A Small Personal Indulgence

This brief interlude started out as a funny idea for a one page story, that grew into a three page story, then grew into a three page poem, which I shrank back down to one page, cause, like, who needs three pages of my bad poetry?

The characters may (or more likely may not) resemble some of the friends I have made, some recently and some old, who have offered so much support as I jump into the pond of self-publishing. My apologies to the ones I've left out, and it was probably because you are too hard to draw.

You didn't expect me to give it all away at once, did you?

And so ends Chapter Two.

And That's All I have to Say About That

If there was one question about Jeffrey that I heard more than any other, it was "Doesn't he drive you crazy?" followed by "You're so nice to spend so much time with him." There were a few people in the club along with me that heard the same thing. In fact, we would say it to each other. "thanks for spending so much time/doing all that/taking such good care..." that kind of thing.

The funny  thing was, we all knew why we did it. If you could see past the at times incredibly aggravating and annoying but at best somewhat trying surface layer of Jeffrey, you saw someone who wanted to do the right thing all the time, and wanted nothing more than a few friends to talk to and spend time with. Once you got to that point, you couldn't leave, and you wanted to do what you could. The list of social workers he had was long and legendary, but the ones who stuck were not in it for the money or to get their name on some employee of the month plaque. Whether family, friend or acquaintance, if you liked Jeffrey, you went out of your way to help him, and just because you liked him and knew he could use it.

That's it.

Okay, I need a little work on that last maneuver...

Among other things I have worked on in my life, I did a lot of graphics for the V-22 program. As you may or may not be aware, the V-22 is that big propeller short wing airplane that the Marines want to have instead of helicopters. Here's a picture or two:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=v-22+photo&id=C0732656A6F08A4D4EFEF9D40320EA6BBAAE9A2A&FORM=IQFRBA#a

The main problem they had to overcome (jury is out on if they've fixed it, which is part of the reason why you don't see them flying around everywhere) is that the wings and engines have to tilt to get the thing to take off and land. This causes problems which I won't go into here. MY solution, embodied by the R2, is to tilt the whole aircraft so it takes off (with the running start you saw on page 30) and land almost vertically, with the help of the landing legs. My drawing on page 46 is supposed to capture this, but it needs work. I'll get on that while I get to the point of this blog entry.

Jeffrey was perceived as an overly cautious person, and many might think from this that he would never set foot on, let alone build, a plane like the Reindeer Mark 2. In fact, Jeffrey loved to fly. One of his favorite experiences was to get on a small (4-seater) that his cousin Bernie owned and fly to Detroit or somewhere else for a visit. Having been on small aircraft myself, this is not an exercise for the timid, but Jeffrey relished the experience, especially as he had complete confidence in Bernie's abilities as a pilot. Just one more example of the man being completely different than his image.

Just made it

44 pages and I haven't officially missed a deadline yet... but I keep coming close. My original plan was to be at least a month ahead on art and two months ahead on story. Instead, I find myself running out of scripts and drawing and coloring at midnight on the day of updates. Whatfor this deplorable situation?

Well, I'm still getting used to this, okay? I knew going in that three days a week would be a tough schedule to keep up with, especially in light of the other work I'm doing, but I wanted to keep thepace lively and get the completed story arc done in a timely fashion (and yes, there is a story arc - this adventure will end and another Master Jeffrey will start.)

Meanwhile, deadline is taking priority over other things - I cringe a little at some of the fast layouts and such, but I want the story to march along and I'm not vain enough to make my satisfaction more important than your getting the next page on time. That being said, the holidays are upon us, and I'm crossing my fingers, so, as the man said "lay on Macduff, and damned be he that first dost cry enough!"

Flan Down

If you know flan, then you know nothing hits the ground quite like flan. Individual servings are bad enough - my mother used to make a family sized flan, and once THAT slid off the plate. Hoo-boy, I'm telling you - we coulda used a 'little sucker' that day!

