As you may have noticed, there hasn’t been a newspost on the front page for a couple of days. The reason behind this was due to a server outtage with our hosting company. As I understand it, a hardware problem and not a software problem and much more difficult to fix. The GOOD news is that there was no data loss, just interrupted service. So I can’t be too mad about it.

Still, this stuff always seems to happen when I have a bunch of news to share. As such, I’m going to hold off on some of that for tomorrow’s update when more of you are checking the site. For now, I’m just going to talk about Monday’s comic.

Making fun of The Wayans Brothers is a little like shooting fish in a barrell, so I thought I would extend the metaphor by rendering them as bottom feeders. I’ve never found The Wayans Brothers particularly funny. I mean, I respect Keenan Ivory Wayans for his success as a director. I still think I’m Gonna GIt You Sucka is one of the most inventive parodies ever. I even like some of the stuff Damon Wayans has done. And, of course, you can’t overlook the success of In Living Color for bringing a new perspective to sketch comedy.

But as far as I’m concerned, both Marlon and Shawn Wayans are complete hacks. The take the concepts that appeal to the lowest common denominator and then find ways to debase them further. I saw the trailers for Little Man and immediately found new respect for White Chicks. At least there you could say that the concept of a couple of black guys wandering around in "whiteface" was satirically absurd or hovering around the "so bad, it’s good" category.

Little Man comes off far worse because I can’t think about it without remembering that Bugs Bunny cartoon where a similarly tiny buglar lays low with the "wrascrawly wabbit" until the heat dies down after a heist. Baby Face Fenster was his name, I think. The sight of him shaving in the bathroom mirror with an electric razor, a tatto of an anchor brazenly displayed across his arm is one of those "WTF" pop culture moments from my childhood. An image I’ve yet to shake. I tried finding screencaps of the cartoon online, but couldn’t turn anything up. If you guys find anything or know what I’m talking about, let me know.

So Little Man becomes worse than derivative. It becomes plagiaristic.

As a side bar, if you guys disagree with me about Talledega Nights, you’d better get used to it right now. In my mind, Will Ferrell is bulletproof. I can admit that I’m a Will Ferrell apologist and I make no excuses for it. Talledega Nights is probably the one movie registering strongest on my radar for the summer and I can’t wait to see it.

I suppose that should make me more sensitive to the reasoning behind why others find The Wayans Brothers hilarious, but, well… it doesn’t!

Sorry that the art for Monday’s comic couldn’t have been a little better. An area that I’ve been trying to develop is celebrity caricature. I figure "What good is a comic that riffs on celebrities if I can’t draw them worth a squat?" But the truth is, I was painfully short on time.

Between finishing Monday’s comic and taking the weekend to prepare for Wizard World Chicago, I was also putting the finishing touches on a guest strip for my main main Joe Dunn and his site Joe Loves Crappy Movies. Joe is getting married on the 22nd and deserves some time off. Drawing 15 comics a week can be taxing!

I was also finishing up my contribution to the 2006 Web Cartoonist Choice Awards presentation. I was selected to present "Outstanding Comic," which I was very honored to do. There’s been some controversy about the winners being announced before the presentation could go on line. I don’t know much about it. But you should keep your eye on their site as well as Comixpedia for news when the show goes online. I had a chance to see some of the other contributions on a test site and there are some really funny presentations in there.

I meantioned Wizard World Chicago. I have some news about that and wanted to share it last Friday. Due to the server outtage, I couldn’t. So everyone be sure to come back to the site tomorrow for all the details of where you can find me and who you can find me with. Also, if you plan on being in the Chicagoland area this year, I’m putting together a big book release party and you’re invited! More details on that soon!

Until then, don’t forget that our t-shirt sale is still going on until July 31. All shirts are $9.99 (plus shipping and handling) and every order comes with a free poster! I’m prepping envelopes now and will be sending shirts out soon, so get your favorite shirt while you still can