Now that I’ve effectively taken the start of your week and dumped it in the toilet with depressing, self-important nonsense – I’ve decided to announce the winner of the Wizard World Chicago 2006 mailing list sign-up contest!

You may remember that I mentioned a few weeks ago that everyone who signed up for the mailing list (see the form on the right) would have a chance to win a $50 gift certificate from Fandango.com! The original plan was to announce the winner last Monday.

Well, that didn’t happen.

I could make a few excuses for you. I was busy sending out pre-orders of "Theater Hopper: Year One." I had family commitments with out-of-state in-laws. I was mauled by wombats. Whatever. At the end of the day, I was just really lazy and hadn’t unpacked all my gear from Chicago and failed to input the e-mail addresses of everyone that gave me their e-mails from my three days in Artist’s Alley.

Well, that’s over and done with! I’m all caught up and ready to announce the winner!

Congratulations to Zack Franks who has been notified by e-mail regarding his win!

Zach, the Fandango.com gift certificate will be on it’s way soon.

Thanks to everyone who has signed up. If you missed this contest, now would be a good time to sign up so you’re ready for the next one. The winner of the Fandango.com gift certificate was pulled from a random drawing of ALL the mailing list recepients. And don’t worry – I won’t spam you. It’s just a way for me to let you know about important stuff going on here at the site. For example, our impending site redesign or an option to pre-order "Theater Hopper: Year Two" – which will be occuring in the next few months.

Stay connected to all things Theater Hopper through the mailing list!

Between the e-mails I’ve been getting, the feedback in the THorum and the LiveJournal feed, I’ve been taking a lot of hits regarding my criticisms of Snakes On A Plane so I figured now was the time to clarify some of my points.

1. When I declare the movie is over-hyped, I am not referencing the quality of the movie itself nor am I attacking you personally for enjoying it. I am talking about the marketing of the film and how I felt it is over done.

2. Citing the opening weekend box office of S.O.A.P. was evidence I used to support my point. When analysts such as Box Office Guru, Coming Soon and Entertainment Weekly estimated an opening weekend in the  $30 million dollar range ($28 million, $30.8 million and $31 million respectively), there was obviously a wide gap between expectations and results. To me, it was a clear indication that there were others who felt the same way I did – they were once excited about the movie, but now wanted nothing to do with it due to the overbearing promotion.

3. If it helps, consider the analogy of a song on the radio. You hear a song on the radio and you’re into it for the first few months. Then they start playing it to much and you get sick of it. Doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good song. You’re just tired of hearing it. That’s how I felt about S.O.A.P. and that’s what I decided to write about.

4. I am allowed to have an opinon about a movie without seeing it. I’ve been getting a lot of e-mails in this regard. "How can you hate it without seeing it?"

First of all, I never said I hated the movie. It’s very possible that I’ll see it someday on DVD and enjoy it. But if two-thirds of the internet is allowed to geek out and say they LOVE S.O.A.P. based on the title alone, why am I not allowed the same lack of objectivity?

I write the comic from a personal viewpoint. I am not beholden to any kind of journalistic ethics or standards. I am a human being and I am allowed to have my own tastes and opinions. I don’t need to filter that or shield my bias if we happen not to feel the same way about things.

You guys have to give me that breathing room – that freedom to exaggerate – in order for me to keep producing this comic. To insist that I see EVERY movie that comes out before I make fun of it is unrealistic and would put me in a creative straight-jacket.

In addition to investing the time to do three strips a week (for free, mind you), I have a 9 to 5 job and commitments to my wife and family. It’s simply not possible for me to see everything and still have a life for myself.

5. If anyone was offended by the last three comics, I’m sorry. But at the same time, things wouldn’t be very interesting if we agreed on everything all the time, now would it?

I’m not saying that I’m going to stir things up for the sake of it. Frankly, this "fight" has taken a lot out of me. So you can expect a little less politicizing for a while. But, man… we all got to stop taking these things so personally. Let’s just say that yesterday’s Yirmumah strip really hit a nerve with me.

If anyone has questions or concerns, feel free to send me an e-mail. But I feel like I’ve said pretty much everything that needs to be said here.

I just wanted to remind everyone that tomorrow is the last day you can submit an order for your copy of "Theater Hopper: Year Two" and still have your chance at winning one of two hand-made Truman dolls – stitched together with loving care by Cami herself!

So far there have only been a handful of orders since last Wednesday, so your chances of winning are still good!

Don’t forget that "Theater Hopper: Year Two" is available for the special pre-order price of $15.00 and that your purchase will be added to the Theater Hopper Sales Drive – our month long goal to raise enough money to send these books to the printer by September 29! We’re almost to the half-way point and every order counts!

"Theater Hopper: Year Two" collects all of the comics between August 6, 2003 and August 2, 2004. Each comic comes with brand new commentary that threads a narrative through the strips. What jokes worked, what didn’t, how I improved my art and all the behind-the-scenes details you crave! People who bought copies of the first book have been telling me how it was their favorite part of the book. They couldn’t put it down!

