptu, looks forward to: That moment where two people who love one another seal their union with a kiss.

Would it have been more appropriate to have this comic be the very last update of 2011? Possibly. Dominic and Luna's engagement has been a long one and Gregory's "it's about time" remark reminded us all of that. This could have very easily been the last update of 2011 and it would have been an effective end to the year... but there's still one more week of updates to go, which means there's still a little more to come. Will it be joyous or ominous? Only one way to find out.


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