Autumn's Adventures + Store is back up!

In the previous post, I said I'd fix the store once I remembered my password. I did, so the merchandise and art card sections are live again, PLUS I added a pile of book twos for a clearance sale, as I unearthed an extra box of them from a previous printing during my move! If you don't mind a handful of typos (which were corrected in later printings), get them cheap - signed and sketched too!

I missed this while was all exploding-headed and traveling, but the Precocious/Ginger's Bread "exchange program" has a new entry! Head over to Ginger's Bread to see that comic! (Warning: Some curse words.) And, yes, I made fun of Carl, the creator, for not including The Desk gifted to Ms. Monster by the Precociousverse's take on Ginger. (FYI: There's no actual canon connection between the two comics - treat the character "swap" as more like a crazy coincidence. It's just two cartoonists taking a joke TOO FAR and loving it!)

For those who are playing Pokemon Rumble on the 3DS, Carl also created a Gingerverse Autumn Mii and decided to have some fun with her! It was enough to get ME to play the game, but I just started last night and don't know what I'm doing yet. Do you play? Are we friend code buddies yet?  If not, find my codes on my Tumblr page, and send me YOUR friend code in an ask. (Nudge me if I don't add you within a day or two. Sometimes Tumblr doesn't give me new ask notifications.)

Oh, and Carl shared the scanny thing for the Gingerverse Autumn Mii. Once I figure out how to use it, I will steal her for my own 3DS fun!

New Copper Road! 9/19/14

If you took at look at today's Precocious, it's pretty easy to know where this Copper Road came from! It was a good enough bit of silliness, so how could I resist illustrating Kaitlyn's little trick? Vote here to see the new comic!

And, no, I'm not really familiar with that franchise... nor do I actually understand how it's played on a Wii U. I've never seen a Wii U in action. I'm not concerned about accuracy here. (My full experience is choosing a certain character, learning to turn into a weight, having the weight make the character fall to its death, and having people sigh and change the game we were playing so I would stop embarrassing myself.)

New Copper Road! 8/22/14

Oh yes... this one is autobiographical. Painfully so. Vote here to see my shameful recent history represented in comic form!

August is my busiest work month of the year, and I seem to be spending ALL of it laid up a back (and hip) injury. If you know how that stuff goes - first, I'm so very sorry you do - you'll understand that it makes everything far more difficult than it should. (An alternate, more depressing, script had Hi trying to pick up something he dropped on the floor.) I can move around if I want to, but it means spending the next day in bed trying to rest off the ache.

As you might guess, I am moving incredibly slow with work due to the whole not being able to sit (or stand) at the drawing table. I'm doing all the doctor things I should, but this is mostly a rest thing. It's not *that* bad, but it's at that last healing stage where I can either let it heal, or keep myself perpetually hobbled by aggravating it.  It is SO BORING staying in bed. I want to draw!

(On the plus side, I've put plenty of work into my Animal Crossing town, and that Simpsons Tapped Out game on my phone.)

Edit:  Oh yeah, I should put the last bonus comic here, since it probably won't show up later:

Hey, Pokemon players! (And Tumblrfolk!)

JANUARY UPDATE: Not that most people scroll this far down, but I'm still taking friend codes.  Drawings got off-track due to an 18-day (and counting) cold. Because of course I get a devastating COLD the one year I get a flu shot. The universe has a cruel sense of humor. Oh, and I can't make up those drawings soon too, since I got my drawing hand put in a cast. Cruel sense of humor. Told ya.

Hello, I am abusing front page news posting!

For those too lazy to check out all the links on the sidebar, I'll point you to my Tumblr page. It's become a place where random sketches end up, when they should be on the sketch blog - mostly because I can mirror the post to Twitter and get more than 10 people to see them. This month I'm doing a Pokemon challenge, with a new Pokemon drawing every day. It's a fun bit of drawing warm-up for me and gives me something to share.

For you Pokemon players, you can see my friend code up there. I've got enough room to add a bunch of you, so if you're playing Pokemon and want access to my fire-type Friend Safari - which does have Autumns/Braixens - let me know your friend code. Easiest way to do it is to add my code, then put yours into my Tumblr ask box. (I also accept actual questions!) I'm looking for a few Pokemon in particular, by the way. Looking for Steel (someone give me easy access to Magnetons!) safaris most of all. Grass, Fairy and Normal safaris also loved.

(Yet another) New Copper Road! 7/28/13

(First off, a reminder that I got the store started, with art cards available. As I'm going to start shipping Kickstarter rewards starting next week, let's make each post office visit a big event with lots of things to send!)

My promise was five comics a month. I didn't say *when* in the month they'd appear. Usually months are front-loaded, but this time convention season meant all Copper Roads popped up in the late days of July.

