Having 100 comics is awesome because big, round numbers are awesome. Also because reaching that milestone in under a year feels pretty neat, to boot. Thinking of 100 different comics makes me feel like they’ve got some weight, and maybe that’s why I’m trying out some character-based comedy of late. Time will tell if that pays off, but rest assured you haven’t seen the end of this particular tangent.

By my count, the other longest-running graphic-design webcomic, which has been at it for a few years I believe, will be eclipsed in sheer volume in a number of weeks. This is my way of saying I’m the shit over here, and recognize.

The first comics in this series pain me to both view and read, and I know that’s half the fun of watching any artist over time. Looking at early Peanuts and Garfield strips, or Calvin and Hobbes to a lesser extent, is always fun and charming, seeing where character started visually and comparing them to where they end up. The webcomics version of this is Penny Arcade, whose early strips look like a monkey drew them when compared to their radiant current form. Of course, there’s ten years of difference there, and thousands of strips to grow as an artist. In my neck of the woods, Newton’s nose eventually overpowered his face, and –as some assert– portions of other characters came to overpower other portions. Such is evolution. Hopefully Rob thinks I’m getting better at drawing black people, too.

Looking back, I’m happiest with the camping excursion and our foray into detective fiction, Force Justify, aside from the random gag here or there. Then of course, there’s other’s I’d just as soon forget exist. I have to believe other cartoonists feel the same way, but that’s one of the benefits to this. There’s really no endless iterating of ideas. You do a strip, it’s done, you move on and you do the next one. So when one turd pops out, there’s always a chance the next one can be solid gold. 

Admittedly, most end up in the middle. Thanks for everything,

–nv–