Fun_NoWay

Check out YDN comics all week! I planned something special for us and you.

So this is an old drawing plus a fashion study.

Easter Eggs: "Way" on coffee.

Fun Facts: I want to do incredibly violent things to people who smoke in front of me, but I can't deny it looks cool.

I don't always drink JE, but when I do, I prefer Dos Temptations.

I bumped into my dean while hurrying to eat at JE and split (I'm self-conscious like that) and he complimented me on my Temptations cover. I instinctively said, "Thank you," and started to scuttle away, but then stopped and was like, "Wait, what?" thinking, Did I draw a cover for Temptations...?!

He told me my sig's on the cover and thought I'd drawn it. I was completely weirded out, but noted they've "stolen" art before. Anyway, I found the issue, and man, that is funny!

Pretty clear who actually drew it, but just for fun, like last year's mystery Swing Space vomitist, here's why it's not me:

I HATE writing in caps and RARELY ever use THEM, especially WHEN drawing. I don't color (much). I don't draw such...creative t-shirts. The best part is the freakishly good signature: it's dated in ink as 3/24/09, a Tuesday, but I only ever ink ZLM then, and I always embed my signature when I ink comics. And what's with the R? I love the letter R and would never write it so not-cool.

Anyway, this was really fun. Good job, Temptations.

Fun Fact: My FroCo-reverence dwindles every year as I realize, Wow, these people are who freshmen are supposed to look up to? It really makes me wonder what my FroCos were like in other peoples' eyes.

I see like two, maybe three people I'd trust and one who'd make me want to transfer to freaking Morse or something. Haha.

Reuxben

Herald_mc.PocketMonsta

Last Crash: Smalltown girl Bee Farnam encounters a rooftop monsta.

It's the April Fools Special 2009, kid.

Monsta Crash #9: PocketMonsta
Next Comic: Here
Previous Comic: Here
First Comic: Here

Easter Eggs: Dan's squareman, Crash 9 in center debris, Ash, Pokemon encounter text and scroll arrow.

Fun Facts: This year I went with an Un- set theme, where art pops out of the very page, and I got to use heavier Pokemon influence.

That fool jack kelly showed up, too. He got a teammate, but his half of the equation, "the giant," looks like this:

He weighs 1 gram.

I'm really happy with how the section came out, although we lost a bunch of the border's mini-comics in the 11th hour, but it definitely topped last year. I'm eager to see next year's edition.

Reuxben

YDN_zlm.MinorityReport

This place is actually lonelier when people are here, but rocks during breaks.
[Update: Final art up top]
Zero Like Me #16: Minority Report
<- Previous Comic...Next Comic ->
-First Comic-
Easter Eggs: Starbucks in panel 2, "Yale" in panel 4, Ruemore's duds, Zero Ethos.

Fun Facts: Zero's Mexican-y. Today's sets are Skull and Bones, the High Street overpass, and Dwight Hall.

I'm not a Photoshop sellout yet, but I did want to blur the flashbacks...which led to some coloring (in JE's new [tiny] computer lab[!]). Ah, JE, you're almost redeemed haha.

Anyway, these rare, colored comics will likely be exclusively online affairs.

Reuxben

Fun_GossipGilda

Gilda was to star in "Darling Find 2: Ruemore" this semester, but I figured a sequel's the easy way out...

Well, I entered an editorial cartoon contest over break with:

Pooping
Supernauguration
Kuro
Fiona
Every now and then I meet someone who likes what I do, and that really makes this downward spiral worth it.

While deciding on and re-scanning contest candidates, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dude just staring at me. Having spotted this near my pick pile, he confirmed I was me, told me he liked my series, and even got the name right (my editor forgets sometimes)!

When I started "Zero Like Me," I thought it's win-win: if no one likes it, then the title's true; if even one person likes it, it's ironic. So, yeah, thank you so much, man, I really appreciate the support. In fact, thank you to all supporters, I truly appreciate you guys. I don't care if you read this stupid stuff (I wouldn't), thanks for just checking out the artwork.

Oh, and I also applied for a DreamWorks internship. How insane would it be to have this guy as a reference? Haha.

Skg ftw lol,

Reuxben

Fun_MovieNight

I didn't go home for Spring Break, and this has been the best Spring Break ever...coincidence?

Easter Eggs: Z(ero) E(thos) Boy.

At school, I've got full access to a scanner, tons of deskspace, and best of all, a computer lab with Photoshop! So I finally got to just sit down and go with it:

The COLORS, Duke, the colors!
Fun Facts: I used the Joker and Harley's color schemes.

Man, I was so excited to finally try out colors over break! I know it's rough, but I can now move around Photoshop much better than before. Pretty neat! I never want to abandon traditional techniques, but I do plan on using some light Photoshopping here and there on some upcoming stuff.

Reuxben

Fun_ExtraTobacco

I started drawing this up New Year's Day, and after a hiatus, completed it just a few minutes ago.

