Archive for May, 2005
23 items.
Well, it’s been three weeks, but I’m back. Didja miss me?
I have to say, I was a little worried that I may have lost touch with how to put the comic together after my long absence. After all, the last comic I drew was from April 8 – the Fever Pitch comic. But I’ve been drawing enough incentive sketches to accompany the guest artists we featured to stay loose and I think it all came together pretty well in the end.
Incidentally, the two other franchises Tom is confusing Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy with in panel two is Doctor Who and Red Dwarf, respectively. But, of course, any self-respecting nerd already knows that.
As fate would have it, this is kind of what the next arc will be about. Nerd-knowledge, or lack thereof. I plan on dovetailing out of the theatrical release of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and launching headlong into the release of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. So buckle up, because the final chapter of George Lucas’s space opera doesn’t splash across screens until May 19.
In the meantime, if you would like a shadowy glimpse of who is on the other end of Jared’s phone conversation, Orneryboy
KIDNEMO – Comet 7
SAM LOGAN – Sam & Fuzzy
MITCH CLEM – Nothing Nice to Say and Coffee Achievers
JIM BURGESS – Able and Baker
JOSH MEINZER – Aikida
ZACH MILLER – Joe and Monkey
CHRIS CANTRELL – Please Rewind
JOERULES AND MADMUP – Digital Pimp Online and Madmup.com
CLAY YOUNT – Rob and Elliot
CARRINGTON VANSTON – Movie Punks and Eat My Words
Again, my heartfelt thanks to all of you.
Now, onto the site redesign!
I know at first glance it’s not drastically different. The think I realized when trying to come up with a new visual system for the site is, the one we had before really wasn’t that bad! So the changes you see to the “front” of the house are subtle tweaks. I think it cleans things up a little bit, spaces things out a little further and generally lets the site breathe a little more.
I’m aware that the blogs will now feel like they’re about three times as long since the news post area has been shrunk by about one third of the page width. But I’m talking myself into the idea that it’s easier to read a narrow column of text than a wide one.
Other parts of the site should be much more organized for you guys including the advertising area, the Walk of Fame and the store. I really tried to come up with something that would work across all sections of the site and separate out content in an easy to access way. I think the advertising area and the Walk of Fame benefit from this the most. In the old version, all of that information used to be on one page! Now it should be easier for you to hone in on the information you want.
Ultimately, the main drive for redesigning the site was to provide an opportunity for me to reorganize the back end. By that I mean, creating folders for all of the “departments” and building overall templates for the site. The previous version of the site had all of the web pages in one folder and all of the images in another. It made things VERY difficult to find! I’m hoping by separating content by category, I will be more inclined to make more updates to the site. Keeping things fresh and interesting for you guys and for myself! Less stressful moments when I try to find a page I want to edit!
Some parts of the site haven’t been hooked up yet. Most notably, the links and the bonus materials section. But since it wasn’t “mission critical,” it’s been put on hold for the moment. When they’ve been reintroduced in this design scheme, I’ll be sure to let you know.
And the easiest way for me to let you know when something has changed on the site is by signing up for our mailing list!
I’ve decided that I’ve gone far too long without a mailing list for the site and felt that adding one would provide an excellent opportunity to communicate with you guys about all sorts of site details that might get overlooked.
Shamefully, I committed myself to the idea during the story arc that introduced Charlie to everyone. Support was generally positive, but I received a few e-mails from people saying “I’m not really liking this story arc. I’ll come back to the site once it’s finished.”
That’s when I decided I needed a mailing list. So I could send a note out to everyone and say “The coast is clear! It’s okay to come back now!”
But the mailing list will be used for much more than scrambling to scoop up old readers after clumsy attempts to add new characters! I’ll also be using the feature to let you guys know about the convention appearances I will be making, cool conversations going on inside the THorum and when new merchandise goes up for sale on the site. Be the first to know!
As an added incentive for putting your e-mail on the mailing list, I am also working on a way to disseminate discounts to only mailing list subscribers! So it’s totally feasible in the future that I could send you all a message with a special code word you can enter when purchasing merchandise or advertising and get 10% off!
