Especially Thursdays in late summer.

I do, however, want to point you to something that happened today, something which puts the capper on a great deal of work by a number of ferociously skilled people. I speak of the final episode of the first series of The Nib animated, as seen at Topic.

Matt Lubchansky (associate editor at The Nib, as well as creator of a zillion brilliant cartoons, editorial and otherwise) has put in a lot of the producer work to make static comics come alive, and the project has delivered what was promised: sharp humor, and the more horrifying Trump visages imaginable¹. All told, the ten episodes come to some 45 minutes of piss-taking, and if you’ve not been watching them for the summer, you could to worse than to binge.

Congrats to Lubchansky, Nib editor Matt Bors, and contributors including Jen Sorenson, Emily Flake, Andy Warner, John Martz, Kendra Wells, Joey Alison Sayers, Keith Knight, Maki Naro, Sarah Mirk, Pia Guerra, Brian McFadden, Nomi Kane, Sas Goldberg, Ellen Crenshaw, as well as voice actors James Adomian and Rachel Butera, and the animators at Augenblick Studios. Be sure to keep an eye out for the next series.

Spam of the day:

30% Off Sakai Trench Rollers!

I never really thought of getting earthmoving equipment to roll trenches before, but now I kind of want to.

_______________
¹ Since Trump shows up in multiple segments of each episode, based on the work of different cartoonists, it’s a kick to see multiple interpretations of him.

The thing about webcomics and webcomicky people? Always doing new stuff. Let’s see what some longtime creators are up to.

• Item! Jamie Noguchi has been away from Yellow Peril for a while, thanks to the demands of a young human in his household and the freelancer’s life. We got some really cool George Takei biocomics out of the hiatus, so that’s okay. And it appears that behind the scenes, Noguchi has been working on something related to his one true love.

  I speak, naturally, of tokusatsu, the Japanese entertainment genre featuring rubbersuit monsters and overly dramatic young people saving the world with giant robots, karate, motorbikes, and possibly Spider-man. Noguchi knows his way around tokusatsu, with a series of videos explaining what’s up with the various Rider- and Ranger-type series.

  And the new project? Well, we have to wait another week or so:

  Alright! There we go! And starting September 1, you’ll see what this dumb thing is all about! #tokutember

  I suspect this will be better than the time a pair of puppets slap-fought each other in a train-themed Ranger series.

• Item! Meredith Gran may have wrapped Octopus Pie but that doesn’t mean she’s idle. What would you most like to see from her? If you said a point and click adventure game, it’s your lucky day:
  

  a few weeks ago I started working on a point + click adventure game, my first attempt at such a thing. it’s going to be my next project!

  it’s so nebulous right now that I’m having trouble formally announcing things. I’m not fundraising at this time – just developing

  but I will be updating patreon soon with info about it. at this time I’m really just looking for a sustained income so I can focus on it

• Item! Not only is Vera Brosgol’s new book about to drop, it appears her last graphic novel — the stellar Anya’s Ghost — is going to get the screen treatment:
  

  Soooo here’s a thing!

  The quoted treat leads to a Deadline Hollywood story about the production of the feature film, with shooting set to begin later this year. Everybody feel good for Vera, and wave to her as she sets off for a life of Hollywood glamour.

• Item! Any day that Anthony Clark posts pretty much anything — a comic, a sketch, a picture of a cool dog he met that day — is, by definition, better than a day without Anthony Clark posting anything. What with his wizard-a-day series for 2017 (posted today: #235, Badminton Wizard), there’s been plenty of days better than there otherwise would have been in an otherwise terrible year. And if any of those wizards particularly catches your fancy, but you don’t want to scroll back through a lengthy Twitter thread, there’s now a Wizard Gallery! And you can buy prints of your favorite wizards through TopatoCo!

Spam of the day:

Isabella (91) Don’t Miss To Checkout My~Private~Profile, Hot Photos Inside

It’s possible that the (91) is just indicating that this is the 91st Isabella to send me an allegedly sexy spam, but it’s also possible that (91) is meant to be an age, which makes the similar spam from Leanna (3) especially icky.

Hey there, how was your weekend? My wife learned how to make sauerkraut and we understand that it’s nearly past the fartsmelly stage of fermentation. Here’s some other things that have been going on of late.

Spam of the day:

Steven Never Knew His Secretary Could Swallow (true story)

Steven was under the impression that she suffered from a lifelong disability, requiring feeding via a cannula implanted directly into her GI tract.

_______________
¹ Released under her alias T Kingfisher, which identity she uses for writings that are not strictly for kids. The books she releases as Ursula Vernon feature more hamsters and shrews and not much real danger.

So, yeah, probably a regular post tomorrow (I’ve got a late flight) but for a solid week after that? Irregular as heck. Let’s clear a few backlog items before the madness descends.

