Hi folks!  Not much in way of news this week.  I got a comic up, This strip came to me while walking my dog and seeing a blind woman walking past us. As she walked past us I thought to myself, if I ever go blind, end up in a wheel chair or have some other thing that makes me incapable of doing things on my own I’m definitely going to get myself a service dog. Service dogs are amazing animals, I think I’d help raise them if I didn’t get so damn attached… It would be hard to raise a pup for a year and then send him on his way. Even though I know he’d be going to help someone out, I’d definitely have a hard time doing it.

You may notice something a little different in the strip, I’ve always loved the Sunday comic bumpers and how the artists got to make a kind of title panel(see below for examples) I always wanted to do one. Its almost like getting an extra long extra panel to start the story, though sometimes the bumper has nothing to do with the strip. It’s going to come in handy in an upcoming story arch, and I am going to tell you right now I’m super excited for it. I’ve always wanted to do this kind of story arch and I must say I’m happy with how some of the character designs are coming as well as the story. So 1.5 readers stay tuned! you’ll be glad you did.

Well I’m not one to toot my own horn but today I had my interview for Grad School and I thought it went pretty well and I was right! A little while after my interview, I got an email from the director telling me I was in!  In the Fall of 08 I’ll be a Rhody Ram!! I’ll be earning my degree in College Student Personnel

I don’t know if any of you know this but our little rhody is a hot bed for movies. The state is basically a tax free haven for hollywood. In my four years living in the smallest state in the union I’ve had the chance to see and even meet some famous people (Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit filmed a movie in one of our dorms and no it wasn’t his sex tape) and today is no different.

I live on historic benefit st. rumored to be the hauntedest(is that a word) street in america, also where Edgar Allen Poe would spend some time he courted a lass in this fine city, anyway they are filming the movie Tell-Tale which if you haven’t figured out from the title is a reworking of Poe’s famous short story “The Tell Tale Heart” Staring Josh Lucas (Sweet Home Alabama and Lena Heady (Queen Gorgo in 3oo and most recently Sarah Connors from The Terminator: The Sarah Connors Chronicles). You know the one about the guy that hacks up his nieghbor then hides the pieces of him under the floor boards of the house, he thinks he can hear the mans heart beating but it’s really cuz he’s riddled with guilt, ok so I basically just gave you the plot. I asked a cop yesterday who the female lead was and he said the pretty dark haired one from the terminator show. I got as giddy as a brown coat at a fire fly convention because I thought it was Summer Glau who plays the “good terminator” on the show, she also portrayed “River Tam” in my very favorite show Fire Fly, but Lena is just as good.

Onward. So Brody (that’s my puppy) and I do our morning walk up North Main and then down Benefit Street every morning and this morning was no different, as we walked by the house they were filming there was Lena eyeing my pup(who wouldn’t he’s gorgeous) as we walked by. I think we’ll walk that way at lunch today to see whats going on, I’ll keep you posted.

-P

Hello Folks! You might notice a few things on this site that are “New”.

One is the new Mast Head… I like the type face for the logo a lot better than our old one. I worked hard on this one, you know in between walking the dog, CLEANING THE APARTMENT, and Laundry.

Now to discuss this weeks comic. This comic has been a long time coming. I’ve really wanted to do a “Hero For Hire” comic for a long time. Problem was I never had a good name for my character, that is until NOW! Meet Dirk Hatchback Hero For Hire! Dirk is part Sam Axe part Jim Rockford and part the Tick. No job is too big and no job is too small for Dirk and his trusty sidekick Key Largo a Portuguese Water Dog (gee I wonder who inspired that?)

Good Name Right? Dirk Hatchback. So why and how did you come up with it? Well like I said, I’ve wanted to do a strip like this for a while and since going to Shane Glines website (he and I used to chat a lot on IM, I haven’t talked to him for a while) and saw a sketch for a character he called “Flint Michigan” I was like “DRAT! why didn’t i think of it” Now flint is a private eye, but there are other adventure type folks out there, most recently Drill-Bit Taylor. Well move over gang here comes Dirk.

His Surname is posthumously inspired by my wife’s friends recently deceased pet guinea pig of the same name. Hatchback was a good little guy and he’ll be missed, now mind you all Dirk shares with Hatchback is his name. Hatchback was a great pet, Dirk is an idiot. It’s Key Largo who will most likely save Dirk’s butt when they get in trouble. DH strips will be on the site at the beginning of each month, once I get a bunch, I’m going to give DH his own site (details to follow).

I am not sure how I feel about how I colored the strip, I wanted to make sure you were aware it wasn’t real to Ogden, Crab and the rest of the gang that it was a TV show, and the only way I could think to separate the worlds was with a little photoshop filter called color half tone. I off set it too to make it look like it was printed like the old comics were back in the day and gave it some texture. I hope you like it, If not too bad, it’s not like I’m making you pay to look at my comic .

Well I’m tired I’m going to take Brody out for “Last Outs” and then hit the hay, see you next week!

Phil

—————-
Now playing: Paolo Nutini - White Lies
via FoxyTunes

This was supposed to be this past weeks comic. It was obviously inspired by the marathon of The Sound Of Music that inevitably happens every easter. I don’t know about you but nothing says easter like a bunch of Austrian refugees running from the Nazi’s. Who decided The Sound Of Music was an easter movie anyway? Don’t get me wrong I like singing “My Favorite Things” as much as the next guy but it has nothing to do with the holiday what so ever! No bunnies, No Eggs, No Nuthin. Just Julie Andrews and a bunch of kids traipsing all over the mountains. But hey it’s probably better than any number of things they could put on T.V.  I mean they could do a Big Brother Marathon and then we’d all be doomed.

I don’t blog half as much as I should on here. I mean that was the whole point for me upgrading, To blog about my wacky life. That being said I did something I haven’t done in over 8 years… Put in contacts. That’s right folks, I’ve decided to drop the old  specs and put little plastic discs in my eye, fun! as you can see below, I’m much cooler now

In other news I am planning a new once a month feature for the comic. No smart ass it’s not going to be a new regular comic. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while and haven’t figured out how to fit it in . Well it all seemed to come together this weekend and when It’s ready I’ll post it for you. Don’t worry I’m not getting rid of the gang, just expanding the universe.  Speaking of Universe, I’ve started to play Mass Effect for 360. The game is super addictive, and to my brother Ross who told me it would take an hour to start to play, It only took about as long as any other game to set up. I’m now a Specter in the game isn’t that exciting?  Well I’ve been chatty this evening. I’ll shut up now.

See you soon!

-P

—————-
Now playing: John Mayer - Something’s Missing
via FoxyTunes