Wednesday, September 30, 2009

YDN_zlm.Dissent

It isn't the 60s anymore, is it Mr. T?

[Update: Uncensored, final art at top]

Zero Like Me #35: Bulldog Tales Pt.2 - Dissent
<- Previous...Next->
-First-

Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 2, my favorite Colbert pose in panel 1, GC.

Fun Facts: Original script was to help establish that Z's Mexican, when he complains about Yale police brutality, when in fact they just give him this piece of paper. Original ending of present script was reference making it onto the YDN website, which I thought was a harmless inside joke, but hilarity did not ensue, desafortunadamente. It's all worked out though, and that's what matters.

Baa: This week's the last one under the current YDN board and it has been one of the most hectic and trying I've ever experienced as a comicser (let the record show that I believe R.S.R. and P.F.M. to be some of the finest Yalies I've encountered). I hope I won't forget this past week or so cuz it looks like I have to take down the censored material and descriptions of the editing processes, although I believe, like Michael Jackson and his trials, I am allowed to express my reactions, just not detail what went down. Anyway, I must now write a paper. In Spanish.

Let's meet Garry on Friday, shall we?

Final artwork coming soon,

Reuxben

Monday, September 28, 2009

YDN.sls_ShowMeYaMoves

WARNING! This piece has been CENSORED! Reader discretion is advised.

Wear your favorite ethnic garb in a backwater southern town, it's Sick Little Suicide #11 - "Show Me Ya Moves," in which we lose.

The penciled draft got approved by my editor, but it was almost killed by the top editor after inks for being too racial. I invite you to look at the piece, it has nothing to do with race: the guy we're caricaturing just happens to be black, which automatically makes us dance on eggshells, apparently. Even the name tag had to change. I wanted to give him a playful nickname like "Betty T.," but the precautionary measures were comical.

I get that perhaps maybe one could sorta argue that the teeth vaguely reawaken the racist tradition of caricaturing black people, but that's just silly. It's a part of a comicser's visual vocabulary to exaggerate to meet needs, and this piece called for a ridiculously optimistic subject, so he gets a big smile. Plus he already happens to have above average-length teeth, man. I mean...come on. If I had to draw a super optimistic Jimmy Durante, I'd draw his famously large nose and a big, exaggerated smile. That's just how visual communication works, especially with stylized caricature.

The eye of the beholder is what makes this piece in any way racially charged. Yes, the YDN has to cover its buttocks of course, and it's simply taking precautions by assuming worst-case scenarios (above the precautions I already took by working closely with my editor during the penciling stage) but I really feel it's overkill. My editor approved, after I made sure the lines were okay'd before ever inking, but then we almost lost it to the admittedly over-amped racial second-guessing at the top, had I not been able to give this guy the Jay Leno treatment.

We as a campus can and should seriously loosen up about over-zealous precautions. Race does indeed exist, like it or not, and Yale needs to move from this current oversensitive mindset to a state where we don't assume that stuff is racially charged when it plainly is not, and when it is so obviously not even dealing with race--we're talking about the far more meaningless realm of sports, after all. Ivy League sports, to boot; you don't get more meaningless than that. So I wish you'd show me your moves, Yale, but unfortunately we seem to be stuck in a bland, overly-cautious/skeptical present.

I'm not angry or anything at being asked to change the thing before press (it was supposed to run super-timely on Monday, but the miscommunication pushed it to Tuesday), I just feel incredulous about it all, especially the double standard for columnists vs. comicsers. Maybe if I wrote a prose column where I explicitly talk about race it would get published no problem, rather than having to jump through hoops to do concepts like the above which only tangentially and coincidentally involves race. I only note it's been "censored" so dramatically because I find it silly and overblown, even a little goofy. I've already stated as being fine with censorship--funnily enough this piece was supposed to debut the same day as the "Cartoons That Shook the World" book did, whose censorhip was widely condemned by Yale...)--but I find instances of censoring my stuff just plain silly because I'm so flubbing PG it's ridiculous.

