You'll Have That Vol. 1 is in this month's Previews, and that means it's time to pre-order, people! To make sure you get a copy, just give the Diamond order code -
MAR06 3473
- to the guy/gal at your local comic shop and they'll know what to do. The book is sheduled to hit store shelves on May 10, so make sure to get your orders in to insure that you'll get your copy on the day it arrives.
Here's the blurb printed in Previews:
In the first volume of the webcomic strip You'll Have That, Andy and Katie battle noisy neighbors, have an unpleasant restaurant visit, and cope with the everyday struggles of married life. Foreword by Jef Mallett, creator of the syndicated comic strip, Frazz.
The book will be 64 pages and only cost $4.95! The first book will collect the first half of the comics published online in 2005. Not only will there be an awesome foreword by Mr. Mallett (which is perhaps the most flattering thing anyone has ever said about me), there will be sixteen brand new comic strips that won't be published online or anywhere else. I'm working on these strips as we speak, and I think you guys will enjoy them. The sixteen strips tell the story of Andy and Katie's first date!
Guys, I can't tell you how important to me it is that you order this book. The more books we sell will help insure the future of YHT in book form. As of right now we're scheduled to release the second book sometime in December, but even its future hinges upon the sales of Volume 1.
So get out there, people! Spread the word to your friends and family! Get 'em hooked on the strip and tell 'em to pre-order the book! 2006 is the year YHT makes its stamp on the webcomic and comic book worlds!
F.Y.I. If you any of you peeps don't visit comic shops, head to your local Barnes and Noble and tell them you want You'll Have That Vol. 1. We'll be making the book available to them, but whether or not they choose to sell the book in their stores is up to them. If you guys go in and request they should order one for you and possibly carry a few copies. - Wes
Here's a pic of Sasha Cohen holding her silver medal:
Is it me, or do the Olympic medals look like CD-Rs this year? Is the IOC that cheap? Instead of the standard gold, silver, or bronze medal they're handing out mixes of Blackstreet's Greatest Hits? I say, "No diggity!"
Here's an FYI: If Pat Bussey calls you on your Cingular Wireless phone and you don't answer, be prepared to listen to several hilarious messages when you return to your telephone. I received a message from an "Officer Stimmons" warning me about people prowling outside of my apartment, and then I was serenaded by a Barry Manilow-esque diddy. I think I will not answer my phone more often. :)
My Wife Kicks Like a Mule . . .
It seems that most everybody, including myself, thought it pretty humorous that I sleep-punched my wife in the face the other day. I received some nice notes and messages telling me how you guys enjoyed that story. However, my wife didn't enjoy that story which is why she sleep-kicked me in the junk last night. I'm alright, though. It only took a couple hours for me to start breathing normally again.
YHT in Previews . . .
It has been brought to my attention that the very first YHT book is in this month's Diamond Previews! I don't have the Diamond order code, yet, but go out to your favorite comic shop and preorder this thing in droves! Once I get the code I'll post it on the blog and the forums!
So go! Get out of here! Go to your comic shop, now, and order this book! It will be the greatest book of all times!
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I hope you guys had a good work week, and I hope you enjoy the weekend. Leave a note on the message board if you get a chance. :)
This morning I accidentally sleep-punched my wife in the face. Only I wasn't really asleep, but it was still an accident. Promise.
We were laying in bed just before her alarm went off. I was laying on my stomach and she was on her side facing me. She was asleep, and I was in that not-asleep-but-not-awake mode. I stretched out my arms at a forty-five degree angle not realizing how close my wife was laying next to me, and I punched her. Accidentally. Promise.
I looked at her and said, "Are you alright?" And she rubbed her forehead and said, "You punched my head!"
The good news is she still gave me a kiss before she left for work, so I assume that I've been forgiven.
Movies . . .
Last night I watched The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Mirrormask.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin was hilarious but crude. Very crude. The crudeness is easily excused by how hilarious the movie is. And believe me - it's hilarious. I laughed myself into a coughing fit.
Mirrormask was pretty trippy. At first I wasn't sure what to make of the film, but by the end the whole thing made sense. The artwork and cinematography were outstanding; it really was amazing to look at. What made me enjoy the movie even more was watching the interviews with Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean, and the cast and crew afterwards. I realized that I am very jealous of Neil Gaiman. In one of the interviews he discussed how he started writing and I found myself envying him. In a good way, though.
