YDN_zlm.TrustMe

I bet she says that to all the guys.
Zero Like Me #57:
Zero the Traitor Pt.2 - Trust Me
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Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 1. One of the most fashionable Yalies tipped me off of this place called H&M. Simma down nah.

Fun Facts: There was a football game, there was a bet, and this is how it went down.

Baa: My hands and feet get so cold so easily, it can't be normal.

Why can't the hot chocolate be cheaper at The Game? I mean I'm sure they'd sell tons of slightly cheaper drinks, rather than sell a few expensive ones.

Reuxben

YDN_sls.BernieMac

Draw your sword in the emperor's castle, it's Sick Little Suicide #16, "Bernie Mac," in which I talk about what everyone's talking about.

It's like when an inside joke finally comes back around and now everybody's laughing, but those who laughed first get to feel smug.

Easter Eggs: Please, please, please don't be confused; the reportrix is totally a drawing based on a YDN staffer that I've never even heard of, let alone seen, and NOT an homage to the Pokemon Trading Card Game's TV Reporter crew.

Fun Facts: This is NOT an opinion comic, it is a news article. Therefore I may not use the letters Y, D, or N (together and in that order) on our crew because it will look to the simple-minded Yalie as if my news report--don't you dare call it a "comic"-- is depicting the YDN's equally sophisticated TV news staff as editorializing (that is, giving their opinion) on something, rather than what it truly is: a depiction of an actual reporter reporting news. Sure, I could attribute the crew to the letters E, S, P, and N, because that makes sense given that this is being printed in the Y, D, and N, but I am pleased to announce the Reuxben News Network. Again, I am doing this just so all you marble-sharp Yalies don't get confused and think I am drawing opinion comics, when I'm really writing news articles using scarce words and sentences so thin that they look like the linework that comprises a drawing.

Baa: The first time I dealt with this sports subject, there were cheers. The last time I dealt with this sports subject there were jeers.

So I'm 50-50 at this point, meaning we could flip a coin on this one.

And if you need someone to flip you off, Bernie Mac is available.

Although for the record, it is kind of ridiculous to expect a Disney sports movie the first season of a new head coach. In fact, I know Yale will start winning, at least against Harvard, the second I graduate, cuz that's just how it goes. I only wish I could be here for next season, when we really get to see what the coach can do, since this season doesn't really count, let's be honest; people are just being hysterical.

Reuxben

Penny_dm.TheSpaceBetween

A special advanced screening today, the illustration for the next installment of Doggie Mojo, my prose series in the Penny Dreadful, and it's also going to be the cover. Neat!

In this Deal, "The Space Between (Interlude in B Flat)," Lillis has to tangle with the deadly H.Arms security mechs meanwhile piloting a stolen mechsuit with uncanny natural skill.

Will she make it through the cold, pilotless machines' inhumanly precise security defenses? Will she die? Will there only be one more Deal? I don't know!

This is what it looked like before the bells and whistles.

Photoshop is sorta tricky to work with--the more stuff you learn about, the more you want to start adding on new tricks and techniques, but I love lines so much and I don't want to lose them in the mix.

That's where mangaka get it done; they know exactly what's just enough to let the lines sing uninterrupted, while still adding enough production to elevate the piece. That's why I don't like US comics so much--too much emphasis on color, when the lines are what really matter.

Easter Eggs: Metal Gear Solid chat window, Gundam style model for the H.Arms, pokeball.

Fun Facts: Trying to keep the Toonami vibe.

Baa: I hate the process of going to sleep and I hate the process of waking up. But I love sleeping. It's the space between that's key.

Daily Post Challenge done.

Reuxben

Fun_GobbleGobble

Yeah, she can cook like nobody's business.
So the JE Thanksgiving feast today was kinda a let down this year, but at least these guys had a good time.

Last year's feast kicked butt though. It sucks being a senior cuz everything you do is the last time you get to do it.

