News

Fierla's right to be upset that someone's desecrated the body of a dragon. They're tied to the nagasta creation myth after all.

I was debating whether or not I was going to take my annual Christmas vacation this year, what with the comic ending on or before May 2013, but I ultimately decided to take my yearly week-long break. But who knows? Maybe there will be something to see anyway, just like last year.

If today's comic was to have a soundtrack, I'd pretty much pick anything by Rhapsody of Fire. Most of their songs are about dragons and dragon-related things, I've found. But if I were to pick one, I think it'd have to be "Power of the Dragonflame."


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

Dave Brubeck died yesterday.
The legendary jazz musician was 91.

Time Out is an incredible album. I've listened to it countless times over the years in its entirety. It's one of those gems that never gets old, from start to finish, without ever having to skip a song. If you've never heard it, do yourself a favor and go buy it. Right now. It's an essential musical investment.

And for all the heavy metal I listen to, and for all the classical music that moves me to tears, I've always thought of Dave Brubeck's most popular song, Take Five, as Dominic's personal theme song.

Thanks for everything, Mister Brubeck.
I'll see you in jazz Valhalla.


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

This isn't the first time Klo Tark had been affected by someone watching him from the future. Only this time, instead of seeing Dominic, he seems to have heard Katya. Er, seemed to have heard her.

New comic books hit the shelves today. Whatever you're reading, whether it's superhero stuff, space opera or high fantasy adventure, remember to support your local comic book shop. Even if you're looking to start reading print comics, just browse the shelves. Chances are you'll find something that intrigues you.

I'm feeling comic-booky today because Garth has been sending me inked pages of our new webcomic project. They look great and I cannot wait to show this stuff off to you folks! We're hoping to launch by the time KATSUCON rolls around. As always, I'll keep you posted.

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

The past few years, during December, I've done "holiday special" sales in the Seer's Catalog to boost sales for the month. But I've decided not to do that this year.

Between Black Friday, Black Thursday, and the barrage of "WE'RE HAVING A HOLIDAY SALE!" emails I've been receiving from every major retail store I've ever shopped at, the consumerism of December has really hit me this year and I don't want to be a part of it.

Whichever holiday you celebrate, this time of year should be about giving, not about receiving the best deals on retail items.

So in the spirit of that, instead of trying to get you folks to buy more stuff from me, I'm going to be donating money out of my own pocket to various charities, such as RAINN, the RED CROSS and the ASPCA. If it's within your budget to give to these or other charities, please do so.

You all have already given me so much love and support over the past decade. I feel in these final months of the comic it would be greedy of me to ask for anything more from you.

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

In case you forgot, Dominic and Katya "linked up" to find Nimmel when he was lost in the Tempest. Whether Nimmel's attempt is going to work out better or worse than Dominic's remains to be seen.

But the odds are in his favor, being assisted by:
- Katya's form-amplified second sight.
- Two eld spellcasters.
- Ara's cloak.
- Dominic's very gifted students.
- His seasonal magic in the middle of a massive elemental storm.

In other out-of-this-world news, did you hear that water ice was found on Mercury? Between this and all the awesomeness of the Curiosity rover on Mars, there's plenty of astronomical stuff to be excited about. Mercury is also one of the two planets I have yet to spot with my telescope (Neptune being the other), so now I'm even more inspired to try my luck at finding the little guy.

And finally, things are really shaping up with my new webcomic project alongside Garth Graham. I can't wait to show you fine folks this stuff. I'm seriously nerding out.

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

New comic books hit the shelves today. I haven't talked about comic books in a few weeks now. I'd fallen out of the habit of going to my local comic shop (which is now across town since I moved), and the few titles I was reading (with one notable exception) didn't have me as hooked as they used to.

But oh my goodness gracious why oh why did it take me so long to get around to reading "SAGA" by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples?! It may have had something to do with every issue, and now the first trade, being sold out every time I went looking for it. But now it's on my subscription list so I won't miss an issue. This series is incredible. It's an amazing blend of science fiction space opera and high fantasy quest. It's a unique world that blends my favorite genres seamlessly and I want to see more. This is the kind of series that gets me excited about comic books all over again.
Oh, and there's plenty of foul language and explicit sex thrown in. Which is also fun.

And, as the "notable exception" mentioned above, Atomic Robo has not lost any steam in its seventh volume, "Flying She-Devils of the Pacific." This continues to be the fast-paced, fun, action adventure that more comic books should aspire to be. If you haven't been reading this, you've been missing out.

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

Today's comic (hopefully) clears up a question some of you have contacted me about.

In the recent comic where Rilian informed Dominic that they were dying as a result of the king's magic, it looked as though Rilian actually disintegrated as he concluded his message. Perhaps it could have been made clearer that Rilian was just dissipating for dramatic effect, but I ultimately liked that some people were uncertain as to what actually happened. Dominic doesn't seem to know what he's really seeing either.

