Touching Base #26

One might think I'm still shirking posting with this, and you'd only be half right as a lot of stuff changed in the last couple of months, so it's time to find out what.

The Wotch is still having issues with artists, mostly in the fact that their current one hurt his arm and can't post at the moment.  Honestly, at this point they probably should consider throwing in the towel.  I'm moving it back to Monthly until things shake out one way or the other.

What Birds Know is slowly drawing to a close.  I think they're up to the last chapter, so there will be a retrospective in the near future for it, maybe.  There does seem to be some time between posts, something about 5 days of summer and Canada.

Pole Dancing Adventures stalled out in May, again, no idea why.  The news posts are still updating, but not the comic, very odd.

Rounding out the cast of comics that should update more, Dead Winter isn't updating either, with little to no obvious reason.  Kind of a shame as it was just starting to get the next arc rolling too.  Both this and BDA stay on the Weekly list for the time being, despite lack of updates.

It Hurts! had an interesting transition to hell via exploding planet, so the current course of the story is, um, odd.  Lots of odd this update.  I do like it as it reset the storyline a bit and keeps things moving in that, um, crazy  weird way it does.

Still little solid information on what happened to Kiwi's By Beat!, but at least there's a mirror for most of the comics.  Yay, I can still read minus and Great.  That said, there's no official word on what happened, guesses range from bankrupt to dead, so yeah.  If I hear more, I'll keep you informed.

Eerie Cuties and Magick Chicks still haven't updated since their last round of doing so.  Don't count that as "dead" just not moving much.  As such I'll ship them over to Monthly to keep an eye on them.

Out There's finale, um, still doesn't exist.  Which is leaning toward it being a dead comic.  I'm glad we were TOLD it was probably going to be shelved, but some kind of ending would have been nice to have.  Expect a Retrospective on it soonish.

Commander Kitty has had sporadic updates thanks to the fact that he has to work for a living.  But you know, if I had a job in animation, I wouldn't be as worried about the comic either.

Finally, Pete Abrams is planning Sluggy Freelance past it's 20th year (next year I might add).  Specifics are still in the air, but the gist is there's no way to wrap up every storyline (not that I was expecting him to, mind you) in that last year.  Some of the idea is make a less scheduled comic after the 20th anniversary.  He does like to eat, and the comic has been making him money, so I could see him trying to keep something going (Howard Taylor over at Schlock Mercenary has talked about something similar in the past).  How it'll work out, I don't know.  We'll see, and I'll be here updating this blog for it.

Next time kiddies, hopefully I'll get The Successor moved along some more.  Until then.

Touching Base #25

Still unpacking but I've got time to do some touching base.

Top of the list, Kiwi's By Beat, the site that's home to minus and a number of other really great comics is, um, gone.  Poof, vanished.  So far no one has been able to contact the artist to find out what the hell is going on.  I'll try to keep on top of it.

City of Reality's website is down as well, but that seems more technical than anything else.  It'll be back soon I'm sure.

The Whiteboard hit a Pateron goal that means it'll update 5 days a week.  Which is nice, and means I have to rearrange my folders.  Then mentioned something about everyone being topless as the next goal, though I think that's a joke.  Maybe.

Sunstone (NSFW) and Head Trip did update, as I mentioned in one of my many Nothing posts, but only a little.  Still battling injuries I would hazard to guess.  It's okay, I can wait for them.

Skullkickers ended this last week.  I'm not sure how I feel about the ending, I mean, it really didn't end, and yet it did.  I should have a Retrospective up soon about it.

Blindsprings is taking a break from normal updates to do an episode for something called the Valor Anthology, which is mostly a bunch of fairytales.  Something different while I wait for the other shoe to drop on what the hell is really going on in that comic.

The Meek finally finished Chapter 4 of the comic.  It started in November of 2011, but with all the delays it didn't actually finish for 4 and half years.  Yes, I have been watching this comic the entire time.  Anyway, here's to Chapter 5 NOT taking half a decade to finish.

The Wotch also had some updates.  It'll be a bit before I catch up on what little there is though.

Hopefully by this time next week, I'll have the list resorted for what's active and not.  No promises, of course.  Same with an update as I still have a lot of unpacking to do.  That said, I do have something that's nearly ready, just needs a read through and linkifying to make it ready to go.

So until then kiddies, and thanks for sticking around through this nonsense.

Touching Base #24

By the time you read this I'll be BACK in New York, only to drive BACK to Texas next week.  I love moving.  In the meantime, let's check what's going in comicdom.

Eerie Cuties and Magick Chicks are NOT ending.  Apparently their kickstarters went through and they'll be back soon.  I think I mentioned it earlier but consider this all offical like. Well, not quite yet, but we'll see when it gets going.

Licensed Heroes is updating again as well, but only once a week for the time being.  I wonder what caused all the issues. . .

Speaking of temporary pauses, Sunstone (NSFW) and Head Trip still on hiatus due to injuries.  Both are going through physical therapy so it might be a while before either of them come back.

Related to Sunstone, Bloodstain got a fan movie based on the first chapter.  This is similar to what happened to No Rest for the Wicked.  I haven't watched it yet, been on the road with limited net access, but they're thrilled by it, so go watch.

Elsie Hooper still not updating, the comic.  Apparently, though, the MOVIE that this was the storyboard for is finished and is going to be in a film festival in the near future.  Apparently they made it with stop motion puppets, so that explains why it took too long to film.

On the other projects list, Dead Winter has a playable demo of their game, and for a weekend it was open to everyone, but afterwards, Patreon members only.  I did download it during the free weekend, but, again, no time to try it, but it's a side scrolling beat em up, so if you like that style, it'll probably be fun as hell.  I do, sadly no time to play.  Bleh.

Subhuman Sanctum and Twilight Lady getting more updates, though Twilight Lady is just wrapping up the current story.  Subhuman Sanctum is into the second book, so I expect awesome things.

Commander Kitty is also updating again, the big animation project he was working on is done, so the Pateron is open again as well.

Gone with the Blastwave had a random update late last year.  Given how often it updated before, I'm shocked there is at least one update.  Maybe there will be another, eventually. . .

Perry Bible Fellowship is now appearing on Go Comics.  It's updates are random, once a week is a bit much for it, but it does update.  Most of the strips are the small, 3 panel strips, and yes, they are all new ones.

And that's about all I have for now.  I likely won't have anything next week because holy crap will it be busy.  After that, I'll try to say something.  Until then kiddies.

Touching Base #23

I hate doing a touching base with so few articles and reviews in between, but my work schedule is a horrible beast of nastiness and I do need to catch up a bit.  And there's a lot of bad news to cover, though no dead news, so that's good.

Licensed Heroes is now officially on Hiatus while they sort out, um, issues.  It's not clear WHAT is going on, but it's something and it's completely derailing the comic for the time being.

Broodhollow is also on a Hiatus of sorts.  Straub put up a post that's it's almost purely mental issues related and he's trying to get back to a normal flow as quickly as he can.

Head Trip's issues are more physical.  First her computer died, then she was in a car accident and now needs physical therapy.  Yeah, that comic is down for a bit while she recovers.