So here's number 5, ending the rapid-fire Coppering... until Thursday, I guess. I like to have a new comic on the first of the month when possible. Vote to see the comic goodness!

As you can guess from the promo image, I finally gave in to Animal Crossing fever and drew a comic about it. It started as a doodle, and then I started playing around with it... and now it's here.

With my weird pain condition thing that popped up, Animal Crossing was a blessing. When not medicated, I have several hours of downtime a day in which I must keep still and not move. Really boring, and I need a light, non-stressful video game to pass the time. PERFECT! This was exactly the game I needed, and I adore it.  By the way, I try to leave my town open for visitors when I work. (I'm not actively playing at those times, but you can run around and explore.) If you want to come by, my friend code is 4596 - 9566 - 6514. Send me yours and I'll add you.

New Copper Road! 8/6/12

Due to the miracle of webcomic time, characters' birthdays aren't always set in stone. As long as the date happens *sometime* over the course of an arc, it counts! (And even then, it's flexible.)

From the Party Crashers arc, we know Kaitlyn has a birthday in early August... so happy maybe-birthday Kaitlyn! (Yes, it began in August. Ignore the archive URL dates. That's a quirk of adapting a numbered comic into a date-based system when I switched to Clickthulu.)

What gifts did she receive? Vote and see!

Portal sketches!

I handed out a few free sketch promises over on twitter (see, it pays to follow me!) and both of the chosen folks decided to play with the same theme of playing in the Portalverse. I confess I've never played the games, but I've been on the internet long enough to catch the companion cube love. Had to look up the edgeless safety cube, though. Anyway, enjoy!



Oh, and here's a "bonus" sketch. Seems *someone* had some brain trouble about which character was requested with which companion object. D'oh.

Your webcartoonist has evolved!

When writing the most recent news post in the site, I wrote the line in the title. I quickly deleted it, but the thought got in my head. "What kind of Pokemon would I be?" I had to find out!

And so began a sage of putting too much thought into something silly! The sketchbook came out and the ideas started flowing. As an intense Pokemon player and insane nerd, I put a lot of care into all the little details. The result...

Meet Pokemon Chrispy!



The first step in Pokemon creation was choosing my type. I quickly settled on dark, as it both fits with my sense of humor and reflects on my tendency to harp on the negative.

Next up, I needed to figure out what form my Pokemon would take. I figured a kitty pokemon fit best because I wuv kitties, I draw kitties and, well, it meant my evolution could be based on a Savannah cat! (See below.) It all fits!

And now the over-analysis begins. I got conceptual. What kind of Pokemon role player would I be? Well, I'm a impulsive type who can do wonders when I get going - but I'm hardly durable. Hitting me back hard makes me crumble. It seems obvious to me - a glass cannon Special attack sweeper! I hit the battlefield, throw everything I have at the opponent and hope to hell they don't survive it, because one good hit will do me in.

Now for some details. Every pokemon gets a nature and special ability. For nature, I chose to go with timid. Not only is that me, but in-game, that means I get increased speed at the cost of physical strength - it's the most common nature of actual special attack sweepers! For ability, I knew this one going in: Defeatist. Not a positive reflection of me, but recently accurate. In-game, this a pokemon with a defeatist ability is a juggernaut - right up until things get difficult. If their HP gets reduced below halfway, the pokemon "gives up" and only fights half as hard. A pokemon can also carry a held item. I could pessimist here and give myself a ring target, which means every attack always hits me, but I'm going to highlight my potential and give myself some wise glasses, which slightly powers up my attacks. (Plus, yanno, I'm wearing glasses.)

What moves would I have for the unevolved Chrispy? He's a dark type, so he needs a dark move. Night Daze seemed the best fit, due to the general sleep cycle of a cartoonist. I also threw in Nasty Plot for good measure, which is perfect for the wannabe looking to break through to top tiers. I'm an artist, so it seems only right I get to use the move Sketch. (The bonus here being that, in competitive pokemon battling, me having sketch and decent base stats would make me highly sought after! It's nice to be desired!) Finally, I had to go with the move I use the most in real life: Withdraw. Withdraw boosts one's defense up one level - which is useless for a defeatist pokemon as all it means is that the opponent gets one free turn to disable you. So, yeah, it fits.

But this isn't all about sadness and sucking. I SAID I EVOLVED, DAMMIT! I've become new! I've become better! I've become... Chrisperior!

This grand evolution adds on a new type: Fire! Because I'm on fire! Get it? Get it? Uh... moving on.

