Okay, now it makes some sense. The super talented artist “Tiffany” of the webcomic “Somewhere in SF” (mentioned below) had originally done this page for the Eyeskream Comic Swap. (Again… see below.) She did such an awesome job in making it blend into the story I just had to keep it in there.

Problem was I had some stuff going on in the real word that sort of put “SM” on hold. Now that I am back at it I re-wrote the story a little to keep her page in. It’s now all in line and should make some sense.

Also… there were some gaps in the story with comics not showing up. Those are now fixed. So if you need to get up to speed on this story you can go through teh archives better now.

Have a great Christmas everyone!

-Mike

======== From original Blog Post - August 2nd, 2009 =================

Holy Crap! It’s a new page! What the devil is going on?!? Plus it’s waaaaay better than the usual stuff on here. (I also really love how it follows the story!) This could only mean one thing… Eyeskream’s Comic Swap!!

That’s right webcomic fans. It’s that time of year again. In the immortal words of the Heavy Metal Philosophers AC/DC… you get to try and figure out… “Who made who!” Guess right and you can win stuff! So here is a list of those that are in the mix this year.

• Good in Theory
• Suspicious Minds
• Little Terrors
• Future Pig
• Cy-Boar
• Strange Fiction
• Flying Ferret
• Zyn Dweomer

So what are you waiting on lazy bones? Get with the clicky’d-clicky!

But first….

We got us a new gun in town folks. Yup! New webcomic has joined the ranks of the Big Eye! I’m super happy to have this one in, not just cause I voted for ‘em… or because it has guns in it either. It’s a really good story with some really good art! (Click on the banner to visit them.) Oh yeah… did I mention one really kick butt looking site?

Written by Brent Martone and drawn by Clay Graham, this is an action/adventures webcomic with pure Steampunk Western action! You follow the adventures of a young bounty hunter from the Confederate States of America as he enters a gun fighting tournament for a chance to join the super powered mercenaries know as The Revolvers.

What’s up with Suspicious Minds?

Suspicious Minds is coming back. Right now I am finishing the rest of the pages in this story so I won’t miss any more updates. Once I have a dozen or so finished I’ll start posting them again. I’m hoping this way I can keep ahead of the game. As you may have read we had a medical set back a year ago with my son. He’s doing well and life is starting to get back to some normalcy. If your on Facebook, I have a Suspicious Minds Fan Page set up there. You can also hear when new pages return if you check out the Suspicious Minds Forum over at Eyeskream.

Oh yeah… check out the SM Store Link. I got some T-Shirts up there for sell if your wanting to cover up your nakedness. (Any money made on the shirts goes to help fund a really worthy cause. The “Help Mike buy a Kimber CDP Pro II Fund“. *Not tax deductible… I know, I know… but it’s not up to me.)

Hang tight, and be nice to one another.

-Mike

Yup… another week… another comic! WOW! I think I will have to give myself a “B+” on this one.

So finally we are on the road and the guys are finally starting to realize something is up with that Fisted Cane of Bryan’s. Or at least Bryan is starting to notice something is up.

Since this will be the last comic before Christmas… Merry Christmas Everyone!

As you are busy opening your presents… and spending time with family… and as they start to get on your nerves and all that other holiday stuff, take a breath. They aggravate you sometimes… sure. But you know what? They are your family. You didn’t pick ‘um. They are… what they are. Just be glad you got them.

On another note…
As you are in your warm houses, tripping over all this stuff, say a prayer this Christmas for those they can’t be home. Those who find themselves in a foreign land… in harms way. Remember the family’s of those who serve. For Christmas’ that are missed. For the empty chairs at the dinner table waiting to filled again this year.

And say a prayer this season for those empty chairs… that won’t be filled again. Freedom has a price, security has a price… some pay that price with everything they have. The least we can do pay them back with a little respect.

If you see a solider in uniform this season… how about telling them thank you. Like you did right after 9/11. How about picking up the check for their dinner… or maybe just a firm hand shake. How about telling an older Vet… thank you.

Above all… this season… be good to one another.

May God bless us all, and our nation.
-Mike

One last thing… (I wrote the other stuff after finishing the comic, this is off the top of my head, so hang on tight.)

Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska… would make the senators of the Roman Empire proud. He sold his vote. To be honest I don’t know what is worse… him selling his Vote or Reid using the tax payers money to buy him off. (Oh… and by taxpayers I mean YOUR money!) Seems like Nelson is taking some heat for it too. (GOOD!)