Derelict's short hiatus is more related to setting up the next phase of the story than anything else it seems.  In the mean time, there is his new comic Sword Interval to look out, I have not yet as it's maybe a dozen pages long and I prefer 100 or one year, so it's at least 40 pages short of me checking it out at this point.  I imagine it's quite good regardless, so check it out.

The Demon Archives is just now coming back from it's guest artist binge it goes on between chapters.  I like it because it does expose less well known comics during these periods and that's more fodder for the Future Reads.

Magick Chicks is definitely finished, they have an epilogue page and everything.  My issue is Eerie Cuties which really didn't get that kind of ending ending.  Maybe it's that the comic isn't really ending or what, but I think I'll rethink my Retrospective plan to do both at the same time.  I'll give it a bit long and see what happens.

Legend of Whoelterra's updates have slowed WAY the hell down and aren't quite keeping pace with this new schedule.  I know I said I would drop it shortly after the review, but it's looking more likely now than ever.

The Fifth Circle's updates have been nonexistent for a while.  I'm probably going to put it in the Hiatus folder as a result.  I won't call it dead because, well, he's in AFRICA, kind of hard to maintain a website so far away.  Still will keep tabs.

One piece of good news is that Sluggy Freelance's summer schedule is over and it's back to 5 days a week, and beginning what is likely the final story of the comic.  Should be a fun ride.

That's enough for now.  Yes, I have finished Volume Six of Errant Story.  I just have to write the next part of The Classic, so hopefully that will be next week.  Until then kiddies.

Touching Base #22

Once more with Touching Base, mostly because shitty summer work schedule and big ass article series kind of necessitates these shorter bits.

Following, a bit, from last week's Retrospective, Between Failures had a medical emergency several weeks ago now.  A week's worth of guest strips while the artist recovered then the comic picked up once again.

Bohemian Nights also had a shake up as the site got hacked and got taken down for a bit.  I bring both of these up because they each did what artists should always do, tell the audience that something was wrong.  I really appreciate that and I'm glad both comics are back at full steam.

Speaking of which, Wapsi Square took a bit of a break, then picked up with about 3 strips that were some of the best story telling I've seen in the comic.  Then it got really overloaded with dialog again.  I told you he can do it, wish he did it more.

Station V3 is finally back to updating with a new title and mystery "Whatever Happened to Station V3?"  It's still the same silly fun that V3 is known for, and plays off the fact that the comic has had some serious issues in the last year or so.

Subhuman Sanctum finished it's first book and is now on summer vacation.  Which also serves as part of the fundraiser to keep the comic going, via buying the online books.  On one hand, I get it, they need money to pay the artists to continue making the comic, on the other hand, it almost feels like they're keeping it and Twilight Lady hostage over it.  I'll trust both will be back at full tilt soon enough.

Blindsprings did a short bit of posting "character descriptions" which normally I would rail against, but this is after most of the first volume of the comic is done, so I don't mind so much.  It's really just filler here, and while I didn't read much of it, the nature of the characters should already be known so it's not strictly necessary to read.

Strong Female Protagonist has finally seen the confrontation between Allison and Mary.  I'm writing this last week, so by now it might be wrapped up, but I doubt it.  This has been by far the best storyline in the comic, and I appreciate it greatly.

Something happened to Conny Van Ehlsing, and all of webcomicsnation.com in fact.  The site is gone, and I fear the comic is too.  I can find one entry about it on google, and it's all in German or something, so that makes it a bit harder to track down.  I'll do some more searching as I have time, but I suspect the comic is gone.

Contemplating Reiko, which wasn't updating often to begin with, has now gone almost 8 months since the last update.  I think I'm going to call it dead now, which I don't really enjoy because the comic was fun.  Still, there was no real story there so no reason to stick with it strongly.

Oh and Elise Hooper is on unannounced hiatus again.  Seriously, just finish the damn comic already!  You're so damn close to the end.

I had to change the link for Out There as the actual site only ever worked half the time, and the Keenspot site is usually up all the time.

So finally, the last bit of news is a few weeks old, but worth mentioning.  The Adventures of Dr. McNinja will be coming to an end, probably in about 9 months or so (which puts it into next year).  After almost 10 years, I'm surprised, but not really shocked.  The comic has basically played out all it's ideas by this point, so it was time to bring it to an end.  Still, we'll see how it goes and I'll be waiting for it.  At least that's one comic that won't be added to the year of Retrospectives.

Finally, my browser decided to die.  Not my computer, my browser.  Been using Opera for sometime and today (Monday) it decided it didn't want to work any more.  Guess where all my bookmarks are?  I didn't lose ALL of them, just a bunch of them.  I'm straightening it out on Chrome now, but some of my recently marked "Future Reads" are going to be a trick to get to for a bit.  Shouldn't effect the blog any, just venting a bit.  I could vent more about more serious things, but those have NOTHING to do with the blog (outside of my work schedule).

Anyway, that's it for this week.  Hopefully I'll have the next part of The Classic up next week.  Until then kiddies.

Touching Base #21

Well, I derped and forgot to hit PUBLISH for this article.  Thus it's going up rather late.  Ah well.

This edition of Touching Base is also a site maintenance thing as well.  There's a lot of good news in this edition, for once, and a couple of duds.

Vampire Cheerleaders finished it's last storyline back in January or so, and hasn't done much else since.  Is it dead?  Laying the ground work for another story line?  Forgotten?  No idea, but it's going in the hiatus folder for the time being.

Short Stories is annoying me more than it probably should.  Several of the shorts have been removed from the comic and I suspect published, which is great for them, annoying for me.  It also hasn't updated in a while.  I'm moving it to hiatus along with Vampire Cheerleaders because I'm not sure if it will update again.

Remember in my review of Wapsi Square I talked about that odd pool storyline?  Yeah, it went away from it for a bit, then came back.  Seriously, just STICK with it for a bit, I think your readers can handle a story that lasts more than a week at a time.

It seems technical difficulties and health issues have been keeping Sunstone (NSFW) from updating for some time.  The tech issues appear to be resolved, health not so much, but he's planning to power through, so updates should be back soon.

Eerie Cuties and Magick Chicks are at their respective climaxes, and are looking to end at, um, nearly the same time from the looks.  Depends on how much epiloge they're planning to use in each.  As I said when I first mentioned the end of both comics, I'll do a Retrospective on both at the same time as one is the spin off of the other and the timing and comparisons are too great to simply let go.

The Non-Adventures of Wonderella is updating regularly again.  After a short plot arc involving her coming back from the dead, they vowed never to speak of it again and moved back to general nonsense the comic is known for.

Broodhollow is ALSO updating again (I told you there's a lot of good news this time, but the best is yet to come).  Took long enough honestly.  Still, it's Broodhollow, so it should be pretty damn good, even after the wait.

The best news, and I do mean the best, is that The Meek is back.  After years of inactivity, the comic is updating once again.  Looks like weekly for the time being and I can't be happier.  Hope it updates for a long time to come.

I want to comment on Gunnerkrigg Court for a moment.  I know more than a few people are unhappy with the current direction of the story, to the point of anger.  Those people need to get a grip.  For one, this is a natural development of the characters given the situation, and two, when Annie does decide to assert herself once again, the results shall be GLORIOUS.  So just keep reading.