I get new moves! Energy Ball not only symbolizes my new productivity, but it is a GREAT move for a dark/fire type pokemon! Overheat utilizes the new fire typing and hints at how easily I could burn myself out if I push too hard too fast, as the move sharply reduces my stats after I use it. Focus blast is another great competitive move that can also represent my struggle with ADHD. Focus blast gets the job done great... when it hits. It's, unfortunately, not that reliable. Yeah, that fits.

It's time upgrade my held item from one set of glasses to another. Enter the choice specs, which limits you to one move but makes that move super-powerful. Let's face it, that's my best-case scenario as a cartoonist. I'm not that versatile. If I can make sure the one thing I *can* do is done well, that's a win for me.

I'll let the defeatist nature stay for now, as the threat of relapse constantly looms. Knowing how quickly things can turn south, even when one is the Mary Sue of the Pokemon world, can hopefully keep alert. The second I start slacking off and taking things for granted, the bad habits get back in. There is another ability options, should a dream world Chrispy appear: Moody. Moody means I'd have wild mood (stat) swings every turn. Good for painting me as unstable, yet functional, but it's also a WAY overpowered ability in the long run when game play is concerned. I'm not that conceited to give myself any credit like that quite yet.

So, yeah, I put in WAY too much thought here and spent WAY too much time on this one gag. Whatever, man. It was a fun thought exercise and I'm quite pleased with the results.

I has an angel!

No, this is nothing spiritual or anything. I just unlocked the angel class in Disgaea DS - the game that has become my life! It is the perfect game: You can pick it up and play a level in the item world, then go off and work, then come back for another level, then try to work but end up playing another level, then... you get the picture. Anyway, this is a major victory in my life at the moment.

I'm going to do all the pressing work TOMORROW. I might even leave the house! Wait, on a Saturday? Eww, maybe not. The next week is going to be the real pain in the rear, so I'd best get the trivial stuff out of the way.

Things are still going well on the production front. While I failed to blog yesterday (I didn't even realize the day passed until 3am!) I got two more comics done, which was the plan. Today's plan was to get a double comic done... but instead I GOT AN ANGEL! (Worth it!)

I'm not going to cry over missing the occasional blog entry, although I will always *try* to have something up every day. Some weeks my production is bloggable and some weeks it isn't. Same goes for Copper Road, which is looking less and less likely to appear this week. That's because all my good material is going into Precocious this week. Next week I'll be coasting on a buffer, so Copper Road changes increase. As long as Precocious is up and quality every day, I'm pleased. The bonuses can be sacrificed.... but only rarely. I refuse to let this become a habit!

The absent-minded gamer

Oh, man. I've been warning about a painting post. I prepped the painting for the post. I mentally composed that post. That's all I need, right? Oh yeah, I FORGOT TO MAKE THE POST! Whoops. Oh well, maybe tomorrow? *hangs head in shame*

Today I wish to talk about something else, something that is murdering my productivity and keeping my brain distracted enough to make errors such as NOT BLOGGING: Video games.

As you may know, I'm one of many who have been trapped due to all those massive DC snowstorms. During the height of stir crazy, I needed something to keep my brain from eating itself. And, no, productivity is useless in those brain-eating times. I need to burn off some stupid so that I may then be productive. In desperation, I turned to Amazon.com and ordered a video game I've had my eyes on: Disgaea DS.

I was hesitant to get this game because I've seen it on PS2, and I know it can be addictive. It's one of those games that gives back the energy you put into it, so you KEEP PUTTING ENERGY INTO IT. Gah! Sure enough, I've addicted myself horribly, to the point of massive distraction. It's well beyond the burning off of energy - we're into soul-consuming mode!

Thank goodness I'm mostly done with the inking for this week. Tomorrow I really should finish that up, though, so I can get the Sunday off to Matthew for coloring. (Plug: Have you visited Sometime Alone today?) I have fallen behind in email too (video games > other people?) so if you wrote me recently and are among the honored few who read this blog, I'M SORRY! I'll try to get replies out tomorrow. I have a lot to do tomorrow. Crap, that's gonna eat into my game time...

This ruins my procrastination plans!

I enjoy video games as much as the next man, but I'm very picky about which ones I play. I don't have the patience for a lot of what is out these days. I like turn-based RPG stuff, like Final Fantasy Tactics. I like games where I can pull off funky tricks by using the rules of the world - such as my expert pokemon breeding experiments! Bascially, if I am going to sink hours of my precious life into something, I want it to be on MY terms. If I like a game, I will go all out with it - but if it FORCES ME then it's hissy fit time.

