November 2007 Archives

Poor Ben.

My, I say that a lot, don't I? Anyway.

I would like to note that this update's vote sketches? I did not draw them. Someone Else did, and he is GREAT, and I love what he's been turning out, lately. He's everything a control freak writer could ask for, and he lays out his comic pages BEAUTIFULLY.

You'll get his name eventually, and what the hell we're up to together. For now? Just sayin' I'm all excited n' stuff and wanna share.

Beyond that,? Lots to do. Commissions to finish up, shirts to get printed (shh), Secret Project to get done (shh), this page will need babysitting pretty soon, and I'll be taking off Wednesday not only to do the New York Anime Festival, but stop by The Mütter Museum in Philly on the way there! Fuck yeah.

My life is basically too good.

Bye!

And the scene starts with such a nice surprise, too. God, I suck.

Hey, guys. A cold + a con + the holidays = Me being pretty thrown offa blogging the update to the comic, for the past few days. I'm kinda back on track now, though. Hooray.

Sugoicon was a lot of fun. I'm still not quite used to anime cons, but as cons in general go, this one had a great vibe. there were free Häagen-Dazs bars and some really nice people, including the con's guests of honor: Jennie Breeden, Jamie Hatton, and Dan Hess, who we did a panel in the company of and had Midnight Pie with for the duration. "We," of course, because my con-buddy Dirk was there, as always.

I got the shock of my life before I left for the con when a ridiculously generous patron sprang for a book on my Amazon Wishlist, an out-of-print work of goddamn genius I'd basically abandoned hope of ever owning. I really can't express what this meant to me, you guys must know by now how goofy I am for this stuff. I've already read it through twice; it's got some nice coverage of latter-day Coney Island acts, something historians tend to let slip through the cracks, and a ton of photos I'd never seen before. And when you're me, that's pretty extraordinary.

You know who you are. Thank you!

Unbelievably, I got a gift at the con, too; Someone who reads the blog actually stopped by my table and gave me some handmade bath and beauty stuff. (I can very much recommend this stuff, by the way. I am already less stinky.) I think this pretty much cements my readers as The Best Ever. For real.

Oh yeah, and you guys won me Webcomic Idol. That was pretty cool. I guess.

OKAY WHATEVER WHO THE FUCK AM I KIDDING THAT WAS AWESOME. Thank you, everybody! This is a big deal and very good thing. I still have to iron out the kinks and put up the code, but I'm now a member of Bomb Shelter Comics! A collective. Not too shabby!

I promised you guys a special comic if I won, too, and I haven't forgotten about it. Look for it soon!

Jeez, I'm sure I'm leaving something out. Argh. But I'm sure I'll think of it later.

Bye!

Late late late. I'm always late after a con.

I have a lot I wanna talk about right now... How my birthday went, who I met at Sugoicon, the generosity of my readers, and recounts of new con buddies. But I'm sick. I feel so crummy. So It's gonna wait until tomorrow.

One thing won't wait, though: The final round of Webcomic Idol is underway.

Please, vote for Templar! This is it guys, the boss battle. And oh, man, a win would just make my month utterly and completely.

If I win, I have a comic for you guys; A new one you've never seen before, a one-shot unlike anything I've done. I'd love to show it to you, but no dice unless we win this thing, darn it.

And now, I'm gonna go lie down. Check back tomorrow for a post actually worth something!

Two pages in one! Page back for Wednesday's update.

Can't talk, gotta pack. Sugoicon is this weekend, and I haven't done chore one for it. ACK.

Blah blah blah, Webcomic Idol.

Bye!

KABONG.

This page might be a little illegal. I don't know. I hope not.

So, yeah. In case you didn't know, Ben's a foreign adoptee. The hotspot for that these days is China, but when Ben was a baby, South Korea was the gold standard of imported kids. That has its roots in American G.I.s sowing their collective oats during the Korean War, and fathering a lot of interracial, illegitimate kids; a knockout double-whammy of taboos, at the time. (Until the 1980s, this was a country that denied citizenship to people who couldn't trace their paternal ancestry.) An Episcopalian missionary group drummed up some noise about the plight of these kids, the news did some stories, and the next thing you know... well, South Korea still exports thousands of children a year. The adoption agencies run their own safehouses for unmarried mothers and orphanages; at least one has its own maternity hospital.

