Where In The Universe Is Robot?

Okay, so I win the doofus of the millennium award for neglecting to mention that our very first Boxcar Astronaut comic (four of them actually) went “live” on Easter Sunday 2007. Since last week’s strip fell on Easter Sunday, it would have been a good idea to mention this and mark the occasion, but alas, it slipped my mind. In the immortal words of one Homer J. Simpson, “D’oh!”

Anywho, in more chronological terms, our one year anniversary is officially going to be recognized with the publication of Boxcar Astronaut #56, on Sunday April 6. Look for some fun stuff on the website and here on the blog to commemorate this momentous milestone! Alliteration rocks!

This week it’s on to part 2 of our epic Robot storyline, and as you can see, the stakes have definitely been raised here! What the heck happened to our beloved robot? Did he teleport back into space? Did Ben accidentally disintegrate him? I think the answer is going to make you laugh and smile next week when you see just exactly what happened to our ol’ metal buddy from outer space. Marc and I are not ones to toot our own horns, but BEEP-BEEP! This is going to be a really fun storyline. I can’t wait to hear some of your feedback and commentary on it. But hey, why wait? If you have a theory as to what happened to Robot, drop us a line and let us know!

Speaking of Marc, I think this strip shows off some of his strongest artwork. Anyone who expresses their frustrations at our publishing schedule should just take a gander at that third panel to truly get an appreciation of the care and dedication Marc puts into drawing the strip. That cool, bubbly, molecular effect surrounding Robot is super-nifty. I also absolutely love how Ben is rendered in the final panel. Instead of the obvious shocked, jutting-eyeballs, open-mouthed, over the top reaction that you may expect Ben to have, Marc gave him a quiet, sort of “haunted” expression. Ben is in total disbelief that his friend has vanished, and with the way Marc drew him here, you really get a sense for the loss he is suddenly stunned with. Sometimes, the little touches go a long way to aid with storytelling and emotion and that’s exactly what Marc accomplished here. Very nice stuff.

Next week: Ben’s reaction to Robot’s disappearance and our ONE-YEAR Anniversary! Don’t you dare miss it!

A Storm’s Comin’…

Hello gang! Before I start dissecting this week’s Boxcar I thought I’d mention a couple of things that took place in the last week. First off, Marc and I were interviewed for the first time ever about Boxcar Astronaut on Wednesday night. The interview was conducted via conference call with a young lady named Tea Fougner, who is affiliated with the upcoming Comicspace/Webcomics Nation merger.

Tea was really great and I had a blast doing the interview. Apparently, Boxcar Astronaut is going to be among the first strips to be a “featured webcomic of the day” when the new site goes live, and the interview will run at the same time. There isn’t a concrete time frame for when this is all going to happen, but keep checking back here and we’ll let you know when it’s up!

Secondly, I completely geeked out over this photo of Ray “Darth Maul” Park as Snake-Eyes that was leaked to the Internets on Thursday. It’s absolutely perfect! I don’t have much confidence in the G.I. Joe movie itself, but this is an awesome job by the costume department. I can’t wait to see it in motion! (Click the image for a gigantic, high-res version)

At first glance, this strip seems like another one-shot sight gag piece, but it actually kicks off the longest story arc that we’ve had since the introduction of Robot, and I’m super-excited about it. It’s going to feature Robot in a way that you’ve never seen him before, and what happens to him will have serious repercussions for the denizens of the backyard. (Wow, that sounds like a marketing blurb for every huge “event” comic book crossover, doesn’t it?).

Anyway, it’s funny how an epic storyline can be unleashed from a simple idea like the boys flying kites, but that’s exactly what happened here. I knew that lightning striking the boys and Robot would make for a funny visual, but then I realized that event could be a catalyst for something strange happening to Robot afterwards, and thus this storyline was born.

I really love what Marc did with the second panel here. It was a stroke of genius to have Robot keeping the kites aloft with powerful gusts of air from his spinning robotic appendages. It’s always fun to show off Robot’s seemingly endless gadgets and abilities. Great stuff. Stellar work also that beautiful lightning strike and our singed heroes. I don’t know what it is about that charred, smokey effect on characters but it cracks me up every single time. Probably a residual effect from watching so many violent Tom & Jerry and Looney Tunes shorts when I was a kid. Ahhh, the classic material never dies. All in all, a nice kickoff to our big storyline and our upcoming one-year anniversary!

On behalf of all of us here at Boxcar Astronaut, Have a Happy Easter! See you next time!

Warping Into Spring!

Greetings and Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! I hope those of you who have some Irish heritage (like myself) enjoy the pubs and parades this week! Personally, I’m still trying to adjust to Daylight Savings Time. While I love the fact that the sun is still shining when I walk out of work at 6:15, it takes a while for the ol’ body clock to get used to losing an hour. It’s a small price to pay however, to see the end of winter and the arrival of the warmth of Spring.

