Posting a bit early this week since I am still awake. Just a 4-panel today, I’m still really conflicted about the format. A longer more involved format demands more from what few readers I have. Shorter is better for new people and people passing through, and probably lighter feeling too. For now expect things to evolve and change. Today we see Olaf (Ugo left with John), and you’ll note he has a slightly different color green and only one horn. I felt they were too similar. I’m still not sure having two of them makes sense. Thanks for reading.
Archive for ‘April, 2008’
Looks like John is going for a little trip without ASIMOV. I’ve continued with the double strip format, it’s definitely a lot more work. If I am going to continue this way, it will be hard to post any bonus strips, but I hope the product might be a little better, the extra space definitely gives me more freedom to tell the story and develop the characters. This one actually started out as a single 3 panel, but just didn’t quite work well enough. I’m not saying every strip will be full sized at this point, but certainly many of them probably will. I hope to continue to keep the humor in the strip (like today) that is character driven, not really gag driven, but also tell an interesting story. Be glad to hear your thoughts.
Related Comics ¬
| Apr 9, 08 | The Dome |
| Apr 11, 08 | Olaf |
| Sep 2, 10 | Feeling Vulnerable |
| Apr 14, 08 | Observation |
| Apr 17, 08 | Geborga |
Bonus strip again this week. As you can see Ugo has changed his appearance a bit yet again. He’s pretty much how I want him now. This is my first double strip which builds on the “Observation” strip of Monday, and which moves the strip a bit away from the silly gag-a-day theme to more character/story driven themes. (Don’t worry, humor will still be part of the strip.)
Seems as though Ugo takes the Geborga pretty seriously. The next strip will start the new story arc involving these new creatures, and we’ll see exactly what they plan on doing to John and ASIMOV. Something tells me our good Captain’s people skills may make the whole thing very interesting…
Related Comics ¬
| Jul 7, 08 | Failure |
| May 26, 08 | Trash Can |
| Jun 8, 08 | The Prime Directive |
Who are these guys?
Well, I’m 10 strips into the comic now and I’ve gotten to get a slight feel for the characters and the storyline. I’ve gotten some interesting feedback as well. I do think the characters need a bit more development and need to be broken of some cliche characteristics. I’ll be working on that as things go along.
Also, the 3 panel gag is tough to do well, and to keep fresh. I think some of my gags have been “cute” but not necessarily very well written (or really all that funny either.) I’ll probably be re-sizing the strip to give me 4 panels to work with, and be doing some double-sized entries to give more room to tell stories.
I’d rather have the humor come naturally through the characters, not force it by telling tired “pickle” jokes. I had already been moving toward the first real story arc anyway, and tomorrow the first strip in that story will be posted.
As always I welcome any feedback.
Inside the dome. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Related Comics ¬
| Apr 14, 08 | Observation |
| Sep 2, 10 | Feeling Vulnerable |
| Apr 9, 08 | The Dome |
| Apr 21, 08 | Summoned |
Today I went on a creative frenzy and penciled and inked 3 panels. I’ll scan in and start coloring at least one panel today, so expect another bonus strip sometime this weekend. There’s definitely going to be an interesting turn coming up, so stay tuned.

Here’s a card I had a little fun designing, Captain John as the King of Spades. I’m not entirely happy with the design, but it’s a start. I’ll probably do some more to at least make up cards with all the characters. Might be fun at some point to do a whole deck.
Hey, bonus comic time! What do you know, there’s more than one little green man on Mars after all – and he lives in a dome.
Related Comics ¬
| Apr 21, 08 | Summoned |
| Apr 14, 08 | Observation |
| Apr 11, 08 | Olaf |
| Sep 2, 10 | Feeling Vulnerable |
That’s the question I’ve asked myself. Maybe my readers (which I’m guessing I could count on one hand) are asking it too. So far I’m having a lot of fun doing the strips, and the characters seem to be working. However, I don’t know how long I could continue with the gags of John and ASIMOV one-upping each other. While funny, I think there needs to be a little more going on. And I think at some point that would run me into a dead end.
I do have some ideas though. There is actually some kind of story brewing here. Who is this little alien guy? Are there any other creatures around? What happens to our main characters who are literally stranded on Mars, years away from help with very few supplies? Isn’t it odd that Captain John doesn’t seem all that concerned about it?
During this process of evolution of the strip, I certainly hope to keep the strip funny. But I want it to be interesting too, more than just one sarcastic punchline after another. That’s going to be the real challenge.
While I’m on a Monday/Weekly posting schedule right now, I hope to post at least two strips a week. So you can “unofficially” expect a strip on Wednesday as well for at least the next couple weeks. Since I’m between jobs right now, I’ve actually got a little extra time to work on the strip.
So that’s the “state of the strip” speech. I’m probably more interested than anyone to see where it all goes.


