The Comic-Con was, well, the Comic-Con. I have no specific stories to relate here except one: on Friday or Saturday—I can’t remember which—a guy bought three Out There books and on the title page of each one I dashed off three of the worst drawings I am capable of executing. I was working on very little sleep and was just generally kind of “out of it” (not that that’s an excuse) and I erroneously determined that I possess sufficient dexterity to make a six-second felt-tip pen rendering of an Out There character that doesn’t look like it was drawn by an unusually untalented four-year old. I was wrong.
Not that the drawings I made in the books that other people bought were any great shakes but at least I took enough time on them that you could tell I drew them. Anyway, I felt bad about those three drawings for the remainder of the convention and in fact I still feel bad about them, so if you’re that guy, please e-mail me because if you’d like, I’d be happy to replace your books (with new drawings that should prove to be less of an embarrassment) at no charge to you. That is unless you’ve given up reading Out There, a decision for which I could hardly condemn you at this point.
Anyway, my deepest apologies to that guy, and my heartfelt thanks to those of you who bought books or just dropped by to say you like the strip, because I really appreciated that too. And a big “hey” to new and old acquaintances who make my Comic-Con experience more fun than it has any right to be.
July 8, 2009
The Next Round Has Arrived!
My third book is ready for shipping. You can order it here, and if you do so today, you’ll probably get your copy before I get mine. I won’t see it until the Comic-Con. You can flag me down at Booth #1229 (the Keenspot booth) Friday through Sunday (July 24–26).
July 1, 2009
New iPhone App—Finally
I know, I said there’d be a new Out There iPhone app every week, and then two months went by between No. 6 and No. 7. It seems Apple had their hands full with Version 3.0 of the iPhone coming out, and the Out There apps got put on the back burner. That’s right, I’m blaming it all on Apple. Because when Mr. Small Potatoes gets the short end, he doesn’t just sit there and take it. He courageously points fingersand blows whistles. Heck yeah.
Surveys Indicate that Most People Prefer Taking Surveys to Being Hit in the Face with Something Big and Heavy
Of course, the way they worded the question may have influenced the answers. Anyway, it’s survey time again, and if you do this for me just this once I’ll never ask anything of you again.
Until next year around this time.
Seriously, I hate asking for this every year but it supposedly helps one of the ad networks I use place ads on the site, and ads are what keeps this ship afloat. Or something like that. Anyway, I appreciate the help.
May 3, 2009
I Think It’s Time We Had a Little Talk
Notwithstanding whatever else it has going for it or against it, Out There is a pretty sexy comic strip. At least three characters—Miriam, Rod, and Steven—seem particularly preoccupied with sex, and most of the others—Sherry, Clayton, and Araceli, for example—are hardly immune to the pangs of desire. Sherry’s hot for Chuck, Clayton’s hot for Sherry, Araceli’s hot for Sherry, Steven’s hot for Miriam and Sherry, Rod’s hot for Araceli and Miriam and Sherry, and Miriam is or has been hot for darn near everybody she’s come into contact with. Goodness, with all this wantin’, it’s hard to imagine there wouldn’t be some havin’ as well, right?
Well, how about it—they all talk a good game, but does anybody in this comic strip ever actually have sex?
No writer or artist likes to have to explain his work—the work is supposed to explain itself. Having to explain it makes the creator feel like he’s failed in some way. Well, that’s okay—I’m no stranger to failure, I’d rather admit to it and move forward than try to pretend it didn’t happen. No one looks more foolish than the man trying to save face by stubbornly adhering to a position that everybody else knows is wrong.
Miriam’s recent encounter with Rod resulted in some speculation in the Out There forum; in case you haven’t been following along, you can review the discussion here and here; or, failing that, I can bring you up to speed right now. Basically, it was all pretty much did-they-or-didn’t-they. Some said oh, absolutely; how could it be otherwise—others said no way, we’d have seen it if they did. Some admitted they frankly had no idea.
I never intended for there to be speculation. Or confusion, for that matter. And here is where I must cop to my obvious failure.