The only thing that does get me is that they keep messing up my credit on the YDN website, if they post my stuff at all. For some reason it isn't, but all my YDN work should be here on the site, and with no spelling other than:

Reuxben

UPDATE: Clarifying gross misreadings

This piece really tanked spectacularly. Oddly, I'm okay with that because it did so mainly due to people grossly misreading, which I have no control over after a certain point. Interestingly, the censorship chaos on the production side of the piece completely made me think race was the only big, "controversial" part of the piece. Funny how the hating-on-athletes angle didn't even register on my radar, as I was only concerned with making sure it didn't feel like an ad hominem attack on Mr. Williams, but stuck to the issue: you are paid to win, you are not paid to make athletes feel good or welcomed (although that is nice, of course, but I'm talking strictly about what service Yale spends its legal tender for).

So I'm sorry if you misread the piece, but hopefully this update will help you see the error of your ways.

Since the YDN is really bad at organizing my stuff online, the piece appeared on two different parts of the site.

One place you can see the piece is here.

Cheap Barb: "...that's more revealing of its author than its subject."

This comment establishes today's core message. Those that jump the gun on interpreting me hating on athletes are more revealing of the commenters than me. Funny how that works.

The second place you can find the piece is on this page.

g-rad: "...It's a pity to see that you advocate both the position that athletes are stupid, isolatory, and bad (see Ned Fulmer's piece) and then condemning them when they try to reach out to the yale community as a whole."

g-rad u-nfortunately projects its insecurities onto the piece: it has nothing to do with the athletes. If you (re?)read the piece, you will notice it is solely focused on the coach, his decisions, and his persona to Joe Doesntreallycareaboutsports Yale. I do smile that those hurtful words aimed at the very athletes you are trying to advocate for are all yours, not mine in any way.

Yale Athlete: "This is the most atrocious thing I have seen published in this paper since I have been a student at Yale. Coach Williams is an ambassador for this great university and the athletic department at Yale. His mission is to connect his players with the traditions and history of the football program as well as the university as a whole so that his players will be able to be connected with the past to understand what it means to play football, for God, Country and Yale. ...you attempt to make a mockery of a man that understands what Yale Football means to the many alumni (player and fan alike) that support this school. Yes, The Team lost, but Rome was not built in a day. Coach Williams, his assistants, players, and the rest of the athletic department understand that. He is giving his players an education in Yale history they are unable to find in any classroom on campus. If you can do a better job playing the games, I'm sure he would give you the chance to suit up."

Rest assured, I am not interested in playing football, and I do not care about anything football related but The Game, and only because I too dig tradition. I have to assume that you are a freshman because the YDN did cover that one "artist" a while back, plus there was some racist stuff on campus, and even a murder recently, but if you mean atrocious materials versus story subjects, try Scene every Friday. I can't stress this enough: I don't care about sports, and I believe most of Yale does not either, for the most part. It is just something we notice because they print scores and we feel good when "we" win and feel blah when "you" lose. I believe there were incredibly high hopes for Mr. Williams (not at all hurt by his bold we'll-beat-Harvard hullabaloo) so maybe it is asking too much for us to start going undefeated out of nowhere like a Disney sports movie. Plus the game was actually pretty close. I only went so I could take photos of the stadium for future comics, but the consequence was the coach's shortcoming was fresh on my mind, as well as the colorful shouts from the crowd which I won't repeat, but which you can imagine were far more harsh and clearly from people who actually cared about this sport. It's great he's teaching the team about Yale history and all that, but his job
is winning games. That's it, that's his top priority. He is payed to get our players in top form not so they can feel good about themselves over their puny peers, but so they can use their honed skills for what they were built for: to prevail against a given opponent in a series of ball-kicking, -passing, and -whatever else it is that goes on at football games! Everything else beyond making Yale more likely to have a higher point total at the end is plainly extra, or "irrelevant." It is a strong word, but part of comics is poetry: picking succinct words weighed to convey the most. It was already one of my textier pieces, but it clearly packed punch for me to steal the moments of your life spent writing your comment. I do appreciate your feedback since you are apparently a Yale athlete (of an unspecified sport...), but you have to be honest: what is his paycheck for? To make players feel as good about themselves as possible, or to win as much as possible? If he never won, but players loved him, would he really stay employed? I have no idea, but I do have a guess. If all alumni know of Yale sports is that we never win, how happy/generous are they going to be, even if they know the athletes are at least having fun? Assuming singing with the Glee Club is a super secret Mr. Miyagi technique for making the squad into super saiyans, go ahead and sing all you want, but I'm going to assume it doesn't particularly help achieve his job--not "mission;" "job"--of winning. If he asked them, say to coach IM football or something they might learn in teaching, which improves their own game, which makes them more likely to win. But singing and posing don't have any direct impact on improving their play. They are nice gestures, but they aren't actually helping improve players' game.

