The 2004 Squiddy Awards are upon us, and You'll Have That has made the list of pseudo-nominees. While you can vote for anyone you want to in the various voting categories, the fact that YHT is mentioned means that someone has already voted for it!
If you'd like to vote for You'll Have That to win a Squiddy award for best webcomic of 2004, just follow this link. The ballot instructions are at the top of the page, and the ballot is at the bottom. You'll need to copy the ballot and paste it into the body of your e-mail. Then vote in each category! Thanks!!!
*If you have any questions about voting, just visit this forum thread . . .*
For a behind the scenes look at Kevin Rose's upcoming webshows, The Systm and The Broken, follow this link.
Birthday . . .
Yesterday was my wife's birthday, so we ran around town shopping and the like. We got up at around 9:30, and I gave her a couple presents. I bought her a Lifehouse CD that she wanted and a day spa package. Then we went to breakfast at Bob Evans.
After breakfast we went to a couple furniture stores and looked at bedroom furniture. My wife really wants to purchase a bedroom suit, but the only way we're gonna be able to do it is if we finance it. We could easily afford the payments, but I'm really wary of financing anything.
We went to JC Penney's and Trish bought some curtains. Then we went home and I took a nap while she tapped around on her computer and watched Oprah.
For dinner we went to the Emmitt House, which is about a thirty minute drive from where we live. It's a really nice place with great steaks, and we ate there once when we first started dating. The meal was good, but not as good as I remembered it. Sad, really. I got the ribeye, and I should've got the New York Strip. I'll know better next time.
After dinner, we visited my grandma for a few minutes and then came home. Tricia took a shower and began fielding an influx of calls from all across the eastern half of the United States. Her grandparents, her mother, her father, and both of her brothers called to wish her a Happy Birthday. Then she went to bed.
I stayed up too late last night, and now I'm really tired. I have to go to work today, and I don't want to go. But, you'll have that . . .
*Update* - The message boards are working again. Stop by and say hello!
I finally decided to set up an account at Comic Foundry, so head over there and check out my portfolio. Make sure to vote for me and give me high ratings. Low ratings will be accepted, of course, but I won't like them as well as high ratings.
Here's some cool things that you need to check out or you'll die:
- Serenity Movie Trailer - If you liked the show Firefly, prepare to rock when this movie comes out.
- Howl's Moving Castle Movie Trailer - You've already heard me rave about Hiyao Miyazaki on this blog. Well, this is his next movie due to release in the United States in June. People, it looks beautiful. (This is a large trailer, so it may take a few minutes to download.)
If you haven't noticed, the message boards aren't working. I don't know what's wrong with them. I popped the hood, but nothing seemed out of place. I think it might be the rotator flap valve, but I can't be sure . . .
When the message boards are up, please stop by and impress us with your social skills. :)
P.S. My wife, Tricia, turns 23 tomorrow. If the message boards come back up, make sure to stop by and tell her "Happy Birthday"!!!
- If you're a fan of old school TechTV, you'll love that Leo Laporte is airing a weekly podcast called Return of the Screen Savers. The podcast will showcase a revolving cast of ex-TechTV personalities including Kevin Rose, Patrick Norton, Robert Heron, et al.
- Maurice Clarett is a Denver Bronco. I'm a Buckeye and I'm also a Bronco fan. I don't know whether to be devastated by this turn of events, or hopeful for the future. Only time will tell. . .
- The 24-Hour Comic Day was this past weekend. If you're a geek for this kind of stuff, check out David Hopkins audioblog entries. They're totally fun updates that made me jealous that my comic shop doesn't do this. But don't fear, my fellow Southern Ohioans. I plan on coaxing my local comic shop into participating in this event.
That's all today, my friends. Drop a note in the forums . . . if you're man enough.