This is the 40th page of my little epic. I'll be adding to the site and trying to get ahead on pages in anticipation of the holiday press, so if you have any suggestions or comments, send them in now!

Thanksgiving

There is an argument to be made that Thanksgiving should be re-named Jeffrey Day, because it contains all the things that he was most fond of. First, there is the Macy's parade, which he liked. All that holiday festivity with marching bands and balloons - who wouldn't?

Football - now, I still haven't figured out exactly how to work football into this story, because I am not a football person. Jeffrey, on the other hand, lived and breathed the Steelers. He liked the Pirates, but he LOVED the Steelers. It was Jeffrey's love of football that first convinced me just how smart he was. Jeffrey would always contend that he was terrible at math, blaming his learning disability. Then on Thanksgiving, we'd be watching a game, and someone would pop in and ask what the score was.

"Steelers are down by nine on their own 36" Jeffrey would say without taking his eyes off the game. "If they can make another 30 yards on this drive then Bahr can make a 45 yard attempt, which he's done before. Then they just need one touchdown to win. It's still the third quarter, so they can still do this." Once or twice I would point out to Jeffrey that this was, in fact, math that he was doing, and inside his head to boot, he would always reply with something like "that's not math, it's football, and you don't know that much about football - no offense!"

Oh, and turkey - give him a drumstick - two would be better - and he was a happy man indeed.

Bar Mitzvah

Jeffrey became a Bar Mitzvah before I got to know him well, but I know he was very proud of this accomplishment. His commitment to his religion was one that he took very seriously, and he explained all of these to me many times. The idea of being a mensch, or man of character, was something he always tried to live up to.

Jeffrey had opinions about other religions and a curiosity that was natural to someone who was genuinely interested in learning things. We would talk about different faiths and what they meant, and I'd try to explain as best I could some of the broader points of Buddism, Christianity and being a Muslim. Sometime he had preconceptions, but most often he tried to understand the concepts and how they related o being Jewish. Finally, he would decide what he thought and make a pronouncement along the lines of " nobody knows for sure" and leave it at that.

It was these times, when Jeffrey's natural curiosity and open minded attitude presented itself, that I most appreciated what he could accomplish, given the chance.

The Home Movies are Cute

Kind of grainy, but cute. Experts are still studying them (or at least they should be.)

I'll Have a Paradox with a Side of Matter Occupying Two Places at the Same Time

That being said, I still like the idea. I came up with the concept of the "time dumbwaiter" in 1973, but this is the first time I've finally gotten to use it outside of a bar conversation. And, because it was a topic of bar conversations since 1973, I've heard EVERY argument as to why it wouldn't work, so don't bother commenting. Don't. I'm warning yah!

Mom's favorites

My mom made great paella and flan, and she loved fresh figs and papaya juice. If you've never tried any of these, make it a point to do so soon. One warning - paella is the chili of Spain - no two people make it the same, and everyone knows their version is the best.

A Little Change Will Do You Good

Another Rubicon was crossed this weekend; allow me to explain: this might also clear up some issues some of you might be concerned about, that I plan to handle in more detail later.

I always knew how to draw Master Jeffrey, because I spent so much staring at Jeffrey my brother-in-law and imagining how to draw him. So far it has been effortless; in fact, one of the reasons I decided to do this story is because the process came so easily. The character of Ms. Edelbrock is another story...

As I've said, this is a true made-up story. I'm drawing upon real events, and no, I won't tell you any more than that for every reason you can think of and several you can't imagine. Ms. E fills is a compilation of several "life forces" including myself. The 'sigh" in page 29 has special meaning on several levels--at the risk of destroying my foreshadowing, I will describe one.