Babies. Serious business.

I don't disapprove of this, by the way. There are people who want babies they don't have and people who have babies they don't want, and I believe those people should meet up as often as possible. There are much, much worse fates out there for a Korean orphan than being adopted by a couple of rich old white people. But I also don't think the process is composed of fairydust, sunshine, and rainbow jimmie sprinkles.

As a matter of fact, some people are really pissed off about it. But that's neither here nor there.

Got emails to answer, so I'll leave it at that. Today's vote sketches, they're some of the commissions i did this weekend. And the fourth round of Webcomic Idol is underway; Please vote.

Bye!

...these are the kinda things you stop noticing when you've been around them for twenty-one years.

At least he remembered to take it easy on the stairs. Old houses are creaky. That place must be downright orchestral when it's settling at night.

I've been getting email recently about a slight error I made, where I sent a handful of you guys extra books, because I'm dumb. Some of you wanna know what to do. My answer? Keep 'em. Or give 'em away to friends. I'm okay with messing up this time, because it's only a very few books, and I wouldn't want to make you pay shipping, and I don't feel like doing it myself! So, enjoy.

This Saturday and Sunday, I intend to get a whole lot of commissions done, preferably while watching as much of this trash as I can take, interspersed with episodes of the only anime I've seen recently that doesn't make me want to punch myself. As a matter of fact, I think I'll go get started right now.

Enjoy the weekend, guys! And thanks for your Webcomic Idol votes! My survival is assured.

(PS: Any suggestions what I should ask for for my birthday next Sunday? What are you guys coveting?)

If Ben doesn't want his parents, shoot, I'll take 'em!

Busy busy busy.

I'll be at Sugoicon next week, and I'll spend my birthday on the 18th at the con. Which is fine, really, because I'm not really a party sort of person. Or a noticing sort of person, honestly. This might have been a problem, but fortunately, I married a person who was noticing-deficient, too.

We've both forgotten our anniversary two years running, now. We're so rad.

I have a TON of email to answer, but there's definitely one I wanna share with you guys before I forget: MY Bush Hate tee is so way better than this one, don't you think? It has a pretty graphic and everything. The person who emailed me this link suggested that it maybe might have been inspired by mine, but I don't really think so. A Google search for "I hated Bush before it was cool shirt" comes up with a thousand-plus results, after all. (Mine is still the prettiest, though.)

It's funny this was brought up now, because I'll be phasing out my Spreadshirt shop pretty soon in favor of a real-deal run of shirts. It's not gonna happen tomorrow, but hey, just sayin'. Order while you can! The design for the first shirt I wanna do will show up soon, after the last of the commissions is put to bed. I think you guys are gonna like it.

And, as always, please keep me in the running over at Webcomic Idol. If I come in first this week, Stuff shall be Done. For YOU.

Back to work...

Ka-ching.

Sorry for the lateness of this page, folks. Monday's after-con crapfest proved more daunting than expected.

But hey, Youmacon was a lot of fun! I was on a panel, my first. And thanks for dropping by the table, to those of you that did. I hope I don't horribly disappoint in person. And I hope some of you are new readers, too! I handed out a whole lotta postcards.

Anyway, everything's back on track, now. And Webcomic Idol is still going on! Vote for Templar, okay? I will love you forever.

Today's vote sketches are more antiques from an old folder or two. Hope they're tolerable.

Bye!

Hey, guys! I'm gonna be at Youmacon this weekend in Detroit! On a panel and everything, if you can believe it. Something about webcomics, I dunno. Drop by my table and say hi! Or come listen to me blather incessantly. Should be fun.

Templar will update at Midnight on Friday, and Webcomic Idol's second round will be concluding on Saturday; if you haven't voted yet, I hope you'll consider it. And maybe consider forcing others to do the same. If I come in first, I'll do something dreadful for you, like play the Sims and tell you stories about it. Or something else. Yeah.

Anyway, look for the page on Friday.

Bye!