News

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day and here in the Boston area that's a big deal. I live in a particularly "college student thick" area of the city. Combine those two elements and you get the inspiration for Katya's dialogue in today's comic.

Some great comic books came out yesterday, but I'm only going to talk about one of them because it made me so freaking happy.

The Brave & The Bold #32, which features Aquaman and The Demon teaming up this month, tells the Aquaman story I have been waiting years to see.

Aquaman is showcased as the only thing keeping a horde of Lovecraftian monsters at bay deep beneath the waves. He has to team up with The Demon for the magical part of sealing them away, but most of the issue is just Aquaman kicking a ton of ass. The scene where he mentally bitch-slaps and dominates the mind of a creature whose brain is so alien and unfathomable that a normal brain cannot handle it was my favorite.

J. Michael Straczynski basically spent an entire issue saying, "Guys, Aquaman is a f*cking badass." Jesus Saiz captured the underrated majesty of the King of the Seas in every single panel. This was one hell of an issue and I strongly recommend picking it up.

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

Man. I just hate awkward silences.
Don't you?








Yep.








...rock on.

This was how the day after my thirtieth birthday was spent. The slow recollection of how much of an ass you made out of yourself the night before is just the salt on the wound that is a hangover.

Getting drunk is not as fun as they make it out to be in the movies. Blech.

Remember, I'll be speaking at VERICON this weekend.

Getting back on track with Dominic Deegan Vol. 5: THE WAR IN HELL.

I fell behind sending out this month's Donation Wallpaper over the weekend, but I should get caught up with that today.

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

Hey gang! Don't forget that I'll be one of the speakers at VERICON this weekend, so be sure to stop by if you're in the area!

Today's comic was originally going to be Nimmel's slow, comical descent into inebriation, but this scene came to me at the last minute and I decided to go ahead with this instead.

The first thing my girlfriend said when she saw today's comic was, "Honey, this is too similar to your thirtieth birthday." I'm glad she caught on to that because this is almost exactly what my thirtieth birthday was like, minus the naked werewolves. I had far too much vodka, vomited my brains out and passed out on the sofa with a bucket next to my head. It was an unpleasant end to an otherwise amazing birthday.

But I was fortunate because I had a "guard dog" that night. I had several, actually, and this strip is my little tribute to them. You all know who you are. Thanks again for taking care of me that night.

Oh, and I'm sorry for throwing up on your shoes that night, honey. Aheh.

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

Vodka! Vodka! Vodka! HEY!

I must say that I do not recommend vodka as a cure for melancholy. I tried that once, many years ago. It only made me feel worse. Then again, I think Nikolai's record so far has shown that he's not the wisest of werewolves.

I'm looking forward to working on Monday's update.
Tee hee.

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

March's Donation Wallpaper is up for your approval. If you can't see it just Refresh your browser. That ought to do the trick.

Today's strip was originally going to have much more angst. I'm glad that I decided against that, as I find this outcome far more amusing.

It was a slow week for new comic books yesterday, but a couple are worth mentioning.

Red Robin remains one of the most enjoyable titles I've been reading lately. The action is fast and the mood is relatively light, making this a fun read. It's refreshing to see that one can do battle with shadowy assassins and ruthless killers without being bogged down by all that dark and brooding stuff.

The Mystic Hands of Doctor Strange (in glorious black and white!) was everything I love about the Sorcerer Supreme. Mystic stories inspired by the classic tales of the good doctor hearken back to the Stan Lee and Steve Ditko days, which were great. My only problem is that it's a one-shot issue, so I won't see another one of these next month. Oh well.

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

I tried various, elaborate cold and snow themed puns for today's punchline, but the wordier I got the less it seemed to work. I decided to keep things simple in the end, and I think it worked better.

March's Donation Wallpaper will be up later today.

I'm working to have Dominic Deegan Volume 5: THE WAR IN HELL out by May, June at the latest. I had meant to have it out by the end of 2009 but various things prevented that from happening. With any luck a May / June release for The War In Hell will happen without such things getting in the way.

Otherwise, it's another slow news day. I like these pleasantly uneventful days.

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

For those of you who didn't quite get the joke, "A Nimmel House" is a reference to the classic college movie "Animal House." Hm. Maybe it would've been clearer if I'd spelled it "A-Nimmel House" instead. Yeah. Maybe I'll change that sometime today.

Some time today or tomorrow I should have March's Donation Wallpaper up for your approval.

It's a slow news day today, so instead of trying to fill the news box up with something marginally interesting about my personal life, I'll just keep things brief.

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

Something interesting happened to me last week that I simply could not ignore. Something that directly affected this storyline, albeit in a relatively insignificant way.

Multiple readers from different locations e-mailed me with a suggestion for the name of this story about Nimmel in college... and they all came up with the same pun. Whether they all conspired to do this or if this was just a cosmic coincidence I'll likely never know, but the title they suggested was just so damn funny that I couldn't help but make it the official title of this arc.

The title of this college story is, thanks to you, my readers, "A Nimmel House."

I love you guys so damn much.

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

Drawing that face-shove was probably more satisfying for me than it ought to have been. Still, a party's not a party without a proper fight. At least in a werewolf's case.

I received an e-mail from a reader yesterday asking me some very good questions about the Winter Archipelago and my use of Russian naming schemes. I figured it was a good excuse to have today's news post be about where I draw inspiration for the werewolves' homeland.

Basically I just took upper New England, filled it with naked werewolves and decided to use whatever cool Russian names I could think up at the time. I'm well aware that I'm likely butchering any proper Russian naming traditions, but I'm firmly sticking by my "whatever sounds the coolest" policy here.

I apologize if you were expecting something more profound.

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

I think every heterosexual male has faced a tough choice like Nikolai's today, at least to some degree... and every boob-loving man will tell you that it really is a tough call to make.

Otherwise it was a pretty slow week for comic books yesterday, at least for me. There were a couple that stood out, for good and bad, and here's what I had to think about these choice picks.

JLA: Cry For Justice came to an end and, after reading the series as a whole, was very disappointing. I felt like it started going in one direction at the beginning, took several wide turns, changed focus entirely, and ended with a conclusion so out of left field that it felt like it was just a setup for another storyline. All in all, I'm sorry I spent my money on this series and do not recommend it to anyone.

Deadpool has been seeing a lot of exposure lately, arguably too much, but I've been consistently enjoying the Deadpool Team-Up series, mainly because he only seems to team up with the most obscure Z-list characters of the Marvel Universe. I didn't even know there was a character called IT! The Living Colossus until yesterday, but Deadpool's team-up with IT! The Living Colossus was enjoyable, quick and funny. This is admittedly a great series and I recommend it for a light, fun read.

Girl Comics No. 1 was a decent read. I just wish it had a title other than "Girl Comics."

JSA: All-Stars is the best team book I'm reading nowadays. Now that Magog is gone (thank GOD) the team actually seems to be getting along, which makes for a less infuriating read.

Savage She-Hulks was decent, if only because I'm relieved the original She-Hulk wasn't really choked to death like a chump in a six page backup story a few months ago. I think writing all those orcs has given me a new affinity for strong, green women, too.

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

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!