P.S. - For anyone who's wondering, "SCAB" stands for "Scowlworthy College of Artsy Bastards."

-Joe

NEWS for 01/23/10: Now that's a scene.
We're back on track at last, well beyond deadline once again. I guess you could blame it on the cold season this time. If it helps, everything from my mouth to my nose is all kinds of suffering. But aside from that I'm better now, so next time I won't have such a good excuse. I wonder what I'll say?
Nevermind. My trifling discomfort means nothing in the face of ongoing tragedy in Haiti. So POW! Surprise charity grab in your face! If you have any money you were setting aside for donating, for God's sake don't waste it on me. Here's a fine bunch of organizations for you to consider, and consider again.
Now I've balanced my karma a little, let's see what else is in my magical bag of things worth mentioning. Oh, here's something! And it's something that's also kind of sad, though much, much less sad than the above news item.
In case you haven't heard, Keenspot is experiencing an exodus of sorts. Many of the venerable cartoonists who have made the name of Keen great are taking their words and pictures elsewhere, in light of serious future changes in policy. And it looks like I could be one of them. I'm putting a lot of thought into this, and though I've loved being a Keenspotter it's seeming more and more as if it just might be time to move on. And that's okay, things change. And who knows? This might be a door to reinvigoration! But whatever happens, I don't want you to worry - zebragirl.net will still lead to Zebra Girl, wherever she may be, and the story will go on. In fact, if I manage the HTML well enough, you might not notice any change at all except for the Keenspot bars disappearing. Though that could depend on where I go. If you have thoughts on the matter or suggestions for the future, Omega's begun a forum thread so you can read all about it. We're all in this together!
And speaking of the forum, has anyone noticed how rare forums are nowadays? Most comics seem to have opted for comment systems on the front page. Well! For my part, I can't imagine doing without a forum. I love the sense of lighthearted community. And the thoughts of my fans deserve more than a tiny series of boxes! Why, just recently Stacy Dooks posted a preview of the long-awaited next installment of Tiger Boy! Holy cow I can't wait. Even if we have to leave that old Keenspot forum behind, I fully intend to start a new one to take its place.
And speaking of fan fiction, remember last time when I found Can't, the mystery story? Well ShardZ spoke up! It's his! How about that. Who would have thought that a quiet, unassuming fan like ShardZ could do such a thing... at any rate, now we know who to thank!
And speaking of that news post, I did mean to convert David Strait's recent submissions to JPEG form for anyone who has trouble with TIF files, so here they are again anyway, Sandra and Sam in exceptional form(s) making people piss themselves with fear. Never gets old, that.
And speaking of fan art, I have a great amount of more fan art that needs to be shown. I acknowledge this. I will get to it. Fear not. I just want to reassure you that if you have sent fan art your day will come.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go copyright Worse Curds. Can you believe that no one on the whole Internet has thought of that yet? I'm the first! Yay for me!

-Joe

NEWS for 01/12/10: See? Sandra's pissed off about the lack of progress too! But nevermind that now. The fan work is what I'm concerned with at the moment! The Fan Art page is badly in need of upgrading, and many great works are falling through the cracks in the meantime. For instance, some of you may recall Bren MacDonald's various tablet drawings. And David Strait has doodled up a few more of his fine, fine cartoons, regarding various "What If" scenarios... like, "What if Sam had another show?" And "What if Sandra spent her spare time working out instead of moping?" Another one of the eerie similarities between those two... both Sam and Sandra can make people sully themselves with fear when they want to. And this is just some of the fan art crying out for justice! For vengeance! I better get started on that soon, or I fear for my life!
Also, the Fan Fiction and Fan Media pages have both been altered slightly. The former needed streamlining, and the latter was missing a video. Check out Demonology 101! Good stuff, Bren. That said, there's something... ehm...
Ah geez.
This is damn embarrassing.
Not too long ago I found in my files a fan story I never showed off. At any rate, it doesn't have its proper page. Which would be bad enough, because it's great and anyway I love my fans and their work and I endeavor to do right by them, but... what's worse is that I don't know who sent it. And it's driving me up the wall.
I mean, I must have known who sent it when I GOT it... and I probably thanked them and called them by name, but... for the life of me, I can no longer recall. It's nothing personal, I've always been terrible with names! It's a curse. And I've been through my e-mails over and over again but I just can't find the sender. So I'm just going to put it out there, and whoever you are who wrote this, get in touch with me and please accept my apologies for my leaky brain. The rest of you, enjoy Can't, and I'll tell you who to thank for it as soon as I know myself. I don't even know if that's the real title, or an abbreviation!
Again, sorry... I'm usually so with it, man.

-Joe