SPXPO…

Tomorrow and Sunday Jim and I will be attending the SPX Expo in Maryland, but you already know this because there is a lovely little box on the right of your screen that mentions where we are appearing… also we have been talking about it all week and in fact, this week was kind of inspired by the fact that we are attending the SPX were there are going to be a lot of Indies, that Jim and I simply do not understand.

This Saturday we are starting “Steppin’ Out” Saturdays because we are now in Steppin Out Magazine and for those of you that don’t live in the NY/NJ this is probably the only way you are going to see these.  Also if you don’t go to bars then this will also be the only place you will see these.  We have almost given you a reason to visit this website everyday which is good for us because we want more hits.

Next week  the portal saga ends and Dave and Phil end up in a place where people have been telling them to go for years.

-Phil

visit us – we will have beer

Hey Regulars, we are almost finished with our little journey into the world of webcomics.  I wanted to point out, that I am an avid reader of a very select few webcomics that I think have the “right stuff”.  However, I give credit to everyone and anyone who tries to undertake a webcomic.  It’s not easy…

I don’t know that everyone who starts a webcomic is dreaming of grabbing that Penny Arcade type of money.  Possibly people are just looking to leave their little stamp on life.  I think I’d fall somewhere in the middle.  I’m not looking to make millions, just enough to live off of the comic would be my dream, and as far as leaving a stamp, I just want to leave something behind that someone could read through one day and say “That Jim was a real asshole.” 

Thanks for reading them!  If you’re in Bethesda Maryland this weekend stop by the Marriott and say “hello” to Phil and I.  We will be selling first runs of our first Happy Hour collection.  I think it’s going to be a good time, and I look forward to meeting all the other creators.

-Jim-

This works for Bruce…

I’ve seen this done in Batman comics before.  This works for him.  He usually has something insightful or interesting going on in that brain of his.  Also he typically isn’t just sitting around while thinking these things.  Often times he is swinging from buildings or fighting something.  This “inner thought” gets annoying though when the character is thinking about how they are perceived by their peers at the local coffee house or around a campfire.  Good ahead and make the argument that it’s express and so on and who am I to judge and whatnot, but this is simply not for me.  Again who am I?  Jim draws the comics, so he is probably more qualified to comment here.  I’m going to go write a week about blogging and then complain about crap I don’t like and at least have some legitimacy behind.  Alright, I do write the strips with Jim, so I suppose I do have a stake.

Either way, tomorrow and Friday there is partial nudity and puppies.  I know you are going to come back for that.

ALSO… New Brewery today!   Be sure to check out our other awesome webcomic.

-Phil

inner thoughts

You Muppets…

This is true, at the very least if your art work is going to be poor, than at least make it funny.  Stick figures are fine, as long as the comic that contains said stick figures is funny.  I mean stick figures are never going to get syndicated, but if you are making people laugh in your medium (ie the web) than go for it.  I got things to say too and luckily I got a really good friend who is also a great artist, so things work out nicely for me.  Yesterday even though it was a holiday we posted a new strip, so be sure to check it out, otherwise Jim will get upset.  Also if you have a comic that you enjoy that isn’t Happy Hour (does that even exist) you can mention it below, but we would prefer it if you didn’t plug other comics on our site.  Next week concludes, or does it, our Portal Saga, so as always be sure to read Happy Hour every M-F.

-Phil

lucky

Labor day!

Look we got a new strip on a holiday. Don’t worry Jim got paid at his regular rate and a holiday rate so everyone is satisfied. This week we look at the current state of webcomics and which ones seem to be popular. If you know of any good ones please post them below.

BITE ME

Hey Regulars!  Well, this week certainly got out of hand.  As soon as I heard the news about New York being named the number one hotspot for Bed Bug activity I knew I wanted to do a week of strips about it.  Everything started out alright… but then that evil horror movie love of mine took over, and I couldn’t resist making this the last strip of the week.

Next week Phil and I will be heading down to Maryland to attend the SMALL PRESS EXPO, or the SPX (as the adults call it so that children who can’t spell won’t get overly excited and pass out).  In honor of this prestigious gathering of comic minds Phil and I will be ripping down the 4 walls that Webcomics built in a week of strips I like to call WEB OF LIES!