Awhile back somewhere—well, let me do a little research here; it was the transition from this strip to this strip—I attempted to esablish something. In the first strip you’ve got Miriam and Chuck together; they’ve been sitting up on the roof in the sun, wearing next to nothing, drinking beer, making out, and now they’re heading back into Chuck’s apartment. In the very next strip Chuck is nowhere to be seen and Miriam is outside again, smoking a cigarette. From this I expected readers to deduce one of two things:
nobody in this comic strip ever has sex; or
they do, but you just don’t see it.
Just in case anyone missed the point, I tried it again with this strip, once again featuring our ill-fated lovers in an affectionate embrace, followed immediately by a completely different scene. Again, the point was: either nothing much happened, or something did, and you missed it.
There are hundreds—maybe thousands—of webcomics where it is made quite clear when the characters are having sex; often enough, it’s graphically depicted. I’m not going to provide links; you’ve got Google, I’m sure you can find them. There are also scores of comic books or graphic novels where this is the case. Obviously, there’s a market for this. Some folks like a liberal dose of sex in their comics.
The flipside is the syndicated comic strips, in which even in this day and age it’s extremely rare for a cartoonist to employ any verbal reference to sex, let alone provide pictures. It’s a no-sex zone, pretty much always has been and probably always will be, for as long as the medium exists. Just as obviously, there is a market for this as well. Some folks prefer comics like they made ’em in the good ol’ days.
In the middle you’ve got Out There, with one foot planted firmly in webcomicdom and the other planted in newspaper-strip-land. This is not because your humble narrator can’t make a decision about which audience to court. I want ’em both. I must have them both. Gimme gimme gimme.
It’s a tough row to hoe; some of you out there (I’ve got to stop using that phrase) just aren’t going to believe that a healthy couple in a committed relationship are not going to have sex; others are going to say that’s not necessarily true, some couples choose to be chaste prior to marriage, and whether they do or not, we don’t particularly want the details.
What I’ve tried to do with Out There is have it both ways. Whichever way you think it oughta be, you win. If you think that Miriam and Chuck should have had sex, and Araceli and Rod should have had sex, and Sherry and Stevenmust have had sex, then okay—they had sex. Everyone who you think should have had sex with whoever they should have had sex with, did. You just didn’t see it. If, on the other hand, it makes you happier to think that Miriam and Chuck made out a lot but stopped before things got too out of hand, then that’s cool too—there’s nothing in the strip that proves otherwise. Winners everywhere.
Yeah, I know, it’s wishy-washy. But I can stand by it because as far as the story’s concerned, it doesn’t really matter. Clearly, something happened between Miriam and Rod—those marks on her neck didn’t get there by themselves. But is it important to know how much happened? They were clearly attracted to each other, they were seen sitting on a bed together, Miriam ended up with regrets and hickeys—I can’t see where any details beyond that make or break the story. To me, it wasn’t a matter of clouding the issue; it was a matter of showing what needs to be shown, not showing what doesn’t need to be shown, and allowing the readers to make their own minds up in accordance to what seems plausible and acceptable to them.
Now, there was one time recently where I did intentionally cloud the issue on did-they-or-didn’t-they, and that was in the Miriam/Clayton almost-but-not-quite storyline. Here it was natural for readers to wonder, because even Miriam herself wasn’t sure. I deliberately made it appear that sex had occurred, and then a few strips later clearly indicated that in fact, it had not. I did this merely because I thought it was funny; but having turned the trick once, I’m done with it—obviously the opportunities to make such a situation seem plausible are rare (people usually tend to remember such things), and I’m not even sure I pulled it off that time. But I had a go, let’s move on.
Sometimes the guy trying to please everybody ends up pleasing nobody. Maybe it’s a crazy notion, trying to tell one group of people that something is going on, and another group of people that it isn’t, and expecting everybody to hop on board. I tried something; I guess it didn’t work. I had hoped readers would pick up on the nuance. Maybe some did. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard from them. So I’m admitting defeat, and doing what I hate doing—explaining the comic strip instead of letting it stand on its own. Maybe I’ll only have to do it just this once. Here’s hopin’.