Too the site management side of things.  I'm making some slight changes to the side bar.  I will be adding a few extra categories to the Quick Reference section.  The Categories page is being split into two pages.  General Categories (best name I can think of right now) will have all the reviews, articles and Retrospectives in it, while the Special Series page will have all my multi-part articles.

This is in preperation for this year's long series wherein I talk way too much about a comic.  Which comic?  You'll have to wait and see.  In any case, unlike the previous ones, it won't be straight out series, but broken up as I find other topics and possibly reviews to write about.  It's not really much longer than The Standard or Best Overall, but unlike them, it will be a full look at the comic, so it might take a bit longer to write up.

Next week I hope to have the introduction up for it, but I make no promises as I actually got a promotion at my job, so that means, of course, more work.  So I hope I find time to write it.  Until next time kiddies.

Touching Base #20

About time for another Touching Base, so let's see what I can talk about.

After my Retrospective on Girls With Slingshots, the Washington Post did an interview with the artist.  I am jealous, of the Post and Danielle.

Bohemian Nights paused for a while due to a death in the family, but he TOLD us the news part under the comic.  More comics should do that.

Eerie Cuties and Magick Chicks are both heading for their conclusions.  It's just taking a while as the artists have other projects going.  Yes there will be more Retrospectives, but I think I'll do both of them at the same time since one is a spin off of the other.  But not until the time comes.  That said, the artist for Magick Chicks had their mother die (lots of death into today's post) so updates there have been delayed even further.  And yes I'm writing this part AFTER I wrote this article originally.

Broodhollow is set to start it's 3rd book "soon."  Come on Kris, does it really take that long?

I'm not sure if Vampire Cheerleaders has outright ended yet or not.  The last storyline, odd as it was, did end, and it looked like they had some script pages and then, well, nothing for a while now.  I'll keep an eye on it.

The Whiteboard did a homage to a Schlock Mercenary strip and I found it entertaining.

Bloodstain has released all of chapter 1 in handy PDF format, so if you want an easy way to read it, there you go.

Aptitude Test has been stymied by one of the great plagues of webcomics, computer issues.  No idea how long before the comic gets back in action.  Will keep watching for it though.

I'm not sure what's going on with Short Stories.  One of the stories was dropped before it finished, now one of the first ones (a multiparter) is gone.  I THINK they're moving them to print, which means the web versions are being pulled.  Which I already said I thought was a bad idea.  Also it hasn't updated for a while, so I'm kind of annoyed by that.  Seriously considering dropping it right now, but I'll give it a bit longer.

Not really much else to talk about at the moment.  I'm hoping to have another batch of reviews up for next week (reading the 5th comic as I type this).  Until then kiddies.

Touching Base #19

Well, another long article series, followed by another Touching Base.  Honestly I feel I should have more than about 20 of these, but there you have it.  On with the stuff.

Book of Biff updated, kind of, a little bit.  Like 3 times since I dropped it a while ago.  Only reason I noticed is because I never pulled it off my bookmark read list and accidentally clicked it.  Still not going back on the read list.

Twilight Lady kind of updated too, for their Patreon supporters.  Good to hear the comic is at least still in production even if I can't read it.

Wonderella also kind of updated (it's a kind of updated week).  The artist has been busy cranking out stuff for the kickstarter they just had, so there hasn't been much time to do a regular comic.  So there was an update promising future updates.  I'll be waiting.

Sluggy Freelance has been having issues keeping up it's book schedule and has used stickfigure theater and some filler to buy time to finish it for the holidays.  Looks like it might make it after all.  Pete should really work on a buffer.

Weapon Brown's rerun is over.  Looks like Deep Fried, the quasi-political humor comic is back to replace it, for now.

Sorcery 101 is thrown itself into breakneck speed to finish up apparently.  It's running everyday until the comic ends, but I'm not exactly sure why.  I suspect a new project, but I haven't been following it closely enough to tell you.  We'll see.

Gunshow is also looking to wrap up by the end of the year.  I'm sad to see it go, though I wonder if he has a new project as well.

Station V3 seems to be back on track, mostly.  It's not updating strictly every day yet, but it's closer than it was only a few months ago.

Sunstone (NSFW) is still on a lull while the artist is pushing the first book out the door.  I don't give him a lot of flack for lack of updates because he's not just doing Sunstone's book, but also his own print comic, Death Vigil, cover art for He-Man comic books and a guest strip for Skullkickers.  Yes, I noticed.

Story wise, UnCONventional has started another less than funny month long story.  I appreciate that it gets away from the daily gag grind for this and will be reading it closely.

Spinnerette is doing something. . . odd.  I'm not sure what's going on, but it's either just a sidestory/gag thing, or something far more sinister.  Can't wait to find out.

Finally, Out at Home ended not too long ago.  I'll do a much longer Retrospective on it, hopefully next week.  The new comic, Living to Death won't be added to the list just yet, I'll give it some time to grow first.

So until next week kiddies.

Touching Base #18

An actual Touching Base this week.

To start, I'm moving Little Guardians to weekly because, well, it's weekly.  That said, Blue Blaster is NOT, it's at least two days a week, so it's going over to T-Th-S.

Station V3 is updating again!  I guess there was some personal and technical issues that ground the comic to a halt, but it's back and going again.  Might take a bit to get back up to full speed, but it's going.

Sluggy Freelance is back to 5 days a week after going 3 days a week after finishing the last major storyline.  And Pete promptly gets sick just in time for it.

Deep Fried finished the second run of Weapon Brown.  What's it to do next?  I don't know.  The creator is still doing a book tour for it, so I suppose it won't be until he's back from that.

Commander Kitty has a kind of update.  Apparently he got an animation job, which is why the comic has fallen to the wayside.  Seems he feels that this start/stop nature is a disservice to his readers and is considering just doing whole printed books.  I would say instead do what City of Reality did early on, and just post whole chapters at a time.  I think that would be a nice compromise, and less risk than printing books.

Menage a 3, Eerie Cuties and Magick Chicks have all kind of stopped dead as they work to fill out Kickstarter rewards.  Once they're done, all 3 should be back to regular updates.

Twilight Lady is stalled out until they can get some more Pateron money to keep the comic going.  I think this is counter productive as you have to have a comic people want to read before they'll pay you for it.  That said, there are other comics on the site, so I guess that counts, but I'm still bummed the comic is all but dead (they're well below the threshold to restart it).  I'll give it a bit and see if it'll come back.  Though it does look like the act of consolidating his various comics into a single site (Corridor Realms) might help speed that along.  Might have to check out where the other comics went in the meantime.

Out at Home is still going through it's reboot phase.  Still waiting to see what comes out.

Short Stories had a need short story that started a bit ago, but suddenly the whole thing but the cover page is gone (it wasn't over yet either).  Not sure what's up with that at all.

Alex Ze Pirate did some updating (I JUST saw this), but it was back in August and then stopped, again.  I'll probably read through it later (freaking work).

Okay, now an update on My Stuff.  Mainly I meant a follow up post to the last story thing, but work, and the priority will ALWAYS be the webcomic stuff because, well, it's a webcomic blog.  I know, I almost forgot a couple times myself.  Anyway, I'll try to get something up in the next couple of weeks.

Next week, however, I should be able to start my next series of articles.  See you then kiddies.

