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Hey everybody, I will be at the Central Canada Comic Con in Winnipeg this weekend (October 28-30). I’ll be hunkered down in Artists Alley hocking my wears which includes copies of the Zintel Wilderness Guide: Vol. 1 and Tactless in the Face of Danger, as well as giving away stickers and sketches and meaty handshakes.
As of this writing I have no idea what my table number is so make sure to check back here for an update once I get more info. Or follow me on twitter for updates (@JamesZintel)
Life has caught up to me so the colours for the strip will be done later. Just think of it as a throwback to Gary & Ted of yore. Of if you’re so inclined you can bust out your crayolas and colour it yourself.
I tried pushing both buttons on my parents new two flush toilet, the multiverse still remains closed to me.
This strip is entirely based on a true story except replace Pac Man with Final Fight Double Impact and replace Ted with me.
It was either this or an April Fool’s Day joke and frankly, every day around here is April Fools day.
I tried these nicknames out on coworkers yesterday. Anyone need to hire a graphic designer?
Speaking of t-shirts, have you gotten your Bear Factoids “Koala Punt” shirt yet? If not, check the link (cannon not included).
It looks like my battle against good taste and common decency has been taken up to a new level.
Last One I Swear of Gary & Ted’s Strip Search Guide
on January 28, 2010 at 12:00 amPosted In: Comics
As I write this I have yet to go through airport security but at the time of publishing I could be deep in the heart of Texas or sitting in some sort of airport holding cell after an series of missteps and having used my one phone call in an attempt to win Super Tramp tickets from the local radio station.
Sometimes I wonder why the local print media won’t run my strips. Then I type the phrase “Bird A.I.D.S”.
Based almost entirely on a true story except I met Fanny Pack Spider-Man on October 30th, thus making it less creepy. I gave the candy to a co-worker. Not pictured, the Jehovah’s Witness that chased me down the street later that day.
After over three years of trying, I’ve finally achieved the impossible. A Night Court reference. In celebration here’s the Night Court theme song:
Doo-doodle-doo-doo-doo-dun-dun-dun…Doo-doodle-doo-doo-dun-dun-dun…
Where else can you get a references to Canadian football, U.S. presidents and rap groups?
Confession time, the actual strip I had planned for today didn’t work out exactly as I had hoped but it was too late to scrap it and start from the beginning and still meet my deadline. So instead of a half-assed strip I wasn’t happy with I bring you and updated classic Gary and Ted originally found here .
Nobody though he was actually dead right?
Also the first person to email me with what the symbols beneath “He Lived” says snags themselves a free copy of Tactless in the Face of Danger.
And we are back. Thanks to everyone for their patience while I wrapped a few other projects up.
Onward and upward and all that jazz.
I kind of had reservations about doing a strip that refernces a fairly local debate that may not resonate with everyone so if you’re not entirely sure what I’m referncing here I’m going to hook you up with a link.
I almost forgot to mention the “guest” strip I did for the fine young gentlemen over at Three Panel Opera this past Monday. I put the word guest in quotation marks because, well, you really need to see it to fully understand.
If anyone wants to try these out go right ahead. But if it works you owe me a dollar and a free steak dinner from a middle of the road steak house.
Sorry for the late update. I was out of town for the past week and forgot to upload this strip before I left. Thanks for your patience.
So, what do you think of Gary and Ted’s new designs?
The new book is on sale, checkout the latest blog post for full details.
I like to think I’m providing a service to all the single gents out there.
This is my experience with the new mystery Doritos that have just been released. I think it’s a secret attempt to generate more interest in Cool Ranch.
Son of Horrible Responses to Simple Job Interview Questions
on February 13, 2009 at 12:00 amPosted In: Comics
More Horrible Responses to Simple Job Interview Questions
on February 11, 2009 at 12:00 amPosted In: Comics
Horrible Responses to Simple Job Interview Questions
on February 9, 2009 at 12:00 amPosted In: Comics
It’s been quite hectic for me the last few weeks so I’m going to be taking a week off. Instead of doing a guest week of strips or skipping a week of updates I’m going to be doing something I like to call a “cheat week” where I reuse the same art for the week but change up the dialogue. So just a heads up and things will return to normal next week.
