Friday, February 29, 2008

Herald_Krzzt.df

Last find: Kelly and the Ruemore trade blows, but the Ruemore gets the last word in just before fleeing.
Now find 6!


I have no idea if this sort of thing even happens to girls. To boys, yes. Yes, it does.

Easter Eggs: Joe's so hip, he's already a
BLR fan. Plus he's carrying Oda and Ono. Also, there are a bunch of references to old Finds to hunt for and speculate about.

Fun Facts: "Joe Thomas" comes from You've Got Mail's Joe Fox, played by Thomas Hanks. When writing Mr. James, I think of Stork from Storm Hawks mixed with Jameson from Spider-Man.

Reuxben

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Fun_TripleThreat

Here's a hat trick of the ways you can interact with people at Yale. You can interact with professors you don't know, such as Professor Shivi Sivaramakrishnan from the recent panel on the sociology of hate. I haven't been his student, but if the last panel on hate I went to is any indication, I very well may be (only Professor Kiernan remains from that original group).

Next, you can interact with professors you do have, like Professor Grimstad of Detective Fiction celebrity. We had a class screening of the Maltese Falcon and I sketched him while we all were waiting for the movie to start and listening to his spellbinding pre-movie mini-lecture.

And finally, at Yale you can interact with fellow students you don't know. This is the legendary Benji of the Purple Crayon. He's incredible and commands the best improv group at Yale. Of course, that's not saying much because all the other groups don't match their hype and they charge you money to be underwhelmed. But the Crayon still rocks.

Reuxben

Monday, February 25, 2008

Herald_tyrants.jk


I slit my wrist today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know.

Actually, it was Friday. And I slipped on some ice and scraped my wrist. The stinging has gone away, but my arm's still sore from the fall and my knee scrape still hurts a little.

Welcome, by the way, to our new, irregular feature, "jack kelly mondays." That brute jack kelly gets his own post now. Imagine that.

The jack kelly archives up till now:
rock sign
luxiam
she said
the game
ur mom
colleges

ALSO: I've added a handy "Shortcuts" bar on the side for easier browsing.

Reuxben

Friday, February 22, 2008

Herald_Bamf.df

Last find: Kelly, after a brief distraction, initiates the final showdown with the Ruemore.
Now find 5!


My dream is escaping gag-a-weeks for adventure. And now we've got big action with some humor, just like One Piece.

Easter Eggs: Professors Blight and Gilmore joined forces to create an unstoppable legal firm captivating juries with their inhumanly beautiful sonority. And "Bamf" references Nightcrawler.

Fun Facts: After a paper-writing and class-going morning, this comic ate up the rest of my birthday, which has become the most memorably forgettable one.

Although this series started as an improvised placeholder until I have time to fully craft my real series, I am finding this project a really fun diversion.

Reuxben

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Record_RoboRallyPart2


Welcome back to Machine Issue preview week. Here're the rest of how robots kill each other. First up today is death by Robo-drive-by. This one's my personal favorite, I think, since there's a little story going on to noodle around with.

Easter Eggs: The license plate is the Starship Enterprise's serial number.


Next, I present Death by Robo-antiquation. This robot's a little too eager to help out.

Easter Eggs: My signature is hidden in the chart. Also, because I didn't easter egg any owls in this collection, I wrote the word out to compensate. The owl's getting nuked, though.

Finally, we have Death by Robo-Russian-roulette. Yes, this fellow's about to make a mess of himself on account of his poor luck distinguishing empty super soakers from the only one with water in it.

In a related story, listen to "Headfirst for Halos" by My Chemical Romance. The lyrics are a little stark, but terribly catchy.

And if this issue's terrible, just think happy thoughts,

Reuxben

Monday, February 18, 2008

Record_RoboRallyPart1

Welcome to preview week for my contributions the Machine Issue, brought to you by Yale's very own Yale Record of Yale.

It was slim, uninspiring pickings this time, so I grabbed the only one that seemed at all interesting: "Leading Causes of Robot Death." Or Robocide, as I like to call it.

First up is Robo-curiosity and Robo-battery-failure. One guy is a Dee Dee in a Dexter world and the other is just not good with timely battery changes.


Up next is death by Robo-MIT-enrollment. Poor guy.

Easter Eggs: My two physics teachers, Mrs. Lang and Dr. Irons, are hidden in the textbook and homework, respectively. Dr. Irons is a little more sneakily hidden as 2xFe, or two times iron, making it into the plural--Irons. I also sneaked my name in there.
Alright, the thrilling conclusion on Wednesday. And of course we save the best for last. And as always, I can't promise you'll enjoy the entire issue, but hopefully the art tickles you (appropriately).

