Yes, that's me in mid-air. That was kinda my thing back then.

Suffice to say that we were proud when High Times Radio added one of our bizarre recordings to their playlist, and we reached a high point when another one of our tracks was listed as #15 on the weekly folk punk charts. Don't judge me. The Internet was a really weird place back then.

Anyway, we broke up in 2002 after our personality conflicts boiled to the surface during a botched live performance. And thus the nastiest live act at Carnegie Mellon University -- nay, Pittsburgh! -- was put on ice.

But the wounds were eventually mended and we reformed in 2004, just in time to play the university's Spring Carnival. I got the ball rolling by making a Dirty Weekend video ad and playing it for the Spring Carnival programming committee:

We look like a fun all-ages college band, right? Well, that was the point -- to trick the programming committee into giving us a great afternoon time slot. And it worked.

In reality, Dirty Weekend was actually 1/4 music, 1/4 performance art, and 1/2 poor taste. With songs like "Dear Penthouse" and "I Went to the Prom with Your Mom," we were anything but family-friendly.

But I digress -- we had our afternoon time slot and then meant it was time to go into action. We signed up two friends willing to be go-go dancers and to make out with each other during our fan-favorite song, "Lesbian Journal."

We planned an awesome onstage food fight for "Cantaloupe You're the Fruit of the Gods" and we cooked up a giant pot of hot dogs that we planned to throw at the audience during "Street Vending Man."

All that goes without mentioning the 8-foot-tall "D" and "W" letters we made out of cardboard and the toilet I dug out of the trash for our ultimate shocker finale.

Sadly, we were kicked off stage by the end of our third song. Our hopes and dreams were just about crushed.

However, we weren't defeated yet. A friend invited us to play their house party happening later that night. So we tossed our gear in my Jeep, strapped the giant letters to the top, and drove straight to the corner of Wilkins and Wightman.

Dirty Weekend played a wild house party show. I don't know that it was our best performance... but I can say it was the most fun I've ever had playing a gig.

Afterwards, the party was broken up by the cops. And a couple of weeks later, I graduated college and went on to do a lot of other reckless things with my life.

But DW 2004 (as we affectionately nicknamed the performance in our advertising) will never be forgotten. Student journalist Karen Hoffman even wrote an article for the school newspaper about our Spring Carnival debacle.

Anyway, I hope you dig these videos. Note that the last one is especially NSFW. I mean, really REALLY not NSFW.

I fell asleep while I was recording Speechless. In fact, I didn't even realize I was recording the song at the time. All I knew was that it was 2 AM and I simply couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

See, I'd laid down 10 minutes of funky electronic drums that I intended to use for my latest Unlicensed Attorneys at Law song, Making It. But I was having a hard time coming up with a melody for the beat.

I decided to improvise an extended jam on top of the drums. My plan was to relisten to the recording and cherry pick the best moments of the performance to create loops for my rap track.

Well, that never happened. I listened to the recording over and over again -- for years, really -- trying to find the best parts to loop into a beat. But somewhere in the process of relistening to the song, I began to really enjoy it as a work of its own.

Speechless was raw and improvisational, capturing the moment instead of trying to fit riffs into a tight structure. I really appreciated the free qualities of the song.

INTERMISSION! Speechless on SoundCloud:

And before I even realized it, I was copying my accidental recording style to make new songs. I'd construct a 15 minute drum loop and lay a few raw tracks over it. That's how Purple Suite and RAW both came to be.

So despite the fact that Speechless was an accident, I learned to cherish the way it was created. Nowadays, most of my songs are built with the Speechless method. Eventually, some get shaved down into tighter sections while others retain their spontaneous qualities and remain just as they were performed.

NEXT: Digital drums built for an abandoned ditty about street food set in 3/4 time become their own musical beast.

It began as Phoenix Bay, a stripped-down groove with a lot of 'tude and li'l bit of funk. While I dug some of its qualities (including the name, inspired by Jean Grey's experience in Jamaica Bay), it didn't resonate with me. It felt too minimal.

Determined to not abandon the framework, I built upon the foundation of Phoenix Bay and added extra layers, amping up the funk and rechanneling the flow. And thus Remix the Phoenix was born.

The most obvious addition was a heavy coating of frantic percussion, making the song feel twice as fast as before. I also decided to rework the melody, something which was seriously lacking in the original. And that's where things got interesting.

See, I wasn't happy with all of my new melodic synth performances. In fact, I recorded several different versions because I was having a hard time picking a favorite. And that's when a mistake turned into inspiration.

Any musician who multi-tracks can relate to what happened next -- I left on both of my synth performances by mistake while replaying the reworked Phoenix Bay... and I liked what I heard. Two similar-yet-unique synths swirling back at me, challenging my brain to a game of "Can You Follow the Melody?"

INTERMISSION! Remix the Phoenix on SoundCloud:

Instead of trying to pick one single melodic line, I decided to use both. It was a trick I'd learned from listening to Pavement as a kid. Often, their guitarists would solo at the same time, creating an experimental and sometimes exciting sound.

After a lot more editing, I finally had something I liked. Phoenix Bay was saved! But in the process of my rescue, I'd created a different body of work. So I changed the title to indicate its remixed status. And that's how this song was born.

NEXT: How falling asleep on my keyboard led to some interestingly long results.

Psssst! Here's a secret.

I know, I know. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. But gimme a goddamn break!!! I did it in less than two hours. Here are the unedited, uncleaned up pages:

Thx to Pierce Johnson for organizing the activity. It was tons of fun!!

EDIT: Marcel Walker has created a Cartooning All Night Facebook page and scanned the art created at the event. Check out everybody's comics and cartoons from 2012's Cartooning All Night.

There are gonna be a ton of awesome Pittsburgh cartoonists participating in Cartooning All Night along with me, from my best buds -- Shawn Atkins and Virginia Shields -- to my distinguished colleagues -- Lizzee Solomon and Andy Scott -- to PGH cartoony all-stars like Ed Piskor and Marcel Walker.

And that's only a few of the peeps. There are tons more!!! You can check out this Google Doc to check out the artists and their time slots. I hope to see you there!

It's a really fun and completely factual* depiction of the intense conversation we had at the fair. I discuss my influences, goals, and more...

All that plus a sweet action scene! You can read the entire 11-page Super Awesome Comics interview on Bernie's Flickr account.

*DISCLAIMER: Interview may not be completely factual.

RAW stands for Really Awesome Woman. And I gave this song as a gift to Justique... my really awesome girlfriend!

I'm a bit ashamed to say that I can't remember the holiday/occasion that was behind the gifting of this jam. Uhhh, maybe it was xmas? Or maybe a birthday? Or our anniversary? Damn, I just can't recall.

But I do remember the particulars of the recording because I composed, performed, and mixed this song at work (back when I had a day job, that is). In fact, The only thing I did at home was master this puppy.

I used to work for the marketing department of a Pittsburgh law firm. It was a good job, but it could get really dull. To the credit of my employers, they tried to keep me interested as best they could. So when they needed a jingle for a TV commercial, they asked if I'd like to take a crack at it.

I jumped at the opportunity to get paid to make music in my office. I brought in my drum machine, synthesizer, and guitar to record a few demos. And guess what? They hated my jingles!!!

INTERMISSION! RAW on SoundCloud:

I was bummed that it didn't work out. To pick my mood up, I spent my lunch break playing music. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I'd spent hours writing and performing nearly all of RAW! The song came together that easily.

I'd say that the entire performance -- largely improvised, because that's how I roll -- couldn't have taken more than two days. I mixed it in short order and I knew that I had a new Nik Furious album track on my hands!

The finished product reminded me of something Justique might like. She was already a big fan of Purple Suite and Speechless, my two longest songs. So I decided to make RAW -- my longest track to date -- a gift for her.

NEXT: A song so tricky that it had to be reborn before it could breathe.

P.S. RAW is also the beat for the Unlicensed Attorneys at Law song UAL Nights, an extremely NSFW hip hop cut.

Page 18 from Avengers #73, cover date Feb 1970. This is the moment when I truly began to love the Black Panther.

A brilliant (and rare) turn on pencils by Frank Giacoia. Inks by Sam Grainger. Text by Roy Thomas. Letters by Artie Simek. Colors by ???

EDIT: Here's a good soundtrack for this page -- "Quantum" by Nik Furious

I'll have the same kickass spread that I brought to STAPLE! and the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair just last month. Check out this video I made for STAPLE! to see all of the comics I'm bringing with me this weekend.

The Toonseum MiniCon is a part of the larger 2012 Geek Art/Green Innovators Festival, a Pittsburgh initiative that blends art, technology, ecology, and pop culture.

On Friday, the MiniCon will crossover with Unblurred, the neighborhood's monthly gallery crawl. That means there'll be plenty of free drinks and art everywhere.

I hope to see you there! Swing by to snag of my books, talk about comics creation, or just say hi

And for more info about the event, listen to this Sequential Underground podcast I recorded last week with the show's manager, Juan José Fernández.

It was night. All of the lights were off, but it wasn't pitch black in my apartment. See, the Pittsburgh city sky never goes black -- it goes purple.

I started laying down a beat on my Zoom MRT-3 drum machine. As the rhythm grew more complex, the lights on the drum machine formed a hypnotic pattern of flashing reds and blues.

Purple Suite began as that drum pattern. And later that night, I laid down a few synth tracks on top of the beat. But the different parts didn't gel.

I can't remember if it was hours, days, or weeks later... but eventually, I added the thick bass (playing it with a pick, which is something I rarely do). Once the bassline was in place, I improvised the synth on top. And it was complete.

Purple Suite on SoundCloud:

I've never been totally satisfied by Purple Suite. For years, I used a different mix of the song that featured a far quieter lead synth. When it came time to finish up all of the tracks for Brilliant Shower, I remastered this song and raised the solo.

While I'm unashamed to say that I enjoy listening to my own music, I don't always enjoy listening to Purple Suite. I like the drums and certain parts of the synth performance. But overall, it's not the type of song that I usually seek out.

Still, I'm proud of this track. I hope you enjoying listening to it more than I do!!!

NEXT: If you think Purple Suite is long, just wait until you hear the next song on Brilliant Shower.

I've donated an original 10x10" work to be auctioned off at the event. Made with puffy paint and nail polish on black cardboard, it's called "Devitalization":

Last year, I donated a (very NSFW) piece called "Hollywood" to the 2011 fundraiser, Sugar Factory. And I was on the fence about attending the actual event... but since I live right down the street from Bakery Square, I decided to give it a shot. And I'm glad I did because the event was F@&%ING AWESOME!!!

Basically, what I'm getting at is that the price tag ($25 presale, $30 at the door) is totally worth it. There's tons of free food, drinks (an open bar!), and entertainment. Plus, ya know, all of the art. (It's an auction, after all, so you can try to win your favorite piece!!!)

For more info, check out the Facebook page for the event. And speaking of Facebook, you can also check out more pics of "Devitalization" if you're curious.

If you'd like to peek at the goodies I'll have with me, check out this video I recorded a month ago for my appearance st STAPLE! in Austin. I'll have the same exact selection, even including the freebies of my Passage mini-comic.

Sadly, the only thing I won't have with me is Justique. She's gonna hang back here in Pittsburgh to keep an eye on my impressive collection of War Machine comics. You never know when a rabid War Machine fan is gonna finally decide that it's the right time to strike...

Anyhoo, come kick it with me at the BSPBF!! I mean, why not? It's free to attend. That's right -- $0.00. Plus, it's gonna be fuunnnn!!!

When I look back at my college comic strip, I can't believe the things that I got away with. At the time, The Tartan -- Carnegie Mellon University's school newspaper -- was independent from school funding, and (sorta) subsisting on advertising revenue.

I assume that was a large part of it... because if the school's administration ever caught wind of what I was doing, I'm sure they would've rejected nearly all of my cartoons (and possibly put me on some type of administrative probation).

In their defense, most of my strips were in really poor taste. I'd grown up indulging in the hyper-sexuality and violence of superhero comic books, not to mention the perversity of 60s and 70s underground comix that I discovered hidden among the shelves of suburban libraries.

Basically, I had no notion of how to toe the line between edgy and raunchy, so I delighted in crossing the line week after week with Strip Tease (later, renamed to Rectal Lampshade... or maybe it was the other way around... I can't remember).

In truth, it was a group effort. My original comics for The Tartan were dull parody of the bland newspaper strips that dominated my youth. It wasn't until my friend Scott joined up as co-writer that I began to push the boundaries of taste on a weekly basis.

And it certainly didn't hurt that the editor of the comics section was also in my small circle of friends. Neal lent his begrudging support to my experiments in button-pushing, keeping me on schedule and occasionally rejecting some comics that were deemed to be "too hot for The Tartan" (don't worry -- against my better judgement, I'll share those with you at some point in the future).

Oddly enough, I had nothing to do with the controversial comic strips and photos that ran in The Tartan's infamous April 2004 Natrat, their annual April Fool's issue. While my comics were almost always lewd and rude, they were never hateful.

And speaking of controversy, I can't even link to my work on The Tartan website. Shortly before I graduated, a vindictive member of the newspaper's staff took down thetartan.org, wiping away any online evidence of my affiliation, save for a quick disclaimer at the bottom of an article about my band's reunion performance.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this brief trip down the rocky road that is my memory lane. Now that I've popped my Strip Tease cherry here on the blog, I'm sure I'll be back soon with more of my college-era goodies... FROM THE VAULTS!!!

Up until now, I've just tossed a few more random Nik Furious songs onto the CD, switching out tracks whenever I burned a new batch.

But those days are over! Now each Stick Cats bundle will come with an official homemade copy of The Nine Lives LP:

The tracklist for The Nine Lives LP is:

1. Stick Cats (vocal version)
2. Fresh Frunk
3. Remix the Phoenix
4. Purple Suite
5. Da Bounce
6. RAW
7. In Vert Head
8. Speechless
9. Stick Cats (instrumental)

In total, it's over 45 minutes of music ranging from funk to electronic to rock to experimental. Also, I submitted the CD's tracklist to the Gracenote database, which means your computer will recognize the track names when you play the album.

I'll have copies of it next weekend at the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair, and soon you'll be able to buy a physical copy of the disc from me over the internet.

Comics in the video:
- Time Log one-shot (a.k.a. Time Log #0)
- The New Time Log #1-3
- Stick Cats #1-2
- Stick Cats theme song
- Super Haters minicomics
- Zombie Palin
- Tales for a New Gen
- AudioShocker Comics Archives v1
- Passage

Special thx to Justique and Shelvia for helping me out! I couldn't have done it without you two

Later, on the way to my next destination, I passed by Pittsburgh's Stephen Foster statue... the same statue which is at the center of the plot of my Time Log comics. So I figured it'd be a great time for a photo op:

I left that copy of Time Log at the statue. I hope it's found a good home!

Then it was onto my final stop -- Phantom of the Attic Comics (Oakland) on Craig Street. I picked up some awesome comics (thx to Wayne for pulling those issues of Black Panther and Bill & Ted for me!). And I dropped off my newly packaged AudioShocker Comics Archives v1 digital comic cards (thx to Jimmy!):

I'll have all of these items and more at my upcoming appearances at STAPLE in Austin, TX on March 3-4 and the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair in Buffalo, NY on March 24.

And I'm sure I'll also have them in some form or another at SPX this Fall in Bethesda, MD (yes, I'm officially an exhibitor).

Invisible is one of the oldest songs on Brilliant Shower. It's also the first time I ever sampled myself.

I wasn't a music major in college, but I was fortunate enough to get into some advanced sound recording classes. The techniques I learned have been invaluable to me as both a musician and podcaster. (Thx, Riccardo Schulz!!!)

I'm not a great drummer by any means, but I can hold a beat. We needed someone to play drums for one of these classes, and so I volunteered. I played a few different beats, nothing spectacular. And when all was said and done, I got to keep the recordings of my performance.

INTERMISSION! Invisible on SoundCloud.

A few months after I graduated in 2004, I pillaged all of my old recordings to try and find the best songs I made while I was in college. After the Wink was one of those. Try This was another. And in the process of drudging through my old stuff, I found the ProTools files of my aforementioned drumming.

