After I had pretty much finished pencilling all of these comics I realized that I needed one to remind us of the (comedic) hopeless terror that was happening back on the Princess Planet. I had a panel with Medusa trying not to fall asleep so that her eyes could turn the shadows into stone, which were making interesting stone tiles leading to her cave… but I couldn’t get the wording of the gag to work well enough. My own 5′clock shadow is so slow in arriving it more like a 72 o’clock shadow.

When I’m not at my table, my signage starts to collapse.

More hideous caricatures. I wish I’d taken more photos of people who played along.

Zaphod Beeblebrox from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Shipwreck from GI Joe

Rogue from XMen and HellGirl

And, what’s his name…

Plastic Man meets She Hulk and Spider-Woman in the lowest selling DC/Marvel crossover since Bat Mite meets Cannonball and Jubilee.

Dark elf and crusader

Bebop and Shredder from TMNT.

Dr. Doom and Skeletor in best selling crossover since GI Joe vs Transformers

And cuties Catwoman, Gwen Stacy and Invisible Girl (now with visiblility!)

AndyB gets interviewed by Wonder Woman. I got interviewed for Sick Kids Hospital with probably the most thoughtful questions I’ve ever been asked in an interview.

And my favourite dollar bin find of the show a Christian blaxploitation comic.

The box design was inspired by the box from Hellraiser. Well, not the one from the movie, but the one I bought from a store that I put together myself. Unlike the puzzle box from the movie, it was just 6 sides of a cube that didn’t fit together very well. I hope this box fits together better than the plastic with crazy glue one that is lying in 6 pieces in a cardboard box in my storage locker. What else have you guys bought that was disappointeing when you got it home and opened it up?

I’ve never had a boysenberry, I don’t think. It’s good to see Patricia’s shopping coming in handy. In a video game when I stock up on healing or anti-poison potions I almost never run out. They’re like insurance that never gets used. I think you could write an interesting paper on the economics of gold pieces in video games or tabletop RPGs. How can the smithy afford to pay me 1,000gp for a suit of magical chainmail and offer me a 10,000gp platemail of smiting aura but still live in a shack in a rundown village? Is that all taxes? If so, who enforces those tax laws? Guys in armour of smiting aura +10?

I doodled a flying tombstone in my notebook at university this past year and it seemed like I should use it for something. Maybe it’s an old memory from a video game like Ghosts and Goblins. A lot of older tombstones have wings on them, on skulls or angels, so I guess it isn’t much of a logical leap but it seemed like a fun visual.

I had no idea where this strip was going when I started writing it. I even put Spelleton on the moon without thinking of why. Then I realized from the moon that the shadow of earth thing was perfect for an evil genuis’ plan. That’s the most fun part of writing, when the threads you’re weaving come together in a way that fits and surprises yourself.

Life goes on without Princess Christi and her friends. Other people are still having adventures and facing off against other evil foes. I learned the word usurper when I bought a book with that name, part of a gamebook series called Way of the Tiger. The books were like choose your own adventures but you used dice for fighting monsters and you were a ninja. I got fed up with the series when I bought one that hadn’t been edited properly. When it told me to turn to section 56 (or something) and it wasn’t the right entry I was lost and frustrated. It’s the kind of error you’d think they would have tested for thoroughly. Also, I lent my first book in the series to a friend at school and he never returned it.

Thinking about Usurper! is bringing back a wave of mild inconvenience. I think at the time I was mad. Discovering Seneca’s philosophy on anger was pretty inetersting. He says that anger is what we feel when the real world doesn’t meet the expectations we have in our mind – so, to be less angry we should be more realistic in our expectations. If you’re interested in the basics of some important philosophies, the BBC did a series called Philosophy: A Guide To Happiness that included an episode on Seneca as well as other fascinating thinkers. If that link dies, a You Tube search should bring them up. I like listening to audio books and documentaries while I colour and ink my artwork.

Don’t remember the werewolves on the moon story? Click the link to revisit.

I watched the latest Wolfman movie recently and it was very silly. The special effects were pretty good, especially the one that made Benicio Del Toro’s words comprehensible.

Whitey’s on the Moon is a song by Gil Scott Heron, the poet/musician who is famous for saying The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. I enjoy a lot of funk and soul music from the 70s, of which hits by Heron are included. Two of my favourites are Home is Where the Hatred is (which was sampled by Kanye West in My Way Home) and The Bottle. Despite being born in the 70s I didn’t really get into the music until the 90s when a friend of mine, Kagan McLeod (of History of Rap fame) made me a mixed CD of a lot of great, soulful sounds.