Archive for February, 2009
13 items.
What? You were expecting me to do some kind of spoof of “300″, perhaps???
I thought about it but since I was already in the middle of this story arch, I didn’t want to break it up with something completely unrelated to the ongoing storyline. Besides, doing a strip about reaching a mile-mark is sort of like an NFL receiver celebrating after a 5 yard catch. Uh, dude, that’s what you’re SUPPOSED to do… catch the ball. Save the celebrations for when they REALLY matter – like a game winning catch or touchdown.
So no, I’m not drawing a strip about drawing 200 strips. But what I will do is publicly thank Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum for allowing me to have a little bit of fun with Dewey and Mel. Thanks so much guys – I’m really glad you enjoyed these two strips (as well as mentioning me on your blog as well).
Before I leave tonight though, I wanted to mention that I will be at REGAL COMMONWEALTH 20 in Richmond, Virginia next Friday night handing out fliers and Capes & Babes postcards in the lobby of the theater prior to the premier of “WATCHMEN”. So, if you live in the Richmond, Virginia area and are planning on seeing “Watchmen” that night, come on out and meet me and my wife. It’ll be our wedding anniversary (no, I’m not telling you the number – I feel old enough already. LOL!)
Now I’m off for a much deserved date with her as a matter of fact (and I’m running late because I wanted to post the strip before I left to pick her up – talk about dedication, people!).
Have a good night everyone and I hope you enjoy the 200th strip!
-Chris
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So… you may be wondering who that guy is that Roy’s talking to in today’s strip…
If you are, then shame on you for not knowing about Unshelved. The guy Roy’s talking to is Dewey – one of the main characters from Unshelved. You should check out the strip. It just hit its seven (7) year anniversary.
When I was working on ways to explore Roy and Roni’s “forbidden love” relationship, I almost immediately got the idea that Roy – in an attempt to learn more about vampires (and his girlfriend) would visit a library. And what better library to visit than a web comic library that has been online for at least seven years now?
I hope you enjoyed today’s guest appearance and that you’re enjoying sharing in Roy’s experience as he tries to learn a little bit more about love and commitment.
Currently listening to “Pretty in Pink” by The Psychedelic Furs…
-Chris
I wonder if Roy will be wise enough to turn around? And, even if he does turn around, will he be able to find out what he needs to know? Stay tuned, folks!
On a huge side note, it’s Sunday night as I’m writing this and just a few short hours ago, I just got back from attending the Virginia Comicon in Richmond, Virginia. Had a great time. Sold some of the first four mini comics, did a bunch of commissions and got officially signed up for Heroes Con in June.
I have pictures and video of the con – it’s a small, one day can so nothing major – but I will post the video and the pictures up later on this week.
-Chris
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For those that are wondering what Roni is looking at in the last panel, here’s the link where you can see it for yourself:
Roy’s poetry to Ron
A long time ago (at least in “internet time”), I heard about this thing called “Twitter” and thought “ahhh… what the heck good is that? I much rather just use an IM client…” but now, if you follow me on Twitter, you know I use it on a constant basis for a variety of things.
So… I decided that this time, when I was introduced to something, instead of simply dismissing it with a wave of a hand, I’d check it out and at least experiment with it a bit before making a judgment on the “latest thing”. Well, for me, that “latest thing” is TWINE.
If you want to check out my Capes & Babes Twine, here’s the direct link:
http://www.twine.com/twine/1214d0f6f-sc/capes-babes-webcomic
I don’t exactly know what I’m going to do with this but thus far, it looks like it could be a fun way to share FREE stuff with all of you – like the sketch progress of the very first CAPES & BABES BOOK. We’ll have to see…
Currently listening to “Objects in the rear view Mirror” by Meatloaf…
-Chris
After talking to Kris Straub at Katsucon 15 this past weekend, I decided to go ahead and jump on the bandwagon known as Asset Bar. Yes… I opened my own Asset Bar store. If you would like to check it out, here’s the link:
I’m still trying to figure out a way to add free content to my Fanflow. If anyone has any advice for me, please share it.
Right now, all I have for subscription content stuff is something I’m calling “Stupor hero of the Month”. If you subscribe to my asset bar for the low, low price of just $1.00 A MONTH, every month you subscribe, you will get a new illustration of some B, C or D list super hero or villain.
If you’ve recently subscribed to my Twitter feed, you have already received Kang the Time Lord. The “Stupor Hero of the Month” will be just like that – essentially a comical convention sketch in full color for your downloading pleasure.
Again, check out my store: Capes & Babes’ Pull List at Assetbar.com.
-Chris
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Whew! It’s Sunday night at 12:30am in the morning. I just finished the final touches on Monday’s strip (the first panel shading took way longer than I thought) and I’m posting it now.
On Friday night, I completely sketched, inked and lettered today and Wednesday’s strips and I’m so glad I did because Katsucon 15 tied up my entire weekend. Here are some highlights from the con:
- Since I wasn’t able to get a table for this year’s Katsucon, I got to experience the entire con with my daughter
- Met Brad and the Halfpixel crew Saturday morning
- Got to talk to Brad for quite a while before the “buying crowd” really began to form
- Got to participate in Super Art Fight. If you’ve never heard of Super Art Fight, check them out here:Super Art Fight!. I was pulled from the audience and did a very quick cartoon of the Grinch dog, Max, wearing a Matrix outfit and saying “Screw the bags, Grinch!”.