So I couldn't decide what to write for this piece, but I will say that every time I let my mind get to ambling, I just start cracking up like an idiot.

Anyways, I suuuure wish the Yale Herald had a scanner. If only there was someone on staff who could help...

Reuxben

Fun_HeartSora

This took five or six years to complete. My first, likely last, truly best friend asked me to draw him Sora back in high school in Northern California. After many meh efforts I finally gave up, he understood. That's the only clear memory I can think of us interacting during high school; our friendship had been fizzling since fifth grade.

Cut to my final summer before Yale. I was back in NorCal and thought, if I see him again, I'll surprise him with the drawing for old time's sake. Well, I draw in waves (rough shapes; then super light pencils; then darker, cleaner pencils; inks; clean-up and re-inks/colors) so I lightly drew this up before chickening out of pursuing a reunion.

A few months ago, I found this guy in a binder and set him to be completed. Cut to a few days ago, I decide to darken the pencils without warming up and without the reference art; if that's how I drew it years ago, that's what I wanted. After darkening, I thought I might as well shade it. 5+ years' work done.

So this goes out to you, the only one I could really call my best friend. I haven't seen you in years, have only heard from you now and then, but you've never been replaced. I guess we're still friends like old rock stars are "legends;" the title sticks out of respect, but its only ever greatest hits albums now.

And sorry for that kindergarten thing; I still hate to think about it.

Thanks for everything,

Reuxben

Penny_Rex

I drew this Penny Dreadful cover a while ago. They also used it for interiors.

Easter Eggs: The upturned earth indicates a bottomless pit.

Fun Facts: This was drawn to accompany art for a canceled story I had illustrated the previous semester; the revived story had not been merely tweaked but rather completely redone, so now both pieces are now only loosely related to the story, unfortunately.

The dog, the boy, and the pit have nearly nothing to do with the story now, but you should have read the original story, it rocked.

Also, this could be one of the pieces that caught that publisher's interest! We'll see what happens there.

Reuxben

Record_Babies

The Yale Record's Old Blue issue finally came out...so much for that monthly release schedule. And why did they release it right before Spring Break? The stack at JE is basically untouched and gathering dust, and I'm sure the same is true at other colleges.

Anyway, here's babies. I even got a written piece in as a caption, although they changed all but the spirit of it, like going from "women and minorities" to "womenfolk." Is that funnier? I dunno.

I was weirded out for a while because the Record was funny and the Crayon wasn't, but they may both be settling back to normal. On the plus side to the Crayon, since Benji graduated, the talent is now distributed amongst several strong players, with only one real outstanding Crayon in the Silliman freshman, but the JE sophomores play excellently together.

Also: while working at CT Hall last night, I met a Zero Like Me fan! Freaking yeah, man, IRONY ACHIEVED! That's got to be my favorite title I've ever come up with, I love it. Can you even count how many meanings are packed into those three little words? I love it, man.

Reuxben

Fun_SpaceBattle

I had a pretty eventful Spring Break kick-off weekend: a basketball game and a rock show.

Friday Yale nuked Dartmouth, and my old suitemate even did what I believe is called a "breakaway" (twice), one of which ended in a dramatic dunk (The crowd, guy at left, included, went nuts). I usually get incredibly nervous when he gets the ball, partly because he himself looks quite nervous, but he's certainly improved.

Saturday was the season closer for basketball, vs. Harvard, but I had pledged to support The Sandy Gill Affair at The Space's Battle of the Bands. I discovered I was on my very last page, so no better way to close out a sketchpad than with rock-inspired art.

So here's a gallery of the night's competitors.

Up first was Twas Windmills.

I thought I might as well tag on a little score next to each band along with brief comments, so here's what I wrote for these guys in my sketchpad:

"Excellent guitars, weak vocals"

4/5

Dying to Live

This duo was comprised of neophytes giving it a go, so hats off for getting up there, which is always worth congratulations.

1/5

NoG Jam

"Insane guitars and vocals."

These guys really got the crowd going, and the lead singer's often bored persona was in perfect contrast to the electrifying music.

The lead singer even stopped by to check out the sketches, pretty neat, nice guy.

These guys should have won...asterisk.

5/5

The Sandy Gill Affair

"Bluzzy vocals"

I know what they're capable of, but their vocals, which should have been a selling point, killed them for me.

You can have high energy without blasting--I could enjoy Novus Dae's music and vocals, screaming included, because they controlled their sound so well that nothing buried anything else. TSGA just jolts right up to eleven, not just musically: they start jumping around right off the bat. Build up. Establish ethos before going nuts. Once it's understood you're great and don't care, then go crazy.

One of your strongest weapons is your lyrics, but the vocals are always so utterly lost amid the blaring music, to the point where sometimes you wonder if there are even vocals buried underneath it all!