Nothing-ish

Okay, so for the last week I've been trying to work on some new articles for the site.  The first is a follow up on my heroes and villains articles, the other is a new series in the same vein as The Standard.  However, my work schedule has been awful, mean and cruel this last week, and next week isn't looking much better (worse actually).  So instead of absolute nothing this week, I have a kind of mini-Touching Base to do.

First, I'm sending Book of Biff to the dead folder.  It hasn't done anything in a while, and I suspect it won't.  I think he's focusing on his other comics, but I liked Biff, and losing it makes me sad.  Aw well.

Little Guardians has begun updating pretty regularly, but due to time issues I haven't been able to figure out what that schedule is, so for now I'll be moving it to T-Th-S, which is where I send 2 day a week updaters.  If it needs to go elsewhere, I'll send it there.

Out at Home is preparing to "reboot" or something.  Basically it's ending and is being replaced with something else, something better, something that the artist actually has ideas for.  I applaud him for telling us what's going on, something some artists seem to forget, and I'll follow the new comic, though don't expect a review for it for a few months.  Out at Home, however, will get a Retrospective in the near future.

Assuming I don't die from this stupid work schedule.  I worked 7 days last week, 6 next week, including a bloody overnight stay because the guy who wrote the overall schedule is an asshole (he also quit shortly there after and we're stuck for the next 6 months with this nonsense).  Arrgh.  Anyway, next week will depend on my living status.  Until then kiddies.

Touching Base #17

Ah, Touching Base.  Lots of little things to cover, and lots of odd things, but no comics outright dumped, but there are is one. . .

The Book of Biff stopped updating back in February.  I don't know why, especially as the artist's two other comics (yeah, he has 3 comics) are updating just fine.  Kind of annoyed because I like Biff and it was one of my more reliable comics.  I haven't given up on it yet, but I'm damn close.

Speaking of reliability in comics, Station V3 has NOT been.  Unlike Biff, it is updating, but the update schedule, which used to be daily, is now all wonky.  Its like there are still daily comics, but they get posted one at a time, a week apart.  Not sure if this is an uploader issue or the artist isn't doing anything (his other comics are dead dead in comparison).  There's no feedback on what's going on, so I'm at a loss.

The Fifth Circle has an odd way of updating too, in bulk.  I figured it was daily, given the nature of the comic, even if it was like a year behind (being in Africa makes that understandable), but no, he does a bulk update, like a month or two in one shot.  I might move it to the Monthly list, just so I don't have to spend a good while going back every page, then reading from there forward.  A lot of this is due to the lack of a normal updater and archive system most comics would have.  Still entertaining, but annoying.

Wapsi Square went on haitus earlier and it should be ending, um, June 23.  As in this past Monday.  Yeah, I know, I didn't have the oppertunity to mention it.  There have been a few guest strips in the meantime, but it SHOULD be back by the time you read this.  We'll see.

My issues with The Demon Archives seems to have cleared up, meaning I can read it without opening a whole new browser.  I don't know why it was broken in the first place, but so was Mutts for a while and both came back at the same time.  I'm glad of it because I enjoy both comics.

Sinfest has picked up a new site design.  It looks pretty good.  The comic itself seems to have backed off, a bit, of the Sisterhood stuff (they didn't go away, just not as prominent), but only time will tell on that end.

Magick Chicks had picked up a newish artist.  This one filled in a bit early on and is now taken over full time.  Doesn't really look that different, but with the big showdown here, probably a good thing it's consistent.

So I guess Vampire Cheerleaders has been traveling through time or something.  I'm still not sure what they've been doing, but it's not bad, but not exactly good either.  I liked the comic before the Paranormal Mystery Squad stuff got crossed into it, now not as much.  This is less touching base and more me debating whether to keep read it.

Little Guardians is back to regular(ish) updates.  I guess they did a lot of moving, which is why the comic sort of stopped for a while.  Now they're in the middle of a side/guest strip thing, but I think it'll settle back to normal updates soon enough.

Strong Female Protagonist and Girls with Slingshots both had very successful kickstarters, so that's great for them.  I think they have books in the works, so that's always good.  That said, I don't follow a lot of kickstarter stuff because I'm lazy about it.

Dead Winter is apparently working on a game, I think.  I love the idea and hope to play it soon.

Finally the Non-Adventures of Wonderella is on hiatus while the artist works on, surprise, another book.  I like that he keeps us informed of this stuff (unlike some comics *cough*Biff*cough*Station V3*cough), and look forward to the comic's return.

Beyond that a LOT of comics have started Patreon campaigns.  No I won't list them today, but probably next week.  That said, this past week I've been on vacation, so if I have a nothing, it's because I got lost in Hershey Park.  Or sick on chocolate.  Perhaps both!

Until next week kiddies.

Touching Base #16

Yeah, I know.  After a week of nothing a touching base instead of something serious?  Well, my life schedule has been in disarray for the last few weeks because my work schedule is stupid weird (and early) so we'll go with this.  And hey, things have happened, so that's important.

Not a lot of bad news, actually.  So I'll skip it aside from being too lazy to move Edible Dirt to dead where it belongs.  Instead, I'll focus on just general news and storyline updates.

Heart Shaped Skull, aka Serenity Rose ran into a snag with it's Kickstarter publication project.  Mostly the publication part.  Seems a misunderstanding of the publication terms resulted in the book not being out until at least May.  That sounds reasonable, until he made clear he was hoping it would be out in January.  Considering this is Feburary, you can tell how well that went.

Dr. McNinja started its new storyline, which does NOT involve King Radical for a change.  I suspect many are glad to be rid of him for a bit.  In the meantime, vampire gorillas, and it's a flashback episode, probably resulting in the origins of Judy, McNinja's gorilla assistant.  I love this comic sometimes.

Sandra and Woo have been on a rather long tangent story about a raccoon that isn't Woo and, honestly, I really don't care.  Sometimes a story line just doesn't grab me and this is one of them.  Just have to wait it out I guess.

Skullkickers has been doing a neat thing with the dwarf (whose name I STILL don't think has been mentioned).  He's dead.  And at the bottom of every page of this current chapter you see him, floating, dead, in the water.  It amuses me in a strange way.  That said, I'm sure he'll be back, just the nature of the beast that is Skullkickers.

David Willis, author of Dumbing of Age, Shortpacked and 30 some other comics has added a porn comic to his list of credits.  It's over on Slipshine (which I won't link because it IS porn) if you want to pay to see Walky have sex.  Um, I don't, thanks.

Remember how Errant Story seemed to be having re-editing issues?  Yeah, it's a bit bigger than of an issue than we first thought.  Editing Errant Story was only part of the problem, the other included house renovations and reworking Exploitation Now!  That one threw me, so I'm not sure what to make of it.  From the looks, it's either a new version of the old comic or an outright sequel.  Wow, no wonder they're having issues keeping up, that's a lot on their plate.  For the time being, the re-publishing of Errant Story is on hold while they refocus efforts on the now slowly updating Does Not Play Well With Others, so that will be moving to the Weekly folder at some point I imagine.

Elsie Hooper's promised weekly update schedule is not so far.  It's moving faster than Alex Ze Pirate, there are actual comic pages for Elsie, but weekly?  Not so much.  Still, better than nothing.