Um No: "Wow...The YDN should really leave humor pieces to the RUMPUS."

I'll be sure to include a throbbing [ahem] in my next comic, just for you. Cool? But in truth...I've had a pretty decent track record, right? Especially with the suicides. Interestingly, one of the pieces I still hear about was about--wait for it--Tom Williams and how awesome he is! I'll be honest, a bit of me wants him to fail, the same way I kinda wanted Obama to, just so I can throw it back in the face of all the insanely zealous fans. But in both cases, it really isn't in my best interests to see them fail, and I support them both. That doesn't mean I can't criticize them, I just have a tendency to squint my eyes and sneer at popular people.

ROLFCOPTER: "Reuxben makes the interesting (although I think incorrect) assertion that Williams has been more focused on back-patting Yale athletes for going to Yale and building campus support for the football team than actually teaching them how to win games."

This is basically it. His job is to make the team win. Anything beyond that is not strictly his "job." Much like, if comicsing for the YDN is my job, I have to put forth an opinion in my comics for you to read, interpret, and consider. If I just drew a picture of, say, a diamond with no context for you to work with, I would not be doing my job. I could draw really ugly stuff, of I could put in time to make it look nicer, but that is all extra aesthetics, all that matters at the end of the day is that my stuff puts forth something for you to take away; that's my job. My mission is to entertain you so you like me by seeing how clever I am in juxtaposing words and images, but my job is to argue an opinion (thesis) such that you can agree or disagree as you like.

Ok, if that doesn't clarify it, then I don't know what will! Good night/morning.

Reuxben, 10/03/09

YDN_zlm.HangInThereBaby

Sometimes you just gotta bust some squeedlyspooches.

[Update: Final art at top.]

Zero Like Me #34: Bulldog Tales Pt.1 - Hang In There Baby
<- Previous...Next->
-First-

Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 1. Squeedlyspooch. Shout out to the 'Stache. GC.

Fun Facts: Today's setting is a weak Woodbridge Hall. There was a slight issue about using the Prez and Provost, and whether or not to use their real names. I was totally against using their real names because this is the first episode in a story arc that is an homage to the Trudeau, and he called President Kingman Brewster "King" back then, so I wanted to keep the tradition alive of giving our men silly pseudonyms. A dude in the YDN office, sounded like his name was Borges(!), suggested "McLevin" and I started cracking up! Perfect!

Baa: Trudeau started at the YDN 40 years ago, junior year, like me. Our comics editors have the same name. We both also draw at the Record. We're both in Scroll and--dang.

Anyway, this tribute to the Trudeau will carry over throughout the week and into the Herald, so I hope you check it out. Or for our Canadian visitors, please check it oot. This one is just set up, so do hang in there...baby.

Final art coming soon,

Reuxben

Friday, September 25, 2009

Herald_zlm.Expedition

Sun's out, puns out, run, shout, wear your buns out; one scout done spout, "fun's 'bout" (bring the guns out).

