may 01-31 2007

may.02.07

SYNAPTIC MISFIRING!! (GWS#258)

Thanks for your patience this weekend, guys. Pittsburgh was great - thanks to everyone who stopped by!

Next week I'll be in Berlin from May 7 through May 18th. I know it's last-minute, but I'd LOVE to get some guest comics for that time. Show of hands?

In other news, one of my favorite webcomics, Synaptic Misfiring, is finally back!! It came back a few days ago, so if you follow the strip, be sure to go the beginning of the story arc for a refresher and to catch up.

That is all. Oh wait - hey, Linux users. Are you seeing the strip with no problems? Is the Twitter badge doing anything funky? Do tell!

may.04.07

Beyond Comics (GWS#259)

Forgot to mention; I'll be at Beyond Comics in Frederick, MD celebrating Free Comic Book Day at around 11ish (AM, people - yeah, before noon!) on Saturday, May 5. Please stop in to visit! I'll probably do free sketches if you bring paper. Why the heck not. :)

Beyond Comics will have a bunch of badass guests besides me (damn, that was cocky!). Damned if I can remember any of them except for John Gallagher of Buzzboy, who is the whole reason *I* will be there.

may.04.07

For serious??

Yep, for serious. This guy got fired from his job for talking about guns at work, and then visited by police for making a comic about it.

Check out his comic, Three Panel Soul. I've only read a few, but I dig 'em.

may.07.07

GUEST STRIP WEEKS!

Hey y'all! While I'm in Berlin visiting Sonja (aka Hot German Girl) and Val (both of Ramblers fame), my friend Allan graciously offered his skills and time to manually update the guest strips for the next week and a half. Here's the lineup:

WEDNESDAY 5/9: Michael Alonso (aka Tanukitsune),
and Otter (aka Brooke) of A Girl And Her Fed

THURSDAY 5/10: Todd Swanson of Killjoy, and Carin Mary Lee

FRIDAY 5/11: Lee Cherolis of Better You Than Me,
and Greg Cravens of The Buckets

MONDAY 5/14: Lar deSouza of Least I Could Do,
and Quinn Gillespie of Geek Blather

TUESDAY 5/15: Cayzle

WEDNESDAY 5/16: Matthew Bowers of Hilarity Ensues

THURSDAY 5/17: Xavier Jones of Tan Socks

FRIDAY 5/18: Phillip Ginn of Omnipotent Me, and Lisa Bellaire

And more over the weekend!

I received SO many incredible strips that I could barely fit them all in while I'm gone! So we're going to start Wednesday and go through to next Friday (May 9 through 18), and I know I'll have extras to share over that weekend as well. Regular GWS updates will start back up on May 21st!

So until then, here's the guest strip line-up. I truly wish I had time to write something sweet about each and every one of them, but it would take way too long, and you'd never be able to finish it in less than 20 minutes.

Some of these artists are just spectacular (and many can draw Hazel and Jamie waaaaaaaay better than I can!!). And just trust me, you will find some SERIOUS gems among them if you start scrolling through their links. So please give our guest creators the thanks they deserve by visiting their websites!!

may.18.07

GUEST STRIPS revisited!

By popular demand, here's a list of all the guest strips (with direct links to the art!) that appeared while I was overseas. Which means yes, I'm home now, and yes, I had the greatest time ever!

Also, apparently there were problems with my server last Thursday, so Todd Swanson and Carin Mary Lee's strips will be replayed all weekend long starting Saturday morning for those of you who missed them!

As for all the other fantastic strips I received (and I do mean it - wait til you see some of them!!), they will be shared with y'all throughout the following months as needed. Keep your eyes peeled!

Michael Alonso (Tanukitsune)

Otter (Brooke)

Todd Swanson

Carin Mary Lee

Lee Cherlois

Greg Cravens

Lar deSouza

Quinn Gillespie

Cayzle

Matthew Bowers

Xavier Jones

Phillip Ginn

Lisa Bellaire

New GWS strips will resume Monday! Woohoo!

may.21.07

GWS returns! (GWS#261)

"Girls With Slingshots: Two Girls, a Bar, and Occasionally Some Secondary Characters."

may.23.07

Smokes (GWS#262)

I almost COMPLETELY forgot that Candy smokes. As much as I hate cigarettes, what a GREAT prop to fill a few panels with!!

may.25.07

Eep! (GWS#263)

Good god, WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?!!

Check back in Monday for a big announcement!!

may.28.07

JUNE SABBATICAL and GWS 5 TIMES A WEEK! (GWS#264)

Okay, here's the announcement, folks:

The bad news:
Some of you already know about this, and many of you will hate me for this. I'm leaving for California to visit family on June 1, and after that I'm driving directly to Paradise Toronto Con and Heroes Con. I'm essentially going to be gone through the 20th of June and, realistically, there is no way I'll be able to do GWS during that time.