• I’m three days late on this, but I wasn’t going to let it go: buried in at the end of a discussion of Canadian literature being developed for broadcast is a line that could almost be overlooked:
  

  FGF is also mid-production on a number of other screen adaptations of Canadian books, most notably Kate Beaton’s picture book The Princess And The Pony and Jeff Lemire’s graphica trilogy, Essex County.

  I’m not sure what’s more charming — the thought of Kate Beaton’s wonderful story about believing in yourself (and also farts) arriving on the small screen (I’m figuring 30 minute animated special), or that identification of The Princess And The Pony as a Canadian book. Mark my words, Beaton will be regarded in the Great Northern Pantheon alongside Atwood, Davies, and Mowat. Everybody feel good for Kate!

• Second, after too long a time¹ away from their many fans, Becky [Dreistadt] and Frank [Gibson] have returned to the webcomics game with Bustletown. Let’s run down the criteria for Becky&Frankness:
  ✔ Indescribably cute?
  ✔ Tiny creatures with lots of flora about?
  ✔ Even tinier creatures that are pets/sidekicks to the already-tiny creatures?
  ✔ Small crises of manners that spark ever-escalating panic/adventures?

  The first sixteen pages of Bustletown are up now, with the next chunk of story dropping after SDCC; no word yet on how often it’ll be released, or if there will be an RSS feed, but if you find you want to keep up with Bustletown, it’s now listed over to the right in the link library. Everybody feel good for Becky and Frank!

• It’s been more than two years since Girls With Slingshots wrapped, since it started over again as [re-]colored strips with commentary. Creator Danielle Corsetto spent some time getting the final two print volumes produced & distributed, and she’s been teasing us with the eventual color omnibus edition².

  And, quietly (or at least as quiet as you can be when you’re trying to keep things on the downlow amongst 1300+ Patreon supporters), she’s been doing some marvelously revelatory autobio comics under the title 32³. There’s everything there, from the ordinary to the deeply personal (although if you follow Corsetto’s twitterfeed, you know that she’s genetically designed for #TMITuesday, so personal is not really a problem).

  Anyway, Corsetto has just opened up the formerly Patreon-only strips to public view, and they are excellent. The dozen in the archive so far (with updates approximately weekly) range from multi-page college flashbacks to four panels on the logistics of groinal grooming; they’re all pretty damn hilarious, and any day with Danielle Corsetto telling a story from her life is automatically a better day than it would have been otherwise. Bookmark and read, and everybody feel good for Danielle!

Spam of the day:

Do you need to find a DNA lab for immigration?

No … and if I did, I don’t think I’d use a lab that looks (from its advert) like it should be called Akbar & Jeff’s DNA Hut.

_______________
¹ Including a suspiciously incomplete Capture Creatures print comic series; hey, BOOM!, since you’re obviously uninterested in completing the series, hows about releasing rights that you’re apparently squatting on and letting Becky and Frank complete it elsewhere? Or is the money that it would take to negotiate a fair rights reversion earmarked instead for giving away 1000 drinks at SDCC?

² Which, for once, I probably won’t get. I’ve got the 10 original collections, most signed-and-sketched, and I’d hate to give them up. No room for both on the shelf, so I’m keeping the softcovers.

³ No, she’s not 32, she’s 36 as of this writing. Explanation for the title here and here

Oh, man, a bunch of stuff that I thought wasn’t captured on video from Comics Camp turned out to be captured on video! And thanks to Marian Call’s Twitterfeed, you can see them now. Seth Boyer singing Part Of Your World! Moebius music box! I went back to Camp posts to add links, but you should click through and enjoy them now.

• Words+Pictures, right? That’s McCloud 101, and it’s on the web …

  Let me back up.

  Back at Comics Camp, one may recall, I had a talk about the history of webcomics, where I took a pretty expansive view of what constitutes a webcomic (despite, at this late date, the fact that it’s still a terrible word). The emphasis on collaboration, on individual vision, were as important as any other aspect. Homestar Runner is a webcomic, I declared, and I stand by it.

  So what to make of a still-being-released-in-big-chunks sort-of-story, sort-of-multimedia-experiment being run at (of all places) Vox Media’s sports site? What Football Will Look Like In The Future is the putative title of Jon Bois’s article¹, which very nearly immediately mutates into something else². Something going by the name of 17776.

  Something involving love, time, communications limited by the speed of light, the average windchill at the 1967 NFL Championship, tornadoes, Nebraska, and some satellites, one of which doesn’t fully exist yet. Be sure to watch the video at the bottom of the first page through carefully, and enjoy the list of future Presidents of the United States.

  It’ll take some time to read, and longer to get a handle on what’s happening, but take the half hour or so. It’s webcomics.

