Halloween & Red Sox!

Wow, what a week! Today I sat gleefully glued to my TV watching the Boston Red Sox victory parade roll through the streets of Beantown. David “Big Papi” Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Jason Varitek, Mike Lowell, Terry Francona, and all the usual suspects rode on the famous WWII ”Duck Boats” through City Hall plaza, and that crazy man Jonathan Papelbon danced the jig on a mobile stage with Boston’s own Dropkick Murphys! It was a gorgeous Autumn afternoon and the crowd was absolutely HUGE. I don’t think any city in the country can match the love Bostonians feel for their baseball team.  The Sox completed their World Series sweep of the Colorado Rockies to capture their second World Championship in four years, and if you didn’t already notice, Marc whipped up a quick piece of artwork on the main page of Ben and Devin paying tribute to the best baseball team on the planet. For those of you who missed it, here it is:

Oh, and remember how I was talking about doing a Halloween strip in the last blog entry? Well, we weren’t able to deliver a full strip, but once again Marc has come through with a supercool Halloween-themed header for the main page, complete with a glowing Robot Jack-O-Lantern! Awesome! That guy’s a whiz with those animated gifs, I tell ya. I’m thinking Marc drew a little inspiration from a certain superhero sequel viral marketing campaign, what do you think?

Astronauts Need Their Creamy Nougat Centers…

Hello all! I apologize for the lateness of this blog, but I attended a Halloween party last night and I was unable to get to a computer to post the update (For those of you who were wondering, I was a pirate). Speaking of Halloween, a couple weeks ago we were tinkering with the idea of shoe-horning in a Halloween-themed strip because it’s just such a great kids holiday and it would be tons of fun to see what kind of costumes the boys could come up with, but since Marc had the schedule pretty well locked in we ultimately decided against it (maybe next year!).   

Now, onto this week’s strip: There are two things that strike me about this one, the first being the impeccable linework going on. This is one of the the cleanest looking strips Marc has ever done and the level of detail is excellent, especially on that giant stack of junk food. There’s something about that panel that reminds me of an Evan Dorkin piece. Secondly, I really like coming up with strips that showcase the boys’ imaginations when it comes to ordinary household objects. One of the greatest things about being a kid is having that ability to “see” a laser gun instead of a hair dryer, or a spaceship instead of a cardboard box. Heck, I used everything from turkey basters to old vaccuum tubing in my space adventures as a kid. Come to think of it, I’d love it if some of you readers shared some of the imaginitive uses you found for everyday objects!

Well, that’s all she wrote for today. I hope you all enjoy the new strip and keep your fingers crossed that the Red Sox complete their World Series sweep tonight!

A Few Of My Favorite Things…

The Boston Red Sox back in the World Series – Ahhhh…the sights and sounds of the “Olde Towne Team” back in the Fall Classic: Big Papi crushing home runs, The Dropkick Murphys, The Green Monster, Josh Beckett striking out batters left and right, ‘Tessie’, Jonathan Pabelbon’s bizarre Irish jigs, ‘Sweet Caroline’, and of course, Manny being Manny. Go Sawx!

Baby Zoe - I can’t get enough of this kid! Holding a newborn baby is more addictive than any drug I can think of! I loves me some baby!

My new 19″ LG widescreen monitor - Ahhh…19 gorgeous inches of liquid crystal display magic. For years I suffered with huge, and I mean HUGE, second hand old school SVGA monitors. Finally I’ve cast aside those hideous, eggshell-colored bohemoths in favor of this slim, lightweight beauty. It awesome for viewing HD movie trailers, working with spreadsheets, surfing the web, but my favorite thing so far? Getting hypnotized by that darned iTunes Visualizer while listening to music. The colors man…..the colors…. 

Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’- Good News: One of my favorite bands of all time released a new album. Better news: It’s only available exclusively through the band’s official website in a digital download format, therefore bypassing the evil, money-leeching RIAA and putting the money directly into the group member’s pockets. Best News: You can pay anything you want for it. Yep. That’s right, you could literally pay nothing for an entire album if you wanted to. This band has always been thinking towards the future and now they may have changed they way bands distribute their music to the masses. Genius.

 

Caveman + Garden Hose = Funny

I really like this week’s strip. I think it’s simple, funny, and a nice change of pace from the insanity of recent events in the backyard. This is another example of a strip that just grew out of a single image. I knew I wanted to build a strip around Ben and Diogee having a lazy snooze together, something that reflected the bond between Master and Pet.

Originally I had them in a hammock, but Marc suggessted one of those metal and vinyl fold up lawn chairs instead (remember those? hideous!), which actually worked out a lot better and reminded me of when I would lie in one of those with my own dog. Once that was in place I thought it would be a great visual to see Ben and Diogee get their moment of zen suddenly blasted away by the hose. It was a good place to stick Caveman in, as well.