I tried looping full bars of my drums, but I couldn't get anything that sounded tight. So I went through and I sampled individual hits. One tap on the high hats. One on the snare. A couple of kick hits. And then I proceeded to lay out the beat in ProTools just like I was using my drum machine.

Nowadays, I understand the concept of sequencing (despite the fact that I still don't do it... nothing against it -- I've just never tried it). Back then, I had no idea or otherwise I would have tried out something like that.

Anyway, I did things the hard way but I built a drum beat I'm still proud of to this day. Obviously, I also laid down some bass and synth at some point... which, if I recall correctly, happened months later when I was living in Brooklyn.

Invisible is currently the theme for the HyperComboCast, a fighting games podcast I co-host on the AudioShocker. And it was used as the beat for Pinnacle, a 2005 Unlicensed Attorneys at Law track.

NEXT: 9.5 minutes of purple.

And It's fairly common for alumni to swing back into Pittsburgh during this weekend. Knowing a lot of my college friends would be around, I booked myself a solo gig playing at the Kiva Han coffee shop on Craig St for Carnival weekend 2006.

Kiva Han closed its doors for good yesterday and I couldn't help but think of this performance. It's one of my most memorable Kiva Han moments. It's also very NSFW and proof that I can't sing in tune to save my life. But otherwise, it's a lot of fun.

I hope you dig it!!! And if you don't... well, tough shit. It's too late now

There's a special connection between the title and duration of In Vert Head. Can you figure it out?

Regardless of the little secret reference in there (which, ironically, is not a personal reference... I put it in there for someone else), this is probably my favorite song I've ever recorded. I feel kinda stupid saying that because I tend to think it's best when an artist lets their music speak for itself. BUT GODDAMN IT I LOVE THIS SONG!!!

Anyway, that someone else I mentioned is Justique. This song was made as a gift for Xmas 2007. It's probably the most fun I've ever had recording a solo song, and I think that both my love for Justique AND the fun I had recording it really shine through in the performance.

In Vert Head on YouTube...

...and In Vert Head on SoundCloud.

I'm sure you've had your fill of me going on and on about how much I enjoy this track. SORRY! It's hard for me to contain my enthusiasm for it.

Oh, and before I go, I should mention that you may have also heard this song as the theme to the Sequential Underground podcast on the AudioShocker.

NEXT: The first time I ever sampled myself.

I started using this garish image as my user icon around the web this week. But I'm not exactly sure how to explain what's going on here.

If I were to describe it based upon my original drawing, I guess I'd say "a squid getting stabbed through the head by a very liberal interpretation Aquaman's freakish hook hand."

But I'm not really sure that description properly captures the effect of this cropped image, one which eliminates both Aquaman and the tentacles of the squid. Not to mention that the squid is orange and the background is pink, thus altering the meaning of both the creature and the setting.

So I dunno what to say about this cartoon other than "I like it." If you can think of a better way to describe it, lemme know!

After all these years, I still haven't found an easy way to describe Essential.

This song was made to be used as a rap beat. From 2004-2006, almost every instrumental song I made was constructed with that purpose in mind. But I soon discovered that most of my original instrumentals were a bit too intricate and busy to make good backing tracks for hip hop tracks. So I started treating them like instrumentals, meant to be consumed without vocals.

Essential is maybe the best example of my musical evolution from that time. The drums were crafted to hit heavy and deliver knock. The bass was meant to growl. Then the synth and guitar were added on top to give the rhythm section some flavor. But somewhere within that process, melody and structure took over.

So I ended up with a hybrid of electronic drums, raw slap bass, heavy synth, and flamenco guitar. Sometimes I wonder if the combination of those disparate styles makes this song sound as if it were built from the kind of pre-recorded loops and samples that come default with music creation software. However, nothing could be further from the reality of Essential. All of the instrumentation you hear are original performances, consciously written for this specific song.

Essential on YouTube...

...and Essential on SoundCloud.

You may have listened to Essential before. It's the end theme on the AudioShocker family of podcasts. And eventually, I did record some rhymes over it. But that song isn't done yet... so I'm gonna keep my mouth shut until it's ready to drop.

Finally, if you were wondering, the answer is yes -- the title "Essential" is inspired by Marvel's Essential comics reprints. At the time I made this song, I was reading Luke Cage v1 and X-Men v5.

NEXT TUESDAY: A personal favorite of mine that was written and recorded as an Xmas present for my girlfriend.

Originally drawn for Sequential Underground's Strip Club v1.

There's something very unusual about Bacon -- it was written and recorded in about 45 minutes.

Most of the songs on Brilliant Shower took hours to compose and perform, evolving with every new layer and morphing into something far different than what I'd originally intended for them.

Bacon, however, was written on a lark and recorded in a pinch. And it came out sounding exactly like I'd intended.

Intermission!!! For your sharing pleasure, here's Bacon on YouTube...

...and on SoundCloud.

Okay, back to the history of this song. My friend and co-creator of the AudioShocker, Neal, was visiting me in Pittsburgh. We wanted to lay down some tracks for my offensive hip hop project, the Unlicensed Attorneys at Law.

Improvising, I was playing my acoustic guitar while he was coming up with goofy innuendo for the hook. I wrote the riff for Bacon, while he came up with the idea for a "pork and beans" themed chorus.

I busted out my drum machine, added some quick keyboard bass, tossed in a couple of acoustic guitar tracks, added some keys and percussion and VOILA! The track was complete. It was just that quick.

Consequently, this beat has been used for the past two UAL releases, the 20 Minute Sex Soundtrack and The Bacon and Eggs EP (both very NSFW). Also, an alternate version of Bacon will appear on my next album, 7 Star Sky Flash Kick.

NEXT TUESDAY: Super synth meets smooth acoustic guitar and thick slap bass.

Point is, we were discussing some New 52 art and the Heroes Reborn initiative came up. Most people didn't have fond memories of the late 90s attempt to revive the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. But me? I did!

I'd stopped voraciously reading current superhero comic books in 1993, around the time I finally realized Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld weren't coming back to draw the X-Men (I was young... it took me a while to piece things together). I still followed X-Factor and Excalibur, but most of my efforts turned towards digging up books printed in 88-92, back when the Image founders still drew for Marvel.

So I was shocked when I stumbled into my local Fairport, NY comic shop in 1996 and saw a Captain America cardboard cutout drawn by Rob Liefeld. I bought Captain America #1 on the spot and loved it.

Around the same time, my sister was living in New York City and working in-house for a graphic design firm. She knew how much I loved comic books, and she'd saved a ton of posters and promotional materials for me.

Among the jewels she gave me were these beauties:

I was smitten! Up until this time, I'd never even seen what a Marvel Comics art board looked like. But now I had three glossy mini-posters by my art heroes, printed out as mock art boards, just with a little added color and text.

Now let me bring things back to the present. A couple of hours ago on Pittsburgh Comic Talk, I was gushing about these posters in our Heroes Reborn talk. I went to Google to try and find some pics of them... but I couldn't find a single image!

So I took pics of my own. And now here we are. Please forgive the crappy quality of the pics and poor condition of the posters. I hung these on my walls through out most of high school and college, so they've seen a lot of action.

I don't know if these ever made it out to the general public or if these were just prototypes. I've never seen them hanging up in comic book stores, and I've never seen them at a comic book convention. If you know what their deal is, fill me in!

She was hosting a program called Modern Donkey on 90.1 FM KZSU Stanford. If you live in the Bay Area, then it's on your dial. Otherwise, you can listen live online.

Anyway, the theme for Dr. Wormwood's radio show was album openers, and she was asking people to send their feedback. So I recorded a quick mp3 of my thoughts on opening tracks. And as I was prepping to email it, I remembered something -- I'd just posted an album opener of my own on Tuesday!

So I attached my thoughts on openers and my own opener, After the Wink, to the email. Less than one hour hour later, I heard this on the KZSU live stream:

Thanks, Dr. Wormwood!!! You're the best!

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the entire Modern Donkey radio show yesterday, and I highly recommend that you listen too. It airs every Wednesday from 9AM-12PM PST on KZSU. Here's that link again!

It's been eight months since I halted my (somewhat) weekly Nik Furious music posts. But now the jams have officially returned!

Let's kick off the celebration with After the Wink, the first track from my instrumental album, Brilliant Shower:

Up until now, my free music downloads were strictly limited to my mixtape cuts (a.k.a. songs with samples in them). The only way to get my 100% original instrumental music was to buy Brilliant Shower from iTunes, etc. But as I explained a couple of weeks ago, I've taken Nik Furious off of those sites and now ALL of my original songs will be available here on my blog.

For the foreseeable future, all of these new Nik Furious posts will also contain a YouTube video of the song:

...and a SoundCloud version:

Well, at least until I get sick of embedding both of them

OKAY! Now let's talk about After the Wink. It was originally composed in 2004 as part of a 10-minute soundtrack for a student film of the same name by Claudia Duran and Jonathan Martofel.

We had a bit of a miscommunication somewhere along the way... they were expecting a plain guitar soundtrack, while I was aching to experiment with synth-heavy electronic sounds. I'd only recently begun producing hip hop beats, and I was hype to fuse my new hop hop style with my experience in performing rock music.

They hated the result. I wasn't sure how I felt. At the time, I guess I hated it too. At their request, I went back in and redid everything as a single track of acoustic guitar. And the electronic soundtrack was scrapped.

About a year later, I was going back through some of my shelved recordings to mine them for beats (or, at the very least, ideas). I relistened to the entire electronic After the Wink soundtrack. Of the 10-minute recording, a single minute stood out. I decided to hack off the dead weight and VOILA! This song was born.

Genre-wise, I think it tends to confuse people. It's not exactly rock. It's not exactly electronic. It's certainly not funky like my most of my other songs. And there's no way it could sit comfortably alongside my hip hop productions. No, it's a beast of its own and I love it for that.

NEXT TUESDAY: A song written and recorded in 45 minutes becomes a Nik Furious funk classic!

I got this tattoo in 2005, I think. I guess I'm a little hazy on the exact date. But that's not very important. What's important is that: 1. this was something my cousins and I did together as a commemoration of our bond, 2. we designed them together, and then 3. I got to draws the tats!

If you're already familiar with my art style, it should be pretty easy for you to tell this is my handiwork. The line weights, shapes, and angles are distinctly mine. The tattoo artist* did a killer job. Frankly, I think it looks like I drew it on my own arm.

My cousins -- Ben and Josh -- have similar-yet-different tattoos, all featuring the same skull character, as well as the same tablet** marked with the letters K and M (for our family names, Kobylarz and Marino).

In Ben's tattoo, the skull is surrounded by billowing smoke. It has red eyes and the tablet has a red inner line. Josh's skull sports a huge top hat with a lime green band. His skull has matching green eyes and there's a green inner line on the tablet.

For mine, I decided to go with a spider, a web, and the color purple. Why? To me, my spider represents Anansi and his storytelling tradition. It also represents a creature that's both a predator and a protector, gentle yet lethal. And I see a spider's web as living, functioning art. As for purple? I'm sure I could come up with some kind of poetic reasoning, but honestly I just like purple.

You can see all three of our tattoos here.

Currently, this is the only tattoo I have. I've thought about getting more over the years, but nothing has spoken to me like this one. This tattoo is about more than just a cool image... it's about the experience my cousins and I shared by getting them together, the strong bond we share to this day, and the symbolic qualities of the design. Plus, I like having one of my drawings forever etched into my arm.

---------------------------------------------

*I'm no tattoo expert, so forgive me if I say something that sounds implausible... but from what I remember, our tattoo artist put together some kind of thicker-than-usual needle when we brought in our designs. Whatever he did, I know he was working with a much thicker point to try and mimic the thick lines I used in the drawings.

**The shape was originally supposed to be a playing card, as suggested by Ben. But the shading I added ended up far too thick, almost like a stone tablet. We dug the look and decided to go with it.

While it's under construction, this image is my placeholder on that page:

The picture was taken at the 2011 N.E. Geek Expo, which was a cozy affair that went down in early November in northeastern Ohio.

From left to right, you can see a ton of my self-published comics -- Time Log, Super Haters, Zombie Palin, Stick Cats (with the theme song!), as well as some other minicomics in the top left.

I drew this back in 2006, when I first started dating Justique. She dug the Harry Potter books, and I wanted to sketch something that'd be familiar to her.

So I fused my love of antiquated, macho, gun-toting action heroes with her love of magical, modern, sensitive teen heroes... and voila! Arnold meets Radcliffe to birth a "Badass Bloodbath."

Justique unearthed this gem the other day when she was flipping through one of her old journals. And, as you can see, the ink from my Paper Mate Flair pen has bled a little bit, giving the drawing a nice extra sloppy effect in places.

Share this on: Facebook -- Tumblr -- deviantART -- Flickr -- Google+

Why? Lemme break it down for you with some statistics. Here are my total sales on iTunes, Amazon, and other mass-market MP3 channels from December 2009 thru August 2011:

Wow. I don't know what to say. I mean, I didn't do any online advertising and my self-promotion was mostly social media. I guess I didn't do enough!

On the flip, here are my listening stats from the podPress plugin on this blog. Note that these stats are only from the past 13 months because I lost all my previous podPress stats when I switched webhosts at the end of 2010 (that explains why Windrider and Superior Tech only have 8 plays a piece):

Now that's more like it! What a difference free makes, right? Those numbers are much closer to what I expected from online sales.

Not long before I started selling my music through TuneCore, I was ranking on the first page of Google for "instrumental songs." Why? Because I had an old link on the Nik Furious MySpace account that linked directly (i.e. NOT a nofollow link) to my nikfurious.htm webpage. Like a fool, I didn't realize the potency of that link and I took it down when I transitioned NickMarino.net into a blog. Whooops!

Anyway, to sum it up, it's not worth $50 a year to sell $2.50 worth of music. I'd rather give it away for free and know that at least a couple hundred people are enjoying my music rather than making 3 people pay for it.

My Nik Furious music posts will return in 2012, starting with my album Brilliant Shower. I'll post all of the songs individually first, and then post the entire album as a .ZIP file, just like my mixtapes I've been sharing for the past couple of years. And later in 2012, I'll release my next 100% original album, 7 Star Sky Flash Kick.

In the meantime, you can download the AudioShocker podcast theme songs, including songs from both Brilliant Shower and 7 Star Sky Flash Kick. And you can listen to my instrumentals under the extremely NSFW and offensive rhymes of the Unlicensed Attorneys at Law:

See you in 2012!

Why sad? Because this is the final Groundscore song I have to share with you!! Also, because this is a sad song.

See, back in 1999, there were sad teenagers across America who were starting to spend a lot of time gelling and brushing their hair. They didn't completely connect with the goth mentality, nor did they entirely reject the peppy energy of punk. No, they were proud pioneers were a new breed... a blend of hard rock and emotion... they were the forefathers of emotional rock! Which later became known as emo.

Anyway, point is that we did our own proto-emo thing with Zach's New Song. Zach was always a hopeless romantic and it was only a matter of time before he busted out the acoustic guitar and tempted the waterworks with an original tune.

On this song, Conrad plays drums, I play bass and keyboard, and Zach plays guitar and sings.

If we had to do this one over again, I would make the vocals louder in the mix. Sometimes they get a bit swallowed up by the instruments.

So... that's it for Groundscore! Sometime in the near future, I'll post all of these songs as one .ZIP for you to download. Thx for listening and taking this trip down memory lane with me. And if you're aching for new music, then you'll be glad to know that I'll be back soon with some very special Nik Furious news.

And that's a wrap!!! I hope you've enjoyed Stick Cats Act III. I know I had an awesome time drawing it.

Act II will be happening at some point in the future. You'll get to learn about all the crazy events that transpired between Stick Cats #20 and Stick Cats #22 (hint: Stick Cats #21 is a teaser of their journey). However, I don't think I'm going to post it one page at a time. Expect to read Act II in chapters instead.

In the meantime, start following Stick Cats on Facebook to stay up-to-date on the progress of Act II.