Reuxben

Fun_ZeroTheMod

One of my absolute favorite parts about comics/illustration is you get to research and draw all kinds of cool fashions and there's no wardrobe budget, just pick what you want and go.

So although I am limited by tiny panel sizes, weak inking skills, and restricted research time, I do enjoy fantasizing about all the cool threads my characters can wear. And this is actually one of the biggest reasons why it's more fun drawing female characters than males: they get to dress up and stylize in all kinds of ways, but males just don't have any real flexibility beyond a jacket, you know?

I try to give each character their own fashion vibe, but Zero's the only one that doesn't have any real flavor. I delve into a sort of Japanese style with some Sartorialist thrown in, but when a deadline's looming, I have to resort to a T-shirt and jeans, which I guess is US style. But then again, as Mos Def raves of Japanese aesthetics over US sensibilities, "Why are they so much better at this [spit] than us? We're not even like second or third..."

Anyway, for today, I wanted try a slight redesign on Zero and thought I might as well dress him up like a British Mod, but I couldn't bring myself to splash a Union Jack all over his helmet, though. So now all he needs is a scooter and off he goes.

Reuxben

Fun_ChineseFoodSucks

I'm here at Yale over the break. It beats spending money to go back to California, having to be in the house, and not being at Yale.

The only downside to being at Yale over breaks is that there's no food. BUT the International Center is giving away free dinners, so I get to eat every day, which is neat. One of my life mottos is, "I'd rather starve than pay for food," so I'm screwed once I graduate. But that motto basically means that I hate paying for stuff, especially food, cuz it feels like such a waste.

So I went on Monday and they had tons of free pizza! No water, so I had to drink soda (ugh...), and not even root beer. So maybe it was because I hadn't eaten a meal since The Game tailgate (I did have two bags of Uncommon bunny crackers Sunday, though), but that was some of the best pizza I've ever had. Aside: Sally's is insanely overrated. Pepe's, Papa John's, even Pizza Hut pwn Sally. I am somewhat of a picky and simple eater, but fortunately I can eat the same thing every day for years. For most of elementary school I had a ham sandwich every day until like 5th grade, when I finally got sick of it.

Anyway, for today's meal, it was me, Johnny Salami, the Gaboozo bruddas, and we exchanged looks of dread as our naive dream shattered--they wouldn't be serving pizza all week. Worse yet, they were serving...Chinese food. I tried to load up on white rice, which was my strategy whenever we went out to eat in Japan, but I did try some of this red-sauced meat stuff. It was pretty all right, but the yellow rice was really spicy, and the white rice was incredibly bland.

So anyway we're all waiting for the inevitable horror to come that is Indian food. I tried Indian food Freshman Year and it still haunts me. As in Japan, when I arrived at Yale I promised myself to try new things no matter what as that is what college is all about, but I fear I've lost some of that adventurous zeal. But if I'm served free food, I feel doubly obligated to try it, even if I've had previous bad experience.

On the way back from food, I cut through WLH 112 and had a drawing session with jack kelly. I drew the picture, he wrote the script. I was feeling pretty patriotic after that gross international meal in a room full of internationals. Hopefully pizza counted as "Amurrca Night," so that Italy gets a chance this week. It's been so long since I had good lasagna.

Reuxben

Fun_BigBuns_MO

Thanksgiving break is here, so I'm going to post some artwork every day this week.

Today is the Making Of...this comic, one that got me some interesting mail. One email said I was "out of control funny" and literally the email right after that one called me a "sack of [stuff]," so yeah.

At right is the thumbnail sketch of the comic, where I loosely figure out where everything's going to go.

Whenever I have to draw real people, I try to get a practice sketch in, and this is lo de Koalabear Onedrop.

Her last name is a reference to my favorite game, Magic: the Gathering. A "onedrop" is a creature that costs one mana, an essential part of White Weenie decks, which win by swarming the opponent with massive numbers of dudes to win as fast and as efficiently as possible. Koalas are cute and are a play on words.

She reminds me of my old high school teacher...

