Hey folks!  In the cycle of fun - torture - fun that is cartooning, it is on ‘fun’ this week.  Don’t worry, he doesn’t owe Mr. Grandini, or Mr. Grant, any money.  It’s not a History of Violence thing…not exactly.  See yous Friday!

It’s been staring me in the face for awhile; Tuesdays and Fridays! It’s what would happen even if I tried to do Tues-Thurs.  I promise this is the last schedule change until I go to three days a week (what’s that? February?! Is that you peeking in my window?)

Oh geez, who is coming into the diner?  Can Thursday come soon enough!?!?  As always, comments on the story or art are appreciated.

Here’s what was going to be Tuesday’s strip and today’s strip in one long chunk.  I hope you dig it.  After next week, Jessie gets out of the diner and adventure and suspense begin!

(Wow, reading what I wrote only a day ago, I sound like such a whiner.)

Illness, depression, and sheer terror (about the election and my complete inability to make my student loan payments) have had me drawing for shit for the last 36 hours.  I had great pencils for today that I’ve thoroughly fucked in trying to ink and have to redraw now.  Not even Photoshop can save them.  I’m going to go lie down.  Comics resume Thursday.  GO VOTE!

Oh god, don’t ever get a day job if you like being creative.  I’m going to go get 3 hours of sleep and then slag through an 8+ hour shift.

This is the first of a storyline that will probably take me through to the New Year.  It’s got some twists and turns, etc.  It’s a noirish detective-y thing, incorporating elements of Newspaper funnies history.  Hammett will be a touchstone, especially the Continental Op stories.

Things were kinda crazy, Photoshop is screwing up and erased several hours of coloring work I’d done.  I think this B+W version is neater, though, and more the style I had in mind initially.

I hope you enjoy!  Leave a comment and let me know what you think.  If there are any issues leaving comments, twitter me.  I’ll put a contact form on here tomorrow.

Personal obligations will keep me from updating til the weekend is over.  I’ve had to admit to myself that I can’t update more often than 2 days a week til I quit this ‘dayjob’ situation.  Updates are Tuesdays and Thursdays now.  New, ongoing storyline starts Tuesday!  I’ll be exploring some noir themes.

…not that anyone actually checks this site yet.  It’s 2 AM, and it’s just not happening.  There’s another fucking mosquito in my studio.  Anyway, I should have a new comic up by 1 PM.

So forget all that junk I’m said before, I’m starting an ongoing story TODAY, Friday, October 24, 2008.  It’s not anything I’ve mentioned yet.  The thing with gay farmboys and a medicine show needs too much period research for me to get ready soon.

Unbeknownst to him, this was inspired by my pal D.Billy, who has a website with wonderful arts here and co-blogs here.  This is the kind of pirate I imagine he would be - although he’d probably have his men pull pranks and do avant-performance rather than cook.  Or make graffiti out of their own word balloons.

There are two issues I would like to address:

1. I know I know, I took out the extra hand and looked at it, and it was just missing something that way.  So I left it in and colored it.  I think it makes it better!

2. I know the pirate meme is like so four years ago, but this occurred to me and I wanted to do it.  So there.

Whew!  Next up: this Friday I’m drawing a zen story in black and white (well, greyscale), and hopefully Thursday I’ll get a lot of the site customization done.