Bad to Worse

Monday, December 6, 2010 -9:58 PM
[Update by Brian]
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My apologies for not posting a blog last Thursday as planned. Stuff came up and it didn't happen. I am hoping to remedy that THIS Thursday, barring more stuff.

Not a whole lot to report this week. Still in the midst of the big push, and still making a lot of progress, although tonight I hit a wall--very slow going, and very little motivation. I am hoping that a break for a day or two will help stir the creative fluids.

That's it for now! I'll do my best to see you again on Thursday. Take care, and thanks for reading!

Disarmed

Monday, November 29, 2010 -6:42 AM
[Update by Brian]
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I'm trying to permanently add shading to my comics. Usually it only appears whenever I have a large surplus of time on my hands to make it happen. But I think it adds so much depth and dynamism to my work that I would really like to include it all the time from now on. Let's do this thing!

I hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Mine went as well as I had hoped, and I got another five comics drawn, to boot! I am finally building the buffer that I've always dreamed about. There have been too many times that I've had to not do a comic in a given week because of being too busy, being too sick, or simply not having the drive necessary to finish the comic on schedule. The buffer is intended to put a stop to missed updates. Granted, I don't miss updates very often, but since this is only a weekly comic strip, missing a week can really kill the momentum. I'd like for it to stop happening entirely.

My friend and fellow webcomicer Nathan Bonner's new film noir detective comic, Shamus Stone, has officially launched. You should go check it out, as well as his space adventure, Indavo. Do it! Do it now!

I'm off to continue the push. I will be back briefly with a blog on Thursday sometime. Until then, take care, and thanks for reading!

Lights Out

Monday, November 22, 2010 -11:25 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Really proud of this one. It's not perfect, but it feels like a real action scene. Also, if you can identify the wrestling hold in the middle panel, it's worth a million points. (Sleeper Hold is not specific enough.)

The big comic-making push is proceeding as planned. The next five strips have been penciled, and I am planning to get a few more done over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I will be out of town, so there will likely not be any updates to the site until next week's strip. But, like I said, I will be hard at work drawing during some of my time off. In addition to the typical Thanksgiving traditions, it also looks like there's a massage and a viewing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One in store over the break, so it is shaping up to be an extremely exciting few days for me! And I hope they will be for you, too, where ever you may be.

I am officially planning a website overhaul early next year, probably in February. I keep finding myself tempted to start working on it now, but I would really like to concentrate on producing comics at the moment and for the next two months. I feel like I learned a LOT about web design at work over the last few weeks, both aesthetically and technically speaking, and I am really eager to start implementing my new skills here. But for now, I have to convince myself to make do with what I have.

I also have a couple more video games to weigh in on, so it is likely you will see another video game review within the next few weeks, and then another a little further down the road, possibly around Christmas or New Year's.

And there you have it--I just inadvertently laid out my 3-month plan for Mike and the Ninja. I hope you're as excited as I am.

It is way past my bedtime, so I'm gonna get out of here. Have a happy Thanksgiving, and I'll see you back here next week with a new comic in hand! Take care, and thanks so much for reading!

It Came From Behind

Monday, November 15, 2010 -10:07 PM
[Update by Brian]
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I got a lot done this weekend.

I am making my big annual holiday/let's get this show on the road mega comic-making push, and this year's is bigger than ever. Here's what I got done this weekend:

- Penciled the next two comic strips.
- Wrote the rest of the current story arc.

It doesn't sound like much, but that's the biggest chunk of comic-writing I have ever done at one time, and I am farther ahead in the writing than I have ever been. I am planning to have three to four more comics penciled by the end of the week.

Exciting times for Mike and the Ninja! I trust you will be back next week for the next strip, yes? I'll see you then!

Back and Forth

Monday, November 8, 2010 -10:15 PM
[Update by Brian]
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The epic struggle continues.

A weekend of planned cartooning took a bit of a hit when I cut my hand open Saturday morning. I was doing the dishes, and while wiping out the inside of a glass, it exploded in my hands. Okay, it didn't explode, but a triangle of glass popped out, and the resulting sharp edge left a sizeable gash near the lowest knuckle of the thumb on my right hand. We were thinking maybe the temperature difference between the cold glass and the warm water made it break, but the temperature difference really wasn't that drastic. Maybe the glass was already weak from being dropped or something. In any case, we were able to patch up the wound here at home, but it left my right hand heavily bandaged and covered with a sock to keep it warm and safe the rest of the weekend.

Fortunately, I am left-handed, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. However, erasing and certain other tasks that require two hands proved to be decidedly difficult with just one hand. I did okay, but not great. I am hoping to make up the difference with a lot of work this week.

I will also have a curious video game review for you on Thursday with some possibly unexpected results. Until then, thanks so much for reading!

Sympathy Burn

Tuesday, November 2, 2010 -7:34 AM
[Update by Brian]
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Even when Stu has a giant, smoking laser blast wound in his chest, Evil Bad Guy Ninja still has to get his shots in. Typical.

I'm really excited about web design. I have been doing some self education when time allows for it, as I mentioned a few weeks back. However, good fortune struck at my day job this week, as well, as I was asked to do some website revisions for one of our clients. The big thing I'm wanting to learn right now is CSS (short for cascading style sheets--if you're really bored, read some more here), which is sort of a standard of modern web design. I, however, am about ten years behind the times when it comes to web design, which is why you may occasionally see me blogging or tweeting about needing to learn some of the new stuff. The only language I know well is HTML, and I still use bunches and bunches of tables for my site layout. I learned earlier this year when I started hitting the web design books that HTML and tables are for hacks and has-beens, and that modern, properly assembled websites are using XHTML, CSS, and a load of other stuff I don't even want to think about learning just yet.

Anyway, the changes I needed to make at work relied heavily on CSS, so I really feel like I learned a lot about it this week, plus I got paid in the meantime. I'm not quite there yet, but I should soon have the knowledge and experience necessary to make many of the improvements I've been wanting to make to this site for quite some time now.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!

Battle Royale

Tuesday, October 26, 2010 -7:43 AM
[Update by Brian]
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It's good to be back. Things have settled down, and a new comic is being presented to you. By ME. Enjoy.

I've always enjoyed team combat, or at the very least a lot of combat going on on a lot of different planes. Whether it's a team of superheroes taking on a legion of evil robots, the battle of Helm's Deep, or the Royal Rumble. I hope this fight maybe captures a little bit of that feeling.

That's all for now! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time.

Important Announcement: No New Comic This Week

Monday, October 18, 2010 - 11:03 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later--there's just too much real life going on lately. With all of the cleaning, painting, wedding reception attending, birthdays, and hard telling what else that's been going on lately, I wasn't quite able to squeeze in a comic this week. This was one of those instances in which I think I could have finished it, but the quality would have really suffered, and I don't like to do that. I feel like I have done that a few times in the last couple of months. Instead, I am going to play it safe and take a week off, which hopefully can give me plenty of time to finish the next comic and get a nice head start on the comic after that.

Sorry for the inconvenience, thank you for your patience, and I'll have a new comic for you next Tuesday. Time permitting, I am still planning to do a blog this Thursday, but we shall see.

As always, thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!

Cooking

Thursday, October 14, 2010 - 9:25 PM
[Update by Brian]
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I was going to do a video game review this week, but I ran out of time. That'll come next Thursday.

In the meantime, I wanted to talk about food. Amanda and I sorted through our thousands of cookbooks a couple of weeks ago, weeded out some of the repetition, and vowed to start trying out some new recipes on a regular basis to avoid getting tired of having the same stuff over and over again, save money by not eating out, and ward off the addictive qualities of the McChicken before they have a chance to become a problem. It also gives me an excuse to get into the kitchen more often, as I have little experience actually cooking dishes that aren't sandwiches or some sort of noodle. Don't get me wrong--I can cook pretty well, but I'm still intimidated by the operation, so it can be hard to convince me to do it.

Thus far, all of our recipes have worked out well. They don't always come out exactly as pictured or described, but they still taste good. We make enough to enjoy a serving and have plenty of leftovers for later in the week or for freezing for later use. I wanted to start taking pictures of the stuff we've made, but I think we've thus far neglected to do that with the exception of a couple of things.

Here's a rundown of some of the cool stuff we've made:

Ham, butter, and avocado sandwich on french bread: I'm not a big avocado guy, but it works pretty well here. I rarely eat a sandwich without cheese, but this one can pull it off.

Grapefruit, black olives, fresh thyme, and goat cheese sandwich: Sounds disgusting, but tastes great together. I think this was on french bread, too.

Brown beans and rice with pork sausage: Highly addictive. That is all.

Dark cherry chicken in a wine sauce: I'm not a big fruit with meat guy, but the cherries aren't very sweet, so this ended up being surprisingly good. The leftovers, however, look like purple chicken and some dark gunk that used to be cherries. The taste remains as delightful as ever, fortunately.

Red hot pork chops and chicken breast: Not actually spicy as the name may imply, but the sauce is a mixture of ketchup, mustard, vinegar, and a few other ingredients that give the meat a red color. We got this recipe out of my church cookbook, and once I tasted it, I recognized it as the way my grandma used to prepare pork chops.

Chicken and vegetable dumplings: This was originally going to be a celery soup, but Amanda ended up blending up a bunch of celery, spinach, onion, and other greens and working the mix into a dough. This produced a dense dumpling and a hearty broth.

Homemade alfredo sauce: The best thing we've ever made. Added it to some shells and ground beef. I want to make this again right now.

Chili bake: This was just some baked beans with spices and pepper jack added and thrown into the oven. Filling.

Carrot muffins: These were supposed to be carrot pancakes, which should taste about the same as pumpkin pancakes, but we ended up with a dough instead of a batter. Good on their own, and then Amanda made a butter/honey/cinnamon spread for them, as well.

I'm pretty sure there were some others, too, but this is all I can think of right now. I like to think we've been pretty busy in the kitchen!

Stationary Target

Tuesday, October 12, 2010 - 7:23 AM
[Update by Brian]
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I guess Mike wasn't worth enough points?

I have resumed my training to become a better web designer. I'm in the process of learning CSS and some more advanced things about HTML, both of which should be able to one day improve the look of this website and more or less bring it into the 21st century. Maybe down the road a little further, I might also start working on PHP and some of the other, more complicated stuff, but it would probably be best for me to stick to the basics for now. I think this website looks pretty good and is more than serviceable. However, the building blocks are practically archaic, and making some behind the scenes improvements will make the site work properly with more browsers and just generally be more efficient. Whenever I make an update to the site, I get to see all of the inner workings, and what I once thought was a great, clean design now sorta feels sloppy and cobbled together.

I'll keep you updated on my progress. In the meantime, thanks so much for reading, and I plan to be back on Thursday with a blog.

Yardwork, Part 3: Yard's Revenge

Thursday, October 07, 2010 - 8:41 PM
[Update by Brian]
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I'll give you 50 dollars* if you recognize the reference in the title.

This week's adventure in yardwork had nothing to do with mowing or property lines or trash in the yard. No, it merely involved a shrub.

An incredibly dangerous shrub, apparently.

A seemingly run-of-the-mill shrub had worked its way up and around one of the gutters on the back of the house, so Amanda and I elected to remove it on Sunday afternoon. After lots of sawing, trimming, and yanking of roots, we freed the gutter from the clutches of this constrictive creeper and disposed of the plant remains. We also uprooted some poison ivy along the way, but Amanda and I both washed our hands thoroughly afterwards and made sure to bury our dirty clothes in the hamper, making sure not to come into contact with anything that poison ivy oil could have gotten on. I've had a couple of bad experiences with poison ivy over the last few years, both of which left me looking like I needed to visit the burn ward rather than apply calamine lotion.

Sure enough, by Tuesday morning, my arms had developed a couple of blotches of red, itchy skin. I was pretty mad. How could this have happened?! Not only did I barely touch the poison ivy (it brushed against the side of my hand very briefly, but that was it), I was very careful to take every precaution necessary to avoid getting a rash. And yet, here it was.

