Here I am, one year after having launched a webcomic.

At the crack of 2007, I declared a New Year’s Resolution to begin a “weekly internet cartoon”. It took me most of the year to get the details worked out (read: get off my butt and do it). I posted my first comic to this blog (unlaunched at the time while I worked up 5 initial comics) on September 10th, 2007.

Since then I’ve changed a few things up. I started using my own photos for the first couple comics, then switched to cheap, cheezy stock photography as a satire of it. I enjoyed it alot, but was running into some difficulties. I was spending way too much time searching for just the right stock photo to match the image in my head. Additionally, I knew I didn’t own the images and it was going to put me out of ever selling a book collection of my comics, or anything else with those images on it. So I switched back to using my own photography.

There was a brief period of good old fashion inked cartooning with Bean and Stachey, but I lacked the time to really put into that. Taking photos was faster and was really the concept I launched with in the first place, so I needed to get back to that. I’m still writing and drawing for Bean and Stachey, and they may show their face in their own strip one day, but you won’t see them here for a long time.

I’ve been reading a lot about other webcartoonists who are making a legit go of it and have been inspired by it. I don’t have plans to do anything rash (don’t worry, Matt.), but I’m interested in seeing if I can make a part-time income from the comics. So I’m trying to get more serious about committing to an update schedule as well as pushing myself more with the image quality and some products.

I really liked the way last week’s magnet comic turned out, with the little vector guys seeming to be actually standing in a real-life place. I want to experiment more with that, so I’m trying to develop other recuring characters.

I’ll also be experimenting with a more consistent format. I don’t know yet if I’ll go with the traditional daily newspaper style of three to four panels, but I need something more consistent if I’m going to try to collect these in a book one day.
To you few, dear, loyal readers, thank you. Sincerely, thank you. It’s been a lot of fun connecting with you through the comic, and I hope to keep doing it for a long time. I did this because I wanted a non-client creative outlet that would still allow me to connect with the people who would use it, and produce something that would resonate with people. It has been really fulfilling.

So, I’ll keep writing and drawing and making ridiculous faces if you’ll keep reading.

Thanks.

Charlie