WAIT... this isn't the absolute end! There's still one more page due on Wednesday -- it's the epilogue, where we find out the fate of Marmalade and Alternate Steve. See you then.

Marmalade makes her decision! Friendship beats out revenge, as she leaves with Alternate Steve to go find her Steve and bring him home. So what's next for Amazonia and the Deco-Kitty? Find out on Monday!!

Will Marmalade kill Amazonia? Or will she dimension jump with Alternate Steve??? Find out on Friday!!!

The basement reference in this song is very literal. Conrad's basement was the home of Groundscore. It was our practice space. It was our hang out space. And it's where we recorded this song.

We regarded this song as our "single" -- if we ever had the chance to put one out, that is. We thought it was the most well-rounded and attractive song in our set. In retrospect, I'm not sure that it's any better or worse than our other tracks... just a bit more of the times (late 90s pop punk before the emo explosion).

This song is notable for being our one truly collaborative composition. Typically, we worked in a more individual fashion, bringing pre-written songs to the table and tweaking them for the band. Upstairs, however, was written collaboratively -- appropriately enough -- upstairs in Conrad's bedroom (our secondary hang out spot).

On this recording, Conrad plays drums, Zach plays guitar and sings the choruses, and I play bass and sing the verses and bridge.

Honestly, my vocals kinda suck on this. Zach should have sung the whole song. I'm not tone-deaf, but I have an extremely difficult time making my voice replicate the notes I hear. I spent a lot of my youth in musical theater and experienced all kinds of vocal training, and it's never made much of a difference!

As for the lyrics themselves, I'm still quite fond of them. I think they have a nice degree of ambiguity, along with enough recognizable phrasing to make them both familiar and strange at the same time, leaving lots of room for personal interpretation.

Next up is the final Groundscore recording, our most emotional outing... a track titled "Zach's New Song."

Marmalade vs. Amazonia!!! This fight was so much fun to draw. I love it when the claws come out.

The confrontation begins! Finally, some action in Act III. Marmalade vs. Amazonia... the fight that's been brewing for ever since Stick Cats #5!!

This is one of my favorite pages from Act III because I tried a few different things here that were a lot of fun to draw. I hope you dig it, too!

The horizontal splash page! I miss these. In the late 80s and 90s, these used to be a staple of the hottest superhero comics. AND I'M BRINGING 'EM BACK! Granted, my comics are very different from Juggernaut vs. X-Force or the Bloodties crossover... but I'm forging foreward nonetheless. I previously used the horizontal splash in Stick Cats Act I and my Passage minicomic. And, yes, when you read the printed version of this, you have to turn the book. That's what makes it so fun!

Welcome to Steve's lab!

Teleportation!!! Next: ZOOF!

Check out my other comic from today: Super Haters #304

The plot thickens!!! I drew Stick Cats Act III as my 24 Hour Comic, and by the time I hit this page, I was getting tired of all the talking! I wanted to advance the plot in an expedient fashion, so I introduced the notion in panel 2.

Other comics from today: Super Haters #303

In the meantime, if you're craving entertainment, listen to this week's AudioShocker Podcast #205 and A Podcast with Ross and Nick #116. And, of course, make sure to follow my current Super Haters comics collaboration with Andrew Kilian.

I've been eagerly waiting to post this page since the beginning of Stick Cats Act III!!! Why? Because it's the reveal of the Octo-Kitty's new name -- QUINTO-KITTY! Which, BTW, is completely mathematically incorrect.

Jack Kirby, Mike Royer, and Irene Vartanoff:

Rich Buckler, Klaus Janson, Glynis Wein, and Tom Orzechowski:

Jerry Bingham and Dan Green:

Jack Kirby and Frank Giacoia:

Jack Kirby and Mike Royer [next 4 images]:

Billy Graham, Craig Russell, Tom Palmer, and Joe Rosen:

Jack Kirby and Mike Royer:

Make sure you click on the images -- most of them have bigger versions!

...we're going to the prom with your mom! Actually, driveways are really relevant to this song because that's where I came up with the concept and most of the lyrics.

We used to hang out in Conrad's driveway a lot. Which is odd considering that the place where we lived was cold for eight months out of the year and Conrad's driveway was also a steep hill.

But back to the song! It was originally titled "I Went To The Prom With Your Mom" and later shortened to "Prom Mom." And as the years have past, it's become progressively more lude and rude.

Groundscore was the first band that played this tune, but not the last. In fact, I've played this song pretty frequently over the past decade or so, most notably with Dirty Weekend (check out a lyrically NSFW performance of it here).

On this Groundscore version, Conrad plays drums, Zach plays guitar and sings back up, I'm on bass and lead vocals, and I also play the fuzzy guitar solo.

I love playing Prom Mom and I think it's a lot of fun. In fact, I've been playing and recording it more consistently than any other song I've ever written. Here's a solo acoustic version (also NSFW) from a few years ago.

EDIT: And I almost forgot... today is Conrad's birthday! Happy bday, Con!!!

Next up is Groundscore's signature song (and the only one we all wrote together)... a little ditty called "Upstairs."

That's right... it's alternate reality Steve. And he said Time-Nado.

Other media from today: Super Haters #297 and Sequential Underground #29

Anyway, in early 2005, I decided to print out a portfolio. So I went to Kinko's and scanned eight of my favorite drawings. And this Havok sketch made the cut:

Havok is one of my favorite comic book characters. I love the themes at work with him, especially how he tends to struggle with unwanted power and responsibility. I'm a bit of a Havok fanatic, having followed the character from Uncanny X-Men to X-Factor to Mutant X back to Uncanny X-Men, and, soon, back to X-Factor!

Visually, few characters can hold a candle to his original design by Neal Adams. It's gorgeous in its simplicity and complexity, especially under the pencil of Jim Lee. I also like his 90s redesigns by Joe Quesada, Jeff Matsuda, and Tom Raney.

My visual rendition is a mix between Havok's classic look and Sunspot's silhouette form. Also, I decided to try out a more tactile representation of Havok's concentric circle plasma blasts (which, if you notice here, appear to be made of the same material as the bands on his head).

I wish I was the type of artist that could eloquently capture the negative image effect of his powers and the perfect overlapping circles of his blasts. But neither of those effects are in my bag of tricks, so instead you get this version!

Regardless, to this day I have a special place in my heart for this sketch, and that's why I've dredged it up... FROM THE VAULTS!!!

Pictured here (mostly) are cards from the 1991 Jim Lee-only X-Men series. In my adult years, I've never met anyone else who's ever seen these, let alone heard of them!

I guess you could say that I'm forever searching for someone who has fond memories of them too. Along with Marvel Universe Series II, these plain X-Men cards have always been my favorites.

In the second image, you can see four of the X-Men Series 1 cards by Impel from 1992. Apparently that series is also Jim Lee-only! I never even noticed until today.

Anyway, the main difference between these being that the 1991 cards pull art from the comics and re-color it, while the 1992 series have the character names on the front and the art is unique to the cards. Also, the backs of the 1991 cards regurgitate plot info, while the 1992 cards have bios and stats.

If you couldn't already tell, the last pic is the checklist from the 1991 series. I also have cards from a similar Wolverine series. Like the 1991 set, the Wolvie cards don't have any text or borders on the front, and the art comes from the comics.

And then there's this.

Wait... is that Steve???

I normally stick to instrumental music, but something compelled me to try and update Herman's original performance.

Today's song is an ode to Jamie, Conrad's sister. You might hear the lyrics and think that we hated Jamie, but nothing could be further from the truth!

In fact, Jamie was awesome to us! She used to drive us places, let us use her stuff, invite us to hang out with her older cool friends, and she was super supportive of all of our insane creative pursuits.

So what did we do to repay all that kindness? Conrad wrote a song called "Pigface" and we dedicated it to her.

Conrad's on vocals and guitar, Zach's on bass, and I'm on drums.

Structurally, this is a really interesting track. It's a fusion of a bunch of Conrad's inspirations at the time, from punk to metal to classic rock to oldies (around 0:25 we quote an old rock n' roll tune... I forget the name of the song).

As Groundscore songs go, this is one of my favorites. I like the heavy garage sound, Conrad's guitar work on the breakdown (especially the opening riff at 0:50), and I've always enjoyed my raw drum work from the same section.

EDIT: Conrad adds, "Now I should say this, the song isn't necessarily ABOUT my sister, we were hanging out when I wrote it. So I guess it kind of reminds me of her? I should have written a cooler song...."

Next, I share my perennial teen anthem, "I Went to the Prom with Your Mom."

Special thx to Justique for helping me out with this comic! This is the only page that went through a significant change on 24 Hour Comics Day. I originally finished the comic within 12 hours, went to sleep, and looked it over in the morning. The middle panel was totally different on this page -- it was sloppy and unattractive. Justique suggested that I have each head say a different word and I thought the idea was brilliant! I went back to the Toonseum to say hi to the folks who were still grinding away, and I decided to draw the correction panel while I was there.

Other media from today: Super Haters #294

Other media from today: Super Haters #292 & A Podcast with Ross and Nick #115

It was great to meet so many new comics fans at the N.E. Geek Expo this past Saturday! Thx to all of you who purchased Stick Cats. I hope you enjoy the ride!!!

Speaking of which, have you read Stick Cats: Act I yet? If not, lemme make it easy for you -- now you can read the entirety of Act I on the Stick Cats Facebook fan page. And while you're there, also make sure to hit the like button and become a fan!

Whoooooops! I forgot all about Stick Cats today. I'M SORRY! I know that's kind of silly considering that I just started this new schedule, but I've got a good reason -- I'm getting ready for a convention that's happening tomorrow!

It's called the N.E. Geek Expo and it's at the Ashtabula County Fairgrounds in Jefferson, Ohio on from 12-7. There'll be comics, cosplay, gaming, and all other manner of nerdy stuff. I'll have fresh copies of my Stick Cats comics for sale, plus lots more. SEE YOU THERE!

Shuma-Gorath lands a Chaos Dimension on Spider-Man and perfects him to win the match in Marvel Super Heroes.

Also, don't miss today's Super Haters #287 and Sequential Underground #28 (webcomic and podcast, respectively).

...and I'm one of them!

I answered Wayne's questions about my comics background, process, influences, and tons more. Check it out: Small Press Interview - Nick Marino

Also make sure to check out Wayne's three (count 'em... three!) new digital novels -- Scratch, Bedivere Book One: The King's Right Hand, and This Creature Fair.

Welcome to the beginning of the new Stick Cats Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule! Hope you enjoy the ride...

In honor of All-Hallows-Eve, I've posted my Zombie Palin webcomic on Tumblr, Google+, Facebook, and deviantART. It's only 11 strips long (10 on Tumblr!) and very NSFW. So pick your favorite social network and enjoy!

Also: Tumblr

**SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT**

Stick Cats is going thrice weekly! Starting with next Monday -- Halloween a.k.a. Oct 31st -- you can read new Stick Cats pages on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And it'll be like that for the next month and a half, until I reach the end of Act III with #45. After that? WHO KNOWS! If it seems like peeps are really digging more Stick Cats, then you can be sure that I'll keep putting them out on a more frequent basis.

ALSO:
- Stick Cats #25 on Tumblr
- Stick Cats #25 on deviantART
- Stick Cats #25 on Flickr

The Octo-Kitty speaks! Well, actually, it's not the Octo-Kitty anymore... but that's a reveal best saved for a different Stick Cats page.

ALSO:
- Stick Cats #24 on Tumblr
- Stick Cats #24 on deviantART
- Stick Cats #24 on Flickr

Considering my sales are typically very modest, I had a great showing. I sold out of Zombie Palin, as well as Stick Cats Act I and Act III. Also, thx to the AudioShocker Trivia Challenge, I got rid of a ton of other comics.

I had the chance to talk to lots of other indie creators, podcasters, and media producers. I learned a lot from these talks -- not just from the words exchanged, but from tracking trends in the topics we covered.

But my favorite part was experiencing the vest enthusiasm that fans had at the show. I caught some of this in the process of the Trivia Challenge, and that was great. I caught even more in the process of casual conversation.

For example, on Saturday I met a guy who recounted some of his favorite Wonder Woman moments. His passion for the topic and the way he described the comics kept me captivated for what felt like hours. I could have listened to him for the entire day.

Being a passionate person myself, I appreciate similar passion in others. Whether it's passion for comics knowledge, characters, stories, or the medium, I find it all very gratifying. That made NYCC a great way to spend a long weekend, if you ask me.

Would I table at NYCC again? HELL YES with one condition -- a reasonable table price. None of that $400 stuff. That's too much. And I'd also make sure to print up 300 or so free minicomics to give away to attendees (maybe even more).

I'll be doing podcast recaps of NYCC on the AudioShocker over the next couple of weeks, so keep a watch on that site for more about my NYCC 2011 experience.

EDIT: Here's my first podcast recap of NYCC.

I'm repping the AudioShocker in the Podcast Arena. I'm selling curated collections of our best podcasts, along with a lot of the comics I had at PIX last weekend.

I'm also running an AudioShocker Trivia Challenge, quizzing people on their comic book and superhero knowledge both new and old. The challenge was a hit yesterday, and I'm almost out of my first batch of prizes. When I officially run out of mainstream comic book sets to give away, don't worry -- you can still play for copies of my self-published comics! (Even better prizes, if you ask me.)

Anyway, if you're at NYCC, stop by and say hi. My table is in the waaaaay back of Artist Alley (right underneath the Podcast Arena sign hanging from the ceiling). See you there!!!

Hi to my new visitors from The Belfry WebComics Index. I hope you dig Stick Cats.

ALSO:
- Stick Cats #23 on Tumblr
- Stick Cats #23 on deviantART
- Stick Cats #23 on Flickr

But I digress. Let's talk about the Pittsburgh Indy Comics Expo itself. It was a solid day. I'd say my sales were probably about the same as they were yesterday. Honestly, I don't keep super close track of my sales anymore. I don't sell enough to warrant thinking about it very much. I'm sure I made back my table, and probably a few bucks on top of that.

(Photo by Seth Fronzoli)

This was a small show, and that meant there were fantastic opportunities to make new friends and learn from professionals. For example, the one panel of the day was a great discussion about networking, building comics communities, reaching out to other creators, and finding a publisher.

The panelists were Bill Boichel, Jason Little, Tom Scioli, John Porcellino, Jim Rugg, and Ed Piskor. Even though I see most of them on a regular basis and we sometimes talk about this type of stuff, it was great to hear them address the topics head on.

Like yesterday, I gave away a ton of books. Friends, acquaintances, other creators... I'm sure I gave away more books than I ever have before at a show.

I couldn't even tell you what my top seller was today. It's a blur. However, I do remember selling two of my AudioShocker Comics Archives v1 digital comic cards, which warms my heart because that product is a true labor of love for me. I see a future in selling downloads and digital content, and this is my effort to push forward that vision.

I enjoyed this year's show more than 2010, and I'll definitely be back in 2012 (health and my location permitting, of course). You can check out more of my thoughts about PIX 2011 on Tuesday's AudioShocker Podcast and on the next episode of Sequential Underground (sometime on or after the 19th).

I enjoyed the crowd (for example, those two people above... who I don't even know them!). In particular, I talked to a lot of really interesting Carnegie Mellon students.

Also, I gave away a ton of books. I couldn't help myself! I've got all these new ones and I'm excited to get them out there. The top seller was Justique's Tales for a New Gen zine, and my top giveaway was Two Twisted Tales.

EDIT: Day 2 recap.

Here's the mighty list of comics I'll have with me (new items in bold):

TIME LOG
- Time Log one-shot
- The New Time Log (1 of 3)
- The New Time Log (2 of 3)

SUPER HATERS
- Super Haters v1
- Super Haters v2
- 6 Super Haters minicomics:
-- Kids (#58-72)
-- Guess Who's Cumming To Dinner? (#82-96)
-- Eye to Eye (#110-124)
-- Vacation (most of #167-187)
-- Is It Lust Or Is It Love? (#195-209)
-- Alternate Surreality (#215-229)

STICK CATS
- Stick Cats #1: Act I
- Stick Cats #3: Act III

OTHER COMICS
- AudioShocker Comics Archives v1 digital comic card
- Zombie Palin (third edition)
- Passage
- XLK: Extreme Lost Kisses #1
- Bushido Revolver
- Two Twisted Tales

ZINES
- Poetree
- NoPants Zine Anthology
- Tales for a New Gen

I'm sure there's something I left off the list. Anyway, point is, I'm gonna have a ton of new material with me this year, not to mention that nearly everything listed above is new since last year's PIX.