Anyway, that’s the long term goal.
Right now, the big thing I’m working on is getting the store back into ship shape condition. We have a couple of old shirts up for presale again. I’m working on setting up these designs for the baby dolls and hoodies, too. So hold tight!
You’ll also want to keep your eyes peeled for NEW designs on the site. Stuff that isn’t exactly related to Theater Hopper, but that I think there is an audience for none the less. If you sign up for the mailing list, I’ll be sure to let you know before I post any information about it in the news posts! See how that works.
There will be lots of little updates in the near future, so be sure to keep checking the site often.
If you have any thoughts about the redesign, feel free to send me an e-mail. I am entertaining all feedback!
Thanks again for your support! I’m really looking forward to the future of Theater Hopper as we head into the summer of 2005!
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It might be worth it to mention that we have a couple of new advertisers this month.
First, if you’re in the market for a screaming custom gaming PC, then you should hook up with Maveric PC. These guys do a really good job and know exactly what you need to make sure you smoke the competition.
Our second advertiser is Me Stupid which is a great site full of reviews for movies, comics and video games. They’ve got some wonderful animations there to boot, so check it out!
We currently have two other ad openings on the site righ now that you can learn about on the advertising rates page.
One of the ads is a second column spot similar to the Me Stupid ad and the other one is a brand new ad located at the bottom of the page. It’s uniquely sized, but it’s big advantage is that it is on EVERY page of the site. That includes all of the new support pages I’m putting into development. The price is pretty cheap, so you may want to consider it.
And if you’re curious when our current advertisers will be giving up their spots, you can obtain that information on our advertising calendar page.
Thanks!
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Have to hold out on the commentary for the moment guys. I’m beat. After mowing the yard after I got home from work, I ended up taking Truman for a walk that lasted about an hour and a half as our house was being shown by a realtor to some prospective buyers. I think we circled our block about 6 times!
As such, I’m bone tired and my legs kind of hurt. It took me a little more time than usual to draw today’s strip on account I couldn’t figure out which way the thumbs would go with an arm behind your back. I’m also trying out some new shading techniques. Have you noticed?
Anyway, more commentary later – including insights on The Nerd Police.
In the meantime, won’t you consider pre-ordering a t-shirt? They’re for sale again, you know?
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May04
Sorry for the delay in getting any significant news post into this space yesterday. I was doing more support work for the site and it kind of slipped my mind.
If you’re interested in the work that I was doing, you only need to travel as far as our store. I was busy adding all of the t-shirts, baby doll tees and hoodies back to their former glory. I even tossed in a few new designs that you guys might want to check out.
I’m approaching the sale of apparel a little bit differently than last time. Instead of offering multiple colors for each design, I’m only offering one. Part of this is to help manage distribution. Things get confusing when you’re sifting through 60 shirt orders and need to send a navy blue extra large to someone. “No! Not deep navy! Regular navy. And not large! Extra large.” One shirt color for each design will help differentiate things better.
I’m also offering less variety in colors to help improve customer service. Now I know in the back of your head, you’re saying that doesn’t make sense. How does removing options improve customer service? Let me explain.
First, to accommodate the wide variety of color selections, I would have to do a fairly lengthy pre-sale. Usually about two weeks.
Second, once I submitted my order to the printer, not only does he have to print up all the shirts, but he has to make sure that he’s printing up the right colors in the right sizes. Sometimes he has to specifically order t-shirt colors he has doesn’t have in stock. This all takes time. If it turns out he doesn’t have any small eggplant baby doll tees lying around, he has to put those on order, wait for it to come in, print it up and then ship it out with the rest of the shirts. It holds up everyone’s order. You could be looking at another two or three weeks after the pre-sale has ended. After the shirts are shipped to me, I have to ship them to you. And even though I ship First Class, that tacks another couple of days on things. In the end, you could be looking at a month to a month and a half to receive your shirt after you order it. No good. Offering designs in one color will expedite the production process.