Life on Pause . . .
Go read this comic. The most recent strip made me chuckle out loud. Good job, Don!
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Hope everyone is having a good week. Stop by the message board and leave us a note. :)
I'm redoing my links section (as I'm never fully satisfied with it) and I've created a new set of links under My Drawing Gear. You'll find links to all the stuff I use to draw my comic strip, from my desk to my eraser to what kind of rulers I use. If you're looking to purchase any of these products you can find them at most hobby/craft and office supply stores. You'll also note that most of the junk I use is pretty inexpensive. You don't have to fork over tons of cash to make quality art.
I hope to have a links setion titled My Computer Gear in a few days. I'll have links to my scanner, printer, and Wacom. My computer itself is five years old, so I'm not sure I'll be able to find a link for it. I'll keep my eyes open, though.
Coconut Cream Pie . . .
My favorite pie is my mom's coconut cream pie. A few weeks ago I complained to my mom because she hasn't made one in quite awhile. Last night she invited my wife and I over for coconut cream pie and angel food cake. She even made me my own pie to take home, which I've already eaten half of. Moms are great!
You can't have a cute comic strip about a young couple without a pet thrown into the mix, can you? I submit that you cannot! Hence the introduction of Andy and Katie's new pet cat. Here's hoping you find the cat's crazy antics similar to your pets at home. :)
Tiki Coladas and YHT . . .
If you're not familiar with Tiki Coladas then I suggest you go there now and read it with much haste. Jonathan Caustrita, the creator of TC, was nice enough to feature You'll Have That as a "Link of the Week" on his site. Thanks, Jonathan! You're a true blue friend!
The Weekend . . .
I had a chance to spend some time with my buddies this weekend. I hadn't seen a couple of them in quite awhile, so it was good to catch up. We went out to eat and then came back to my house to play some euchre and watch my Dane Cook DVD. It was good times.
For the record, Jage and I beat Niver and J.D. at euchre. It was a close game. J.D. and Niver took the first match, and Jage and I took the second. The game was decided on a single-hand rubber match because Jage had to take his girlfriend home. Jage and I won the rubber match decisively.
For a few minutes after the game while everyone put on their coats and gathered their things, we traded offensive ethnic jokes. Many laughs were had. :)
Shopping . . .
Trish and I went shopping last night to get out of the house. I went to the Easton mall in Columbus, which is our normal stomping grounds when money is burning a hole in our pocket. I picked up the Elizabethtown Vol. II soundtrack, Patty Griffin's 1000 Kisses CD, a t-shirt that says "Browncoat" on the chest (my new favorite shirt), and I bought the book You Shall Know Our Velocity! by David Eggers. So far that book is rocking my face clear off my skull. Thanks for the recommendation, Luda!
Trish got a pair of sunglasses similar to the pair Katie sported several strips back. She wasn't keen on them at first, but she was no match for my persuasive abilities.
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Hope everyone had a great weekend. Make sure to stop by the message board and give us a shout.
Trish and I had a relaxing V-Day. We went out to dinner, and then we came home and spent the evening talking. It was actually quite awesome.
I bought Trish a diamond anniversary wedding band, even though it's not our anniversary. It matches her existing wedding band and she's going to have it soldered onto the other side of her engagement ring. So now her engagement ring will be sandwiched by two wedding bands, and all her friends will think I'm loaded with a lot of money (which I'm not).
Trish got me the Elizabethtown DVD, which is a great movie. Everyone go see it.
Sketches . . .
I posted a couple sketches in the forum the other day. It's a different style artistically, so check 'em out and let me know what you think. :)
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This week has been pretty uneventful. Just truckin' along trying to get comics done so I can enjoy the weekend. Leave a message in the forum if you get a chance.
It's true. I've forgotten Valentine's Day before. Today's comic is an extremely personal one for me, so forgive me for wearing my heart on my sleeve. :(
Things That Happened or Did Not Happen This Weekend . . .