By Wednesday morning, the rash had spread to my legs and face, and was getting dangerously close to my eyes and mouth. There was no way that one little brush with poison ivy could have caused this much damage. Still wondering how this could have happened, Amanda suddenly had a chilling thought. She went to the computer and did a Google image search on poison sumac.

Sure enough, the images of the poisonous plant matched the appearance of our unassuming shrubbery out back. We spent more than an hour touching every last bit of a poison sumac tree. Amanda isn't very allergic to such things, so she came away with a few red spots on her hands where the plant had scraped her. However, the mystery of why I was beginning to resemble a bloated ham had been solved.

Since the rash was getting close to my eyes and mouth, we felt a trip to the doctor was probably in order. I got in Wednesday afternoon and received a steroid shot, steroid cream, steroid pills, and Benedryl to take care of the rash. It has already begun to recede on my face, but my arms still don't look that great.

The good news is that from now on, I'll always be able to recognize poison sumac. The bad news is that I had to pay a very dear price to gain such knowledge.

You win this round, yardwork. But I'll be back.

*Not really. I don't have that kind of money.

MSG Shield

Tuesday, October 05, 2010 - 7:50 AM
[Update by Brian]
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Man, if rangoon can do that, I'm going to the Chinese buffet for lunch every day!

I headed back to Cape last night for Monday Night Football. I don't discuss sports a great deal here, mostly because I don't believe most of my audience is in to them, so I will try to keep this brief. My Philadelphia Eagles are a delightfully mediocre 2-2, but I was expecting them to have around a .500 season. Meanwhile, the hometown St. Louis Rams, whom I have been ashamed to admit I follow over the last four or five years, are also 2-2 and have already won more games in four weeks than they did all last year! And sadly, my Cleveland Browns are 1-3, which is...well, pretty typical. Last night's matchup saw my friend Josh's Miami Dolphins take on rival New England Patriots, whom I can't stand, so it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the Patriots ended up crushing the Dolphins 41-14, but we still had a good time.

I am also looking forward to the baseball playoffs, even though my St. Louis Cardinals crapped out at the end of the year and didn't make it. Instead, I'll be rooting for the Minnesota Twins, who always make the playoffs but then lose to the Yankees in the first round. And, it looks like those two teams are matching up in the first round again this year, so hopefully the result will be different.

Oh, and somebody needs to beat the Reds. That is all.

All You Can Eat

Monday, September 27, 2010 - 11:12 PM
[Update by Brian]
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So that's the story behind that bizarre combination.

There are some other tasks I must attend to this evening, so I must cut this entry short. However, I'll try to make it up to you with a blog on Thursday.

Until then, take care and thanks for reading!

Yardwork Part 2: The Yardening

Saturday, September 25, 2010 - 2:54 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Last week's blog entry about my misadventures in yardwork generated what I consider to be a lot of comments, so I figured I would give you an update on the situation.

Things went much more smoothly this week. I had some trouble getting the thing started, but once I did, the work went very well. The mower only died on me twice, and one of those times was because it was out of gas. I also have a somewhat better idea of where the property lines are now, mostly because the guy who buried our internet line buried it in the neigbors' yard. That is another story in itself, but the situation should be rectified sometime soon.

Anyway, now that I know where the property lines are, I realized I actually mowed more than I should have last week, so that cut back on the work just a little bit. I probably should have consulted the neighbors on this before mowing in the first place, but I've never had my own yard before, much less one with neighboring yards, so it didn't really occur to me. Like I said last week, this is definitely a learning process.

Welp, back to the drawing board. See you on Tuesday with a new strip!

Bros Before Woes

Tuesday, September 21, 2010 - 7:30 AM
[Update by Brian]
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This is why they always told us to stay out of the "Occult" section of the library. Why there was an occult section, I'll never know. Maybe it was for the chemistry majors.

I forgot to mention last week that after two months of not having access to my drawing table, it is once again in use and fully operational. During our nomadic period over the last two months, I was reduced to using only my travel drawing board or your standard dining room table or coffee table. I don't think the work suffered, but it's good to be home.

I'm off to smash zerglings. I'll see you on Thursday, perhaps? Thanks for reading!

Yardwork

Thursday, September 16, 2010 - 8:46 PM
[Update by Brian]
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It's uneven. There are bald spots. There are holes, rocks, and cigarette butts everywhere.

It's my yard. I mowed it for the first time yesterday and this evening. (Ran out of time yesterday due to a meeting.) And even though Hank Hill wouldn't be able to look me in the face after seeing this barbarous hack-job of a lawn, I'm proud to call it my own.

I haven't had to mow any lawns for about five years now. I've been living in apartments all that time, so I never had to worry about any yardwork. Before that, I mowed my grandparents' lawn once a week, and very occasionally I would mow my family's yard. Dad usually took care of that, but if his back was hurting or if he was too busy or something, I would take the reins.

On top of being out of the lawn-mowing game for quite some time, I was spoiled when I actually did it. I always had access to a riding mower. The only push-mowing I ever did was trimming in the little areas the riding mower couldn't reach. I had a pretty easy go of things. Mow the lawn? Sure, no problem. Get me my headphones and a can of Pepsi, and I'll be on my way.

Oh, how the mighty (lazy) have fallen.

We're newlyweds, Amanda and I. Full of life and love and excitement, but noticeably low on cash. I had a bad feeling when I learned we would be needing to take care of our own lawn. We're not exactly close enough to any family or friends to go borrowing lawnmowers, and we don't have a good means of transporting them, either. It became evident we would need to purchase a lawnmower of our very own.

Here's where that whole low on cash deal comes into play.

Amanda did a little research and calling around, and came home with a push-mower. The good news is that it's a Briggs & Stratton. The good news is that it only cost 35 buckazoids. The bad news is that it's used. And it shows.

I timidly approached the lawnmower for the first time. Gosh, it's been so long. Do I still know how to even do this? Switch on, hit the primer three times, and pull the cord.

Pull the cord.

Pull the cord.

Ah, there it goes. Whirring like a charm. I was on my way to a freshly mowed yard. We wouldn't be THAT house on the block anymore. You know the one I mean.

The lawnmower died 15 yards in. Out of gas. I put some more in. Five yards later, it was dead again. Another five yards, and dead again. I was starting to get a little embarrassed, out there with one tiny swath cut in our giant backyard, struggling to get my mower to function. If there were any neighbors looking out their windows at that exact moment, they were surely chuckling.

I had to retreat inside and call my dad, who knows everything about everything. I explained the problem, but without actually being there, he couldn't figure it out. I told him I'd keep messing with it and let him know how it went. In the end, I'm pretty sure the mower was just clogging up in the thick, out-of-control backyard growth. I decided to take things a little slower.

It was working. It struggled and died a couple more times, but it was working. And so was I. I didn't remember push-mowing being this difficult. I frowned and grimaced and envied the yard kings on either side of me as my little machine got hung up in a countless number of invisible holes and divots. I was a sweaty mess, and had endured more of a workout than any jog or weightlifting routine could give me.

It was a rough go. But my yard was mowed, and I was quite proud of my first foray back into yardwork.

It's at times like these that I wish I was more active as a child. I grew up in a farming community. Every kid around me could mow a yard, change the oil in a car, drive a tractor, and plant a garden. I couldn't do any of those things. Instead of going outside and helping in the yard and around the house and in the shop learning general life skills, I was on my butt playing video games. When I wasn't doing that, I was on my butt in another room playing computer games. I'm frequently embarrassed by how little I know about certain basic fundamentals of living. Amanda does certain things like they were second nature. When I am asked to do the same things, I sometimes must sheepishly admit that I don't know how to do them. Yardwork is something I do know how to do--I just have to get back into it. And get good at it.

I am learning. Slowly. Actually renting a house instead of an apartment will help with that. Being married will help with that, too.

The yard it still a mess. You can tell this is a rental house--the yard is in pretty bad shape. It's going to be something of a reclamation project. I've already picked up most of the trash and debris that was scattered throughout. I'd like to fill in the holes and maybe do some planting in some of the more barren patches.

But right now, fresh off of my first lawnmowing in over five years, I'm proud to say it's my lawn.

Meet Bob

Monday, September 13, 2010 - 9:50 PM
[Update by Brian]
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D'ah! I used up my 2-week buffer with all of the moving and whatnot. Just finished this week's comic this evening. :(

But now that we're all settled in, this is the perfect time to build a new buffer! Hooray!

Now is also the time for me to start promoting the comic and begin making improvements to the website. For the last couple of months, I have been doing literally nothing for Mike and the Ninja except drawing comics and writing blogs. And while that's certainly still a big chunk of the work that goes into maintaining a comic, it's not everything. I won't say I haven't had the time--there's always time. It's just a matter of what you take time to do. Here lately, for me it's been moving, moving again, and job hunting/preparation. That's all behind us now, and I'm pretty excited about reallygetting back to work.

Blog on Thursday, if all goes well. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you then!

All Unpacked and Settled In

Thursday, September 9, 2010 - 5:18 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Well, mostly.

Access to the internet has been restored, and Amanda and I are unpacking the final boxes and putting the finishing touches on our new home. It's not huge, there are some things about it that I find strange (like a washer and dryer hook-up in the bathroom? Before my time, I guess), but it actually does kind of feel like home, and I do rather like it. On top of that, the new job is going great, so thus far our adventures in P-Town have been a successful endeavor.

Achievements

I wanted to discuss achievements in video games. Achievements, also known as trophies, objectives, or time pits, depending on what circle you run in, are goals in a video game that typically aren't associated with actually completing the game. They usually involve performing some sort of feat, acquiring all of a certain kind of item, winning a certain number of matches, getting to a certain point in the game within a certain amount of time, or scoring a lot of points. The game will notify you when you achieve one of these feats and will typically reward you with a set number of points, which don't really serve much of a purpose other than bragging rights. Achievements essentially create more games within the game. Not only can I beat the game, I can also try to accomplish all of these secondary objectives, as well.

I love getting achievements. I don't like to admit it, however, because people will usually assume I'm out for the points. Not so! I mostly just like trying to see and do everything a game has to offer. (To an extent, anyway. My lovely wife did literally everything one can possibly do in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I'm not that much of a completionist.) The only achievements I typically ignore are ones that involve multiplayer modes (I'm shy even in the anonymous arena of the internet), or ones that involve beating a video game on hard or higher difficulties (unless I'm really good at the game).

My obsession with achievements recently made a nuisance of itself while playing Starcraft 2. Being without fast internet over the last month, my play was limited to single-player engagements. I was replaying the campaign trying to get all of the achievements I missed the first time around, but decided to take a break and try my hand at the Challenge Missions, a group of nine missions with particular objectives. Each mission awards a bronze, silver, or gold rating based on how well you perform. Naturally, I set out to earn the gold for all nine challenges.

One by one, I worked my way up to a gold rating for each challenge. Finally, just one remained--Opening Gambit, a challenge in which the player must build 30 marines, 8 siege tanks, and 8 ghosts in 14 minutes to earn a gold rating. Build orders and speed have never been strong points for me in the real-time strategy genre, so I knew this was going to be interesting.

It proved nearly maddening. Night after night, I settled in an hour or two before bedtime to try to bring home Opening Gambit gold. But I just couldn't do it. Sometimes I would get really close, maybe a unit or two short. Other attempts were just plain bad, sometimes coming up double-digit units short. One time I had all of the units out in 14 minutes, 1 second. 1 second too long! Outrageous! But I knew I was close. So I tried the challenge again...12 units short at the 14-minute mark. What was I supposed to do?!

Finally, I got desperate enough to consult Gamefaqs, which I try not to do, but it comes up every now and then if I get really stuck. I wrote down another guy's build order on a piece of paper and gave it a shot, but I wasn't getting any closer to gold with his strategy than I was with my own. Disgusted, I shut the computer down and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

I couldn't stop thinking about it. I had come so close so many times. I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep that night if I didn't get the gold. I returned to the computer, turned it back on, went back to Gamefaqs and jotted down another build order. I returned to the war-torn Koprulu sector and launched Opening Gambit one more time.

I played a bad game. I was slow. I made mistakes.

I beat it with 12 seconds to spare. New strategies I never would have considered proved...most effective.

But boy, was it ever worth it for that achievement.