I haven't talked about comic books much down here in the last few weeks. That will change tomorrow, as I want to rant about an amazing series I've been reading, and I'll go back to gushing about some old favorites.


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

Scrying that far into the past may be dangerous for Dominic's students and an unpracticed oracle, but Dominic once peered much further back into the past, and Nimmel was even able to help subdue an angry demon knight in the psychoplanes.

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend (if you celebrated Thanksgiving). I spent my tofurkey day, and the subsequent weekend, catching up with family I haven't seen in over a year and reuniting with the frontwoman of Absinthe Junk.

I think my favorite Thanksgiving weekend moment had to be the evening of the holiday itself, when my cousins huddled outside in the cold with me as I searched the night sky for wonders to show them with my telescope. I'm the oldest of about fourteen cousins, some of them being decades younger than me; so I totally felt like the "cool older cousin" as I found star clusters, galaxies and planets for my younger relatives.

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

And we're back!

I hope everyone had a fulfilling Thanksgiving! And if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you had a big freaking dinner last night in the spirit of the holiday.

Klo Tark's past had only been briefly touched upon during The Storm of Souls. Prior to his meeting with Dominic we'd only seen him being tutored by Acibek. Now we know that his name comes from the Eld vessel that tried to make it back to the Prime Plane.

As for Dominic's mental powers, Rilian knows how dangerous his mind can be. Is he still "the final option" in all this? We shall see.



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

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Some years I do crummy filler doodles.

Some years it's pictures of my cats.

I was going to do a filler doodle today, until my wife was making ratatouille for me and we found our cat Scamp doing... well, you see for yourself. It was pretty cute.

The comic will return tomorrow.



That's all from me for now.
Rock on, and happy Thanksgiving!

The dotted lines that signify scrying and/or a mental connection of some kind really came in handy in today's comic. They helped showcase a literal "MIND. BLOWN." moment with the two eld today.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the U.S. There will be a crummy filler doodle in place of a comic, as usual. The comic will update normally on Friday, and resume its updating schedule on Monday.

I haven't decided whether or not I'll be taking my usual winter vacation this year, which usually spans the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. With the comic ending on or before May 2013, I feel like you folks should get as many updates as possible. I'll keep you posted, as usual.


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

A lengthy search through the Plane of Air and the heart of the Tempest would have been neat, but we've already been on that journey with Nimmel.

Astral Caravan was one of my favorite psionic spells/abilities from Dungeons & Dragons, so there's a little nod to it in today's comic.

"Planet Caravan" is a great Black Sabbath song, but I first heard it in the 90s when Pantera covered it. Both versions are pretty stellar. I guess it could be the "soundtrack" for today's comic.

Other musical suggestions for today's comic:
"Thunderbird" by Iron Savior
"Giants" by Enslaved
"Galaxy Bounce" by The Chemical Brothers


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

Two potential allies down, and only the Eld remain. Things are not looking good... except for Luna getting empowered by a dragon's heart. From what some of you have told me, that looked pretty good for our heroes.

Some classical recommendations for what The Maestro's requiem would sound like:
- Brahms' German Requiem
- Mozart's Requiem
- Rachmaninov's All-Night Vigil
- Carl Orff's Carmina Burana

There are countless other possibilities, but these are just a tiny handful of my favorites.

Thursday is Thanksgiving here in the U.S., and just like last year around this time, there will be filler instead of a comic. Just to give you fine folks a heads-up.

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

Every now and again I have a soundtrack running through my head for certain comics. Most of the time it's heavy metal. Occasionally it's jazz or the blues. Today, it's classical music.

Brahms' German Requiem thundered through my mind as The Maestro's betrayal/enchantment was revealed. As brutal and primal as heavy metal can be, Brahms' haunting masterpiece is an immortal piece of music. I once heard it performed live in Boston's Symphony Hall and it literally moved me to tears. Silent tears, that is, not the wailing kind. Anyway, it's what I think of as the "soundtrack" for today's comic.

Everyone on the internet has probably linked to this already, but I'm going to do so again here. The Oatmeal has a pretty amazing comic about making things for the web. You should read it. It's pretty funny, and very insightful about the creative process in general.


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

I confess. I nerded out a little writing the dialogue for today's comic. Maybe more than a little.

I've been a fan of the fantasy genre for a long time, and there's just something about the word "dragon" that boils the blood of any longtime fantasy fan.

So when I was writing the dialogue for today's comic, and I came to the moment where a character that 1) has been around for a long time and 2) I have a great fondness for is about to be empowered by the "heart of a dragon," I surprised myself with a moment of self-geekery.

I know it may seem cliche, but I'd be willing to bet that any fantasy fan is still affected by the very idea of a dragon; whether it's empowered by them, allied with them, slaying them, descended from them, or riding one into battle. Dragons are the backbone of the fantasy genre, in my opinion.



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