AND... if you stop by my table this weekend and mention the special phrase, you'll get a $2 discount off of your purchase (or, if the item you're buying is $2 or less, you'll get a free minicomic). The special phrase is: BALLS DEEP (and don't forget to mention this blog post to jog my memory).

So, yeah, as you can see, I've skipped Stick Cats Act II. Why? Because I think it's fun to introduce the setup and then fast-forward to the end!

I drew all of Stick Cats Act III for 24-Hour Comics Day last weekend (read more about my experience here). And I'm currently in the process of formatting it for PIX: Pittsburgh Indy Comics Expo, which is happening this weekend! You'll be able to buy both Stick Cats Act I and Act III from me at the show. See you there!

ALSO:
- Stick Cats #22 on Tumblr
- Stick Cats #22 on deviantART
- Stick Cats #22 on Flickr

How awesome??? So awesome that I finished my 24-page story in less than 12 hours! Granted, I drew Stick Cats Act III in a loose line with minimal detail, so it's not like I pulled a Jack Kirby routine. But I'm extremely pleased with the way things turned out. (Check back this Wednesday to read page 1!)

What did I do differently from 2010? I learned from my mistakes by setting different goals, sticking to stuff that I enjoy drawing, and focusing on speed. My goal for this year was to finish in a half-day, and I'm glad that I accomplished that mission (I went to sleep at a normal time in my own bed! SWEET!).

It was a great environment at this year's 24HCD, with lots of space and a good vibe. People were there to work, and their passion for drawing comics was apparent. A few of my close friends were there, as well as a few peeps I haven't met before.

Everybody had a different way of working and it was a lot fun to see the different styles in motion. For example, Chris Maverick was wired up real nice with his laptop and tricked-out tablet. He demonstrated Manga Studio a bit, and I was totally floored by some of the program's features.

On the flip, Juan Jose Fernandez was working on special yellow paper stock in a much more old school method. His traditional style involved pencils and India ink, and he kept his pages in a stack on the top left of his table.

Now imagine if you will Chris and Juan standing on opposite sides of a room, with a full spectrum of working methods filling in the gap between them. That's how it was at 24HCD. A few of us had laptops to use for finding reference or keeping tabs on social media while we worked. Others kicked it straight analog -- it was just them, a pencil, a pen, and the paper.

I worked in my sketchbook. That's the method I've used for Stick Cats thus far and I've come to enjoy the feel of drawing the comic page-by-page in a coil-bound tome. The only drawback to working in my sketchbook was that it was hard for other artists to come around and peak at my progress.

I skipped pencils (as usual) and worked in black ink, using my beloved Paper Mate Flair pens to get the job done (with a little Sharpie here and there). As I've been working like this for going on 20 years now, it was easy and comfortable -- a technique I was able to leverage for speed.

So what did I learn this year that I can apply in 2012?

1. Focusing on speed is a great way to work, but I'd like to slow down a bit and do a more detailed story next year.

2. Working in my sketchbook greatly decreased my ability to share, so I'll definitely make sure to use loose sheets next time.

3. And, finally, I'm gonna focus on big action and minimal dialogue in 2012. My characters talked too much this year, and I got tired of drawing the same settings over and over.

BUT WAIT! There's more! I referenced 24HCD in today's Super Haters webcomic. Based on Grant Morrison's philosophy of transference from the comics page to the creator's real life, I figured that if Destruct-O-Tron could complete a brilliant complete 24-hour comic in the Super Haters reality, then maybe it'd transfer over to me. Though I'd be hard pressed to call Stick Cats Act III brilliant, the other part of the transference worked!

But seriously, if you're in Pittsburgh and you're curious about 24HCD, stop by the Toonseum anytime after 12 PM tomorrow and say hi.

Officially, it runs from 12 PM on Sat Oct 1st until 12 PM Sun Oct 2nd. Frankly, I intended to draw a 12 hour comic. I'd much rather spend the night in my own bed, so my goal is to catch one of the late buses home around midnight.

But, as things tend to go with 24-Hour Comics Day, there's a very good chance I'll be there all night, cranking out pages and having a great time.

The above graphic was created by the prolific Barry Linck, writer/artist of Phineus (and much, much more). Along with Barry, I'll be kicking it with friends of mine like Scott Hedlund, Chris Maverick, Loran Skinkis, Kristoffer Smith, Lizzee Solomon, Byron Winton, Mikey Wood, and maybe -- just maybe -- Shawn Atkins (if he's back from his honeymoon). Of course, I'm not sure if all of these peeps will show up. But hopefully most of them will!!!

Check back here next week because I'll be posting a 24HCD recap, as well as the fruits of my labor.

So what is going to happen, you ask? I'm gonna mess with time.

I recently completed Stick Cats Act I and ended things with a pretty big cliffhanger. But despite the shocking revelation I dropped, I'm not sure how I want to dive into Stick Cats Act II.

However... I dig the notion of drawing Stick Cats Act III next. That means I'd go back and fill in the gap afterwards, making the end of Stick Cats Act II the end of the Stick Cats saga.

So when should you expect to see the start of Stick Cats Act III? Next week. I'm going to use 24-Hour Comic Day to knock out all of Act III (and, with luck, both the first and third acts will be available for purchase at this year's PIX on October 8-9).

BUT... that doesn't mean this will be another week without Stick Cats! Here's a scrapped comic that was originally intended to be Stick Cats #22:

Obviously, I'm going to go in a totally different direction. But I thought you might like to see it anyway!

This year -- just like last year -- Pittsburgh's 24HCD will be held at the Toonseum. Joe Wos is kind enough to open his doors to the PGH comics community again and house this marathon event.

I'm not bringing up the location just so you can stop down and say hi. The "where" is integral to the first lesson I learned last year: 1. Your location sets the tone. In 2010, there was a parade on Liberty Ave right outside the Toonseum's front door. Massive distraction! And not only that, but it also complicated the buses, making it hard for Justique to visit me.

And Justique's visit brings up the second lesson I learned: 2. If you want to end up with a finished book, then remember that 24HCD is about making comics and not hanging out. I'm not going to encourage Justique to visit me this year. She can if she wants, and of course I'd love to see her. But I'm doing this to test my limits and make a comic in one day, not be social.

Now there's one (count it -- one!) thing I did right last year -- I made it the entire 24 hours without sleeping. Myself and Chris Maverick were the only ones to do so. How'd I do it? A combination of proper rest, focus, and food. So: 3. Get a good night's sleep the night before and eat good stuff throughout the day. Ya know, low-carb grub that won't make you slip into a food coma.

But I didn't make the most of my 24 hours. Even though I stayed awake, I wasted them. I was too social, I was too distracted, and I was too indecisive. Which leads me my next lesson: 4. Avoid breaks, avoid trips that take you away from your work, and avoid thinking too much. Granted, that's kind of like two lessons in one right there, what with the thinking stuff. But the reason I group it together is because too much research or too much obsessive flip-flopping about your story is a form of procrastination.

I approached the day with a tight schedule that laid out what I'd be doing every half-hour. Ahahahahahaha! What a fucking joke!!! That schedule was blown out of the water in two hours. Thus: 5. Don't waste your time trying to work on a set schedule -- just work as fast as you can.

So what did I do for the first two hours? I wrote a script. Which leads me to my next lesson learned: 6. Don't write a script. A nice idea, but very impractical.

Here's the script I wrote for my comic, Maximum Cactus #1:

It's a fine script and all. But totally pointless. Why? Because I only got done nine pages!!! See, I thought I'd be able to breeze through the process by working digitally. WRONG! Again, a nice idea... if I'd been comfortable working digitally. But I'm not. I like to draw on paper and then scan stuff in.

And that leads me to my next lesson: 7. Draw in the most comfortable way possible. I don't mean comfortable like sweat pants. I mean comfortable as in the way that feels most natural to you. I shoulda drawn on paper with Paper Mate Flair pens. That's the easiest way for me to work.

Another mistake I made was trying to tell a story with a lot of dialogue and boring imagery. I was too reliant on exposition and not reliant enough on stuff that's fun to draw. So, as you'll soon see, I ended up with a lot of talking heads. Which flows into my next lesson: 8. Draw stuff that you like to draw. That's where my script messed me up -- I wrote a story that I loved but not one that I wanted to draw.

As for the actual drawing process, it was fun but slow. I planned too much and didn't let myself feel the moment. Thus I learned another lesson: 9. Be improvisational. When the clock strikes 2 AM and you suddenly realize you don't give a shit about what you need to draw for page 14, you're screwed if you have a strict script that's binding you to a set story. However, working improvisationally will allow you the necessary wiggle room to change things on the fly.

So how much did I finish last year? Nine unlettered pages. [cue sad trombone]

I didn't start to enjoy my art until the second half of page eight. And even then, I still had a lot of misgivings about it. But it was a great learning experience and a fun journey, even if I left the Toonseum the next day feeling defeated by 24HCD.

In summation, I have only one more lesson to impart: 10. Plan to make a comic that you can complete in 12 hours, not 24. Then maybe -- just maybe -- you'll be able to finish a 24 page story in one day.

Along with my friend and fellow Pittsburgh podcaster, Dan Greenwald, I'll be covering some intermediate-level type stuff, from audience building to audio editing and more.

In fact, my plan is to open things up early on and answer questions from the attendees about the sort of things they want to know. So show up with your questions and get ready for a knowledge-packed 45 minutes!

The drum machine's playback is a little laggy, so what you hear is actually just one phrase of the beat looped over and over. I played a slap pop riff on my new fretless Yamaha to the looped beat, and that was that.

You can recreate this song's drum pattern by using the image from the video.

I dunno how I want to kick off Stick Cats Act II, so I made this map instead.

ALSO:
Stick Cats #21 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #21 on deviantART

In fact, this completed version of Da Bounce has heretofore only been heard on earlier episodes of the Naked Jews podcast.

However, I did post some stages of this song's construction as a part of my abandoned Building Da Beat series on the AudioShocker. There's even a special scrapped version of the track with a ton of crunchy electric guitar on it.

This song will be included on my upcoming album 7 Star Sky Flash Kick. I'm only a few songs away from being done with that collection of tracks, so hopefully I'll release the full thing around the end of the year.

ALSO:
- Da Bounce on SoundCloud
- Da Bounce on MySpace
- Da Bounce on PodOMatic

My friend Dan mentioned that he hasn't seen any reports from the 2011 Pittsburgh Zine Fair yet, so I figure I'll post an impromptu one from the perspective of an organizer and exhibitor at the show.

This debut PGH Zine Fair was the baby of Erin Oh, who started working on it back in June (I think). I joined the organizing crew in early July, and attended meetings every Monday night at Pittsburgh Filmmakers in North Oakland.

While Pittsburgh's had other recent small press events in the past few years (SPF and PIX come to mind), this Zine Fair was dedicated to zines above all else, making it a bit different than its predecessors. Also, it stands out from the pack by being a wholly volunteer and organization-free project. There was no backing company -- profit or non-profit -- involved.

Anyway, we all worked hard to design the best show possible with limited resources, and I think Erin did a fantastic job leading the show to definitive success. I was really impressed with the attendance. I would say it was a good-to-great turnout for a random late summer Thursday evening. Also, because the main vendor space was tightly packed, it felt really well attended.

The crowd was more bohemian than I expected. I'd consider myself one of the less traditional people that I can think of in the Pittsburgh comics scene... but the Zine Fair crowd made me feel like I was one step away from wearing a suit and tie to the event.

I'd be lying to you if I said I got a good feel for the material that was there. Honestly, I didn't walk around that much. But I did see a pretty wide range of stuff, from minicomics to photocopied prose to art books to perfect-bound novels.

Personally, I did a very modest business. But I always do a very modest business. And the Zine Fair was on par with how I normally perform. One friend of mine did what I consider to be very strong business (and it was her first show), while another did very weak business (and this was his umpteenth show). I fell somewhere in between.

And there were more than zines! We had DJs (I was one of them). The first DJ to go on was AWESOME! She should have played the whole show. The next DJ didn't show up, so a show organizer went on next. I was last.

We used a PA system, which was great for microphones... but not so great for music. The speakers couldn't handle low or high sounds (it's just not in their dynamic range), so half of my tunes sounded great and the other half sounded empty. But it was awesome that we even had a PA at the show in the first place, so kudos for that.

We also had free food (not my style of grub but it was kickass that we had some), water (I love water), and workshops. I was too busy manning my space to go to any of the programming, but I assume it all went well. I didn't hear any complaints!

Also, there was a raffle, and what I found notable about the raffle was how PACKED the room was when we announced the winners. It was a healthy mix of vendors and attendees, and that was really nice to see.

Here are a few more pics from the Zine Fair on the main site. And here are the same pics plus more on Andy Scott's blog. And here's some personal reflection on the show from Wayne Wise, putting the event in a historical context.

All in all, I had a good time and I felt like the show did terrific for its first year. I really hope we can bring it back again next year and make it an even greater success!

Here are my new releases created especially for this year's debut show:

Tales for a New Gen

I'm thrilled to present this zine of three short sci-fi tales by Justique Woolridge. I did a few illustrations and the book design for TFANG, but make no mistake -- Justique is the star here, writing the kickass tales and designing the gorgeous cover.

NoPants Zine Anthology

NoPants was my early 00s satire of corporate magazine culture, full of nonsense and cheeky ignorance. I've decided to collect the three original NoPants issues and create a new one just for the Pittsburgh Zine Fair. But instead of printing them individually, I'm collected them into a 48-page anthology of insanity.

Along with these two new releases, I'll also have issues of Time Log, some Super Haters ashcans, my sci-fi minicomic Passage, the super-mini XLK #1, Poetree (which was randomly featured on the front page of Pop City today (see below for a screen cap), and more.

Still not convinced? Check out this video ad for the Zine Fair:

You might recognize the music -- it's my song Essential from Brilliant Shower. I'll be playing my Nik Furious music at the Fair from 8-9:30 PM, tearing it up with some of my mixtape mixes, original instrumentals, and favorites from other musicians.

So that's it. That's all I've got. That's my best sales pitch. Hope to see you there!!!

This is the end of Stick Cats Act I!!! What does that mean for you as a reader? I don't know. But for me as the creator, it means that this is the first mega-climax of my write-it-as-I-go Stick Cats epic.

Anyway, unrelated, come check me out at the Pittsburgh Zine Fair on Thurs Sept 1st (tomorrow) from 5-10 PM on the city's Northside at AIR. I'll have a couple of new offerings, as well as a bunch of my print comics (no Stick Cats collections yet, sorry... but I'll have those ready in a month for PIX).

ALSO:
Stick Cats #20 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #20 on deviantART
Stick Cats #20 on Flickr

It's called Da Bounce, and the Naked Jews podcast is the first place to have the entire polished version. You can listen to it at the end of this short episode:

The above music player is Flash, so if you can't access it maybe you'll have better luck by going directly to the two episodes where the song's been played -- Re: The Shocker and More Announcements. And Dustin plans on playing the song on future episodes, so also keep an ear out for that!

Naked Jews and Neo-Hippies joins a short list of some of my favorite podcasts that feature Nik Furious music on their shows! There's the AudioShocker family of shows, as well as Comic Book Pitt and 3 Chicks Review Comics. If you're interested in getting some Nik Furious tunes on your podcast, drop me a line and let me know.

See, Lisa-Marie Wilson (@upsetapplecart) had expressed regret that she was already following me because she wanted a combination animal sketch too. So who better than to make my honorary 500th follower?

