Fun_NonsenseTheAlbum

An album cover for a CD from the 90s that doesn't exist.

Easter Eggs: The lyrics-like pattie is an old email, and we're up to our neck in/with it.

Used the art from this picture of a print of a scan of a picture I drew in some old sketchbook of Dan.

3/13/16

Reuxben

Fun_DanWings

An early sketch of Dan that I liked, but we ended up going a slightly different direction with his costuming. The hair and part of the face remain in the final version, but this was a nice starting point that was technically a middle point.

Don't forget to smile...

Reuxben

Herald_zlm.NinjaYouCrazy

Everybody get down.
Zero Like Me #97:
Zero Romance #19:
Ninja, You Crazy!
<- Previous Comic...Next Comic->
-First Comic-
Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 6. Romance 19 in panel 2. Ibuki style. Umezawa's Jitte. Dan's Squareman! Cobra Kai never die. 1988.

Fun Facts: Today's setting is the Wimmin's Taybull area of Cross Campus. More importantly, this is how the Herald does April Fools, fools. We were trying to figure out what to do this year and I mentioned I was planning a comic about ninja, and then it ended up being our team theme--this is the first year we've had a unified theme.

I am thrilled we've been able to continue the April Fools specials I started at both the YDN (2nd year) and the Herald (3rd year)--I wasn't sure the Herald would be on board this year, but we ended up getting it together literally at the last minute! I'm also happy that all the YDN regulars joined in, too.

The keen eye can spot a jack kellyian getting murdered, as right he should be, but the keener eye can spot a Squareman, the signature character from my original Herald Comics editor, Dan. He was the first one to print a comic by me and was really encouraging, and thus remains a crucial human being in my existence.

The other key player, Mr. Chittenden, is still involved with comics. He was my Herald editor after Dan, and he helped teach me the basics of incorporating computers into my work--including helping teach me how to make the first Herald Fools Special possible, techniques I used again this year.

Baa: Freshman Year, I met this black guy who loved rap but hated the N-word--predicament! But the kid said rather than N-bomb, he uses the word "ninja," and that nugget of trivia has been bouncing around in my head ever since.

I also drew a ninja for Zach's comic, which is visible here.

The character on the get-up says Rei, which is Japanese for "Zero" and the pose is Ralph Macchio.

I was in Japan when I saw a Zero fighter, the Pearl-Harboring kamikaze plane, in a naval museum. I was planning my next Herald series at the time, so I wrote "Zero" down as a cool possible villain's name.

But then I ended up creating a YDN comic, and I needed a name for a severely depressed guy. And I thought Zero was perfect for multiple reasons, one of which is it's about valuelessness, but also the kamikaze connotation.

I wasn't sure how the color might get screwed up on this (as it tends to whenever I use color for printed comics), so I went overboard with precautions, including using CMKY and stuff, which kinda really impaired the lines.

Coloring can be fun...but lines are so much more interesting...

So basically, what I'm trying to say is I wanna be just like you.

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

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

Herald_daDooom.df

Last find: Kelly, after foiling the Ruemore and meeting Joe, finally lands an official post as Darling Find Clerk.
Now find 8!

This special comic is for the first annual(?) Yale Herald Comics' April Fools Day Stunt; half of a collaboration with Dan.

How to read: Our two comics form one big comic--his character asks, "Want to buy a fish tank?" then my top frame, then back to his comic, "An arm and a leg," and then finish with mine. They link through the gutter-crossing phone wires, enabled by Chittenden's tinkering.

Easter Eggs: There's a canceled event involving smiling, a graffiti "screw D," a store called Noooo, the Kool-Aid Man's wall-smashing catchphrase, Find 8 on the Jam Tank, and fishy debris.

Fun Facts: I'd prepared a comic with one panel reserved for Fooling, but they convinced me to make a whole new comic, which fits in the story, too.

Many thanks to the entire comics staff for taking part--last time I proposed a stunt, it failed miserably!

Reuxben

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

Herald_Guitar

This was my first real attempt to draw a comic for the Herald after a rushed salute to Room Draw '07. The sagely Dan offered me advice on how to come up with material for the Herald and suggested utilizing wordplay. So coupled with my love of puns, I went with this "premiere" for the Herald.

I regret that there were a couple of minor oversights.

Easter Eggs: "Yale" is etched into the sidewalk cracks of the bottom panel.

I had a lot of fun taking advantage of the spacious single panel format the Herald boasts, and I can't wait to get back. In fact, I feel torn about either doing a regular strip, like I've always wanted, or taking advantage of all this space as a single panel. I'd really like to do both, but I'm not sure that would work out. Maybe the strip in the YDN, and the panel in the Herald next year. But we'll see.

In the end, I feel like I owe my loyalties to the Herald though because I love underdogs.

Reuxben