The 300th Gary & Ted strip! Wahoo!
Go ahead try and guess the geeky refernce in the title. I dares ya.
I’d like to say at this time I have no ill will towards the people of Italy. They make an excellent pizza pie and contributed to the liberation of the Mushroom Kingdom on numerous occasions.
I pride myself on highbrow humor.
A lot of people make references to the ’80s, but how many do the 40s?
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I feel as though I may have to explain myself on this one. I’m in no way trying to make light of young people addicted to drugs, but more the ways that children are told about the dangers of drugs. Case and point, this Teen Titans drug special I found in the fifty cent bin. I bought it because I thought it’d be funny and I’m a big George Perez fan. As I read this, every kid they show is the hardest drug user in the world. These 13 year olds are doing drugs that would make Jim Morrison cringe. So remember kids if Speedy tells you to stay off drugs, dammit you listen cause he knows Green Arrow and Ollie Queen will f**K your s**t up. |
I’ll be perfectly honest, I have no real choice in the U.S presidential election. I tend not to take interest in politics in general and even more so when it occurs in a country I don’t live in. So when people ask me who I like in the election, my answer is Chewbacca because Wookies are always the correct answer.
I’m not sure how well Prism is known outside of Canada, so here’s the song that I’m referencing. Just bask in it’s awesomeness. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnKpC8pSWI0
And we are back. Computer back up and running and how some Gary and Ted being dropped on you. SHAZAM! Also if these shoes already exist I weep for society, if not, the idea is © James Zintel and HyperWrench Productions.
I suck at croquet, but am awesome at mallet fight.
It seems that the “new” Facebook pretty much makes the Gary and Ted App kind of useless, so if you want to enjoy it, you have to keep the old layout which in my opinion is fine just as long as you don’t get crazy with the apps (the Gary and Ted one excluded, that one you should add twice). And while you’re partaking in the current internet social fad, why not join the Gary and Ted group? All the cool kids are doing it. And by cool kids I mean people I conned into joining.
Sometimes art imitates life. This strip is pulled directly from a happening from my every day life. As I was walking down the street the other day, this shirtless guy stops me asking for fifty cents. This guy was drunk off his ass and unable to stand up straight. The number of smart ass comments that ran through my head are enough to make a nun swear. My response was “Sorry, I don’t have any cash on me” which was a total lie, I had a fairly decent amount of cash, but if anybody is getting liquor out of my funds it’s going to be me. It also shows that I’m a huge wuss because there’s no way in hell I’d say that to a shirtless drunk out of fear of him beating me. But on the internet, I’m all macho and crap.
For those who are interested the HyperWrench Store is back in business. I’ve decided to take everything in house and be the one stop shop for all you Gary and Ted purchasing needs. So hit up the store link at the top or just click right here. The main hold up was mostly from getting PayPal to work, but now it seems to be working and hopefully everything will go smoothly.
Buying from the HyperWrench Store not only gets you comics that aren’t available in most stores, you also help support the site. Every little bit helps and is very much appreciated. The store is also why I won’t put up a “Tip the Cartoonist Jar” or bribe my readers with a “if I get X amount of dollars, I’ll post a bonus fancy strip”. I find those things tacky and kind of in bad taste. I know I’ve never “Tipped the Cartoonist” why should I expect others to? And the bonus content just seems silly. Personally it’s a lot of pressure assigned to the bonus strip, now instead of free content there’s this added stress to make it worth how much people payed for it. Also, who gets to see the bonus strip, only those who pay? Or is it available to everyone? There are way to many “What If’s” that go along with that stuff and I tend to avoid complicated crap like that. And I don’t really like doing more work than I have to.
