Cyber-Monday Special!

Today's the last day for our Weekend Special Russian Roulette Grab Bag in the Online Store at http://www.torcpress.com/store/.  That's 5 Random Comics from TORC Press History, a Print of a Quixote Coyote Strip, and an original drawing for $15 (shipping included).  It's a Super Deal for a Super Price, and it goes away at the end of the day today.

What doesn't go away, is a new Quixote Coyote strip:

First off, I love the shot of Quixote Coyote in Panel Two.  Love it.  That's how I imagine I snore.  Secondly, I didn't originally plan on introducing the two (currently unnamed) characters in Panels 3 and 4 until later on in the strip.  The character in Panel 3 wasn't supposed to debut until after the "Three Nights" story arc was over, and the character in Panel 4 wasn't going to show up until even later than that.  Unfortunately, I didn't have the patience to wait for them to debut, so, much like Wanda Wolf, their first appearance got accelerated a little bit.  By doing so, I have completely changed the rhythm of the "Three Nights" arc, which means that I don't even really know where this story is going anymore.  My brand is chaos.  (...waitaminute, wasn't that the name of a comic company from the 90s where all the women had gigantic...)

Black Friday Special!

I keep thinking I need to get better at the business aspect of this business, so with all of the Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday stuff going on, I thought I would try an experiment of my own.  So over in the Online Store at http://www.torcpress.com/store/ I have a special going on from Black Friday through to Cyber Monday.  I call it the TORC Press Russian Roulette Special.  For $15 (shipping and handling included in price), you get:  5 Random Comics from throughout TORC Press History (this might include some of the really old Xerox comics, as well as some of the early Black & White stuff), a Print of a Quixote Coyote strip (not an original, but still pretty cool, and you can request which one you want), and an original Pen & Ink Drawing on a half sheet of Bristol.  Plus, me being me, I'll probably throw some other stuff in as well, just for the fun of it.  It's a cool little deal, especially if you're new to TORC Press, or if you've always wanted to give us a try, or if you just want to take a little time to support a Small Press Comics Publisher.  Again, you can find it in the Online Store, and it's right up near the Top.

Oh, new Quixote Coyote:

Today's strip continues to explore the relationship between the Wolf Siblings, Wanda and Waldo.  Obviously, they don't get along so good.

Turkey Day with the Wolves

Happy Turkey Day!  Here's a new Quixote Coyote strip that doesn't actually feature Quixote Coyote:

Again, the biggest inspiration on this strip was the Floyd Gottfredson Mickey Mouse strips as well as the original Ub Iwerks Mickey Mouse cartoons.  One of the key characters in both of those, was the recurring villain, Pegleg Pete (later on just referred to simply as Pete, who nowadays is rarely portrayed as a villain).  Pete was always the opposite of Mickey, in that he was a big strong bully who liked to push people around, but always folded when courage was called for.  In the very first Quixote Coyote strip, I introduced a big Wolf guy who was bullying a little pig.  I originally didn't have any actual intentions for the character, but after thinking about it a little bit, I decided to make this wolf guy into a recurring antagonist.  I named him Waldo because I'm stuck in that whole alliteration sensibility.  I know.

I also thought it would be a neat idea to have Quixote's potential Love Interest also be the little sister of Quixote's Rival.  So, Wanda and Waldo are sister and brother.  They're both adults, but haven't moved out of their parents house yet.  They don't get along very well, considering that Wanda is a loving, caring individual, and Waldo is a jerk who likes to beat people up.

Oh, there was also a lengthy internal debate as to what Waldo would be talking on in the strip.  Should he have an old style, two-piece phone to further heighten the homage to classic comics?  Or should he have a land line?  Or an 80s Cinderblock Cellphone?  In the end, I settled on a modern cellphone, both as a way to show that the strip is set in an equivalent to our modern era, and also because it's easy to draw.  Really easy.

Anyway, happy Turkey Day!  Eat up!

