Fun_Salute2TehBenji

Some people are bad.

Some people are good.

Some people are something else.

Here's to you--

Wait a minute...

*adjust*

*adjust*

. . .

*adjust*

That's better!

Ahem...! Here's to you, Benji.

You:
-Power the funniest group at Yale yet don't charge!
-Create imaginative stories every show
-Make Yale improv worth watching
-Could be the next Phil LaMarr '89
-Move like a cartoon
-Are Yalie of the Year

Thanks,

Reuxben

Herald_Scrunch.df

Last find: Kelly tries to talk to Joe but discovers he’s taken.
Now Find 12!

Well, it's the last Herald of the semester. But is it the end of the series? . . . Yes.

I have some great ideas for the next semester that I want to explore. Besides, it'd be a hassle losing an entire week to recapping.

So the next story prospects are:
1) BLR, likely my independent summer comic
2) An action-adventure featuring joyriding con artists
3) A Sci-Fi thriller about humans and their human-like robots
4) An urban Gothic tale about modern vampires
5) An adventure of classic characters with a twist

Easter Eggs: [Edgar Allen] Poe, infinite sophomore slump?, plant monster, Find 12 in frames, burrito.

Fun Facts: This was supposed to be a cliffhanger ending for next semester to pick up, but I came up with this more final ending that is still vague enough for imaginary futures. After inking, it accidentally ended with someone winking, an even better ending.

Thanks To: Eiichiro Oda, Toshihiro Ono, Rufftoon, Laura, Leena, HSAR462: Shops and Shopping, You've Got Mail, isolation, rock.

And thanks to you for checking out the comic, it's meant a lot to me. This year has been quite miserable so it was nice to have an escape device.

And of course, thanks for visiting,

Reuxben

Fun_GildaFinal_Dvp

These are development sketches for Gilda.

So I picked up an issue of the Rumpus Monday night and flipped to its only section worth reading: Remedial Media. I was flattered to see our humble comics section mentioned, leading off with praise for jack kelly's comic, "ydn". But the segment attempted to mock Herald Comics as being just as ugly and unfunny as YDN comics. I intend on sending the editor a letter, and this is me collecting my thoughts.

The Rumpus can criticize the Record for being unfunny because the Rumpus is funny/er and the Record is basically not funny; no one's going to dispute that. The Rumpus can criticize the YDN and the Herald's writing because it is objectively bad at times--misinformation, misquotes and other measurable flaws running counter to the publications' very purpose for existing. No one can deny these shortcomings and thus the Rumpus is indisputably justified in calling them out.

However in this issue, although they concede jack's "unfunny" comic is actually, in fact funny (take that, Herald EIC!), they chastise me, Herald Comics Editor, for not putting the same disclaimer on all Herald Comics. That means the anonymous Wizard(s) of Odd behind Remedial Media find Herald Comics neither beautiful nor funny. This is where the Rumpus loses its footing: they can't just say that and expect anyone with eyes and the ability to read to simply accept that judgment because--guess what?--Herald Comics are beautiful and funny reliably. This is not just my opinion; unrelated Yalies also believe this. IvyGate brought out passionate Yalies to despise YDN comics and their unfunny ugliness while some valiantly, independently lauded the Herald's superior comics in the bottom comments section of this IvyGate article, which has nothing to do with the Herald at all.

In addition, I get positive feedback in person from people I don't even know just while walking around. They approach me just to let me know they enjoy my stuff. Other Herald artists have similar experiences. Clearly Herald Comics can't be blanketly dismissed by some Remedial writer pathetically trying to make fun of something clearly not nigh unanimously disliked like Record/YDN/Herald writing.

The segment came across as desperate because it tried (and failed) to mock Herald Comics. It would be like me trying to tell Michael Jordan he can't play basketball for beans. Who am I to speak? I can't even play--and even after Michael invited me to play, I refused (still waiting for Rumpus comics). But I have the gall to criticize and even attempt to mock Jordan by lumping him in the same class as some C-string Ivy League basketballer? It's quite sad that the Rumpus would fail so outrageously at what they normally excell at--they even included a four-letter word, which is guaranteed comedy gold, you know. If you're doing insult comedy, you ought to do it well or you defeat the purpose.


So I renew my challenge to the Rumpus: if you think you know comics, I dare you to demonstrate what a good comic would look like under Herald conditions--meaning no blue Rumpus humor, and if you want to be truly authentic, you'd have at most 12 hours to create it in. So be funny, be beautiful, and be tactful, or kindly be quiet.