She requested an echidna tortoise, which is a brilliantly crazy combination. Her request was the first time I'd ever heard of an echidna, and it took me several tries to get this sketch right.

Anyway, suffice to say that I was all sketched out after this. So when I gained my 600th follower a week ago, I offered them a non-art related prize. However, I'm sure I'll be back to sketching by the time I hit 700. Stay tuned for the results!!!

ALSO:
Echidna Tortoise on Twitter
Echidna Tortoise on Tumblr
Echidna Tortoise on deviantART
Echidna Tortoise on Flickr

Sorry I skipped last week! But I think 18 straight pages without a missed week is a pretty impressive for something that I started on a lark. Anyway, I'll definitely be posting next week because #20 is already completed... and it happens to be the end of the first act of Stick Cats!

ALSO:
Stick Cats #19 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #19 on deviantART
Stick Cats #19 on Flickr

There isn't too much of a story behind this sketch -- when I thought my first 500th follower didn't reply to my sketch offer, I contacted a second person (who had literally become my new 500th follower... I assume someone unfollowed me).

And just like my previous 500th follower, Stafford Huyler sent me his request for a Duck Cat Horse as a direct message. And by the time I realized that, I'd already sent a tweet to a third person.

I found Stafford's request to be unique in that I was comfortable drawing all of the animals he wanted, but creating the combination was tricky!

FRIDAY: My third and final combination animal sketch!!!

ALSO:
Duck Cat Horse on Twitter
Duck Cat Horse on Tumblr
Duck Cat Horse on deviantART
Duck Cat Horse on Flickr

As a teen in the late 90s, there was no way to avoid the nu-bubblegum pop fad. Xtina, Backstreet Boys, Mandy Moore, *NSYNC... you know the names. And foremost among them was Britney Spears.

While Groundscore was a pop punk band, I didn't have many punk music influences at the time. I was more into classic rock and funk music. To me, punk was just slightly better than most top 40 radio.

At some point, I became fixated with the idea of covering "Oops!... I Did It Again." I guess I found the idea of a guy in a punk band singing the same words as a seductive pop diva pretty hilarious. And I still do.

Zach and I both sing this one (I'm the one that's really quiet in the mix). Conrad's on drums, Zach's on guitar, and I'm on bass.

Next week In 2.5 months, I share Conrad's tribute to his sister titled "Pigface."

Author David Corbet was my original 500th follower. So I tweeted him and asked him what he wanted for his sketch. And I waited. And waited.

I never saw a reply from him even though he was tweeting other stuff. So I figured he was ignoring me. And I decided to select another 500th follower for the prize.

But I failed to cover all my bases! See, I never expected David to send me a DM. However that's exactly what he did and I found it days later after I'd already offered the sketch to two other people.

So I decided to do the honorable thing and draw all three of the requests. Hence David's Monkey Bear that you see here.

WEDNESDAY: The combination animal requested by my 2nd 500th follower!!!

ALSO:
Monkey Bear on Twitter
Monkey Bear on Tumblr
Monkey Bear on deviantART
Monkey Bear on Flickr

Nearly a month ago, I completed this piece for my 400th Twitter follower, Chris K of Zany Comics (@zanycomics). I offered to draw a personalized mythical creature for the 400th person to follow Super Haters on Twitter, and Chris chose a dragon. And when I asked him if he wanted to kick it up a notch, he suggested a machine gun arm and an eye patch. BRILLIANT!

If you dig this sketch, then git yerself back here next Monday when I'll be sharing the first of three Combination Animals that I drew for my three 500th followers on Twitter. (Yes, "three 500th followers." It's a long story.)

ALSO:
Dragon with a Machine Gun Arm on Tumblr
Dragon with a Machine Gun Arm on deviantART
Dragon with a Machine Gun Arm on Flickr

ve as plastic
reminders of t
he time I took
one long dive

I'm posting this poem in honor of National Bad Poetry Day.

If you like this sort of thing, you can snag yourself a whole zine packed full of my sub-par poems -- Poetree -- at the Pittsburgh Zine Fair on Sept 1st!!!

I've always had a penchant for story songs -- ya know, tunes where the lyrics have a beginning, middle, and end. My Best Friend's Mosh Pit is the story of one punk's transformation from n00b into hardcore.

Truthfully, I've never really been that into punk music. Even when I was writing and recording these Groundscore songs, I think I spent more time listening to James Brown and Billy Joel than the Gotohells or NOFX. But punk rock is the kind of music my friends wanted to make, and it was lots of fun to play, so I made it too.

I'm singing and playing bass, Zach's playing guitar, and Conrad's on drums. To me, that always felt like the most natural set up, though I really enjoyed playing drums with these guys as well.

But wait! This track isn't completely rooted in punk... the name of the song and its final refrain are inspired by The Cars hit My Best Friend's Girl. (As if that wasn't already painfully obviously...)

Next week, I'm proud to bring you the only cover song ever recorded by Groundscore... a hardcore version of "Oops!... I Did It Again"!

ALSO:
Stick Cats #18 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #18 on deviantART
Stick Cats #18 on Flickr

My first exposure to Mandy Moore was in 1999 at Fantastic Records outside of Rochester, NY. I used to go there to pick up old vinyl for $0.50 a pop (back before I knew what crate digging was).

Fantastic used to put promo freebies in a basket next to the exit, and one day Conrad and I came across a curious cassette single by an unknown artist named Mandy Moore. The most fascinating thing about the single was that it came in a flip-top box just like a pack of cigarettes.

It wasn't long before Mandy was on TV singing her single -- Candy -- and reaching into the hearts of pubescent boys across America. I didn't have cable back then so I never saw Mandy's music video for Candy, but I know it inspired Conrad to write this song.

On this one, Conrad's singing and playing guitar, Zach's playing bass, and I'm playing drums.

And if you're wondering, the answer is yes -- those pictures are of a still-wrapped copy of the Candy cassette that I've saved all these years. I'm not sure why. I never even listened to the song until today when I found it on YouTube.

BTW, if you watch the music video, prepare to get creeped out! Moore's only 15... which wasn't weird back when Conrad and I were 17, but nowadays it makes me uncomfortable. They've got her saying some pretty suggestive stuff while she's staring longingly into the camera. (EWW!)

But don't worry -- next week, I'll take a break from bubblegum pop stars and give you a good dose of old fashioned teen punk with "My Best Friend's Mosh Pit"!

But if you're not on PodOMatic and don't give two shits about the site, it's all gravy cause you can listen to it right here:

But if you do dig that site, you can friend my Nik Furious PodOMatic profile. Hell, while you're at it, go LIKE Nik Furious on Facebook too!

Anyway, back to the music. For those of you who don't already know, Proton Cannon is my rock-themed mixtape, packed with lots of punch and crunch alongside my usual cosmic metronome funk. I think the mix really hits its stride around 12:23.

IMO, World Heroes 2 Jet > World Heroes Perfect.

ALSO:
Stick Cats #17 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #17 on deviantART
Stick Cats #17 on Flickr

Long before I ever made instrumental music and hip hop beats as Nik Furious, I was part of a teenage pop punk trio. We originally named ourselves Bambi Lives, but had an identity crisis along the way and changed our name to Groundscore.

We called ourselves "the rotating power trio" because we'd switch instruments during our performances and recordings. My best friend Conrad Knapp played drums, guitar, and occasionally bass. Our new friend Zach Wendell was a mega guitar whizz who sometimes switched to bass and very occasionally drums. I played bass, drums, and a tiny bit of guitar. We all took turns singing (but Zach was the best).

However, on this first of eight songs I'll be sharing with you, no one sings. In fact, this was the only instrumental track on our eponymous self-produced debut album. At the time, we called it "Nick's Instrumental," but I've decided to rename it "Bambi Lives" in honor of our original moniker. Give it a listen!

Though it's obviously not a substantive song, it's a teaser of things to come! As for the credits, I know Conrad is playing the drums, and I think that's me playing bass. Guitar is where this one gets a little tricky because this was just a practice track during our recordings. It could have been anyone one of the three of us!!!

Anyway, be back here next week for a Conrad Knapp ditty about love, loss, and a cheesy 90s pop star... a song called "Mandy Moore"!!!

ALSO:
Stick Cats #16 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #16 on deviantART
Stick Cats #16 on Flickr

My Nik Furious song Essential* was included in the new promotional video for the upcoming Pittsburgh Zine Fair. This event is happening on the evening of Sept 1st at AIR in Pittsburgh.

Also watch the video to check out some of my art! You can see my fishbowl collabo with Justique Wooldridge @ 0:22, and @ 0:27 you can see me flipping through an old copy of my zine, NoPants.

*From my album, Brilliant Shower. You can listen to the full song using the Flash player here.

ALSO:
Stick Cats #15 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #15 on deviantART
Stick Cats #15 on Flickr

ALSO:
Stick Cats #14 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #14 on deviantART
Stick Cats #14 on Flickr

But the drought is over! I've got two new music videos, one for an old beat and one for a new beat.

Let's get the old stuff out of the way first. Silver Centurion is smooth-house-meets-mellow-funk track off of the Superior Tech mixtape:

And Sunday Best is a brand new beat with an old school funk flavor:

For each of these beats, I created original digital paintings to accompany them. And I would be remiss if I didn't share those with you right now!!!

Here's the painting for Sunday Best, inspired by the sound of the song and light of the rising sun:

And here's the painting for Silver Centurion, inspired by both of its namesakes -- the song and the armor:

Thx for listening and hopefully I'll have more Furious for you soon.

ALSO:
Stick Cats #13 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #13 on deviantART
Stick Cats #13 on Flickr

NEXT: Mourning the loss of a friend.

ALSO:
Stick Cats #12 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #12 on deviantART
Stick Cats #12 on Flickr
Stick Cats #12 on Facebook

By now, I'm already well past 333 followers, and I'll be doing another crazy sketch for the 400th Super Haters follower, so hurry up and start following Super Haters before it's too late! (And, yes, I follow back.)

Three on deviantART
Three on Tumblr
Three on Flickr

Yo. The Piece of Cake mixtape is free. All 13 instrumental songs. Download 'em while they're hot (or, at the very least, lukewarm): Piece of Cake ZIP (53 MB)

You can also check out each track from Piece of Cake individually, plus learn a little bit about the creation of the songs:

01. Amore
02. Every Woman
03. Freaky
04. Legal Green
05. No One Else
06. Ooo Baby
07. Piece of Cake
08. Savage
09. Slay
10. Slip It In
11. Tax
12. Try This
13. Unlicensed

If ya dig this, then you might dig my album full of originals -- Brilliant Shower.

NEXT: Sifting through the remains!

Stick Cats #11 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #11 on deviantART
Stick Cats #11 on Flickr
Stick Cats #11 on Facebook

This Stick Cats pin up was originally drawn (and I know this is gonna sound ridiculous, so bear with me) as a mural for the indie book store experiment, Fleeting Pages.

See, the book store was occupying the space of a closed down Borders. And the former Borders was so big that Fleeting Pages could only fill up the second floor with books. That meant there was a giant first floor that was sitting around empty!

Jodi, the creator and manager of Fleeting Pages, put out a request for black and white art that could be printed out on a large scale and turned into an installation sort of thing. Not a mural exactly, but I don't really know a better word for it.

To be more specific, it wasn't as simple as being printed out and taped up -- Jodi wanted the image to be something with multiple planes because she has a unique process for turning a single image into a three-dimensional display. So I took an hour or so and dreamed up this Stick Cats scene with a foreground, midground, and background (obviously there's no background here in this pin up... that's because I think the action looks better without it!).

Honestly, I never quite understood the process she was planning to use. I'm a cartoonist that makes 2D digital images. Jodi knows all about about mixing art and spaces, but explaining the technical aspects of preparing my digital art for her 3D display was tough. So the mural/installation/3D display was never printed.

But that's all good because I'm psyched to share this moody Stick Cats action scene with you, mural or not!

When I asked Charlie what he wanted to see on it, he said:

It needs wings. And robotic legs. And missile launchers. And sabertooth fangs.

And when I asked him what "rating" the unicorn should have, he said:

NC-17, R18 - the highest in every country.

So I also made him this extremely NSFW variant version of the unicorn (since it's rather adult, you have to click the link to see it).

Thx Charlie!!! And make sure you're following @super_haters because I'll be doing more fun stuff like this in the future.

More:
- Hi-res regular version on deviantART
- Hi-res NSFW version on deviantART
- NSFW rainbow version on Tumblr
- Regular rainbow version on Flickr

Special thx to Katie Henderson for drawing the first panel of this comic, helping me successfully transition the Stick Cats back to their normal forms.

If you've been following Stick Cats, then you may have noticed that it keeps slipping later and later into the week (from Monday to Wednesday to Thursday to Thursday night). THAT STOPS HERE! In fact, I'll have a Stick Cats pinup posted in a couple of days, and then #11 will be posted early next week. I haven't decided it yet... but I'm even thinking about doing more than one Stick Cats a week (not like anyone really cares, but I might do it anyway).

Stick Cats #10 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #10 on deviantART
Stick Cats #10 on Flickr

It's the eight-headed menace! The cutest, evilest stick figure of all time!

It's... the Octo-Kitty!!! (You can also check out the Octo-Kitty on deviantART.)

Also, I'm happy to say that I've added a navigation system to Stick Cats so you can read the all the SC comics with ease. It looks like this:

Followers of Super Haters and Time Log will already be familiar with this little doodad. But even if you've never seen it before, I think it's pretty self-explanatory.

I can't say "THANK YOU" enough to the stupendous Katie Henderson, who came back to deliver this conclusion to the bizarre Catnip Rose vision quest. Just like last week, make sure to check out the large version of the comic to see all of Katie's incredible detail (especially the Manx Militia!).

Next time, sadly, the Stick Cats will return to being sticks. While I can't promise you any breathtaking artwork, what I can do is guarantee a kickass adventure!

Stick Cats #9 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #9 on deviantART
Stick Cats #9 on Owl Feathers Inc
Stick Cats #9 on Flickr

This video is my thank you to Richard from TWC, and it's also a chance for me to show off Super Haters on the iPad, not to mention Time Log on the Kindle app (which I obviously don't know how to use very well). Plus, there's a little peak at the AudioShocker Comics Archives v1 digital comic card.

Oh, hey, while you're at it, you should go vote for Super Haters on TWC!

Surprised? I hope you are!!! The fantabulous Katie Henderson was kind enough to draw today's comic, and I think it looks gorgeous! You've gotta make sure to check out the larger version because there's so much incredible detail in there. In fact, there's so much detail that I think I messed this comic up with the letters!

And make sure to get yer butts back here next week when Katie does another guest week of monumental Octo-Kitty sized proportions!!!

Stick Cats #8 on Flickr
Stick Cats #8 on deviantART
Stick Cats #8 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #8 on Owl Feathers Inc

My A Deadpool A Day stick figure sketch series set to the Nik Furious song Purple Suite from the album Brilliant Shower.

Next Stick Cats, I'm excited to welcome aboard guest artist Katie Henderson, who's sure to deliver a very... hi-fi experience for all of you Stick Cats readers out there!!!

Stick Cats #7 on deviantART
Stick Cats #7 on Flickr
Stick Cats #7 on Tumblr

This post is by no means a declaration of intent. I'm not gonna say that I'll be posting another stick figure member of the Fantastic Four next Friday. It's possible that you'll see another Fantastic Fridays post in the future, but I make no guarantees.

I drew Thing way (WAY!) back in 2010 when I was trying to sort out my next series of stick figure sketches. That series ended up being Green Thursdays, and not Thing Thursdays. I mean, that woulda been kinda boring, right?

stick figure Thing on deviantART
stick figure Thing on Tumblr

Delightfully silly in both story and illustration, Extreme Lost Kisses #1 is the classic story of the professional day-saver, saving the day. Every page / panel evokes another cliche from the vast library of cliches attached to action films. About the time a reader begins to wonder what the payoff is going to be, or if there will even be a payoff, there it is.

Extreme Lost Kisses is a good example of how XKCD has not yet cornered the market on stick figure comics. Although the deadpan narration carries much of the weight of the story, the illustrations deftly bring the story real expressiveness. It is a good reminder that not all stick figures are created equal.

