Evil Inc.

strip for May / 17 / 2008

Sat, 17 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

strip for May / 16 / 2008

Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Emerald City Comic Con 2008

Guigar — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:17:34 -0400

What do you say after a weekend in which you were treated like royalty, hung out with some of your best friends and colleagues, and were surrounded by kind and supportive fans?

�Thank you� doesn�t seem to touch it.

First of all, let�s talk about Emerald City Comic Con � and more importantly, let�s talk about the people who run it. Jim Demonakos and his brother George run the very finest comic convention I�ve ever attended. Between their tireless efforts and the work of their incredible and dedicated volunteers, it�s simply the most phenomenal convention I�ve ever attended.

The whole thing started when I went to Baggage Claim to pick up my checked luggage. (An aside: Northwest is charging a whomping $25 for each checked bag after the first one � and charging extra if it�s over 5o pounds. It�s getting so I�m going to have to ship everything but my clothes when I exhibit out of town.)

ECCC�s Chris Berman (Chris, forgive me if I�m misspelling your last name) was waiting to drive me to the hotel. Among the cool individuals I was riding with was Jarrett "The Defuser" Crippen from Who Wants To Be a Superhero.

Jarrett�s a natural-born storyteller, and he made the short drive into Seattle an enjoyable trip. He�s also an incredibly classy guy, offering me an autographed photo for my son when I mentioned I was shopping for souvenirs on Sunday. I had to admit that I had never watched the show, but now I�m kinda sad that I missed it.

We were checked in to the Grand Hyatt in Seattle. What an amazing hotel. That's Dave in front of our amazing view in the photo to the right. I had shipped seven boxes to the hotel over the course of the weekend. In the past, this has been a source of extreme confusion and delay. Not only were my boxes waiting for me, but they were brought up to my room immediately. And when I explained Friday night that I was waiting for a shipment the next day, they took my cell phone number so they could call me on the convention floor when the shipment arrived. AND THEN THEY DID! The hotel was about a block from the Washington State Convention Center. I was able to scamper to the hotel and back in less than fifteen minutes, which was nice because the last-minute shipment was more copies of the How To Make Webcomics book, which we would have surely run out of otherwise.

By Friday evening, Dave Kellett and Kristofer Straub had arrived (Kris was accompanied by his sweetie, Erica). We linked up shortly thereafter with Scott Kurtz and his wife Angela and Angela�s sister, Ashley. With the entire Halfpixel crew united, we made plans for a celebratory feast.

At the nearby Cheesecake factory, we dined� one of us was carded when he tried to order a beer. Others, sadly, were not.

Merriment ensued. Then Kellett, Straub and I made haste to a theater to see Iron Man. The earliest flick we could catch was 11:15 p.m. � getting us back to the hotel around two in the morning.

So the next day came a little earlier than we were prepared for, but I think our excitement carried us through the morning. Saturday was non-stop action. The Halfpixel booth was buzzing from opening to close. The response to the HTMW book was truly gratifying. I was also happy to see many people buying all three volumes of the Evil Inc Annual Report.

Saturday night, Wil Shipley invited us to a party he was throwing in honor of both Halfpixel and Penny Arcade. The champagne flowed and the food was simply fantastic. Wil�s an awfully nice guy and a consummate host, and I was very pleased to have been able to meet him. After we left, it was off to the Kurtz�s suite for a cheesecake nightcap.

Sunday morning brought the Webcomics Weekly panel at 11 a.m. We were worried that no one would show up so early on a Sunday. Boy, were we wrong. The auditorium was packed and we did a live version of our podcast to a receptive and supportive audience.

There were a couple people taping the presentation. If you could contact one of us, we�d love to make a tape available to everyone!

Unfortunately, the convention, like all good things, had to come to an end. After striking the booth, we were treated by Los Bros Demonakos to a dinner at Ipanema, a Brazillian grill that I have not enough superlatives for. We gorged ourselves on steaks and chops and steaks and boar and shrimp and steaks and chicken and steaks. I passed on the chicken.

We made fast friends with Rodrigo, one of the servers, who pinned us drawing on the paper table coverings. When he brought out paper for some sketches, we were only too happy to oblige. And he was only too happy to bring the filet mignon by the table a few more times. For desert, it was grilled pineapple crusted with cinnamon. Now, Midwest Boy, here, has a hard-and fast rule about cooked fruit. He avoids it. He�s even somewhat leery about its use in pies. But Rodrigo insisted I try it.

Holy smokes.

That was the most awesome thing I�ve ever eaten. I may have downed an entire pineapple singled-handedly.

After that, our friend Dave had to rush back to be with his wife and baby daughter � both of whom he missed terribly.

Kris and Erica were kind enough to invite me out for drinks with them at a sushi bar. The conversation was lively and the company was keen. My old pal, Malki, was there. So was a new friend, Alina Pete, who does a charming webcomic, Weregeek, that I think a significant number of my readers would get a charge out of. I don�t want to try to pull off a list of the entire crew; there were about a dozen people there. Some I knew of, but had never introduced myself to (like Jeph Jacques, who is an extraordinary storyteller � as his strip belies) , others I knew by sight, and still others were complete strangers. Everyone, though, was welcoming and kind, and I thoroughly enjoyed winding down my Sunday night with them.