And to close, me and the rest of the Herald Comics staff have certainly earned the right to mock YDN comics because every single week we prove that we know what we're doing, while every single day the YDN proves it does not. Rumpus, you have no credibility in our world, so put up or shut up (please).

Best wishes otherwise,

Reuxben

Fun_RockKorea

Special hello to Yale 2012: congratulations!If you're reading this, please know that at Yale, you're set for an incredible freshman year; it will be the best single year of your life. And then other stuff happens after that, which I won't go into right now.

Anyway, Yale has great stuff for you, including Yalie rock shows--that's right, it isn't all a wasteland of "hip" "hop." They even had a benefit concert for Korean aid recently. These are some drawings from waiting for the show to start.

This is a great guitarist from New Jersey band ASBPN or "After School Band Practice" for short. The guitarists redeemed the unimpressive vocals.

A lady in the crowd.

A Loide in the crowd.

Here's the other guitarist from ASBPN.

I'm happy to report that I most enjoyed a band called the Sandy Gill Affair, even more than the typically dominating Mad Mad Prophets. These are both Yale bands and while the latter is a bit more polished, it still feels too similar, and thus inherently inferior to, the Red Hot Chili Peppers. SGA is significantly improving and captures that spirit of escape I love in music.

So you can catch the Sandy Gill Affair tonight at the 10pm Battle of the Bands in the Saybrook Dining Hall.

Take care, 2012, and please come to Yale, especially if you draw comics, in which case, check out the Herald,

Reuxben

Herald_glumglum.df

Last find: Kelly successfully delivered the Guffinium but only earned enough for a milkshake after Gilda's trumped up fees and fines.
Now find 11!

I apologize. In an ironic twist, my endeavor to bring more professional comics to Yale fell victim to my actually bringing professional comics to Yale. I'm the hired cartoonist for the Rudd Center and I lost about three hours of Heralding time to researching my next Rudd cartoon. This explains the crude inking, blank backgrounds, and oversights in what is inked. This one could have been great but I ran out of time. I'll revisit this comic as soon as possible to at least salvage it online.

Easter Eggs: One Piece, BLR, Find 11 in the bushes.

Fun Facts: This had to be the comic that comes out for Bulldog Days...*facepalm* Maybe they won't realize it's incomplete, maybe it's some kind of sophisticated stylistic choice. At least the general joke comes around.

So next week is the semester finale. Will it be the series finale? I don't know. I've got the second and final "spree," or season, generally planned out, but I don't know if I want to stick with Darling Find, debut BLR, try something completely new, or what.

I wish I knew what to do. This summer might help me figure it out. Also:

Doo yoo right wel?

If so, I'm looking for someone to write, co-write, or adapt an original short story into a comic book over the summer. Trust me, it'll look better than this week's comic. I want to create a "graphic novel" with quality as high as possible for undergrads, but I need a killer story first. If you or anyone you know wants to team up, please email my Yale address.

Thanks for tuning in online and in print,

Reuxben

Fun_BLR_Preview3

Another preview of BLR development sketches; this guy's named Elueso. Which reminds me--

DO
YOU
WRITE
GOOD?

If you do, I'm looking for a writer to work with on a high quality comic book over the summer. I know my written storytelling limits, so if you (or someone you know) would like to write a short story or adapt an old one you've written for us to turn into a comic, please contact my Yale email address!

I do decent work on the Herald weekly, but imagine what I could do with summer's more vast free time? So if you (or someone you know) write well, please email me for more details, as I am extremely eager to push myself artistically this summer by producing a full blown , as-professional-as-possible comic book. Thanks!

Wrapping up some of my big news, I'm going to JAPAN this summer to study Japanese cinema and culture. I can tell this will be a life altering event and I can't wait to get inspired.

The downside of course is that I'll miss Comic-Con, I won't be able to intern somewhere cool (assuming someone would take me), and I can't tutor full time.

But it's Japan!

Hoping against traveler's diarrhea,

Reuxben

Fun_ToWhatEnd!_MO

The MO of this is unrelated to the story, but just breaks up the text.

So here's some of the big news for me.

IvyGate mentions me (sort of).
I knew the April Fools special was well received, but visitors from 7/8 Ivies? (Sadly, no Columbia) . Well, IvyGate started a comics review segment and after the article and comments finished bashing the uninspired featured comics, some people were kind enough to declare the Herald as Yale's true comics at the bottom of the comments section. Beyond that, someone cited me specifically for great work.