Thx, Holly!!!

Remember, XLK #1 is available digitally as a free PDF, so go read Extreme Lost Kisses #1 right now if you haven't already checked it out!

I feel like I should have something awesome to say, but I don't. I'm posting the comic really early this time around (Saturday) and the only thing new in my life right now is that Netflix is streaming Eerie, Indiana.

Stick Cats #6 on deviantART
Stick Cats #6 on Flickr
Stick Cats #6 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #6 on Facebook

Here's what he had to say:

I love how entertaining these mini-comics are. My favorite was Extreme Lost Kisses #1. ... The story is about one single soldier who possesses skills that even Rambo hasn't even dreamed about. Hilarious. Again this is no Marvel or DC Comic. These are comics created by guys who like to tell stories and do it for fun. It doesn't mean that they are not passionate about it, as a matter of fact, they are probably more passionate than some of the "mainstream" writers/artists out there. No joke.

Brian John Mitchell has some great ideas and his writing is something we can all relate to. He wants to tell you a story and he does, it's almost like you are either listening to him or you are so submerged in the comics, it's crazy. That's what I liked. Now Nick Marino's art, simple, funny and cool. Yes, the mini-comics are black and white, yes they are stick figures, but you have to look beyond that. Again you do not need a complicated landscape of inks and colors to tell a story.

Like one wise man once said: "Haters gonna hate". I don't. I liked it, and I am sure you will too. Obviously some people wont and that is totally OK. Listen I didn't used to like carrots, but one day my mom served them with lemon and salt, and now I cant stop eating them every day. I have super sight, yeah they are good for your sight, but that's beside the point, I am getting sidetracked here...

Granted, I didn't really need to include that last paragraph here in my recap, but I get a kick out of his carrot analogy.

Anyway, if you haven't already read XLK #1... WHY NOT? It's available digitally for free as a PDF. Read Extreme Lost Kisses #1 right now!

And Agent Burgos -- thx for the review!

It's the end of the Monster Guy artistic process series!!

I showed you the line art, explained why I decided to use color holds, and shared my interior colors. The only differences between this final version and the interior colors are that I decided the final needed a background color to properly pop, and I also added some raw color edges to the monster.

Those raw color edges may look familiar to you if you've been following this series. I showed them to you back in my blog post about the color line art. The raw edge is actually the messy color I painted beneath the white line art shell to create my knockouts in the first place. I clicked them on by mistake when I was editing the layers of this piece, and I decided I liked how they looked. Accidental awesome!

Thx for checking out the artistic process of this sketch. If you dig Monster Guy, you can buy a print of it on deviantART.

Monster Guy around the web:
...on deviantART
...on Flickr
...on Tumblr

THAT'S A WRAP! Goodbye, Green Thursdays. I won't miss you. And I mean that in the most affectionate way.

Don't get me wrong. I loved drawing and posting these Green Lantern sketches. I especially loved dreaming up the things I'd do with a Power Ring (I'm gonna let you guess which ones are my own personal fantasies!!!). But I'm sick of these doodles. They've been drawn for nearly five months now and it's time for me to move on.

Thx for following along! If you want more stick figure art from moi, don't worry -- there's my weekly Stick Cats webcomic and I'm always posting random stick figures when the mood strikes me.

- Schlurp Lantern on Tumblr
- Schlurp Lantern on deviantART
- Schlurp Lantern on Flickr

On a side note, the Stick Cats FCBD 2011 maxi-comic was a success! I gave out a butt ton of them, along with a bunch of copies of the Stick Cats theme song.

Stick Cats #5 on deviantART
Stick Cats #5 on Flickr
Stick Cats #5 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #5 on Facebook

If you're a regular Nik Furious follower (do those even exist?), then you already know that I've been slacking on putting together the final post for my Piece of Cake mixtape... and posting the Stick Cats theme song is no exception to that slackening. Point is, I'll get around to that post eventually.

Anyway, speaking of Stick Cats, I'll be posting a new strip tomorrow. See ya then!

EDIT 05/12/11: I forgot to post the lyrics! Here they are:

CHORUS
Stick Cats
They're running around and they're doing stick stuff.

They're the Stick Cats
They're kickin' some tail and they're looking real tough.

They're the Stick Cats
Their bodies are sticks but their heads are cats.

They're the Stick Cats
Don't make 'em mad cause they just might scratch.

VERSE 1
Marmalade, she's a real tough kitty.
She's got a big sword and she'll cut you with it.

Steve, he does stuff too!
We're not sure what it is but it seems like it's cool...

VERSE 2
Octo-Kitty is a scary beast.
The Stick Cats wanna kill it 'fore starts it's feast.

There's a tough fight with no end in sight,
But Steve and Marmalade are gonna do it right.

One especially unlucky comic book fan won a raffle of my work, including prints from A Deadpool A Day and Green Thursdays... as well as an IOU for a free superhero stick figure sketch.

My apologies to the unsuspecting guy who took home this sketch. Hope you don't hate it! And thx to Seth Fronzoli for the photos.

- Tomorrow, I'll be at Phantom of the Attic Comics in Oakland (in Pittsburgh!) for Free Comic Book Day 2011. I'l be giving out FREE Stick Cats maxi-comics and the first lucky 45 peeps will also take home a copy of the brand new Stick Cats theme song by Nik Furious!!! And, of course, you can buy my comics from me as well.

- This weekend is also the opening of Fleeting Pages, a Pittsburgh indie book store experiment that's only minutes away from my front door. They'll be selling almost all of my self-published comics as well as my digital comic cards. Swing by to check out all the awesome small press and self-published works they have... and buy my books!

- Speaking of indie books, you may remember a video I posted a few weeks ago that I made to win a free table at this summer's Indie Book Event in NYC. Well voting is now open and I NEED YOUR VOTES! There's only two of us in running, so pls help snag the table -- VOTE NOW!

- Unrelated from all of this, my version of the cover to Aquaman #2 was recently featured on the Rejected by Covered blog. It's a pretty ugly drawing, so click through at your own risk.

- And, finally, Super Haters has received a couple of awesome reviews lately. If you're interested, you can read them here.

This Green Thursdays is inspired by two different things.

First up is Give Me Back My Wig by Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers. It's a boogie blues song by the masters of funky, sloppy electric blues. Great stuff.

Second up is an experience from my teenage years. Back in the 90s, wig companies used to offer free "wig previews" -- you send them a photo of your face, and they'd use whatever old school image editing program they used back then to make a digital print out of you "trying on" four of the wigs. My friend Josiah sent away for one of those freebies, and I'll tell you what...

He looked damn good in those wigs. My favorite was the curly blonde.

- Wig Lantern on Tumblr
- Wig Lantern on deviantART
- Wig Lantern on Flickr

Check out the Stick Cats #4 teaser... there're a few differences between the strip as it was drawn and the one you see posted here.

Also I'll be giving out FREE Stick Cats maxi-comics this Saturday, May 7th at Phantom of the Attic Comics in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood (for Free Comic Book Day 2011). So swing by the store in the afternoon hours to say hi and snag your copy!

BTW, you can now "LIKE" Stick Cats on Facebook. Why you would, I have no idea. But at least you have the option.

Stick Cats #4 on deviantART
Stick Cats #4 on Flickr
Stick Cats #4 on Tumblr

Like last week, there'll be some differences between the this teaser version of the strip and the final version. So keep your eyes peeled for the differences when I post the finished Stick Cats #4 soon!

Last time, I described the decision making process that led me to using color holds on the Monster Guy line art. This time, I'm sharing my interior colors!

Not a ton to explain here -- I'd already done most of my color selections during the knockouts stage, and I knew I wanted to go with slightly lighter or more muted tones to fill in the guts.

Well, for the most part, that is. A few areas received more vibrant tones for the interiors (the drool, the undersides of the tentacles, the eyes).

And, overall, I liked the result. But I didn't love it... which leads me to the next and final installment of the Monster Guy process, coming soon!!! See you then.

Green Thursdays gets messy!! I mean, seriously, wouldn't you do the same?

You're in some remote corner of space... there's no baddie to battle and you've really gotta drop one. It's tough pooping in space without the comforts of home (Earth, that is). So you make yourself a little green energy toilet and relax your bowels.

AHHHHHHHHHH. Yes.

Now that's the Green Lantern way.

- Poop Lantern on deviantART
- Poop Lantern on Tumblr
- Poop Lantern on Flickr

Astute Stick Cats sleuths may notice a few differences between the finished version of Stick Cats #3 seen here and the Stick Cats #3 teaser I posted on Monday. The reason I made those changes? Just to @#$% with you.

Stick Cats #3 on deviantART
Stick Cats #3 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #3 on Flickr

I'll post the finished (and potentially altered version) of Stick Cats #3 this Wednesday, April 27th. And in case you were wondering... YES, those are He-Man bed sheets in the background.

I have a technical issue to handle, and that's going to take up my music posting time for the day. See, I recently upgraded to the latest version of podPress... a recent version that includes an HTML5 option!

Which is awesome. But for some reason, that HTML5 player is having trouble with my older posts. So I have to go through and republish all my existing music posts to make sure that the mp3s play correctly.

Anyway, I'll have the Piece of Cake post up for next week, and then after that, I have a SUPER special surprise in store for my Tuesday music posts!!!

It's the comic no one demanded! Stick Cats is back for a second dose of, uhhh... WEBCOMIC STICK FIGURE FELINE GOODNESS!!! Be back next Monday to catch your first peep at the mega metropolis that is Kittyopolis.

Stick Cats #2 on deviantART
Stick Cats #2 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #2 on Flickr

Okay so last week I shared the plain old black and white line art. And this week I'm back with the color line art!!!

When I first started coloring Monster Guy I wasn't sure how I wanted to tackle it. I certainly don't have anything against color holds, but at the same time, I don't choose to use them that often.

For some reason, I went nuts with the knockouts on this one. I just got really into it. And the process I used for the color holds was a little unconventional for me.

Anyone who knows my working process knows that I have a quirk -- I hate working with my line art layer set to multiply. I prefer to scan in my work as a 1200 DPI bitmap file, and then I separate the blacks from the whites.

And that's what I did for Monster Guy. But in the process of that, I realized that I was left with a white shell:

I decided to create my color holds by working underneath that white layer and using it as a mask. So, for example, if you were to hide that white shell layer, this is what the colors look like:

Because the white mask layer was originally made from a bitmap and it was composed of rigid pixels, I was able to merge the white layer with the colors underneath, and then easily delete away the white, leaving me with the color line art you see at the top of this post. VOILA!!!

Next time, I'll dig deeper into my interior coloring decisions for the penultimate installment of the Monster Guy artistic process!

Not only is this the sickest (in as many meanings of the word as possible) of my Green Thursdays sketches... it's also animated!!! And if you like still images, don't worry -- I've got one of those as well.

And what's that you say? You prefer little animated gifs? I gotcha covered:

I mean, look, let's be honest -- if you had a Power Ring and you could do whatever you wanted with it, you can't tell me you wouldn't at least TRY to give yourself a big glowing green penis. Just for a second. Behind closed doors. While staring in the mirror. Recording yourself with a webcam.

- NSFW Lantern (animated) on deviantART
- NSFW Lantern (not animated) on deviantART
- NSFW Lantern on Flickr

Well... that's a wrap for the Piece of Cake mixtape. Next Tuesday I'll post up the entire thing for download. After that? Well... uhhh to be honest, I'm running low on mixtape material and I haven't been doing a lot of new instrumentals lately. So I'll just have to wait and see what happens!!!

This is the debut installment of Stick Cats. I don't have a big plan for it. Nor do I have anything extra special to share with you. I'm just gonna keep posting a new page of Stick Cats every Monday Wednesday until I get bored with it.

Stick Cats #1 on deviantART
Stick Cats #1 on Tumblr
Stick Cats #1 on Flickr

As I mentioned last weekend, I'm going to be sharing a step-by-step look at the creation process of my Monster Guy illustration. I did a similar behind-the-scenes series of blog posts for last year's Explorers of the Unknown pinup, and you can expect the Monster Guy series to be similar.

I mean, that's not to say the process for this cartoon was exactly the same as my Explorers piece... because there are some decided differences that'll become apparent when I post next weekend. But this first step -- the line art -- isn't going to hold any surprises. SORRY!

Mainly, there's one thing that's unique about Monster Guy's line art: zero mistakes! About 99% of the time, I draw in pen or marker, and that means my original line art typically contains some flaws that I smooth over after I scan. This time around, I didn't have to worry about that because the sketch came out solid on the first try.

Next weekend I'll share my color line art and that's when things'll get interesting

This work is a culmination of sorts, taking my recent obsession with stick figures to a visual and thematic climax. If you're interested in my description of this piece that will accompany it at the show, check out this PDF.

The image you see above is a scanned and cleaned up version of the original. While they're almost identical, they're not exactly the same. I flattened the colors for the web because the original was done in marker. Here's a photo of the original. And here's the digital version on deviantART.

I used to struggle with long-term plotting when I first began writing and I think it was because I was either over-thinking things or suffering from indecision. As I started to read Robert McKee's "Story" (scriptwriting book), it began to click for me, and I think the solution is simpler than it seems.

To me, plotting a story arc is all about identifying the points in the story where you want to create tension. For example, let's say I'm writing a story about the man who builds the world's largest skyscraper.

Where do I want the story to start? When he's a child. I want to show him playing with LEGOs and other architectural toys as a kid. So there's the first part of my story.Then I want him to go on to graduate from a great school and have a promising future ahead of him. That's a major turning point in his life, so let's make that the end of Act I.

From here, I can do one of two things for the end of Act II -- 1) I could have a major reversal that ends on a down note, or 2) I could have an even bigger victory that ends on an up note. The problem with solution 2 is that the only way to top it emotionally is to have Act III end with a big reversal -- modest success to big success to huge success wouldn't be a very exciting story arc.

I'm trying to plot out ups and downs to create back-and-forth tension. So I'll go with with option 1. Act II will end with the character suffering from a massive car accident that cripples him and puts him in the hospital. How's he ever going to build that skyscraper now?

That's what Act III is all about! I already know my ending -- man builds world's largest skyscraper. So now all I have to do is fill in the other parts. How does he go from crippled in the hospital to huge architectural success? When he's in the hospital, he begins to study new architecture techniques. For two years, he's in his bed learning everything he can learn. And when he emerges, he designs the giant building.

So there's my basic plot. Of course, there are holes in there and lots of opportunities to create spots of mini tension along the way. For example, as a kid, he should probably be taunted for being so obsessed with his architectural toys. And in the beginning of Act II, I need tension to follow the success of his graduation in Act I, so maybe he should have a failed romantic relationship as he launches his career.

AND, now that I look back on it, Act II might be even stronger if it ends with him falling from a tall building... a building that he designed! That way, the skyscraper isn't just about accomplishing his goal -- it's about overcoming his new fear of heights and putting his accident behind him.

Over on Digital Webbing, this is where I ended my response. But I want to add in a couple more thoughts here on the blog. For example, let's say I went the other way with Act II and decided to end on an up note -- man builds an incredible skyscraper. Not the largest one ever, but it establishes him in the architecture community.

So now how will I end Act III? I can still have the man build the world's largest skyscraper -- that's the whole point of the story, after all. But to create the tension I want, I think the end should be a tragic success. For example, as the man begins to design his great masterpiece, he becomes obsessed with it. He alienates the people that love him as he works day and night, even sleeping in his unfinished skyscraper.

By the time I get to the end of Act III, the main character is a huge success in his career but a massive failure in his personal life. The story could end with him standing outside on the highest ledge of his new building, staring down at the world and realizing everything that he's lost.

If I really want to drive home the tragedy, I could have the man throw himself off of the building and commit suicide. A bit heavy-handed, yes, but also a great way to reward the audience for putting up with the two big victories in a row that ended both Act I and Act II. I mean, some people just like sad stories, right?