Oh, and just for closure—there is one character in the strip who I will unequivocally state has definitely had sex, at least once—Miriam’s mom. But it was along time ago. And as far as we know, it was only once.
One thing I forgot to mention about the book (only took me a week and a day to remember it)—the foreword was generously provided by a guy who is, in my opinion, one of webcomicdom’s best (and most prolific) writers. T Campbell probably needs no introduction to most of you but just in case, he’s the wordsmith behind Penny & Aggie, Fans, Rip & Teri, and frankly more features than I’m able to keep track of. The man’s a machine—a very, very talented machine. I felt greatly honored by his willingness to contribute.
April 18, 2009
The Usual Announcement for This Time of Year
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before…
The new Out There book will be available soon. Well, kinda soon. I just finished it, actually, and there’s this matter of printing it and all. Formalities, really.
As has become the custom, I’ll be attending the San Diego Comic-Con, and they’ll be propping me up at the Keenspot booth at various times during the event. Attendees will be able to buy the book there, and may even be able to coax me into drawing something in it and/or signing it. This will of course reduce the book’s value immeasurably, but hey, once you’ve paid for it, it’s your book—you can do whatever you want to it.
If you miss the Comic-Con, fear not, you’ll still be able to order the book online.
What’s in the book? Well, as usual, an entire year of Out There strips, plus some extra stuff exclusive to the book. First of all, there’s the cover, scribbled with the usual lack of panache by yours truly, but transformed into a gorgeous flower due to the brilliant coloring of the soon-to-be-famous Danny Green. (You’ll have to stay tuned to find out why he’s soon to be famous. For now it’s a secret. But trust me, it’s happening.)
Inside, there’s some new drawings of every one of the Out There players (including beach bunny Miriam, there), plus ten never-before published “Sunday” strips—basically, 81 new panels of “prequel” story. A snippet is shown at right. A little hard to read, isn’t it? Well, that’s why you’ll have to buy the book. Just like with every movie you’ve ever seen, “the book’s better.”
July 27, 2009
’Cause I’m That Kinda Guy
The Comic-Con was, well, the Comic-Con. I have no specific stories to relate here except one: on Friday or Saturday—I can’t remember which—a guy bought three Out There books and on the title page of each one I dashed off three of the worst drawings I am capable of executing. I was working on very little sleep and was just generally kind of “out of it” (not that that’s an excuse) and I erroneously determined that I possess sufficient dexterity to make a six-second felt-tip pen rendering of an Out There character that doesn’t look like it was drawn by an unusually untalented four-year old. I was wrong.
Not that the drawings I made in the books that other people bought were any great shakes but at least I took enough time on them that you could tell I drew them. Anyway, I felt bad about those three drawings for the remainder of the convention and in fact I still feel bad about them, so if you’re that guy, please e-mail me because if you’d like, I’d be happy to replace your books (with new drawings that should prove to be less of an embarrassment) at no charge to you. That is unless you’ve given up reading Out There, a decision for which I could hardly condemn you at this point.
Anyway, my deepest apologies to that guy, and my heartfelt thanks to those of you who bought books or just dropped by to say you like the strip, because I really appreciated that too. And a big “hey” to new and old acquaintances who make my Comic-Con experience more fun than it has any right to be.
July 8, 2009
The Next Round Has Arrived!
My third book is ready for shipping. You can order it here, and if you do so today, you’ll probably get your copy before I get mine. I won’t see it until the Comic-Con. You can flag me down at Booth #1229 (the Keenspot booth) Friday through Sunday (July 24–26).
July 1, 2009
New iPhone App—Finally
I know, I said there’d be a new Out There iPhone app every week, and then two months went by between No. 6 and No. 7. It seems Apple had their hands full with Version 3.0 of the iPhone coming out, and the Out There apps got put on the back burner. That’s right, I’m blaming it all on Apple. Because when Mr. Small Potatoes gets the short end, he doesn’t just sit there and take it. He courageously points fingers and blows whistles. Heck yeah.
Anyway. Out There No. 7 now available at the iTunes store.
