Where Is Candy, Where Is Candy...

I made this post with the newer Blogger interface. I must say, it's interesting.

The original strip didn't have the second panel in the bottom row. I added it to add to the slowness of his hiding.

His Tail is Deceptively Huge!

I don't know why I chose 473 as the number of urchins. It just seemed right.

One of my idea sketches for this strip was to actually see the urchins in his tail, with Nemo's face coming into the compartment. But then I thought that would ruin the suspense, kind of like the interior of Snoopy's doghouse, so I changed it back to this.

Digital'd!

In case you're wondering where a white-out is, look at the pointer of my talk bubble in the last panel.

"Digital'd!" is a reference to the Homestar Runner running gag "-'d".

Are You Even Listening?

I was just thinking that it's pretty interesting that, throughout the almost five and a half years of doing this blog, and the almost 1700 posts, I have never used identical titles; each title is unique.

I'll Get You Next Time; Mark My Words!!

This is the first time I actually drew Gwendolyn's division line. I specifically said "division line" because, in past strips, we have seen her back; but never have we actually seen the division between skin and scales.

Caw Caw

Several of those stuffed animals in the third panel are some of the stuffed animals either I or one of my siblings owns. Also, to make it look more like Angry Birds, I put a crown on the whale.

Yeah, Why DIDN'T You?

This strip was based off of a FoxTrot strip I remember reading, but the ending was based on one of my own thoughts.

You're Not Carrying Handcuffs, Are You?

NEVER Again

The thing he's holding in the middle panel is a TV remote control. I wasn't sure at first if I should put it in, but then I figured, since Labor Week was ending, he shouldn't just be lying there doing nothing. He should be lying there doing something. (Watching TV counts as doing something, right?)

Also, happy 9/10/11!

If Only He Were This Cooperative In The Other Strips

Too Much Work

I thought it would be too much work to actually scramble a cube just for this strip, so I just copied a scrambled cube from the cover of a Rubik's Cube book.

Yippee

Boring Insanity

You Set Me Up! YOU SET ME UP!!

This Is Gonna Be A Long Week

The title is a repeated title of This Is Gonna Be A Long Drive.

I really have no idea where the idea for a Labor WEEK came from.

Ouch...That Must've Stung

The title is a repeated title of Ouch...That Must've Hurt.

Another punch line idea for this strip that someone had stuck an ice cube in the seaweed. But I thought this was funnier, so I did this instead.

Right Back At You!

Off With Its Head!

This happened to me once when I was sharpening a colored pencil.

That's Gotta Be Interesting

This is almost a repeated title of That's Gotta Be Embarrassing.

Remember the other day when I introduced Irene? And I told you the backstory? In that backstory I thought of having Julia be able to wrap her tail around herself in this way. Then it wasn't hard to apply that idea to Irene.

What The Snake Tulip Happened There?

Sorry about the...er..."inappropriate language"...in the post title.

The idea for this strip evolved in a strange way. I was feeling a little queasy one day, and so I drew a stomach with bubbles forming in it (sorry about the kind of graphic image). But then it kinda looked like it was riddled with holes, and so I drew it in that way. But that time, the stomach ended up looking kind of lightbulb-esque, and so I changed it to a lightbulb riddled with holes. That's pretty much when I got this final idea.

And My Jaw Becomes That Long Too

The idea for Irene came from me looking through my earlier sketches. I found out that, before I had Moe's Secret Friends, I was going to do a week's worth of strips with the Jones family as merpeople. I was going to call it "Moepeople." (I really can't remember why I abandoned the idea.) Anyway, I found out that one of my ideas for it was to have Julia's tail be extremely long. That's where this comes from.

Irene's name has absolutely no intentional connection with Hurricane Irene (currently forming in the Atlantic Ocean).

That Would Be An Awkward Conversation

Ah, so his name is Zyxoi!

That's one of the first aliens we saw. Actually, when I drew this strip, I copied Zyxoi from that original strip, not his most recent and slightly updated appearance.

LEAVE ME ALONE, MOE!

