absence. temporary.

Hey folks. Sorry about my absence of late. Hit a rough patch and had to do some recovery time. Life has been getting in my way and I've let a few things slide as long as I could. I will be returning to the comic as soon as I can.

Careful what you say

Doh!

Figures. Last post I said something about not missing deadlines, ever, and now I'm about to miss a deadline. Swell.

Well, priorities have to be set and sanity must be maintained...  or something like that.

Anyway, I'm going to have to take a break from the comic for a week or two to finish up some of the product I'm going to try and peddle at the CONduit sci-fi convention in Salt Lake later this month. Try and make a little money, do a little market recon. Hang with my fellow geeks and nerds. 

But The Sgt. and Prof will be back by May 27. 

and I should be a little less tired and loopy.

Time, My Arch Enemy.

In the many years I've worked as an artist/animator/creative geek, I've prided myself on never missing deadlines. Ever. I used deadlines to keep me moving, keep me from getting stuck on some bit of minutia that nobody else would likely notice or care about. I figure that I could never be a 'fine' artist simply because if I didn't have deadlines, I would never finish anything. I would just endlessly tweak them. There is always room to improve an image. I always see places where I could fix something or redo it in a more effective manner. I'm never completely satisfied by my own work, and that is OK. 

When I worked as an animator/designer for computer and video games, I enjoyed the iterative process. Putting in rough art, focusing on functionality frst, and then tuning it up to be as good looking as possible within the limitations of the platform and time. This also allowed for a good deal of feedback from various perspectives among the team. It worked well, this iterative way of working. 

Now, I'm trying to grow a venture that defys most conventional wisdom. I want to make comics, and t-shirts, and games (tabletop and eventually electronic), and paper modeling (papercraft) kits, and a bunch of other odd bits. Very diverse. Not focused enough, many wise biz people would say. Also, on a shoestring budget and with a stubborn DIY ethos and by myself since I can't afford to pay for any assistance. The whole thing is sort of like a game to me. "I'm told this can't be done. I accept the challenge!"

Yes, I suppose I am insane. Sure feels like it sometimes. Anyway, this is one explanation of why it is that updates to this blog are infrequent. I have given myself an impossible number of assignments. I have severely underestimated just how much work some of these items require. 

I've got some t-shirts and stickers back from the printer and I hope to sell them at a sci-fi convention next month. I am scrambling to keep my head above water on the comic while developing some paper model kits in time for this convention. (working rubber-band powered cannon and skull-shaped box are my faves, but I am also working on a model of the Prof's plane) We shall see how well that goes.

So... If the comic looks a bit rushed lately.

it is, a bit.  

Cameos and Fine Folk

Well, the first of the cameo pages went up Monday. I sincerely thank all who participated in this weird little experiment of mine and sent me photos. I had a lot of fun doing this and will probably do it again. One of the great things I got out of this is becoming acquainted with some cool people and their web-ventures, like Sean Kleefeld and his fine blog Kleefeld on Comics, and Garrett Williams of The Kenny Chronicles, among others. Again, heaps of thanks to all who participated in this.

Yikes and Aw-shucks.

Yikes! It looks like I need to learn PHP and get up to speed with the whole interweb thingamawhosit. I decided I want to do more with the comics than I can without some more extensive (beyond pretty, but static) web building chops. Oy-vey. Not that I would mind learning this stuff, just where I'm going to find the time. I need minions...

'The Sergeant and Professor Skeary Winslow' has been invited to Kidjutsu.com, a website full of kid-friendly comics. I am pleased to be able to play a small part in promoting literacy through comics and helping to build another generation of comic aficionados. That, and I'm immensly flattered. The site is chock full of some very fine work. It's an honor to be included. 

The next chapter of the story begins next Monday, the 23rd. More adventure, yeah!

(It is way past my bedtime. G'night)

Back in action

My computers are all back in action again! Hooray! 

What kind of Hell would be most appropriate for the sociopaths who would create and release malware? Such behavior seems akin to random violence of a sort. 

Maybe if they could spend thier afterlife feeling little spiders or tiny crabs crawling about in their skulls eating bits of their brains as they go. And worms too. 

Whoa, back away from the dark thoughts G.L.! 

Ahem.

Sorry, about that.  

I'm crunching out the layouts for chapter two and doing my best to integrate the faces of the fine folks who have sent photos of themselves to appear in the crowds. It adds a layer of challenges trying to have these faces big enough to bear some resemblance to their owners, while not detracting from the flow and focus of the story. A whole lot o' fun though. It looks like I'll have to spread them out over more pages than I originally anticipated, so some of you who sent me pics may have to wait a while to see what sort of 'dehumanizing' I've done to you to fit your face into the alien world. I'll be letting you know.

