IM

with the advent of techonology, there's just a slew of ways to communicate with each one offering just the right amount of personal touch. there's text messaging, which lets you communicate without the time investment. there's instant messaging, which is great for updates and joking (or flirting) but not so great for long, deep conversation, which requires reading of tone. and of course, there's the classic, very personal phone call.

i had the dialogue for this week's strip proofread and the reaction i got was, "ehh. but it's genuine." so, i'm gonna have to amp up my comedic skills but at least i got the sentimental parts down pat.

- johnny
(click to enlarge)

long distance communication

i was thinking about long distance relationships and how that would affect the communication. maybe because you're further apart, unable to see each other anytime, there's a need to talk more often. just to make sure you two are in sync. whereas if you're living close geographically to each other, you communicate less and depend more on the actual dates. ehh, just a thought.

this week's strip is my second foray into the sunday comics format. taking a cue from calvin and hobbes, bill watterson had strips where there were basically no text. just the images alone were enough to evoke the reaction he desired. well, i cheated a lil.

- johnny
(click to enlarge)

inner voices

ever get so close to a person you can start hearing their voice inside your head? or maybe you're right next to someone and it's like they're the furthest person away? it's amazing how that dichotomy could exist for the same person, but it's prob what makes it so exciting at the same time. we'll see how finn starts to deal with a long distance relationship.

what do you think about this week's humor? i'll tell you this, as i was discussing the punchline with friends, it gave us a good laugh!

- johnny
(click to blow it up!)

ramifications

oh no, what will happen between finn and elle?! it's a tough question really, will elle take the job offer and move away? if so, does that mean a long distance relationship? how will finn handle all this? usually a relationship will start off as being long distance and evetually one moves close to the other, so it's not that bad. but going from a close relationship to bein further apart? that could hurt.

in today's strip, trying to use a tactic where i intentionally have a large panel with not much going on to depict the passage of time. the reader's eyes will relax, as if to slow down and give the illusion of more time passing. did it work?

- johnny
(click to enlarge)

Book It

Hey guys! Sorry, I've been away for a while. And by "away" I mean vegetating on the sofa and and totally slacking off. But I'm back with a new strip this week!

Anyway, I recently booked an airline flight for an upcoming vacation. I've got to say that I was surprised by some of the fees. I know times are tough. But geez! The airlines seem to be tacking fees on to everything!

-Kevin
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i'll hear what i want to hear!

assumptions are killer! i've done my share of thinking i know what people are thinking and man, have i been wrong. and the consequences in a romantic relationship could be huge! so, despite what we hear, what we see, sometimes it's best to just simply ask, "hey, what's up?"

this week in artwork, we make small steps, small steps. further use of the eyebrow, playing of the panel layouts and the non-bubble for dialogue. small steps.

- johnny
(click to, well, you know what happens...)

foundation

i found last week's poll results to be pretty interesting. when asked what's the most aspect to a successful relationship, it was almost a tie between love, trust, and communication. surprisingly sharing a common set of belief didn't get any votes. so i guess as a continuation of last week's strip, in order to deal with jealousy in a healthy way, you just gotta have love, trust, and communication as the foundation.

and continuing my inspriration from calvin & hobbes, played some more with the panel layouts. also, i gave in and used eyebrows. it was so hard sometimes to convey emotions correctly but add in two tiny lines for eyebrows and BAM, instant emotion!

- johnny
(click to enlarge)

Picture Perfect

Picture it, Sicily, 1945...Oh never mind. I was whipping out the old Golden Girls reference, but roughly 2 people would get the joke! So, I'll just cut my losses now. haha. Anyway, this week our guy Riley takes a picture of Rob. But what happens next?

-Kevin
(click to enlarge)

no limits

within any relationship, there's always a certain level of jealousy. the key i think is to keep at a healthy level of jealousy, when you know both people are that into each other without limiting any freedoms. and of course, there's got to be a strong foundation of trust.

continuing to draw inspiration from calvin and hobbes, i've layed around with the panel layouts. hopefully it adds to the storytelling.

- johnny
(click to enlarge)

Shake it Up

I've been enjoying these two or three-strip story arcs. Each time I think I'm getting better at utilizing the sequential stories. The trick is to make it so that the audience can understand the current story without having read the previous one. I think I'm doing a pretty good job of it. Of course, let me know if you think otherwise!

This week's strip continues the story in the sports nutrition store. Our protagonist Riley is still looking at buying a protein shake. But he has a few concerns...

-Kevin
(click to enlarge)