I hope you all enjoy the strip this week and on behalf of Marc, Stephanie, and baby Zoe, I’d like to thank all of you who have expressed your well wishes to the happy family. See you next time! 

Welcome Zoe Angelica Lapierre!

There’s no feeling in the world like cradling a newborn baby in your arms…it’s like holding a warm little bundle of pure magic. When you look down at that little face, eyes closed, slumbering peacefully and swaddled tightly in soft blankets, joy and contentment wash over you like a wave and settle in a tranquil pool deep inside of you. It’s an overwhelmingly pure and powerful experience. 

It’s even better when that baby belongs to someone you’ve known for over 20 years, because you get to be a part of that child’s life; see them grow and develop and experience all the fun and happiness of being a kid.  As you can see by the main page, our artist Marc and his wife Stephanie welcomed their first child into the world; a beautiful, perfect baby girl by the name of Zoe Angelica. I’m officially an “uncle” and I couldn’t be any prouder or happier. Congratulations guys!

Please feel free to leave well wishes and congratulatory words for Marc and Steph here or on the Tag Board over at the Main Page!

The Iceman Cometh…

Hey gang, what’s shakin’? How’s things in your neck of the woods? Around here, Fall is in full swing. The leaves are turning glorious shades of red, orange, and yellow, the temperature has dropped drastically, and the region is once again delerious with that most welcome of October maladies, Red Sox playoff Fever!

Yep, The ol’ Bosox are making another run at a World Series title and as I type this, they’ve already dispatched the Los Angles Angels of Anaheim (ridiculous name) in the first round and are tied one game apiece with the Cleveland Indians in the American League Championship series. Now, you may be asking yourself, “What’s that got to do with webcomics?” Well, nothing really, but there is a hilarious Red Sox-related site out there that is a webcomic of sorts that’s worth checking out. If you’re a Red Sox fan or a sports fan in general, and enjoy sports-related humor, head on over to The Soxaholix. It’s really funny stuff with sharp writing.

Now, onto this week’s strip: I think Ben’s behavior is something worth discussing, especially in that last panel. Kinda screams “ingrate” don’t you think? I mean, the kid already has an ultra-cool space robot of his own and now a caveman, and this is how he reacts? Like a little brat? Well, let’s face it, even the best kids can be insufferable brats once in a while.  I think it’s important to show that children have a very large emotional spectrum that they can run through and Ben’s reaction is quite simply a classic “kid” moment. I know I had plenty of days where Luke Skywalker himself could’ve landed in my backyard with Chewie, C-3PO, and an X-Wing fighter in tow, and I would’ve whined and complained that Artoo wasn’t there. That’s just kids being kids!

I just cannot stop giggling at that image of Caveman sniffing his finger in the last panel. Seriously, it’s disturbing how funny I find that! It’s simply Marc’s mad skills coming through once again. ( By the way, the baby watch continues for Marc and his wife. The little bundle of joy should be here any day now! Keep watching this space and the main site for updates!) I’m not sure at this point how much we are going to be using ol’ Caveman here, but I do consider him to be a regular part of the cast. You could end up seeing him in every other strip, or he may disappear for a while. It all depends on how many funny scenarios we can come up for the big lug. See you next time, kids!

Waiter, There’s A Caveman In My Ice…

Hey guys! Sorry there were no blogs this week, but life will do that to ya every now and then. I was going to write a little bit about the new Fall TV season and my impressions on the new and returning shows but I just never got around to it, so here’s some brief thoughts: Heroes: The new season is sorta boring and has that “running in place” feel. Bionic Woman: A decent start, likeable leads, lots of Battlestar Galactica cast members (and that’s not a bad thing). I’ll give it another couple of episodes. The Office: Hilarious as always and getting better all the time. Chuck: Overrated, but amusing. ER: Why is this still on again? Please, just make it stop….

Anyway, how about this week’s strip, and our NEW character, huh? Meet Caveman boys and girls! Wait, on second thought, does this really count as a proper character introduction? I mean, he is still encased in a block of ice, after all.  Oh well, at any rate, you’ve got to love the expression on Ben and Devin’s faces as Robot hauls that frozen Neanderthal out of the ground. The boys were so proud of their little treasures, only to get “Pwn3ed” (are the kids still saying that?) by Robot once again.  Then again, it’s not like they really mind, especially in this case. 

Now you may be asking yourself, ‘Waitaminute…first a Robot, and now a frozen Caveman? Are the kids imagining this stuff or are they both ’real’?” Well now, that would be telling, wouldn’t it? Ha-ha! Again, I know how it is in my head, and Marc has his own thoughts on the matter, but it’s not something that we’re ever planning on addressing. The truth is, it’s all in the eye of the beholder. “Real” or imaginary, it doesn’t really matter as long as Ben and Devin (and most importantly you, the reader) are having fun, right?

Stay tuned next week to see what secrets from the past the Caveman has to reveal!