CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

From one of my favorite webcomics.

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

Last Friday I was going to take a “comp” day…basically this is an undocumented day off to make up for those extra days put in at some other time. Yeah, I’m on salary. I haven’t made any overtime in a couple decades. Best as I can calculate…they owe me about 8.2 million comp days…

So…

1) Friday was going to be a comp day. I was not supposed to be at work.
2) Friday is “business casual” dress.
3) A project at work suddenly became “urgent” (urgent is totally artificial, the issues and time-table are arbitrary, but there ya go).
4) Another “urgent” thing required a sort of spur of the moment meeting…
5) An eagerly awaited package arrived in the mail Thursday.

Thus it came to be…contrary to even the “casual Friday” dresscode…me wearing a black T-shirt that says, “Rule # 1, Pillage THEN burn” to a 7th floor corporate board-room meeting.

Not sure if that did my career any good…but I really don’t see what the problem could be…it IS part of our corporate SOP anyway…

Shirt is courtesy of Schlock Mercenary, and highly recommended for your next board meeting.

(click the pic for details)

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

Yeah yeah…a metaphor for imagination. Or take it literally and believe in magic, either one works.

Calvin and Hobbes was touching, funny, exhilarating, and life-affirming. It ws nothing short of brilliant. I hated that the artist ended the strip even whilst I understood why. I wished it could go on and on, even knowing that it simply couldn’t be.

I ran across some things today that brought all those feelings back with a vengence…

First, there’s this Lilo cartoon, poking fun at the (rather uplifting) ending of Calvin and Hobbes:

Initially, I got a chuckle out of it, but then started pondering the level of cynicism, the death of innocence, and the sheer disbelief in the magic found in our world that this drawing represented…all to get a chuckle.

For those of you that don’t remember, here is the last REAL strip from Calvin and Hobbes:

So…while I was pondering all those deep thoughts, I ran across this next image…an alternate ending for Calvin and Hobbes done by somebody cutting/pasting from the real strips and adding their own dialog.

It is probably very close to the reality of the world today…and given the spirit of the entire Calvin and Hobbes saga…it is quite possibly the saddest and most poignant thing I’ve ever come across:

What will the world be like…with no imagination. I’d weep for the lost dreams of a generation…but they have a pill for that too.

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

I recommend you check ‘em out.

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

Howard Tayler’s popular webcomic Schlock Mercenary comes to a “dead tree” edition yet again!

The Tub of Happiness features 240 pages of Schlock goodness from the inceptions of the strip.

I highly recommend the Schlock Mercenary books. Howard and Co. does a fanatastic job of bringing the webcomic to print. The books are gorgeous and contain bonus stories, footnotes, and extra art.

The book is in preorders now. Get your copy reserved today!

Need I remind you Christmas is coming up? Sets of Schlock books would make great gifts!

Hmmm…come to think of it…sets of MY books would make great gifts too! Y’all get out your credit cards!

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

Now, that out of the way, let’s talk Schlock. Howard Tayler’s Schlock Mercenary comes to a dead tree edition (again) with the release of his second book, Schlock Mercenary, The Blackness Between.

The production values of these books are amazingly high. In short, they’re gorgeous. A quality product, both in production and content.

Schlock Mercenary has continually updated daily for over six years, and is one of the best sci-fi comics on the web. Howard is one of the few that make a living at this. So, help support the small press. Go visit Howard. Click on his ads. Buy his books.

Um…right after you’ve ordered mine that is.

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

Yeah, okay, I know. I shouldn’t really be plugging other folk’s books on my book site, but I love this story, art, and style.

Finally, RH Junior’s wonderful webcomic Tales of the Questor comes to graphic novel form. Gorgeous artwork, a tremendous heartwarming story, and very effective storytelling make these books a bargin. Available in black and white or color. The color volumes are more expensive but well worth it in my opinion. If budget really is a consideration, go ahead and get the black and white versions. It does reproduce very well in grayscale. Either way, don’t miss this story! Buy these books! Click the books for direct link to where you can buy them, or if you want a preview, visit the webcomic. I highly recommend these! I laughed, I cried, I laughed while crying. Great books!

Support the small press!

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

Clicky clicky

Let me just say… Ralph E. Hayes Jr. just plain rocks!

The art is a by cartoonist and illustrator Ralph E. Hayes Jr. He is the author of three popular online comics, Goblin Hollow, Nip and Tuck, and Tales of the Questor. I highly recommend that you check them out.

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer (aka “Dragon”)

…the UPS guy shows up with your Dick Blick order.

Ahhhhhh! Eighty bucks worth of Bristol Board (ya get a price break at 12 pads), a fresh batch of Prima Micron technical inking pens, and some new lead for my pencils.

Imagine me, the tough biker dude, grinning like a school girl and holding the box out to my wife, “Hey look honey! I got some paper!”

“…..that’s nice dear….”

Sigh.

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer