The comic went up in my library on the 24th, but the 25th is officially the anniversary, since that’s where it went live as part of the weekly comic reviews. The one panel #0 did premiere on the 18th, but it was more like a teaser. It’s actually interesting how much of what became part of the comic debuted in the first year. The whole supporting cast, even one of the guys in the comic store, debuted this year, though the family showed up in the Christmas special after Beth played a little girl in one of the strips. (See if you can find her.) What started as a drawing test turned into a way to open the weekly comic review article when I was running out of ways to introduce them.
The main cast, and one of the recurring characters, made their debut this year. The family debuted in the Christmas special, which is the specials part of the archive, and Max would have to wait for his spiked hair design. Dudebro was intended as a one-shot but he would end up popping up now and then. This also saw the debut of Jake and Max’s art studio, though that’s undergone some refinement until I started creating dedicated set designs. It also has one of the rare story arcs, the “Marvel War” multiparter. I was still doing the drawing on paper but coloring on the computer. Some of the parodies, reflecting artist Jake’s perspective, was done in pencil, but I don’t use that gimmick anymore. I never came up with a good one for Leon’s perspective so it was done the same as the “host” comics. The Power Ranger parodies debuted in this period as well, while it’s also where I introduced my declutter site, The Clutter Reports. Click a comic to begin.
The first “official” Jake and Leon open for “This Week’s Reviews”.No, that’s not why I read it. Besides, she’s barely in this issue.Sometimes I’m not going to have a good joke from the pull. This time, I just really wanted to use this one instead.Seriously, there are stories when he’s not even on the right planet!Someday I have to learn to draw the Autobot symbol.Luckily, he only lives a block or so away.Jake needs some new hobbies.Mostly, I just wanted to draw Leon as Radioactive ManYeah, we’re off to a good start.Ladies and gentlemen, the first comic.I’m looking at YOU, VH-1!Why yes, I do hate myself. Why do you ask?I just noticed that I misspelled “Critic”. Pretend it’s an homage’s to Doug’s past misspells. 🙂Hey, I hit DC a couple weeks ago.And here’s where I get the hate mail.This cameo not approved. The comic he’s from is.For the record I like Kool-Aid.Sorry, I just don’t see it.Lucky Leon doesn’t have a baseball batYou’d think Hollywood would love that kind of dysfunctional morality storytelling. They do it often enough.I knew I forgot something this week.How lazy can I get?On the other hand…FREE COMICS!The obligitory joke for a no-4th Wall comic.I dub thee Max, lord of bad ideas!based on a true Bum sketchSo does that mean the girls have pockets in their dresses?“Licensing issues”. It’s THEIR content!Not to mention having a bad gamer playing you…like me.Can you guess who is playing whom?Remember, this is the comic that once featured a Black Lantern Johnny DC. Even we have limits.For them it was energy draining. For me it was time draining.And of course Terry McGuiness is Robin for the homage. He also has the wrong hairstyle.I can find my computer. I just can’t get to it.Trust me, you don’t want me drawing them straight on.Not so much a “change” as it is dialing it back a bit.“Max” pretty much explains everything.Maybe they can make fun of Rocky instead.In other words, don’t rebel. Don’t conform. Just be yourself.So how many of Marvel’s “events” have used the word “War” anyway?Like Marvel doesn’t have enough of their own bad ideas.Mostly, I just wanted to draw Superman.Because you know he’d do it.We now return you to our regular format.Then again, an alien walking down the streets on Earth would usually draw attention, wouldn’t it?Interestingly, the play was about firemen. 🙂There are times I worry about giving someone ideas and times I’m afraid someone already has seriously. This is both.Considering what Superman is exposed to in an average day…
