rjalgeo
This is the second mirco fiction comic I've done, after Baby Big Brother. It's from 2009, and I'd say it captures the late oughts pretty well, don't you? Well...Now that I think about it, maybe not. Maybe it just seems that way as I'm writing this...
Baby Big Brother and his hot mom are watching you! Micro Fiction Comics straight outta 2008, y'all. This comic also ran in the Philadelphia City Paper's 2008 Comics Issue, though they were too scared to publish anything else of mine. The price I pay for daring to dare.
Black Gold Black Water is the comic that almost got me banned from Kinko’s! There is a lot of black ink in this bad boy. Though, I guess that doesn’t really come across the same way on the fancy Internet version you're looking at. Seriously, though, it printed out at, like, 8 and a half by 11, and there would be whole pages of just ink. They had to replace the toner, so of course they gave me a real hard time about it when I went to pick it up.
But then again, that was in New York City, and everyone’s a jerk up there. Case in point! After I picked the books up, I took them back to my office to show my co-workers, right? Well, anyway, when I tried to leave the building, the security guard stopped me because he thought I was stealing a box from the office. Even though he saw me bring it in. Even though it was filled with my own comics. He’s all like, “How do I know you don’t have a computer in there?” Typical New York attitude…
Anyway, it’s from 2008, so just keep that in mind when you read it. It seems so long ago, now doesn’t it?
Operation: Iraqi Jam is the first ever straight-up web comic I’ve done. And as you can tell, having started in 2008, I was really out ahead of it on that one. I think right now, there are 8 parts up…9 parts? Eh, who knows? This comic is actually really hard to find the time for, and since it’s a sprawling epic in the tradition of Beowulf and The Transporter movies, it probably won’t actually wrap up for some time. However, it will end some day, as all things do.
Though maybe the long delay between chapters will just help build anticipation among the audience. You know, sorta like the whenever a new Matchbox 20 album comes out. That would be awesome, right?
Ok, you should know something before you start reading Skull Pen Issue Two. It is a cursed comic. No lie. Here’s the deal:
Obviously, Skull Pen Issue Two is the sequel to Skull Pen Issue One, which was a really awesome comic. A podcast once gave Skull Pen Issue One a 10 out of 10. And if it’s in a podcast, you know it’s a solid gold cultural ranking. And then, Skull Pen Issue One was nominated for the Howard E. Day Prize at S.P.A.C.E. 2008. So, of course, I’m all like, “Well, hot shit! This comic is the fuckin’ balls, and Issue Two is gonna be a goddamned gang buster!”
Oh, woe is the hubris of youth. While Skull Pen Issue One was birthed without a hitch, its hideous younger sibling was not destined for such an easy delivery. One night, in the Spring of 2007, while I was celebrating, having completed over three quarters of Issue Two, the comic gods saw fit to strike me down from on high by LIGHTING MY COMPUTER ON FIRE! I mean, like, my computer actually caught fire. I mean, like, my computer actually caught fire from the inside and destroyed all the work I had done on Skull Pen Issue Two.
So, the stuff on the Internet today is about half of Issue Two, the half that was already living online before the Curse of Skull Pen befell me. Pry it does not befall you as well!
Skull Pen Issue One. My first full-sized full color comic. Boo-YA! And, if you don't count this, this, or this, it might just be the best thing to happen to planet Earth in 2006.
But, seriously, all racism aside, this comic's all right. It was nominated for the Howard E. Day Prize in 2007. Don't believe me or that link? Well, perhaps this video evidence will persuade you:
Oh, hell yeah, that's Dave Sim doing his Skull Pen voice! But what's that? You sat through almost 20 minutes of YouTube embeds, and you still don't know if you want to read it? Well, we've got more shit to convice you. And that shit is podcasts!
Mulitmedia. Awesome.
Break-Up Bots is a hand-drawn mini-comic from the spring of 2006, but it’s not full of cheery springtime goodwill and well-being. It’s the harbinger of emotional brutality and mental violence the likes of which have never before been rendered in the comic form. Seriously, make sure you’re at least 6 months on the other side of a break-up before you read it. Otherwise, it will destroy you.
In case you're not ready to dive in head first, here are a few reviews for you to mull over:
(Also, for the record, only one of the fifty-two hurtful quotes in this comic was ever actually said to me, because, lets face it: Lady Killer!)
The Adventures of Bobby Fugly isn’t the first comic I ever did, but I’d say it’s the first one worth putting up on the site. It’s a comic strip that ran in fall of ’04 and spring of ‘05 in the excellent student run publication The Temple News, straight outta Temple University in North Philly. It certaily has the stink of a dorm all over it, eh? For all its flaws though, if there is a better document of collegiate life around the turn of the millennium that The Adventures of Bobby Fugly, I certainly can’t think of it. (Wait! Maybe I can...)