Some people did not like to spend time with Jeffrey. I was one of a large group that did, and it was a source of frustration to me that I was congratulated for this by the former crowd. If you liked Jeff, it was not a chore, or charity, to hang out with him. If I tried to explain that, I was just being "nice." As I may have mentioned once or twice already, Jeffrey was often exasperating, so I can't fault the people who thought this, but it always made me sad to think that they could not see past his faults to the genuinely good guy that he was.

So, back to the Rubicon - if you are not a scholar of ancient history, look up your Julius Caesar. I had pondered long and hard on whether to keep Ms. Edelbrock in one outfit (her superhero "uniform") or to change her clothing and hair. There were a lot of arguments on both sides, but as you can see, I went with plan B. Right now drawing Ms. E involves consulting piles of sketches and references. As her different facets gel in my mind, this will hopefully come more naturally to me. Meanwhile, I will be reading back issues of Vogue an Military History Quarterly to brush up on my fashions.

I thought of it first...

I know what you're going to say.

"Joe-what a unique concept for overcoming the gyroscopic forces as they exert stress on the linkage and drive systems of VTOL aircraft, especially large rotor aircraft such as the V-22! But what about the impact on the airframe - how would you compensate without increasing weight prohibitively?"

I'm glad you asked! In fact, I'm guessing the basic forces involved would not be much different from a carrier launch. The real challenge would be to find a combination of alloys and hydraulics that would get the R2 high enough that the rotors would grab enough air to keep the thing from falling back down. At one point I even thought of tilting the entire airframe to almost vertical and letting the rotors power it up from a standing start, but then I got to thinking about how birds launch themselves in the air, and that seemed more fun. I know a few pilots who'd pay good money to do one of those takeoffs, if it ever gets built. You aviation engineers out there - get a prototype or even a computer model for me and I'll cut you in for hal..no, a third. I'll be waiting right here.

Moving Right Along

Just want to take a moment for some shameless groveling. First, if you are a Facebooker (as opposed to a face booger, in which case, here's a Kleenex) please find Master Jeffrey - he has his own page - and like it. I'd like to get as many people in touch with the strip as possible.

Second, I am participating in this year's Moving Day Walk to help raise money for Parkinson's research. There are a lot of good causes out there, I know, but I have friends and family who are diagnosed with this and I know we can beat this one if (insert motivational statement here.) If only 25 people support me at one dollar each, I'll make my goal. My personal page is here: http://www3.parkinson.org/site/TR/Events/General?px=1051796&pg=personal&fr_id=1430

The Plane! The Plane!

I had some fun designing the Reindeer Mark II - my degree is in Industrial Design, and I spent a number of years drawing conceptual and real aircraft at one of my jobs, so I got to put some thought into this. Fans of Jimmy Stewart will recognize the basic design. Even though it might need the tail replaced every now and then, I'd love to see airplanes looking like this flying overhead.

The last panel is a bit of character establishment at reality's expense. Jeffrey was a big movie fan, although I don't recall his being so fond of Mr. Lucas's work. He definitely knew R2 D2, though.

You want fries with that?

If there was one food that Jeffrey was fond of (and to be honest he was fond of a lot of food) it was French fries. He was a product of Pittsburgh, the city famous for the french-fry sandwich (whatever the official name is, that's what I call it) at Primanti Brothers. I haven't really checked into it, but I would not be surprised if its origin included something like "...I was making a reuben sandwich and I looked up from the line, and there was this little guy eating his reuben in one hand and his French fries with the other. He said to me, you'd save me some time if you just put the French fries in the sandwich."

And away we go

You'll notice that I've been making style changes along the way - I'm also changing the backgrounds from plain white. If this ever get's printed, I'll probably regret that decision, but I like how it pops the other colors (as if that red car needed any help.)

I used to have a problem with waiting until things were perfect to publish or show them. The end result was that so many things were never good enough and lay dormant for years. I promised myself that I would stick to my schedule of updates if at all possible, and so far I have. Of course, there have been some minor disasters, and I still cringe at some of the errors I made in the name of making my deadline, but all-in-all, I think the good outweighs the bad.

