Originally Thursday and Friday’s strips were combined into a single four-panel strip. But after finishing it, and realizing this was how I was ending my Thursday, leaving me with no idea how to cap the week off with a Friday, I decided to go a different direction. I drew some extra panels and expanded the one strip into two, prolonging the doubt as to the vigilante’s identity, plus providing a few extra beats for Danny’s reaction. I think it reads a lot better! Plus we got that extra day of people trying to hammer out whether this was Sal or Amazi-Girl or, uh, Faz.
Definitely glad I got that last panel of Danny in there at the end. It wouldn’t have supported a Friday strip all by itself! My retooling gave me the timing I really wanted.
Anyway, this strip is the last one in the first Dumbing of Age storyline. Monday starts “Uphill from Here,” featuring everyone’s first day at classes. Fans of my older work might yet see even more familiar faces.
Okay, you guys don’t get any more guesses as to what the arts and crafts junk is for.
This is a hand-sewn prototype of the Dina Dino Hat. Our roommate Jessica’s sewing machine cord went missing, and since she felt so guilty about that putting a damper on our grand late-night hat-making plans, she put our prototype parts together the slow way. It definitely wouldn’t hold together very long, but it holds together long enough to take a photo and show it off.
I’m thinking on the real one, I make the teeth a little more cutesy and less dagger-like.
Hmmmm, what can this pile of fleece and felt be for?
1) Put a hole in a box. 2) Put those prints in that box.
I’ve got one more convention this year, New England Webcomics Weekend (November 6-7), and I wanted to make sure I had some Dumbing of Age mechandise. Well, there ain’t enough comics yet to fill a book, so I went the art direction instead. I’ve done art before — in fact, “limited prints” were how I made a living about a decade ago — but I wanted to try something a little nicer this go-round. When I was a young webcomic upstart, I printed out my stuff at, y’know, Kinko’s. (Youngsters may now know this fabled place as “FedEx Office.”)
So check this out. I ordered them online a week or so back from a very nice place that is not Kinko’s, and they arrived today. 17″x11″ artwork printed out on card stock gloss. It’s amazingly nice. I am serious. It’s as nice as my artwork can possibly look! They’re so nice that I kinda want to frame one myself, but man that’d be kinda douchey.
If you want an unobstructed-by-afternoon-lighting look at the artwork, click on through here to my DeviantArt account. And to own it, it’s available in the Shortpacked! Store! for $15 and shipping. It’ll come to your mailbox nicely rolled up in a tube.
Did you know I started out ten years ago selling limited prints for $25? And now they’re ten bucks less, twice as big, and a hojillion times better quality. Progress is grand!
More love for Dina, from artists and bees alike! This one’s by Jason Meador, otherwise known as that guy who drew my AnimeFest 2010 badge. He’s pretty awesome.
The cuteness of the hat compels you! And what it compels you to do is draw fanart, judging by this drawing of Dina by the infamous John Troutman. But just because Dina’s having a good time doesn’t mean her hat has to be! It’s so, so put out.
Ruth owned last week’s fanart, so can we get a little Dorothy in here? Yes we can, thanks to Starline! Go read her webcomic, Candi. It’s about a pink-haired girl who totally also goes to college.
Want the last panel of Monday’s comic, but bigger? Let’s hope so, ‘cuz here it is.
Bill Barnes is the creator of Unshelved, a webcomic about librarians. Don’t laugh, it’s true. A regular feature is the Unshelved Book Club, where characters talk about a book they’ve read. Sometimes Bill invites other webcomics to get into the act, and probably, what, a billion months ago he asked me to.
I originally planned to do something with Robin and Leslie from Shortpacked! about The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs, but then convention season happened and I became Worst Guest Comic Contributor Ever. But a few weeks ago Bill reminded me that he could totally end me, and I got back to it. Not because of any threats of bodily harm he may or may not have threatened, but because we’re really good friends and I didn’t want to let him down.
Between the original solicitation for a guest strip and the actual creation, I had a new webcomic. So enjoy.
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