I was writing a paper at around 2am in an open common room and I chanced across the article. I broke out screaming and clapping and laughing like an idiot. I kept shaking my head and reassuring myself I didn't misread. It was like reading my first acceptance letter--I felt validated after all the toil and frankly miserable build-up.

This has been the most difficult year of my life and my comics reflect that. I was actually considering quitting the series after being so unhappy with the then current week's comic. But I was re-energized by those supporters and I hope that fervor came across this week.

Anyway, I feel incredibly honored someone would go to bat for me; nobody does that. Thanks again certainly to that guy, but also to all the H>YDNers. This is why I do what I do. I am here to make Yale comics worth reading, redeeming us from what the YDN currently misrepresents. I want Yale comics on the map. I want to embarrass every other publication for not trying.

I can't think of any other way to put it. The Herald is proof undergraduate comics can rock, and it's time people knew this. I'm trying to get the Herald to publish our comics online, and I think they may. If IvyGate catches us, Yale will be the comics capital of the Ivy League. Easy.

In a related story, I was writing another paper in the senior study room. In what must have been hour 15, someone passed by, returned, and poked in through the door to tell me he likes my "cartoons." We'd never seen each other before, so it was incredibly flattering that he would come up to me like that.

In addition, The Purple Crayon used my art in their ad campaign, which was also an incredible honor because those guys, Benji especially, are insanely talented (WildNOut!). I cannot understand how they don't charge, yet the Viola Question and Ex!t Players do. I could see Ex!t maybe charging, but the VQ? The Crayon owns Yale improv, and I am glad to help them out.

I've been posting art for a year now and I think I'm finally finding a place. I am happy when my art makes others happy. So I am happy right now.

Reuxben

Herald_Snkkt.df

Last find: Kelly finally navigated her way to Dupin's to deliver the Guffinium to its rich, powerful shopkeep.
Now find 10!

Ten and still introducing characters. I'm so inexperienced.

Details on some personal, GREAT NEWS! during next week's posts (cuz who else am I going to tell?).

News:
1. Ivygate (kinda) mentions me and the team via article comments!
2. I'm finally going to JAPAN!
3. The Purple Crayon uses my Benji sketch in their latest show ad!

Easter Eggs: Tri-force, Maltese Falcon, GS Ball, Mexico, Deadboy.

Fun Facts: This comic cured my desire to quit the series after last week's funk. For fun, I tweaked Kelly's design a bit; more on redesigns later.

note to self: Back on Fridays, jack kelly offers "ydn" and "anorexia." Yeah.

This one was dedicated to the H>YDNers who supported/validated us all at IvyGate. I back this one for the most part--my goal is to make the Herald Yale's bastion for quality comics and the envy of the Ivy League, even the nation. It is also a challenge to the YDN to, in jack's words, "freaking step it up." Oddly enough, today the YDN wrote on Garry Trudeau's ugly yet funny undergrad comics!

This one was not published and I didn't fight for it, either. I know it's controversial, but the Herald has permitted commentary on other disfunctions (depression, violation, racism) why not anorexia? I understand they want to be especially sensitive because the relevant story is being published this week, and I myself am a little disturbed by the comic's darkness, but this satire is worth making because the issue is that important and fixable.

"You can take [readers] to dark places so long as you make it bearable."
--Garry Trudeau

Thanks again for the support,

Reuxben

Record_Narcissus

At long last, it's this year's final contribution to the Yale Record, for the Love Issue. I eagerly await the new administration to kick in next semester.

This piece will accompany an article I pitched about Narcissus experiencing a lovers' spat with himself. Further delightful is that one of the few funnymen on staff wrote it. The original draft was really funny, but the editing process watered the gem down to grainy sand. In any case, the article's relatively worth your time.

As for the art, drawing reflections is a nightmare for me because I'm not good at replicating specifics, and here I have to do it thrice. I just rely on the hair and eyebrows to indicate this is the same person.

Easter Eggs: The Old Owl, the Record's lonely, rejected mascot soars majestically in the sky's reflection. Ambrosia-coke for the win.

Fun Facts: This composition mimics a real painting of Narcissus I googled.

And of course, the usual warning about wasting your life reading the Record is in effect! So check out the art then hit those recycle bins hard.

Reuxben

Herald_nigelpiggy.jk

Excellent news: that eyesore jack kelly will never darken Mondays again--jack kelly mondays are canceled!

Although I don't want him polluting my comic's posts, I must respect our mutual hatred of blurred Herald printing. So to make it easier for Friday audiences to understand his trash as soon as possible and be done with it, he'll be rejoining me on Fridays.