Weekend Update

Saturday, September 4, 2010 - 7:59 AM
[Update by Brian]
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Hello, everybody! I intended to have a new blog posted on Thursday, but I ran out of time. Amanda and I are making our big move this weekend (hopefully the last one for awhile--we've already moved twice in the last three months), and we've been working hard to get things ready. That blog will probably end up being posted this coming Thursday instead.

I may not have internet for a few days while we get things set up and make the necessary phone calls to get service to our new house. However, through the magic of the internet, the next edition of Mike and the Ninja will post automatically on Tuesday.

Thank you for your patience and your continued support of Mike and the Ninja. I'll be back as soon as I can!

Performance Review

Monday, August 30, 2010 - 10:17 PM
[Update by Brian]
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I wonder if this is how Bob and Todd handle their annual employee evaluations. It must be pretty terrifying--employees huddled together, quaking in fear and speculating their fate as names get called from the next room.

I'm gonna get to work on the next comic and listen to the Cardinals lose. This is one of those times I really wish I was still doing my sports blog--I would have so much to complain about in regards to such an underwhelming baseball team.

Planning to blog on Thursday. Take care, thanks for reading, and I'll see you then!

Right Where He Wants Him

Monday, August 23, 2010 - 9:32 PM
[Update by Brian]
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This could be a serious problem for Mike.

I don't have a whole lot to report this time around. Today was my first day at my new job, and I like the way things are going so far. I must admit that I do have the new job jitters. I feel pretty intimidated by the quality of work I've seen, and I'm gradually making adjustments to the new environment--the computer and the filing system isn't quite the same, the schedule is slightly different (but will be better once I get used to it), and I have to adapt to my new role. However, I'm pretty sure it's the same general uneasiness that everybody feels when they start a new job. However, my coworkers are doing a great job of making me feel at home, and I am hopeful that I will be able to make a difference here.

I need to get going for now, but if all goes to plan, I will be posting a new Brian Plays Old (Sometimes Bad) Games this Thursday on a game I have very mixed feelings about. Until then, thanks for reading!

Evil Men Doing Evil Things

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 - 1:00 PM
[Update by Brian]
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My apologies for the lateness of this strip. It's not really that late, but there was still a delay in posting because I was supposed to do it last night, but collapsed before I could pull it out. It all stems from something I've been dying to talk about, but had to keep under my hat until everything was absolutely official.

New Job

I got a new job. I will be working as a production artist for a graphic design firm in Perryville, Missouri. I start next Monday, my last day at the newspaper will be Thursday of this week, and Amanda and I are moving to Perryville at the beginning of September. I'm really excited about this opportunity and am relishing the chance to be undeniably good at my new work. I think it's going to be a lot of fun, and it should be the perfect outlet for putting my talents to good use.

I started casually looking for new jobs a little more than a year ago, but really kicked things in gear about six months ago. The newspaper was a good place to work for a guy fresh out of college, and I learned a lot of important skills and harnessed a great deal of sage advice from some very special people, not to mention all of the wonderful friends I have made there. However, a lot has changed in the newspaper industry over the last few years, enough so that even a small market paper like where I worked was feeling the effects of the digital media revolution. As things continued to change, I felt as though my time with the newspaper was coming to a close--I didn't think I had any sort of up-and-coming future with the company, nor would the job be able to support a family somewhere down the road. I very much appreciated everything I had gained from my experience there, but I knew it was time to go.

I was probably a little too picky in my search, because every job opportunity I found came up empty. I either wasn't qualified, didn't have enough experience, or simply didn't want to do the work involved. I should have been more open in my search, which is something I will keep in mind in case I ever need to find a new job again. I finally found myself with a strong lead, had a good interview with the company, and was sent home with a test project so they could gauge my skills. I put more than 24 hours of work into what I thought was a pretty great piece of material. I submitted it to the company knowing I had the job in the bag, only to find out almost a month later that they had given the position to somebody else. It was a crushing blow at the time, especially after putting that much work into trying to get the job. In time, and in talking to many people, I learned that if they didn't give me the job, then the job simply wasn't the right fit for me, whether or not I wanted to believe it.

Maybe a week later, I learned of another job opportunity. Hesitant to even bother applying after getting burned on my last attempt, I hemmed and hawed about whether or not I wanted to do it, but eventually, with some reservations, elected to go ahead and submit my resume. Within a couple of hours, I had a response asking if I could come in for an interview. I had two great interviews and landed the position. The search was over.

In addition to the job situation, Amanda and I decided some time ago that we weren't interested in staying in Cape Girardeau the rest of our lives. It's a very nice town that I have spent all of my years either in or very near, and we have so many great friends here, as well--it would take more than a couple of novels to talk about all of the terrific and memorable experiences we have had together. However, it was beginning to look as though job opportunities for people like us (writer/designer in my case, music composer in her case) are going to be pretty scarce in Cape. If the right opportunity comes up, or the proper circumstances present themselves, perhaps we might return one day. But for now, we want to have our adventure, our foray into newlywedded life. It's a bittersweet departure, having to leave the good with the bad. Perryville may not be exactly what people think of when it comes to having a great adventure, but it might be a good place to start. We'll have to see what happens.

Thanks for reading! See you next time!

...Looking Up

Monday, August 9, 2010 - 11:00 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Perhaps strange things are afoot?

My wife was out of town this weekend, which gave me a good opportunity to work on comics. I got an extra one done, so I am currently operating with a very slight, but definitely real buffer. I'm tellin' ya, I've got to stay ahead like this, because my work environment is so much more comfortable not being perpetually under the gun to stay on schedule. I'm still seven comics ahead on the writing side of things, and now that I'm also a strip ahead in the drawing department, I feel like I've caught some powerful momentum and am extremely motivated to press on. I think it's possible to get an extra comic in this week, as well. The drawing is coming very easy and naturally to me over these last couple of pages. Now let's see if I can keep it up!

Starcraft 2: Universal Geekdom

I'm kind of amused by how Starcraft 2 has proven to be able to bring any two gamers together, and allow them to speak a common language. I haven't been able to put a great deal of time into the game yet, and I definitely don't quite feel comfortable taking the fight online. However, I've noticed that with almost all the gamers I know and speak to regularly, Starcraft 2 is the topic. Conversations no longer begin with, "Hello, how are you?" Rather, they start with a simple "Do you have Starcraft 2 yet?" If the answer is yes, I can expect to spend the next 15 minutes to an hour exchanging our initial impressions of the game, explaining how much more fulfulling I find the single-player campaign to be in the sequel than the original, and how I am immensely satisfied with what I've seen so far. I've even had this conversation with one individual whom I had only ever spoken to once prior, which I think is pretty cool--two dudes who barely know each other are immediately able to interact like old chums over a game. From my perspective, Starcraft 2 is the talk of the entire gaming world. Judging by the impact I have seen, perhaps the wait really was worth it.

Even though Starcraft 2 is not an old game, I will still review it when I complete the single-player campaign and give you a thorough rundown of how I feel. All I'll say is that I already know it's better than Faxanadu.

Thanks for reading, everybody! I'll see you next time!

Going Down...

Monday, August 2, 2010 - 10:30 PM
[Update by Brian]
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I'm really happy with how this one turned out. The stairs took tremendous patience, but at least I had the opportunity to use my meager geometry skills in constructing them. I only made a B+ in that class, but I'd wager a bunch of those kids who made A's aren't using geometry on a regular basis like I do whenever I have to make sure structures in the comic strip don't look like they're falling down. I also feel like I executed decent foreshortening on some of those strange angles of Mike. The artwork of the comic strip, in general, seems to have attained a marked and noticeable improvement over the last month or so. I dunno what's going on--perhaps I overcame some sort of mental wall or plateau. In any case, I'm really proud of how things have been looking lately.

Excercising the Writing Muscle

This is a topic that has been bugging me for a few months. I feel like my writing ability is going down the crapper at an alarming rate. I studied English in college because writing was one of my big interests, and I felt like it was the interest I was best at, so I elected to learn as much about writing as I possibly could. Unfortunately, here lately, I haven't had a whole lot of time to work on any writing.

One of the most important things I learned about writing is that the more I do it, the easier it is. In college, there was no shortage of exercising the writing muscle because the professors always had some excuse for us to write papers. We would study James Thurber or Paradise Lost and have to write a paper about those things, and then write another paper about another paper that some other guy wrote about those things. It sounds tedious here, but believe me, staying up all night to finish that 12-page paper assigned ten weeks ago beat group presentations any day. No wonder I have a degree in this nonsense and not business.

After college, I maintained my writing muscle by working on an unfinished story here and there, but mostly by keeping both a journal and a blog. I was a pretty angsty kid in those days. As such, I could ramble on for pages and pages (a feat made more extraordinary by the fact that I have teeny tiny handwriting) about my lack of adventures in love, how I was out of shape, and how I would never be as good as the people I envied. However, I eventually grew to accept myself as a person and my place in the world. I was happy, and strangely enough, the journal and the woeful blog entries dried up.

Around this same time, I was also writing a sports blog for my employer's website. The sports blog was one of my favorite writing projects to take on--I got to write about topics I was truly passionate about and do it creatively. I tried very hard not to let the sports blog be about statistics and batting stance analysis and stuff like that--it was to be about my observations as a sports fan, and it was never not to be funny. I had a great time writing it, and at its height, I even had somewhere between one and two thousand regular readers.

However, in time, I couldn't do the sports blog consistently enough, so I retired it. I would love to bring in back one day, but we'll see. I wanted to devote more time to the comic strip, and I just generally started growing up. I had a girlfriend and a growing number of responsibilities to take care of.

Now, I feel as though similar circumstances have befallen the Mike and the Ninja blog. Granted, a lot has been going on. We got married, we moved, work has been a bear and will be for the foreseeable future...it's no wonder I've only had time to post quick snippets to accompany new comics. I've had a lot on my mind. Nevertheless, I feel as though I have been neglecting the site by not maintaining the blog with meaningful, significant posts. I have attempted numerous times to sit down a force a blog entry, but I've learned that the best work comes naturally--it's not worth it to post a blog just for the sake of posting something. When a topic presents itself that I feel I need to discuss, and the words come to me naturally, then it's time to write.

Furthermore, the blog is currently my primary source of writing, so if the blog ain't gettin' done, ain't no writing gettin' done. That's when I start to feel like I'm losing my touch. I am obviously writing the comics, but that kind of writing is a little different--it's mostly just an outline accompanied by dialogue, and even then, I have to keep the dialogue pretty short as part of the carefully crafted, haiku-like brevity that is comics.

I want to really start exercising the writing muscle again, not only to keep my writing ability up to snuff, but also so you guys have to visit the site more than once a week to get your fix. I now have a couple of video game reviews I can write, so I have some fodder to work with. Besides that, I'm mostly just hoping life calms down soon so I have both the time and focus to write like I know I can write.

Thank you all for reading, and I'll see you next time!

Role Reversal

Monday, July 26, 2010 - 7:11 PM
[Update by Brian]
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This week's blog is being posted super early, so if you see this before the comic (which usually auto-updates at around 2:00 AM central time), don't panic--the comic will be there.

Why so early, you ask? Well, I'm about to go to sleep for a few hours so I can go to the midnight release of Starcraft 2, and play the crap out of it until 6:00 in the morning when I have to go jog and work on comics before work. Yes, I am that much of a nerd. But hey, this will be the first midnight release of a video game I've ever gone to, so it will be an experience. I have done a lot of other midnight stuff, though--I saw the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies at midnight releases, and I've seen a ton of midnight showings of old movies. There's just something about that opening day buzz that's hard to match, whether it's flipping on the radio for the first Cardinals baseball game of the season, or hearing the thunderous applause that preceded Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

I have a long and storied history with the first Starcraft. Despite the 56k modem at Mom and Dad's house, I actually managed to get pretty good at the game and crushed countless enemies before losing interest thanks to Ultima Online. When I returned to Starcraft, everybody's skills far surpassed my own, and I was never quite able to reclaim my lost glory. I didn't care very much, though--it was too much fun to worry about that sort of thing.

Now, 12 years later, the sequel is finally here. I just hope it lives up to the original's legacy.