I live in a pretty small town, and last night the community was shaken up by the killing of one our police officers, Larry Cox. Larry was off-duty and was walking home from his parents' house when he saw a robber ditch his stolen car in the middle of the street. Cox began chasing the criminal, but the criminal pulled a gun and shot Cox in the neck, subsequently killing him.
Larry was a good guy. I can't say I knew him really well, but I knew who he was. He went to school with my mom and dad, and I guess he and my dad used to run around a bit. My mom said that whenever she saw Larry he'd always ask how my sister and I were doing.
The first time I met Larry Cox was when I was sixteen years old. I was running late for work, and I tried to beat a yellow light. But right before I got to the intersection the light turned red. I had no time to slow down, so I sped through the light. Little did I know that Larry Cox was right behind me driving his police cruiser. His siren began screaming, his lights were flashing, and he pulled me over. When he approached my window I realized that he was a good cop. He scared the crap out of me. He asked for my license, registration, and proof of insurance, and I scrambled around the cab of my truck trying to find the necessary information. I had my license and my registration, but couldn't find my insurance papers! I was scared to death! As I frantically tore through my glovebox, Officer Cox stopped me and asked if my parents were Bill and Bobbie Molebash. "Yes," I said in a shaky voice.
"Put your stuff away, Wes. Put your stuff away," he said impatiently. He gave my information back to me, and I wiped sweat from my brow. "I'm gonna let you go with a warning, but I want you to go home tonight and tell your mom and dad that Larry Cox says 'Hi'."
"Yes, sir," I muttered.
"Be careful," he stated, and with that he turned back to his vehicle and allowed me to drive off.
We hear about murders, cop killings, and terrorist activities on a daily basis. And we're all guilty of being desensitized to it. But when it hits this close to home it really shakes you up, you know? I'm sure that I'll go right back to being desensitized. It's only a matter of time. But what about Larry Cox's family? What about his kids? What about all the children he affected and befriended as a D.A.R.E. officer? I can't imagine my dad dying, much less being stripped from my life by a murderer.
Whenever tragedy happens like this I hear people saying that "God is in control" and that "it must have been his/her time". Well, as a Christian, I say that's bull crap. It wasn't Larry Cox's time. He was in his forties, he had a growing impact on our community, and he was a father and husband. Larry Cox didn't die of disease or old age. His life was stolen from him by another man, and for what? A stolen Ford Tempo and a fistfull of cash. Don't get me wrong. I'm not angry at God for what happened, but it does prove how depraved our society and our culture is.
I promise to be my regular funny self on Monday, but today I had to get this off my chest.
Peace out my bruthas, and drop a note in the forum if you get a chance.
Check it out, peeps!! You can now download the awesomely cool You'll Have That Screensaver by clicking on the button to the right. Go ahead. Download it. No one has to know . . .
The inspiration for today's comic comes from all my friends and relatives who wonder when they're going to be in the comic. I haven't really noticed this happening too much with You'll Have That, but when I wrote a comic for the local newspaper back when I was in high school all my friends would bug me about making an appearance in the strip. Please realize that I'm not complaining about people asking to be in the strip; this is merely an observation. It doesn't bother me in the least when people ask to make a cameo, and, to be honest, it's quite flattering. So please keep asking. I need the material. :)
Once again, another long weekend comes to a close. I have to go back to work tonight, which means enjoying the final hours of my weekend will be difficult. It's kind of like when you're a kid and you're all excited about the weekend, but when Sunday comes it doesn't really feel like a day off because in the back of your mind you know you have to go to school the next day. That's how I feel right now. *sigh* Oh well.
I had a very good weekend, though. I rocked out my first comic book signing and had a frickin' blast! Met a lot of cool people, and spread some Viper love. My mother-in-law was in town and we got to do a little bit of shopping. I got a shirt. Plus, we had a cookout and we made bacon cheeseburgers which were high in cholesterol and fattening. In other words, they were delectable.
I got a nice chunk of May's comics done, and I plan to kick out another chunk today before work. That's always a good feeling when I can get a large amount of work done in a day or two.