These are some costume designs. I wanted neophytes (Zero) to wear Snuggie-styled robes, regular members (Nyao) to wear costumes modeled after the E Stone society in Toshihiro Ono's Pikachu Shocks Back, and I wanted the leaders to dress like Team Rocket. I love Team Rocket, and you've got to be feeling cool and powerful if you dress like them AND wear a cape.

I wanted all caps to be unique, and so to test my designs, I tried designing a "Be Square" hat based on Dan's old Herald comic's characters.

Up next is a trial sketch of Rivercreek Pacifism. I wanted silly names, but their first names are based on the real people, and the last names are just based on funny sounding words. Coincidentally, "Pacifism" is a card you might use in a White Weenie deck, and it's actually one of my favorite white cards, but it sucks when they use it on you.

A society or movement to appreciate Beauty and Justice is a great idea, but I would have liked it if they just stuck to beauty as their main goal, without justice entering into the picture, because I feel the former weakens and even counteracts the latter goal. I love aesthetics, and even in my graphic novels class, I learned to appreciate some at first really ugly comics styles, so I would actually be quite interested in a society that tries to explore different aesthetics. But when coupling beauty with justice...the justice part just feels kind of frivolous or trivialized, no matter how you slice it. "Justice" as an inferred subsection of "beauty," that's where it's at, but I have a hard time grasping them placed on the same footing because it just feels like they're cheapening Justice by having it so closely associated with Beauty.

Reuxben

Design_catalyst.PacPrez

This last round of The Game shirts wasn't terribly inspiring. There was even a ridiculous scandal on one of the shirts.

Anyway, these were the sketches for this year's cycle of The Game shirts brought to you by Catalyst Apparel.

They had some difficulty with Yale's licensing department, so we weren't able to cast any new shirts, but I did see someone wearing my old Flag design, which you can also wear year round (the guy sitting next to me in Japanese class was wearing it on the first day of class, even).

Funny thing, though, I saw a Harvardian wearing some kind of Pacman shirt, where the figures were inside a giant H.

This next sketch started as a kind of "wacky idea." What if we made a shirt that made fun of how gung-ho Yalies get about Yale? What's the most ridiculous way to show school spirit? What if we had a shirt saluting all of Yale's men who've become US presidents (all of whom have been at best mediocre presidents)?

So, minus Gerald Ford (Law), I designed this gangsta style shirt with all the Eli's who kept it real from the White Hiz-ouse.

Ok. Daily post challenge is on. Artwork every day until school's back.

Reuxben

Fun_TheGame2009

So today was The Game, can't tell if it was frustrating, depressing, or just plain sad. But hey, that's what she said, am I right?

In any case, I was feeling a little blue(r), despite the high of seeing someone wearing my shirt, so my friend, jack kelly, tried to cheer me up with a joke: "Maybe if Yale Football didn't suck, they wouldn't have choked." I told him to shut his face. One of those footballers was pretty nice to me when we bumped into each other in Farnam one night. He knew my name!

These last two sketches are actually from tonight's basketball game. Lost that one too, but it was actually pretty close: Yale trailed for about 10 points the whole game, and a late comeback just got cut short.

Baa: My dad once asked if I regret not going to Harvard. Honestly, I more often wonder what life woulda been like at Stanford.
I love Yale and can't imagine life elsewhere.

In fact, when I stayed at Harvard, I was really unimpressed with the place--everything looks like Pierson. And maybe it was because I was decked in Yale gear, but people didn't seem too nice. Not that I'm a good judge of character. Some of them were kinda off-handedly mean while trying to be not mean. One girl said she liked my art and then followed right up with "sorry you go to Yale." That really depressed me for some reason. Like for a split second I really wished I had gone to Harvard so I could poop all over Yale without feeling like I was biting the hand. But mostly, Harvard felt like an overly spacious series of husks. It was literally and figuratively cold and empty over there.