I also beat the video game I have been working on just in time for the release of Starcraft 2, so you can expect a new video game review in the near future. It was supposed to go up last week, but my writing muscles just weren't functioning properly, and it didn't happen. But it will be up soon.

I'm off to bed! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!

Cross-Department Conflicts

Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - 7:05 AM
[Update by Brian]
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Can't anybody in this company get along?!

For me, this strip was a real momentum builder. I'm pretty sure the big panel of Stu and Evil Bad Guy Ninja charging Bob's personal guard is the coolest piece of artwork I've done for Mike and the Ninja so far. I'm toying with the idea of making it either a downloadable desktop wallpaper or a full color print (or both). I have some time to think it over, so we'll see what becomes of it. I'm excited about the quality of artwork over the last couple of strips--I'm hoping I can keep it up. I'm happy to say the artwork has come pretty quickly, as well--no slaving over the penciling stage for eight hours to get it right.

I'm also happy to report that I am currently five strips ahead in the writing department. I've been working on that during my lunch breaks instead of reading, and I'll probably continue to do so until the current story arc is completely written. It is completely outlined. :)

Hope all of the comics creators out there have a great show at San Diego Comic Con this year! I will not be in attendance for the twenty-sixth consecutive year, but don't let that stop you from enjoying yourselves if you are headed that way!

Thanks for reading! I think our lives may have calmed down just enough to allow for a blog entry later this week. Will I see you then?

Ratted Out

Tuesday, July 13, 2010 - 5:25 PM
[Update by Brian]
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As is the annual custom...

Can't talk. All-Star Game.

Also, Amanda and I are house-sitting this week, so I am at my own dwelling just long enough to post this comic strip and get moving.

Will have more to say soon! Until then, enjoy the comic and take care of yourselves!

Coming Untied

Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - 9:48 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Uh oh.

At last, here is the comic! I am really sorry for being so late with the updates these last two weeks. Last week I was busy and sick, but this week I was fortunately just busy. Amanda and I celebrated our 2-year anniversary (of dating...not marriage, barring time travel we aren't aware of) last night, and on Monday night I assisted Amanda with some work she was doing for other people. I've also been working on something else I cannot yet reveal on the internet. Then there was the 4th of July over the weekend and...well, things have just been royally out of hand lately, but none of it has been begrudgingly so.

In conclusion, the bad news is that the comic has been late the last two weeks. The good news it that the comics are still gettin' done! It's like Blizzard delaying a release--yeah, it's irritating that the game will be coming out later than expected. But when it finaly comes out, oh boy!

I'm feeling somewhat disconnected from the webomics world in the wake of the wedding and the unrelenting maelstrom of activity since returning from the honeymoon. My main goal is to get back on schedule, then resume working on that goal of two comics a week. I've also sort of had to rush the inking and digital work on the last two pages, and that bothers me--there's always so much more shading and ink work I want to add to the strips that I think would give them much more oomph, but there's never enough time. Perhaps the next page will work out better.

I'm going to call it a night. Thank you for reading, and once again, thank you for your patience this week. I am not expecting to have time to post a blog between now and this coming Tuesday, so I will see you then with the next comic!

Some Things Never Change

Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 8:58 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Here is the comic.

I would love to stay and chat with you, but I am very sick. My stomach is getting revenge for all of the really good, but really greasy and fattening food I've put into my system over the last ten days. It also didn't help that we were moving Saturday through Tuesday, and on all of those days we worked until late and then I satisfied my ravenous hunger by overeating. Imagine just dumping a bunch of food into a big popcorn bowl and then drinking it like a big milkshake--that is basically what I did, and it's no wonder I woke up at 4 this morning with some of the worst stomach cramps I've ever had.

I will be back sometime soon with positive news. Thank you for reading, and I'll see you next time.

I'm back...and I'm married.

Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 9:14 PM
[Update by Brian]
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And it feels great.

Upon returning from our honeymoon, we decided to move. These apartments we've been living in are okay and inexpensive, but not very pleasant in both the blazing summer months and frigid winter months. The layout does not allow for adequate distribution of air conditioning or heat. In separate apartments this was okay, and we managed to rough it (sorta) through a relatively cool summer last year. In one apartment, however, it gets a little too hot and a little too cramped to handle the heat. It is also shaping up to be an exceptionally hot summer, so we are moving to a new, temporary location until we can find (and afford) "our place," wherever that may be.

With the move in progress, this week's comic may be on time, but it may also end up being late, depending on how things go. I just wanted to make a post and let you know in case you don't see anything right away on Tuesday.

Thanks for reading! It's good to be back, and I will be posting that new comic as soon as I can!

Addendum

Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 10:52 PM
[Update by Brian]
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I said in yesterday's blog that there WOULD be a comic next week. I unfortunately must rescind that remark--there will be NO comic next week. The work schedule of my real job did not allow me to work on the comic tonight as I had planned, and I'm not going to have time tomorrow as we wrap up the very last wedding details. The downside is that there won't be a comic next week. (This will be my first missed update this year.) However, the upside is that I will return from the honeymoon well rested and ready to work. I also plan to do a lot of writing on the plane rides. (Do they still let you have pens on airplanes?)

Thanks for your patience, and I apologize for speaking too soon. But hey, I'm getting married! Ain't no sense in getting down about a missed update this time--I have very good reason. :)

Take care, and I'll be back soon!

Cutthroat

Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - 9:50 PM
[Update by Brian]
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I wonder if Stu still gets surprised whenever Evil Bad Guy Ninja jumps him, or if he has accepted it as a part of life.

This blog is so late because my schedule is all out of whack, and I have very good reason. An important date (some may say the most important date) in the life of the author of this comic strip is approaching. It's not approaching as quickly as I would like, but I'll take what I can get. You have, I am certain, read brief murmurs and mentions of MY WEDDING in this blog over the last six months. On Saturday, the big day will finally be here.

I can't wait. We've been planning and organizing and buying and planning and thanking and running errands and making things and planning for forever. Even though Amanda and I had the whole thing all planned out within two weeks or so, it has still taken all this time to make all of the necessary arrangements. We're almost there--just a few things to wrap up here and there. I wonder what we'll do with ourselves once we're married and don't have to plan weddings anymore?

In all seriousness, it has been fun to put this big day together, and both of us are eagerly and impatiently waiting for Saturday to JUST GET HERE ALREADY so we can get on with spending the rest of our lives together. I love this woman to death, and she's the greatest thing to ever happen to me.

The good news for fans of Mike and the Ninja is that a long time ago, Amanda told me I am never allowed to stop writing or drawing or creating. I guess I can't argue with terms like that.

There won't be any blog entries next week, but the comic should update on Tuesday, as usual. Regular website updates will resume the week after.

Thanks so much to everyone for your support. See you soon!

Breaking Point

Monday, June 7, 2010 - 10:13 PM
[Update by Brian]
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New comic strip coming off a long, fulfilling, productive weekend. I also had a day off from work today, so additional production was wrought--more pre-wedding errands completed! And tonight, a long, well deserved night's rest. Tomorrow I'm back to the grind and back to comics. It will be the first day of the new "45 minutes before work, 45 minutes after work" comic schedule, so we'll see how it goes.

That's all. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!

Speed

Saturday, June 5, 2010 - 9:20 PM
[Update by Brian]
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I’ve been drawing approximately one comic strip a week for two and a half years, give or take. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but usually one. I want to start drawing more than one comic strip per week. In my mind, this seems feasible. In reality, however, the matter of speed becomes an issue.

Granted, life has been hectic lately. There is a wedding coming up pretty soon, a lot of overtime at work, and Amanda has a new kitty who likes to attack bare feet. But even without all of this going on, it still takes me too long to draw a comic strip.

Saturday is my typical work day to work on comics. Despite that, I never seem to get much done. I can usually finish my penciling on Saturday, but that’s it. Usually I’m busy Saturday night, and I have to wait and do the inking Sunday evening. (Sunday during the day is family time.) Finally, I do the scanning and digital work Monday night after work. Even though it’s actually only a matter of hours, it feels like it takes three days to do one black-and-white full page comic strip.

This is no longer acceptable. I like drawing Mike and the Ninja, but the rate at which I am offering new comics is starting to drag even for me. This is why I decided I wanted to pick up the pace to two comics a week. The only problem is that I’m too slow. There was a time that I could pump out an entire comic strip in about five hours. Now I’m up to seven hours or more for each page.

My penciling takes too long. On a typical day, a 6-panel comic strip can take three or four hours to draw. On a bad day, those same six panels can take all day Saturday. Sometimes I’ll start at 10:00 Saturday morning and not finish penciling until 5:00 in the evening. That’s one page. It really shouldn’t take that long—my artwork isn’t that complicated.

Why does it take so long? Sometimes, it’s a matter of focus. I get distracted by the internet or food or some commotion going on outside. Sometimes, it’s a matter of pickiness—I struggle with one pose, or spend an hour trying to make a truck look perfect. Speaking of trucks, sometimes it’s a matter of drawing decent-looking backgrounds. Drawing people comes fairly naturally to me, but drawing buildings or vehicles or other inanimate objects can be an incredible struggle.

Amanda pointed out to me last weekend that at the rate I’m currently working, there’s no way I’ll ever be able to draw two pages a week. Well, I could, but we would never see each other again—if I work 8-5 Monday through Friday and draw one page with all of my free time Saturday through Monday night, the other page would have to come the other nights of the week. I don't really think I could live with this, either. On top of this, I'm getting a little burned out having to use up my entire Saturday drawing (usually less than) one comic page. I came to the conclusion that I'm not really happy with my current drawing schedule or my current pace, and that some changes have to be made. I don't want to rush the art, but I think I have fallen into the trap of being overly cautious with my work. Just think of it as doing what I have to do in order to stick to a schedule.

A few months ago, I was on a real roll in that I was waking up right at 6:00 in the morning, getting my exercise, breakfast, and pre-day-job ritual out of the way as quickly as possible, leaving me with 45 minutes to work on comics before leaving for work. It only lasted about two weeks before I got lazy or stayed up too late too many nights in a row and got out of the habit. But it was great while it lasted! I have to start doing this again! Amanda suggested that if I do this, and work on comics every day for 45 minutes after I get home from work, I would get seven and a half hours of comic time Monday through Friday, plus maybe a couple of hours here and there on the weekends, if necessary. Additionally, I have to work faster—no distractions, no internet, no obsessing over one line here or one building in the background there. I always feel like my penciling has to be perfect, but it doesn't; it's just going to be covered with inks and erased in the end, anyway. The pencils only have to be a guide. If I stick to this schedule, work fast (without being sloppy), and maintain focus, I don't think there's any reason I can't eventually do two comics a week. I may not be able to do two a week right away, but that should give me some time to build up a buffer, if nothing else.

Think I can do it? Here's hoping I can!

No More Words

Tuesday, June 1, 2010 - 7:58 AM
[Update by Brian]
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Splash Page!

As I've mentioned in the past, Mike's behavior can get rather impulsive and ill-advised at times. Nevertheless, Todd had it coming.

Apologies for no blog last Thursday, as I had predicted. My real job just got out of hand. This week, however, I think I can make it happen--Amanda and I had a long talk yesterday concerning speed and the realistic likelihood of me being able to do two pages a week by July at the rate I'm currently going. Some adjustments may need to be made to my original goal, and the two-a-week schedule may need to be pushed back some in order to make it happen consistently. More on that later this week.

Hope everybody had a great Memorial Day weekend! I know I did. Take care and thanks for reading, as always!

Counterpoint

Monday, May 24, 2010 - 9:50 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Hooray, new comics!

Not much new to report, other than I'm busier than ever, and that I guess I need to get back to it!

Also, feel free to read the impassioned post below regarding how I feel these days about the chances of getting famous making comics, and why it's not important to me anymore. What a relief!

There should be a new blog entry of some sort on Thursday. Until then, take care, and thanks so much for reading!

Finding the place for comics in my life.

Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 10:31 PM
[Update by Brian]
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No game review this week--I haven't had time to beat anything new. However, I do have a few things to say.