Zero Like Me #33
Zero Romance #3:
Expedition
<- Previous...Next->
-First-

Easter Eggs: Green Monkeys, Romance 3 on blackboard, plant monsters, Conrad, bore hez, Apocalypse Nyao costume, FB01, "Yale" in notebook, plus those stupid summer scarves feem-yalies are wearing (please stop).

Fun Facts: Today's setting is William L. Harkness Hall, or "DublAYTCH" (as non-losers call WLH). Spanish classes have an insanely high female to male student ratio, especially the more advanced you get, thus the female Gung-Ho-Spanisher.

Baa: I hate Spanish class, and wanted to study Japanese for four years, but took Spanish for my foreign language requirement because my mom insisted, plus I sorta would feel guilty learning another language before Spanish cuz...well, you know. As a literature major, I have to take three classes in an untranslated foreign language, so I got screwed into taking 3 more Spanish classes. Lotta 3s today...

I'd bet most take Spanish reluctantly for some requirement, even at the advanced levels. Hearing about a Gung-Ho-Spanisher is so wow, it's like hearing a murderer confess.

Good things about Spanish...? Oh! You will always meet incredibly beautiful people. Guaranteed. It's written in the Blue Book. Check it. Plus you also meet diverse people in the pre-400 classes cuz there's always new people realizing they must take a language.

In conclusion: Nobody will admit Borges is overrated as poop. This frustrates and confuses me.

Reuxben

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

YDN_zlm.FulmerNelson

WARNING! This comic has been CENSORED! Reader discretion is advised.

Teamwork makes the dream work!

[Update: Final Art At Top]

Zero Like Me #32: Fulmer Nelson
<- Previous...Next->
-First-

Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 2, some dude who goes by "5," and Boucher. Zero's wardrobe brought to you by one hecka stylish German classmate, Nyao's costume's by some girl I saw in Commons.

Fun Facts: Although this is an original comic, Ned, the purple dynamo, gave me some courage after his ridiculous ordeal had finally faded for the most part. That fool jack kelly wasn't up for running it, so I told that yellow fellow I'd do it.

Baa: One night, my Freshman Year roomate tried to make an appeal to me that included mentioning that this girl was not an athlete, that "she got in on brains." I felt a little hurt that he thought that mattered to me so much, like if you're an athlete, you're automatically inferior and must earn my approval. My roommate was an athlete, himself, so I dread imagining that he thought I thought less of him just because he played a sport. To be honest, I feel I've become something of a "jock," except comics and illustration consume and overtax my non-academic time at Yale, so even if I did think like that, I'd have zero ethos at this point.

Towards the end of Freshman Year, he usually only talked to me when he was drunk and needed to be let in. I didn't really mind at first because I actually cared about making sure he was still just fine. But towards the end of the year, I realized I only ever interacted with people if they needed to be let in or if they were looking for somebody else. That very same night, my roommate told me something when he was drunk that I've always wondered about. I don't drink, so I don't know if being drunk makes you more honest or just incoherent, but in any case...I wonder if he meant it.

Reuxben

UPDATE: Ever wonder what a toothless shark looks like? Check out the printed edition at left!

Fun Facts: Since this is getting printed on Thursday, ZLM has now been printed on every day of the week at least once! The comic started on Tuesdays, moved to Wednesdays, hit Friday earlier this year, and is now regularly on MWF.

UPDATE 2: Why It was Censored.

After getting the script
approved by my immediate editor, I drew it up and anxiously checked for it Wednesday morning (didn't check online of course, cuz that would require the YDN to be honest about their promise to put comics online, as they used to last semester). After being graced with an astonishingly quick reply from the EIC about the sudden censorship (the first time I'd ever received a reply from any YDN EIC ever), he informed me that just before going to print, he and the editor just above mine deemed the comic "racially insensitive"(!), and the YDN "wanted to err on the side of caution," even though race doesn't exist, or at least it isn't allowed to exist so long as there are dialogue bubbles and pictures accompanying the discussion.