Anyway, that's my beginners tutorial on how to plot out a three act story arc. It's not the greatest lesson ever, and I left out a lot of stuff (for example, I barely scratched the surface regarding the best way to fill in the blank parts of the story with even more tension). But all in all, I think it's a good place to start if there's a story you want to tell but you don't know how to plot it out.

YEEAAHHH! And now the fun Green Thursdays begin!!! First up, is this, uhhh... romantic sketch depicting Green Lantern with his imaginary lover.

The boob'd stick figure is something I first drew for my girlfriend a few years back and she got a kick out of it. I kept drawing them, and eventually they worked their way into my gallery piece that's on display tomorrow night at the Sugar Factory art show. And I'm going to post my scan of said gallery piece tomorrow here on the blog.

MORE STICK FIGURES + MORE BOOBS = MORE FUN.

- Babe Lantern on deviantART
- Babe Lantern on Flickr

I would call this a 100% Nik Furious original save for one fact -- I didn't play the drums! I had an assignment in one of my audio production classes, and Try This is the result of that. The drums are sampled from a gospel song I mixed for said assignment, and then I added my own keyboards on top.

Starting next week, I'm going to launch a step-by-step look at the making of this cartoon (I call it "Monster Guy")! From the line art through to the finished product, I'll show you each stop along the way and explain why I made the choices I made.

In the meantime, check out this NSFW piece (I call it "Hollywood") that I contributed to an upcoming fundraiser for Pittsburgh's Future Tenant art gallery.

I'm baaaaack! I took a brief hiatus to go to SPACE and give a talk and make a video and then to catch up on Super Haters. And thusly Green Thursdays has returned.

Not much to say this week except that it's the last week of Green Lantern where I feel like I'm dealing with conceptually tame or potentially uninteresting material. But... this sketch makes me think of this: "ROWR! ROWR! Like a Dungeon Dragon!"

- Sharp Teeth Lantern on deviantART
- Sharp Teeth Lantern on Flickr

This was made to showcase my range of self-published titles for the Indie Book Event's contest... cause I wanna win a free table at their 2011 show in NYC!

I took an hour out of my day today to whip up a special Out of the Gutter EXCLUSIVE two-page comic called "I Hate Comics Forever." I'm going to raffle off the one-of-a-kind only-one-on-paper original art of the comic tonight at the talk. So get yer butts out to library if you wanna take this sucker home!!!

Time-traveling fake-eye-patch-wearing Nick stops present Nick from giving up on comics? CLASSIC!

- This weekend I'll be at SPACE in Columbus selling my self-published comics (and comic cards!). One such comic is a brand new offering from me, a mini-comic called Passage. I'm not gonna say anything else about it right now except that it's a raw sci-fi tale with a twist.

- The day after SPACE (Monday, March 21st), I'll be back in Pittsburgh but still promoting my comics when I give a talk in the teen/comics section of the Carnegie Library in Oakland at 6:30 PM. The graphic novel discussion group is called Out of the Gutter, and my talk (with Shawn Atkins) is called Using Every Piece of the Cow (DISCLAIMER: no cows were harmed in the making of this lecture). We'll be sharing our work, discussing our process, and tap dancing to Steal Away by Robbie Dupree (DISCLAIMER: I'm lying about the tap dancing).

Okay, yeah, I skipped Green Thursdays yesterday. Sorry!!! I'm in a bit of a time crunch as next weekend's SPACE nears (among many MANY other things...), and stick figure Green Lantern seemed like the least of my concerns.

But I would like to take a moment share something with you -- what you're looking at up there is a bundle of 100 Dropcards that I ordered for this upcoming convention season. (Not familiar with Dropcards? You can learn more here.)

Look, printing is difficult. There are a lot of options and a lot of complications. And, frankly, it's not economical.

I love comic books and I always will, but I'm looking towards the future... specifically, I'm banking on what you see above. I'm calling them comic cards.

The concept is simple -- you buy the comic card and gain access to up to 500 MB of original comics and extras. To download the material to your computer or mobile device, all you need to do is go to my personalized URL (in this case, I chose dropcards.com/comics) and enter in the code on the back of your card.

It's that easy. High quality digital comics and behind-the-scenes material for a price lower than two printed comic books. I think that sounds pretty damn good.

EDIT (5/2/11): I've posted a description of the AudioShocker Comics Archives v1 digital comic card, including a more detailed description of the content as well as how the card works. Check it out!

If ya dig this, listen to my 100% original album, Brilliant Shower, for free.

A completely nonsensical Green Thursdays entry considering Green Lantern flies everywhere.

On the flip, there's only one more boring sketch (next week) and then shit starts to get really weird!!!!!1111111

- Parachute Lantern on deviantART
- Parachute Lantern on Flickr

My friend and comics collaborator, Brian John Mitchell, runs an online zine called QRD. It features monthly interviews with musicians.

But the most recent issue -- QRD #48 -- is a showcase of interviews with indie comics creators. Check out my interview, where I answer some questions creating, promoting, distributing, and reading comics.

Also check out #48's interviews with awesome friends of mine such as Ross Campbell, Marcel Walker, and Brian himself

Well that's what this beat was for me. I wanted to take the sample just slightly off of its original course and tweak it until I thought the progression was smooth and sleek. Did it work? You be the judge.

It's been a while since I've done an update like this and there's a lot to cover, so let's get to it!

- The image you see up top is the art for the very first AudioShocker Comics Dropcard. Confused? Dropcards are essentially little gift card looking things that give you a unique code to access downloadable content. They're pretty common nowadays for musicians, but as far as I know, I'm the first person using them for comics. The Dropcard pictured above will make its debut at this year's SPACE.

- That's right, I'll be at SPACE (Small Press Alternative Comics Expo) in Columbus on March 19th and 20th. I'm rolling into town with a ton of great Pittsburgh comic creators including Shawn Atkins, Dan Greenwald, Scott Hedlund, Marcel Walker, and Seth Fronzoli (plus some other great PGH comics cats'll be there too, like Tom Scioli, Nate McDonough, Andy Scott, and more). AND I'll be catching up with some friends like Brian John Mitchell and Josh Blair (AAHHH NO MORE NAME DROPPING!). I'll have a bunch of comics with me, both old and new, including...

- The New Time Log (1 of 3), which is currently at the printers! It's my first foray into full color printing and it's a bit ironic considering I'm pretty against expensive, over-printed comics... But this bad boy is one high-quality sucker! Smooth paper, lush tones, and-- oh look at me, I'm gushing. Anyway, I'll be posting more about this book in the next few weeks.

- Speaking of new comics, I'm a contributor to Andy Scott's comix anthology, specifically Andromeda #7. I have a two-pager in there called "Adventure 101." Click the linked issue title to check it out on Etsy.

- And continuing the theme of collaboration, over on my daily webcomic, Super Haters, I'm gearing up for a new feature -- Super Haters Guest Weeks!!! Each month, beginning on the second Monday, I'll be featuring seven days of strips by a guest writer. First up in March is Ross Campbell, who's got some pretty nuts stuff planned for Destruct-O-Tron and Mind's Eye.

- I also have a ton of other stuff going on, like an upcoming talk at the Out of Gutter comics discussion group at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Library in Oakland, the bi-monthly Sequential Underground podcasts, Time Log nearing the end of ACT II, Project Basement (v3 starts later today (Powers and Costumes this time around)), an impending Deadpool comic with Brian John Mitchell, and... this brief 24 Hour Comics Day 2010 interview that I did with the TGT Webcomics Podcast (my section of the interview starts at 28:20).

Green Thursdays RETURNS! I know I skipped last week... I wasn't really feeling it, so I took the week off. BUT I'M BACK -- GET TO THA CHOPPA!!!

- Muscle Lantern on deviantART
- Muscle Lantern on Flickr
- Muscle Lantern on Tumblr

What about a title like "St. Nik's Sack of Beats"?

It's called Soulboxer, and it's a sci-fi story for the gamer generation. Specifically, it's for fans of video games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. If I had to put the story's feel into cinematic terms, it's like The Karate Kid meets Harry Potter... in space!!!

I know it sounds completely ridiculous and it IS completely ridiculous. But that's just how I do things. So take it or leave it, but either way, this damn novel's getting written. I'm going to see it get published, whether a publisher pays for it or I have to pay for it myself!

I run an infrequently updated production blog about my Soulboxer writing process, and I just put up a new post today about my priorities as a writer. Check it out!

In fact, as far as I know, I'm the only person that likes this song. So give it a spin and see what you think... am I wrong?

Savage samples voice and song from narrated sports footage. I love those old dramatic re-narrations of football and baseball games, and I like the unconventional quality of this sampled audio. I'm also very pleased with the drums on this one.

Basically, what I'm saying is I LIKE THIS SONG.

AHHHH it's so clever I can barely stand it!!! He's creating his own logo with the power ring!! OMG! WTF! FTW! LOLCATS!!!

Anyway, I'm feeling a bit uninspired today, so that's why you're getting Logo Lantern. Don't get me wrong -- I think Logo Lantern is sweet. In fact, it's one of my favorites of the Green Thursdays series. It just requires minimum work on my part, so that makes it easy on me.

BTW, this was the first Green Lantern stick figure sketch I did, and I think it best captures the emotions I'm trying to encapsulate with this series -- clueless idiocy and indifferent sarcasm.

- Logo Lantern on deviantART
- Logo Lantern on Flickr
- Logo Lantern on Tumblr

Check it out!!!
- SPACE Anthology 2011 PDF (75 MB)

Well, actually, it's the other way around -- my mixtapes after named after War Machine's quotes from Marvel vs. Capcom, and then I chose a track on each mixtape to represent the title... but that's neither here nor there, really.

This is one of the few mixtape cuts I WISH I could take full credit for! Alas, it uses a sample for the excellent melody and mouth noises (I guess it's beatboxing... though it's more like Bobby McFerrin-style a cappella). I chopped, looped it, and added some drums. Nothing special, mind you, but I think the combination is fantastic.

Awwww yeah! $240 worth of pudding! Awww yeah!! Waitaminute... wrong topic. This is more like $240,000 worth of solid emerald and jade jewelry.

And while I'm diverging... why did Chuck Norris stop making martial arts movies? I mean, I know war is almost always a part of his flicks, but I prefer the ones that are street fighting / martial arts as opposed to the ones in a war (and it's almost always Vietnam-esque) setting. WHAT'S THE DEAL, CHUCK? He was on a tear for a few years there, putting out some awesome martial arts b-movies in the late 70s / early 80s.

Oh well. Sometimes I get my Green Thursdays confused with other stuff. My bad. ("You got Chuck Norris film commentary in my Green Thursdays! You got Green Lantern stick figure in my Chuck Norris movie rant!")

- Bling Lantern on deviantART
- Bling Lantern on Flickr

Personally, I think the re-imagined part is hot. It's got great energy and mood. As for the "remixed" section, well it's definitely funny. It's got that going for it.

Like I mentioned last time, most of my mixtape instrumentals are made as backing tracks for rap songs. The reason why this beat includes the entire one-sided cell phone conversation from the original is because the rappers wanted to fill in the other side of the conversation in their version.

I recommend you do the same -- fill in your side of the phone call while you listen. I promise you'll have fun.

Yeah, I guess this doodle would have made more sense in purple... BUT GODDAMN IT HE'S GREEN LANTERN NOT STAR SAPPHIRE (*cough* Star Sapphires have sexist costumes *cough*) and that's why it's a green king latern!!!

Look, I have a confession -- I'm not a big Green Lantern fan. You'd think I am with this Green Thursdays sketch series and all, but nope.

I mean, I think GL's got one of the sweetest powers around and I like playing as him in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe... but I've never been a voracious Green Lantern comics reader.

Look, this has nothing do with the sketch. I know. But I wanted to add some text to this post and I don't have anything else to say. Soooo... I'll see you next week.

- King Lantern on deviantART
- King Lantern on Flickr

The structure is pretty straight forward too. The "no one else can touch my..." line acts as the hook and the strictly instrumental sections are verses.

When I started building beats, I was making them as backing tracks for rap songs. It wasn't until friends of mine started listening to the instrumental versions more than the rap songs that I realized the instrumentals were really a draw of their own. So that's why a lot of my stuff is built with an alternating verse/chorus structure like this one.

That's right. I rejected my own sketch.

See, I wouldn't normally do that... but the one you see above just didn't feel right. I mean, it's a fine cartoon and all. But to me, it doesn't embody what Project Basement is all about -- the raw energy of a sketch, no matter the quality.

There's not much energy to it. And to take that a step further, I didn't have much energy in me by the time I was drawing it. In fact, it was maybe my sixth or seventh stab at the concept and I was pretty drained.

Then I sucked even more life out of it with the colors. Even now, I'm not that happy with them. The halftone pattern looks to heavy to me, and all the colors are muted in a really ugly way.

That's why I ended up going with this sketch of Christian Bale movie Batman. So click that link and pop over to the AudioShocker to check the sketch and see what I have to say about the character!

NO! This sketch is NOT a thinly veiled weed reference! It's just a picture of Green Lantern saying hi. THAT'S IT.

Anyway, this is one of my most "accessible" Green Thursdays sketches. Things are gonna start to get weirder as the sketches progress. That's for sure.

But for now, savor the cuteness while you can.

- Hi Lantern on deviantART
- Hi Lantern on Flickr

This song is probably the most disco-ish beat in my catalog, which, honestly makes me proud. I grew up jamming to disco music and I learned a lot from the way instruments were layered by disco music producers.

The voice in this song is saying something... I think in the original song, the guy is singing "That's jealously!" But I prefer to hear him saying "That's what I say!" 1) Because it makes no sense in context because this is an instrumental and he's not saying anything. And 2) because I think that phrase has a nice ring to it.

Welcome to my new sketch series, Green Thursdays! I really enjoyed posting A Deadpool A Day in December, but DAAAAAMN it's a lot of work maintaining a daily sketch series. I think weekly is much more my speed.

As you can see, the current subject is none other than Green Lantern. Don't worry if it's Hal or John or Kyle or Guy... just know that it's a wiseass stick figure who somehow managed to score a green power ring and now said stick figure is living it up, Lantern style!

I mean, Green Lantern's powers are all about wish fulfillment, right? So expect to see both hilarious and serious wish fulfillment scenarios here on Green Thursdays.

In fact, today's Skate Lantern is a wish fulfillment of my own -- many of you may not know it, but I've always wanted to be badass skateboarder! But I didn't enjoy practicing tricks, and instead I focused on cartooning and music (which I did enjoy practicing). That's why NickMarino.net is full of sketches and songs, and not pics of me tearing up a half-pipe.

Anyhoo, Green Lantern will be the focus of Green Thursdays for the foreseeable future, so be back here next week for more power ring shenannigans!!!

- Skate Lantern on deviantART
- Skate Lantern on Flickr

NICKMARINO SELF-PORTRAIT? Cryptic much? YES!

EDIT: The code has been cracked!!! (A little too quickly, if you ask me...)

As the image says, Tabitha wins a portrait done in a similar style (if she wants one, that is!). And you know if I draw her one, it'll get posted here!!! Well, not here in this blog post... but here on my blog.

Take this beat, for example. It's one of the few beats where I built all the loops around vocals. In the hook, the voice says "I want to do something freaky to you" and in the verse it says "Ooohhh so good to have you back!"

A sketch of Justique FOR Justique!

When Kelly Thompson contacted me about making an original track for her new podcast, 3 Chicks Review Comics, she expected an instrumental song like my other podcast themes (for the AudioShocker and Comic Book Pitt, natch).

I suggested the idea of shouting "3 Chicks" in there and she liked it. But when I came up with the idea of adding a verse to it, I decided to keep it secret and surprise Kelly with it when the song was complete. When it came time for the unveiling, Kelly dug the rap and told me she'd save the vocal version for special occasions.

And today just happens to be one of those occasions! 3 Chicks Review Comics Episode 005 [link coming later today!] was the right time to let the vocal version loose... and now I'm thrilled to be able to share this version of the theme with you.

If you like this 3 Chicks theme, check out my original instrumental album Brilliant Shower.

EDIT: You can listen to the extended version on Facebook.