• Speaking of webcomics, Katie Lane³ will be hosting a webinar next Friday, 14 July, for webcomics creators (and others) on her favoritest thing in the world, contracts. Specifically, what you should watch for in the contracts you sign.

  The fun kicks off at 12:00 noon PDT, and it’s free, but does require registration; if you don’t find anything at that link, all the slots are taken and you miss out, so browse over sooner rather than later. And remember: Katie Lane is not your lawyer unless you pay her, but if you think you need a lawyer, she’s probably a damn good one to consider paying.

Spam of the day:

Get the Ball rolling with 90% off until tomorrow …

This email comes from “ilouboitin”, which I think comes from somebody overseas misreading the logo of famed over-expensive shoemaker Christian Louboutin.

_______________
¹ A plausible enough situation, given that Bois has also written on the death/future of basketball.

² A note about that mutation — after your first visit, you don’t start from the pretense of an article about the death of football; you jump to a page that lists out the chapters of the story, presently standing at two. Like many things in life, you can only be sucked into this story once (unless you switch browsers).

³ Light-ning Law-yer!

Brandon Bird is many things — an artist who follow weird drives and cravings wherever they lead, the finest portrayer of late American culture’s one agreed-upon touchstone, and mad pelter of mini marshmallows¹. And, as was promised via the medium of a Kickstarter campaign completed last October, he has caused to be birthed into this sinful world, like unto a new savior, a Jerry Orbach Art Car:

I suspect that if Jerry Orbach were alive today to see the car, he’d probably treat it with the same sort of amused bafflement that he held for the coloring book. Amused bafflement is a pretty pleasant emotional cocktail, if you think about it.

That’s from the Jalopnik story from last Friday, where the news broke; you should go check it out for the photos and also a sweet quote from Bird about what Jerry Orbach meant to him and his artistic development. The JOAC is not complete save for some sweet rims (Jalopnik is taking suggestions), and there’s still no word if the horn plays the Law & Order doink-doink sound, but come on … one simply does not raise twenty grand, more or less, to build a Jerry Orbach Art Car and leave out the doink-doink sound.

It’s a holiday — THE holiday, even — here in the States tomorrow. I may or may not post. In the meantime, be well, try not to blow off anything vital with fireworks, and definitely see you on Wednesday.

Spam of the day:

Looking for a Checking Account with the Right Features for You?

Already got one. And since you’re the same people sending me other come-ons, I also do not need security cameras, senior apartment living communities, rehab options, my oil changed, or sexy Asian singles. Thanks.

_______________
¹ You, uh, had to be there.

It’s not that there’s nothing going on in the Wide, Wide World o’ Webcomics¹, but we are in a momentary summertime lull before SDCC² and the rest of the major con busy season. I mean, I could point you towards the updated tour dates for Meredith Gran³ and Mike Holmes — in fact, I think I will — but there’s only so much of your time I can occupy there. Or you could take five minutes to watch the second episode of animation from The Nib, that works.

Done? Okay, let’s make fun of spammers and see what crops up between now and tomorrow.

Spams of the day:

Bonus! $350 after your first 150 rides driving with Lyft!

Figuring that any ride will take the drive a minimum of 15 minutes (from notification until drop-off), US$350 for 37.5 hours labor, or less than US$10/hour. Minus gas, insurance, and the rest? I think you actually come out negative on this deal.

Some DNA testing can be done from home

I did one of those home DNA spit tests once, on account of being adopted, I was sick of telling my doctor I didn’t know if there was a family history of various diseases. Still don’t know, but I am reliably informed that there’s a 68% change that I’m obese based on my genes. I am a super-skinny dude. I’m starting to regret not doing what I seriously thought of doing at the time, which was to let my dog drool into the collection tube just to watch the lab freak out.

[New SMS] You Received a Glance from Gelya (from Kazan, Russia)

I have received roughly thirty-seven variations of this spam with different combos of name and Russian city. Apparently, Russian mail-order brides really dig me.

Confirm Your Account with us

This one’s great — a big graphic that says ACTIVATE YOUR ACCOUNT in block letters, not even bothering to make up a lie about which account or with what company. Balls nasty.

Garytyrrell 2 messages marked as unread disobeys

Oh, no, the Facebook account I don’t have is threatening me for leaving messages unread.

Vital to Your Wellness: Good Dental Health

Not to brag, but I just went to the dentist on Saturday and she told me my hygiene was excellent. I like my dentist, she is quick and painless.

Juicy Couture Tracksuits

Nnnnooope.

Knives that are too large are very impractical and tremendously difficult to control. Ecclesiastes 12:17 (The Message) Old King Solomon said it all

King Solomon used swords; I don’t think he was overly concerned with a knife being too large.

I’ll immediately snatch your rss as I can’t in finding your email subscription hyperlink or e-newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Please allow me recognise so that I could subscribe. Thanks.