- My daughter got an official Katsucon t-shirt for my participating in Art Fight.
- Finally got to meet my real good Twitter friend, Onezumi!
- Handed out a bunch of my Capes & Babes postcards
- Saturday night, I met up with Dave, Kris and Brad and a few other Halfpixel fans and ate WAY too much ice cream at Cold Stone ice cream
- Afterwards, a bunch of the Halfpixel fans (sans Dave, Kris and Brad) ate some really great Chines food in Crystal City and had an even better night of discussing a wide range of topics.
And that was just Saturday alone!
Sunday was mostly filled with going to a couple of sessions on web comics and walking the dealer room and spending way too much money. But it was a fantastic time and I took some small snippets of video throughout the day today and will post them some time soon. I also took a bunch of photos on Saturday and will post those as well.
REMINDER:
I will be in Richmond, Virginia this Sunday (February 22). Click the banner at the top of my left sidebar for more information.
And if you are an artist interested in web comics, a bunch of local web comic artists are meeting up Tuesday night at Ballston Common Mall in Arlington, Virginia at 8:00pm. All are welcomed and we usually meet (and stay) in the food court area. Hope to see you there.
-Chris
If you’re looking for relationship advice, is there anyone better than Dr. Drew and Adam Corolla? I think not.
Now, before you go out of your way to point out that Stryker is now co-host of “Loveline” with Dr. Drew, let me say I have nothing against Stryker. I enjoy listening to “Loveline” with him on the show as I did when Adam was sitting beside Dr. Drew, but I discovered “Loveline” with Adam as co-host so to me, “Loveline” will always be the Dr. Drew and Adam Corolla show – hence the homage to the guys I used to listen to during those REALLY late pizzas runs on the weekends and driving home from my late night baseball games.
Again, if anyone can give any kind of advice about a werewolf and vampire relationship, I just figured Dr. Drew and Adam would be the men to talk to.
-Chris
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Roy’s motto has always been “Open mouth, insert foot”.
Short post today. Not feeling very well. Hopefully will feel better tomorrow and I’ll edit this post. But for now, enjoy the strip!
Updated post (2/12/09):
Thanks for the kind e-mails and well wishes from everybody. I’m one of those people that generally only get ill once or twice a year but when I do, it’s usually a doozy and knocks me out for a day or two. This February has been incredibly hectic for me – both in terms of the strip and my “day job” and maybe this month’s hectic schedule has played a bit more havoc with my immune system than its used to – hence the last two weeks of feeling ill for a few days. I feel better today but only about 90% better. Hopefully, I will be 100% by this weekend as I’m REALLY looking forward to going to Katsucon15 with my daughter.
One of the things I’ve discovered this past year while attending cons for the first time as an artist is that there isn’t any time to actually ENJOY the con. Once I made the commitment to this cartoon strip, I forfeited the chance to enjoy all future cons as a fan. From an artist’s perspective, you spend so much time meeting, greeting and trying to sell your stuff at a con that you end up not being able to slowly walk the convention floor and maybe meeting and talking to other artists your enjoy or admire. Or even buying a bunch of stuff as well. I mean, it’s incredibly fun, exciting and challenging being behind a table but there is still a slight pang of bittersweet remorse of no longer being a “fan” and enjoying a convention the same way ever again.
In fact, I was very much hoping to NOT experience Katsucon as a fan this year but was unable to secure a table for this year’s event so I’m trying to look at the bright side by enjoying the anime con as a fan (again). It will be interesting to experience the anime con as a “fan” after spending all of last year behind a table at various cons.
In any case, that “fan experience” won’t last long because soon after Katsucon, I will be heading to Richmond, Virginia for a one day con on February 22nd. This is the same con I attended back in November and did fairly well for a one day show. Hopefully, I’ll do a little bit better. If you’re interested in attending, click the VA Comicon graphic at the top of the left hand sidebar for more information.
After that, in April, I will be heading to Roanoke, Virginia for another one day convention. I’ve never attended the Roanoke Valley Con before even though I went to college 30 minutes away from Roanoke – so that will be an interesting experience all by itself.
-Chris
I gotta say, I really like how that first panel came out. Hope you guys do too.
And now that it’s been a while, how are you guys feeling about the hand lettering? I’m still experimenting with different pens but for the last series of strips, I’ve been using the Penstix No. 3017 F 0.7mm pen and I really like it. The pens gives a nice thickness to each letter and it reads well on a monitor AND after the strip has been reduced for book size.
Also, it’s Sunday as I’m writing this so I promised my daughter I’d take her bowling today and I hope to get back to catch some of the NFL Pro Bowl. Anyone a fan of the Pro Bowl?
-Chris
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For those that have just discovered this strip, you might be wondering exactly what is the deal with that dude in the last panel. Well, that’s “AL” the alien – and yes, he’s here in the States illegally.
But don’t be too hard on him. He really is trying hard to get his green card and become a legal citizen but he keeps running into a few problems as witnessed below:
And let’s face it, do you REALLY want to make an Alien mad?
Uf wit iz had
But hey, at least he’s not being a bum either. You gotta hand it to any alien that’s determined to make his own way in this world – no matter what kind of jobs might come his way:
One of Al’s many jobs
Now all he has to do is work on that “driving thing”…
Uh-oh, better get Macco!
-Chris
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