On the slower sections of say "Mothers and Lovers" (?), the vocals shine, but it really helps to lure us in even during the medium to faster parts. The vocals are always robbed: seek the clarity of NoG Jam: fast and heavy at times, but both music and vocals share the stage evenly without one obliterating the other. I'm rooting for you guys, but tape yourself and study your live performances in comparison to other bands.

I went to a My Chemical Romance concert last year and it was incredibly difficult to follow what they were blaring out, but they had the entirety of Madison Square Garden singing right along because their songs are already etched into our brains. When a band is starting out, they don't get that kind of leniency.

4/5

Mike Falzone and the Peppermint Trick

"Beautiful songs but fuzzy vocals, cleaner than TSGA"

I saw this dude in a cool military jacket, and I'm like, I'm going to draw that guy! As soon as I get to his shirt, he discards the jacket...thanks. Anyway, these guys were great, especially Mr. Falzone's infectious laugh, but I did enjoy NoG Jam more.

The group won the audience draw spot, a bye which I don't believe is fair. Theoretically, Dying to Live could just pack their local high school buds and their families into a caravan and earned a spot. It makes sense for the venue, since fannies in the seats means more money, but artistically, I disagree.

4/5

Ambrosia

"Mostly merely presentable, nice guitars though"

These guys had some obnoxious fans, man. Another downside to the audience draw award: if you bring a bunch of people, vying solely for that bye to the next round, will they show equal respect to all the acts?

Ambrosia had the look of a real emo band, but the music couldn't back it up, unfortunately. The guitars were alright, but the vocals were pretty weak, and overall they just weren't too engaging.

3/5

Novus Dae

"Pro quality...last song sounds like Radwimps"

The great asterisk of the competition. My comments were scarce because these guys were so obscenely good, I was speechless, textless, and almost sketchless.

The only weird thing was that their last song sounded a bit (coincidentally, I'm sure) like this song's chorus by the Radwimps.

But in any case, it felt like these guys were way too good to be in this competition, so while no one questions their winning the critics' choice award, I do question their entrance; these guys should easily be touring the country right now.

5/5

So assuming Novus Dae didn't enter, the top two were easily NoG Jam and either Mike Falzone and the Peppermint Trick or The Sandy Gill Affair. All in all a great show. And Harvard beat us, so the rockshow was definitely the better place to be.

And my sketches even got a few visits from people. One guy asked if I was a pro. Haha! I have been paid a few times for my work, actually, but I'm still as new at this as most of these bands are at their craft. But nothing beats drawing to great rock music.

Reuxben

Herald_mc.MatchUp

Last Crash: Smalltown girl Bee Farnam gets contracted to work on a rooftop.

Get scary and scream about it.

Monsta Crash #8: MatchUp
Next Comic: Here
Previous Comic: Here
First Comic: Here

Easter Eggs: Crash 8 in panel 1.

Fun Facts: A "Monsta Crasher" slays monstas. Monsta design inspired by Endling, Chamba, and even me! I was sharper for splitting up drawing over three days rather than one exhausting 13 hour marathon to meet the earlier Spring Break deadline. Layout was especially fun and experimental.

Also, I was wondering what ever happened to my professor's feedback on Blue Type, but the critiqued script arrived yesterday! I have very little confidence in my writing but he really liked it! Now I want to draw it up.

Reuxben

YDN_zlm.Somewhere

Reason will not pledge a solution, I will end up lost in confusion, I don't care if you really care, as long as you don't go.

[UPDATE: Final art is up top]
Zero Like Me #15: Somewhere
<- Previous Comic...Next Comic ->
-First Comic-
Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 3. Lovefool.

Fun Facts: This's the very second Zero Like Me I ever drew. To preserve real Yale settings, the more romantic grassy hill lost out to a JE rooftop.

This is what the original looked like:

I'd been saving this comic for when it finally cleared enough to relax outside at night, but drew it right before the snow returned; midterms precluded drawing an replacement. On the bright side, I'm now officially a YDN staff comicser.

As I often mumble to myself, I'd rather be miserable here at Yale than be anywhere else in the world; honestly, I love it here and cannot fathom leaving. So, I don't have time to respond to last week's comment right now, but in a nutshell: I'm basically terrified of each and every single JE-related person, but am grateful for your anonymous support.

Thank you as always,

Reuxben

YDN_sls.Lifosuction

Shut the garage door and rev the engine, it's Sick Little Suicide #6 - "Lifosuction," in which I rush and hope it's relevant.

Easter Eggs: None really; a little heart..."Yale" is already in the paper.

Fun Facts: "Preggers" was used simply because it's shorter than "Pregnancy." I usually research hairstyles and clothing, but no time for that this time.

I sprinted to get this one done asap because I'm swamped, but need to respond to a Wednesday article, plus I need to feel like I deserve to be at the President's YDN-Herald supper tonight. You have to put on your thinking cap a bit for this piece, and I'll admit it's not my strongest YDN art, but heck, man, at least I wasn't the one hogging the YDN scanner Sunday night. Teehee.

Magneto and Professor X, remember?

Reuxben