Reuxben

Friday, February 15, 2008

Herald_UHTSS.df

Last find: Kelly, hot on the Ruemore's heels, inches ever closer to the mysterious relic, and a showdown seems inevitable.
Now find 4!


This was really fun to do because it sounded so ridiculous in my head. I loved referencing my favorite cartoons and setting up a joke that will pay off much, much later.

Easter Eggs: D. Kat NY's decor stems from Dan's Squaremen. An actual Squareman's on a frame 3 shirt along with the "4th find." The modeling sequence represents three chronologically-ordered, important cartoons: Pokemon, Avatar, and Ben10, with Kelly modeling the signature female leads' costumes (Misty, Katara, Gwen). The shopkeeper is the YDN "comic" guy.

Fun Facts: This comic references many of my drives: the three influential shows, but also what I wish to combat, in the shopkeeper. The UHTSS! sound effect comes from Cheeks.

Reuxben

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Monday, February 11, 2008

Fun_Salute2Chito

Some people are bad.

Some people are good.

Some people are something else.

Here's to you, Chittenden.

You:
-Got me used to inking
-Taught me to scan
-Taught me to be Comics Editor
-Suckered me into working on the Record
-Introduced me to the Herald
-Rock the colors

Thanks,

Reuxben

Friday, February 8, 2008

Herald_Neener.df

Last find: Kelly agrees to chase down the thief and retrieve the mysterious relic for Mr. James. Now find 3!

I am quite sleepy. On the bright side, I got some schadenfreude action today, which I always get when a certain someone blows his money on really stupid, unnecessary things.

Anyway, this has been the most deceptively difficult comic to draw yet, even beating out last week. Even after all the planning, it still takes a while to execute the idea, since on top of the lay out, there's all the backgroundy stuff. While it's sad to hear about ghostwriters flooding Animorphs, or assistants working on One Piece and other manga, it's all making sense to me now. Having help isn't as heartbreaking as it once was. But Schulz did everything himself, so I prefer to follow his model. Granted Peanuts isn't One Piece.

Easter Eggs: Not only do we have stores named after my suitemates from last year, but my signature is apparently a store at the Milpas Mall. Also, the Ruemore's ID pose references Magic: the Gathering's Voidmage Husher.

Fun Facts: Finish time: ~7am. Sometimes it doesn't matter how early you start, it just takes a while.

Quothe the Robert,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
Reuxben

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Food_McD


This is a Food sketch for a cartoon based on this news nugget.

Unfortunately, the assignment got canceled, but its replacement is pretty exciting, too.

More details on the new assignment soon.

Also: I got my 1000th page load earlier today, so that was pretty exciting.

Reuxben

Monday, February 4, 2008

Fun_OldSchool

This is a doodle inspired by a Record prompt. I passed on the actual assignment, but thought my tangential idea worth sketching.

Ok, big news for me: Last Thursday I sweatily sprinted to the post office to make the deadline for this comics scholarship.

While in line, I frantically sorted through my just-printed, top seven comics from last year, to decide which five entries to mail. Ever indecisive, I asked the kind lady at the post office for her non-me opinion.

After a few minutes studying the prints, she cut:
Horror
TravelCover

And we agreed that my final five should be:
Warfare
Genie
Depressed
BadHabit
ChaChing

She chuckled out loud on most of them and seemed to legitimately enjoy the selected comics. Her favorite, oddly enough, was "Depressed," and she thought "Genie" was cute. And after studying it longer than the others, she easily cut "Horror" as too violent for her tastes.

As LeSean Thomas noted,
"If you not being HATED ON, then you ain't DOIN' S--T."
In other words, it's nice I got multiple reactions from her.

In addition to "Lighter Light" news (now collected under "LL"), "Darling Find" seems to be doing well, at least at the Herald Office, although I'm not sure how much that is saying.

I dearly hope I can keep up the momentum.

Reuxben

Friday, February 1, 2008

Herald_Snatch.df

Last find: Kelly pounces on the first shop that's hiring and quite gruffly asks for a job.
Now find 2!


Even though I knew what I wanted to do in this episode, actually drawing it got pretty perplexing. And to insult my injury, I forgot to color in a couple parts. I really should do these comics over multiple sessions.

Easter Eggs: "Yale" is written in the cracks of the ground under the mysterious thief.

Fun Facts: I consulted One Piece here again because everyone screams in One Piece. Consequently, we have another screaming-guy drawing. Neat! Finish time = ~5am.

And jack kelly--apparently deprived of his usual inks--seems to have switched over to a sharpie for "rock sign."


It's funny because I found a pencil of my favorite brand laying on the street the same week he loses his usual pen brand.

Reuxben