Well, that's all I have to say for today. Stop by the forums and give us a piece of your mind. We'd love to hear from you!!!
As promised, I've got a ton of pictures and full details concerning my comic signing.
First, the highlights:
- I arrived at ACME Comics at around 1:00 to catch the videogame tournament. The game being played was Marvel vs. Capcom. The console being rocked was the PS2. I suck at fighting games and I don't own a PS2, so double whammy for me. So, when it was my turn to play in the tournament, I adopted the ancient Japanese martial art of "button mashing". My foe was also a skilled "button masher", and our fight was long and tumultuous. Alas, with only Ryu left in my party, I was defeated by Dr. Doom. It was a good fight, and I feel that I still have my honor and my dignity.
- We set up the table at around 1:30 and I sat down at 1:45. We had three small stacks of Dead@17 Rough Cut: Vol. 2 laid out, as well as a stack of You'll Have That flyers. Mike (the owner of ACME) brought in his computer and we had the You'll Have That screensaver playing off to the side.
- The sketches I drew were mainly my YHT characters. Most of the time I drew the individual characters (Andy, Katie, and Steve), but toward the end of the day, as the crowd thinned, I got some requests that flexed my sketching abilities a little bit. I'll post pics of these sketches over in the forums.
- There was a dude who waited for three hours to talk to me about illustrating a book that he had written for his grandchildren. It was a cute story, and he already knew what he wanted me to draw. I thanked him for asking me, but told him I didn't really have time to draw all the illustrations he needed. He was pretty disappointed. I've always hated telling people "No", but it's a necessary evil from time to time.
- There was an elderly couple that came through who wanted to get a book and a sketch for their grandson, Ryan. Ryan is twelve-and-a-half and he loves to draw cars. Ryan's grandma gave me a full rundown of all of Ryan's artistic accomplishments while I drew Ryan's sketch. Her husband, whose name I can't remember, was having a conversation with Mike in the corner about mowing. They were a great pair, and I appreciated their enthusiasm.
- Overall, I spent around five hours talking, signing, and drawing sketches without a break. When I finally stood up to pack my bag at around 6:45, Mike, his wife, Shelly, and the few people still in the store all started clapping. I felt like a total rockstar.
When it was all done, I met a lot of cool people, had my ego stroked beyond recognition, scored some free comics books, and scored some free videogame demos. It was a great day, peeps. A great day.
Now, head over to the forums to check out all the great pics we took! Thanks to my sister, Lara, and Mike for helping me out with pictures!
Tomorrow is a big day for me. My first ever comic book signing. I'm really excited, and I'm hoping for a nice turnout. We'll see what happens. Be sure to check back here on Monday to see a full signing report. I'll have pictures and I'll be sure to toss out all the details. If you can't make it to the comic shop for all the fun, we'll show you what you missed!
There was an article about me and the upcoming comic book signing that printed in my local newspaper yesterday. If you'd like to read the article from my local paper's website, just click here.
Okay, that's all for today. I've gotta run a few errands for the signing tomorrow, plus my mother-in-law is coming to town so I gotta clean out my office/studio/play area. Whenever we have company we turn this room into a sleeping area. So there you go . . .
My friends at Digital Strips have put together a pretty cool contest for anyone interested in creating a web comic featuring Zampzon and Daku, the hosts of the Digital Strips Webshow. If you win you can score a nice package of webcomic books. For more details, click here.
Newspaper
I went to ACME Comics today to do an interview for my local newspaper. They're doing an article on the comic shop, the grand re-opening, and the signing this Saturday. While I was waiting on the reporter to arrive, I was approached by a kid who asked if I was Wes Molebash. I said, "Yeah," and he started asking me how to break into the comics business. I talked to him for fifteen minutes about what little I know about the comic book industry. He asked if he could bring in his half-finished comic submission on Saturday for me to look at, and I totally encouraged him to do so. Needless to say, I felt like a total freaking rock star for about fifteen and half minutes.