Monday morning came way too soon. I was soon being driven to the airport by Jim Demonakos himself � who has been up at four that morning to escort his first guest of the day to the airport. I couldn�t thank him enough. And still can�t.

The flight home was uneventful. I scripted a couple weeks of Evil Inc and tried to eavesdrop as the local celebrity next to me mac�ed on the blonde next to him. And, yes, that�s a blind item.

strip for May / 15 / 2008

Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

strip for May / 14 / 2008

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

strip for May / 13 / 2008

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

strip for May / 12 / 2008

Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Phables: May 12, 2008

Guigar — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

I've been looking forward to going to Seattle for weeks (by the time you read this, however, I will be on my way back home). Aside from seeing three of my very closest friends, I've had another reason to be eager to get to the West Coast.

This Spring's allergy season in Philly is hitting me like a sledgehammer. I remember getting sweet relief from the pollen last year when I hit Seattle, and I am desperate to stop sneezing for a couple days this year.

To that end, this week's Phables talks abo-- abou-ab - ab- ab- ACH-OOO!

You get the idea...

Courting Disaster: May 9, 2008

Guigar — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Courting Disaster, my weekly comic about sex, love, and relationships updates every Friday. You'll laugh your pants off.

This week's question...

A reader writes... Q: I�ve been married to a wonderful woman for five years and have known her for 10. She is fun, caring, witty, smart, interesting, and a great mother. I love her very much, but in the last several years our sex life has become nonexistent. This is partly because she is never the aggressor, and mostly because I have to admit I�m not physically attracted anymore to this woman whom I love. She�s not unattractive, although she has gained weight since I first met her (but so have I), especially since our child was born. How can I force myself to be turned on by someone who used to do so but doesn�t anymore? This must happen to most couples around the world as they get older and change � I guess it�s the difference between love and lust � but how do I stay faithful in a relationship if the attraction isn�t there anymore?

Go on over and offer some advice.

Typo Positive

Guigar — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:58:28 -0400

As we've mentioned on the podcast, a few typographical errors snuck through our editing system and into the How To Make Webcomics book.

Our dedicated readers have been kindly pointing them out to us. And -- no fooling -- we're super-appreciative of each one that gets pointed out because when we're ready to put out the second edition, we're going to be so much further ahead.

So, to those of you who have sent one of us a private e-mail with a typo spotted: Thank you. (I only mention prive e-mail because that's the easiest way for any of us to keep track of all of this stuff in the long term).

But some of you guys are being incredibly creative in how you're pointing out the odd slip-of-the-keyboard.

Like Rasmus Pettersson did in a recent installment of his webcomic, Glitchtown.

Well-lead punchline... clean art... keen attention to detail (look at the comic on the screen in the last panel)... this guy was doing more than looking for typos when he read our book. The lad was paying attention. Nicely done, Rasmus.

Now get back to work.

Artist Edition Review

Guigar — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:51:27 -0400

As the Artist Editions of Evil Inc Annual Report Vol. 3 hits readers' doorsteps, I've been getting some very kind commentary. Joshua Jericho, whose sketch appears to the right, has posted one such review. Beyond his remarks about the sketch, he also has some nice things to say about the book itself!

Emerald City Comic Con: This weekend!

Guigar — Mon, 05 May 2008 13:35:34 -0400

EMERALD CITY COMIC CON IS THIS WEEKEND! I've been waiting to say that ever since ECCC 07 closed! In case you missed my previous post on the subject, here's the low-down once again:

It just doesn't get better than the Emerald City Comic Convention. If you're anywhere near Seattle on May 10-11, it's a Must-Be event. If you're not, you should be making plans to get there.

It's not only the impressive guest list and the cool exhibitors Jim Demonakos and his crew put together. It's not only the fact that this is a comic-book fan's comic-book convention. This convention stands apart for one very special reason.

This is one of only two planned events in which all four authors of the How To Make Webcomics book are going to be together to sell, sign and sketch copies of the HTMW book. If you've been wanting to pick up a copy -- or get yours signed by all four authors -- this is the moment.

It's also significant for Evil Inc fans in that it will be a chance to get your mitts on the newest Evil Inc graphic novel, Evil Inc Annual Report Vol. 3. More than just a collection of the daily strips, this book takes the individual panels of those strips and creates a continuous graphic novel.

Of course, I'll have available volumes one and two, so you can pick up any that you're missing. And I'll have copies of the latest Courting Disaster collection.

And if that isn't enough... Scott, Kris, Dave and I will be doing a live version of our popular Webcomics Weekly Podcast at the convention. It's Sunday at 11 a.m., so bring a cup of coffee -- as well as your questions and comments on webcartooning. We're hoping to tape this and release it as its own podcast episode, so start learning how to whistle the theme song now.