- My wife and I went shopping and out to dinner with some friends. It was good times. - I bought the new Jack Johnson CD, which is actually the soundtrack to the movie Curious George. It's all new Jack stuff, though, so I consider it a new album. By the way - it rules. - We were supposed to be buried under snow on Saturday - didn't happen. - We went to Cold Stone Creamery and I got the Birthday Cake Remix with cookie dough mixed in. It was delectable. - I watched TNA Wrestling on Spike TV. - Sting did not return. - We went to Olive Garden and I had the Tour of Italy with spaghetti instead of fettucini. - I watched a Saturday Night Live rerun and I laughed when Alec Baldwin, who was impersonating Tony Bennett, said, "I think it's a travesty when a woman can't wear a cream-colored pant suit because of her monthlies."
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I hope you guys had a good weekend. Four more days 'til the next one. Start countin' 'em down.
Last week I spent a lot of time discussing my new drawing schedule. In fact, I've spent a lot of time in the past discussing how I draw the comic strip. But I've never really talked about how I write comic strips. So, I thought I'd take a few moments and discuss how I write a You'll Have That comic strip.
Some people write on notecards, some on notepads, and others on scrap pieces of paper. I like to keep all my writing organized, so I write in a standard single-subject notebook. I keep the notebook beside my drawing table, and I also take it with me to work in case I get some down time and/or I get an awesome idea.
I prefer college-ruled notebooks. I measure out each "rough" comic strip as eight "lines" long, and draw the width across the page from margin to margin. I can get three thumbnail comics to a page. I only write on one side of the page for a couple reasons: 1) It makes it easier when I'm setting up to draw the comic and I only have to flip the page to see the next comics (rather than flip the whole book over), and 2) the blank pages make for wonderful places to sketch out any difficult scenes or characterizations. I don't do much sketching when I'm writing, but every once in awhile I like to "attack" a certain panel to see how I'll want to draw it in the final stages.
I date each thumbnail comic strip and I divide the notebook into months. So, I'll draw thirty rough comics, and then start a new page and head it "March 2006" or whatever the next month will be. When the notebook is filled up, I'll use a permanent marker and write the dates on the cover that the notebook spans. I keep my notebooks because they're fun to look through, and when you're in a rut it can help spark your imagination.
Last week I told you that I draw the comic strip a week in advance. I try to stay much more ahead of schedule with my writing. The drawing part is easy. As long as I've got the material I can draw. But writing is a different story. Inspiration has an ebb and flow to it, and sometimes it takes awhile to kick start your imagination. So that's why I try to stay ahead of the game on writing. As of this blog entry, I have comics written through the end of March. When I start to get down to a week or two left of material, I'll really make sure to focus on cracking my notebook open and writing in it.
I don't know if you've ever heard the phrase "Inspiration doesn't come before the writing process; it comes during the writing process", but it's totally true. When I sit down to write I usually have a gag or two that I want to get on paper. But as I sit there fleshing out the dialogue in my head, scores of other ideas will rifle through my head. That's on a good day. Sometimes it's not like that, but on a good day I can write a month's worth of comics quite easily.
If I'm stuck on ideas, I'll try to think back on the past few days. Did Trish and I discuss anything that could be funny? Did we have an argument? Did we talk about bills? Did either of us say something stupid? Did Trish do something cute? I'll continue to hammer my mind with questions like this until something comes.
If, after awhile, I can't get anything written I take a break. You gotta take a break. Usually I'll pick up my guitar and strum around on it for awhile. Sometimes I'll play a videogame or watch TV. Anything to get my mind off of comics. Then, after a short while, I'll come back to the notepad and try again.
Writing is a lot of fun, but it can also be very tedious. Especially if you can't get any ideas to percolate. But once the ideas start flowing it's like the floodgates being opened. Jokes and stories start pouring onto the paper. And that's always a good feeling. It's job security, really. Right now, for instance, I know I'll be drawing comics at least through the end of March. :)
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Hope you guys have had a good week. My long weekend starts next weekend, and I'm uber-psyched about it.
If you live in Richmond, VA or the surrounding area, be sure to pick up the next issue of Wadi Magazine. You'll Have That will make it's first appearance in the Wadi publication this month, and will continue to rock the faces off the Virginia readers each subsequent month.