I'm totally psyched for Saturday now. I'll post a link to my article at my local newspaper's website as soon as it posts. That was a mouthful.
That's all the news for now, peeps. Drop a note in the forums and say, "HEEEEEEeeeeey!!!"
I've never considered myself a very big Star Wars fan, but there are a few things within the Star Wars universe that I'm a huge fan of. The first being the Knights of the Old Republic series of videogames. They're hands down the best games I've ever played. The second is the Clone Wars animated shorts that aired on Cartoon Network. They're on DVD now, and I picked up my copy this weekend. People, this DVD is frickin' awesome! And, for the record, Mace Windu is my new favorite Jedi. Watch the DVD and you'll see why . . .
Jack Johnson
If any of you out there are Jack Johnson fans, his new disc is outstanding. I picked it up this weekend, as well. The thing I like about Jack is that he doesn't change his sound. He's got a vibe, man, and it works really well. And if you recommend a CD of his to a friend, you may as well recommend all of them because they all have that vibe. Plus, the way his guitar sounds on his recordings is great . . . I wish I could get my guitar to sound like that when I record . . .
Fever Pitch
My wife and I went to see this movie over the weekend, and I gotta say it was pretty awesome. I mean, it's no Schindler's List, but it was way better than I had anticipated. It's a good chick flick because it has the romance for the ladies, but it has the baseball for the guys. But, between you and me, sometimes I like a little romance, too.
On a related "movie" note, I saw The Incredibles for the first time over the weekend, too. Unlike most movies that are over-hyped, this movie actually lives up to the hype. That's all I'm gonna say about it, though.
Comic Book Signing
If you are cool and you live in Ohio, you need to come to my comic book signing on Saturday, April 16. I will be sketching as well, and it will be good times. It's from 2-4 PM at ACME Comics. More info can be found in the forums.
I'll be sure to post a post-signing report with plenty of pictures. Even if no one comes I'll take pictures of me sitting at the table and stuff. Sometimes you can hold the camera at a certain angle and make it look like there are more people than there actually is. So maybe I'll do that. On Monday I'll be like, "Twelve hundred people came to my signing on Saturday!" But, really, there was only, like, three. Oh well.
Sketch Book and Stuff
This is a question for any artists out there who have participated in comic book signings and comic-cons: What kind of sketchbook do you use to draw sketches for people? Do any of you prefer a certain type of paper over another for sketches? Leave a note in the forum and let me know.
Okay, peeps. That's all for me today. Hope you had a great weekend. Friday is only four days away!!!
Today's comic is inspired by actual events. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. But, in case you're wondering, my wife, Tricia, talks in her sleep and I think it's pretty funny.
I drink a lot of soda pop. I'm talkin' a lot. My wife is a hardcore Coke drinker, but I prefer Pepsi. Whenever we go to the grocery store there's always a sale on both brands, so we'll stock up on pop. My wife is the kind of person who drinks her pop in moderation, and often times doesn't even finish the can. She'll leave half-empty cans of pop on the kitchen counter or next to her bed. I, on the other hand, drink pop ravenously as though it were the last drink I'll ever have in this life. When I get to the bottom of the can, I'll tip it way back and give it a good slurp just to make sure I've got every last drop. Gross, I know, but no one's perfect.
Well, this past week my wife notified me that I went through three twelve-packs of Pepsi in a week and half. That's a stifling amount of soda. It makes perfect sense, though, as I usually put a couple cans in my lunch box for work, and I'll drink a few cans when I come home from work. My wife, being the caring nurturer that she is, told me that I drink too much pop and that I should cut back. In an attempt to one-up her, I decided to give up pop altogether.
Now, if you've ever tried to give up soda, it's hard to do sometimes. The first day is the toughest. That's when I had my caffeine headache. Every day since then has been fine. What makes it hard, though, is finding a healthy substitute for soda. The first thing I thought was, "Hey! Juice!"