Sunstone (NSFW) has it's future well planned.  22 chapters, planned to be printed in a series of books.  And when the whole thing is done, it will be released, FOR FREE, in pdf format for all to have.  Go ahead and read the journal entry.  Still sketchy on how long it'll actually last, but damn is kind of nice gesture on his part.  Still wish he'd get an actual website instead of relying on deviantart, but we can't have it all, I guess.

Zebra Girl has restarted with a flourish and I'm damn impressed so far.  The comic was always one of my favorites and it seems to have gained a new thirst for life recently.  I'm glad it's kicked into high gear again.

Earlier this week, Schlock Mercenary achieved a great milestone:  5000 comic updates, without missing a single one.  It's a hell of an achievement and one of the major reasons I still view it as the best overall comic on the internet today.

Wapsi Square's artist had to stall updating this past week due to his son going into surgery.  Sounds good so far, and I wish them both the best.

Speaking of Wapsi Square, it, On the Edge and Book of Biff have joined Does Not Play Well With Others in starting Patreon campaigns.  I'm not sure if that's a good thing though as Biff has slowed from a daily to a weekly (though he does run a couple other comics too apparently) and Wapsi has been just as sporadic (and remains as confusing as ever).  Still, it's an option for them to grow.

Kawaii Not has had it's website completely revamped.  It looks, um, modern I guess.  It's not bad, not sure what to think of it though.

The only other major story thing is Sluggy Freelance which continues to keep me reading, digging up more past references, tying up loose ends and generally being quite awesome for a comic that at one point was dead in the water.  I'm so glad it found a new breath of life, it reminds me why I read all these comics.

Well, that's enough for now.  Next week, um, something.  Might actually talk about my story, or a brainstorming or something.  We'll see, depends on how overworked I get.  Until then kiddies.

Touching Base #15

Another round of Touching Base, and it's been a while, to which I apologize, but I was in Texas for a lot longer than I intended.

Guess I'll start with the "bad" news.  I say bad because it's not really, no comics died since August, but Shi Long Pang and Zebra Girl did go on an announced hiatus after completing their most recent chapters.  Shi Long Pang's artist is cleaning his pallet with a side project (that's not being put online from what I can tell) while he writes out the story for the final volume of Shi Long Pang.  Zebra Girl, meanwhile, is mostly doing site updates (supposedly, heard that story before) and plans to be back up next year.  WHEN next year is a question.

Makeshift Miracle is updating again, but I'm having issues getting back into it.  Not sure what the problem is, maybe the long delay between chapters or something.  Anyway, it's still in the Monthly file because I'm kind of lazy about it.

I'm not lazy, however, when it comes to Alex Ze Pirate who made a promise to get back to T-Th and I moved it in my bookmarks over to said directory.  And it hasn't updated since September now.  Yeah.  So I'm too lazy to change it's position in the list here, but it's getting damn close to being shifted off to Hiatus.

Speaking of Hiatus, looks like Edible Dirt will probably be reassigned to Dead next month.  It'll be over a year since it last updated mid December, and I won't be waiting for it any more after that.  Sad to see it go, but again, it hasn't updated in a year, so no big loss at this point.

Of course, The Meek is also at it's year marker, but he at least told us why it's not updating, so it gets to stay in Hiatus.

Meanwhile, Twilight Lady's alternate comic, Vine, um, pretty much hasn't done anything after the first few posts.  Oh, it's got a full edition, which you can purchase, but no more updates online, I guess.  Doesn't matter, but it does seem to connect to Twilight Lady somehow, though I am unclear on that.

Sinfest has been having some odd uptime issues of late.  I don't know if it's server issues or what, no news on that front, but I have my suspicions.  Suspicions that someone has been DDoSing the site or something otherwise underhanded.  Lots of negative reaction to Sinfest as of late, and it seems anything written about the comic gets attention.  In fact, my brief article on Sinfest I did a bit ago has gotten more individual hits than any other article on the blog.  I think that's due to the fact that the Bad Webcomic Wiki linked to it.  Hi to those from there, BTW.

Last bit of negative news is the continued truncated schedule for Sluggy Freelance due to injury to Abram's hand.  Hope he gets better soon, but I'm surprised he can keep the comic looking as good as it does despite the injury.  I do wonder if he'll scale back permanently, but no way to know for now.

Okay, enough downer to bad news.  Elsie Hooper announced a new format:  Full pages once a week.  Which is better than the 2 or 3 panels whenever he feels like it.  I joke, but the schedule and format were kind of haphazard before so declaring a more regular design is a good step towards finally ending this comic which has been near the end of it's run for, um, a while now.

Does Not Play Well With Others has started a Patreon campaign.  What is it?  Well, you sign up, offering to pay so much for each page he draws.  If he doesn't draw a comic, he doesn't get paid, if he does, he gets paid.  Simple as that.  It's actually an interesting idea and a way to get him motivated to draw it in between reworking Errant Story for publication.  Speaking of which, apparently they've been struggling with cleaning up some of the flash back pages for Errant Story and are possibly looking for help in doing it for future pages, so contact them if you're interested.

Derelict has finished up it's first book.  Yes, it remains one of my favorite comics, and I am thinking about pitching in to it's kickstarter despite not having money.  Second book is set to start with the new year.

I skipped it because I was in Texas, but back in October was Sandra and Woo's 5th anniversary.  Not many comics continue a steady production like that so I do want to congratulate everyone involved, even if it is a bit late.

Speaking of Sandra and Woo, it and Gunnerkrig Court share something in common:  budding sexuality.  Both of their recent storylines have focused on the sexuality of a couple of their characters, and it's been very tasteful and well done.  And likely won't get either comic any flack for it.  I've talked about sexuality, particularly homosexuality (which is what this related to kids) before, and I may revisit the topic again but less about what comics are doing it, and more about WHY they're doing it, but that's an article for another day.

Which brings me to my last topic, that of Dead Winter's artist, who announced her dealing with trans/gender dysphoria for what sounds like the bulk of her life.  I know little about the subject (outside of Material Girl, which isn't much to be honest), but I do give her my full support and hope that things go well for her in the near future.  And it's not just because she draws a comic I throughly enjoy (that's part of it, of course) but because it's the decent and right thing to do.

Next week, assuming I can power through them in time, I might actually have a batch of reviews, if not, I'll say something.  Until then kiddies.

Touching Base #14

Still getting used to the design?  I know I am, I almost forget I'm looking at my own site.

Anyway, as I said last week, I found more than a few dead comics as I was shuffling through that were, in fact, updating.  That's not to say I didn't KNOW some of these were updating, I did, but a few caught me off guard.  Most of the stuff in this edition of Touching Base is about them, but not all.

Before I get to those comics, I would like to mention that The Devil's Panties has setup a Kickstarter for. . . Devil Girl dolls.  Huh.  Not something I'm interested in, but I'm betting fans of the comic are wetting themselves over it.  Still, at least it's not issues with publishing.

Twilight Lady has been featuring an alternate day comic called Vine for the last month or so.  It's a black and white urban fantasy type thing that I've only been half following.  It's weird, so far, but nothing really stand out to me.  I'll keep tabs on it, but don't expect it in a review in the near future.

Vampire Cheerleaders went off on a brief tangent after the crossover, and then dove right back into the crossover.  Um, this is supposed to be vampire cheerleaders, right?  Not the Paranormal Mystery Squad, right?  We'll see how it all pans out, I guess.