Also, the book is finished… well, as close to finished as it could possibly be.  We need to make a few more tweaks, some of you lucky people were able to already see a sneak-peek, but the book will officially be up for sale next week, so GET PUMPED!  You are not going to want to miss out on this collection… and if you do miss out, then me and the rest of the awesome people will lock hands and form a circle you are not allowed to be a part of, and we will be sure to speak a slightly inaudible level and laugh a lot.  Most of the laughter will take place moments after getting extremely quiet and looking over our shoulders at you. 

-Jim-

Horror…

I think you can figure out our inspiration for this strip… basically any horror movie with creatures that get inside you. If you think Chip looks creepy here wait until tomorrow because it only gets worse.

Next week we make fun of how crappy most webcomics are. Most of them are god awful. If you visit us at SPX than not only will you see us and our awesome comic(s) ,but you will also find a shit ton of these terrible comics I was just mentioning.

-Phil
we are worth the trip

The Future

Hey Regulars, I had a good time doing this strip because I got to put one of my very favorite characters in it.  THE EXTERMINATOR!  Hooray!  As you may or may not have been able to tell, the design for the exterminator is based upon Marty McFly’s Plutonium suit in Back to the Future (sans hair dryer). 

Anyway, it’s subtle references like this that keep me so excited to bring Happy Hour to all of you daily.  However, this appearance of the exterminator was a lot more fulfilling because it’s the first time I had him in a colored strip. 

If you want to see his first appearance, you’ll have to travel back to strips 776-785 (May 2009) and read the mysterious plague that almost destroyed Shiver Me Burgers as we know… Brine Flu!

-Jim-

Out with the old…

Since Beetles are bugs, I am going with the theory that this subject is on topic.  I was sitting in my car this afternoon, enjoying my lunch, listening to 1010 WINS, my local news AM radio station, and I heard a report that caught my attention.  Apparently the comic strip, Beetle Bailey, turns 60 this Saturday. If you don’t know, BB, which if you are under the age of 75 than there is a good chance you don’t, it is a comic about a smart aleck college student (I took that from a web description, I don’t think that the strip is smart or alecky) who joins the army.  That’s it, it hasn’t changed since then.  I don’t read it, so I am going to assume that he is still in Korea.  Now I like reruns of M.A.S.H. just as much as the next guy, but not as much as dave, but honestly new episodes of M.A.S.H. with the same characters in the same setting just wouldn’t make sense, so why is it that this comic is in so many newspapers?  Questions like these are perfect examples of why newspapers are failing.  They are completely incapable of parting ways with the old in order to make way for the new.  Newspapers themselves, not just the comics section, have remained basically unchanged for the past 50 years.  Want to draw in the new young professionals and readers?  Then update your dated, boring format.  If you read the article I linked above, you will note that the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco has an exhibit marking BB’s “achievement” stating that, “Beetle, his pals and their uncomplicated gags have become familiar friends to readers over the years.”  That may be true, but since most of the people that are familiar with Beetle are dead, there probably won’t be too many people going to this exhibit.

Millions of fans?!?!?!  Are they counting headstones?  That’s the problem with these old comics, even when the old man doing this crap passes on or retires; his uncreative and unoriginal kids are there to carry on the crappy comic.  These syndicates are a joke and they are afraid to take a chance by dropping one of these “classics” and replacing it with something actually funny.  The problem is that if you remove Beetle from a couple of papers, the old bastards with nothing else to do and are still competent enough to take notice, will write a letter, claim they will no longer read the paper, and complain thus causing a headaches for already stressed editors, so the editors don’t even bother worrying about something as simple as the so called funnies.

I don’t know why I care about this.  Print is a dying medium anyhow.  I get more news and comics on my Droid faster than turning on my television or booting up my PC, which is already much faster than going out and getting a newspaper.  I care because this old bastard should stop doing the same thing day in and day out and step aside to let some new, fresh talent in, so that the papers at least stand a chance of attracting new readers.

That’s all the ranting I got.  Tell your friends about Happy Hour, so that we are ready when these old dudes start croaking.

-Phil

in with the new

Cute Pests…

Bed Bugs have to be the cutest pests to eradicate to date.  I say that because they send in this adorable little puppy named Barney (he’s actually a Basset Hound) and he sniffs out bed bugs and termites.  The only thing that is even close to this in pest control is that dog that chases away the geese from parks and schoolyards.  Why can’t all pest removal be this cute.  Like having cats chase away mice or having German Shepherds find you a great accountant.  These things would make the world a better place.

-Phil

protect us barney