Some of you might be saying “but James, I want to show my support but I can’t really afford to buy any books, how can I help?” to which I respond like so: If you want to support “Gary and Ted”, tell your friends and family, email your favorite strip to people you love, email your least favorite strip to people you hate. Take advantage of the social bookmarking buttons under each strip/post. Have a blog, why not write a review? I’ll even do interviews if you are so inclined, written, audio, or video, I have no problem with any of those (but I’ll tell you now, I only do nudity if it’s tasteful).
Wow, that’s a lot of words. I think I need top lie down for a little while. Maybe get a sandwich.
What do you think of Gary’s new design?
Finally Gary and Ted has gone legit. And by that I mean, I’ve officially registered for the copyright and got the certificate in the mail.
Now nobody can claim ownership for I have a piece of paper that states otherwise. MWAHAHA! This must be how God felt when he copyrighted the Koran (and yes I do know how blasphemious that statement was, that’s just how I roll).
And for the American readers, have a great Independence Day wherein you celebrate Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum stoping an alien invasion, as per my understanding of the holiday.
Crap like this is why I’ll never be in newspapers.
And so the storyline comes to an end. There where a few things that I was going for with this little story arch, mostly give a bit of Gary’s back story and try to give a bit of insight into his motivations and such. And if you didn’t really dig on this story, that’s fine, stay tuned for more of the random stuff that you the tens of Gary and Ted readers have come to expect.
If you go back to the last strip you may notice it might have changed. The first go I had at it looked really rushed and frankly, pretty crappy. So I redid it and I think it looks a bit better, though the dimensions of it don’t work super well on a computer screen. Hopefully when I set it up for print, it is easier to read.
I received in the mail my own copy of the first ever Gary and Ted print in the 4 x 5 size. I think it turned out pretty swell. See it in action: (also pictured my cell phone, that’s right I can make phone calls anywhere, anytime, I envy no man!)
The only snag with the whole print thing is the deviantArt pricing structure. For someone to go an purchase the 4×5 print directly from them it’ll run $1.95 plus shipping. For me to order them it’s something like $0.33. The reason why I bring this up is because when I look at the price it goes off in my head “I could sell these for cheaper and still turn a profit as opposed to having others go through DA to get the print”.
Now I understand DeviantArt probably has higher overhead costs than I do, but when I could easily sell something half price and still make a decent profit, it kind of makes me take off the artist hat and put on my business man hat. You see my main approach to setting my price points is “what would I pay for this”. I also keep in mind the production cost of the item as well, but for the most part I put myself in the shoes of the customer. When it comes to the 4×5 print, I can honestly say that $2 plus shipping is not worth it. The most I would pay would probably be a dollar, and that only would happen if I knew the person well.
So why am I telling you the gentle Gary and Ted readers? Mostly because I’m looking for some suggestions of what I should do with the mini prints. I like them, I want to do something with them, I just don’t think it would be right to expect people to pay that much money for them. I was thinking of making them a bonus for store purchases (I’m in the process of creating an updated store, I just need to get PayPal to stop being a jerk) or making them exclusive convention give aways. As in you see me at a con, you get a nifty mini print along with an awkward conversation with me. It’s a two for one!
So any other ideas?
Time once again for an extended story arc. Hooray! Last time this happened was with the Space Monkey Saga back in December. I think this has the makings of something special seeing as this is the first time we will get a look at a member of Gary or Ted’s extended family. So watch this space for a possible glimpse of Gary’s Popa. Big things are a brewin’ I tells ya!
This strip was inspired by a comment made by my brother in the Old Navy in Saskatoon and the good brother I am, I twisted it in my own way to include an alien. It’s always funny when family and friends try to give me strip ideas and they are the worst ideas ever (I mean you see the crap I put up here, just imagine it being even worse) but some off hand comment in a clothing store, that’s what I use.