As an added incentive, "Theater Hopper: Year Two" also includes 7 guest strips from the era as well as 84 bonus sketches collected from back in the day when I was competing for placement on those "Top 10 web comic" voting sites! Great stuff contained there!

If you’ve yet to obtain your copy of "Theater Hopper: Year One," remember that we are also offering a special bundled package that puts the first two books together for $25.00! You save almost $10.00 over buying them seperately. That’s almost 500 pages of content! I’ve been please to see a lot of people taking advantage of this opportunity. Don’t let it pass you by!

If you already have your book needs covered, don’t forget that we have several advertising options available right now for very reasonable prices. All profits go toward the production of "Theater Hopper: Year Two." So if you have a web site and you’re looking for an affordable advertising option, consider advertising with Theater Hopper. You’ll help yourself and aid to our Sales Drive goal at the same time!

Thanks again to everyone for their continued support!

Apologies to my regular readers, but I have a take a little time-out to welcome all of the new readers that are coming to the site for the first time.

If you’re visiting Theater Hopper after reading the "What I’m Into" article in Juice this week, welcome to my site! I’m very honored that Juice would choose to profile my hobby and I hope you find something here that you like. We have a very large collection of over 600 comics, so I strongly encourage you to start from the begining. You can tell that the artwork wasn’t quite as refined in those early days, but it get’s better. I assure you!

Or you could always check out our archive. It has a hand search function that allows you to type in keywords and comics that match will be displayed for you! I always suggest typing in the name of your favorite movie or actor. After 4 years of doing this comic, I’ve made fun of nearly all of them!

There are actually a few comics in the archive that make some specific Central Iowa references. You can click on these links as a shortcut to them. You might find something you recognize!

If you like what you see but don’t want the boss to know that you’re goofing around, I produced my first book back in August – "Theater Hopper: Year One" – that collects the first 156 comics into one handy volume. Each of the comics comes with brand new commentary and I tried to thread a narrative through it that explained how I got started with the site, the mistakes that I made and all of the behind-the-scenes stuff. It’s been very popular and you can grab a copy for yourself for $18.95.

We’re also running a special right now where if you order the bundle package, you can get a copy of "Year One" and pre-order a copy of "Year Two" (to be released around the 1st of Novemeber, 2006) for only $6.00 more! It’s a real bargin!

So if you buy a copy of the book, you can read Theater Hopper anywhere! On the bus, at the dentist’s office… heck, even during a really boring movie (if you bring a book light!) So, c’mon! Support local artists!

Something wonderful that sprang from Juice’s profile of me is that Theater Hopper will now also be seen in publication. So Wednesday’s comic will be in print the same time it appears on the site. I will also be blogging on the Juice web site, sharing with their readers Monday’s and Friday’s comic as well. Those posts will go up a day after the comic has already appeared in this space. So Monday’s comic will appear Tuesday, Wednesday’s comic will appear Thursday and Friday’s comic will appear Saturday. So if you want the early scoop, be sure to come here first!

At any rate, I just want to thank Juice once again for covering Theater Hopper and putting the spotlight on young people in Des Moines who are doing something different. I really appreciate the opportunity you’ve given me by taking time out of your day to check out my work and I hope you find something here that will give you a good chuckle and make your day a little less difficult. If so, I encourage you to bookmark us and come back every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to see what we’re up to. You won’t be dissapointed!

I plan on coming back and discussing Uwe Boll’s pugilistic antics later in the day. For now I want you to focus on one thing.

The artwork and layouts for "Theater Hopper: Year Two" have been sent to the printer and I have raised about half of what I need to pay for the book. The printer required that I pay one-third of the total cost upon approving the proofs. The remaining two-thirds come due when the books are delivered on the first week of November.

Right now I have a little more than half of what I need to pay the printer. I’m gambling that you guys can help me meet my goal. So I’m extending the sales drive until November 8.

If today is your payday, please consider purchasing a copy of "Theater Hopper: Year Two" now. Today is also the last day that your pre-order will qualify you for the remaining hand-made Truman doll. Orders have dipped since the first week of the pre-sale, so your odds are still good. Also, if you haven’t ordered a copy of "Theater Hopper: Year One," don’t forget our special bundle package that puts both books together for $25.00 (plus shipping and handling). You save nearly $10 as opposed to if you bought the books separately.

In the coming weeks I’m going to try and leverage all of my resources to help meet my ultimate goal. That means slashing prices on my remaining inventory of t-shirts, bundling shirts with copies of the first book at a reduced price and I’m also prepared to auction off my artistic ability on eBay. I’m planning on offering an open-ended auction where I will draw whatever you like (within the confines of good taste). A piece suitable for framing. So if you’re thinking there might be something you’d like me to draw for you, start coming up with ideas this weekend.

These are all ideas that will benefit you as much as me. But in the meantime, let’s see what we can do about racking up a few more orders for "Theater Hopper: Year Two".

As always, I appreciate your support. This has been my best year of doing Theater Hopper so far and it’s all thanks to you guys. I sincerely appreciate the opportunities you’ve afforded me. Thank you!