I will also no longer be ordering shirts through “on demand” means. In other words, if 12 people buy a shirt, I won’t contact the printer with 12 orders. I’ll probably end up asking for an even 20. The extra shirts I have left over I will use to fill future orders even faster because I will have stock on hand. The process becomes faster still.
Basically I have reached the point where I’ve decided to stop being afraid of investing in Theater Hopper. With the merchandise I was offering, I would be terrified that I would lose money and would only order what I needed. I was crippled with fear at the thought of being stuck with merchandise I couldn’t sell.
I finally woke up and realized “It will all sell eventually.” And if it doesn’t sell right away, I can take the extras to conventions or discount them if they aren’t moving and that everything is flexible. I’ve been locked down for too long over the thought of failure and I’m basically not going to accept that from myself anymore. Especially when it comes at the expense of a pleasant experience for you guys. If I can get a shirt to you in a week where before it would have taken me a month, then that’s an achievement I hope you notice and will motivate you to spend money with us in the future.
That being said, pre-orders for ALL apparel is taking place now through May 16th. So please buy a shirt. Don’t make a liar out of me!
Anyway, explanations aside, I suppose it’s time to do a little recap on yesterday’s strip?
I originally envisioned the Nerd Police as being far less threatening. Original design drafts depicted them as fatter, not as quick on the uptake and their fingers coated in Chee-tos dust. I wanted Tom to have the upper hand the entire time, even as he was being carted off. I wanted him to play along as a means of boosting these nerds self-esteem.
But that scenario was kind of like looking down your nose at nerds. And I’m one of them! I’m not a self-hating nerd, so I’m going to do these guys right.
Wouldn’t it be funnier to give these guys actual authority rather than play into the stereotype that nerds are non-threatening? From there I was able to extrapolate a bunch of other scenarios. Nerd prison. Nerd judges. A complete nerd judicial system.
So expect to see that as our little storyline progresses
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I’m trying to paint a picture here. The nerd judicial system is not somewhere you want to end up. The rules are harsh and Byzantine in their arrangements. If you think the nerd police are going to protect you from a random, Xena-inspired beatdown, you’re sorely mistaken, my friend.
The site redesign is pretty much cemented in place and I’ve anchored the store in place. We have TONS of t-shirts available for pre-sale until May 16. Baby doll tees and hoodies, too. Please place your orders now to assure delivery. Drop some of our new 1″ buttons into your shopping cart while you’re at it.
I wrote up a couple of paragraphs explaining the new direction of the store front and its renewed focus on customer service in yesterday’s blog. If you haven’t read it, you might want to scan over it quick so we’re all on the same page.
Something I didn’t mention yesterday was my new commissioned artwork service. If you have something you’d like me to draw for you, I’m game. Read all about what kinds of illustration and designs I can provide as well as check out a couple of samples here.
Because I’m promoting different aspects of the site like crazy, don’t forget to sign up for our mailing list over there on the right. Be the first to know all the latest information, site changes, convention appearances and whatnot. I’ll also be offering merchandise and advertising discounts for mailing list members down the road.
Speaking of conventions, I just added a new information to the page detailing my appearance at Wizard World Chicago August 5-7. You can get all the details about that here.
And lastly, it’s Friday, so that can only mean one thing: The Friday Five. It’s a little even we host every week in the THorum. We ask 5 questions, you answer them. It’s a great way to introduce yourself to the community as well as get to know other members. Sign up today and join in the fun.
More movie stuff later if I think about it. I feel kind of bad that I haven’t offered any new commentary lately. But it’s pretty late right now, so I think I’m going to bed.
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I know some people are going to take me to task and say that jokes based off of William Shatner’s over-acting in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan are over-played. But I don’t care. I’m always in the mood for a good Khan joke.
Besides, this entire arc is about nerd references. So you gotta figure I’d toss it in somewhere.
Honestly, the idea of a guy who looks suspiciously like Ricardo Montalban and shares a phonetically similar sounding name of one of his most recognizable characters being totally oblivious to the coincidence – in NERD COURT, of all places!