And coincidently it also happens to be his birthday today, so a Happy Birthday to you big brother, enjoy your day. Just remember, I’m still plotting my revenge for the countless “Quit hitting yourself!” sessions.
Any PSP using Gary and Ted readers out there, your buddy James as a special present for you. An exclusive Gary and Ted PSP wallpaper!
(just right click -> save as)
How would you like to own a fancy print of your favorite webcomic? Well I don’t know about them, but I’m offering one. That’s right now you too can own an exclusive Gary and Ted print. Just click on the picture below to purchase a print in one of three different sizes.
This strip is an example of how sometimes I need to do a bit of self censorship. Gary originally said that the models where giving out something a little different and more adult in nature (if you’re really interested look up “hj” on Urban Dictionary) along with the corn dogs. I thought it was funny but it seemed inappropriate for the strip.
I often wonder if I had put down the Playstation controller and picked up a text book if my life would be different. I mean I might have made the deans list if not for Grand Theft Auto, but mowing down pedestrians and killing hookers (in a video game, I should quantify that, I don’t want cops busting down my door with a list of hit and runs and missing persons) is a lot more fun than memorizing information just so I can regurgitate it back on paper in hopes to score a better percentile.
But alas I did not study that hard but the side effect turned out to be creating Fireball which in turn lead to Gary and Ted. So I guess some good came out of it. I can’t do division in my head but I write a mean dick joke.
In honor of Mother’s Day I’d like to dedicate this strip to my own mom, the woman who did such a good job raising me that she had to explain to me why a rape joke was in poor taste. And to her I say, better luck next time.
Happy Mother’s Day!
And if you’re cheap as well feel free to send this strip off to your own mother, I won’t mind. In fact I encourage it.
And we are back. Thanks for putting up with the “Best Of” week while I got settled into my new place of residence. I have a new creative vigor that has come from a change of scenery as well as my experience at the Calgary Comic Expo. I think it is safe to say that there are bright things on the horizon for Gary and Ted so watch this space for what I hope to be big announcements in the coming months.
Last “Best Of”. Thanks for bearing with me while I got moved around, everything should return to normal come Monday.
Best of week continues.
I’m a little swamped this week what with moving and all so I decided to do a little “best of” this week, but a an added little bonus, I reformatted the old strips into the new wide-screen site design. So it’s a mix of old and new, hooray!
Just a last minute reminder that I’ll be at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo this weekend, so if you are interested in meeting the man himself (that being me) stop by table A37 in Artists Alley. I have a platonic butt-pat with your name on it.
New site design! Yay!
A call back to this. Gary finally gets his revenge.
Also the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo is only like 13 or so days away. Stop by table A37 in Artists Alley and say hi. And pick up an exclusive Gary and Ted comic and a hearty handshake and/or sweaty hug from yours truly.
I can’t for the life of me understand why this word has become part of the common vernacular. After seeing the word “va jay jay” on the cover of a magazine at the grocery store I’m ready to move to a shack in the woods, as soon as I can figure out how to get an internet connection and indoor plumbing in the woods.
Check out the new Gary and Ted trailer I made in hopes of gain more readers.
EDIT: Seems the YouTube link isn’t working so here’s the Metacafe one.
I’m going to try something new this week with the update schedule. Instead of Monday and Thursday, I’m going to shoot for Monday, Wednesday, Friday. That’s right an extra dose of Gary and Ted for the tens of G&T fans. Hooray!
Happy single awareness day everybody!
#152 Abomination of Common Decency
on February 4, 2008 at 12:00 amPosted In: Comics, One Way Ticket...
I have received my conformation for the Calgary Comic Expo. I’ll be at table A37 in Artists Alley. For more info about the Calgary Comic Expo visit their official site at http://www.calgaryexpo.com. Hope to see you there.
Make sure to visit my sketch blog. It’ll put hair on your chest (and I’m not just talking about the ladies).
Haven’t you heard? Fireball #2 is on sale now in the HyperWrench Store. If you buy it you will automatically become more attractive to the opposite sex (or the same sex if you prefer)*.