Something has been on my mind lately concerning "making it" as a cartoonist on the web (or in general). I've made admissions in the past that my heart hasn't been in the right place. I'm not proud of it, but at times, I have produced comic strips to draw traffic to my website and get famous. Don't get me wrong--I love drawing comics. I have a story to tell, and I've just gotta get it out there. Even so, there was that underlying urge, that desire, to draw comics for the purpose of having thousands of adoring fans and making a living off of it someday.

It seems that times...and desires...change.

There's a comic strip out there that I used to read called Goats by Jonathan Rosenberg. Goats started in 1997, which makes it 13 years old. Goats is a giant story--there's so much going on, I eventually lost track and stopped reading. But when I did read it, it was entertaining, and I think it's pretty awesome that Rosenberg has the mental capacity to keep track of so many characters and goings-on and competently write such an epic.

Recently, Rosenberg made a post on his site in which he admitted that it was looking more and more like he would no longer be able to make a living and provide for his family by solely producing his comic strip, and that he was looking into coming up with a second (potentially more profitable) comic strip, as well as tackling some non-comics writing projects as a last ditch effort to continue to make writing and drawing his career.

On top of that, Jeph Jacques of Questionable Content posted a guide to starting a webcomic. Not only is the guide a good read, it also includes this curious tidbit:

"Even then, your comic might not ever attract a large audience. Success in webcomics is a combination of timing, skill, appeal, and luck. Luck is probably the most important of the four. I’m certainly well-aware of how stupendously, profoundly lucky I have been."

Both Rosenberg's predicament and Jacques' coincidentally timed guide really got me thinking about the future, and the actual odds that Mike and the Ninja or any of my other creative works may eventually develop into something with throngs of devoted followers. Of course, I've had dreams of huge success. I've dreamt of leaving behind the daily grind and sitting at the drawing table for hours a day, pumping out stories about ninjas and drawing pictures of spaceships fighting dinosaurs. I've dreamt of having an office on the top floor of some old downtown building down on the riverfront where I can work and keep all of my cool stuff. I've dreamt of my creations making me financially successful. Who hasn't had those kinds of fantasies?

However, the reality is that my comic may not ever attract a large audience. It's possible, yes. But is it likely? Honestly, it's not. This business requires lots of hard work and a knack for storytelling. I think I have both of those things, but then there's timing, there's luck, and there's that chance that my work just may not be the sort of thing that will attract a large-scale, mainstream audience.

What if Mike and the Ninja doesn't make it? What if I can't eventually make a career out of it? What if webcomics eventually end up not being a viable source of income for anyone?

The truth is...I'm okay with that. Sure, all of that fame and fortune would be nice. But if I don't get it, I won't mind. When I was a little kid, I wanted to draw comics and write stories when I grew up. I'm doing that; I'm fulfulling the childhood dream. I just want to draw comics...draw what I want, write what I want, and have fun doing it. That's why I first started making comics all the way back in fourth grade, and that's why I started Mike and the Ninja in 2000. That's what I have lost sight of a couple of times over the past year, and what seems so crystal clear now. I want my stories out there--why else would I have gone to college to get an English degree? I just wanted to write stuff. Taking on a project as big as writing and drawing what is going to end up being multiple graphic novels for the purpose of making money will prove to be setting myself up for major disappointment. On the other hand, taking on the same project for the purpose of writing a fun, exciting story and entertaining myself, my family and friends, and any other awesome people who join in along the way, and scratching that creative itch, if you will, will prove to be immensely satisfying. That's what I want to do.

I'm not throwing in the towel. I'm not manufacturing a way to pat myself on the back for inferior work. I'm not admitting defeat, or saying I will "never be as good as those other guys." I have a growing confidence in my work, and no plans to quit. However, I am looking at my future as realistically as possible, and let me tell you, has it ever been a relief. I used to get so upset whenever Comic X would build an audience of thousands and thousands of readers in their first six months, whereas I have just cracked a couple of hundred in two and a half years. I don't care any more--I just want to tell Mike and Stu's story.

I don't want the urge (or if it came to it, the need) to make money drawing comics circumvent the urge and the need to have fun drawing comics. I'm not the sort of person who can just drop everything to make writing and drawing work as my career. I'm not going to quit my day job, split the rent of a $200/month shack with a family of possums and eat ramen noodles and ketchup packets and draw until my hands bleed until Dark Horse hires me. I just don't have that kind of drive. Some people have that ability to tough it out on almost nothing until they make it big, but I don't think I do. I would rather do comics on the side of a real job and make a little bonus money for curly fries and video games and to surprise Amanda with a Diet Dr. Pepper when she has a bad day. The idea of making a living off of comics and comics alone and then suddenly seeing that revenue start to slip away to the point where I would have to go find a real job again is terrifying to consider. I want to provide a comfortable living for myself and for my family, and then do the comics. That's just how I feel I will forever operate, and I'm fine with that.

Not making money won't make me a failure. Not doing what I love to do will.

Keeping that in mind, the place in my life for making comics and the reason for making comics have never been so clear.

Long Time Coming

Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - 12:18 AM
[Update by Brian]
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I think Mike may have just told off his supervisor. I get the feeling maybe he's never done anything like that before.

I used lighter pens on the lettering in this strip, and I like how it turned out. People say they can read the lettering just fine, but I felt like it was too heavy.

I have a few other things I wanted to talk about in this blog, but I badly need to get to bed. I will add these thoughts this evening if I get a chance.

Thanks for reading, and I'll talk to you soon!

Behind the Scenes: Cape Comic Con 2010

Tuesday, May 11, 2010 - 7:23 AM
[Update by Brian]
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It's been a little more than 10 months since our last look behind the scenes, so here's a little something to prove just how much of a diva Stu the Ninja can be in real life. You put him in a life-or-death situation, and he fights for the rights of every man. You put him behind a table at a convention where adoring fans lie in wait, and you can't get him out of the hotel room in the morning without bringing him five Big Macs with the hamburger patties taken off and replaced with Whopper patties. Ridiculous.

This strip was a lot of fun to draw--I liked putting in cameo appearances of various personalities that were at the con. However, this one took some patience, as well. I sometimes have trouble drawing background elements and making sure they don't look like small, disfigured blobs. I just used a lot more patience on this strip and tried to be as light with my pen as possible, and the distant background elements look a lot better than they usually do.

Lin Workman had some very nice things to say about Mike and the Ninja and our table at Cape Comic Con in a write-up on ComicWhore.com. Thanks so much, Lin! Everybody needs to check out his personal website, as well as his comic book, Bushi Tales.

And finally, here are a few more pics from Cape Comic Con:

Thanks for reading, everybody! Things are as busy as ever, but if I get some time on Thursday, I'm planning to write the next "Brian Plays Old (Sometimes Bad) Games." The next entry focuses on a franchise very near and dear to me, so don't miss it!

Ba-zing!

Monday, May 3, 2010 - 11:55 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Getting under his skin much there, Todd?

If you were introduced to Mike and the Ninja at Cape Comic Con and this is your first visit, welcome! Feel free to check out the New Readers page, peruse the Archives, or otherwise immerse yourself in the adventures of Mike and Stu!

Speaking of Cape Comic Con, it was another great show this year! While turnout was a little lower than expected (possibly due to the bad weather in and around the area over the weekend) and I didn't sell quite as much as I anticipated, the show was just as fun as last year, if not more so! I'm gradually getting better at interacting with people, I met some great artists and con-goers, I did a few sketches, took some pictures, gave out free stuff, and otherwise had an extremely fun and exhausting (in a good way) time. This morning I was thinking about how Cape Comic Con is Mike and the Ninja's Super Bowl or Wrestlemania--the entire year seems to build up to one climactic moment, and then, all of a sudden, it's over, and for a period of maybe a couple of minutes, I'm not sure what to do with myself. Then I get back to work on comics and start making preliminary plans for next year's show. Lots of booth improvements are already in store. I learn a little more each year.

I'm planning to have a complete con recap (with pictures!) later this week--most likely Thursday night. Please check back with us for the full story! Until then, thank you for reading and for your undying support!

Twisted Technicality

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - 7:30 AM
[Update by Brian]
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I can't tell you how many times I've written a paper, designed an ad, or completed some other task, completely pumped because I knew I had done everything just right, only to get hammered on a minute or rather mundane detail, like leaving out a comma or listing a car as being red instead of blue. Sometimes, I'd worked so hard and was so exhausted that I just didn't care--I was just happy I was finished. Other times, it can be utterly crushing. And other times, I'm pretty sure the detail was put there with the sole purpose of you missing it and getting in trouble for it. That's just the way it goes.

If it seems like I've been shirking my duties as a cartoonist lately, I apologize. While I have been getting comics posted on a regular basis, I have been unable to do anything else--no supplementary blog posts, no video game reviews, and I haven't done any advertising or spreadin' the word in a long time. In years past, these lulls in activity could usually be traced back to pure, unadulterated laziness. However, that is no longer the case! In the past couple of months especially, any time spent away from the website has been spent taking care of legitimate life duties. The wedding is less than two months away now, so some time is spent working on that. After the wedding, there is the possibility of moving, depending on what happens, so some time has been put into researching the job market elsewhere. I'm also currently building a small business/portfolio website that shows off my work and qualifications to potential clients. I'm helping Amanda out with some of her work when the need arises. A little bit of planning for Comic Con is in progress, but that is mostly figured out. And to top it all off, we even did some babysitting a couple of weekends ago, among other favors here and there.

Also, I haven't played a video game in a month, and it's driving me nuts.

I just wanted to let you know that I haven't been neglecting my responsibilities around here without very good reason. But fear not--getting the comic itself done each week is still one of the top priorities in my life, so there is no chance that's going away any time soon. However, I wanted to warn you that the lull in other activity on this website besides the comic may continue for a couple more months.

But don't forget--on the PLUS side, I am still planning to increase the updating schedule to two (2) comics a week starting in July. I am attempting to prepare for that, but now, all of a sudden, July is only a little more than two months away.

On that note, I need to get to work on some other things. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you at the Con!

Cape Comic Con FINAL Warning!

Where: Osage Community Center, 1625 N. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, MO

When: Saturday, May 1 from 9:00am-6:00pm; Sunday, May 2 from 10:00am-6:00pm

Why: In addition to the usual comics, games, toys, costumes, and celebrity appearances at the con, the Mike and the Ninja booth will be returning and will be better than ever! (And by "ever," I mean "last year.") Here's what's in store for Ninjamaniacs who stop by the booth:

- Copies of Mike and the Ninja: San Francisco Fracas will be on sale at the cool convention price of $12! Wow, that's $2.95 off the internet price, plus you don't have to pay any shipping!
- FREE Hired Goon Association stickers!
- FREE Mike and the Ninja bookmarks!
- FREE high fives, thumbs-ups, and pro athlete buttsmacks (okay, not that last one)
- Sketches of your favorite Mike and the Ninja characters (and other characters, assuming I know how to draw them)
- Special appearance by Stu the Ninja!

It's the fifth year for Cape Comic Con, and is sure to be a big show. We'll see you there!

Bee Serious

Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 7:50 AM
[Update by Brian]
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Maybe Stu isn't as cool as I thought he was. Then again, everybody's got to have a little fun every now and then, even in the middle of a fight with a man made of bees.

I am incredibly happy to report that Mike and the Ninja's plot for the forseeable future has officially been worked out. Don't get me wrong--I'm not flying by the seat of my pants, desperately trying to figure out what's going to happen next with each passing strip. I've had a rough idea of how things are going to go down since the first big story arc wrapped up, enough of an idea that I felt safe progressing the story. However, what was once a rough concept has developed into a fully armed and operational story. All that's left is to outline everything, and then write and draw it.

I'm pretty stoked about what's coming next. It's a very exciting time to be a Mike and the Ninja fan. :)

Also, this is your official Cape Comic Con 2-Week Warning!