So enjoy "nigel," his hypocritical, anti-British racism incarnate.

He also surprised us with an extra dose called "piggy," a dated reference to a song nobody remembers. Great.


To take the high road, I'm also including his contributions to the Herald Comics' April Fools Stunt, where he leeched off of the incredible Jinjin for humor.


Above is "hunter" and below is "headshot." Riotous.

To normalcy,

Reuxben

[Update! Yesterday was my one year anniversary! A whole year posting art, and I think I'm finally getting somewhere. More on this later. Thanks for the support. --Reuxben]

Herald_Bling.df

Last find: After the Ruemore escaped Kelly's headlock, the Ruemore got a strange call and an even stranger delivery.
Now find 9!

This comic's goal is showing that map and explaining the Elite system pithily. And cleverly pulling last week's comic into the actual story.

Easter Eggs: Find 9 on the California-y map, post-rejection Brock helping out, last week's onomatopoeia, and a plant creature in the final panel.

Fun Facts: The VP combines the two Herald Editors-in-Chief I've worked for because they share the same first name. This is my most edited comic, but I'm still not entirely happy with it.

So much for getting ahead of schedule...

Reuxben

Penny_DoomsdayVaultII

Here is my other Penny Dreadful submission, for the second episode of a story called "The Doomsday Vault."

Easter Eggs: "All ur base" and an evil face appear on the left screens, the final lines appear top right.

Fun Facts: Since this guy grows plants, his chair is apple y and the holo-projectors are twiggy. White people are convenient to draw.

That's it for this issue's previews. If you see the publication around, please pick it up.

Jerks.

Reuxben

Penny_ToWhatEnd!

I'm now drawing for The Penny Dreadful, an exciting publication I hope survives. Egotistically, I hope that if I give it some nice art, it'll build an audience, get legit, and survive. Perhaps I might leave the Record for this? I don't know. But it was a lot of fun.

Anyway, this piece is an illustration for a story called "To What End!," which you can read after the issue publishes soon.

Easter Eggs: The man in the moon looking worried, the X-Files logo, Pacman/ghost dust wads, and Darling Find brand kicks.

Fun Facts: I'm practicing wacky perspective after Chamba. I realized last night I would love to draw for a living and must break old habits.

Thanks for visiting, especially those across the Ivies. I've only got Columbia left to complete my Bingo card today.

[UPDATE: Peculiarly, the story never got published, so this art never saw daylight either.]

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

Fun_Mask

We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes...
--Paul Laurence Dunbar

I love this poem.

Happy 100th post, 800th visitor, 2nd room draw,

Reuxben

Fun_DressUpJuno

Over break I saw a magazine picture of the Juno girl and tried to mimic it.

Now to business,

Reuxben

Fun_Cheapskate

I'm so cheap, I'd rather camp out in Bradley Airport for eleven hours than use CT Limo just so I can save a few dollars by using the discounted Yale bus service.

Geez!

At least we'll be back at Yale soon; only eight more hours to go!

Reuxben

Fun_UHTSS.df_MO

To close Spring Break posts, here's the MO of a sentimental favorite for me, "UHTSS."

First is the penciled final with posing at left, fight sketches and hangers at top, and D. Kat exits at right.

Of course, at bottom is me trying to figure out how to draw certain underpants; pretty difficult, actually...so penciled "finals" often reveal changes that occurred right before inking, especially in backgrounds.

I've now locked in which lines I'm using and am ready to add blacks and then go back with pencil to hatch in what I think needs grayish color.

The fashion show sequence, especially the middle Katara costume, is a good example of this, where once there was originally white will eventually be some nonblack "color."

This relieving step means we're almost done and that we can finally start "clean up," erasing the pencil to begin adding colors worry-free about pencil undermining ink. There are some patches of spot colors I don't want to forget after clean up, though.

Finally pencil-free, there isn't too much that can go wrong; just lots of sweeping. I tried using real color once, but that went fuzzily wrong when the Herald printers blurred everything up.

Paralyzed by the risk, I only go black and white for now. I dream of using that newfangled Photoshop doohickey to provide colorful online exclusives, but I hate using Macs and don't know much about Photoshop yet.

So until I learn Photoshop, please bear with the panda express as it chugs along.

Reuxben

Fun_BLR_Preview2

It's not that I've run out of stuff to post...

....it's just that I'm eager to preview what a character from "BLR" might look like. Yeah, that's it!

Well, this is an old scan from the development pages of a character named Emo. BLR, again, was supposed to run in Darling Find's place, before I realized I needed more time to iron out the story.

