Spike's Cartoons and Whinging

Templar. Again.

This is getting to be a habit.

And the second panel now holds the intercontinental title of Best Reagan I've Ever Drawn.

Heavyweight, of course.

Click here.

Barely Passable Templar.

Ugly inks, now ready for perusal.

I'll color it now. Sorry, but I needed it to update Saturday. I've been slacking pretty hard, lately. I know. Thanks for liking me anyway.

Uh Oh.

Back in the habit. That really took no time at all.

Chapter 19, Return to Sender. Enjoy!

Templar Updates!

Y'know, if you're capable of using the word "subliterate" conversationally, I think you lose the privilege to define yourself that way.

Just saying.

Click and see!

I bet you thought I'd stopped for good.

You'd be wrong, of course.

Lemme know what you think, guys!

(Warning: Full frontal nudity in this episode. Click with caution.)

Templar is colored, and it's about time.

The comic updated Saturday, but for a number of reasons, toning the page dragged on forever. Take a look here for the final product.

Poor Ben. You all probably think he's a doofus, now.

Call my agent to set up negotiations, Viacom.

You know what I'd watch?

Star Trek: Dregs.

The Earthlings on Star Trek are always depicted as living in a perfect Communist society. A Marxist wet dream, a world free from want, with every basic need and entertainment automated or synthesized, without prejudice, on demand. And I kind of have to wonder why no one stops for a second to consider the kind of monsters a society like that would raise.

Not every member of every race can be an overachiever on Star Fleet's honor roll, right? For every Wesley Crusher, there have to be hundreds of spoiled brats convinced anything they can't press a button for or have sparkle to life in a replicator atom by atom isn't worth having. The world is already filled with basement trolls living off of their family's resources. Imagine their population explosion in a world where the interplanetary state is the one doing your laundry and paying the DSL bill. And it won't even ask you to fill out a job application at Denny's every four months.

And what about the ones with misdirected curiousity, the kind of people who aren't motivated to achieve in a framework where the lazy are rewarded on equal terms with the extraordinary, but still need their busywork? What could their own epic boredom drive them to do?

And the perverts. Don't try to tell me there aren't any perverts. I wanna see how the guy stockpiling holographic photos of Klingon shoes gets through the day, hogging the holodeck and running the STOMPED BY THE WARRIOR GODDESS program eighteen times in a row.

Someone ought to make a show.

Y'know what would be really useful?

A dream interpretation book or website with a "Henry Rollins" entry.

Because he keeps showing up. And I have no idea why. And I'd sure like to.

Seriously, Hank. Love ya, babe, but what the hell.

The Greater Japanese Earworm. A Study.

Jesus Christ. I got this link from Uncle Comics weeks ago, and I'm still overcome with a need to watch it at least once a day.

Polysics - I MY ME MINE

Cute, bouncy, DEVO-inspired Japanese pop with incomprehensible lyrics, a little schoolgirl riding an imaginary Vespa, a Michael Jackson impersonation, and the world's only non-obnoxious use of Bullet Time.

Watch with caution. Or you'll probably end up like me.

Brand new Templar!

Now available in limitless quantities!

Y'know, I'm pretty sure that's the most Ben's ever said at any one time. And we're 41 pages in.

And my favorite part of this page is how the hours of detail in the background of the first panel just WASHED AWAY COMPLETELY when I reduced it to web resolution. OMG YAY.

Oh, and I'm gonna take this time to remind everyone to check out the fan art... at least three new pieces have come in in the last couple of weeks, and I still have some more to post... And maybe link to Templar, if you can. Link banners are here.

PS: You are all utterly loveable. Thanks for reading.

OH MY STARS AND GARTERS

WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT. MY SPREADSHIRT SHOP HAD ANOTHER BABY.

I can't imagine why this is happening! It had three years of abstinence-only sex-ed in high school, and I made SURE it didn't have access to birth control!

Shameful! Just shameful! If you people would just let me censor the Internet, THIS SORT OF THING WOULDN'T HAPPEN.

Book Appreciation: Strapped, by Tamara Draut.

Snatched out of my forum for display on the front page: Why it's getting harder and harder to be under 35 in America.

A friend of mine, Dirk, has been reading Strapped, and is beginning to get steadily more and more annoyed with the state of affairs. Given the statistics the book offers on housing costs, childcare and insurance, I can see why. It's sort of compounded when you compare the sort of standards our parents had at our age with what we're given now.

Good jobs are hard to find, and when you do find work, you probably won't get benefits. Plenty of companies are willing to work people 35 hours a week to avoid insuring them; I know people in this exact situation. Having a kid in your 20s is a laughably ruinous proposition for every single person I know. One income used to rent a house: Now two incomes get you an apartment.

But I guess that's just because we're all "slackers." Yeah, that must be it.

I'll probably be stealing this book from Dirk when he's done with it, as depressing a read as it sounds like. And I think you guys should pick it up, too.

Templar.

This updated at midnight, but I sorta forgot to let you guys know. Oops. We're still friends, right?

It''s gonna update tomorrow, too. Watch.

As always, thanks for reading the comic, guys. You're what keeps it going.

Templar. Blargh.

Look on the bright side: I'll be updating THREE TIMES this week!

New page is here. As if you didn't know that. Colored tones tomorrow. Thanks for reading, clicking, buying t-shirts, and generally encouraging my worst habits.

Templar, on time. Barely.

Ben sure is a dull sonuvabitch, ain't he?

Yeah, just the inks again. Tones tomorrow. And hopefully, a new page Saturday. Let's see if I can manage it.

And I suppose it's easy to guess, but man, do I wish clay bars were real.

I could go for a honey-garlic flavored soda, too.

Just a Thought.

Y'spoze anyone out there's put "I hated George W. Bush before it was cool" on a t-shirt, yet?

Because if not, I probably should.