Where: Osage Community Center, 1625 N. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, MO

When: Saturday, May 1 from 9:00am-6:00pm; Sunday, May 2 from 10:00am-6:00pm

Why: In addition to the usual comics, games, toys, costumes, and celebrity appearances at the con, the Mike and the Ninja booth will be returning and will be better than ever! (And by "ever," I mean "last year.") Here's what's in store for Ninjamaniacs who stop by the booth:

- Copies of Mike and the Ninja: San Francisco Fracas will be on sale at the cool convention price of $12! Wow, that's $2.95 off the internet price, plus you don't have to pay any shipping!
- FREE Hired Goon Association stickers!
- FREE Mike and the Ninja bookmarks!
- FREE high fives, thumbs-ups, and pro athlete buttsmacks (okay, not that last one)
- Sketches of your favorite Mike and the Ninja characters (and other characters, assuming I know how to draw them)
- Special appearance by Stu the Ninja!

It's the fifth year for Cape Comic Con, and is sure to be a big show. We'll see you there!

Quick Thinking

Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 8:25 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Bonus points to anybody who gets "Wilco's Janitorial Supply." I dunno, maybe I'm underestimating people--surely somebody out there is as old as me and likes point-and-click adventure games on PC.

I like heavy perspective panels like panel 6, but I get frustrated drawing them because even with my smallest pen, objects in the background get really messy because my lines are too thick. I might need to start drawing panels like that bigger on on a separate piece of paper to make them prettier. I'm still pretty happy with how it turned out, but it's not quite what I was hoping for.

Not much else to say at the moment. I think I actually will be around this Thursday to write the next "Brian Plays Old (Sometimes Bad) Games." Take care, thanks for reading, and I'll see you then!

C'Mon, Stand up and Fight

Wednesday, April 7, 2010 - 11:55 PM
[Update by Brian]
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I am so proud of Mike. Everybody's got a breaking point.

I'm also really proud of how panels 3, 6, and 7 turned out. There was a point in making this strip when I wasn't sure I would actually get it done or not--Tuesday night ended up being one of those nights where things just weren't going right and I was not positive or enthusiastic about drawing. But once I figured out panel 6 and thought it was pretty cool, I was rejuvenated and carried on. Meanwhile, the idea for panel 7 popped into my head one day while working out Bee Man encounters in my head, and I thought it was really cool. Now seemed like an appropriate time to incorporate it.

I've removed the TopWebcomics "vote" button from the sidebar. My philosophy on that matter has changed over the last couple of months (and I was encouraged by the Halfpixel panel at Emerald City Comic Con). I want my readership to come from a good product, not from encouraging people to vote for me in a popularity contest that probably only caters to a few people who most likely aren't even my audience. Judging by the viral nature of the internet, if the work is good, it will always have an audience. And, to be honest, according to my Google Analytics statistics, I was barely getting any traffic from TopWebcomics, anyway.

I will not be posting a "Brian Plays Old (Sometimes Bad) Games" this week, as things are still pretty busy overall. However, next week I hope to review the Midwest Classic, a video game and pinball convention my brother and I attended a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks for hanging in there for the late comic this week. I'm hoping to be back on track next week. Until then, enjoy the comic and have a great weekend!

This Week's Comic Delayed Until Wednesday

Monday, April 5, 2010 - 10:35 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Hey everyone. This week's comic is going to be a little late. Life away from webcomics has become temporarily overwhelming and is spilling into my comic-making time. Don't worry, pretty much all of it is good stuff, mostly relating to the wedding or otherwise dealing with some other personal things that will hopefully impact my not-too-distant future in a positive way. However, I really want to keep the momentum of the comic going--the last two months have seen a pretty significant influx of new readers, and I would really hate to take a week off at a time in which I'm extremely motivated and the strip is seeing some growth.

Instead, I'm going to delay posting until Wednesday. I...*ahem*...haven't exactly started this week's comic yet, but I should have a window of opportunity over the next two evenings to finish and post it. I find this decision alone to feature some degree of progress, as normally in the past I would simply end up not posting a comic in a situation like this. It feels like my dedication to the comic is growing, which is great news to me.

So hang in there, my ninjamaniacs, and thank you so much for understanding.

M&N: Evolution

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - 10:25 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Mike and the Ninja will never be the same again.

I regret to inform the dedicated fans of the comic strip that our sponsors were upset with the product. In the growing field of webcomics, too many "new challenges" were arising, and an antiquated strip like Mike and the Ninja was no longer cutting it. Readership is down, and our sponsors felt they could no longer support Mike and the Ninja unless I took the comic in a "new direction." I turned over complete creative control to the sponsors' marketing teams, and I quickly realized what a horrible mistake I had made.

They said there was not enough action, not enough humor, and that there needed to be a cute, talking dinosaur sidekick for "comic relief." I already thought Mike was the comic relief, but hey, what do I know. In addition to these problems, they also said the comic strip had to be adjusted to accomodate a brand new toyline--thus, we now have the collection of the "Fossils of Fate" becoming the primary storyline. Apparently the kids these days like comics and cartoons that involve collecting things, so the sponsors' awful marketing teams said we needed something that could be packaged with action figures so that the kids have to buy tons of action figures to collect all of the pack-ins.

Mike wasn't "edgy" enough, so they made me add some sunglasses, a dark suit, and a gun. He is now a wise-cracking government agent investigating the nefarious deeds of General Slerve, an anthropomorphic dinosaur genius bent on controlling the earth and enslaving the inferior humans.

Stu wasn't "modern" or "tough" enough, so they demanded I draw him differently so that you can see his wild hair and bulging muscles. He also now has two swords because one sword is "too plain." Also, all the backstory I wrote for Stu has been re-worked--his parents were killed by General Slerve, and Stu's only goal is a bloodthirsty revenge and lust for combat.

Rex...ugh. Don't get me started.

And let's not forget the cheesecake. Renee was removed from the comic entirely and has been replaced by "Doctor" Terra Trowel, a dim-witted bimbo that apparently has some childhood connection to the Fossils of Fate (thus devoting her life to their study and recovery) and gets kidnapped in every story arc. She also wears as little clothing as possible for pretty much every function--archaeological digs, dinosaur combat, adventures in the Antarctic...this sort of thing.

The story? Revamped completely. Kids don't want to read about corrupt politicians, jerk bosses, and the Hired Goon Association. They want robot zombie dinosaurs. The new producers wanted them to be robot zombie Nazi dinosaurs, but I pleaded with them that that was really pushing it. General Slerve still has a German accent, though, so it technically could still be implied.

I sold out. I put materialism before what I really wanted, and now I'm contractually locked into creating a comic strip that my heart is not into. I've let you down.

I don't really know what else to say, so I'll close with this....

APRIL FOOL'S!

It's a little early, I know, but this idea has been brewing for a long time, and I had to get it out there. I thought about delaying the posting of the comic until Thursday, but I didn't feel comfortable waiting that long to post the strip. Also, maybe it threw you off a little bit since it's not April Fool's Day just yet.

Anyway, it was definitely time for a non-storyline strip, and I hope you enjoyed it. I just tried to take every bad kid's comic/cartoon cliche I know and throw them all together into one really awful comic.

We'll be back to original, non-evolved Mike and the Ninja next week. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you then.

More Shop Talk

Monday, March 22, 2010 - 10:45 PM
[Update by Brian]
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I made a couple of changes to the sidebar earlier today. For one, I moved the old entries of "Brian Plays Old (Sometimes Bad) Games" onto their own page and made a link to that page on the sidebar. I also added a permanent link to the book's listing on Lulu--it doesn't take a powerful marketing sorcerer to know that if you have a product to sell, it usually helps to not only advertise said product, but also provide potential buyers with an avenue to said product, neither of which I previously had. I also did a little reorganization of the sidebar to keep things looking organized and as uncluttered as possible. I'm planning on learning a little more as far as web design goes in the coming months, and once I do, I'm really hoping I can make that sidebar look much sharper than it does now. But until then, I think it looks reasonably good, but not great. I also need to think of something to replace the forum button at the top of the site...unless I decide to revive the forum again, but...ugh. I just dunno. If I do, now is not the time.

Now that all the new business is out of the way, let's talk tournament basketball. After a reasonably good start after the first round, both Amanda's bracket and my bracket are in the tank after the second round. Just look at this mayhem:

And if you think that looks bad, get a load of this:

As you can see, both of our tournament winners were killed in the second round. The good news is that 50 million other basketball fans also picked Kansas to win the tournament, which means they're all boned, too! So if nothing else, we're in good company. Amanda has just one Final Four team still alive (Michigan St.), and I have Kentucky and Baylor, both of whom are still in fate's good graces. Unfortunately, my bold prediction in Saturday's blog entry that Cornell would not survive the second round, of course, ended up being completely untrue.

Amanda performed better than I did in the second round, correctly guessing 9 of 16 teams to my disappointing 8 of 16. If first-round games are worth one point each, and second-round games are worth two points each, then Amanda is beating me 40-39 at the end of two rounds. Will she pull off the improbable victory?! Honestly, I kind of hope she does--it would prove once and for all that trying to pick the NCAA tournament is utter nonsense (but terrific entertainment).

Thanks for reading. See you on Thursday!

March Madness

Saturday, March 20, 2010 - 11:54 AM
[Update by Brian]
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I try to pick the NCAA Men's College Basketball Championship tournament bracket every year. I don't pay a whole lot of attention to college basketball, but I do listen to a lot of sports talk radio, and I love tournaments of all sorts and trying to pick who will win, based on my (very) limited knowledge of what's going on.

However, no matter how much I pay attention, picking the tournament always ends up being a complete crapshoot. I have only ever successfully predicted the tournament winner one time (Kansas, two years ago), and usually end up having just as much fun waxing poetically about how my bracket is in shambles after two rounds as I do actually watching the tournament.

This year, I decided to rip off The Tony Kornheiser Show. Each year come tournament time, Tony brings "Phil's Mom" onto the show, who picks games with hilarious results, usually picking teams who have no chance of winning, or mispronouncing team names. (Except for the time she successfully predicted George Mason would reach the Final Four.) I decided to do a little experiment--have Amanda pick a bracket and see if she, along with her almost complete lack of knowledge of college basketball teams ("Duke is usually good, right?"), can beat me and my reasonably good knowledge of college basketball teams.

Here are our results after one round:

Amanda did pretty well on the first day, correctly picking Ohio to upset Georgetown and picking Butler over UTEP, while every "expert" in the country was picking UTEP to win that game. However, it should be noted that two of her Final Four teams--14-seed Montana and Notre Dame--were both eliminated in the first round. Her overall winner, Pittsburgh, however, is still alive. (They're in my Final Four, as well.) It took a lot of guts to pick 14-seed Ohio over Georgetown, but I have no idea what she was thinking picking 13-seed Sam Houston State over Maryland. Come on, Amanda.

Overall, she picked 22 games out of 32 correctly in the first round. However, the right side of her bracket is looking pretty decimated with both Final Four teams on that side out and three of four Elite Eight teams out. That left side is looking pretty nice, though.

Meanwhile, My bracket got off to a really bad start on the first day. At one point, I had six games right and six games wrong. Georgetown and Vanderbilt really screwed up everything, and I'm really disappointed in Marquette, who always makes it pretty far. However, my entire Final Four is still alive after the first round, including my chalk overall winner Kansas. My bracket isn't too fancy--it doesn't look like I have many upset specials going on (with the exception of Cornell, who'll be out in Round 2, anyway). Give me a break, though--I filled this thing out at work in three minutes before having to go to a meeting.

Overall, I picked 23 games out of 32 correctly in the first round. In conclusion, even with Amanda's complete lack of basketball knowledge, she only picked one less correct game than I did, and I've been listening to Kornheiser's expert picks all week and have years of prior knowledge of all these college basketball programs! But that's the beauty of tournament basketball--high stakes unpredictability at its finest.

I'll post another update at the conclusion of Round 2.

Losing Track

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 11:25 PM
[Update by Brian]
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It sort of snuck up on me, but all of a sudden we're sitting at 150 comic strips! Mike and Stu have come a long, long way and gone in some very unexpected directions since I re-launched the comic in January of 2008. If I went back to the time when the strip was languishing at #45 with a teeny-tiny audience and a creator who could maybe be bothered to put together the time to do a comic every three of four months, even though he wasn't doing anything better at the time, and told him that he would one day have 150 pages under his belt, he would have laughed me out of the house before turning back to his daunting task of doing piles and piles of absolutely nothing at all. I'm not afraid to say that I'm really proud of how much work I can do in a day compared to what I used to be willing to do. I guess maybe that's part of growing up.