So often I hear from people that they have an idea, or partially completed piece, and just want to get it perfect before they let it out. I always tell them the same thing: "just do it! Show it! Get it done! If it isn't perfect you can change it later... otherwise, it'll sit in that drawer forever."

Do you agree?

End of Chapter one!

Well, there were times I didn't think I'd make it this far. Now I have to get the next chapter done, and work out the details of the rest of the story arc, and get some reference material, all while getting my other projects done.

I was reminded recently that I would benefit from focusing my attention to fewer projects. Honestly, I don't know why I can't...maybe because I don't know which one I like the best. I know I get something out of everything I do, and this book helps me keep Jeffrey alive in my mind, which is something I can't set aside right now.

Let me know what you think - either comment here or email me at joe@MasterJeffrey.com - and thanks for reading this far!

About Dirt

The traditional earth drilling mechanism of comic book villains has always been the auger - big and pointy and menacing. My question, as it drills through the floor of the bank or the ceiling of Zylon is always, "where did the dirt go?"

Oh, I guess there are a couple of possibilities, like heated cores melting the dirt into gas, or closing in around after the 'drillmobile' like a mole, but that wouldn't work for me. So, I came up with this handy device, and even have a backstory for it, titled "How They Wound Up There" which I will draw some day, assuming Mike Rhode doesn't kill me first.

This week marks the end...

...of the first chapter! I wasn't sure I would make it this far (or that anyone would notice.) I finished writing the next chapter last week, and I'm busy drawing away. Email or comment to let me know how you think I'm doing!

I like to think Jeffrey would be pleased with what's happened so far in the story... perhaps he would add in "Did you have to make me look so fat?" Sometimes I start to worry if it seems I'm making fun of him, but I smile and see his face so clearly with every panel that I draw. Hopefully you're starting to get a picture of the kind of guy he was, not just what he looked like. With any luck, by the end of this story Jeffrey will be as real to you as he is to me. Thanks for reading this far - keep going! Kool stuff coming up!

A little early....

An Internet provider in our area who shall remain nameless, except the name starts with V and ends with zon, hired what I can only guess was a sub, sub SUB contractor to dig a hole in our neighborhood. They did a bad thing with a shovel, and as far as I can tell, only ONE house lost their phone, cable and Internet access until sometime tomorrow or possible Saturday. So, I sit here in a Starbucks uploading files and communicating to you, gentle readers, while visions of voodoo dolls and satellite dishes dance in my head.

Jeffrey would call me and tell me sometimes that it seemed everyone was out to get him, while describing the most improbable chain of events seemingly designed solely for his displeasure. Jeff, I'm beginning to see your point of view.

My daughter is just a little annoyed with me

You see, it was HER bunny. It was her special toy and she loved it, but Emily is not my daughter. She and her father, Professor Sparks, are based on the real Chris Sparks and his daughter Emily, who graciously gave me their permission to use them as models for this story.

I like using real people for my characters - it makes them easier to visualize. Master Jeffrey is VERY easy for me to draw - I'm still working on the other characters. Keep checking the blog - an opportunity may come up for YOU to be a character.

Mailbox is up!

There's a link on the site to joe@MasterJeffrey.com, or you can just cut and paste the address into your email system. Drop me a line! I want to know what you think. Those of you who were at Baltimore Comic-Con have a few more days to enter the you-know-what for you-know-what. If you weren't there, don't worry. there will be more you-know-whats.

If you noticed that the mailbox link is not on all the pages yet, well. yeah. I have to do them all by hand still and for it to be worth it, I want to see some mail first. It's not like you've been flooding me with comments so far.

Of course she's okay

Everyone should understand that this is a family friendly comic - I won't be putting small child characters in danger without getting them out safely. I know that isn't the current trend, vis-a-vis "Walking Dead", but I never liked the idea of intruding on a reader's comfort zones in that way. There's lots of ways to develop tension and build suspense without killing people off (at least, I THINK there is.)