Wish I Could Sleep In

Today's Quixote Coyote:

Like I said, the next few strips are transitional, so I decided to use them to introduce a new character or two to the strip.  Today's strip introduces Wanda Wolf.  Obviously, she's supposed to be Minnie Mouse to Quixote Coyote's Mickey, but unlike those two, she isn't from the same species, and doesn't have the same (confusing) last name.  There was a Robot Chicken Skit that lampooned the whole Mickey/Minnie Relationship that always stuck with me.  I rarely do that many preliminary sketches of a character, and in the case of Wanda, I did no preliminary sketches leading up to her introduction.  The first time I drew her on this page, her head was round and smooth.  Unfortunately, that made her look like, well, a Mouse, or like one of the Weasel Brothers.  So I added the little ridges around the sides of her head to give her a little more of a Wolf-like look, and she also has a wolf nose.  All of which helps to further physically differentiate her from Quixote.

Oh!  On the Good News (?) Front, I've got the other two Quixote Coyote strips for the week ready, so the strip will continue through the week.  Huzzah!

OH!  Also, I'll have something on Black Friday.  It's gonna be something new I'm trying.

A Few Hours Rest

Today's Quixote Coyote strip:

With the First Night in the Haunted House finally over, I know I want to do a few transitional strips before starting the second night.  Not really sure how many yet, though.  Also, I'm not sure if this is the last we've seen of Mr. Skullface Man or not.

Seriously, I'm just making this up as I go along.

Doggone

Today's Quixote Coyote strip:

And so, the Ghost Dog Arc finally comes to a conclusion.  I figured that water would be the way to get rid of a Fire Doggy.  Seemed to work okay.

I'm trying to decide whether to run the strip through the week, or whether to take Thanksgiving off.  If I run it the full week I'll need to work up the full week worth of strips tonight.  Decisions, decisions.

Cool New Things Available in the Online Store

I haven't been able to update the website in awhile for some reason (stupid technology), so when I finally got a chance, I ran with it.  Besides adding all of the current Quixote Coyote strips to the Main Site, I also added two new items to the Online Store.

This colorful little piece is a Colorized Version of the Double Page Spread from Lost Alice #1.  I made it into a Poster.  It's 11X17, and $5.00 plus $1.50 S&H.  I'm gonna give one to my Ma for her Birthday.  This won't ruin the surprise because she isn't online that much.  Anyway, it's a cool piece.

Secondly, also available in the Online Store (yeah, I put the Link Up twice.  Sue me):

This is the Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club (v.2) #5.  It was my 24 Hour Comic for this Year, and it turned out really good (except for three pages.  Those three pages Suuuuuuck).  The plot of the book is fairly simple, Mad Fox (who was introduced back in "Pulp Horrorshow" v.4 Special), begins gathering up the other Two Fates to make up the Three Fates.  Butterfly returns.  Big Wolf returns.  And there's a remote controlled Armageddon Titan.  Also, strange alien planets, trips through Higher Dimensions, and we get to see other-dimensional versions of OMNICHRONUS.  It's way cool (except for those three pages).  It's $4.00 plus $1.50 S&H.

Staring at a Computer Screen too Tired to Come Up with a Decent Title

Last Quixote Coyote strip of the week:

I had a little bit of an internal debate about today's strip.  After a string of what I thought were really strong strips, I felt like today's strip was just kinda "meh".  A transitory strip at best, not something to end the week on.  But then I thought, maybe I'm being too hard on myself, and began seeing today's strip as a cliffhanger to cap off the week.  So, now I feel better about today's strip.  What will happen?  Tune in Monday to fight out!  Bum-bum-bummmm!

Also, I lucked out, and my order of Comic Strip Boards came in early, so I didn't have to chop up a larger sheet of bristol to make today's strip.  Huzzah!

PLONK!

Today's Quixote Coyote Strip:

I'm kinda violating some basic rules of Storytelling with this page.  Typically, you're supposed to draw the audience's eyes from Left to Right across the page.  But throughout this sequence, the two characters are facing each other, and in Panel Three, Quixote Coyote throws the Skull from Right to Left.  So, a bit of a No-No, Storytelling-wise.  I think I can get away with it in a Comic Strip though, since the audience should be moving Left to Right automatically as a result of the format.

Fetch!