*Results may vary, please consult with your doctor before attempting any sort of heavy lifting.
Well look at that I guess I’m not taking the rest of the week off. I seem to be contradicting myself on the Thursday posts a lot lately. You can chalk this strip up to me getting a new Wacom Bamboo tablet and my need to play with it. So instead of waiting till next week I figured I may as well post the new strip and get rid of the holiday strip from the main page.
Also make sure you check out the HyperWrench Store and drop some of that Christmas cash that is burning a hole in your pocket (I know you want to). Also if your on the Facebook why not join the Gary and Ted group. All the cool kids are doing it and you should always do whatever you can to be popular (it says so in the bible, as per my understanding anyway).
Happy X-Mas people! No strip Thursday, James is on holidays. See you next week.
Remember how I said that the Gary and Ted book wasn’t going to be up on the Comixpress site? Neither do I but the book is available there and I’ve softened my stance so if you head over to the store and you can pick up a copy or three. Also make sure you pick up a copy of Fireball #2 while your at it.
This would be a great time for me to tell you to go and pick up a copy of the new Gary & Ted book “Society Tastes Funny” but the lovely people at ComixPress have decided to not list it in their online store and won’t respond to my emails. The whole experience with this company has been maddening from a three month wait to get my stuff printed to receiving a bunch of damaged copies due to no packaging (they claim it was customs, I claim it as shenanigans) and now they won’t even list my stuff in their store. Frankly they have pretty much lost my business and I’m ready to head over to Ka-Blam if only they had payment options other than PayPal (it’s a pain trying to set up a Canadian PayPal account).
So does anyone out there know of some quality print on demand services?
Also if you are interested in getting a copy directly from me I’ve set up an order form over at the HyperWrench Store. It’s pretty low tech at the moment, print out the PDF send it with a check or money order, but it gets the job done for now. It will probably take a while to process the order and stuff, but if you’ve got the patience it’s well worth the effort. Who knows it may be the best way for me to sell things online from now on.
Also, those of you on the Facebook join the Gary and Ted group. All the cool kids are doing it.
![#133 Go [*Insert Local Sports Club Name*]](http://garyandted.com//comics/2007-11-29.gif "#133 Go [*Insert Local Sports Club Name*]")
Hey, did you hear that the Saskatchewan Roughriders won the Grey Cup? A better question is, do you care? I sure don’t. Yet people seem to want to talk about it even though I have no interest in the subject at all. I think I should start going up to people and start talking about things I’m interested. “How about that latest issue of Green Lantern, Hal Jordan’s pretty bad ass” or “Man I just beat Through The Fire and The Flames on hard”. And I would get the strangest looks, but if I say “How about *local sports team* they are pretty good this year” it’s perfectly acceptable. Some times I think I should just give up the whole being a nerd thing and learn what a “push up” is, start wearing jerseys and actually talk to girls. Or not, that sound like entirely too much work and I am quite comfortable in my groove and my nerd rage. Nerd Rage, it’s what fuels the internet!
Welcome to the first and last political cartoon I’ll probably ever do. Seeing as it’s election time in Saskatchewan I figured I’d do my part and be topical. And that’s all I’ll do seeing as I probably won’t vote unless some sort of wrestler or action star (or a combination of both) runs for office.
A bit early for the Halloween celebrations, but seeing as it’s on Wednesday, and I’d rather be early than late. Also there is this unintentional link between Ted and his costume. I didn’t really pick up on it until I was finished. First one to guess gets a prize. The prize is a big sweaty man hug from yours truly. It’s a gift that keeps on giving!