If interested, YDN EIC
thomas.kaplan@yale.edu is happy to hear your opinion. And feel free to ask him to come through on the YDN's promise to put its comics online, like they used to last semester (but have somehow forgotten how to, even though nobody has changed staff positions yet). For all I know, there might be some comicser among us who actually wants to draw for a living and needs the potentially crucial visitors of the YDN online to see his or her work, in the off chance that it will somehow lead to employment or some sort of professional networking. If there even is such a comicser at Yale, that person is probably pretty frustrated with the YDN about this.

Reuxben

Monday, September 21, 2009

YDN_sls.dROCKomics

Taste test your cyanide samplers, it's Sick Little Suicide #10 - "dROCKomics," in which I scoop the YDN!

It's a battle of the black--who will win: rock or art?

Easter Eggs: Howell's hairdo and signature "yo" (interestingly, I saw him cellphoning on my way to 202 York to drop this thing off), panels from this comic and this comic, and a hairdo jacked from some dude I saw sitting in SSS.

Fun Facts: This suicide was inspired by a YDN magazine article called "Can Yale Music Scene Save Yale's Music Scene?" and I added the obvious personal angle: can anyone save Yale Comics scene? Also in the most recent issue of the YDNM, you'll find Loide's phenomenal work. I say I "scooped" the YDN because apparently they're doing a feature on the story this Friday.

Baa: I'm scared of the dark and I don't like loud, abrupt noises.

Support your friendly neighborhood Yale bands (the good ones) today:
The Rollover Motive
Great Caesar
JK LOL
The Sandy Gill Affair

Reuxben

YDN_zlm.BelongHere

I think Zero and Harvard rejection is like Marty McFly and chickens.

Zero Like Me #31: Belong Here
<- Previous...Next->
-First-

Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 3, "sux" in panel 4. Subtle humor hidden in being gung-ho about watching a Cantab on TV.

Fun Facts: Today's setting is my favorite accident slash warzone, 'Nam.

Baa: I've had this motto for a while called "zero ethos," which I believe is one of the worst things you can have. To have zero ethos is to have no leg to stand on, to not be worth anything. To be a windbag; to be useless, futile, inept, irrelevant, etc. One of my greatest anxieties is having zero ethos.

I wrote this comic in June after one of my, what, three Yale Late Night Conversations inspired me to wonder about FroCos even more than I already had. I've been trying to squeeze this into the production schedule since week two, and it was a hassle to make, but most of the extra efforts were fruitless anyway. So it goes.

Anyway, I wish I would have known that my FroCos weren't superhuman. I kinda see it now, but wish I knew it then. Or maybe I don't. I don't know. If a freshman must question something, the least they can do is question their superheroes. I don't want to say mine lied to me, but they sure coulda helped more.

To B.H.--I now have an opinion on "Bright College Years," just in case you were still wondering.

Reuxben

Friday, September 18, 2009

Herald_zlm.OldCampus

Tee hee...she said "But"!

Zero Like Me #30
Zero Romance #2:
Old Campus
<- Previous Comic...Next Comic ->
-First Comic-

Easter Eggs: Romance 2 in panel-ish 3; "Yale" in panel-ish 4; Dracht and Ben's costumes merged; a scroll, key, skull, bone, Guffinium, and 'stache.

Fun Facts: Today's setting is the OC corner between McClellan (JE's annex) and LC. Tried channeling Eisner's insane style.

Baa: I used to be painfully jealous of freshmen (2011) who got to experience Freshman Year meanwhile I was cursed at having to move on, then I became more wistfully envious ('12) knowing that they will soon lose that status, and now ('13) I've finally gotten to the point where I don't feel like they are robbing or displacing me, but that they are just there. I kind of pity them.

This came out hecka pixelated in the Herald, but as always: this site displays the most crisp and updated versions of all my artwork (which is why I guess I don't even feel upset about the bad printing, something that used to really fingernail-blackboard me).