So, when my wife and I went to the grocery store I picked up some Tropicana Twisters and a bottle of strawberry-banana V8 Splash. I felt very good about myself, and I was confident that I was on the right track. I mean, how could these drinks not be healthy? They're both made of fruit. Heck, the Tropicana Twisters' flavor was "Tropical Fruit Fury" and there were pictures of a bunch of different fruit on the bottle. Fruit is good for you, and, according to Tropicana, there's a bunch of it in this drink. The same with V8 Splash, the same people who make the extremely healthy vegetable drink. They combined two fruits, strawberry and banana, to make one wonderfully tasty and healthy drink.
But, apparently these drinks aren't nearly as healthy as I thought they were. In fact, they're practically the same thing as pop without the carbonation and the caffeine. One of my co-workers pointed out that anything with "high-fructose corn syrup" should be a red flag. Both Tropicana and V8 Splash have high-fructose corn syrup as well as citric acid and several dyes. I felt cheap and violated. I couldn't sleep last night. The juice companies slipped me a rufie, and I'm the one feeling guilty about it. Figures.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. Make sure to stop by the forums and send us a loud "WORD TO YO' MUTHA" before the day is out.
It has been brought to my attention that married people do, in fact, make out. And I won't argue against that. My wife and I still make out, we just don't call it "making out". "Making out" sounds like something you do in the backseat of your dad's station wagon. Instead, my wife and I have "Smooch Parties". I mean, who wouldn't want to go to a "Smooch Party"?
Need for Speed Underground 2 is controlling my life at the moment, and I may have to ostracize myself from the XBox so I can get some things done. It'll be hard to do, especially with Jade Empire coming out soon. The new XBox is supposed to arrive later this year, and when that happens I just know that my already disorganized time schedule will be thrown into mass disarray.
I had to work two twelve-hour shifts over the weekend, which means I should get a nice overtime check. That also means that golf clubs will soon be mine. Oh yes, they shall soon be mine. I had a lot of fun at the driving range last week with my wife, and, now that Daylight Savings Time is in effect, I'm really excited for the summer and hitting the (cheap) links with my friends. It should be good times.
I'm also excited about my upcoming comic book signing, but I'm nervous, too. I hope people show up. I'll be posting more about it as we get closer, but if you're in the Ohio area and you'd like to come down, we'd love to have you. If you need directions just e-mail me at wesmolebash@gmail.com.
Well, I'm gonna find something to eat. Hope you guys had a great weekend, and be sure to stop by the forums and drop a note.
My wife came home from work early on Wednesday and totally shocked me when she asked if I'd like to go to the driving range. Jumping up off the couch that I was sitting upon, I grabbed my shoes and keys and off we went to the Par 3. My wife was cute as a button as she practiced her golf swing. She was way better than I was when I first picked up a driver. I can't tell you how many times I whiffed the ball the first time, but she was getting some good distance when she connected. Personally, I was excited because I found a good stance and I was making some of my longest drives ever. Granted, my longest drives are much shorter than any average golfer's regular drives, but I'm not trying to set records, people. It's all about the love.
Games . . .
Also on Wednesday, I purchased a new game for my XBox. Earlier in the week I had been playing my copy of Need for Speed Underground and convinced myself to go get the sequel. I had read some poor reviews for the game, but one of my friends who shares my love of NFSU rented NFSU2 and said he loved it. Needless to say, this game has taken up a lot of my time the past couple days. I don't know why it got such a low review from my favorite gaming site, but this game is excellent. It really immerses you into the game by giving you a giant city to drive around as you please. I like the setup a lot better than the original "linear track" setup from the first game. I've only finished about 15% of the game, so I'll let you know what my final thoughts are.
Comic Book Signing . . .