Today's Quixote Coyote strip:

The downside to today's strip is that I got lazy and didn't do the crosshatching or heavy blacks I've done on previous pages.  So, shame on me there.  The upside to today's strip is that I think the facial expressions are really good.  Also, decent gag.

Just Keep Running

Today's Quixote Coyote Strip:

I like the movement in today's strip.  The motions of the characters, and the way they interact with the environment.  I feel like I really made everything click today.  Also, today's Gag is better than yesterday's, so that's nice too.  All in all, my only real criticism of today's strip is that technically nothing really happens, and that the whole thing is an obvious set-up for tomorrow.  Which, I think you can get away with in Comic Strips.  I think.  I dunno.

RunRunRun

Today's Quixote Coyote Strip:

I was trying to figure out what the punchline for this strip would be.  At first, I thought about just ignoring a punchline entirely.  Just have Quixote running for his life in the last panel.  Then, I thought about having an "Editor's Note" on the last panel, where I blatantly stated that I couldn't come up with a good joke.  In the end, I just went with Quixote's little quip at the end.  I dunno if it works or not.  Also, I have no idea why Quixote is kinda floating in that last panel.  Maybe he's just coming to a landing from his jump.

Hot Dog!

Today's Quixote Coyote Strip:

Again, this particular story arc was inspired by a Fairy Tale, but, again, I've taken some fairly serious liberties with it.  For example, in the Fairy Tale, after the protagonist has dealt with the Ghost Cats (by, again, chopping their freaking heads off), then suddenly ghostly cats and dogs just appear from out of everywhere and just start running amok.  I didn't wanna draw a ton of cats and dogs running around all over the place, because I am lazy and there's not enough space on these panels to do that.  So, instead, I decided to draw one big scary dog made out of fire, which made sense to me.  It's like a video game.  Level One was the Shadowcats, who were destroyed by fire.  So, logically, Level Two would feature a monster Made of Fire, right?

Feel the Burn (Heh)

Right.  Today's Quixote Coyote Strip.  Hopefully the storytelling is sort of clear.  Today's strip is a little bizarre, so who knows?

In the Fairy Tale that inspired this story arc, the protagonist grabs the two Big Creepy Talking Cats, slaps them on a lathe (what the heck is a lathe?), screws down their paws (ouch), and then chops their heads off with a knife.  I decided that was going Waaaaaaay too far for the tone I was trying to create.  I wanted this strip to be creepy, not emotionally scarring and gruesome.  So, I came up with the idea of accidentally knocking the Shadow Cats into a Fireplace where they magically catch fire and turn to smoke.  It's kind of a cop-out, but it's also kind of creepy, so, uh, Mission Accomplished, I guess?

Slide

Today's Quixote Coyote Strip:

I'm sure I'd normally have something clever to say about today's strip, but this morning I'm too fried to bother.  Stupid Wednesdays.

Let's Just Order a Pizza

Today's Quixote Coyote Strip:

One of the things I've noticed while reading old Floyd Gottfredson "Mickey Mouse" comic strips and watching old "Mickey Mouse" and "Betty Boop" animated shorts, is that old stuff wasn't what we would consider "safe".  When we think about that generation, we think of our old Grandparents and their tame tastes in Music and TeeVee (Dear Lord, every day my Grandpa sits on his front porch and listens to the same old Country songs).  To my Grandpa, the Beatles were DANGEROUS.  But, conversely, those old cartoons were super dangerous.  Besides all of the inherent violence of all the old Warner Bros. cartoons, old Disney cartoons could be scary.  Really scary.  The old Mickey Mouse strips were full of action, danger, and could be kinda creepy from time to time.

And I think kids need that kind of stuff.  This isn't a safe world, and trying to shield children from it by creating safe stories for them is, to me anyway, stupid.  Plus, kids like creepy and scary stuff.  Just look at how popular that "Monster High" crap is, or how well "Goosebumps" did at the Box Office.

Like just about everyone my age, there was at least one Disney movie that traumatized me ("Pinocchio" may easily be the scariest movie of all time), but those old films stick with me too, as so much else fades away.

All of which is a long-winded lead up to me going, Man, those Shadowcats really creep me out.

