jul 12 - aug 11 2006

jul.18.06

Paul Taylor!

If that gorgeous linework looks familiar to you, you probably already read Wapsi Square, Paul Taylor's hit webcomic. And wisely so! Wapsi's one of my favorites, and I'm thrilled to see Hazel and McP in Paul's beautiful style.

Not to mention, McPedro has a soul patch. Total hotness.

jul.19.06

Christi Johnson!

You might not know of Christi Johnson's comic, In The Puddle. Of course, if you do, then you're leaps ahead of me - I only recently heard of it. And I was SOOOOO lucky to get not ONE, but TWO gorgeous guest strips from Christi! Check out the sequel tomorrow!

jul.20.06

Christi Johnson... again!

Yay for naked parties!! Again, Christi's comic can be found at inthepuddle.com

jul.21.06

Bill Ellis!

Bill Ellis does a beautiful strip called Silver Rage that you've gotta check out. The guy's got *ahem* mad skillz. I'm told that's what the kids are calling it these days. If for nothing else, catch the GWS crossover he did with Hazel and Jamie!!

jul.24.06

Allen Harris!

You've seen his art before on this site (and if you haven't... well, one more reason to nudge me to finish that damn guest art page!).

Allen's work has inspired me since I first saw it at his website, livinglightning.com. (Funny sidenote, I kept going to livingLIGHTING.com when I first saw Allen's signature under his e-mails, and thought he was a professional, uh, lamp... person... !)

Anyway, I was psyched to open this file when I read the name: GWS Sleepover. Genius!

Allen made a few observations when he sent this to me; for instance, EVERY SINGLE secondary female character has glasses. Apparently, if she doesn't have glasses, she's either Hazel or Jamie. Period.

I was also surprised and pleased to see him add Thea, Hazel's editor, into the party, since she rarely comes out to play!

I could only squeeze in the medium-sized thumbnail above on the main page, but if you click on it you'll get the full version with all the sweet details. Enjoy!

jul.25.06

Jennie Breeden!

HA! Okay, obviously, Jennie doesn't think Hazel is ANYTHING like me, and Jennie doesn't know ANYTHING about me. (*End sarcasm.*)

Jennie is the brains and pen behind The Devil's Panties. And she made a color strip for me. Which kinda made me squeal (as did Paul Taylor's, for that matter) out loud when I got it in my mailbox. :)

jul.26.06

Malia Deshotel!

Malia is an old college buddy of mine who still lives nearby and is a great little artist. Her comic, Campus Critters, still runs in the student paper at our beloved ol' Shepherd U.

Last comment? This cracked me up when I read it. :) I think McPedro just found a new friend.

jul.27.06

Matt Rawson!

Hands down, the most erotic zombie art I have ever seen. Ewww.

Matt's another old college pal who does a comic called Cottage Three over at ComicsCritique.com, where he also does reviews. I'm so glad Matt decided to marry my characters with his own wonderfully horror-esque style - this is what guest comics are all about!

Get ready for a whole page of guest comics tomorrow - and if you've missed any strips along the way, the guest strip page is finally up, and will be completed after all the guest strips have been shown tomorrow!

jul.28.06

Guest Strip Extravaganza!

Welcome to the GWS Guest Great Big Huge Guest Strip Day!

Today's guest strips were brought to you buy the ever-so-popular Paul Taylor of Wapsi Square, whose strip also ran briefly last week; Kent Holle of Puck, whose style quite simply inspires me; and Antonio Tyler of Synaptic Misfiring, which charms the hell out of me every MWF. If you don't know of any of these strips, you should be reading them!

So I survived Europe after all, and now I'm safe & sound again in Shepherdstown, WV, where people speak my language. The vacation was much-needed, but it's nice to be home.

You guys will, as always, be privy to all the photos and stories from Spain and Berlin, just as soon as I get my film back. Yes, I said film. Unfortunately, my beloved digital camera finally took its last picture while I was in Spain, God rest its little camera soul. So luckily I brought along my film camera, and now I have a good, oh, $70 worth of developing fees ahead of me. *sigh* I miss my digital.

Anyway, stick around next week for the almighty RETURN OF GWS Monday, July 31!! And if you'd like to refresh yourself with the current GWS storyline, you can start right here.

jul.31.06

GWS returns!!

It feels SOOOOO good to be back!! GWS will continue on its regular MWF schedule starting today. Welcome back everybody, and thanks for waiting so patiently!!

(More new stuff later on!)

aug.4.06

I swear...

... I'll write something down here eventually. :)

aug.7.06

A big fat festering favor...

**UPDATE!! I'm up to a little more than $300 and that will most certainly cover the cost of this camera!! Thank you all so much for your help... where did I FIND you wonderful people??! That said, if you'd like to continue donating, be my guest - I'll stick to the $20=color drawing rule - but I should be fine by now. THANK YOU!**

I don't have too awful much to say (*ed: This is a total lie!*), except that this week I'm going to be tied to my bedroom (not in the kinky kind of way) and generally kept away from all other humans so as not to infect them with my horrible case of The Grumps.