I don’t know why but I always think emo kids look like Batman villains. Not like the main villains like the Joker or the Riddler, but almost like henchmen or the lame, one time appearance bad guys. Actually I think I do know why, it’s because of Tim Burton. It seems to me that the emos (is that the appropriate word for more than one emo? I know the plural of emu is emus so I think it applies) flock to this man and seem to adopt his visual style as their own. On a related note, I found this site while trying to get a visual idea for the emo kids. Is this for real or an elaborate hoax? I’m half tempted to submit an “emo” photo of myself. And by emo I mean a picture of me with a hot dog in one hand and the other giving the thumbs up. That’s emo right?
Also, notice the new url? I opened the ol’ wallet and paid the enormous sum of $10 to actually register garyandted.com. I think the move over didn’t cause any big problems, but if anyone notices any, let me know so they can be sorted out.
As you may notice, you’ve probably been redirected to the new url. That’s right, I took the hit and spent the $10 to finally register garyandted.com. I should probably go through and edit every reference to the old site url, but seeing as I don’t really feel like it and it redirects anyway, I think I’ll just let it be for now until I have more time available. And if you’re a rss subscriber, I’m not sure how this switch will effect you so you may want to re-subscribe just to be safe.
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! Why do we celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving? I have no idea. All I know is I get today off work and get to eat turkey sammiches for the next week and a half. Maybe I could go and find out what is really the back story behind Canadian Thanksgiving, but I’m already a citizen and I don’t need to know this stuff. Ignorance is bliss!
I’m actually ahead on my strips. Why? Metroid Prime 3 of course. I’ve only been playing for a few hours but I am enjoying the crap out of it. And I’ve got these friend vouchers that I need to send out, but none of my friends have Wiis, so I’m will to give them away to G&T readers. My Wii # is 4961 6532 0548 3262. Let me know if you add me so I can add you.
And I am back, if you noticed that there was no new strip last Thursday it was because I was busy with finishing off a few other projects and getting them off to the printer. One of them was the second issue of Fireball. I also have issue three well underway so there won’t be as long of a wait between issues this time (hopefully). I also finished the first collection of Gary and Ted strips. That’s right, there shall be a Gary and Ted book. I sent it off to the printers a few days ago and expect it in late September/early October. Check out the cover below>
Click to see larger version
And while I’m at it, check out the newly improved HyperWrench Store for all your HyperWrench merch. Hooray Capitalism!
This would be the part where I’d probably go into a long winded rationalization of why I chose to poke fun at the Family Circus, but I really have no reason. I just don’t find them funny and that Billy kid’s a dink. That’s all I’ve got.
One hundredth strip. Hooray. My table pen’s battery died while attempting to ink this page, so I had to bust out the hand inking tools. Old School. And yes I do run around in a Wolverine mask on a daily basis.
Dear Guy in WalMart parking lot,
I know that you may get excited about a “Hot Car” in a parking lot enough to approach a stranger and tell them about it, but I don’t. There are only three cars I will really go out of my way to see;
1) The Batmobile
2) Oscar Meyer Wienermobile
3) Any car with scantily clad women passing out Green Lantern power rings, hot dogs wrapped in money, and monkey butlers.
Yours in Christ,
James
P.S: Come and join the new HyperWrench Community, it is the definition of mediocre!
I’ve done away with the forums and have replaced them with a new community type set up. Check it out at community.hyperwrench.com. Please join, I don’t want to be the only member just like my ALF appreciation society. What a mess that was.
I know that a number of people have weighed in on the whole Zuda Comics thing, but I haven’t yet so I’m going to. I think that DC really dropped the ball on this. Instead of milking the dreams of aspiring cartoonists in some crappy American Idol vote for the “best”, they should have taken an approach that they already have in place at their Vertigo imprint where there is the balance of existing properties and creator owned. Seeing as they already have a bevy of existing known characters and a number of top name creators, why not put it to use. They could do stories featuring characters like other members of the Green Lantern Corp or other characters like those without a regular series. This brings in the established core audience that read their monthly titles and then target a new audience.