Crossing fingers for '09,

Reuxben

Food_Fitness

It's been a while, but here's a food cartoon for the Rudd Center. This one's about a study that shows that fitness can be helpful towards academic achievement.

Easter Eggs: The kid's shirt has arrows, like Aang's tattoos, from Avatar. Speaking of which, there hasn't been a new episode yet this semester. Ridiculous.

Reuxben

Fun_Neener.df_MO

Even though last time was an MO, it would feel odd having a non-DF Friday. So here's the Making Of Neener.

Recently, I've been scanning pencil finals along with rough drafts and notebook drafts, which should be neat for all. And this pencil final is particularly interesting because the ink final has a different ending.

The original was a close up of a defeated Kelly, but after I sketched what her crash might look like I knew that would make a funnier, more logical ending. So after all that practicing for the close up, I discarded it for the doodled ending.

And the comic's left border reveals my attempt at quality control: coloring checklists. The system's still struggling.

Finally, while lettering an hour or so before the Herald's deadline, I debated over the villain's name and had to write it out a couple of times to be sure that's what I wanted. I had wanted the ID tag to read the Ruemore, but that felt too close to the Rumor.

Well, everything worked out for the most part and we have our final comic, Neener.

Reuxben

Fun_BadHabit_MO

From last semester, here's the Making Of "Bad Habit." I've been keeping tighter track of the comic-making process more recently, so we can all look forward to more in depth MOs once we get to this semester's stuff.

But about this piece, first we have some pencil skeleton drafts. The sketch on the left started with a more unconventional layout, with the main characters existing outside of the frames, actually interacting with them. But then I decided a more conventional layout would be for the best. Although I did decide to make the guy spit at the end, after a quick sketch.

So this final layout made more sense, and as a result I created one of my more popular comics from last semester.

Sometimes wacky and revolutionary isn't always the best choice. But then again...

Reuxben

Herald_sciencehill.jk

It's about to get rough around here: jack and I are on Spring Break. While that means 100% more California, it also means no scanner and no "fresh" content for two weeks. So it's off to the ol' art vault starting Wednesday.

But for today, we have some more of jack's anti-14College venting. If you didn't know (?!) Yale's pretty much getting two new colleges, which will undoubtedly change the Yale experience for future Yalies--either by robbing them of what us 12Collegers know so well, or of course, giving someone, who might have been rejected due to space limitations, a seat to experience some kind of Yale.

Happy California,

Reuxben

Herald_Eeeee.df

Last find: Kelly nervously meets Joe, the Orangutan Books clerk before remembering she's got to return that Guffinium to Mr. James.
Now find 7!

This is a record--I completely finished at 3am! 3am! Caveat: I split up the work over three days since I had a midterm on the Herald's earlier pre-break due date and couldn't afford to binge draw. But I think it was worth it because I got to try some new angles.

Easter Eggs: Find 7 is on Mr. James' radio. The couple in frame one reference Depressed plus something else. Dupin's name is based on the same thing as Orangutan Books.

Fun Facts: The Darling Find indeed faces a corner, but I imagine as an "Elite" shop, its customers actively seek it out.

Happy spring break, Yale. It'll be a slow/quick two weeks.

Reuxben

Fun_FroshOlympics_Design

This is how it all started. By "it," I mean my defeatist attitude about T-Shirt contests.

Here's my submission to the JE Freshman Olympics T-Shirt contest, drawn on a Yorkside napkin after Phil's A-hoops championship game.

The JE rep said they'd use it, but then a few days before the event, they decided not to. Wha?

I had even made an alternate version for easier scanning. I could understand a cutthroat rejection if this were a professional job, but come on...these people lived a couple of floors above me.

Reuxben

Herald_interview.jk

With our second jack kelly monday comes a treat at the end--some online exclusives!

Interestingly, jack doesn't cuss even though he easily could have. But I agree with him; why do Yalies do such stupid things? Think whatever you want, just keep it locked up in your privileged little head if you know it's racist. Racism makes even less sense if you're doing it anonymously: what do you gain from people knowing someone hates certain people? It's like being one of a mob yelling "defense" at a basketball game. Really, what's the point?

Just because you can say whatever you want doesn't mean you should. --Glenda Gilmore at the History of Hate Panel
But to be fair, criticism should fly free, just not racism. For instance, say you picked up a copy of the Yale Record's Machine Issue and saw their incomprehensibly unprofessional, outrageously poor execution. Then you might feel inclined to the state the following:

Fair and balanced, jack. Good job.

Reuxben