Now some will say “Hey, this is how Washington works.” I agree… it is the way Washington works. At least for now it does, but it is up to all of us to change that at the polls. Shoving a bill through because the more the public finds out about it the more they hate it. (Just look at the polling data.) Is not representing the people… it’s RULING the people.

Those that are for socialized medicine are feeling pretty good right now. At least… some may think they are. They might even be thinking “the end justifies the means.” If bribing Senators to get them to pass legislation is what it takes… I want no part of it. It is immoral.

As for the fine Senator Nelson of Nebraska… this is an open letter to you;

Dear Senator Nelson,
You sir… in short… are a politician. That is the worse name I can call you at this point. You are not a man  of character. You are not representing anyone but yourself and your own personal interests… like I said, a politician.

I didn’t vote for you. I don’t live in Nebraska. My hands are clean. However I do live in these United States of America. So I do have a right to speak to you. What do I have to say? Here it is… you sir have placed a dark cloud upon your family name. What you have done, in taking this bribe has bought both shame and dishonor to both you and your family. If you had voted your conscience I would have had respect for you, though I would have disagreed with you. But you didn’t. You sold your vote hiding behind your State… you sold your vote for yourself. You said (I suspect something like this:) “I have to be able to take something back… I need political cover to be able to vote for this.” I would like to say you have brought dishonor to your noble profession… that of Senator… but you were too late to do even that.

Senator Nelson you have shown America, not just Nebraska what type of man you are. When surrounded by other politicians in Washington I’m sure it’s quite easy to take a bribe like this with a clear conscious. (Oh… or do you guys call it “Making a Deal”… guess it makes it easier to swallow that way huh?) However, when you go back to the great state of Nebraska and have to face those people who elected what they thought was an honorable man… one of principles and integrity… remember to look them in the eye. Tell them as you beat your breast and hold your head up high and tell them “Who are you to question me? I am A SENATOR! I am above both your scorn and approach! I do not serve you! You serve me!” At least then you would be speaking from your heart and being honest.

In a just world you would be investigated and brought up on charges of accepting a bribe. Because that is what you did. But this isn’t a just world. The people that would lead such a probe are the same ones who do the same thing… so instead your investigation will be conducted by the people of Nebraska, your trial will be held at the polls… and your punishment will be that your name will be associated with bribery and selfishness. That when you walk down the streets in Nebraska you will fill the scorn of those you used. Isn’t it amazing how any good a man might have done for others… can all be pissed away so quickly by a sudden lapse of morals.

Just ask Tiger, you two seem to have a lot in common.

-Mike (Just a regular American citizen.)

So andy doesn’t cut the old Barn-man any slack huh? Figures. Andy in the comic has “M-A-Y-B-E-R-R-Y” tattooed on his fingers, I just was too lazy to draw them in there.

Also… don’t know if you caught it or not, but there is a “Blackwater” logo (Now known as “XE”.) on the bottom of Andy’s boot. Seemed like a fun thing to do. Interesting thing is it looks like Blackwater is separating it’s training division into something separate from it’s protection services. Smart move considering all the damage done to it’s brand. That is where they started and I guess you could argue where the “safe” money is at for the foreseeable future.

Oh yeah… Magpul has a new grip for AR’s called the “AFG” (Angled ForeGrip). Looks pretty cool and makes sense to me. Strange how everything comes back full circle. Got to hand it to Magpul, they are really innovators. I see them as the “Apple Computers” of weapon product designers.

Thanks for “clicking” by the comic today. More comics to come as I try to finish this story up.

-Mike

Yikes an update! How… strange. Couldn’t resist picking at myself for the long period between comics. It seems to be more of the norm than I would have liked it to be.

For an update on what is up with the comic just check my blog.

Also… here is some bonus art from the REAL Bryan. (We’re drawing together again when I work on the comic.)

-Mike

Hey ho.

Finally colored the last “SM” comic. Instead of inking teh way I normally do, I decided to see how a “sketchy” type of thing would look. Not real happy with it. Took longer to color and just isn’t my thing. So I’m going back to the old way of doing things.

It’s been really hard for me to pick the “pen” back up to work on Suspicious Minds lately. Not sure why. While I have had a few things in my personal life that needed my full attention, that has largely pasted and now I only need to monitor that situation from a distance. Vague enough for you?