Jeffrey liked comedy, and this strip will be about fantasy and adventure, but there will be humor too. Please bear with my while I find the balance in all this - and feel free to offer suggestions as well. Don't be shy - if I don't like it, I'll ignore it.

Now Don't Try this at Home

Jeffrey was a very cautious person by nature - he avoided danger and risk whenever possible. That being said, I once saw him leap out of a car in mid traffic and run across a four lane open intersection to get to me. It was not a life or death situation, but it was clear to me that if Jeffrey decided he had to do something, even if it was outrageously dangerous, he would not hesitate.

In looking back at his many suggestions to problems (Jeffrey was a man of many ideas) I've begun to realize how many of his plans involved risk and even danger. I'm sorry now that I didn't commend him often enough on his courage, because I'm sure he didn't consider himself a brave man.

A Dirty Trick

I pulled this one on my daughter. She had a lose tooth, and wanted me to help her get it out. When I reached for it, I could tell how nervous she was.

"I'll go one, two, three, pull! Okay?" and she nodded. "One," YANK "..two three pull." She stared at me and said - "That didn't hurt at all!"

Pain is often a learned response, and for many years I tried to keep her from learning it. This backfired, of course, when she once held up a broken arm and wiggled it back and forth in my face. "See daddy? It doesn't hurt!"

One month down

This makes the fourth week that the site has been up, and the story has begun to unfold. Master Jeffrey now has a page on Facebook (please like) and I will be entering into other social media soon. Oh, and please notice the ads! DC Conspiracy at Artsphere is a must if you are in the Washington DC area, and Aphelion Arc promises to be the kind of storytelling venue that even Jeffrey would approve of.

As for storytelling, the pacing on a story like this is something new for me. I'm trying to give something good on each page, and balance the art with the necessary dialogue in a way that keeps the pace flowing well. I like how the coloring in the last two panels on page 12 came out - if I had more time, I'd keep working in the shadows and highlights. That's one of the reasons I decided to do a M-W-F schedule; I wanted to get the story started and keep it going at a good pace.

So, how'm I doin?

My very first tool that I owned was a swiss army knife

I bought it when I was thirteen from a street corner store in Cayambe, Ecuador. It had fake plastic wood grain instead of the traditional red, and somewhere between 12 and 6,000 blades. I was convinced it could do anything, and I ran all over the Andes opening bottles, cans, cutting things with the little scissors, and sawing the occasional pieces of wood.

Ever since then a Swiss Army knife has been my gift of choice to anyone coming of age. I got one for Jeffrey, but he was less than thrilled with it, and I never saw him carry it (probably because it didn't have the make-a-hole attachment.)

Software is hard

I should apologize right about now to all the technophiles out there. It is not immediately obvious, but if you look you can see that the Master Jeffrey website is all hard coded HTML. There are a few reasons for this, but mainly I wanted to start posting the pages. The thought of waiting another month while I got a database driven site up and running was not acceptable, so I started with this. Every three days, around midnight, I write new HTML and edit the forward and back buttons on previous pages. It's tedious, but the grin on my face at seeing Master Jeffrey coming to life is worth it.

This means that someday (cue Marlon Brando in the Godfather "...and that day may never come...") I'll have to switch the whole thing over, probably on a weekend. I'll make an announcement, but you'll be able to tell by all the shrieks coming from my house. Don't worry if you don't live nearby, you'll probably still hear them.

I REALLY didn't know she could do that

I knew that Ms. Edelbrock would be jumping in about here, but it wasn't until I saw that I would have to get her up on the platform fairly quickly that I realized I would get to do a Batman tumbling roll. Oh, how I've waited!

