Dumbstruck: “All In The Eyes”
Another week, another blast-from-the-past comic about Myles, this one from November 9, 2009. Seeing a pattern emerge? Enjoy!
(As always, click the image above to get a full-size version.)
Dumbstruck: “Myles’ Not-So-Inner Monologue”
One of my New Years resolutions has been to finally get to work on finishing my comics and publishing them as a book, so here I go! I spent an hour trying to figure out the best way to do this before I finally decided that the easiest way would be to just start at the beginning. Not the very beginning, cuz that’s a while ago. Just the beginning of the notebook I have with my notes on potential strips. My last notebook. Yes, I’ve got a bunch.
The very first undrawn entry in the book was this one from 2009. I was very busy at the time between theatre, an internship, and working at this new UPS Store; so busy that I opted to just not introduce Myles, despite having a lot of material from him and his way with the lady customers. So here you go: an apt introduction to Myles.
Getting Your New Year In Order
The end of the year has arrived, disturbingly faster than I had planned for, but it’s here nonetheless. This is the time of year when everybody is into lists—the top five whatevers of 2011, your 10 best events of the year, eight things that will be awesome in 2012—and let’s not even get started about resolutions.
So it’s in this spirit that I share with you a little app that has been a lifesaver for me since becoming a freelancer and having to juggle a jumble of clients, projects, and business housekeeping tasks all at once. It’s called ToDoist.
I started innocently enough with a To Do list. In the early days, when I was still transitioning from a day job to my current lifestyle, I would keep a list of tasks and goals on a dry erase board. It was tangible, easy to update, and always just out of sight enough to forget about. Great as long as I never left my work space.
When I started visiting client offices more and more, I needed something portable. Enter the Field Notes notebook: 48 pages of grided paper small enough to fit into my pocket. I could assign each day it’s own page, make a list, add to it as the day went on, and always check back on previous days for what didn’t get done. Again, tangible and easy, and now portable too! Perfect for misplacing or forgetting at home. Plus, when you flip a few pages, those ongoing tasks from several days ago are out of sight and out of mind. Blissful ignorance!
A Conclusion of Sorts
It’s been a long, long time since I had the free time to draw comics, despite my desire to do so. However, I think I’ve managed to clear my schedule enough to begin work on my compilation book(s) early next year. I have long said that since Dumbstruck began with the first major incursion into Iraq, thus beginning the Iraq War, that it would end with the war as well. And while I have not been actively drawing any of strips ever since our big troop pull out last year, I thought it fitting to put together an ending comic for the official end of the war. It’s been a long time coming. I had fun doing this retrospective, and it’s rekindled by desire to put all these strips together into a proper home.
The text might be a little small, so click the image below for the full-size comic.
Movember Men
For those not in the know, Movember is a movement in which men use the month of November to grow mustaches to raise money and awareness of men’s health issues, such as prostate and testicular cancer and depression. Having run a 10K for breast cancer awareness and research this summer, I figure it was only appropriate to jump on the bandwagon of men’s health to balance myself out. I, along with fellow curator of ‘stache Andy Marikis, am part of The TGM Disciples, led by our fearless leader Todd Kollus. While the other boys are rocking the handlebar this fall, I myself am sporting the D’Artagnan
While this may not require the training and effort of the Susan G. Koman 10K, the effort is still for a great cause. And to show that we are in good company, I took a few hours this week to sketch out some mustachioed role models joining us in spirit on our quest for healthier men folks everywhere. In case my scribbles are incomprehensible, do your best to identify: mathematical genius Albert Einstein, the immortal Coach Ditka, all four of The Beatles, crazy film critic Gene Shalit, strong man Hulk Hogan, Gahndi, a grumpy Mark Twain, mustache-in-chief Tom Selleck, creepster John Waters, Salvador Dali, grandfather-of-all-staches Sam Elliot, and someone who was supposed to be Burt Reynolds but who stopped off for a drink somewhere between my brain and the paper and was instead replaced by a total stranger.
If you’ve enjoy this little workaday diversion, might I suggest you donate to our team. All of your money goes to a great cause!