We are currently figuring out the final details of my comic book signing. I'll be sure to post more about it as we get closer to the date. The main thing is we have the place and time all figured out:
ACME Comics 94 W. Water St. Chillicothe, OH 45601 Saturday, April 16th From 2 - 4 PM
I'll be signing copies of Dead@17 Rough Cut: Vol. 2, as well as drawing sketches for anyone who buys the comic book. I told Mike Hall, the owner of ACME, that I'd hang out as long as possible to make sure everyone gets a signed copy. Which means we'll probably be done early. :)
ACME Comics was established in my hometown about twelve years ago when I was in junior high school. That's when I discovered super hero comic books. ACME was located right around the corner from where my sister took dance lessons, so I'd save my lunch money throughout the week and head over to ACME while my mom waited on my sister. It was at ACME that I not only discovered Superman and Batman and Spawn, but I also discovered Bone, which was encouraging me that a cartoon could thrive in the comic book world.
At that time, ACME was owned by a guy named Jerry Hall. Jerry was a great cat. Not only did he know a lot about comics, but he was very kind and very patient. A large chunk of his business has always been pre-teenage males, and we all know what kind of idiots guys can be at that age. But he was always happy to see you, he always knew what titles you were looking for, and he was always glad to have you stick around and gab his ear off for 45 minutes even though you only bought one comic book. A lot of my friends would draw him pictures of their favorite superheroes, and he'd hang them up in the store. There were badly sketched superheros literally littering his walls. Among them was a drawing I did of the Batmobile on graph paper. I drew it when I was 13 and I was trying to make it look like the plans for the Batmobile. I was proud of it, and even prouder when Jerry hung it on his wall.
For eight years I stopped visiting ACME. I had grown tired of superhero comics, and I just never stopped in to the comic shop to see what was new. Until 2003 when I decided to go in and see what's happening. I was 23 at the time, and, to my surprise, ol' Jerry remembered me. The store had been re-arranged a little bit, but everything felt the same. Jerry even went into his back room and pulled out my old Batmobile drawing. After ten years, he still had it in his possession. The paper was stained by the sun and my pencil lines had started to fade. But it was still easy to tell that it was, in fact, a horribly drawn Batmobile.
I continued to pop into ACME from time to time to grab issues of PvP and Liberty Meadows until one day in early 2004 I found out that Jerry had died. I'm not sure exactly how Jerry died or even when for that matter. He died a few months before I found out, and I learned through the grapevine that his family wanted to mourn his loss in a low-key fashion. I would have definitely gone to calling hours if I had known when they were, but I totally respect the family's decision to keep to themselves if this was the case.
Jerry's son, Mike, has now taken over the business. I never really talk to him about how his dad died, but we do talk about him. How he ran the shop and how he treated his customers. All good memories. Mike has a lot of ambitious ideas for that little store, and he's already started remodeling the interior. One of the things Mike has mentioned to me when we discuss the store is how some customers are upset with Mike's plans to remodel and expand business. Some people don't like change, and they give Mike guilt-trips about how "Jerry used to do it this way." It's always a little heartbreaking when something that's always been a constant makes a drastic change, but I also understand the need to make money. And that's what Mike wants and needs to do. Hence the remodel, an upcoming website, and a mail-order business. But Mike realizes his dad built the business, and there's a need to keep a piece of him there . . .
On the biggest wall in the store, Mike has paid an artist to paint a mural. The mural is far from finished and is currently covered up by a blue tarp. When I stopped by the store yesterday to work out some details for the signing, Mike let me take a peek at the work in progress. Behind the tarp was an eight foot tall painting of Superman looking out over the city; his chest out, hands at his hips, and cape flowing. However, instead of the stone-serious face of Clark Kent, we see the face of Jerry Hall; eyes glowing and mouth smiling. Underneath all that cape and muscle is a guy who just wants to sell comic books and talk about the latest issue of X-Men. I honestly got chills, and I can't think of a better tribute.