I'm really happy that I decided once and for all to finish the story I started all those years ago. Back when I was in elementary school and junior high, I drew a lot of superhero/sci-fi comics featuring another stable of characters my friends and I developed. I had so much fun drawing them, but I left so many stories unfinished. I would start a new series of comics, get maybe three or four issues in, and then suddenly become disinterested and either move on to another series of comics, another project altogether, or get distracted by Final Fantasy games. Eventually I got so fed up with the many unfinished series rotting in my mind or at the bottom of a pile of papers that I drew a comic book as the final project in my Small Press Publishing class in college that, with the help of a little retroactive continuity, wrapped up all of those unfinished stories in one swift go. I realized that I couldn't stand my creations having all this unfinished business, so I ended it.

Eventually, I realized the same thing had happened to Mike and the Ninja. I had a world half-built, and I really wanted to finish what I had started. I had to overcome my lack of confidence, dedicate myself to the project, and get it done. One comic every few months (or years, in some cases) was no longer going to cut it--it was all or nothing.

And here we are. It has taken on a much different direction than it would have if I had actually worked on it consistently during high school and my early years of college, but that's okay. Voices and opinions change, characters and creators mature, and the real story I want to tell is gradually working itself out in my head and with each new page. It's immensely fun, and I get incredible satisfaction from getting to look at a finished piece of work. 150 pages is nothing to some people, but to me, it is an immense load of work and a real accomplishment. And I ain't done yet.

Thanks so much for reading and for your support. See you next time!

Dollar Menu or Nothin'

Monday, March 8, 2010 - 10:35 PM
[Update by Brian]
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On the rare occasion that I do eat fast food (maybe once a month these days), it literally is Dollar Menu or nothin,' which is great because every fast food joint has a dollar menu or value menu or other variety of cheap food they have branded with a generic, yet appetizing monicker. I don't know if it's psychological or not, but it just feels like you get so much more food buying off the dollar menu than you do buying a combo meal. I feel a lot better buying two cheeseburgers, a chicken sandwich, and two small orders of fries off the dollar menu for five buckazoids than I do buying one burger (no matter how big it is), one thing of fries and a drink off the combo menu for the same price. Soda is such a waste of money at restaurants--that's how they get you! Get the water. It's (usually) free and it gives you an additional dollar you can spend on one more burrito. In the long run, this dollar menu exploitation is probably shortening my trek to the grave, but I figure I eat healthy enough and exercise enough to counterbalance the effects of the occasional double cheeseburger. And those aren't just platitudes, either--I actually do.

My birthday is Tuesday. It's not on a weekend or a day that borders a weekend (which would give me an excuse to ask off work), so it's somewhat less thrilling than most birthdays. However, it is still a birthday, and it will still be awesome, as such. Amanda and I are planning to go out to eat with my sister and brother-in-law, and after that, it will probably be an evening of Star Trek on Netflix with the fiancee. The ol' birthday snuck up on my big-time this year--an upcoming wedding, lots of focus on comics and an otherwise busy life will do that to you, I suppose.

I've gotta go work on some stuff for an hour before playing some video games for an hour before bed. I probably won't have either game I'm currently working on beaten by Thursday, so I may have to review an arcade game or otherwise discuss video games in some fashion. I'll think of something. Until then, thanks for reading, and I'll be typing at you again soon!

Beetween You and Me

Monday, March 1, 2010 - 11:05 PM
[Update by Brian]
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These bee-related puns are gettin' out of hand.

I have to share with you how my morning routine fell into complete disarray. I don't know if other human beings have the same problem or not, but from time to time, some facet of my life needs to be reset. For instance, I'll fall out of the exercise habit, stop eating good food and ingest nothing but Spaghetti-Os and Kraft singles for months at a time, or never get to bed before 2 in the morning. Eventually the situation will get bad enough that I will impose a "reset" in which I realize how bad things have gotten and immediately go back to my old ways.

Such a reset had to be applied to my morning routine, which had gradually degenerated from a quick and efficient process to a dragging, miresome slog through the morning goop.

Part 1: Waking Up - The alarm goes off. I can turn the alarm off or chuck the thing across the room in mere seconds. This proved to be the most efficient part of the morning, as the pace of my morning routine beyond this point would only be exciting to slugs, and they would probably have to be pretty drunk, too. Once the alarm was silenced, I would sit in bed for at least five or ten minutes--more if I was up late the previous night--just trying to collect myself, thinking about dreams I had or worrying about the upcoming day without having to face the cold morning air. This was, of course, a complete waste of time, but I was too tired to notice.

Part 2: Exercise - I exercise in the morning so I can get it out of the way. The only problem is that usually it was taking me 40-50 minutes to grind through an exercise program that should really only take a half an hour, tops. I was taking breaks of at least a minute or two between sets, moping about how I hate doing abs or worrying about whether or not I might accidentally wake up the downstairs neighbor by clanging around on the Total Gym too much or bouncing around playing EA Active on the Wii.

Part 3: Shower and Other Bathroom Stuff - I don't take long showers as it is, but it can still be a time sink if I start thinking about something and then forget to rinse the shampoo out of my hair. Shaving is also time-consuming, and I even have a beard, so there's not a whole lot of shaving to do! (I maintain humans should have an on/off switch for hair and nails.) I also have really bad skin and have to apply five or six scrubs, creams, and moisturizers every morning to keep my face from falling off. This whole process was also taking 40-50 minutes sometimes.

Part 4: Eating Breakfast, Getting Dressed, and Whatever Else - I'm not really sure how this could possibly take that long, but it did.

It became clear that things weren't going very quickly or smoothly. It was taking me upwards of two hours to get all of this stuff done. I know lots of people who can do everything I just listed in two minutes. I hadn't been to work on time in weeks. I'm talking 10-15 minutes late every day. I'm a good worker otherwise, and there was no excuse for this. My fiancee also noticed my sluggish morning behavior, and she's not the kind of person who puts up with that kind of crap.

The reset occurred last Tuesday. When the alarm went off, I forced myself out of bed, no matter how cold it was or how badly I wanted more sleep. I did my weightlifting in 25 minutes and did away with much of my resting, which allowed me to fit more exercise into the routine, and I was actually worn out by the end. I sped up my shower and shave and application of various face-maintaining chemicals. I dressed like I was late for my mom's birthday party, ate as quickly as a teenager on a commercial for pizza rolls, and combed my hair like a...hm...well, I actually didn't comb my hair.

I was ready for work with 40 minutes to spare. I promptly used that time for drawing, and realized just how much time I am capable of wasting in a day. I'm always concerned with not having enough time to do all of the things I want to do, but if I can keep up my new speedy routine, I've got an extra 40 minutes to do with as I please.

Now if I can just find some more areas in which I can save a few minutes here and there, I'll really be in business.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you on Thursday!

Misinterpretation

Monday, February 22, 2010 - 10:00 PM
[Update by Brian]
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I tried to put some shading and texture into this comic with my inking instead of solely with Photoshop, and I kind of liked how it turned out. It gives the comic so much more depth than a bunch of grayscales can. I believe I may have mentioned before that I'd really like to continue to develop my inking to the point where I do most shading and textures with the inks and only use minimal grayscales, but I am still a long ways off from that. However, I think this is another one of those things like hand-lettering where I need to just start doing it, or it will never develop.

Speaking of hand-lettering, I think this strip's word bubbles are the best I've done so far. I took my time with them, tried to make them more circular and less horizontal, and I made sure to put a little more space between the words and the edges of the word bubbles, and they look much better than last week's bubbles. I'm also working on strategic placement of the bubbles so that they guide the reader through the panel. I was aware of this technique, but never really followed it, only making sure to place the word bubbles out of the way of the action and in such a way that they were at the very least read in the right order.

Not much else to say at the moment. The debut edition of "Brian Plays Old (Sometimes Bad) Games" received positive feedback, so I will be doing another installment on Thursday night of this week. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you then!

Shop Talk

Monday, February 15, 2010 - 9:55 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Believe it or not, a full week has passed without any cell phone mishaps. I did end up switching back to the half-broken phone, but the case I bought seems to be holding it together until the inevitable day in which the case slides off my belt and into the toilet.

My taxes turned out much better this year than they did last year. I didn't owe any money, which is infinitely better than last year's result, in which I owed so much money that I had to cut toothpaste out of my budget entirely. No wonder my fiancee and pretty much every other person I spoke to last year seemed so repulsed all the time.

I have a question for any cartoonist-folk (or anyone, really) who might be out there reading this. I've been doing hand-lettering for I guess about six weeks or so now, and I'm having trouble drawing word bubbles. My word bubbles always come out...well, not looking as good as I would like. I know I'm still new at hand-lettering and that it's going to take some practice, but my word bubbles are consistently coming out oblong, off-kilter, and not at all smooth. One suggestion I've found is to make the word bubbles more round and less horizontal, so I think I'll give that a try. I've also considered buying an oval stencil, but the only place in town that sells them is Hobby Lobby, and the ovals are too small. Amanda, being the most DIY person I've ever met, suggested making an oval stencil in Illustrator and printing it on card stock. I gotta do something soon, because my word bubbles are driving me nuts. I've tried drawing them quickly, slowly, carefully, recklessly, passionately, half-heartedly, and while eating, but I get about the same result no matter what. Any suggestions?

That's all for now. Look for a blog entry or two this week, including a video game update. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!

Counterproductive

Tuesday, February 9, 2010 - 8:05 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Now Stu is just being a jerk...to a very evil man.

I have an update on my cell phone story from last week. Remember my old phone that I bought a new charger for and ended up leaving at the store and had to go back and get it? It turns out the phone won't hold a charge, so I'll either need to buy a new battery for it or switch back to the other phone that's going to break in half at the exact moment I get the next very important phone call of my life. If I'm using the crappy phone, I hope that call is somebody asking me to go have ice cream with them, not an important message from the future.

I keep forgetting to mention this, but I wrote a review for a book called Muhammad Ali and the Greatest Heavyweight Generation by Tom Cushman. You can read the review here. The book was published by my friends at Southeast Missouri State University Press, whom I interned with in college and more recently provided illustrations for an upcoming children's book. You've probably gathered somewhere along the line that I'm a big sports fan. I also love to read sports nonfiction, and this book is an excellent outing in that genre. I've never been big into boxing, so this book was both entertaining and educational. It's a wonderful read, and if you're into that sort of thing, I highly recommend it.

I'm getting ready to tackle my taxes this week. All those annoying business expenses from the last year have suddenly become delightful tax deductions. I'll let you know how it goes. Until then, thanks for stopping by!

On the Job

Wednesday, February 3, 2010 - 11:05 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Stu happily dons a BOB hat? What's goin' on here?!

My apologies for the late strip. It has been something of a crazy week.

I'm on a strange kick of deciding not to pay for things anymore. Listen to my story.

Back in the summer, I decided not to use my air conditioner anymore because I got mad at just how much it ran up my energy bill. While uncomfortable at first, I eventually adapted to life without air conditioning, using only fans, cold drinks, and prancing around completely naked (the neighbors across the street were not happy about this) to stay cool during the hot summer months. In the end, I saved a bunch of money, and I'm no worse off.

Last month, I decided not to use my natural gas heat anymore because I got mad at just how much it ran up my energy bill. While uncomfortable at first, I eventually adapted to life without heat by hanging fabric and plastic in my doorways, sealing all the windows, using a small space heater sparingly, and finding a means of harvesting the heat produced by my downstairs neighbor's cigarette-smoking parties. (He has about three a week.) I'm saving a bunch of money, and I'm no worse off.

Recently, Amanda and I did some research to see how much money it will cost us to have a 2-person cellular phone plan when we get married. It looks like it's going to be about $100 a month. We can afford that, but neither of us like cell phones enough to pay that much every month. The culture seems to be driving everybody to the belief that everybody must have a cell phone, no matter the cost, leaving those blood-sucking fiends at the top of the cell phone companies free to charge practically whatever they want for a service that should realistically be maybe 30 bucks a month. That's probably not really true--I'm not a businessman, so I don't actually know what I'm talking about. All I know is that it's not worth it to me, and I'd rather be spending that money on curly fries, or putting it towards our eventual retirement home on the beach. We'll have saved enough money on cell phone service over the years to install platinum bathroom fixtures and a shield generator to keep hurricanes from knocking it down.