My son’s diabetes seems to be under control. Or at least as much as Type 1 can be. There are still times it throws us for a bit of a loop. We are starting to have a decent routine and getting back to normal again. Over all he is just super. I’ll try not to mention it much anymore here on the comic. Just on my Blog. So I’ll save you the drama.

I am planning on really trying to dedicate myself to finishing up this incredibly long story as quickly as possible. After that, I’m going to look at “SM” a little more objectively as a project. We’ll see where that goes.

So what have I been doing? Good question. While I haven’t been working on “SM” I have managed to re-energize by doing some non-suspicious mInds stuff. A quick little cartoon for my Eyeskream buddy Pavel. He draws the webcomic Future Pig.

And I also entered the Eyeskream Contest… “Origin of Skreamie”. I lost for two reasons… mine sucked and the competition was incredible! I love losing to really GREAT stuff. You can view the entries HERE. Congrats to Lou and Mike Rosen

So what did I do? I did a little 6 pager retro horror comic. (I’ll post it in the on the site later. You’ll find it in the “Other Projects” section on the right sidebar at the bottom.)

Also… last but not least. Eyeskream has voted in more members! Woo! I’m really tickled because all the ones that got in I was really rooting for! So what have we got?  We got three new members. They are:

• Silverage - By Charlie Gavin
• Not Enough BBQ - By Shania Lu
• Zyn Dweomer - By J.V. West

So hurry… check ‘em out and say hello to them in our forum. Quick… before they become insanely popular and you won’t be able to say you knew them before they stopped returning your emails and filed that restraining order.

That’s it from this side of things guys. Hang in, hang tight, and hang on.

-Mike

Welcome to a special Valentine’s Comic! What a way to update huh? There are a few of us over at Eyeskream that are making special comics for Valentine’s Day and well… this is mine. I got lucky and was assigned the hugely popular Webcomic Samurai Pride. Not only do my boys love his comic, but I’ve actually have met Jack and his wife in person. Heck… we even ate together! (And Jack… I still owe you lunch buddy!)

Here is a list of all the artists participating…

(Some of these comics are more for more mature audiences. So if your 12 and under go check with your parents about what comics are right for you before you click.)

- The Flying Ferret -
- Cy-Boar -
- Strange Fiction -
- Samurai Pride -
- Little Terrors -
- Future Pig -
- Good in Theory -

Now about the comic. It’s not the funniest thing I have ever done, but if you draw comics you get the inside joke about setting up shots and establishing a background. Now for a bonus Valentine’s Day treat… and it’s ohhhhh so Sweet! Cheesy Valentine’s Day Cards! I didn’t have the time to give them the proper time I should have, plus I wanted to do one for each member of Eyeskream… but the time just wasn’t there. So Here they are. (Click on the card to visit the comic’s website… but wait… some of these comics are more for more mature audiences. So if your 12 and under go check with your parents about what comics are right for you. Okay? Not trying to be a drag… just being honest. Hey… I’m a Dad too you know!)

Hope you like all this art. I’m hoping updates will become more regular soon. Thanks for “clicking” by. Please remember to check out all the other cool webcomics over at Eyeskream. There should be something for everyone there! Also if you like to draw, read comics, or heck… just like to talk to people that do, come and hang out with us (digitally of course) at the Eyeskream Forum!

Yeah your right… it’s not finished. Thought I might as well post the rough pencil until I can get the time to finish it

The comic will be delayed for a while. Yeah I know I said I was coming back strong and was going to update regularly and all that. Well… my family has been hit with a pretty heavy lifestyle change. My son was diagnosed with TYPE I Diabetes a few days ago. He is out of the hospital and back home and doing well. me and my wife are trying our best not to freak out every time there is a change in his sugar levels… but it’s not easy.

I debated if I should mention this or not here. It is after all a very private matter for my family. What has changed my mind is that I have met other parents that are going through the same thing as us. It is very tramatic to say the least so it is great comfort to talk to other parents about this. What works, what doesn’t, how you cope, how reorganize your life, etc.

So it is with that in mind I post this here. It’s not much, but it’s here. It’s here in case another parent, or child, or even another adult that might have diabetes by chance should happen to find this page of the comic and know that they aren’t alone!

Please remember not only us but everyone else that is going through this in your prayers.

Thanks,

-Mike

Helpful links for TYPE I Diabetes…

• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
• TYPE 1 Parents Community
• Diabetes.org

Now that is what I call a lot of word balloons! So many I almost need a disclaimer… “May make reader nauseous, DO NOT try and follow word balloons if pregnant or if you have taken cough suyrup in the last two hours!”