Reason being that I need to take my car in for a minor (but still pricy) fender bender, sue one of my clients (ah, the FUN part of being self-employed!!), catch up on work I should have done weeks ago (if I owe you artwork from Heroes, this means you'll finally get it!), and contemplate how I'm going to make rent this month. It's gonna be a fun month. Yeesh.

That said, I'll soon be asking you all for a big, huge favor. Well, two favors. Ah hell, let's get right to it.

This is such a huge favor to ask!

Now I know I've got the best readers in the whole damn world, but I really don't like asking you for money. I love that I can share GWS for free with you guys. However, between my car, the client who won't pay up, and several other little problems, I'm afraid I don't have the funds to buy myself a new digital camera.

(Oh yeah, if you didn't catch that earlier... my beautiful little digital Fuji FinepixA303 finally crapped out on me!)

At first I thought, eh, who cares? It's a luxury! I don't need a digital camera! I'm a damn Girl Scout!! I can live off a stick, some rocks and a bag of pony beads!

Unfortunately, this is totally totally untrue. (I went through the pony beads in a week. They tasted awful.) I hadn't realized how much I use that camera. I used my digital for almost EVERY reference shot I've ever had to acquire, and this month I'll be working on an 8-page project that I'm going to need reference shots for.

So. Here's where I beg.

There's a PayPal button at the top right of this screen, but more importantly, I want to offer something in return before I beg. For everyone who sends in $20+, as long as your mailing address in your PayPal profile is correct, I'll send you a little *COLOR* 4.5"x6" drawing of a random GWS character on bristol. If you want to request a particular character, all you'll need to do is e-mail me your request or add it as a note in the donation.

Donations can be given by clicking on the icon at the top right of the screen or below this blog (the "Support GWS with PayPal!") or sending checks/MOs to PO Box 967, Shepherdstown, WV 25443-0967.

Ah, but wait, sayeth the observant reader. Didn't you say TWO favors?

The second favor is much less expensive but requires a little more research. Because I've received so many requests to sell my photos, I'd really like to get a NICE digial so that can put out 8"x10" prints if you guys want them. But I don't really know where to start. I really dig Fuji, and I loved my old camera, but it had a REALLY hard time shooting in the dark (even with a flash) and I need something a bit more powerful to hold a bunch of print-quality photos.

So if you have a suggestion - and I don't need anything top-of-the-line, just something that works and is as small as possible - please e-mail me! Links are always appreciated, but just the name of a camera is fine (perhaps YOURS kicks much ass and you'd like to share your brand).

*exhale* Okay, I still feel like a major mooch, but I feel a little better just flat-out asking you guys for your help. The moment I have enough for a camera, I'll announce it here so as not to completely take advantage of y'all. ;)

And speaking of photos, I should be picking up the last batch of photos from Europe tomorrow, so hopefully I can squeeze in a travelogue by the end of this week/beginning of next week. Keep your eyes peeled!

aug.11.06

Digital!!

Hey, y'all! I have a few new webcomics to share with you guys, but I'm going to hold off until I have a moment to actually write a little bit about them first. But eventually, there WILL be more than just "WAAAAAH, I need money!!" down here. ;)

So thanks to you wonderful, sweet, thoughtful and apparently loaded (or just really damn generous) people, I made plenty enough to cover a very nice digital camera. I can't thank you enough for all your help, guys.

So anyway, I bought one today!!

Okay, psyche, these aren't from a high-quality digital camera. They're from a $14.99 digital camera that I bought to hold me over until I have more time to research GOOD cameras. :)

So for now, I'm having fun with my little toy camera which, to my surprise, has a self timer and even light balance adjustment! I'm sure my MySpace page will soon be littered even more with lo-qual self portraits. Joy.

aug.11.06

Great Scott! Comics!!

Need some more webcomics to read? (Oh, I'm sure you do!) Here are a few I've wanted to plug lately.

My Living Dead Girl by Jason McDonald.
This nasty little gem is best read in one sitting, more like an animated cartoon show.
So now that there are about 22 strips up, what better time than now to start reading about the most charming undead child I've ever seen?

Updated weekly.

America Jr. by Nick Capetanakis, Todd Livingston and Brendon & Brian Fraim.
Another good one to read in one sitting!
What happens when a tiny town in America becomes a tiny country of its own? Well, "America Jr.," obviously.

A great concept with some fun, quirky characters and dialogue. Updated daily.

The Chemistry Set by, like, everyone else (collective).
A collection of weekly comics, each by a different team. I haven't had a chance to read these yet, but the art looks phenomenal!

Names I've seen on the lineup include: Neil Kleid, Kevin Colden, Chris Arrant, Daniel Warner, Vito Delsante, Tom Williams, Jim Dougan (my writer on Crazy Papers), Eric Kim, Adam Boorman... are there more? Find out for yourself!