Stickler 8

This has to be one of my most ridiculous strips yet. This started with me wanting to have Stickler Roman riding two people. I just thought the idea was funny. Apparently I also think incompetent dictators are funny.

By the way, if you're keeping track this is the first time you see someone's eyes in the comic. I tried drawing the 7th frame with just eyebrows but it just ended up looking like he was sleeping, not in agonizing pain. My official stance is that everyone in my comic has eyes, they're just really tiny, so you only see them in extreme close ups.

Stickler 7

For this one I think I ran out of frames. I mean, it was just starting to get good when I realized there was only two frames left. The snail bit is just silly, but I felt like that steamroller had to crush something. I couldn't leave people hanging.

Also, I said in my comment for #2 that I "followed through" with the disgruntled characters from earlier strips here in #7, but I suppose this one still leaves it open. Their revenge has yet to be quenched.

Stickler 6

The first Stickler in COLOR. This one definitely took me the longest to produce, but I think it paid off. Check out that opening frame! This is also the first Stickler created purely for pleasure. It was never meant to run in my school's newspaper. I suppose that's why I chose to get a little more detailed-- that ship wouldn't look so great all scrunched up and in grayscale.

Also, what's up with the commentary ending up in the same frame as my last commentary? Pure coincidence, no lie. Speaking of which, when I said, "focus on looking forward toward change," I meant trying to, I suppose, reinvent how music files are handled. Suing people who share files, or file-sharing tycoons, isn't solving any fundamental problems.

Stickler 5B

For those die-hard Stickler fans out there, you may have noticed that both #5's have a slightly smaller text size. I usually use Courier New, Bold, 18, but for these I went down to 16. This is a slip up. I use the Mac version of Microsoft's "Paint" to do these (called Paintbrush), and the default font size is 16. I just forgot to change it.

Also, this strip is about ALIENS! I like science fiction a lot, so there will probably be more Stickler strips exploring that genre. Don't bother trying to decipher that "alien" language. I just typed in random letters. Although, it would've been cool to include a secret message. I think this means I have to bring the alien back at some point.

Stickler 5A

Why 5A, you ask? Well because this is the infamous BANNED strip! That's right folks, this comic was forbidden to run in my school's newspaper. Too hot to handle. Here was the rationale:

"...We need to stay pretty neutral politically. The only place to be ideological is the editorial section, and unfortunately your comic is too big to fit there and it would leave a big hole on the back page."

Yes, you read correctly-- it was because of my political stance. The last frame testicle joke was nothing more than an afterthought. Originally, this was supposed to be the last comic of the semester for the newspaper, so I wanted to go out on... well, that last frame. It would've been classy, for sure.

In any case, I would like to add that I stress the "small group," part of the commentary. I really don't think the majority of people are out to do harm, but there are a lot of media personnel that don't use their positions responsibly. And I'm not just talking about Fox. I'm not sure whether it's the 24 hr. news cycle or just the fact that news is a business, but something has tainted the way the news is presented. I suggest listening to NPR and reading BBC News.

Stickler 4

Unfortunately for the online viewer, this strip puts you at a disadvantage. The main purpose here was to poke fun at the other strip that ran in my school's newspaper. The comic, "In Cars With Others," never really branched out from its title. Seriously, it was just 3 boring people with boring dialogue sitting in a car. LAME. Though in the artist's defense, it was well drawn-- hence my argument that my exciting and funny writing makes up for my crude drawings.

Anyway, without a reference point most readers will just have to enjoy the three frames of Stickler finally kicking some butt. Oh, and I want to note that 1) The people in "In Cars With Others," really don't wear seatbelts-- what kind of message are you sending? and 2) Recycling is important. Maybe not spine-breaking important, but still.

Stickler 3

So, for the first and second strip, I actually drew them by hand and scanned them into the computer. I think it was by this strip that I realized since I had to enter text anyway, it would just be easier to do it all on the computer. I guess I wasn't smart enough yet to use the straight line tool though.

It turned out to be my best-written and, simultaneously, worst-drawn strip to date. Best-written because it got the best reception from readers out of the first three, and worst-drawn because, well, look at that exit cloud. I actually don't know if those have a technical name within the comic world, but I'm calling it an exit cloud. Anyway, after this the writing and drawing both started to fill out, so I see it as a sort of turning point for the comic.

Stickler 2

Most people either didn't get or didn't like this strip when it was originally printed. I must say it's nothing special, but I did like the dramatic irony. Also, the last frame was meant to be a set up for a later strip, which I finally followed through on in strip #7.

Stickler 1

Stickler! One of the main reasons I decided to start this blog was to post my Stickler comic online. It started out of boredom one day in class and grew to be one of my passions. Our school newspaper put out a call for comics, and I had just drawn this little number, so I figured, "why not?" Few people draw comics at Juniata, even fewer draw for the newspaper, and even fewer read them. So, needless to say this wasn't some great accomplishment. But it did force me to produce every couple of weeks, and by the end of the semester I couldn't stop drawing.

The basic premise is a guy that is both a stick figure and a "stickler" towards the insignificant stuff in life. This first one is pretty blatant in conveying that to the reader. By the way I have no delusions about this being a good comic, but it does make me chuckle.

pic

So, the photo of "me" to your right is actually not me. I doubt the person that picture belongs to will ever read this blog, but on the slim chance that they do, and the even slimmer chance they notice that pic as their own, I'd like to point out that I got it from Marion's facebook. No last names, but I only know one Marion with an "o" so it should be easy to figure out who I mean.

In any case, it's a kick-ass photo.

prelude

It is 11:58pm on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009.
I am currently in Huntingdon, PA, 1522 Washington St., upstairs in my bedroom.
I am listening to "Go Slowly," by Radiohead.
I have a band-aid on my thumb.
I am in my boxers.

And this is the start of my blog.