Bug officially changed it's name (and url) to Bug Martini in order to better control the brand and such.  This was a bit ago, but I have updated the links in The New List and in the side bar.

I haven't been following any of the branching strips from Out There, mostly because I have a full plate, but also to give them some strips to gain traction first.  That said, I'm still on the fence as to whether the switch from a daily, 3 or 4 panel strip to a weekly full page/color strip was a good fit for Out There.  I don't know if the comic really gained anything in the transition.  I'll give it a bit longer, then read In Here and Cliche Flambe and see how those two work.  I suspect the move for Out There was specifically to power up the other two, so maybe that's what was gained.

Okay, enough of that, let's talk about the comics that aren't dead any more.

Okay, first up is Marry Me, which I've know has been back in action for a bit now.  I stopped reading because it ceased updating and because the main story was kind of over.  I wasn't strictly in love with the sequel/prequel story, but I was willing to give it a chance, and still am.

Our Time in Eden has been updating MUCH longer than Marry Me, but I just never got back to it.  It went on hiatus for a couple years, and I kind of gave it up for dead, but it did come back, last year.  I knew it was updating, but with so much on my plate, I just didn't want to spend the time reading it again.  Of course, now I do, so it'll be back on the read list.

The biggest surprise is Gone with the Blastwave, which I never expected to update again.  Oh, it's slow (probably end up on the Monthly list), but it's updating.  I love that.

Same with the Perry Bible Fellowship.  I was sure at one point the artist declared it dead, but apparently not.  It updates very slowly, like bi-monthly, but it does update.  Will I follow it?  Um, yeah, for a bit, at least until I can't stand the long wait between updates any more.  Only a couple comics get away with it, and I'm not sure PBF deserves to.

Another surprise return was On The Edge.  It went on hiatus for quite some time, due apparently to a good job offer for the artist (I approve of these kinds of hiatuses, BTW), a house, a marriage and something about cakes (I also approve of cakes).  It's back now, looks to be on a weekly-ish schedule, and I'll be following it almost immediately.

Way back in 2006, I found two comics and a webcomic reviewer on a single site, and enjoyed all three.  The reviewer is Tangents, and the comics are Gun Street Girl and No Stereotypes.  Then that single website kind of fell apart.  Tangents I managed to keep following, but No Stereotypes kind of vanished, and Gun Street Girl moved to another site, and I kind of stopped following it.  Well, doing up the list meant I spent some time checking in on Gun Street Girl, and it added at least few extra stories, but I'm not sure it still updates.  Still, I think I should re-read it, but I can't just leave it with it's old review, but a new review, a "re-review" as it were.  I'll set up a group of comics for a re-review in the future, and Gun Street Girl will be there.  No Stereotypes also reappeared, and the archive has been slowly been recreated, so I might do that as a re-review later, but not until it's caught back up.

The oddest return, though, was Angels 2200.  It was a year and a half between the previous update and the current update, which is already almost 2 months old.  No news posts saying what happened, no comment from the creator at all in fact.  It's almost as if it was an automatic update or something.  Given that lack of information that it will be back, I'm going to have to leave it on the dead list for a while because, well, I have no idea where to put it.  Hiatus maybe, but I'm not so sure it will ever update again, and Non-Read is reserved for comics that are active, but I don't read.  So I'll go ahead and leave it dead, but I'll have to check on it once in a while because who knows, maybe that update in June was a sign of things to come.  Or it the scheduling got messed up and it posted it 18 months too late.  We'll see.

And that's about it for this week.  Until next time kiddies when I have, um, something.

Touching Base #13

Touching base already?  Well, there's a couple major things that I need to cover.

First, Leth Hate has ended.  Back in Feburary.  Why didn't I mention it before?  Well Leth Hate is part of the Lowroad line of comics, so I don't think it's gone for good.  Not like Road Waffles, but more like he'll start a NEW comic at some point in the future.  When?  No idea.  Best way to keep track is to follow Leth Hate for a bit longer.

Twilight Lady has switched artists.  While it's still miles better than the 3d work of the early strips, it's not quite as good as the last artist, at least not yet.  Characters seem on model, which is important, but it feels simpler for some reason.  In time, I think it'll get better, and I like the writing well enough not to complain too much.

Vampire Cheerleaders has gone somewhere I didn't expect.  Initially, I thought the crossover with one of the other comic properties was just that, a crossover.  It's not.  It's a major plot point, and probably a major turning point for the comic.  Not sure where they're going to go after this, but I'm definitely going to keep watching.

Back from hiatus is City of Reality, and I couldn't be happier.  I think dividing his time between it and the Wotch was a bit much, which is why the Wotch is doing smaller, non-cannon strips now.  Speculation on a cross over between the two was actually brought up on Ian's blog, but not likely to happen any time soon.

Station V3 is turning 10 years old next week.  He's got something planned for it, so keep an eye out (it'll probably be silly)

The big news is actually about Out There.  Starting in June, the comic is undergoing a rather sizable change, literally as it'll be comic book sized pages, and full color.  And also will only be posted at best twice a week.  Such a drastic change in format is something I rarely see (I have seen it before, just can't recall which comic it was now), so it'll be interesting to see happen.  Why the change?  Well one of the main characters is gettng married.  Kind of a big deal, but does make me wonder where the comic goes from here.

Oh, but that's not all.  There's to be a new COMIC from the same artist.  It'll also be twice a week, in full color.  What's it about?  No idea.  Will I be reading it?  Hell yeah.

And that's about it.  Later kiddies.

Touching Base #12

You know the good part about a long series of articles?  I can write them well in advance and can spend time doing other things.  The bad part is eventually the run out and I have to start doing weekly things again.  Like this.

First of all, the Newspaper List is now up and functional.  The only strip I'm having issues with is Buckles, whose official site doesn't seem to update, like at all.  At the moment I won't bother looking for it, but it is annoying.  Anyway, the current list will likely be added to over time and gives me a bit of a guide for the Newspaper Reviews in the future.

Alright, let's cover the bad news first.  Lots of comics are being shuffled off to a new version of the hiatus folder because, damn, I can't see myself dumping them in dead just yet.  Blip hasn't updated since August of last year (even if the date stamp says Aug 2011).  Not sure what's going on there, but there were a number of site issues then any updates from the artist stopped.  Bunny is also non-responsive, both of which are quite sad.

Elise Hooper's on again, off again updates continues to bother me.  If it wasn't so damn close to the end, I would have dumped it long ago.  For now, to hiatus with you.

Only three comics are going into the Hiatus folder because they're on Hiatus.  Cleopatra in SPAAACE! is being delayed while the artist works on a graphic novel project.  Money and eating is more important than a webcomic.  This is also the reason The Adventures of Superhero Girl hasn't been update, though there is a hardcover version of the book now available, might actually have to buy that if I can steal some money. . .

And then there's Does Not Play Well With Others.  Michael Poe has had a miserable couple of years.  First his father's death (and apparent complications with the estate), then his wife nearly dies, and now he's had his own encounter with severe medical issues.  The fact that he can't seem to find the spark he needs to keep Does Not going is not that surprising.  Still, he does intend to get back to it, but I can understand why he isn't right away.

