! - page forty-five

Only hours left to go, one more page for 2008. This thing should finish up sometime in 2009.
Hope everybody out there has a great New Year!

(The stroy so far...)

! - page forty-four

Derik Badman had some kind words for this blog posted over this past holiday weekend (words specifically on the diary comics, which I have not posted as of late. Whatever...) so I drew him into this scene. That's what flattery'll get ya! See if you can spot him.

Christmas was a lot of work but I should be able to get back to finishing this story up now. Here's the whole thing so far...

! - page forty-three

The story so far...

! - page forty-two

As always,click here to see how we got to this point.

! - page forty-one

Here's page 41, and Here's pages one through forty-one.

! - page forty

Back to new comics stuff.

Recently, I told a friend who has some interest in my moving on from this story that I was going to ramp up my production to hurry up and finish it. Following that conversation I promptly stopped drawing anything at all. I am a bad friend.

I am going exclusive to ! on this blog until I get the damn thing done!
Here is the story so far.

Untold Mysteries of (Popular) Science

Journal comics have unfortunately fallen by the wayside for now. Been pretty busy with the holidays and my work schedule lately. I'll get back to them. Ideally, I'd like to make those strips as automatic and thoughtless a process as possible. I just haven't found that sweet spot yet.

Anyway, here's a story I did for Cat Garza's Secrets and Lies.
Looking back, I've got mixed feelings about the whole story - the ending seems kind of muddled to me now. But I am reservedly happy about the results.
Online, I know, the text is kinda small (it's better in print) but I did fix a typo that (GASP) made it into the final book version.

Anyway, here goes:

mostly banal: sure, comics are fun. but doodling is funner right now.

mostly banal: white noise

mostly banal: who cares?

mostly banal: still autumn in Ohio

mostly banal: weekend post

We like to preview movies for the kids before they watch them so they won't sneak up and freak them out too much. This one might be a little much for a three year old to handle. I think I want Sophie to keep thinking of zebras as cute fuzzy little animals for at least a little while longer.

***sigh***

In other "news"...
The RCPS (Revolutionary Comic Presentation System) is a physical, infinite-canvas-type comic with a poster-sized base narrative and additional postcard additions to the branching story. A week or two ago I mentioned in the comments at my LiveJournal, but couldn't remember who made it - or even what it was called, really. I promised then that I'd dig up the info and, well now I have:
It was created by a Mr. Chragi Frei, in Switzerland as a graphic design graduation project. It's pretty impressive. You can find out more about it here.

Now on to Friday and Saturday's comics:
(or Saturday's and then Friday's, as the case may be)

! - page thirty-nine

If you missed it or don't remember here's what's happened so far.

Apparently my old grade-school best friend, Nate Silver, accurately predicted the electoral outcome of the presidential election down to the exact number of (electoral) votes each candidate would receive. Here's a clip of Nate on the Colbert Report before the election (which I missed when it aired, not having Comedy Central).
I'd heard of Nate's success as a baseball statistician, but I haven't seen or spoken to him in, oh... say, seventeen years or so. Nate was my closest friend in all my grade school years, and I've always regretted losing touch (I kind of socially imploded when we moved from East Lansing to Wooster in the early 90s). Seeing him all over the news and on TV after all this time has been a bit surreal.

Anyway, good on ya, Nate. Way to statistitize.

EDIT:
As long as I'm blabbing I should point you to some drawings I did for Troy Swain's drawn word project he's been posting at his LiveJournal. The drawn word project is pretty cool (unless you ask Frank Santoro) and he's got a lot of really talented cartoonists and illustrators to participate - and then me too...
Check 'em out!

mostly banal: steam

Also:

A slightly different version of yesterdays strip (because I am slightly obsessive)

mostly banal: th' dogs

Broke out the ol' BIC for this one. One of these days I'm gonna nail down just exactly what month it is.

mostly banal: November Fourth

I skipped up a day in my posting due to the ephemeral topicality of the subject matter. And it was easy to draw, so...


Hey! Anybody notice that I wrote "September" in the date for yesterday's (umm... Sunday's) strip? That's the second time I got the month wrong since I restarted Mostly Banal. I am a poor diarist...

mostly banal: trying again

! - page thirty-eight

Here is what is quite possibly the least interesting update of an ongoing comics serial ever. Ah, well... it's all part of the big picture, right?

mostly banal: SUPERPOST!

Despite my bitching and moaning in the last strip I posted here, I have not quit these diary comics. I got pretty busy this week - lots of overtime at work and my mother was in town for a visit - and I just kinda went underground (internet-wise). I kept drawing though and I'm including here a bunch of the strips I drew this past week. Not one for everyday (as per the plan) but, whatever...

A "Thank You" to you guys that have read and posted comments on these strips. I appreciate the support. Most of you know this is not my first venture in autobio/journal comics and the subject is one that I've put a lot of thought into. I really feel like I'm getting somewhere with these that I'm comfortable with and comfortable calling my own. I appreciate you reading and hope you stick around for more.







(also: more ! tomorrow, hopefully)

! - page thirty-seven

(up 'till now)

mostly banal: because crippling self doubt is a fun read for everyone

This link takes you to my LiveJournal and the rest of this comic whose file size is rather much larger than it deserves.

mostly banal: a car is a car is a car

I drew these really fast.

This is getting perhaps a little too ambitious. I mean, three pages for a friggin' car?

jeez!

mostly banal: a day in the life

It may not look like much, but it took me all day to draw.
Sort of.

mostly banal: I'm none to happy with this one so I threw in some other sketches too

I'm going to start posting these the day after I draw them. I think that's the way it's usually done with diary strips, right?


Not my best work. It was late and I was tired. What can I say?
To make up for the strip I threw up a couple other sketch-type things here:

These two are for the long delayed story I'm doing for Alexander Danner, "Uncertainty."

Essentially these are the first two panels and therefore the first page of a twenty-six page story.
I've had the script for coming on two years now and I can't seem to get my ass in gear. I'm trying again.


This is just the kind of doodle I do when I'm bored at work and don't want to think in panels. I don't know what's happening to this guy but I bet it isn't very pleasant.


Ugh... whatever.

Better diary strip tomorrow, I hope.

mostly banal: Just Friday & Saturday (even though today is Sunday)

Saturday's comic, and then Friday's. Posted bloggy-style:









Maybe I can get today's up later tonight...

! - page thirty-six

(up 'till now)

mostly banal: still sick

mostly banal: muh peeps

Still sick. Working lots of long hours lately. Doesn't help me get any healthier...

mostly banal: ugh

mostly banal: Friday, Saturday , Sunday, Monday

The past weekend, In reverse order (all blog-style):