We Can't Let it End

City of Cards page 24: Here!

*coughforeshadowingcough* But really, this entire chapter is foreshadowing so it's not that big a deal.

I also updated the Cast page with Lily's profile. I decided I'm going to add characters chronologically at this point. I also wasn't sure who was going to get put into the full cast roster, but Lily is awesome and she belongs there:

This is my last update here in the apartment I've lived in for the past two years. It's been a place where I've felt more comfortable than anywhere else in a long time. There's definitely an emotional threshold that happens when you start to hit the two year mark. You either stay, or you pull it all together and take a chance somewhere else while you've still got the time and energy to explore and before your roots have buried themselves too firmly.

I've gotta keep moving at this point for the benefit of myself and hopefully so that I can do something that'll help out my fellow cartoonists. I believe in you guys, absolutely. You're what keeps me going and I love seeing the inspiring work you all continue to do. I will do everything in my power to help the world know how amazing you all are.

I've got another month and a half or so left in Vermont itself before my road trip begins. In August I'll be getting details for that up.

And, as seen on the Daily Show, this video of a skunk with its head in a peanut butter jar sums up the first part of my comic better than I ever could.

Just Keep on Moving

City of Cards page 23: Here!

We continue the adventures of Beer and Ramen.

Right now, I'm pretty much just trying to not let moving stress get to me, which is undoubtedly not easy. Boxes everywhere, stuff to get rid of, endless "to do" lists... ugh. I'm getting psyched about Seattle, though, and I'm excited to see how all my friends find their ways all over this crazy country/world. It's tough, but I wish you all the best and I know you're gonna do amazing things.

So yeah, despite that I've been trying to keep working on art. Here's a sample panel from page 7 of the upcoming Chapter Two:

Because of the way I work I often end up drawing panels that end up getting cropped in the final inking process. Even though it's something I've come to accept, it's still nice to see the full panels sometimes.

With Chapter Two inking moving along, I've slowly trying to get the pencils for Chapter Three started and realized I needed to do a little character designing. Here's a few quick sketches of Joe and Trump:

I'm making sure that I've got comic uploaded for the next couple of months so that no matter what goes on at least that'll upload. Hooray!

This weeks reading recommendations?
 
Book: The Complete Essex County by Jeff Lemire - Yeah, it came out a couple of years ago, but that's no reason not to suggest you pick this book up. Lemire is a genius at capturing small town life and mixing it with a bit of the supernatural. I'm going to miss him on Superboy, something I also suggest you pick up since August is the last two issues till the reboot.

Site: The City and Its Tower - Started not too long ago, it's a comic about a city separated into two distinct levels the divide the lower and upper classes. So far we've gotten a look at the life of those that live and work in the lower areas but it already has enough mystery and pull to keep me interested. The art is also quite lovely and the panel play is smart and keeps the directed through the pages.

You'll Never Make it in High Society

City of Cards page 22: Here!

Not gonna lie, this is probably one of my favorite pages that I've done so far. Pretty much most of the second half of this chapter was determined page by page by how drunk I figured the guys had gotten. Classy they ain't.

But hey, that's not all that's going on over at City of Cards. I've added a Cast and FAQ page introducing Ace, Plato, and the Big Five corporations.

As well, I've been reworking some of the panels on a bunch of pages so pages 8-14 are re-uploaded and I added a new intro page. Better, not perfect, but hopefully that'll be the end of all this going back for awhile and any more tweaks will be done before pages go up. No need to re-read them for story changes, but overall I hope these changes will give readers a better feel for the world I'm trying to build.

The world needs more cheesy dorks. Hopefully by the end of next week the next set of redone stuff will be up so I can fully focus on chapters 2 and 3.

Speaking of things that aren't classy and therefore high on my list of interests, here's a couple more lucha sketches:

And there's one more rudo to add to the mix:

And now, more things that are awesome!

First, an awesome comic called Cucumber Quest. I love the art and the story is really fun. As a little sister, I look forward to following this on a regular basis.

And something I recommend giving 25 minutes of your day to: Varmints

Turn out the lights, full screen, and let it wash over you with a sincere loveliness.

Because This is What I'm Watching

City of Cards pages 20-21: Here!

The story is slowly starting to develop personality as we hit the two-thirds mark of the first chapter. Hooray! I'm also just about finished doing the reworks for the pages I wanted to get done at least for Chapter One and most of the way for Chapter Two. I'm definitely doing what I can to not get bogged down.

That isn't to say the world is without distractions, but I'm so glad it is. It's been a damn long time since I've legitimately recommended an anime but Tiger & Bunny is so ridiculously entertaining and actually decent that I don't feel bad telling people to give it a shot. Honestly, I don't know how they got so much right with this series because everything about it could absolutely be awful.

The writing is fun, the characters are really solid and don't fall into the trap of stereotypes, and despite being blatantly corporate sponsored it works. In fact, that aspect of the series is fascinating to me. That, and it's nice to see a series with an ability to have characters with a solid age and personality range and have each character feel like a well rounded and wonderfully flawed human being. It's no secret I'm a fan of JLI, and this is the kind of thing that hits that much needed spot of imperfect people doing their best despite themselves.

So yeah, give it a shot. Also, quick sketches of Sky High because this is something I could honestly see happening:

Yeah, I pretty much never do fanart but sometimes it happens. I kinda love that his head looks like a toaster.

Also, because the Buffy fan in me will never totally die, this is one of the greatest blogs ever made.