On the more positive side, while Does Not is on hiatus, Poe has amped up Errant Story to a daily strip (been that way since the first of the year, actually) so it'll be in the Daily slot for now.  The insights into the construction of the comic have been very informative.

Hari-Sari, after nearly a 9 month hiatus, is back in action.  Not sure why there was a long delay, though I'm fairly sure it was something personal, but it's back.  It's also moving to Smack Jeeves for archiving and such.  Can't wait to see where it goes.  And sense it's updating regularly again, it'll be moving to the T-Th-S folder.

Also returning to updates is Makeshift Miracle.  I'm still more impressed with it's partner comic, Skullkickers (which just finished it's first plot line and is now doing guest strips), but it's still a very dreamy and interesting comic.  I'll be following it for a while.

Speaking of which, Skullkickers, due to work load, is moving to a 3 day a week schedule.  I'm putting it in T-Th-S folder mostly because it's feeling a bit empty.

The Fancy Adventures of Jack Cannon is also back from their holiday break (okay, it was like 3 weeks ago at this point).  With the completion of the original plot line, I'm curious where this comic is going to go now.  There was some hints about dealing with his parent's past, so that might be the main focus, but only hints.  We'll see where it goes.

Cyanide and Happiness's creators have started a Kickstarter to resurrect their animated short series by the same name.  If you've never watched any of them, go take a peak.  Same kind of humor, so don't expect any miracles.  I wish them luck.

Speaking of Kickstarters, Dresden Codak's first book, The Tomorrow Girl, is also getting a Kickstarter to get it going.  I'm not sure I understand the point, a lot of comics get print editions and don't need a Kickstarter for them.  Originally, I thought it was just a printing, and was kind of excited, now I'm just confused.  Which is a lot like Dresden Codak in the first place.

Weapon Brown has shifted to a daily replay of the entire series, so if you love the comic (like I do) now is the time to be reading it to experience it all over again.  At the same time, the books and preorders for it are all over the place, so keep tabs on it.  In the meantime, it'll be shifted over to the Daily folder.  Oh, and on Friday, a NOT Weapon Brown comic appears on the Deep Fried site.  Dark humor abounds.

Sorcery 101's main site has undergone a rather massive revamp (middle of THIS week).  Given that there has always been a variety of shorter comics, along with Sorcery 101 itself, on the site, this does make it a bit easier to navigate them, but it makes it harder to get to main comic, with no less than 3 clicks from the main site to get there.  As such, I'll be changing the link to directly connect with the main strip.

Finally, Templar, Arizona is now in color.  Yeah, it took me by surprise too.  No exact reason given, but the colors look good, so it makes this odd comic worth reading that much more.  But it doesn't update as much as it used to, so I'm shipping it off to the Weekly folder.

And that's about it kiddies.  Next week, um, something.  I'll figure it out.  Until then.

Touching Base #11

Time for another edition of Touching Base, wherein I bemoan comics that are dead, resort the ones that aren't, and maybe actually say something about the content of the comics themselves.  Maybe.

So let's start with the dead summary.  Angels 2200 hasn't updated since December 2011, and while this would normally not be long enough for me to declare it dead, there has been absolutely NOTHING from the creator since then.  As such, I think it's time I let it go.  Same story with Nobody Scores!, which annoys me to no end.  I love this comic, and I'm really, REALLY disappointed that nothing has come of it in the last 9 months.

I'm finally sending Return to Eden to the Completed category.  I left it hoping to see when the new comic from the same artist was going to start up, but, um, it hasn't come yet.  I wish I could watch and wait more, but checking a finished comic on the off chance of another update.  Ah well, I hope I'll happen across the new comic when it starts.

Finally, Road Waffles and Starslip are heading for the completed pile, ending their long stay on the main list.  I'm still not convinced Road Waffles is done, but for the time being, I'm going to let it go.  Speaking of Starslip, however, the complete book edition of the comic has been released, so if you liked the comic enough, now you can own it on paper.

Emergency Exit is going into the Hiatus folder.  It might, MIGHT come back at some point, but with the artist's recovery aimed for 2013, and the current plan is a new comic, I think it's just about dead.

Actually, quite a few comics are going into the Hiatus folder.  Finder's Keepers stalled out back in May, and while I think it'll update in the future, I need to make room on the Weekly list.  Roza was updating up through April, then stopped.  Considering it is basically repeating the last story, I think dropping it into Hiatus is only fair.

U.F.O., joined Roza and stopped updating back in April.  Though I think some of it was due to some kind of computer error.  Special Level hasn't updated since August, however, so not every comic halted early in the year.  Either way, both are going in Hiatus.  Honestly, I don't think the artist of Special Level had the kind of passion for it as they had for Totally KotoR.  Sad, but not unexpected.

With the dead, gone and nearly gone out of the way, let's get on to actual comic updates.

Cleopatra in Spaaace! has started updating again.  Looks like this chapter will have a bit of a space cowboy motif, which makes the comic even more outlandish and fun.  If you can find it from its main page, look in the right sidebar, it's there on the top.

Elsie Hooper's long delays between updates continues.  Felt like about a month, or two, since the last update, but it did update early this month.  When will it update again?  Not sure, but with two updates, it looks like we might be finding out what happened to everyone in town.  Wonder how that film thing worked out. . .

Kiwis by Beat, home of Minus, finished up his most recent work, Vampire Story, and promises at least one new comic, and likely more updates to Modern Fried Snake, in October.  I love this artist and hope the updates continue.

Looks like The Meek will likely be updating again before the end of the year.  Maybe even by October!  I'm really excited by this and glad it's coming back soon.

Justin Pierce, over at The Non-Adventures of Wonderella, has developed a seriously nasty hand injury, and has been ordered not to do any comic work for quite some time.  Luckily, it looks like some guest artists have taken up the call, and the comic will keep going while he heals up.  I wish him luck.

I almost put Haru-Sari into the hiatus group, and am still considering it (U.F.O. hasn't updated as long as this comic), but I am holding out hope it comes back.  The last strip was kind of a down note, so I want to see how this finishes at some point, and I think it will happen, not that anything has been said about it.

Makeshift Miracle has been quiet for a bit.  I THINK they're working up another chapter, much as Skullkickers did, but it's taking a bit longer.  That said, I think the art and story for MM is requiring a bit more work to get going, where Skullkickers is mostly about violence and humor.  Priorities, I think, are part of the issue here, so I hope it starts updating soon.

Blip is still being plagued with software glitches and injuries.  I wish I knew more about what is going on with the comic, but there's not much to work with at the moment.  If I learn anything, or it updates, I'll try to let you guys know.

So Damn Bright suffered a, and I quote, “catastrophic failure," which turned out to be, again I quote, "a tad more catastrophic than I thought."  Yeah, that's a nasty issue, and the comic has been rendered dead for the time being.  It'll stay on the weekly list because, well, it's not HIS fault, and I suspect he is drawing still.  I hope so anyway, we'll see.

Bunny hasn't updated in a while either.  I don't know what's going on with that comic.  I almost put it into hiatus, but it updated back in June, so it's far, FAR too early to call it.  I don't know though, I don't know.  I blame Issac.

And wow is this getting long, so let's finish this up with comics moving on the list.