Anyway, we'll probably only have one fully functional cell phone, and get another text-only phone at a fraction of the cost of two regular cell phones. Or maybe we'll get a land line--people do still have those, from what I understand. We'll adapt to life with only one cell phone between us, save a bunch of money, and be no worse off.

There's another, funnier story behind all of this. The reason we were looking at cell phone plans is because my cell phone was breaking in half. I was eligible for a free upgrade, but I would have to renew my contract to get it, and to then add Amanda to the plan would be where the $100 a month would come into play. Fortunately, I found my old phone, but I had thrown away its charger. We went to the store to buy a replacement charger and a belt case for the phone to prevent it from breaking in half in my pocket like the other one did. We bought a charger and a case, but when we got home, the phone was gone. We apparently lost it in the store. Fortunately, my friend Josh's mom had an old phone she wasn't using anymore, so I took it off her hands.

My dad got a call earlier today from a man saying he had his phone, to which Dad replied, "No, you don't," not realizing what was going on. It turns out we left the phone we thought we'd lost inside one of the cases at the store in what was definitely one of our more scatter-brained moments. An employee found the phone and dialed the number labeled "Home" in the contacts and got my dad. My dad called me and relayed the information, and I got my old phone back. Mystery solved.

I gotta go to bed. Thanks for reading and for your patience, and I'll see you next time!

Smelly Reputation

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 - 6:50 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Hey, word and odors both get around.

The exciting, but terrifying urge to play a massively multiplayer online game has struck me again. It last struck in 2006, when I was encouraged to try World of Warcraft. I played WoW for 10 months before I got bored (and got a job), so I gave it up. It's a great game--lots of things to do, the Warcraft universe is fun and accessible, and there are some epic boss fights, which is always a plus.

Since WoW, no online game has really struck me as being compelling enough to try. However, two of them are coming soon, and I don't know if I'll be able to resist the temptation of either of them: Star Trek Online and Lego Universe.

Star Trek has been a big part of my life since 4th grade, when a grade school chum introduced me to it. I never had anything against Star Trek; I was always just a Star Wars kid and didn't pay it any mind. But Star Trek ended up being a big influence on a lot of the early comics I did as a kid, and it embued the desire to command a starship (or to be a bridge officer, if nothing else). At one point I even bought a red lightbulb for my room, and imagined my top bunk being the command post of my ship, and if there was an emergency, I turned off the overhead lights and turned on the lamp that had the red lightbulb in it to simulate a red alert. I hoped Starfleet would exist at some point in my life, but I grew up and it's still not here. However, I can fulfill those wishes to some extent with Star Trek Online. However, I can be really stingy with money, and there's also my whole problem with having a ton of video games to finish as it is. I want to play STO, but I'm conflicted.

Then there's Lego Universe, another video game adaptation of something I loved as a kid and still love today. What appears to be the neat thing about Lego Universe is that it encompasses all things Lego. If I want to do space, castle, ninja, or pirate adventures, it looks like they're all there. And the thought of building my own stuff is always nice, like if I could build my own ship or my own headquarters. However, these wishes can actually be fulfilled in real life with real Legos, perhaps not with the same scope that Lego Universe will offer, but if I ever want to play with Legos, I can just pull them out whenever I go visit my parents. The only problem is that when I do play with them, I usually will play with my nephew, who seems more interested in being on the opposite team as me and blowing my stuff up than he is actually building anything. (And all his guys can "hide" or "have force fields" and this sort of thing if I try to fight back.) Also, I can be really stingy with money, and there's also my whole problem with having a ton of video games to finish as it is. I want to play Lego Universe, but I'm conflicted.

It's going to be interesting as to whether or not I can resist the temptation over the course of the year. Star Trek Online is the frontrunner. It comes out February 2. Will I cave? We shall see.

Thanks for reading, and I'll return sometime soon!

Mike and the Ninja Volume 1 Finally For Sale Online

Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 9:12 PM
[Update by Brian]
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It may interest you to know that if you have not yet purchased a copy of Mike and the Ninja, Volume 1: San Francisco Fracas (and shame on you if you haven't), it is now available for sale in the vast and desolate wasteland we know as the internet. I took more time than I should have to go through the motions of securing an ISBN for the book, but now that said task has been taken care of, a mighty internet company will, with the proper exchange of cashola, print and ship a copy just for you. I would also eventually like to set up my own store via my website and package and ship books to you myself. It's more personal that way, and the shipping will honestly be less expensive for you, as well.

Or, if you'd like to pick up a copy at Cape Comic Con, the book will be available at the special Comic Con Discount®, which, I assure you, is a deal so good, it can make an ordinary man punch through a solid brick wall. (It's true--it happened at Comic Con '09!)

If you're feeling particularly dedicated, I would humbly request that you please leave a review for the book on its Lulu.com listing. You'll probably have to register an account with them and all that--which is a pain, I know--but if you're up to it, I would definitely appreciate it. Even if it's negative--I like honest feedback.

Of course, this means I will eventually be posting a permanent banner somewhere on the site advertising the sale of the book. I promise the ad will not include seizure-inducing flashes of bright color, nor will it offer you one simple rule to lose your gut forever.

At times, it's easy for me to lose sight of the fact that I made a book, and that it is something I should be proud of. Pretty much every internet personality I follow closely is somehow associated with webcomics, and (almost) all of them have multiple books. Because of this, I feel like having written/created a book is sort of a normal thing, and compared to them, I look at my book and think, "Hm, here's my one book. And it has the rough early stuff in it, too. Ho-hum, whoopdie doo."

Fortunately, at that point the driven, less mopey part of my brain kicks in and says, "What are you talking about?! This is your book! You made this! You've done something lots of people only ever dream of doing, and you enjoyed every bit of it! This is great! You should be proud of this thing!"

I am proud, and I hope you enjoy reading the comics as much as I enjoy making them.

Dumpster Dive

Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 6:30 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Trepidation lingered in my mind as I sat to begin work on this week's comic. However, it ended up being a fun comic to draw, and it didn't take nearly as long as I anticipated. Being a chase scene and all, I couldn't justify using the same angle or background over and over again--this ain't a Hanna-Barbera cartoon, after all. So I had to come up with some varying and creative angles to keep things from getting boring. Drawing at angles which took me out of my comfort zone, combined with the fact that this was a 9-panel strip, which takes quite a bit longer than the usual five to seven panel strip, led me to believe it would take forever to get this comic in the can. However, instead of dreading it, I just sat down and did it. I'm also trying to not be such a perfectionist and take hours and hours to draw a comic strip. I always feel like the pencils have to be perfect, but they are only there to serve as guides for the inking and get erased when the comic is finished, anyway. I'm trying to shake myself from this misconception I have that the penciling has to be brilliant and flawless before I can move on to the inking. If I want to expand to two comics per week, this is going to be essential. I'm working on it.

Exciting news on the Cape Comic Con front! According to the website, the dates for the 5th annual event are Saturday and Sunday, May 1 and 2. Mike and the Ninja and I will be appearing at the show, and I'm proud to report that I designed the new logo for the show, as well. I'll be sure to put a permanent link on the sidebar if you're interested in more information on the con as it becomes available. Special thanks to Ken Murphy for using my logo design--it's a real thrill to be able to contribute to the hometown comic con in some small way!

I'd like to do a blog entry this week, so I'll try to be back on Thursday to take care of that. In the meantime, be well and thank you for reading!

Bee Afraid

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - 10:09 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Thank you for your patience on this late comic strip! I'm just glad I got it posted, as I wouldn't be too keen on already missing an update the second week of the year. The perspective got a little wonky in some of the panels of this strip, but I'm not too worried about it--it's a hard thing to deal with. I've also noticed on the last two strips that it has been taking forever for my ink to dry, so I usually end up having to clean up a lot of smears in Photoshop. Must be the weather or something.

I don't have much else to talk about right now, and I need to get to bed, anyway, so I'm gonna cut this blog entry off here. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!

ANNOUNCEMENT: This Week's Comic to be One Day Late

Tuesday, January 12, 2010 - 6:07 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Aw, man! This week's comic is not done yet (still somewhere in the inking stage, to be precise) and will be posted sometime Wednesday night. Amanda and I are overwhelmed with some early wedding planning stuff. The good news is that we've already figured out most of what we're gonna be doing and have already taken care of a number of essentials! The bad news is that the comic is going to be a day late. But it should be up tomorrow barring mouse infestation, allergic reaction to food, or the acquisition of a sweet new video game I just HAVE to play.

I'll be back tomorrow night with the comic. Stay strong, citizens!

And then I got engaged

Thursday, January 7, 2010 - 11:20 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Remember in Tuesday's blog entry when I said 2010 was going to be a big year?

Well....

On top of all these big plans I have for comics and whatnot this year, I asked Amanda to marry me last night. When my proposal was met with hysterical laughter, then tears, then hysterical laughter again, I was pretty sure she was going to say yes. Oh, who am I kidding? I knew for certain she was going to say yes before I even asked. But it felt really, really good to hear it.

I don't have much else to add at the moment--I've been experiencing a major adrenaline rush for the last 24 hours and my brain isn't working all that well. All I can say is that we're really happy together, I love her very much, and I don't think I've ever been so sure of any decision I've ever made as I am this one.

Thank you, and goodnight.

Positive ID

Tuesday, January 5, 2010 - 6:38 PM
[Update by Brian]
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Here we go! First comic strip of 2010! It took a little bit of time to get back into the drawing groove--I had worked ahead to compensate for time I knew I wouldn't have during the holidays to work on comics, and thus didn't work on any comics for a couple of weeks. I was really frustrated with pretty much everything I drew right at first, expecting everything to be perfect. After cooling off, things came a little more naturally, and it turned out all right. The new drawing table really came in handy--I'm looking forward to working with it more in the future.

Since we're starting a new year and all, it's resolution time. I've never been a big resolution kind of guy, but I do like setting goals when it comes to the comic strip. Here's what I said at the beginning of last year:

"...I guess if I were to make one, I would like to greatly increase my efforts to promote the comic and grow an audience and community. Oh, and I need to change the name of the comic. I actually thought of some ideas the other day, but they were too generic and have already been taken by other things.

Also, my goal for this year is to top the number of comics I made last year, so I need to make 47. Right now, that sounds really easy, but you never know--something may come up, or I might fall into a sophomore slump and slack off. But hopefully that won't happen."

I didn't grow the audience and community as much as I would have liked, and that is because I simply didn't put enough time, effort, or research into doing so. However, I also didn't set a realistic goal for myself. I recently read an article in which a concerned webcomics artist was frustrated that his 8-month old comic strip wasn't catching on because he only had 20,000 unique visitors a month checking it out. Heck, I'm gonna be thrilled when I get to a scant 100 unique visitors a month, and I've been around two years now, so I don't know what that guy was worried about. But around this time last year, I was realistically looking for a number similar to 20,000 unique visitors a month. If I can get it up to 100 by the end of the year, that would be fantastic.

On the plus side, I did finally change the name of the comic, and I surpassed my goal of 47 comics in the year, ending 2009 with 48 comics in the can. On top of that, I also put together the first Mike and the Ninja book (which, by the way, another goal would be to have that for sale on the internet this year), had a successful showing at the 2009 Cape Comic Con, and illustrated a children's book for Southeast Missouri State University. (That was my big secret project I was working on in October.) So all in all, I think I got a lot of stuff done.

But I want to make more comics. I want to accelerate my production rate to get them out of my brain and onto your monitor faster. I'm trying to keep the story fast-paced, but even so, only producing one strip a week really makes things feel like they're dragging sometimes. Therefore, by July, I want to expand to a twice-a-week format. In order to do this, I need to start working on it now. My time management skills are not that great, and I believe there is a lot of time in my week to draw more comics and still do everything else I also want to do.

In other words, 2010 is going to be a BIG year. Let's get to it.