At any rate, if you’d like to bear witness to further inattentiveness, vote for Theater Hopper at buzzComix and be treated to an incentive sketch of Judge Cann trying to figure out which movie to rent…
I wanted to be sure and mention to everyone that t-shirts, baby doll tees and hoodies are all up for pre-sale in the newly redesigned store. May 16th is the cut off date to get your order in, so don’t forget to put your name down for one of new designs!
Speaking of t-shirts – although this isn’t specifically site related – I wanted to draw everyone’s attention to Threadless.com and a t-shirt design that I created that is now for sale there!
The story of how my design got into their catalog is a little convoluted, but none-the-less, my work is available to the masses!
If you’re looking for a very entertaining piece of pirate-related apparel, then you should buy my shirt. If you decide to, please purchase the shirt after following this link. I get points for the referrals I send to Threadless. It’s another avenue through which you can help support the site.
If you like this design and want more of the same, I have two non-Theater Hopper designs available at the bottom of the t-shirts page.
See how it all comes together. In the corporate world, they would call it “synergy.” In the online, trying-to-scrape-together-a-few-bucks world, they call it being damn lucky!
Thanks to everyone for their continued support! I’ll be back later with more news!
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Perhaps it is the optimist in me, but it would appear that buzzComix has resolved its hosting issues that prevented you guys for voting for Theater Hopper and getting us into the Top 10.
Well, right now, we’re kind of hovering around unlucky number 13. Let’s see if we can change that, shall we?
And let’s hope buzzComix doesn’t make a liar out of me when it comes to that hosting problem they have…
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It just occured to me that you guys might like to see a copy of my Threadless t-shirt design here on the site as a means to entice you toward buying it. Here you go!
Full of pirate-y goodness! GARRRRR!
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First, because I can’t do a strip featuring Truman without showing a real-life picture of the little guy…
There. Does that make your Wednesday or what? He’s a sweetheart, folks.
Drastically pushing the timeline forward in the “Nerd Justice” story arc, I began to contemplate what it would really mean to lose your nerd license, should such a thing exist.
Surely one of the first privileges to go would be the internet. This is not to say that nerds are the only people who use the internet. We just use it so much better than the rest of you.
I don’t know what I would do without the internet. But strapping a satchel to Truman’s back doesn’t seem that far fetched when I really stop to think about my options. It’s either that, or start writing crazed, repetitive notes to myself Jack Nicholson-style.
“All work and no play make Tom a dull boy.”
“All work and no play make Tom a dull boy.”
“All work and no play make Tom a dull boy.”
Because it is obligatory, I want to remind everyone that pre-orders for shirts WILL END next Monday, May 16. So be sure to put your order in now so your purchase will be included in the batch that I send to the printer. We have a lot of really great, new designs to choose from – So choose wisely!
I wanted to quickly call your attention to a review that was handed down to Theater Hopper from the fine web site Journey Into History. You can find it if you follow that link and scroll down a little bit. For the impatient, a link directly to the review can be accessed here.
You might not be familiar with Journey Into History because it’s just getting off the ground. But it’s a very cool idea for a site. Basically, the concept is to take a web comic and use it to review… other web comics! Artist and writer Bob Stevenson then dissects the comic in a follow up blog.
I was very attracted to the site largely because of Bob’s writing style. I think he is very concise and accurate with his opinions. I just got the vibe from reading his stuff that he didn’t tolerate much B.S. – But that any criticisms he would make were fair and delivered with a velvet glove.
While not entirely complimentary to Theater Hopper, I felt Bob has some very strong insights into the mechanics of the comic. Stuff that I hadn’t even considered, but when pointed out to me, rang true.
He had plenty of good things to say about the comic – and that’s always welcome – but it’s the politely worded criticisms one can use to really advance their art.
A lot of other “review” sites could learn a lot by Bob’s example. You can tell he really takes the time to digest the material he’s reviewing – even when the archives are huge.
For example, Bob freely admitted that while he read most of the comics in the archive, he didn’t read all the blogs. He also confessed to not being that familiar with movies from the last 5 years ago, so he wasn’t the best to judge whether my opinions on recent cinematic offerings were on the money or not.
These deficiencies on his part did not color his review at all, I felt. Some people might look at this comic and say “Well, I’m not into movies – so therefore it sucks.” Bob gave it a fair shake and worked with the material he took the time to absorb.