Haru-Sari, Bunny, City of Reality, currently on hiatus after a completed chapter, Aptitude Test, which misses it's Monday update more often than not but is finally getting to the meat of the conflict, Edible Dirt, Kawaii Not, neither of which has updated regularly in quite a while, and Winters in Lavelle, which I have nothing to say about, are all being moved to the Weekly category because, well, that's about as often as I should be checking them anyway.

I won't be including last weeks reviews on the read list on the sidebar, not because I'm ashamed I read them, but mostly because I don't know WHERE to put them, and the Weekly list is plenty long enough.  I think they'll end up split between T-Th and M-W-F lists, but I'm unsure.  Once I figure it out, I'll update it.

And that's it.  Wow, that turned out to be rather long.  It'll be longer as after I'm done writing this, I actually have to move the bookmarks, sort the sidebar, and update The List to not only reflect these changes, but to add last weeks new comics.  Next week I hope to have an article about something happening closer to home, so until then kiddies.

Touching Base #10

Well, time for another edition of Touching Base, which means I don't have any ideas for an article and haven't done any reviews.  Joy.

Alright, let's start with the bad stuff first.  Road Waffles hasn't updated in a while, which is kind of a pattern for Eight.  I'll give it a few more months before I start shuffling it off to the hiatus folder.  Nobody Scores! has the same issue, months without an update.  Kind of annoying as I enjoy both comics and want them to keep going.

Elsie Hooper has also been dead, and it's going in the dead bin.  No point wasting time with it any more.  Bunny has also not updated in a while, along with story comic White Noise, Angels 2200 and Contemplating Reiko.  No idea what's going on with any of these comics.  I fear the worst, especially for Angels 2200 which was originally put on hiatus due to personal problems.

The worst news however is Emergency Exit which is on a long term hold.  The artist has finally been given a diagnosis on what the problem is, and with will hopefully get better.  That said, NJ has decided to focus on ANOTHER project rather than EE for the time being.  Reading the explanation I have to agree that the direction of the comic needed some reworking, and a break might be for the best.  Not sure if the comic is coming back though, or if it does, when.  Could be a LONG while.

The Meek is still on hiatus, but that's not bad as the artist is getting PAID to do other work.  I'm fine with that.  Footloose is also on hiatus until summer, can't wait for that to restart.  Return to Eden creator Miru is having to hold off on the next project due to graduation issues.  Once it gets started, I'll let you know.

Blip has been updating sporadically, but it HAS updated.  Now if only they can fix that date timer.  And last but not least, City of Reality and the Wotch are both on a brief break, probably to build up buffers.  Can't wait to see both get going again.

So is there any good news?  Well yes, Punch n' Pie is back and updating again.  It's twice a week now with a "pin up" on Fridays.  Glad to see it back.  Weapon Brown's brief break was indeed brief an the Blockhead is back in action.  Gypsy! has also reappeared.  Whatever the issue was, it's been resolved and the comic is back to it's quirky nature.

And that's about it this week.  Not sure what I'm doing next week, as I'll be working again, it's seasonal and part time so it won't eat that much time.  Anyway, until next time kiddies.

Touching Base #9

Time to touch base with a lot of comics and figure out what's coming.

First of all, a lot of updates are coming to my read list.  Sea of Insanity is, once again, being dropped and sent to the dead pile.  It's been over a year since the last update, and I have a feeling the artist really wasn't into it with it's return anyway.  Sorry to see it go, again, but it's time to move on.

I'm also dropping, much to my regret, Count Your Sheep from the read list.  I am really, REALLY sad about this, but the comic's updates have been few and far between, and if it were a more complicated comic, like Sea of Insanity, I could let it go, but it's a 3 panel, daily joke comic strip.  A 3 month delay between strips is unacceptable.  I still recommend the archives, but I won't be reading this as part of my run any more.

Exiern is going to be moved from weekly to T-Th.  Not sure why I kept it in weekly for so long.

Gypsy! has vanished, not sure what's up with that.  Hope it comes back.

Hark a Vagrant! artist Kate Beaton is considering doing what no webcomic artist has done before:  retire from it.  Oh, a lot of people have QUIT their webcomics, but none have retired.  That's, um, something I didn't expect to see.  Will it happen?  Probably.  She's making much more money off of print nowadays, and keeping her website going is actually an obstacle to making more.  If she does I wish her the best.  Until she does, I'll be checking the website.

Blip has slowed down updating due to injury.  The same injury, I think, that sunk Metrophor and has sidelined Emergency Exit.  Still, recovery is going slow, so hopefully Blip and Emergency Exit will start updating again on a regular basis.

Magic Girls (which I haven't reviewed yet) has changed artists as the original artist A) is already doing 2 other comics (Menage a 2 and Eerie Cuties) and B) got a job offer that couldn't be refused.  I'm actually not surprised at the change, and kind of glad of it.  It's already a spin off of Eerie Cuties, and crosses over with it still, but can lead to several confusing moments.  The change will probably be for the best in the long run as it'll give more time for the other two comics, and hey, paid work is good.

Errant Story's final chapter is slated to start.  I figure it'll still be a couple months before it's done, and I'll enjoy the ending while it comes.  The last few months of the comic have been very rough on the artist as his wife has had major medical problems and is only just now recovering.  The fact that he's managed to keep the comic going is a feat in and of itself.  The spin off, Errant Tales, is currently on hold while this recovery goes on, but Does Not Play Well With Others is still updating, and I will be following it.  It's funny.

This is more a selfish part, as I've been having problems with a few comics.  Devil's Panties, Templar, Arizona, Bug and Waspi Square don't like loading for me.  Not sure if it's my browser (Opera is funny sometimes) or something on the site itself.  Anyone else having problems?

Well, that's it for this week.  Not sure what's next week, but we'll see.  Until next time kiddies.

Touching Base #8.5

Another Touching Base?  And so soon?  And with a half point?  Well, um, there is one big old reason for it, one of my aunts died.  Not a super close one (just the way the family is) but the funeral is likely some time this week and I don't know if I'll have time to write something else.  I WANT to write something else, just haven't had the time.

At the same time, there are some updates to make that I didn't cover last time, so I'll do it here now.  This one is rather short.

I'll start with Punch an' Pie paused sometime last month due to technical issues, and the next month isn't looking too good either with the writer being buried in work and the artist on vacation (a month long vacation, lucky shit).  Updates have been very sporadic, but I doubt the comic is coming to a complete halt, at least so far.  When October comes, we'll see.

Return to Eden, a comic with a big warning at the beginning which goes pretty much nowhere after the first chapter, is finally starting to wind down.  The last page of the story proper went up this week and all that's left is the epilogue.  I will, of course, do my thing with comics that end with Return to Eden when it does end, which will probably be about the end of the year.

Though I will have to do that thing (I should come up with a name for it) for Shadowgirls, which officially declared itself dead this week.  This actually took me by surprise as I thought they were planning to charge for it or go for paper publication, not, well, dropping it entirely.  The problem comes strictly on the real life side of the equation, as in one of the artists is unemployed and needs time to finally get his house in order.  I get it, and maybe, just maybe, they'll find time to restart it, but if not, well, what a damn shame.

Anyway, that was it.  Hopefully I'll soon get the call on when the funeral is and we'll wrap that up.  Next week is the two year anniversary of this blog.  Will there be a new batch of comic reviews?  Um, no, but I'll do something, at least.