In case you're wondering, in the last panel I'm putting my head on my desk in an exasperated way.

Now THAT Would Be Pushing It

Oh, A Different Strip?!

I actually drew this strip before I drew yesterday's. Normally I draw the strips in chronological order, but after I drew this strip, I realized it would work better AFTER yesterday's, because I mention my penS, and so I switched them.

As In Two Or Three

Much Mistaken

Moe's made me mad in the past when we've discussed the strip, but this is the first time he's actually insulted me.

I Don't Think It's Because It's Thick

Poof! A Big Line!

Moe's Not Listening

This actually happened to me very recently when I went to see Cars 2.

And Again, Why IS That?

This is a repeated title of both Yeah, Why IS That? and Again, Why IS That?

Instead of the smoke above the fainted person, I used a waterspout, because he's wet.

Did you notice that the puddle underneath Moe is getting bigger each panel?

Tomorrow's strip MAY be a little late.

Definitely the Second Option

I did this one time when I saw this question on a personality test I took once.

Okay, So How Exactly Did That Happen?

This was originally going to happen to Moe, but I eventually decided to change it to Merlin to make it seem a little less... okay, I don't know what the word I'm looking for is.

What is zero?

Interesting results. Another poll done just out of curiosity.

Check out our new poll! It'll run for two months.

And This Is Post #1651

I've noticed that some of you may be reading these captions before you read the strips. For those of you who do, realize that the captions reveal some details about the cartoon, and so you need to read the strips first.

This came from a dream I once had, except I replaced one detail with another. The original was that only the duplicated objects could tell each other apart; they looked completely identical to everyone else. I replaced that detail with the "having a system" idea. The numbers were originally on the backs of their heads, but then I realized that that would seem a little like tattoos, so I moved the numbers to their shirts.

We'll hopefully be posting a new poll soon.

Can I Have Some Earplugs?

One of the Modern Mysteries

She Keeps Those In A LIST?!

This strip makes a reference to this strip.

Okay, Paradox Time

Wow, I haven't used colored backgrounds (for decoration, not as part of the strip's plot) for years!

Do They Touch It Simultaneously?

Yeah, That'd Be SO Much Easier

Generation to a Totally Different Generation

The reason why Julia and Moe look pale in this strip is because, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I had run out of my previous "skin tone" color, and so I had to pick a new one. For this one, I tried out the apricot-colored crayon (it didn't work out well).

Have You Seen Harry Potter?

This is a repeated title of both Have You Seen Star Wars? and Have You Seen The Emperor's New Groove?

And Is This Encyclopedia Up-To-Date?

At first I was going to have Julia say that she looked it up on Wikipedia, but then I realized that Wikipedia isn't always a trustworthy source of information. So I changed it to an actual encyclopedia, and then added I.W.M.A. to it.

I've Got Another Double Post, Ready For Bids! Any Takers?

Charlie's ice cream sculpture is a person (he's pointing, not holding a gun) on a winged horse, riding on a cloud.

I ran out of my previous skin color, so I've had to use an older, darker one. Since then I've found a suitable replacement, so sometime next week the skin will be...well, skin-colored...again.

Another double post title! And in case you want to know what the past ones were:

Psshhhh! The Double-Post!

Another Double-Post

Yet Another Double-Post

Here's Another Double-Post

Double Post...Again Again

Here At I.W.M.A., We Commonly Create Double Posts.

I'll Take the Late-Double Post Combo, Please.

Who Ordered the Double Post?

I've Got Another Double Post, Ready For Bids! Any Takers?

Is That Even Possible?

My dad suggested this strip after yesterday's strip happened to him.

That's Kind of...Odd

My dad and I were once got a couple ice creams. My dad was licking his, and it didn't seem to be changing in size, and so he said this.

She Sounds Skeptical

Did you notice that Charlie is carrying a pink book? That came from an idea my dad had: that Charlie spent most of his time in the library drooling over books with pink ponies and rainbows.

Yeah, He's Obsessed With Disney

BTW, they were talking about the '50s Disney animated film.