Anyway, I like this beat a lot. The original was easy to work with and I'm happy with the way I chopped it up. Not that I would hold this up as my finest production, but I'm satisfied with the humorous result.

#20 - Tudepool

And that's a wrap! See what DP's doing up there? That's his way of saying thx for checking out the sketches and GOODBYE!

And, though I'm done blogging my Deadpool doodles, that doesn't mean my stick figure sketches are over and done with. In fact, I'm proud to announce...

Green Thursdays!!!

Posting A Deadpool A Day was tough cause, ya know, it was daily. But I loved doing it. So I'm going weekly starting Thursday, January 6th 13th with a series of Green Lantern stick figure sketches. SEE YOU THEN!

EDIT (01/06/2011): I really wanted to have my new Green Thursdays sketch feature up and running today, but it'll have to wait until next week. In the meantime, I'll have some more awesome stick figure news! Keep your peepers peeled for updates.

- A Deadpool A Day - #20 Tudepool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #20 Tudepool on deviantART

#19 - Sadpool

Wade Wilson is grieving the end of a A Deadpool A Day!!! There's only one more day to go (and it's a doozy).

Now that we're in the homestretch, I want to send out a HUGE thx to Rob Liefeld for creating Deadpool. I've really enjoyed drawing these stick figure sketches and sharing them, and without Rob it never would have happened.

- A Deadpool A Day - #19 Sadpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #19 Sadpool on deviantART

#18 - Chefpool

A Deadpool A Day + flapjacks = good times!

- A Deadpool A Day - #18 Chefpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #18 Chefpool on deviantART

#17 - Loungepool

A Deadpool A Day relaxes with this stupendous sketch. Justique sayz: "He's wearing a fez. Nuff said. I think it's funny in its own right!" Thx, Justique!!!

- A Deadpool A Day - #17 Loungepool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #17 Loungepool on deviantART

#16 - Conepool

I'm surprised I didn't draw more food-focused A Deadpool A Day sketches... there's only this one and tomorrow's post.

It's because stick figure Deadpool doesn't look right with a mouth. In fact, Gunpool and Swordpool both had mouths in their original forms, but I took them out when I scanned the sketches in. And that's why Conepool is having a tough time getting a lick of his melting ice cream!

- A Deadpool A Day - #16 Conepool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #16 Conepool on deviantART

I like the energy of the beat and frenetic feel of the synth in this song. It's like the solo melody wants to jump out and slap you, but the rhythm bounces it up and down too fast for the notes to actually connect with your face.

#15 - Pootpool

After all those holiday parties, A Deadpool A Day is feeling a little gassy!!! Oh, and big ups to Shawn Atkins, who suggested this pose for the the 'Pool.

- A Deadpool A Day - #15 Pootpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #15 Pootpool on deviantART

#14 - Hitchpool

It's unlikely that I'm going to top yesterday's A Deadpool A Day offerings... so I figure I'll just give up and deliver this sketch, my most mediocre of the series.

This was supposed to be Deadpool giving a thumbs up, but I drew his leg like that and now it looks like he's hitchhiking. So the question is -- if you saw stick figure Deadpool on the side of the road trying to hitch a ride, would you pick him up???

- A Deadpool A Day - #14 Hitchpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #14 Hitchpool on deviantART

#13 - Vomitpool

This is the second half of my double shot of Xmas gifts for you! Here's the first half: Sickpool!!!

Personally, I regard this sketch as the crown jewel of my A Deadpool A Day series. It's also my tribute to Rod Stewart.

- A Deadpool A Day - #13 Vomitpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #13 Vomitpool on deviantART

#12 - Sickpool

MERRY XMAS!!! My gift to you is a double shot of A Deadpool A Day sketches, starting with this one and continuing on to the logical conclusion.

This is what happens when Deadpool stresses too much about his holiday shopping chopping and doesn't get enough sleep and/or proper nutrition. [WAIT... come to think about it, he's a near-unkillable mercenary that can regenerate from almost any wound, so he probably can't get sick....]

- A Deadpool A Day - #12 Sickpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #12 Sickpool on deviantART

#11 - Pantspool

A Deadpool A Day stays fashion forward with the final installment of the "Deadpool wears stuff" series of sketches.

TOMORROW: An Xmas double shot of Deadpool!!!

- A Deadpool A Day - #11 Pantspool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #11 Pantspool on deviantART

#10 - Shirtpool

I was traveling yesterday and didn't get to post my A Deadpool A Day! Normally, that would mean I'd double-up today, but I think I'll let it wait till Xmas and give you a double Deadpool gift!!!

Anyway, this one is pretty self-explanatory. Deadpool wearing a shirt. A Hawaiian shirt. Pretty awesome, no?

- A Deadpool A Day - #10 Shirtpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #10 Shirtpool on deviantART

I've posted my new 5-page collaboration with the mega-talented Eduardo Savid over on the Millarworld message boards -- read A Taste of the Sea now. The story is a submission to Mark's Space Oddities feature for his new magazine, CLiNT.

This is actually my second submission to the magazine -- here's my first, Captive Audience. Captive Audience didn't make the cut in the first round, so now it's looking for a good home in an anthology or a like-minded publication.

At some point soon, I'll do a full behind-the-scenes post for my new mini comic... but in the meantime, go ahead and read XLK: Extreme Lost Kisses #1 as a PDF and check out Brian John Mitchell's blog post about it.

You can download the entire Proton Cannon mixtape for zilch, zero, NADA! All 13 instrumental songs are free -- get them here: Proton Cannon ZIP (49 MB)

I've posted each track from Proton Cannon individually, and you can check out these links to read a little more about each song:

01. Best
02. Click Clack
03. Get Lifted
04. Gonna Be
05. Got Laid
06. Last Night
07. Proton Cannon
08. Rawk
09. Roll the Dice
10. Shadow Lady
11. Sold Out
12. Torn
13. Trafficlight

Then listen to all the tracks from my 100% original album, Brilliant Shower.

#9 - Coldpool

It's officially first day of winter, and Deadpool's ready to rock!!! This is just the first A Deadpool A Day to feature stick figure Wade Wilson wearing clothes. Yeah, I know, not revolutionary. But fun!

This is one of my favorite sketches from this series. I like little snuggly Deadpool in his winter gear. It follows a progression from yesterday's Mousepool, contrasting the cute appearance of the drawing to the deadly nature of the character.

- A Deadpool A Day - #9 Coldpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #9 Coldpool on deviantART

#8 - Mousepool

As a kid, I never would have dreamed that a former psychotic murderer / black ops assassin would have become the lead in an all-ages billion dollar movie franchise and have his face plastered on stuffed animals and children's clothing across the world. But that's exactly what Marvel's done with Wolverine.

So I figure it's not that far of a stretch to imagine that -- in another 20 years -- Deadpool will be a plush kiddie toy and an international superhero icon. Thus A Deadpool A Day brings you a vision from the future... a future wherein Marvel (and their parent company, Disney) have decided to promote Deadpool IV: Cable's Gambit all over Disneyworld with a Mickey Mouse / Merc with a Mouth mashup.

- A Deadpool A Day - #8 Mousepool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #8 Mousepool on deviantART

#7 - Superpool

Faster than a speeding bullet wound! More powerful than a runaway hobo train! Able to eat huge hoagies in a single bite! A Deadpool A Day brings you... SUPERPOOL!

Wade Wilson is the last son of the planet Crapton. His parents sent him hurtling towards Earth in a broke-down jalopy rocketship to save his life. He crash-landed in Detroit and was discovered by the Wilsons, who raised him as their own. Now he fights for lying, murder, and the Machiavellian way!!!

- A Deadpool A Day - #7 Superpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #7 Superpool on deviantART

Big congrats to my friends and acquaintances who are also nominated -- Brian John Mitchell, Josh Blair, and Pat Lewis. I'm glad they're not in my category cause they all have a great shot at winning their own respective SPACE Prizes!

If you were a SPACE 2010 exhibitor and you're interested in finding out more about my entry before you vote, here are the ways you can check out my eligible Super Haters comic strips:

- Start with Super Haters #1 on the AudioShocker (read up to #41)
- Read Super Haters #1-41 as a photo album on Facebook
- Read Super Haters #1-41 as a set on Flickr
- Download Super Haters #1-41 as a single PDF (about 6.75 MB)
- See the Super Haters Master List to pick and choose individual strips

Also make sure to check out SuperHaters.com. It's featuring slightly remixed versions of my original Super Haters strips that ran on the AudioShocker, as well as collected story arcs and some other goodies. New material starts on Groundhog's Day 2011. AND make sure to hit up the Super Haters on Facebook and become a fan!

Thx to Bob Corby for allowing Super Haters into the running and thx to any 2010 SPACE exhibitors who vote for the Haters (deadline is Jan 31st, 2011)!!!

#6 - Batpool

BANHA-BAHNA-BAHNA-BAHNA BATPOOL!!! Deadpool, being the master assassin that he is, must sometimes don a disguise, right? Thus A Deadpool A Day gets down with the Distinguished Competition and slips on the ol' cape and cowl!

Personally, I love the iconic (and easy to draw!) quality of Batman's cowl. The shape is so simple, and it's instantly recognizable. And that's why I just couldn't resist mixing that style with the core elements of my stick figure Deadpool formula.

- A Deadpool A Day - #6 Batpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #6 Batpool on deviantART

#5 - Starepool

I never guaranteed that A Deadpool A Day would be exciting every single time!!! In all seriousness, I couldn't avoid drawing this pose. Those simple little puppy dog eyes just begged to be the sole focus of at least one of my sketches.

I like this one because, to me, it tells a story -- I envision 'Pool walking somewhere, feeling a watchful gaze on him, and turning slowly to the side to confront the viewer. Plus, Deadpool is breaking the 4th wall by staring directly at you, which any Deadpool fan will recognize as a hallmark of the character.

- A Deadpool A Day - #5 Starepool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #5 Starepool on deviantART

#4 - Flamepool

After doing a few of these A Deadpool A Day sketches, I found myself... umm, how could I say? At a loss for ideas. I imagined Deadpool in a bunch of action poses, but that was about it.

It took my friend and fellow artist Dan Greenwald to help me break out of the box. I asked for a suggestion and he said, "draw him with his arm on fire." LET IT BE DONE!

- A Deadpool A Day - #4 Flamepool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #4 Flamepool on deviantART

#3 - Swingpool

This was one of the first poses that came to my mind when I started doing A Deadpool A Day sketches. I guess it's because I was reared on old school heroes, like the Super Friends and the Batman 60s show and the corny live-action Spider-Man show and Claremont's swashbuckling Nightcrawler.

So when I think of superheroes, I often think of them swinging in on ropes to save the day or kick some butt. Kinda silly of me in today's tech-heavy hero atmosphere. But I figure Wade Wilson would swing in on a rope just for dramatic effect!

- A Deadpool A Day - #3 Swingpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #3 Swingpool on deviantART

#2 - Gunpool

This was my first successful A Deadpool A Day sketch. To me, it's very much in the Deadpool tradition... and, as you'll see soon, not all of my daily DP sketches are quite as traditional.

When I think of Wade Wilson, I think of his Merc with a Mouth reputation -- I think of him being hired to shoot people. So this pic here, one could say, is my most subconscious conceptualization of Liefeld's enigmatic anti-hero.

- A Deadpool A Day - #2 Gunpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #2 Gunpool on deviantART

But... the song IS a cover (that's why it's on the mixtape, after all!). So who knows the name of the original?

#1 - Swordpool

Backstory: I was at Pittsburgh's Steel City Con a couple weeks ago. I was without accessible electricity or Internet. Forced to use pen and paper *gasp*, I inadvertently stumbled onto a formula for drawing a simple stick figure Deadpool.

I went nuts on the concept and busted out 20 of them from Friday thru Sunday. So for the rest of 2010, I'll be posting one-a-day until you're screaming "Make it stop, Nick! No more Deadpool!!!"

- A Deadpool A Day - #1 Swordpool on Flickr
- A Deadpool A Day - #1 Swordpool on deviantART

- A lumpy, heavily photo-ref'd self portrait:

- Warning to all podcasters out there using podPress on their WordPress blogs: don't update to podPress 8.8.8! It's got some weird flaw that kills your podcast RSS feed. Stick with 8.8.6.3. I had to find that out the hard way.

- I'm launching a daily sketch series next Monday called A Deadpool A Day in December. I was at the Steel City Con over the weekend, and the stupid Monroeville Convention Center doesn't have wifi or openly accessible electricity for vendors, so I was forced to use pen and paper. My Deadpool sketches will run daily though the end of the month.

- Ongoing: Time Log, AudioShocker Podcast, A Podcast with Ross and Nick (and EXTREME), Sequential Underground, Soulboxer, Pepper Jones, and CENSORED (hehe).

Truly a soft rock sample if there ever was one.

I put together a continuous mix of the tracks from the Superior Tech mixtape... a little something I like to call the Superior Tech Mixtape Mix (I'd embed it here except that the PodOMatic player width is a little large for my blog AND it autoplays).

So hit up this first of my Mixtape Mixes and lemme know what you think! I've discovered that PodOMatic is a fantastic community of proactive musicians and DJs, so it's worth popping by the site anyway. And of course, if you sign up, swing by the Nik Furious PodOMatic profile and friend me up!

But Sold Out is a little bit simpler than my usual production. Well, in theory. But I remember making it years ago, and it took me forever to find the right cymbal crash sound.

And check out my new PodOMatic page! I've got a kickass Superior Tech mix posted.

I'm still trying to settle on a name for the instrumental version of this song. What I do know is that it'll make it onto my next album, 7 Star Sky Flash Kick. I made a semi-vocal version for Kelly Thompson featuring Juicy shouting "3 Chicks!," as well as a special surprise by myself. BUUUTTT I'm not going to reveal said surprise just yet -- so keep an ear out for when I'm ready to put it out there. It's pretty sweet.

In the meantime, you can listen to 3 Chicks #1 on PodOmatic (most likely a temporary home) and then go leave a comment on the 3 Chicks #1 post on CSBG (after you leave a comment here, that is!!!).

And I love this beat cause it's so different like that, but I sorta hate it cause it's not the type of music I would personally listen to very often. In retrospect, the whole thing is very inspired by the sound of the song Twilight by Frankie Beverly and Maze (even though you might not be able to tell it).

Buy your own from Amazon or DriveThruComics!!!

In fact, before there was Evil Dick, there was Evil Andy. But, see, I went to Carnegie Mellon University -- and while I did manage to publish some heinous and offensive comic strips in the school newspaper -- I just couldn't get The Tartan to approve a comic strip starring a bigoted and misogynistic zombie Andrew Carnegie (same goes for another satire strip I came up with about CMU's Dean, Jared Cohon).

But after my graduation, the idea for Evil Andy came back to me. I decided to switch out Carnegie for Richard Nixon and voila! Evil Dick was born!!!

The plot followed Dick Cheney as he resurrected Nixon to be his undead mastermind, leading readers to believe Cheney was "Evil Dick." But then BLAM! I'd hit 'em with the ol' switcharoo in #4 as Nixon kills Cheney AND Bush, and takes over as the President of the United States!

But alas, after two installments, I abandoned the strip. I wanted to run it on SquareMag.com, a site for which I'd written a couple of prose pieces. But there was no interest from them, and in turn, I began to lose interest myself.

Years later, I adapted the core concept of Evil Andy/Evil Dick into the idea for Zombie Palin, a comic strip by myself and my co-writer, Pete. It follows a similar premise, only Palin isn't resurrected -- she's bitten by zombies and becomes the first undead President.

The only remnants of Evil Dick are these two photo collage comic strips and my massive set of 30+ scripts, making Evil Dick another of my secret past projects... FROM THE VAULTS!!!

I liked this track so much that I actually went back in and recreated the sample about a year ago. This is the older version including the original sample, but you'll be able to hear the 100% original version of this beat on the new Unlicensed Attorneys at Law album, Public Offenders (coming soon!!!). Not to mention that it'll also be on my own Nik Furious album whenever I get around to releasing the new one...

Well, whatever. It rocks.