Shadowcats

Meow Indeed.

As I've mentioned before, part of the inspiration for this strip came from an old Grimm Fairy Tale I had never heard of before called "Oh If Only I Could Shiver".  This section, rather definitively, is taken from that Fairy Tale.  In the Fairy Tale, the Handsome but None-too-Bright Protagonist is completely unfazed by whatever craziness is thrown his way.  Conversely, for all of his courage, Quixote is at least taken aback from time to time when presented with some crazy new horror.

November Patreon Packs ship out today.

Advice from a Skull

New Quixote Coyote.  On time this time.

I used a different type of Bristol for this strip, because it was a little cheaper than the stuff I started with.  It's not bad.  Much slicker.  Not sure if there's much of a difference in the end product.

Cross-hatching is the worst.

Just gotta survive today with my left shoulder intact.

A Little Late

Technically, here's today's Quixote Coyote Strip.  It's much later than usual, because working in a Sawmill will occasionally beat you to a pulp.  Interestingly enough, Friday's strip will probably go up in an hour or two.  Anyway:

I mostly hope the storytelling on this one is clear enough.  When I drew the Shyster Brothers in their Ghost Outfits I didn't give them ears, so that might be a little confusing.  Then on the 4th Panel, the Shyster Brothers are running back to the Left, which may be a mistake.  I dunno.  I break rules a lot anyway because I never really bothered to learn the rules in the first place.

Mr. Skullface Guy

Today's Strip:

Uh, I got nothin'.

Stupid Daylight Savings Time.

Return of the Shyster Brothers

Weezly and Cheezly Shyster return.  Does anybody actually like Lawyers?

This is such a gleefully dumb page. 

I can't remember if I had plans of bringing the Shyster Bros back after their original appearance.  I just thought it would funny to watch these guys launch a hairbrained scheme in a cheap attempt to make a little extra cash.

One of the things about making comics is that there's never enough time or space to express everything.  One of the lines I cut from this for space (and I kinda forgot) was a whole bit about the Shyster Brothers wanting to use their Legaleze to gain possession of the house, and then "Flip It" for a hefty profit. 

Current Points in the Game:  9

New Month, New Game, New Coyote

Which Shakespeare Play was the one where the guy sat around talking to a skull?  It was Julius Caesar, right? 

Anyway, it's a new month.  The Patreon Packs are just about ready.  I need to finish the sticker and the mini-poster, and I'm all ready.  HFSAC 5 is done, and I'll probably post it in the Online Store before the end of the week.  I've already hyped "Lost Alice", my 8 Pager, which is available in the Online Store.  Along those lines, I've talked about how "Lost Alice" will only continue if I sell 10 copies.  After the Author Signing last Friday, and Halloweenfest last Saturday, I have sold 6 copies of "Lost Alice".  So, we're doing pretty good so far.  HFSAC 5 features the debut of some new characters and was also my 24 Hour Comic for 2015.

Pencils are done on HFSAC 6.  It's got three different stories in it, one featuring HFSAC, one focusing on Ortex, and a third story featuring the Origin of the Universe itself.  So, should be a fun issue.

Next month's 8 Page Story will be the last issue of "Cosmic Pulp" for awhile and will feature the debut of the Third Version of the Skull Mob.  It's Penciled and almost Inked.  I'll be starting colors soon.

I'd like to start work on "White & Red", my Fairy Tale Adaptation, soon.  I might need to do a little Sketch Work ahead of time to get into character, but knowing me the way I know me, I'll probably just dive in head first and wing it.

HFSAC 7 will feature a story I originally intended to use as a stand-alone a long time ago, but never got around to it.  There will also be a story about Zarathon.  There will be a little extra space in the issue.  Trying to decide what to do with it.

In GAME News, last week's Game was a Wash, sadly, as I spent my time getting ready for my two appearances.  Digital Work slows me down a lot, and is my least favorite part of the process, but it is a necessary evil.  Without the Digital, there is no comic, just a bunch of boards sitting around in my studio collecting dust.  Screw that.  But this week is a new week, so let's get the Game Rolling.  I currently stand at 3 Points.  31 Points to go.