One of my all-time favorite games is The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the DS. It's Zelda! How can Zelda ever be bad? It uses the touchscreen of the DS wonderfully! It keeps everything fresh, making each level of gameplay fun! I like it so much, I don't mind that I've never beaten it! (Stupid final boss.) Needless to say, I was friggin' thrilled when I found out a new Zelda game in the DS style was out! The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks! Instead of traveling on a boat, you travel by train. Fair enough. Even if it's a damn clone of Hourglass, I'll be happy.

What a crushing disappointment that game is. It's like they took all the least-awesome elements from Hourglass, highlighted them, and made everything move at half-speed. This game has been a joyless experience so far, and I'm debating whether to keep trying with it. Right now, I am stuck on a tutorial where I have to play a flute. To play it, I move the flute around with the stylus and blow into the microphone, like I was playing a real flute. Inventive!

FRUSTRATING! It's not fun to do this, and I can't seem to do it correctly, meaning I am stuck repeating this annoying task until Mr. Tutorial lets me go. You know, guys, the music part of these games is supposed to be SIMPLE. Heck, Hourglass didn't bother with it at all - WHICH WAS A GREAT IDEA! So far this game has been all "innovative" DS tricks and no actual fun.

At least I didn't pay for it. I used an Amazon gift card some fool gave my internet-averse mother.

I had such high hopes for this game, and I was ready to devote myself to hours of game play. Now what do I do? Is this going to be the second game in a row that I failed due to DS innovation. (The World Ends With You was fun, but way too complex. Tying all bonus material to a damn minigame was a BAD IDEA, guys!) I don't want tricks for the sake of being tricky. I don't want something so complex the learning curve is insanely steep. I want a solid GAME to play. Why is this so hard? How am I going to waste my life now? All I have to do now is work!

(And yet I'm procrastinating anyway!)

You do the action, I'll sketch

I've decided to turn procrastination into a positive thing: I'll sketch! Sketching is so helpful! I get the practice I desperately need, I can work out new ideas and tougher poses before it's go time - and I can look busy when mentally I want to do nothing! It's also something I can do and still appear social!

Today was a family day. The lovely Donna came down from Delaware to take grandma out to lunch. While they were munching and chatting, I hung with the mini bro and sketched up a storm while he played Uncharted 2. I'm a turn-based game player, so a 3d-fest like that is way beyond me. It was fun to watch, though - as I sketched! Later on, it was movie time with Grandma and Donna - Julie and Julia - and I sketched the whole two hours! I was a social sketcher!

Sure, I *should* have been painting or working on the New Year's Copper Road, but that requires my full attention and some alone time. This was not an alone time day. This was a fun family sketching day!

(There are still a few hours post-midnight for me to Copper Road.)

Costume Fantasy Tactics

Here we have a tribute to my favorite of games: Final Fantasy Tactics. (Pick any from the awesome series.) Bud is the ever-mysterious black mage. Tiffany is sweetness and light as the white mage. Autumn is the spiffy and spunky red mage. Jacob... Jacob is a moogle. Kupopopo...

(Click the image for embiggenation)

Cosplaying

Oh, Quincy, you are fun to use because you have no shame about enjoying your passions. Meanwhile, I whip myself and wear a hairshirt every time I play Pokemon. (My favorite part: The breeding! *hangs head*)

Here are some sketches I did for the next Copper Road strip. How much dorky dress-up can I fit in? I came up short in anime cosplaying. I don't know what's popular and well-known in anime circles anymore. Heck, I don't know what's going on anywhere with these kids these days. I'm old and useless! *sob*

Oh, snap! I forgot Thursday existed!

Well, here's what I was GOING to post before I forgot that midnight marks the end of the day!

As you can see, I've been hard at work at making comics. I've also been hard at work actively goofing off with video games. (Final Fantasy VII, a decade behind the curve!) Add in a bit of geeky socializing and no need for a morning alarm, and you get a distracted Chrispy.

Oh well. I'll try to get another post together later. My daily blog streak has been broken, but I'll even things out by doubling up today!

Same name game

More Final Fantasy VII sketching! This time it's my Vincent as their Vincent!

More final fantasizing

Continuing the sketches of my kids as Final Fantasy VII characters, I up the ante with this jolly twofer. Cait Sith is a cat that rides atop a big, white, cuddly puppet beast. Well, hey, Bud has a big, white and cuddly father...

I'll confess: This sketch cracks me up something fierce. I keep giggling like a moron.

Old School Gaming

Despite writing a gamer into my comic, I'm not the gamer type. In fact, I am YEARS behind the curve. Gaming for tonight: PLAYSTATION ONE GLORY! We started off with Twisted Metal 2 and now we're making our first foray into the classic Final Fantasy VII - if Jacob as Cloud wasn't enough to clue you in. Yeah, we're just a bit behind the curve here.