In Harvard's defense, some people were nice. One guy stuck around to watch me draw and he was really nice, acted like I was a big deal (but have you seen the Lampoon's art?!) YDN 06-8 called, they want their art back. Anyway, I greatly regret not pointing him to this site, but I feel really self-conscious advertising this site. That's why I kinda Easter Egg my signature/site into my artwork rather than just slap it on. If you find the plug, then great, I hope you enjoy if you choose to visit. If you don't, then all right then, off you go, and let's not waste anyone's time.

The only exception was that I decided to put out my usual call for a writing partner, except this time I printed posters with pulltabs in the hopes that I can start one of those legendary college partnerships. I like how it's so fate-oriented: the right person has to find the poster, placed in the right spot at the right time to catch their attention. So even if I don't get any bites, the idea itself is a lovely piece of performance-print art in my mind. I saw three tabs pulled and even one poster got torn down, like someone hates my guts. I guess that's a good thing because someone was so moved by me that they took time out of their day to demonstrate. LeSean Thomas once said, "If you ain't bein' hated on, then you ain't doin' $&#%." So there you go.

Reuxben

Herald_zlm.AirportRomantics

Kids say the jackedest things.

Zero Like Me #56
Zero Romance #11:
Airport Romantics
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Easter Eggs: Romance 11 in plant, Arthur's mom, subtle reference to another plot.

Fun Facts: I imagine all kinds of really mean, awful conversations in my head, distill them, and then make them into comics for all you pretty people.

Baa: I met this guy, Sal, in an airport who just completely freaked out on me: "Wait, do you really go to Yale?! That's like...for geniuses! It's in, like New York right? Or is that Harvard? Man, you guys are so smart!"

The Herald publishes a day early the week before breaks, so this came out Thursday, not Friday, actually.

Overheard Cantab: "Anybody know how to get to TD House?"

Also, at the Purple Crayon slash Immediate Gradification Players show, no Harvardians got the reference to "The Dead Shall Be Raised." They must have been really confused by the huge laughs the line got. Beautiful.

I'm pretty lucky. This year I'm going on to The Game with four people! FOUR! That's four times the usual amount! There's jack kelly as always, but also this new guy Gerardo Manera, and my good friends Zero and Nyao.

Sweet!

Reuxben

Design_catalyst.ImSObond

I designed a shirt for the International Students' Organization. Yeah. With a Z--that is, not a "Zed" and not with an S. So there.

This was booked by Catalyst Apparel, but I get the sinking suspicion I'm not getting paid. Got two shirts though...yay?

And if you need some international tunes to rock out to while wearing this, you're welcome.

So even though it looks like I'm not getting a cut, be sure to buy yours today! Also available in black. Like my sole (my shoes are black).

It's bound to be a collectors' item because I don't anticipate any more shirts in my future.

 

Quick note...why would they second guess a native speaker on this line of text? The original line for print on the shirt's back was "Outsourcing friendship since 1701," but they printed plural "friendships," which just sounds weird, dude.

I ain't even gonna front,

Reuxben

YDN_zlm.DOOEET

This can't end well.

Zero Like Me #55:
Zero the Traitor Pt.1 - DOO EET
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Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 3, Doggie Mojo.

Fun Facts: While designing Alexis, one of the hairstyles I studied belonged to the girl who let me use the scanning computer for this comic! I still need to work on the hair, but I definitely want to try that girl's style soon. Even I don't know how this story will end exaclty; we all gotta wait to see what T. Willie busts out. It's like when they asked readers to determine if Robin would die. I'm excited.

Baa: Things I heard while scanning this comic in the JE cluster:
"Do you know how long you're going to be using the scanner?"
"Does it take a long time to draw those?"
"Oh, is that for the YDN?"
"Of course, don't you recognize him?"
"Is this for tomorrow's paper?"
"Oh! So we get to see it before everyone else!"

Who's a pathetic little rock star?

Reuxben

YDN_zlm.TealDear

Wait, hang on...almost...wait, lost my pla--oh, wait there we, oh dangit, waitaminute...