This week we have a fun little one-shot strip that gets the boys back into the boxcar ship and using their imaginations for some more space adventures, which is the heart of what this comic is really all about. Devin is making use of one of the most versatile household objects in the history of childhood: the trusty 3-speed oscillating fan! Whether it was one of those old, metal-bladed behemoths or a more modern plastic “box” fan, there were a million and one uses for a 3-speed fan. Chief among them, of course, was putting your face directly in front of the spinning blades and saying “Luuuuuke I aaaammmm yourrrrr Faaaaatherrrrrr!” The vibrations of the spinning air transformed a kid’s voice into an other-worldly robotic sound. Too cool! One of my earliest childhood memories involved a white plastic box fan that my mother would plop in front of me on the living room floor to keep me cool as I worked on my coloring books. Eventually I figured out that if I stuck a crayon in the center of the spinning fan, it would instantly make a colored ring in the middle portion (not to mention a cool noise)! Needless to say, before long the entire circular middle portion of the fan looked like one of those big spiral lollipops!

A fan could also be used, as Ben and Devin illustrate here, a warp-engine device to mimic the sensation of flying through incredible cosmic g-forces. This is another one of our trademark misdirection strips, where you aren’t too sure what’s going on until that last panel reveal. Again, the facial expressions have to carry the weight of the strip and Marc knocks one out of the park yet again. My favorite is panel three. Great expression on Ben there and it really leads one to think he may be experiencing some serious hyperspace effects!

We hope you enjoyed this week’s comic, and coming soon is our one-year anniversary and our next multi-part story arc! Happy St. Paddy’s Day!

Power-Boy…Unmasked!!!

Hello and welcome to Boxcar Astronaut #52. Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “Hmmm…52 comics, 52 weeks. This must be the one-year mark for Boxcar Astronaut, right?” Well, not quite. You see, in our first week we put out four comics, so actually one year anniversary is still four weeks away. Just like our 50th milestone, we are going to have some special things planned, so stay tuned.

This week, the pulse-pounding, action-packed, thrilling saga of Power-Boy comes to an end. For several weeks now Devin’s been flying high on his superhero trip and someone had to send him crashing back to reality, so of course, its none other than Ben. As you can see by that great expression on Ben’s face in the first panel, Devin’s Power-Boy act is wearing a bit thin with him. Devin’s also starting to pollute the backyard with that ripe ski-mask! Little kids sweat a lot, and when you combine that with running around in a ski-mask in the hot sun for a few days, you get a recipe for…well, something that smells like Caveman’s feet! Great work here by Marc on the one of the best Ben expressions ever, and you can practically smell the stench coming off Devin’s head with that vapor trail and the flies buzzing around the mask. Perfect! A nice, simple strip to end the Power-Boy saga. We hoped you enjoyed it.

Okay, that’s all for this week. Short but sweet. As I stated before, keep watching the site for updates and news about our one-year anniversary. Oh, and by the way, did you all remember to turn your clocks one hour ahead today for Daylight Savings Time? Spring is coming!

Devin Plays With Dolls?

Greetings all! Before I get into this week’s strip which continues the magnificent Power-Boy saga, I’d like to thank all of the Boxcar Astronaut readers (old and new alike), for making our 50th comic milestone a huge success! We received tons of feedback, commentary, and yes, even a little criticism, and all of it was greatly appreciated. Special thanks also to our good friend Mike Witmer, or Pinkerton fame, for giving us a link and a plug over at Pinkerton National Park. Mike’s hilarious comic just celebrated a milestone of its own, with the publication of the 150th strip. Congrats Wit!

So this week, Devin is still on his superheroic crusade in the backyard in a strip conceived and written by Marc. I absoultey love how Devin sets this “trap” for a poor, unsuspecting Robot. One of the most difficult challenges that I’m sure Marc faces is figuring a way for Robot to emote through a face with a frozen expression. It’s a testament to his ability as an artist that Robot’s confusion and curiosity regarding this little dolly on the ground comes through in the sublte tweaks like his body position, and the visual effects such as the digital question mark. Very nice touches that make all the difference in a strip such as this. I’m continuing to enjoy Devin’s glee in adopting this superhero persona. Ben is obviously the dominant personality in the strip, so it’s nice to see Devin find something to put himself in the spotlight for a change.

 Before I say goodbye, I want to mention an absolutely hilarious website that I stumbled upon at the office the other day. It’s called Garfield Minus Garfield, and it is simply a collection of Garfield strips minus, well…Garfield! Yep, someone out there thought it might be interesting to see what Garfield comics would read like without the titular character, and the results are nothing short of fascinating. It transforms Garfield from a strip about a wisecracking, self-centered tabby tormenting his owner Jon, to a study of one man’s isolation, depression, and madness! It’s sheer genius. Check it out, and we’ll see you next Sunday!