Dr. McNinja

by on September 29, 2011 at 12:01 am
Posted In: blog

Doctor McNinja is a strange devil, and certainly one I’m better for knowing. In true hipster fashion, I’ll trot out my “I liked it before it was cool.” I’ll caveat that, though, and say that’s only because of Will, from my last post, as I recall, who gave me the heads up.

It starts with black and white pages that are a bit thick and rudimentary, but there are hints of the genius right from the start. I think this is the page that hooked me, as I recall. It’s that swoop McNinja is doing to avoid the gout of vomit. Christopher Hastings had me with that, and the deal was closed with the giant lumberjack busting in to ruin McNinja’s shit.

The best things in this book/comic are the little details. The mustache on McNinja’s dad, for instance, pleases me greatly.

It’s goofy, hilarious fun. Not too biting, but definitely a great time. I got a lot of my inspiration for designing this site from the way McNinja is oriented, and it’s the reason I’m using comicPress as we speak, and that I have a “Meet the cast” page.

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Toothpaste For Dinner

by on September 27, 2011 at 12:16 pm
Posted In: blog

I’ve decided to try (if possible) to do a little update here every Tuesday and Thursday (barring unforeseen circumstances) talking about things that I’m digging, media-wise. Movies, other online comics, print comics, etcetera. I’ll also pop in little bits about what’s going on with Cura, so as to make this brief but cool content for you guys to check out and enjoy each day. So:

Toothpaste For Dinner is something my buddy Will brought to my attention a few years back. I believe he said he’d read all three years of archives (at the time) instead of doing his homework or some other important duty, and so he passed it along, because we both have a rather brutal, forgiving sense of humor that can laugh at almost anything. Toothpaste has edge to it, in the sense that most of the time you’ll get an amusing (and thought out) irony of some kind, per the strip tradition, but then sometimes, it’ll dovetail a slight bit into political commentary that’s just as biting, and reasonable. If this comic scares you off, it might not be your thing. I dug it.

Today’s comic is a great example of the series as a whole, and an example of why I like the comic. It lampoons and satirizes the digital culture, politics, and just the general stupidity of humanity. Another recent good one (here) plays to the way we try to address problems but can’t. I know, it’s a one-off joke, but I like my one-off jokes with thought behind them more than irony or awkward situations, and that comic’s a great example of why.

There’s a huge archive, and I’ll give you the same admonition Will gave me. Make sure you have a few hours to kill…

Toothpaste For Dinner

Also, check out the new, updated poll to the right.

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Tags

by on September 26, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

I have now added tags to every page (phew!), that you might be able to find, say, all instances of Leo, or Charlene, or what have you.

The Jet City Con was a SOLID BLAST. Thanks to all the people who came over and said hi. The response was overwhelming, and far better than I could have hoped for. I’m almost out of trades, though I’ll have more in by the time I get to Geek Girl.

I am, however, down to only FOUR of the special editions, so buy those while you can, if that’s what you want!

I also added the store to the Facebook page, which you should visit and like, if you would!

Dex just sent me the cover for the new trade, and current plan is to open preorders ASAP for the new trade, once I decide on tiers and get it formatted. Release date should be Nov. 9 (I think I said Nov. 6 before, which was an error).

Beyond that, in between year one and two, there will be a series of promos and teases for the next year. It may be a week of images, MTWRF, or it might just be a MWF, we’re still deciding, but what Dex is sending me ROCKS.

I also have many, many tee shirt designs, of which we shall cull and choose the best soon. My favorite so far involves dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs.

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Conventions!

by on September 18, 2011 at 3:11 pm
Posted In: blog

Hey, kids! Want to get stuff in person? Want to talk about the comic, maybe see future pages, and have a good time talking about potentiality?

Or fart jokes. Hey. Fart jokes are okay too.

CURA will be (in the form of me, Neal) at the Jet City Comic-Con, and Geek Girl Con! I will be armed with trades, the prototype extra-dimensional translocators, a peek at the tee shirts, all kinds of good noise.

Jet City is next week, on Saturday, and you can get passes here.

Geek Girl Con is just a few days later, on October 8th and 9th. We will be at booth 211.

IN OTHER NEWS:

It’s been relatively silent around here with regards to blog posts lately, though I intend to shortly fix that. The reason, largely, is me spending my time I would otherwise spend typing here finishing the first year (we are almost there!) and getting ready awesome things like Extra-dimensional translocators, and tee shirts, with Dex.

The locator is running into issues, but I’m plugging away at it. Part of the problem is the molding process. But I’ll get there, eventually, and I’m guessing it’ll be fine and ready by the time trades roll out.

Don’t hold me to it, but I’m going to tentatively put the release date for the new trade as November 6, because that’s when the final page for that trade releases. I know, that’s six days after the one year anniversary! What gives? Well, I am more attached to the story than the date, so I let the story breathe where it needed to a bit.

The results of the surveys are really helping me figure out where people stand. It’s quite awesome. I see that people dig the tiered idea I had, which is cool. I’m not sure how many people will want both trades, or just one trade, so we’ll play that by ear. I’ll make a number of options for you guys to choose from.

I do believe (barring extraordinary protest after this post) I’ll be avoiding a new poster with the trade this time. Last time it added inordinately to the shipping costs, unfortunately, though the product itself was incredibly good (thanks to Dex).

As for the short story front… I have pretty much finished a 9,500 Cura short story. The basic premise is the Dark Everett meeting with a Charlie who is a member, let’s say, of the cloth. Things get pretty hairy. I’m pleased as hell with it, but I’m torn what to do with it.

You guys wrote that you were interested in waiting for a longer edition with more stories, but to be quite honest, I’m not sure this short story wasn’t just a one-off (and contrary to popular belief, alas, stories can’t just be magically conjured, they kind of come to you). What I will do, for now, is try and see if the juice flows for another Cura story, but if not, I don’t want to waste the effort and tease you guys with something you’ll have to wait a long time for.

Currently, barring change, I think I’ll release it as a one-off for sale for a buck, and then put it in the back of the YEAR ONE trade, provided the polls indicate you all are interested in that at some point.

More on that soon, and I hope to see you guys at the con!

N

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