June 1, 2009
Surveys Indicate that Most People Prefer Taking Surveys to Being Hit in the Face with Something Big and Heavy
Of course, the way they worded the question may have influenced the answers. Anyway, it’s survey time again, and if you do this for me just this once I’ll never ask anything of you again.
Until next year around this time.
Seriously, I hate asking for this every year but it supposedly helps one of the ad networks I use place ads on the site, and ads are what keeps this ship afloat. Or something like that. Anyway, I appreciate the help.
May 3, 2009
I Think It’s Time We Had a Little Talk
Notwithstanding whatever else it has going for it or against it, Out There is a pretty sexy comic strip. At least three characters—Miriam, Rod, and Steven—seem particularly preoccupied with sex, and most of the others—Sherry, Clayton, and Araceli, for example—are hardly immune to the pangs of desire. Sherry’s hot for Chuck, Clayton’s hot for Sherry, Araceli’s hot for Sherry, Steven’s hot for Miriam and Sherry, Rod’s hot for Araceli and Miriam and Sherry, and Miriam is or has been hot for darn near everybody she’s come into contact with. Goodness, with all this wantin’, it’s hard to imagine there wouldn’t be some havin’ as well, right?
Well, how about it—they all talk a good game, but does anybody in this comic strip ever actually have sex?
No writer or artist likes to have to explain his work—the work is supposed to explain itself. Having to explain it makes the creator feel like he’s failed in some way. Well, that’s okay—I’m no stranger to failure, I’d rather admit to it and move forward than try to pretend it didn’t happen. No one looks more foolish than the man trying to save face by stubbornly adhering to a position that everybody else knows is wrong.
Miriam’s recent encounter with Rod resulted in some speculation in the Out There forum; in case you haven’t been following along, you can review the discussion here and here; or, failing that, I can bring you up to speed right now. Basically, it was all pretty much did-they-or-didn’t-they. Some said oh, absolutely; how could it be otherwise—others said no way, we’d have seen it if they did. Some admitted they frankly had no idea.
I never intended for there to be speculation. Or confusion, for that matter. And here is where I must cop to my obvious failure.
Awhile back somewhere—well, let me do a little research here; it was the transition from this strip to this strip—I attempted to esablish something. In the first strip you’ve got Miriam and Chuck together; they’ve been sitting up on the roof in the sun, wearing next to nothing, drinking beer, making out, and now they’re heading back into Chuck’s apartment. In the very next strip Chuck is nowhere to be seen and Miriam is outside again, smoking a cigarette. From this I expected readers to deduce one of two things:
Just in case anyone missed the point, I tried it again with this strip, once again featuring our ill-fated lovers in an affectionate embrace, followed immediately by a completely different scene. Again, the point was: either nothing much happened, or something did, and you missed it.
There are hundreds—maybe thousands—of webcomics where it is made quite clear when the characters are having sex; often enough, it’s graphically depicted. I’m not going to provide links; you’ve got Google, I’m sure you can find them. There are also scores of comic books or graphic novels where this is the case. Obviously, there’s a market for this. Some folks like a liberal dose of sex in their comics.
The flipside is the syndicated comic strips, in which even in this day and age it’s extremely rare for a cartoonist to employ any verbal reference to sex, let alone provide pictures. It’s a no-sex zone, pretty much always has been and probably always will be, for as long as the medium exists. Just as obviously, there is a market for this as well. Some folks prefer comics like they made ’em in the good ol’ days.
In the middle you’ve got Out There, with one foot planted firmly in webcomicdom and the other planted in newspaper-strip-land. This is not because your humble narrator can’t make a decision about which audience to court. I want ’em both. I must have them both. Gimme gimme gimme.
It’s a tough row to hoe; some of you out there (I’ve got to stop using that phrase) just aren’t going to believe that a healthy couple in a committed relationship are not going to have sex; others are going to say that’s not necessarily true, some couples choose to be chaste prior to marriage, and whether they do or not, we don’t particularly want the details.