As you can guess here is yet another homage to a favorite film of mine, (uh… remember this huge arc is going to be peppered with these things) Walking Tall! And not the one with the Rock. The old one from the late 70’s. I always thought Bufford Pusser was pretty cool.

*EDIT - At the suggestion of some trusted and valued friends I redid the bottom of the comic after posting it. Before it looked to much like a narration panel than dialog. So I redid the bottom part where “Dead Sammy” is speaking with all word balloons. I agree that this helps it flow a lot better than before. This is yet another reason I enjoy being in a Webcomic group like Eyeskream. Getting feed back from others struggling with the same concepts and deadlines really helps.

Eyeskream’s Comic Swap IV…

Hope you guys liked last week’s art. I myself thought it is totally wicked cool! In case you couldn’t figure it out, it was written and drawn by the team of BigFish & Myxo of the webcomic “Somewhere in SF“. I will be leaving the page up another week, then after that you can see it in all it’s wickedness on the Fanatics Page with all the other fan and guest art.

You guessed it… that’s not my art displayed this week! But can you guess whose it is? That is the big question! Welcome to Eyeskream Comic Swap IV! This event will run from the 22 September to the 28. And like the previous edition, you can win a commissioned drawing by guessing who drawn who. The form and all the infos you need can be found by clicking “here“.

To help you out a bit here are the members at Eyeskream that are participating in Comic Swap!

• Cy-Boar
• Future Pig
• Little Terrors
• The Flying Ferret
• Samurai Pride
• Somewhere in SF
• Strange Fiction

The ranks they are ah’ growing! this week I wanted to introduce two more new members over at Eyeskream. (”Gamer Candy” will soon be renamed “Good in Theory”.)

These are two great webcomics more than worthy of yoru precious “Click”. But be fore warned, some artists at Eyeskream have comics that are targeting for an older more mature audience. So “click” responsibly.

What do you know? An update? Who would have thunk it!

Bet you forgot about old “Ange” huh? Couldn’t resist putting him in a Dodge Charger. They have got to be some of the coolest looking cop cars out there! A LEO buddy of mine has a midnight blue one as his personal car. Sucker is slick. Blacked out windows, hidden mini strobe lights, and a lock box in the console that houses his patrol radio and switches for the lights. Looking in the window you’d never guess it was a cop car. Even has non-government plates on it. Yeah… your right. This adds nothing to comic what so ever… but was a great excuse for me to brag about my friends car! LOL!!

The site is almost done… the comic archive has been added back all the way to where the current story arc began. So you can get picked up from there. Also the filler art has been removed so you can read straight through the archive and get caught up. Here is what has been done so far…

• About SM - Learn about the story and characters…
• Cultivation - Download banners, social networking links…
• Fanatics - View Fanart, and Reader submitted pictures..
• FAQ - Duh, answering common questions…
• Freebies - Wallpapers, Printable Christmas Ornaments…
• About Me - Uh… self serving bio of myself… (Rollovers not working though.)

You can see and read other stuff I have done and will be working on in the “Other Comic Projects” section at bottom right of the page. this is what is up for now…

• “Filler Art Page” - All filler art now kept here… (Not really liking th gallery system I’m using.)
• “Tripping in Elgin” - A comic about me on a business trip to Elgin IL.
• “2008 Hour Comic Day” - Follow me through an average day for 24 hours.
• “Inside Eyeskream” - The two page (long pages BTW) comic I did for an Eyeskream Contest before I became a member.

And speaking of Eyeskream… we have New members!!! But for now let’s just talk about one of them… Jon Scrivens and his webcomic “Little Terrors!” I have been hoping he would make in for a while now. To be honest, I am surprised he hadn’t made it in sooner! I’ve always liked the his style and it has been fun to watch him and “Little Terrors” progress. I can honestly say the guy is turning out some of his best stuff right now. So what a better time to start reading it!

About “Little Terrors“…

Fitsworth, England. A small commuter town just outside London, not exactly the first place you think of when you hear of epic battles again hordes of undead corpses, Trolls, zombie bears and evil monks.

As unlikely as the setting is our hero, Jonas Milton was a school boy in Fitsworth until we was tragically knocked down walking to school. Cut forward a few weeks and the town is in chaos, colleagues and family members thought dead rise from the grave only to rip their loved ones apart in a lustful hunger. Jonas wakes also but seems to not suffer the hunger or such decay others bodies have suffered. He travels the town trying to figure out what is the cause to all this madness…