To end on a much brighter note than I started this post: I just became a twit (got a twitter account) and have been following Levar Burton. Damn if he doesn't appear to be one of the coolest, genuinely nicest people on the planet. Thanks, Levar, for continuously demonstrating that there really are a fair number of solidly good, caring folk. Good people rock.

The Thin Line Between Tragedy and Comedy

Ho-boy,  fun, fun fun.

 Thursday before last, my main computer decided it would just restart whenever it felt like it. Soon it just kept restarting in a continuous loop. So I spent the rest of the day and a good portion of the weekend fighting this and trying to determine the cause of this sudden attitude change in my dear workmate. Turns out I was hit by some nasty trojan and virus combo. sweet. Not killer, as I've already had the 'higher consciousness through data loss' moment and backup all the important stuff. Then the rest of the computers were found to have similar nasties. So much for the two different anti virus programs we were using. One in particular is just about worthless. (BTW, I have a new curse word that starts with 'N'). Our two best machines are in the shop being resuscitated. I envision them hooked up to machines that go 'bing'.

This most recent Friday, my infernal combustion carriage refused to start as I attempted to leave to pick up my daughter from school. Whee! All of this on top of the theater of the absurd that is my current family drama. Ultra-mega-extreme-Whee!

At this point it has gone so far past just really pissing me off, that it has become freakin' hilarious.

I mean, what else can one do but just let loose with a full chested, gut straining, maniacal peal of laughter. Legally, I mean.  Sure lots of other reactions occurred to me first, but orange jumpsuits don't compliment my complexion. And straight jackets are so last century.

Soooo... I'm a little behind. again. Three days lost trying to geek through computer issues on my own (I'm not as geeky as I would like to be, or would be good for me) plus seven days while the professionals exorcise the beasts from my silicon-brained buddy. 

For the next two weeks on the comic's site, please enjoy some very early character sketches during the intermission while I finish laying out the next 36 pages. If you would rather see something else, by all means let me know.

Thanks for your patience, and a big thanks to all who have contacted me to appear in the next chapter. It has been wonderful meeting you all.

Wanna be in my WebComic?

I'm laying out the next 36 pages of The Sergeant and Professor Skeary Winslow over the next few weeks and thought it might be fun to invite readers to appear as 'extras' in some of the upcoming crowd scenes. I will be adding some alien features, as the Sgt. and Prof. are the only humans in this story. Head plumage, oddly shaped ears, or something like that.
If this sounds like something you might be interested in, comment to this post before February 15 with your email address (all posts are moderated, and I will not post your email address) or email me a photo or two of yourself that I can use for reference. The better the reference, the better the chance you will appear in the comic ( I have no idea how many will submit photos, and there is a limit to how many I can put in). If you do make it in, I will let you know in advance and send, via email, a high res copy of the page you appear on.

Hope to see you soon.

Welcome Change

O.K. so this has nothing to do with Comics. But I feel this is important.

Watching as Barack Obama officially becomes the President of the United States of America, I am profoundly moved. I look forward and with hope to a world where we respect each other, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, or faith. We are all citizens of Planet Earth. We are all members of the same race: Human.
Certainly we may not all agree on every issue. But I hope we can agree that all of us deserve and are entitled to fairness and justice.

One of the most wonderful things about the internet is it's ability to cross the boundaries of geography and allow people of different nations and cultures to learn about and experience each other. I am touched by the warmth of the good people I have been fortunate to communicate with through Oltrecomics.com in Italy, to name just one of the international forums I enjoy. I love the world communities that flourish in cyberspace (I just had to give them a shout out ;D). They just go to show that we have much more in common than we have real differences.

To my fellow Earthlings: I sincerely wish the best for all of us, together.
Peace, and respect to you all. Wherever, and whoever you are.

'Book' one almost done, and some other stuff

Hi everyone! The first of the five 'books' in this story will be up on Monday the 26th of January. I will begin posting the second chapter in a week or three, but in the meantime I would like to keep posting something on WebComicsNation. So I would like to ask you fine people for some suggestions: what would you like to see? some of the conceptual sketches? early pencils? teaser sketches of upcoming stuff? I know that I'd like to start posting some fan art.

For my own pleasure, I am going to tighten up some of the old pages and print some hard copies through one of the PODs that can produce comic books. Anybody else want one?

I appreciate all the feedback I've received so far, keep it coming.

Thanks folks!