I think I just got sexually harassed.

_______________
¹ There’s not a good visual for the agony of defeat in webcomics, so please accept the original instead.

² Programming details coming soon!

³ Octopus Pie volume 5 (final!) out now!

Know what else is awesome? One of the greatest, most enabling guys in [web]comics, Christopher Butcher, is getting a new job. He’s been great at managing one of the best comics shops in North America, and he founded one of the great comics shows in the world. Now he gets to hunt out new talent in North America and Japan, and Publishers Weekly has the story:

Chris Butcher, longtime manager of The Beguiling comics bookstore and founder and artistic director of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, is leaving The Beguiling and has been named a consulting editor-at-large for Viz Media.

In this new consulting role for Viz Media, Butcher will scout acquisitions and new talent and new publishing projects, while splitting his time between North America and Japan. In addition Butcher will also scout for original non-Japanese comics projects.

It couldn’t happen to a nicer, more qualified guy. Congratulations to Butcher, and to Viz for recognizing skill when they see it.

In other news:

• New animation from The Nib.
• Matt Furie is reclaiming Pepe from fucking Nazis.
• Tickets are now available for Marian Call’s SDCC-adjacent concert.

There’s, uh, not a lot extra to say about any of those. Enjoy ’em.

Spam of the day:

Search free coupons for toilet paper discounts

How much toilet paper do you think I use?

Let’s take them each in turn, shall we?

• Pretty! The Perry Bible Followship may only update very occasionally, but it would be a mistake to ever count Nicholas Gurewitch out; he’s always got something intriguing cooking in his brainmeats, and just the other day we saw the most recent creation reach fruition.

  Notes on a Case of Melancholia, Or: A Little Death is an Edward Goreyesque book, mostly silent, about a Death working through things with his¹ shrink. Readers with long memories may recall that this book was the subject of a Kickstarter ’bout two and a half years back², which was to have been fulfilled ’bout two years ago.

  Better late than never, though, and given the detail in the art, I can see how 48 pages worth could take longer than anticipated. US$25, limit one per person, domestic orders only for the moment, please. If you missed out on the Kickstart, this is your chance to get a copy (not as fancy as the Kickstarter version, but you haven’t been waiting for years, so suck it up).

• Pretty! The Nib has gone through a lot since its launch: key player in the current iterations of This Is Fine and Pepe The Frog³, critically-acclaimed book (and calendar) publisher, a slew of awards for its contributors, and the odd hiatus or two. Latest adventure: an animated series, the first episode of which dropped today. Four comics by Jen Sorensen (Trump and various Sergeis in the Oval Office with the nuclear football), editor Matt Bors (snotty know-it-all and how not to get shot for being black), and associate editor Matt Lubchansky (where Trump’s hairpiece comes from … it ain’t pretty) round out this iteration, with more to come. I know I said Pretty! up top, but you know what? close ups of Donald Trump in cartoon form are kind of horrifying, which is probably the point. Well done, The Nib.
• Noooooo! Okay, if you are not current on Stand Still, Stay Silent, maybe go away and get caught up. Minna Sundberg has never been sentimental about her post-apocalyptic story … the characters who’ve stepped into the Silent World have succeeded so far on dumb luck as much as anything, and even the people that conceived of their mission figured it was a longshot that would end up killing everybody involved. Heck, the prologue started by killing nearly everybody except five small casts of characters, along with the majority of the world; post-apocalypse was never going to be a cheery place.

  But Tuuri is so cheerful, so calmly competent, and it’s been so many strips from her possible contamination that it looked like she’d be … not okay, probably go back home and have occasional nightmares forever, but not this. Kitty can tell she’s infected and halfway to horribly mutated. The signs are there. She can hear the voices of the horrors as they reach out to claim her.

  The best scientists left in the known world have spent 75 years trying to come up with a treatment or vaccine, to no avail. Barring a miracle from the realm of gods and spirits, we’ve reached the point in the zombie movie where the protagonists have to kill their friend. It’s terrible, and the terror we feel reading is earned honestly instead of a cheap twist. It’s great storytelling and I hate it simultaneously. Go as peacefully as you can in the face of this abomination, Tuuri. We’ll miss you.

Spam of the day:

This chic style chameleon will go from elegant to edgy with a simple outfit swap. All prices reflect additional savings. This offer is not retroactive.

Trying to figure out if there’s anything in the world I want less than knockoff handbags allegedly designed by a sarcastic human tangerine

_______________
¹ Based on the description; personally, I think that capital-d Death transcends the biological concepts of gender, but that may be one of the things a personification of a primal and eternal force needs to work out with their shrink.

² Disclaimer: I had to go look it up, it was so long ago.

³ Respectively, no, it’s not, and he’s dead, Jim.