This is not an update

I am updating today because Jeffrey Rowland updated his Wigu webcomic today. The last time he ran a new comic was the same day I last posted here, February 3. I am not a good blogger, but apparently I would make an excellent webcomic artist.

I have nothing else to add, despite the Oscars having occurred last night. I said I was not a good blogger.

"Because I Got Depression"

Once again, Achewood strikes an uncomfortably resonant chord:


Hey, did I tell you about meeting Chris Onstad at the book signing for The Great Outdoor Fight at Austin Books? I didn't? Well: it was sweet. That's the second book signing I've attended in Austin at which the author could not have been a nicer, friendlier, funnier, humbler, more appreciative dude. Also, it's the second book signing at which beer has been available for free. I'm sensing a pattern, and I dig it.

Onstad was very understanding and apologetic about the long wait (it took me, I shit you not, three hours to get to the front of a line of about fifty people), and he volunteered a character sketch to everyone with a book (I got Roast Beef, naturally). He even tolerated my banter about college rivalries (he went to Stanford -- BOO! HISS! -- and I went to Cal -- YAY! HOORAY!). The publishing schedule for Achewood has been spotty at best over the past month or so while Onstad's been on this book tour; hopefully, now that he's finished, it'll get back to regular updates. Which would be nice, since Achewood is not only my favorite webcomic, it's one of my favorite comic strips of all time (up there with Peanuts, Calvin & Hobbes, and Doonesbury).

P.S. Keep guessing at my music quiz! Still a lot of unidentified songs!

My Ideal Crossword Puzzle

From Nothing Nice To Say.

Subsequent callback joke:

COMICS: Casey & Andy

I've changed the method of posting images to this blog, so I thought I'd give it a workout, with an entry about one of my new favorite webcomics, Casey & Andy. I recently devoured the complete archives. Now I am sad. I have to wait for the regular updates. Like a sucker!

Casey & Andy is about the adventures of two roommates/mad scientists, one of whom dates Satan -- who is a hot red-headed babe in the comic's world:


(Click on strips to enlarge.) The art is frankly rough at best, but the comedy is top-notch. How can you not love a comic that kills off its two protagonists in the very first strip?


They get better. In fact, they die all the time, often at each other's hands:


The strips can be somewhat nerd-centric. Role-playing is often referenced, as is computer programming, science fiction, hard science (in the form of Quantum Cop), and even L33t speak:


(I love how all their inventions end in "o-mat.") But the humor is never 100% reliant on absolute knowledge of the specialized subjects; enough information is given for anyone to get the jokes.

But most of the time, the strips are easily accessible to all, whether they be slapstick comedy,


cat humor,


or good old-fashioned fart jokes.


It's mostly a gag-a-day strip, but there have been a few extended story arcs which are every bit as satisfying. I've laughed long and hard at any number of Casey & Andy comics (sometimes while sober!*), which is quite an achievement. There's over 400 strips in the archive, so get cracking!

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*That's a joke, of course. I'm never sober.