#471 – Lunatic Fringe Fest
January 2nd, 2014 |
Happy new comic, everybody!
Inquisitor Markus Kortez is new, but our twitchy friend has theorised conspiracy before.
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#470 – Greatest Hits And Quits
December 22nd, 2013 |
Damien is not a nice person.
One comic every two weeks, huh? This is kind of bullshit. I will work on improving that. I have been getting used to a new job, new hardware, and new software. That slowed things down somewhat this week.
The job is a more consistent schedule, so should be more conducive to comic time? But I also have to get up early, and I usually do my best work at stupid o’clock at night. We’ll see.
The hardware is the Surface Pro 2. It is ever so shiny. Merry Annual Gift Day to me.
And since my regular softwares (Paint Tool SAI and Photoshop) had some issues on the Surface, I downloaded the demo for Manga Studio. Works great on the Surface (with ingenious touch and stylus controls built in), and I was all ready to purchase it. But returning to the page, I could only find “Buy Physical” buttons. Buy physical? You mean, like, on a disc? What kind of filthy savage buys software on a disc? Then I found this paragraph:
“The creator of Manga Studio, Celsys, has discontinued the digital download version of Manga Studio 5 and Manga Studio 5 EX, and are only making the physical shipment versions available. In compliance with this, Smith Micro is no longer selling the digital download versions of these programs.”
Whaaat. Is Celsys some kind of Benjamin Button company that develops in reverse? Why would you discontinue the useful version in favour of the won’t-insert-into-my-discless-new-device version? Madness. Or so I thought. Turns out, they just like money. And they are cutting the distribution deal they had with Smith Micro so that Celsys can distribute their own English version of the program. Bit of a dick move. But by all accounts Clip Studio Paint is identical to Manga Studio, but with more frequent and timely updates. So works out for me.
#469 – Who’s Your Daddy-Issue?
December 8th, 2013 |
Why did this take so loooong.
This comic is a sequel to 2012′s B-Team two-parter, The Lair of the Iron King
That’s the trouble with being Hollywood-esque action superstars; there’s always a villain successor around to act as sequel-fodder.
Filler: Place Your Bets
November 24th, 2013 |
Drew this at an earlier con as a commission for Ash of Pixelated Toaster. It is framed on her wall.
#468 – Misnomer
November 17th, 2013 |
This concludes part 2 of 2.
Unlikely to be a proper comic next weekend, unfortunately. I’m out of town for Lethbridge Expo . I might have made an attempt to get it done early, but the scheduled script is a bit complex; I’m going to have to get on openCanvas with Silv for some design work as it is.
I will try and update with something regardless.
#467 – Periodic Review
November 9th, 2013 |
Oh, is that the time already? Sorry about that. Last week I played a bunch of Batman, and then worked Saturday. I figured I would get a good chunk of comic done on Sunday, and perhaps do a Monday or Tuesday update. After all, it’s not a complicated comic, in theory (sometimes the straight, chatty ones are trickiest to get going on, however). But then I spent Sunday in kind of a shitty funk, and all drawing ability left me. So I blew most it watching Walking Dead and reading Locke & Key (which I got into on my trip last month, and is really cool). Then all of a sudden it’s the weekend again. S’ done though. The next one should go smoother, I hope.
Seems like mileage may vary on Arkham Origins. I loved it. But I never get tired of making the motherfucking Batman lurk in the rafters and beat up goons, hired goons. And yes, the story probably falls apart if you think about it too long, but it’s a hell of a ride while you’re in it. And just like with City, I’m apparently the only person I know who’s played it, so I have nobody to share my HOLY SHIT WASN’T IT COOL WHEN- AND WHAT ABOUT THE BIT WHERE- enthusiasm for the spectacle. Boo-urns.
It definitely could’ve used a few more weeks in QA, and apparently there were some nasty progress-halting bugs that some players encountered that I was lucky enough to avoid. It lacked the polish and detail that the previous games oozed, which was a little disappointing, and makes me less keen to go back and finish up the sidequests and collectables. But it does make me excited for whatever Rocksteady have been working on while this happened.
Oh! I am also exhibiting at Lethbridge Expo in a couple of weeks. It’s an inaugural new convention, and I’m friends with the organisers. If you’re anywhere near southern Alberta, give them some first year support and buy your tickets. Nov 23/24.
#466 – Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
October 26th, 2013 |
Ya know, it only occured to me last week, looking back at the Gone Cruisin’ sketch; I don’t think I’d actually seen Steamboat Willie all the way through before. A startling omission. So had a look, it seems to consist mainly of Mickey Mouse joyfully abusing animals for no reason. What an asshole.
Cruise was great, by the way. Already planning the next one. We’re wondering if we can afford to do a transatlantic and visit the family.
Sorry about the lack of updates! I have been a lazy Monkey. But I have been an enthusiastic Bat. Last week I picked up Arkham City on Steam for $7.50 and in a matter of days, completed my third playthrough (after a regular game and new game + on 360). Now I never replay games, much less on hard mode. That is testament to how much I love the Arkham games. They are basically perfect.
Despite that, I hadn’t been following Arkham Origins very closely. The new studio, new VAs and it being a prequel had perhaps made me wary, so I was waiting and seeing. But donning the cowl again put me in the mood to go look into it and I was quite surprised to find it was coming out the next day. Preordered on the spot.
So comic’s up, now if anybody needs me, I’ll be brooding on a Gotham rooftop. *swoops dramatically into the night*
Steamboat Syrus in: “Gone Cruisin’”
October 5th, 2013 |
Posted from my phone, from a guest house in Galveston, Texas. Tomorrow, we set sail on the Disney Wonder cruise liner, for seven nights, stopping in Falmouth, Grand Cayman and Cozumel.
The Many Faces Of Howard Phillips Lovecraft
September 24th, 2013 |
Ugh, caricature is hard. And then to try to caricature in somebody else’s style? And have them make an uncharacteristic cartoony wild take? I looked at photos of Lovecraft, caricatures of him by others, caricatures of celebrities by the Animaniacs animators… Ugh.
I was tossing a few print ideas around in my head, and I thought of the Warner siblings, and how they would, from episode to episode, harass various figures from history and mythology. Who could I have them pester…? Ooh! H.P. Lovecraft, and Dot could do her “wanna see my pet?” gag!
So that’s the second new print with betentacled horrors. These and more on sale at Edmonton Expo this weekend!
#465 – The Race Card
September 18th, 2013 |
The end. This was basically done by Monday night. Then I realised I hadn’t drawn the lawyers. So I sat on releasing it, with the hope that I could make some small adjustments to panel 3 and squeeze them in. But between work and maybe starting to get sick, it proved to be a bigger job than that, and in the end, fuck it.