There was another version of this comic that I think was a little more pedestrian. In the original version, it was going to be Charlie asking Cami to see Our Idiot Brother with her. Cami abstains, telling Charlie she can save $8.00 and watch Tom do something stupid instead. Cut to Tom looking down the barrel of a shotgun for a Cheeto he dropped, or something. Maybe it would have been funnier. The world will never know.

Truthfully, I thought it was a little more disparaging of Tom and Cami’s relationship than I would have liked. That Cami would sit idly by while Tom put a gun to his face seemed needlessly callous to me. But if there wasn’t threat of bodily harm, it wouldn’t have been funny. Stalemate. So I went this route instead.

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy dialogue where characters backtrack away from outlandish statements when confronted with withering glances. I know it’s a trope, but it’s a trope because it works. So I wanted to try a little bit of it here. That said, I feel a little bad that I didn’t actually give Charlie a chance to say anything. Hey! Remember when I used to do story lines that used to last a month? Remember character development? Man, I miss those days.

I’m getting a little down on myself. Let’s switch tracks, shall we?

I’m still kind of recovering from the Chicago Comic Con, but in a good way. Basically just taking time to reassess things and figuring out what I can do to improve. Conventions always do that for me. They’re exhausting work, but also very energizing creatively. You see all of these other artists around you and – even if you don’t like their style – it’s easy to be humbled by their techniques… their view of the world. The challenge is to learn from that exposure and figure out a way to incorporate what you observe into your own workflow. Considering the amount of inspiration I find at conventions, it’s a shame I don’t go to more of them!

I will say this… I got a great e-mail from someone I met at Chicago Comic Con. Someone who had never heard of Theater Hopper before that weekend. He picked up one of my sampler booklets, read it and loved it so much that he came back to the site and bought a copy of Theater Hopper: Year Two and Theater Hopper: Year Three.

I’ve been writing and drawing Theater Hopper now for 9 years. So it’s not often that I hear from people who are new to the comic. Let’s face it. The archive is… daunting. Not very many people want to sit and read 1,000+ comics. So, now more than ever, I’m only as good as my last comic. My work is timely, but also transient. If I attract a new reader at all, I presume they don’t feel as compelled to stick around as long if a particular comic doesn’t strike them as funny.

Anyway, back on point… this person’s order along with their complimentary letter was a really nice surprise – because I didn’t know my work could continue to make an impact like that.

Just an observation. Nothing more.

Switching gears again, I invite you guys to check out the Bonus Materials blog. I know updates have been spotty, but I’m trying to do better about that. For the most part, it’s me linking to newly-released trailers and talking about them. But if I get my hooks into anything meatier from a movie news standpoint, I’ll be sure to post that as well.

I just wanted to remind you that the blog is out there and I update it during the week. So if you want to strike up a conversation, that’s a good place to do it.

That’s all for right now. Cheers and have a good week!