What I’ve tried to do with Out There is have it both ways. Whichever way you think it oughta be, you win. If you think that Miriam and Chuck should have had sex, and Araceli and Rod should have had sex, and Sherry and Steven must have had sex, then okay—they had sex. Everyone who you think should have had sex with whoever they should have had sex with, did. You just didn’t see it. If, on the other hand, it makes you happier to think that Miriam and Chuck made out a lot but stopped before things got too out of hand, then that’s cool too—there’s nothing in the strip that proves otherwise. Winners everywhere.
Yeah, I know, it’s wishy-washy. But I can stand by it because as far as the story’s concerned, it doesn’t really matter. Clearly, something happened between Miriam and Rod—those marks on her neck didn’t get there by themselves. But is it important to know how much happened? They were clearly attracted to each other, they were seen sitting on a bed together, Miriam ended up with regrets and hickeys—I can’t see where any details beyond that make or break the story. To me, it wasn’t a matter of clouding the issue; it was a matter of showing what needs to be shown, not showing what doesn’t need to be shown, and allowing the readers to make their own minds up in accordance to what seems plausible and acceptable to them.
Now, there was one time recently where I did intentionally cloud the issue on did-they-or-didn’t-they, and that was in the Miriam/Clayton almost-but-not-quite storyline. Here it was natural for readers to wonder, because even Miriam herself wasn’t sure. I deliberately made it appear that sex had occurred, and then a few strips later clearly indicated that in fact, it had not. I did this merely because I thought it was funny; but having turned the trick once, I’m done with it—obviously the opportunities to make such a situation seem plausible are rare (people usually tend to remember such things), and I’m not even sure I pulled it off that time. But I had a go, let’s move on.
Sometimes the guy trying to please everybody ends up pleasing nobody. Maybe it’s a crazy notion, trying to tell one group of people that something is going on, and another group of people that it isn’t, and expecting everybody to hop on board. I tried something; I guess it didn’t work. I had hoped readers would pick up on the nuance. Maybe some did. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard from them. So I’m admitting defeat, and doing what I hate doing—explaining the comic strip instead of letting it stand on its own. Maybe I’ll only have to do it just this once. Here’s hopin’.
Oh, and just for closure—there is one character in the strip who I will unequivocally state has definitely had sex, at least once—Miriam’s mom. But it was along time ago. And as far as we know, it was only once.
Comment on this, if you dare, in the forum.
April 26, 2009
Old Men and Their Failing Memory
One thing I forgot to mention about the book (only took me a week and a day to remember it)—the foreword was generously provided by a guy who is, in my opinion, one of webcomicdom’s best (and most prolific) writers. T Campbell probably needs no introduction to most of you but just in case, he’s the wordsmith behind Penny & Aggie, Fans, Rip & Teri, and frankly more features than I’m able to keep track of. The man’s a machine—a very, very talented machine. I felt greatly honored by his willingness to contribute.
April 18, 2009
The Usual Announcement for This Time of Year
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before…
The new Out There book will be available soon. Well, kinda soon. I just finished it, actually, and there’s this matter of printing it and all. Formalities, really.
As has become the custom, I’ll be attending the San Diego Comic-Con, and they’ll be propping me up at the Keenspot booth at various times during the event. Attendees will be able to buy the book there, and may even be able to coax me into drawing something in it and/or signing it. This will of course reduce the book’s value immeasurably, but hey, once you’ve paid for it, it’s your book—you can do whatever you want to it.
If you miss the Comic-Con, fear not, you’ll still be able to order the book online.
What’s in the book? Well, as usual, an entire year of Out There strips, plus some extra stuff exclusive to the book. First of all, there’s the cover, scribbled with the usual lack of panache by yours truly, but transformed into a gorgeous flower due to the brilliant coloring of the soon-to-be-famous Danny Green. (You’ll have to stay tuned to find out why he’s soon to be famous. For now it’s a secret. But trust me, it’s happening.)
Inside, there’s some new drawings of every one of the Out There players (including beach bunny Miriam, there), plus ten never-before published “Sunday” strips—basically, 81 new panels of “prequel” story. A snippet is shown at right. A little hard to read, isn’t it? Well, that’s why you’ll have to buy the book. Just like with every movie you’ve ever seen, “the book’s better.”
Previous meanderings