Zero Like Me #54:
Teal Dear
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Easter Eggs: "Yale" in tree, "co-mixed" and "comic" in the rant.

Fun Facts: I have to draw two technology themed comics by the end of the year, so this'll be the first one, and the second one will be here in two weeks.

Baa: I'm not that into social networking sites (maybe cuz you don't have any friends ZING!); I just use them for their ability to announce to a bunch of strangers that a new comic is up because having my Friday, Monday, and Wednesday schedule announced at the top banner, as well as at the bottom of the page, as well as maintaining that update schedule for the past 2 years is simply not enough.

Myspace is only good for bands. Recent discovery: Lichter.

Blogs also annoy me. Unless it's an artblog, where you're contributing something truly original to the world for people to check out at their leisure--essentially a gallery with a curator you can easily ignore by staring at the pictures rather than his mute words--it's such a ridiculous idea to assume you're so important that your thoughts must be heard!

For the record, I do not assume people read the text, but just check out the pictures, so that's why I'm okay opening up with those who do choose to read, since I'm not forcing you to read or even visit, but it's nice that you do.

At the Brian Williams Master's Tea, he basically echoed these lamentations about this generation's blogging/vlogging/twittering narcissism.

Ironically both he and I have blogs.

Imagine that.

Reuxben

Record_7DeadlySines

An illustration for the Yale Record's Seven Deadly Sins issue, out TODAY! Grab one now as these are always hot sellers.

Easter Eggs: A dude's hair cut and suit. Blech.

Fun Facts: Only the head piece feels somewhat like it's not a real sine since it starts concave up, assuming all graphs start at the origin.

Baa: I hate hearing people cough...even worse feeling it...ugh, grossed myself out there just now.

Reuxben

Herald_zlm.TheYooshz

Monotony ensues.

Zero Like Me #53
Zero Romance #10:
The Yooshz
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If you want to see a polished comic today, check out this STEAMY COMIC too hot for the YDN. Or was it just asking too much of you as a reader? Anyway, it's for grade-A geniuses only. For their own protection, no stupid people are allowed to read it because they will not understand it. It is too difficult to understand, you see. Therefore, if you are stupid, do not read this comic. If you do, you will feel stupider for not being able to understand the comic. I am warning you for your own protection: you will not be able to understand this comic, and in fact, I have it on very good authority that you will not be able understand it. Likely because statistically, you are too stupid to understand it. So don't even try, as again, it will only prove that you are stupid.

Easter Eggs: [Loading...]

Fun Facts: [Loading...]

Baa: [Loading...]

Final Art and full update coming soon; until then, check the Herald Comics Site.

But there is also that yellow stinking rat, jack kelly. I bet he puts in a lot of hours into his comics...

First up from that corny ogre is "complain" which may or may not look like this:

And the foul villain has the gall to insult people who wish people well who have weblogs--he should be grateful for all the people saying unwittingly to his face things like "I LOVE jack kelly!" Ugh...

A sack of feces if ever there was one.

Ok, final art and update coming soon.

Reuxben

YDN_sls.BikeCurious

Even though you go to Yale, I think you are stupid. I do not think you will understand this comic. Drop out of Yale right now.

In conclusion: Hey Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!

11/16/09 Update: This is scheduled to run in my normal comics slot today, and my regular series, Zero Like Me, will run Tuesday and Wednesday this week, thanks to my generous Comics Editor. So here's the post:

Drive into oncoming traffic, it's Sick Little Suicide #15 - "Bike Curious," in which I combine the complaints against apathetic cops not stopping bike dangers, and the complaints against overzealous cops for stopping booze dangers.

Easter Eggs: Barney Fife's outfit, Zero and Nyao.

Fun Facts: I had to sprint over to 202 York to argue this comic's right to debut in the Opinion section, but I lost that argument. It was a Herald night, and I don't have time to waste like that.

