Month: December 2009

Merry Christmas

Posted on by Timothy Dempsey

It’s actually out of character for me to reach out and wish a Merry Christmas to all. At the risk of being politically incorrect, there’s lots of talk about the true meaning of Christmas which has been getting lost – giving.

This all sounds pretty flowery from a guy who personally was becoming pretty dour at the annual crass commercialization of the holiday, until I became a parent. Now it’s all about giving back. This Grinch has turned in the end, too.

What I have given you in the form of this comic may prove worthless in the long run, although I’m trying. What you have given me is the great gift of your attention; if even for the brief time that it takes to scan a strip or peruse the archive, please know that I am completely grateful. That the statistics show visits from all over the world inspires me that we may have more in common than we think.

As I jumped into this webcomic (without looking) at the end of a tough year at home and work, I learned a lot. The biggest surprise was that there are people out there willing to try something new. Sure, there have been critics – and that’s fine – but as I commit to this webcomic I aim to give you a product that represents the best of my abilities.

Thank you and best wishes for 2010 –
T. A. D.

Year End Plans

Posted on by Timothy Dempsey

Thank you for checking out my webcomic. Here are some plans percolating for the strip in 2010:

  • A hand-drawn, more organic look
  • My alter-ego Tom must have a job, and I’ll introduce office/co-worker characters and situations
  • Updating the ComicPress template.  There may be some sporadic downtime between Dec. 19th, 2009  – Jan. 3, 2010

Best wishes for a safe, healthy and happy holiday season.

– T.A.D.

Upping the Publishing Schedule in 2010

Posted on by Timothy Dempsey


I’m toying with the idea of adding another day of publishing new content to my webcomic in the New Year, with a twist. I’d have to be nuts to try and merely double my output, based on the time it takes to produce the core, “main” comic.

So, I’m exploring ways to quickly produce a Saturday/weekend edition. These would be one-panel gags like the one above that have nothing to do with the core comic’s characters or stories. The influences are numerous: the great Gary Larsen (hey – did you know he didn’t start cartooning the “Far Side” till he was forty?) and contemporaries like Mike Gruhn of WebDonuts , Crow of Nicky510, and Joe Combs’ Rusty The Wonderdog.

The plan so far addresses my chief concerns:

  • They have to be mostly completed by hand, typically while waiting between chauffering the kids around on Saturday. That drawing will be scanned with very quick Photoshop digital inking. If it takes more than an hour of computer time, I’m doing it wrong.
  • B/W using a lot of silhouettes and hand-lettering. Maybe half-tones.
  • Hosting another website and domain is just not something I want to do so I’ll offer it on weekends on the main comic website. Keep it simple, stupid.
  • Obviously some Saturdays, especially during holidays, get nuts. So while a full buffer isn’t desirable… having a few in my back pocket probably isn’t a bad idea either.
  • Finally – and most importantly – I can do the topical humor I’ve been craving. The pitfall of filling a “buffer” for the main comic months in advance is the inability to riff on some controversy (Tiger Woods, anyone), or passing Internet meme when it’s fresh.

Wish me luck, it’s not a whole lot of extra work, but once I get an idea in my head like this, it’s usually stuck there.

There is only one thing in the New Year that could put the kibosh on this aspiration, but more about that if it happens.

P.S. If you missed the point of the sample comic above, read more here.