I put a lot of effort into this comic, and yet I'm oddly placid knowing it got insanely pixelated. That is what frustrates me. Same thing like how I hate that I can't bring myself to hate my old--I've said too much.

Reuxben

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

YDN_zlm.Cancer

Be a man, Zero, bottle it all up!
[Update: See Top for Final Art]

Zero Like Me #29: Cancer
<- Previous Comic...Next Comic ->
-First Comic-

Easter Eggs: Memorial to Mrs. Lang (plus two flowers for each year she was my teacher), and "Yale" in panel 1.

Fun Facts: Today's setting is the JE swing. I saw an interview on Youtube where Gerard Way talked about his song, "Cancer," and how it is about how anything can be a cancer--mental, physical illness, smoking, etc. So that also played a part in this comic, which is about how lives are important and it sucks that they are taken for granted so easily and often.

Baa: Although this comic is closely tied to the loss of my own real-life physics teacher to cancer, this comic is a response to the unfortunate Annie Le case. Death is so outrageously sudden and shattering, and there's no way to know what this means unless you've actually lived through someone's death, especially someone you thought would have so much more time.

Since the news was so immense, I had to postpone today's scheduled comic, but we'll get back on schedule now. And I'm really excited for an upcoming storyline I've been working on--we're introducing a new character! Her design finally clicked last night.

Reuxben

Monday, September 14, 2009

YDN_zlm.SafetySchool

You get nothing! You lose! Good day, sir!

Zero Like Me #28: Safety School
<- Previous Comic...Next Comic ->
-First Comic-

Easter Eggs: "Eliot" in panel 1, "Yale" in panel 2.

Fun Facts: Today's setting is LC, or as the Japanese probably call it, erre shiiii!

Baa: Everyone at my high school was impressed when I was serious about applying to Stanford. And then once I got in everyone thought that's where I was going. And then I had to explain that there's this place called Yale, it's like Harvard, but more Luigi--that's where I'm going. They still think I'm going to Stanford.

It didn't occur to set this comic in the rain until it finally rained last Friday. I love the rain, but it was even more perfect symbolically for this comic. And I really like the symbolism in this one--the obscured "lux et," Nyao's shifting, the insecurity of the umbrella, panel 3's ambiguous rain drops--everything really clicked!

This one goes out to B.R., who is probably the only one who could have read this comic correctly.

Reuxben

Friday, September 11, 2009

Herald_zlm.OhYeah

After trying a bunch of strict narrative-comics at the Herald, I wanted to try a "Sunday" comic sort of thing for Zero Like Me, so here it goes...

UPDATE: Final art at top

Zero Like Me #27
Zero Romance #1: Oh Yeah
<- Previous Comic...
Next Comic ->
-First Comic-

Easter Eggs: Dedication to Mrs. Lang in panel 1.

Fun Facts: Today's setting is Durfee Hall, entryway C. Nyao's named for my cat, Mr. Feeney, who ran away this past summer; I tried to model her cat ears after his, but now I just have to guess. Zero's last name inspired here and here.

Baa: Man, I loved Farnam. Eff bee oh wun.

The goal of this series is to have another avenue for ZLM, but also to keep my comics-page conditioning fresh. I want to get experimental like Winsor McCay, even open up to stories between the Herald and the YDN, and also to deliver as great experiences as I can muster.

Not running a full story was a really difficult decision to make--I wrote two or three series over the summer, but I talked myself out of each of them. I even considered redrawing Darling Find, cuz it was probably my most successful one, but I cringe at the artwork now, and it would be a neat call back to old times. Anyway, I hope this "series" will deliver all I hope it to, although I will be cutting it a lot closer since I don't have a full 13 episodes planned out exactly, and will likely rely on the main series to inform this sub-series.

But anyway, the atrocious jack kelly is back in the saddle, too. He's packing "peakaboo," which looks like this:

And he also presents the utterly foul, "buy a flowuh mistuh," too:

I have high hopes, but we'll see what happens. I hate that no one reads the Herald, so I feel like I'm wasting my time at the publication...I could go three times a week at the YDN no problem if I spent my Thursday-afternoon/nights-Friday-mornings YDNing.

Man.

Reuxben

YDN_zlm.DannyGlover

"Hemmerling for Mitchell" would make a great band name, and that's before you even add in "The" and throw in some numbers!

Zero Like Me #26: Danny Glover
<- Previous Comic...Next Comic ->
-First Comic-

Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 1, that dude's costume, #52 is George Knox.

Fun Facts: Today's setting is the Yale Rep. I love Angels in the Outfield, I was and still am a bit like JP (not the whole reticent-to-speak-thing; I mean I was and still am a bit of a little black boy looking up to an older white boy as my surrogate brother. Oh, wait, no...it is the whole reticent-to-speak thing, never mind).

Baa: I saw Ranch Wilder perform the role of Mr. Doolittle in Pygmalion at Culture Draw sophomore year, but I totally forgot to go to last Tuesday's draw...dangit.

Ok, I'm excited to start getting into some continued narrative next week, so even though each comic will be self contained, there is more to glean between comics.

Also, this comic is dedicated to and inspired by Professor R. Stepto, one of Yale's greatest, who I wish I could have studied poetry with (after an incredible semester learning about AfAm literature sophomore year), but I ended up going with another poetry teacher. Hence the Hemmerling/Mitchell connection.

Also-also...Herald debut later today! Trying something newish.

Reuxben

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

YDN_zlm.GitDough

Originally printed in Yale Summer Session's newsletter, Hot Blue, June 29, 2009.

Because minstrelsy is cool, y'nawmean?

Zero Like Me #22: Git Dough
<- Previous Comic...Next Comic ->
-First Comic-

Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 2, RADWIMPS logo in panel 3, Busta Rhymes and T-Pain's duds.

Fun Facts: Set at the Saybrook Common Room. Rappers love to "git," count, and hustle money.

Baa: Busta Rhymes is one of the very few rappers I enjoy!

I've always wanted to test out tones for print, and today we're about to find out what happens...

Anyway this comi makes Busta Rhymes and T-Pain the latest rappers to inspire a comic. Isn't that special?

Received an interesting email yesterday...not really what I thought would happen. Also had to give up on Japanese, unfortunately; that dream died, but how much of it was due to the unusual volume of shopping I've been doing? Maybe with my seminar-heavy schedule, I would be able to handle Japanese no problem, but I found it a bit too cumbersome to deal with daily on top of everything else, but again, how much of that was due to shopping period? Cutting that unicorn of a class from my list was tough, and I regret it. As a consolation prize, I remember a guy sitting next to me on day two was wearing my shirt!

Keep hustlin',

Reuxben

Monday, September 7, 2009

YDN_zlm.Nar

Oh, Morse and Stiles, if you didn't want to be picked last, you should'na been born ugly. Which explains why I'm always picked last, actually...

[Update: Final art up top]

Zero Like Me #25: Nar
<- Previous Comic...Next Comic ->
-First Comic-

Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 3, Munch's "The Scream" in panel 4, The Rollover Motive.

Fun Facts: I was checking my schedule for Monday when I realized I had this class slated for shopping and then BAM! comics idea!

Baa: I hate politics...reeks of the real world. Also, I'm going to see if he will autograph this...is that tacky? Haha. I hope he's cool with it...! I'm in I'll-never-see-him-again mode, which makes me execute bold, stupid interactions with people, nawmean?

All right, hold on to your hats, we're going for three ZLMs this week.

Let's dance,

Reuxben

UPDATE: Peep GAME, suckas! --->

He was very nice, insanely charismatic, and quite funny! He laughed a bit nervously, "Is this for the Daily News?" as he studied what he was about to sign. Really cool of him!

Reuxben