Archive for January 26th, 2009
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If you’ve been visiting this site for the last four years (and bless you if you have), you might remember the storyline where I introduced Charlie as an additional female voice to the cast.
If you were REALLY paying attention, you might have remembered an exchange between Tom and Jimmy in the story line’s B-plot where Jimmy revealed something very personal about himself: He’s afraid to go into the women’s restroom.
I inserted that personal detail into that story line for a specific reason and with the intention of revisiting it in another story line sometime later.
Well, four years later, here we are.
It’s been a while since I’ve attempted a longer story line or made an effort to flesh out the characters a little more.
It’s kind of hard to flesh out Tom, Cami or Jared because they’re avatars for real people and I don’t want to dive into some kind of backstory inconsistent with their actual lives. It just causes confusion.
So Jimmy, Victor and Charlie become the tools that I experiment with and, in the process, you get to learn a little more about the background characters.
One of the reasons I wanted to tackle a longer story line again was because I’ve really been enjoying Questionable Content and Anders Loves Maria lately and, frankly, I’ve been jealous. Writing an engaging story is one of my weaker muscles. I have to flex it every now and again before it atrophies.
But probably the biggest reasons I wanted to give it another go is because I recently wrapped up work on Theater Hopper – Year Three.
The book covers my work from 2004 to 2005 and during that period I wrote both the “Jimmy Loses His Job” story line as well as “Meet Charlie.” That was a very successful period for me both in terms of the site’s popularity and my satisfaction artistically. So I’m going to see if I can’t try and put lightning in a bottle for a third time.
What can you expect from this story line? Well, obviously, we’ll explore the reasons why Jimmy is afraid of going into the women’s restroom. But the reasons why will shock you. In revealing his past, you’ll come to understand more clearly why he is the good-natured doormat he is today.
On that note I’d like to mention that Theater Hopper – Year Three is now available for pre-sale in the store. The book has not yet been published. To gauge demand, it is available for pre-sale until February 28. My goal is to have them printed up to take to the Emerald City Comicon in the first week of April. So if you order a book today, you can expect to see it by then.
As I mentioned before, the book has two of our my most prominent story lines as part of its collection of nearly 150 strips. Every comic includes brand new commentary that explores things behind-the-scenes.
The book also features 139 original sketches – collected here for the first time – and a forward from Joe Dunn of Joe Loves Crappy Movies.
I’ve prepared a 10-page preview of the book that will give you an idea of how the comics and commentary are laid out along with the front and back cover.
I am selling the book for $15.00, but if you are looking to save money, please consider bundling your purchase. Order and two books and receive $5.00 off the cover price. Order any three books and receive $7.50 off the cover price.
This book has been a long time coming and I’m pleased to finally offer it to everyone. I think it represents some of my best work and hope you enjoy it.
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Finally, Tom and I were able to catch an Academy Award-nominated film: Slumdog Millionaire. And, it didn’t disappoint. I felt myself biting my nails, crying, laughing, turning away in disgust (at the jumping in a lake of poop scene) and cheering for the main characters of this movie. One thing that amazed me was the director’s unapologetic snapshot of the human condition of the Indian people over the last twenty years. The child actors in this film were outstanding. Their performances made me want to hold Henry just a little bit tighter when I hug him each night before he goes to bed.
Speaking of Henry, we’re entering a phase of Time Outs, him asking “why?” and for some reason, jumping on furniture every chance he gets. Instead of sitting and participating in his regular Saturday morning music class, he announces “I’m running away!” and hightails it out the door. Is this a sign of things to come or merely a phase? Judging by the perpetual twinkle in his eye, and his bionic-man energy level, I’m guessing we’re going to be dealing with things like this for a long time! We can’t believe he’ll be two years old next month, and I don’t know about you all, but I’d love to see him appear in the comic once in awhile.
What do you think? Would adding Henry to the comic mean it’s finally jumping the shark? Or did it scale the heights of sharkdom years ago?
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