This also allows for the promotion of upcoming titles, testing the waters for new series, or building up new creators for their monthly print comics. I know I’d read a weekly strip staring Kilowog or the Red Tornado. With those they could also run strips by new talent, but make it more of a work for hire type of thing wherein they keep the rights, not just the copyrights. And do away with this vote thing. Just give those who you deem talented and who do stories that are interesting the same treatment they would any other pitch coming across their desks. If American Idol has taught us anything, the general public isn’t that good and determining quality
Then again I’m just basing this on the little there is on this at the moment. Also listen to the Daily Affirmations by Kristofer Straub and Scott Kurtz on this subject, I found them to be right on the money with the same way that I approached this news when I first heard it and put it more eloquently than I can. I no not right that all well an make good reason sometimes.
And we are back. Why does it seem that a week is such a long time? Fireball #2 is almost ready to go off to the printer so it will no longer delay Gary and Ted for the time being, until issue three which I’ve already started and hopefully can keep up with along with G&T.
What, it’s a long weekend what do you people want from me? Originally I intended to do a filler image, but this seemed funnier. Anyway the filler is to kind of give myself the week off to get ahead a bit on my strips and hopefully get Fireball #2 done. I have the lettering half finished, but I don ‘t really like doing it so that makes putting it off that much more justifiable. It will be done sooner or later, preferably sooner.
Nothing says class like a mildly offensive t-shirt and cheesy stache. How could the ladies not be impressed? Cause that’s what I’m banking on.
Today marks the one year anniversary of the strip. It’s weird looking back at the earlier strips and seeing how my art has evolved and changed over the year. So help celebrate by going back and reading through the archives. I suggest doing it while at work, I mean nobody expects you to work on a Monday any way. Also because I’m a such a nice guy a little listening pleasure to help celebrate the anni. Enjoy.
And thus the sweeping two part coffee epic is over. I think it’s safe to say that this was the type of epic that makes “Crisis on Infinite Earths” look like “Ultraforce”. These strips were originally parts in the fourth and unreleased issue of the original Fireball comics. I have the entire issue finished but then I made the decision to relaunch the book with a more streamlined story and such. I’ll post the original pages if I can find them.
A little late today mostly due to the fact that yesterday I was really tired and felt that sleep was more important at the time, but as they say better late then never.
I’ve finally been able to get my Nintendo DS to connect to my wireless. Now I understand the mean of futility by attempting to play a game of Tetris against a faceless opponent from somewhere around the world. I got my but kicked within a minute. I shant be going online looking for competition for awhile because it just is not as fun as I thought it would be. By definition I am a casual gamer, I have no real delusions about my gaming skills being better then they are. That said, there is nothing more irritating than playing a game against someone more interested in their ranking that a simple fun game against an opponent.
Todays strip is a reflection of that annoyance of getting pumped up to play a game, and have it be over in under a minute. I sometimes worry about doing strips with video game references mostly because it’s terribly done to death in the world of webcomics. I love Penny Arcade, but what it’s spawned is crazy. I read a number of webcomics and I am constantly coming across strips that seem to be attempting to exactly duplicate PA in hopes they will be as big as them. But they won’t. It kind of reminds me of super hero comic of the early ’90s where everyone was trying to cash in on the huge market that was coming out of this and it lead to the market crash that almost killed the comics industry. Don’t get me wrong, some game strips are great, but they seem to get lost in mass that seems to be out there. In fact, I think that a number of really good strips get lost in the ether that is webcomics. For every interesting, funny, or creative strip there are a hundred sprite comics with Mario partaking in “wacky hijinks” and using “colourful language”.
This kind of leads into my next (and hopefully final) point. Sprite comics. I loathe sprite comics. I think that for the majority of sprite comics out there are devoid of any real creativity. Taking established video game characters and having them quote Chappelle’s Show is not being funny or creative, it’s like being that guy at a party who continually repeats a Family Guy quote in attempts to get laughs. Also, recoloring Sonic the Hedgehog and calling him “Thrash” is not an original character, it’s stupid.
I don’t know why I have such a bug up my butt, I just need to get snarky once and a while.