For those who suggest that you couldn't do this kind of acrobatic in a long skirt, I would reply that a cape wouldn't make it much easier, and Bats does it all the time. There's also a trace of Mort Weisinger's Johnny Quick, in the decision to draw the multiple versions as isolated poses in sequence, rather that ghosting the first ones or drawing streaks.

oops! got technical there for a minute. Sorry, I'll try not to let it happen again.

Here she comes...

I am prepared to take a little heat for the character of Ms. Edelbrock. I have chosen to develop these characters slowly, as the story unfolds, and at first glance I am certain that there will be assumptions about the relationship between Master Jeffrey and Ms. Edelbrock. Her deference in calling him "sir" and "Master Jeffrey" alone is going to raise all sorts of eyebrows, along with a few hackles.

The relationship these two characters have, along with others that I will introduce in the future, are not so simple. Jeffrey had very complicated relationships with the people he was around, and as I've said, I want to convey that spirit in these stories. It will be up to you to decide how I've done, but please give it a little time before you decide what's going on.

I will tell you that as a character, Ms. Edelbrock has existed in my mind for a long, long time. In terms of her relationship to Jeffrey, she is a combination of several spirits, myself included, who tried to show support and build his esteem. It is also worth noting that there is a real Ms. Edelbrock--in fact, there are three of them. All are talented, elegant and athletic (and more than capable of accomplishing some of the feats to be depicted on these pages.)

Action!

Finally! I like exposition as much as the next guy, but...

My boyhood addiction

It was innocent at first - just a taste, and it only cost me a dollar. What could it hurt? I ran out of the basement clutching the brown paper bag and raced home to my room, where I locked my door and jumped on to the bed. Opening the bag, I pulled out my new find and read my first Tom Swift Jr. book.

The thrill lasted only so long, but it was great. Silly characters, adventure, the first hints of girls as something interesting to hang out with. And secreted away in the pages, a very (sometimes VERY VERY) small bit of real science. I astonished my teacher in fifth grade by identifying a sea cucumber from an illustration, thanks to Tom Swift and his Undersea Hyperdome. I learned about inertia and gravity from his repelatron, and I'm still waiting for someone to invent a Trifibion Atomicar, just to see if the atomic battery works the way he said it would.

ALICE is a real experiment at CERN's Large Collider in France. While not the primary goal of MasterJeffrey.com, I picked up a lot of real science reading those books. Now, I have to take a lot of liberties with reality in this story, but hopefully you 'll be interested in the fantastic things being accomplished under the ground of  St Genis-Pouilly to look into the subject more. One thing Tom Swift didn't have, but I'll bet he would have found handy - hyperlinks (bet he'd have loved the name.)

 http://home.web.cern.ch/about/experiments/alice

Tell Me I'm Wrong!

I keep forgetting to spell check my pages. While I'm fairly competent in the spelling department, I have a terror of typos - always have. I would get these HUGE poster jobs where they wanted me to had letter 5,000 words over a watercolor, and all I would be able to think about is the inevitable phone call telling me I misspelled Mississippi.

Now technology has me in its grip, and I have a system where everything is saved in multiple versions. So, if I make a boo-boo, let me know - it will save me sooooo much time and embarrassment when I finally go to - dare I say it - print?

Oh, and thanks for all your patience with the pages of exposition I've been throwing out. The action starts......now!

Jeffrey and kids

It would be an exaggeration to say that Jeffrey was beloved by children everywhere. Truthfully, he was always cautious around kids and I think that children sense that. One thing for sure is that he was always considerate and as nice as he could be, and tried to treat children with respect. Not the big, loud, hand waving kind of "hey kids, let's all have fun!" kind of thing. It was more like he would listen respectfully and try to be honest with them. So, he was never the funny character some adults perceived him as; just another big kid that they could talk to and hang out with.

And he never, never missed sending his niece a card and a present on a birthday or holiday.

What a Great Time!