Many thanks to Hunter Haglund for being so patient and so excited to bring YHT on board! I'm excited, too!
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If you get a chance, come join me and my 330 friends on Myspace. We're having a blasty blast sending comments, messages, and ridiculously long surveys back and forth to each other. It's always good times!
As I told you guys earlier I started a new drawing schedule this week. I gotta say it's working out pretty well. Better than expected really.
Up until this week I would draw in "stages", and then I would try to spend a day working on one particular "stage". For instance, the first stage is to prep my Bristol board. I'll tear off however many sheets I need (usually three) and cut each sheet in half with an X-acto knife. Then, I'll pencil in the panel borders, the lines for the dialogue, and write all the dialogue and sketch in the word balloons. That's stage one.
The next stage is to pencil each strip. I tight pencil everything and I make a lot of erasures, so this stage takes the longest. I'd usually split this stage up into two or three days.
The third and final stage is to ink the comic strips. This usually doesn't take very long since I'm just tracing the artwork with different size ink pens. When I'm done inking I'll go over each strip with an eraser and then I'll scan the strips. Usually I scan the same day as I ink, but not always. Scanning takes the least amount of time since I'm just resizing the cartoon and adding a couple of gray areas in Photoshop.
The problem with the "stage" schedule was that it left the door wide open to procrastinate. I knew in my head how much time it usually took me to draw the strip, so I'd constantly put it off. It's not that I don't enjoy drawing the comic, but when you're easily distracted by videogames, guitar, and movies its easy to put things aside that shouldn't be put aside.
Also, the stage schedule was stressful for my wife. She'd get frustrated when the weekend arrived and she wanted to do something spur-of-the-moment, but I couldn't do anything because I was scrambling to get my comic done.
So I adopted the new 2-Hour-A-Day Schedule. It's a hybrid of the stage schedule, but instead of putting the work off, I work everyday for two hours. It leaves me plenty of time in the evening to play with my toys, and I should be finished with most everything by the time the weekend arrives.
The 2-Hour-A-Day Schedule isn't set in stone by any means. Some days you can only work for an hour or maybe less. Other days you get in a "zone" and can work for four or five hours. The trick is to make yourself adhere to the schedule as much as you can. And when your two hours is up try to make yourself stop. Especially if you've already been at your day-job that day.
I just wrapped up my "drawing day" and I worked for just a little over two hours. I started the new schedule on Tuesday (Monday evening turned out to be a little hectic), and I just finished pencilling all the comics for next week. I'll get most, if not all, the inking done tomorrow and I'll probably scan the strips and upload them to the site on Saturday. On Sunday I'll probably relax and start a new week on Monday.
The new schedule is kinda exciting. It makes my work feel like it's more "official" and not like a hobby I do in my free time.
Hope I didn't bore you guys with all this mess about my new schedule. I get excited about stuff like this, and I like sharing it with you people. :)
The YHT Book of the Month for February is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Feel free to discuss the book in this forum thread.
Drawing Schedule . . .
I mentioned on Monday that I'm starting a new drawing schedule. I sorta had to. You see, I'm what you would call a chronic procrastinator. Always have been. In high school I wrote my reports the day before they were due, and sometimes I was finishing them up minutes before the class they were assigned started. It's never been a big deal because I was a good student and I've never missed a comic deadline.
But this past week I didn't get all my comics done when I wanted them to be done (Sunday night). So, I've instituted my new schedule which is to basically work on comics for at least two hours everyday. Hopefully, by the time the weekend comes I'll be mostly finished with the following week's comics, and I can spend the weekend scanning comics (which takes minutes) and goofing off with my wife and/or friends.
I'll let you know how the schedule works out . . .
Growing a Beard . . .
I'm trying to grow a beard, which my wife thinks is hilarious. I've never had a beard, so I figured I'd let my facial hair grow and I'll shave it off when it starts looking too "Ted Kaczynksi-ish".
Personally, I don't think my hair will grow that long. I haven't shaved in about a week and I've got a patchy "George Michael" thing goin' on. I guess I can rule out being a member of ZZ Top . . .
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Hope everyone's week is going well. I've got a couple days off work, so I'm gonna take it easy.