The GOOD news:
So rather than take a 2-week break and rush right back into a spotty thrice-a-week schedule, I've decided to take off the entire month of June and use that time to prepare a GWS facelift.

While I'm away, I'm asking readers (that's you guys!) to help me raise enough money to finally make GWS my full-time job. There are a LOT of you now, so I'm not asking for like, $100 from everyone - just what you can afford, or what GWS is worth to you.

If I can raise enough to pay my bills for the rest of the year, I'll spend July-December 2007 writing & drawing GWS 5 times a week (with color Sundays if I can swing it!) and working on tee shirts, stuffed McPedros & other merchandise, a cleaner website with a better archive system, an RSS feed, a small forum, and FINALLY, a collected print version of the strips.

I'm a little nervous!

I'm basically putting my career in your hands. If you want to get the full GWS five times a week, plus everything I just listed (and I'm open to more suggestions!), please help me raise enough so I can spend less time worrying about food & the electric bills, and more time getting Jamie and Hazel drunk at the gay bar.

That said, no, I won't be pissing away the money at the bar. :) I'll be paying my bills early so that I can focus on the strip for the rest of the year.

Anyway, this was just the announcement - the official donations drive will begin a week from today. There will be a LOT of information at this site (and it will remain static for the entire month of June), and if I can get it together in time, there will even be a newsletter sign-up so you can get an e-mail reminder when the strip starts back up.

While I'm at it, JULY 1st will be the day GWS returns! I know that's a Sunday, but it's easier to remember than July 2. Afterwards, donations permitting, GWS will be updated Mondays through Fridays until I run out of bill money.

Thanks in advance, and by all means, spread the word! I can accept PayPal donations by clicking the yellowy-orange button below, and next week I'll post my mailing address for those of you who trust a check over PayPal.

P.S. Can I please tell you how much fun it was researching testicles for today's strip?

may.30.07

Raping boys is not OK. (GWS#265)

Friday's strip caused a bit of an uproar in the GWS-reading community, so without giving away the plot, I'd like to make one thing very, very clear: I DO NOT THINK MALE RAPE IS OK!!

I'm kicking myself for starting the Chris & Candy story arc just before a month-long break, but just trust me, you should wait until the story unravels in July to make any assumptions about what I think is acceptable. Meanwhile, Chris is just gonna have to fend for himself for 30 days.

In other news, if you're not going to the Paradise Toronto Comic Con or Heroes Con, you're doing yourself a great disservice. These shows are two of my fast faves (and I've only been to either of them once!), and GOD you just NEED to be at at least one of them!

Toronto

June 8-10
The Paradise Toronto show is this wonderfully laid-back convention in (duh) Toronto that has some fantastic guests I rarely get to see. For some reason everyone in that town is stunningly gorgeous and talented, and (get this) NICE. And shit, they all say "eh." You've gotta love these people.

I want to list EVERYONE whose work I love, but these ones stand out the most: Raina Telgemeier, Christine Norrie, Ryan North, Tara McPherson, Stuart Immonen, J. Bone, Michael Cho, Cameron Stewart, and of course Rob Coughler and Ramon Perez.

I'm honored to be a part of the Women Of Comics group, as well as the Sunday 3:00 "Caught in a Web of Comics" panel, which includes the aforementioned stunningly handsome Perez and Coughler duo as well as Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics.

Heroes (Charlotte, NC)

June 15-17
Oooooh, Heroes Con, how I love thee. This con is becoming my Pittsburgh of the south (I know some people don't dig on Pittsburgh, but it's still got a place in my heart).

This is another excellent show with OH MY GOD the guests!! CHECK OUT THE GUESTS!!

If you're planning on going to the Wizard Philly show instead of this one, you should seriously reconsider. Here are a few reasons: Kyle Baker, Tommy Lee Edwards, Matt Fraction, Liz Greenfield, Adam Hughes, Jim Mahfood, Chris Moreno, Phil Noto, Bill Ellis, James Hatton, Jennie Breeden, and Andy Runton. And, well, me.

And if THAT didn't win you over, the ultra-hot Liz Greenfield and I will be doing a panel together*. It's us. So it will be a riot. And you probably won't understand half of it, because Liz is a gigglemachine, and it's contagious. But c'mon. You're never gonna see anything like this again (unless it's us, in a panel, at next year's Heroes Con).

Oh, and they have a sweet website with a great Indie Island!

*Date and time to come!