New Copper Road! 12/1/14

First off, a plug for the guest star in today's comic. The *original* Mat (and Precocious guest strip artist) is rebooting his comic, Badly Drawn Kitties, starting today. Bookmark the site and enjoy the fresh introduction! (By the way, BDK can deal with adult themes, so you've been warned.)

And now for the main event: The living nightmare that is my comic continues! Vote here to see the latest deep dark fears of my cast made manifest!

UPDATE: The Copper Road archive now has last month's comics in it! Go and enjoy them again, or catch up if you're a monster who didn't vote enough.

New Copper Road! 11/29/14

Finally, another one! A lot of roadblocks were thrown in my way, but I'm continuing with my Copper Road story-ish thing! Let the nightmares fly! I've got two more comics in this series coming up. While my Kickstarter obligations demand I draw and post them both in the next 24 hours, I'm going to have to bank that owed work and instead focus my weekend on... other Kickstarter stuff. (I'm pushing when I can, everyone.)

I really hate to admit it, but my health problems have taken a huge toll on me the past few months. I've hit a lot of rough setbacks recently, and it's pretty scary, but I will keep working when I can. As someone whose reputation is largely based on reliability, it kills me that the fall in August, and resulting complications that included re-triggering another condition, has wrecked that part of me. I assure you, I'm drawing hard every day I'm able, and I REFUSE to let Precocious miss an update. Things may be very uncertain now, but I'm incredibly stubborn when it comes to my work. You can slow me down, but you can't stop me.  (Tomorrow marks the 2-year anniversary of the initial botched surgery that started this cavalcade of medical nightmares, by the way. Do you hold a party for such an event?)  As long as I'm hung up on old work, I can't take on new work - and considering my income is entirely based on the amount of work I do, this is not good at all. I'm very motivated to put the bad stuff of this year behind me and return to glory, but it will take time and a little luck.

New Copper Road! 11/5/14

UPDATE #2: Is TWC working again? I got the correct comic to appear when I tried voting this morning, so I hope it's good for you too!

You know what can really mess a person up? Writing a comic about nightmarish scenarios and then falling into unplanned slumber while working on it. (Thanks, new medication I will not be using any more!) Good lordy loo, my subconscious loves to do HORRIBLE things to me when given such an opportunity.

Those who follow me on Twitter should know the inspiration for this particular comic, and I expect them to thank me for not setting this comic in the location where the real-life surprise happened. Anyway, vote here to see the new comic!

(I'm debating expanding this comic into a mini-story thing for this month's Copper Roads. DO I DARE?)

New Copper Road! 11/1/14!

It's a new month, so today is the big Copper Road update!  By the end of the day, The archive page now has last month's Copper Roads on it, and here's a new comic to make your life better! Vote here, on TWC, to see it!

For today's comic, it's pretty simple. I said I'd draw it when I *could* draw it, and so it has come to pass! Precocious is set in Virginia - or at least based on a Virginia/DC outskirt location - so I was stuck with Virginia's dumb restrictions. Of course, I think they still have some weird rules about officiants I might have overlooked, but whatever. Let's be happy about any progress in a state that's had a recent history of being a laughingstock with the horrendous laws it tried to pass! (The governor that enabled that was promptly convicted of corruption, so you know how great his time in office was for the state.)

(By the way, I'm having trouble connecting to my RCSI server. I can't update the graphic over to the left on the front page yet, but I assure you the comic is new! I'm not gonna mess with anything while I'm out of town this weekend.)

New Copper Road! 10/21/14

I do believe this is coffee week! This is therapeutic for me, as it's that golden period of awesome seasonal flavors and I'm currently on medication that forces me to limit my caffeine. (It's just not worth taking in the sugar burst if it's decaf.) I love my pumpkin spice lattes - and toasted marshmallow or gingerbread lattes even more! This year I might not get any, so I shall let them flow for my characters! Vote here to see the new comic!

By the way, as you might guess from the medication talk, I'm still struggling with health stuff. I've survived a lot of bad fortune with health already, and I'll get through this too, but I'm gonna flail and go very slow for a while longer. No one's been forgotten! I just keep hitting setbacks. I'm sorry!

New Copper Road! 10/13/14

Since the camp story is over, the camp deleted scene must be rotated out. GUESS I HAVE TO DRAW ANOTHER COPPER ROAD!  Vote here to see it!

About time I made a followup to this comic. I would like to believe that all sheltered children end up adorable like this. It's my universe and I can do that.

Oh yeah, and here's the Johnny saga comic, since it probably won't end up in the print version of the comic. Click it to make it bigger!

New Deleted Scene! 10/9/14

So what happened with Johnny? That's a question... nobody seems to be asking. Well, too bad, you get to find out anyway.

Originally today's comic was to be a triple-sized one, giving everyone a little wrap-up, but I decided to play with Johnny's panel and extend it a bit. You can see extra Johnny (you know you want to) by voting on TWC here!

If you missed a deleted scene, you'll have to wait until that story appears in the books - which are 3 years behind the comic run. (See? It pays off to read the news section regularly, and to vote even MORE regularly.) Well, this one probably won't make the book due to size issues, so I'll make it viewable somewhere when its time has passed.

One last thing. I think I put in a workaround for The Precocious Store messing up with emails. Life is easier now!

New deleted scene! 10/5/14!

I've been trying to do the #Inktober challenge over on Tumblr/Twitter, in which I ink an extra piece of art for every day in October. My challenge is do lots of little comic fanart pieces, usually based on what I was reading five minutes before I started drawing. Well, I already blew it. I had a planned piece, but the black hole that is DC sports managed to suck my evening drawing time away to the point where I didn't get home until after midnight. I must atone for my sin, so I decided to draw a bonus comic! Vote here to see it!

My scripting files have lots of little extra tidbits in the notes that don't make it into final comics - stuff that isn't essential to the story, or weird little jokes I make to amuse myself. For example, in today's comic, rather than waste time by explaining why the director chose who to ditch at the lodge I just make Jacob put a "that's the term he used" emphasis on the word 'worst.' Readers figured it out on their own anyway. (Mat saw one counselor who was actively yelling about rioting, and one ringleader camper with two presumed main henchmen.) I hope extras like this extended phone talk comic will enhance your reading experience, but the story is fine without it.

New Copper Road! 10/1/14

So the first of the month is hitting at an inopportune time. I'm out of town, which means packing for travel instead of packing Kickstarter boxes and no access to a scanner to digitize any newly-drawn comics. I made a joke about this on Twitter a few days back, and, well... when life gives you lemons, do something stupid with those lemons! Vote here to see the new comic!

Aside from meta-silliness, this one is fun because it's a chance to show kids being so very kids. (As the last member of the "I didn't grow up with the internet" generation, and someone who must work traditional because he can't use a digital tablet at all, this stuff also stings a bit.)

As with all first-of-the-month updates, the Copper Roads from the previous month will be added to the archive page. It probably won't come until the evening, as I'm leaving the house as soon as I post this, and I'll be gone for much of the day. (Remind me if I forget!) UPDATE: Last's month's comics are now archived, starting here! Go enjoy them again!

New Copper Road! 9/28/14

I didn't mean to squish this update and the first of the month update so close together. Sorry! Blame technology - and the 14 hours I had to spend dealing with tech support because of it. (Of course it was all a complete waste of time and nothing is fixed. Of. Course.)

Anyway, it is here now, ready to take you on a spectacular and amazing journey! Eventually! Vote here to enjoy the new comic!