Baa: I have never even sipped alcohol, but I get "drunk" when I am really sleepy--if you ever want to see me drunk, find me stumbling into Commons at 7:45 on a Friday morning after a marathon of Heralding. I have on occasion bumped into people while in this mindstate and I am actually quite proud to say I can be much more open with people in person, a condition I usually reserve only for written communication.

Rabbit pulled,

Reuxben

YDN_zlm.Orientation

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade; when life gives you beans, make hotdogs.

Zero Like Me #52:
Orientation
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Easter Eggs: "Yale," Ash vs. Richie at Orange Street, Hemmingway, omen, and Richard Pryor in Panel 2. Narita shirt.

Fun Facts: Today's setting is the OC's High Street gate. Also, this one is definitely more "about" race than last time, so hopefully we've now got precedent to talk a little more freely about the subject. Funny how we end up talking about being a minority all week and somehow hotdogs and hamburgers get involved; a happy coincidence.

Baa: I really don't like Mexican food...sometimes pepperoni pizza is too spicy for me. I once asked the burrito cart guy for a burrito with just beans and cheese but he started lopping on some weird sauce and I'm like, "Oh, no, I mean literally JUST beans and cheese, please," and then after he finally understood the order, he whipped it up and then stared at me for a good 30 seconds trying to figure out how much to charge me for such a baby burrito! In his eyes, I am surely a "Mexican't."

Until next time, don't forget to viva la raza, everybody!

Reuxben

Design_FullMoonLanding

This is a poster I drew for Neat Yale Thing The Sandy Gill Affair to hype their Wednesday show at The Space.

Easter Eggs: 5 pins for 5 band members.

Fun Facts: Narcissistic webcam pics are good for something.

Baa: I played the trumpet from 5th grade through high school. I was pretty okay until I got braces, and had to start over from scratch. A year later, braces removed, I had to start over again from scratch, at which point I said, ehh, I'd rather just draw.

Reuxben

YDN_zlm.BurgerTime

Some guardian Nyao is, although it seems people are apt to watch police brutality rather than help, actually.

Zero Like Me #51:
Burger Time
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Easter Eggs: Dan's Squareman plus inside joke with my editor in panel 1, "Yale" in panel 3.

Fun Facts: This is a landmark comic for modern YDN Comics because I had to fight for the ability to talk "about" race. The inside joke with my editor is that he keeps insisting I'm "edgy," but really, I'm not: this comic is not "about" race, it's literally about race--around it, with relation to, etc.--but it's not "about" race. I remember submitting this comic ignorant (for the most part) that the YDN felt so tenderly about anything regarding race being spoken of in a comic, and that comic went over just fine! But hopefully this comic allows us to talk a little more freely about race.

Baa: This comic goes out to RSR, who believed in me; PFM, who tried not to; and to Bill Burr, the greatest comedian alive. Also, this comic is in no way related to this comic, just coincidence.

Hold your horses,

Reuxben

Herald_zlm.BigBuns

If I ever start a Movement for Peace, I'll propose a merger so that we will become the Movement for PB&J.

Zero Like Me #50
Zero Romance #9:
With Beauty And Justice For All Pt.3 -
Big Buns
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Easter Eggs: Romance 9 and "Yale" in plants. Team Rocket and E Stone society style outfits (from Ono's Pikachu Shocks Back), Snuggie, pentagrammy happy face, Yale SOBs, Kool-Aid (not this kind).

Fun Facts: In my Beauty and Justice, a cult dedicated to happiness with a hint of evil, different costumes stand for different ranks: neophytes wear Snuggies, regulars wear gowns, and the Big Buns wear Team Rocket styled gear, and only they do not wear bunny caps, but otherwise each cap is uniquely styled for its wearer.

Baa: I wish I was in a band. Not necessarily musicians, but I mean, I just wish I had a group of people who would reliably walk in slow motion with me. That would be awesome.

Final artwork coming soon (man, just look at that Herald version...yikes. What a way to celebrate the big 5-0). Until then, don't drink the water.

Reuxben