My first comic con as an exhibitor was a fantastic experience! So many exiting things to tell you about, but first I must collapse from Exhaustion. Here's one photo with my booth-mate Teresa Roberts Logan - she of Laughing RedHead Studios

Okay, Let Me Be Perfectly Clear

I loved Jeffrey, but he DID have some size issues. I could sympathize, because I have them as well, but I would still tease him from time to time, like guys do. This page tries to capture that essence, BUT...

Jeffrey never had trouble fitting into any seat he tried to. It was something to see - he would grunt and shove, but he always made it in. I was always worried he would get kicked off of airplanes or buses, but it never happened. I realized that this was an aspect of his desire to fit in - literally. He wanted to be accepted, and not treated like someone who needed help or couldn't manage on his own.

So, if sometimes his body conquered his will - like when he was passing a Dunkin Doughnuts - in the end, it was always his will that won out.

Happy New Year!

...or l'shana tova, as you would say if you were Jewish. I am not, but Jeffrey was (more on that story later, I promise) and he was very concerned about participating in his shul. I went to services tonight, not because I participate in dogma, but because they're a wonderful crowd of people at the Temple and besides, my daughter just joined the choir. A number of people asked about Master Jeffrey and were excited to see the first pages come out.

When he was particularly worried about how things were going or what to do, Jeffrey would say to me " I gotta be a mensch" which is a German/Yiddish word meaning a good and outstanding person. I hope his spirit knows that by his inspiration for this project, Jeffrey will always be a mensch to me.

Getting a LITTLE caught up

Woof! Lots getting done, but lots more to do!

The next time I try to draw something that complicated, somebody PLEASE stop me. I have no idea how all those guys like Jack Kirby and Geof Darrow can draw stuff like that. When I was in high school I could sit and doodle in details for hours at a time, but now everything is rush, rush.

Baltimore Comic-Con is coming together - see you at Booth A239, where I'll have free stuff and a chance to win a part in the next Mastery Jeffrey adventure. Look for the big hairy skull!

And now it begins

I know what you all are thinking... well, some of you. Well, a couple of you, not counting the naughty ones (see me after class, please.)

The slow start is intentional, and was supposed to happen a month ago. I'm still figuring out so much all at once! New techniques, new tech, and lest we forget, Baltimore Comic-Con in...HOLY CROW, I'VE GOT TO GET STUFF DONE!

Anyway, be patient. If I had my way, I'd just give you all 124 pages right away, but then how would you learn about patience? How would you learn persistence? How would I soak you all for stuff if you never had to come back? You see, I'm only thinking of you.

The Site is UP!

....I mean, such as it is. I still gotta fix the little thingies wrong here and there (yes, I KNOW the next and back buttons are live but not working - no new pages yet anyway) but the cover is done and everything is working so far.

Monday I went back to Pittsburgh and walked around some of the streets Jeffrey and I used to meander along. I had a slice at his favorite pie place (Napolie's, on Murray Ave. in Squirrel Hill) and looked up at his old apartment window. I think he's say two things about this project if he could see it - "Did you have to make me look so fat?!?!?" and "...this is a lot of work - I hope it's worth it"

You and me both, Jeffrey.

SOOOOOOO far behind!

Okay - so I made a list fro Baltimore Comic-con, I have my booth 90% designed, my giveaways in production, and my promo sheet is at the printer. Just one little itsy-bitsy teensie tiny thing to take care of and I'm good....

....I gotta do my webcomic.

AAAIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

You see, I know it won't take me long to get the pages drawn and up, and that's the problem. All sorts of things keep popping up - sorta like Mr. Incredible just before his wedding to Elasti-Girl. "Yeah, I've got time for this..." that kind of thing.  And I DO have time - it's just starting to get scarey, that's all. So, enough chit chat, it's back to the drawing board - literally.

I usually have so little to say...

...and no one usually listens anyway. Still, here you can post reactions to things, and let me know how things are going from your end. Feel free to point out where I screw up (what are the odds of THAT happening?)