This strip is based on an actual conversation that I had with a “customer service” representative. It was one of those times where you don’t know if you should call them on it, or just let it slide. But then again this is me we’re talking about, and I don’t want them thinking my last name was Xintel (though that does sound kind of bad ass).
And you may notice that this strip stars neither Gary nor Ted, but that loveable scamp, me. Mostly because I couldn’t think of a reason for Ted or Gary to need to explain why they would be using any word with the letter “Z”. That and I choose to think of this as an early birthday present to myself, which if you say, want to send me a present (I enjoy things which are candy coated or transform into things) it’s this Friday, or June 1 which ever you prefer. I also accept cash.
The progress on the next issue of Fireball is moving along at a nice pace. I think I may have the final cover image done, which you can see here. The inking for the most part is finished, I just need to clean up a few pages and get them lettered. So in hopefully a week I’ll have a preview that I can put up as I send it off to the printers. And if you have no idea about what the heck all this “Fireball” talk is about head over to the official website. It will hopefully answer a few questions.
That’s about it, once I get that wrapped up I can get back to more Gary & Ted related stuff, hopefully getting back to two updates a week.
I’m actually getting ahead of things now, I just need to finish inking a few more pages on Fireball #2 and get the cover done, but things are looking good now. Funny thing about this strip, I had to draw it twice. It didn’t have anything to do with quality or anything, I lost it. Literally I cannot for the life of me find where I put the original pencils so I had to re draw it. Which is fine by me because this one turned out a lot better. And if you don’t get thins strip, I defer you to here. But come on, who on the internet isn’t aware of these things? Though in a few months, they may be as relevant as “Chuck Norris Facts”. Remember those? Ah the craziness that was 2006, will things ever be the same? Why am I using so many question marks? These answers Monday, same bat time, same bat channel.
I think I need to explain why I’m not updating as frequently as I use to. The “official” update has always been Mondays, but I usually post a new strip on Thursdays. Except for the last little while. It’s been mostly due to the fact that I’ve been kind of falling behind on my other projects. And by kind of falling behind I mean really falling behind. I’m trying to get Fireball #2 done, which is almost complete. I just have a few more pages to finish inking. That and working 8 or so hours a day at my job, that really cuts into stuff like obscure internet cartooning. So for the month of May, I’m cutting my updates back a bit till I get some things finished. So June looks to be pretty awesome, especially for the big one year anniversary of Gary and Ted (and my birthday, if you want to get me something). So stay tuned in the coming weeks for a return to glory, or an attempt to get glory, which ever comes first.
I find it kind of strange when I find that someone has “Googled” my name. Mostly because I’m not famous enough for people to have general interest in me, heck I’m to obscure to even be obscure. So if you are googling me, let me know, leave a comment here, post in the message boards, or fire me an email. Unless you’re a crazed stalker or someone who I owe money to, you leave me alone. But then again, it would be pretty cool to have a stalker, then I know I’ve made it.
Inspired by this. If you don’t get the other part of this, then I hate you and you are no longer allowed to read Gary and Ted for the history of forever.
I don’t know why, but from some reason my Robert Goulet looks a lot like Stan Lee. To learn more about the legend of Goulet, please visit his website, I think this guy could use your support.
Trying something new with the layout of the strip in the format of the new site. I’m still toying with it, so the next few weeks will be a bit more “experimental” than ever before, just like college!
And no I didn’t draw this at work, I have no idea where you would get an idea like….Hey look, Sasquatch riding a moped!
*flee!*
A lo’ there be a new site! That’s right boys and girls, I done gone and upgraded to a WordPress site using the ComicPress theme. This will make updating and archiving so much easier. Though there are still a few things that I need to work out but I think the new site is about 90% done. I still need to tag all of the strips and add a few more things to the sidebar, but I’m happy with what I’ve got to present it to the tens of Gary and Ted readers. And if not, this is a late April Fools joke.