Anyway, I’m ranting a little bit. But it’s just so refreshing to get feedback like this. Do yourself a favor and check our Journey Into History. Read the archives. Odds are Bob has covered another one of your regular reads at some point. It’s good stuff.
In the meantime, everyone should really consider signing up for that mailing list thingee over on the right hand side, below the comic. If you were signed up before hand, you would have already known about the Journey Into History review because it was something I shared with the subscribers Tuesday afternoon.
You never know when I might drop some more knowledge. Wouldn’t you want to be the first to know it?
More later. Maybe some vitriolic missives about the assured suckitude of The Fantastic Four when I have a minute later in the day.
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So what’s the biggest, nerdiest tattoo Tom is having applied to his back? You’ll have to wait until Monday to find out! See that little “To Be Continued!” graphic in the lower right hand corner of the fourth panel? That means it’s a “cliffhanger!”
Oh, don’t be mad. Desperate Housewives does it every week!
As you may have detected by now, I’ve shifted my focus off of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and have moved on to Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. This is wholly intentional and was my plan all along.
Like the dastardly Emperor Palpatine, I have been nurturing this sinister plan for ages!
…nearly two weeks. Enjoy!
Anyway, big tattoo reveal next Monday. Be on the look-out for Star Wars references abound.
Speaking of tattoos, I drew a picture of Tom incorporated into a tribal pattern for use as today’s buzzComix incentive sketch. But since the site has been down for the last week or so, it’s been difficult for you guys to view them by voting for the comic.
Well, that’s pretty frustrating. And I won’t hide my displeasure. I’ve even thought about jumping ship. But we’ll see if the buzz crew can’t make things right soon.
Anyway, I drew the Tom-as-tribal-tattoo picture and thought it was too good not to share. So if the buzzComix site is still down when you read this, here it is:
Incidentally, if you want to see the ENTIRE ARCHIVE of buzzComix sketches I’ve done, all you have to do is donate to the Theater Hopper Walk of Fame. One of the privileges of donating is being allowed access to otherwise locked-off areas of the THorum. There’s no minimum amount to earn this privilege. The smallest amount will grant you access. You can read all about our donation incentives here.
Everyone needs to know that you’re running out of time to place a pre-order on any item of apparel in the store. The last day to make your purchase is this coming Monday, May 16. That’s the day that I send all the information to the printer. So if you want your order in with that batch, don’t space it off over the weekend. Make your purchase now!
And we appreciate your support.
Tonight Cami and I are going to see the new Will Ferrell comedy Kicking & Screaming. There is no doubt in my head that this will be a very inoffensive, domestic, suburban comedy and it pretty much telegraphs it’s story arc in the trailer…
But I don’t care. I’m going for a reason and one reason only. To listen to Will Ferrell scream for an hour and a half.
I know, I know. To some of you, it’s repetitive shtick. But I happen to think the man is quite funny. I plan on enjoying this rote exercise in Screenwriting 101 for the sole purpose of watching Ferrell imbue his two dimensional character with more electricity than what was likely written for him.
So there.
I have my eyes on a couple of other movies. One is still in theaters around here and one I don’t think made it this far, yet.
I’m talking about Crash – the race drama written and lensed by Million Dollar Baby scribe Paul Haggis and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. A documentary pieced together based on the book of the same name, as written by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind.
Despite my enthusiasm for a picture like Kicking & Screaming, I’m also in the mood for something challenging and something that might piss me off. I’m at a point right now where I need art and not entertainment. Or maybe a more equal helping of both. I need that shove that confrontational filmmaking can sometimes provide. I think it would be a good thing.
Eyes on the prize, folks. Eyes on the prize.
Real quick shout out to Instant Classic which just celebrated its two year anniversary. That’s crazy to me. It makes me think about how long we’ve been in the game. I wish I had Brian Carroll’s knack for characterization, but we work with the hand that we’re dealt.
Anyway, congrats to Brian and here’s to two more years!
More later if it comes to me. I’m feeling chatty lately.
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