Pretty Tricky

This Is Gonna Be A Good Week

I Didn't Faint!

I was originally going to consider having me faint in the last panel, like I've done in some past strips, but then I figured, Real World people don't faint as much as Cartoon World people do (hopefully), so I just had myself smack my forehead. The "I should have guessed" was added in later.

Blam.

The Three Evaluation Levels

Messy

 In case you're wondering how all that mud got on the walls, Merlin probably went in the house and shook, like this:

You know, the way dogs usually do when they're wet.

This was a strip I made before the blog was up. Recently I thought the punch line was funny enough to reuse in a blog strip. I wasn't exactly sure if I should keep it the same or not, but eventually I decided to change it to just a long panel showing the mud Merlin had coated the walls in. The original playout had Moe standing still. Then a blob of mud hit him. Then Merlin came in (treading mud on the floor in the process) and thought "Now I know what it feels like to be a pig!" And Moe told Merlin to wipe his paws. I changed Merlin's line to this version because I thought it was better.

All The Nermians Are Together!

If you're not familiar with some of these Nermians, check out our Nermia page (there's a link to it underneath the banner). It has links to our Nermia stories, and each one of them introduces at least one of these characters.

I was trying to think of a good Nermia Day joke, when it suddenly occurred to me that I could just do a get-together of the main Nermians. But when I "finished" the drawing, I thought the left and right sides looked extremely blank, so I put in Thidwick, Merlin, Moe, Bob, and Heidi on one side, and The Fork, The Platypus, and The Ghost Of Ex-King Mick Mustard on the other side. I also figured it would be a good idea to put in Nerm II, The Evil Tooth Fairy's castle, and the Nermian flag. So I did.

We're Out

This entire strip came from a simple doodle of Heidi sitting down and holding two bananas, saying "One banana, two bananas." I can't exactly remember why I drew this, but I recently decided I ought to translate that doodle into a strip, and this is what came out.

Multiple Personalities?

No, Moe does not have dissociative identity disorder (two separate personalities).

I actually did this myself once.

So Close, And Yet So Far!!

When I showed the last strip of last year's Election Week to my brothers, they were wondering how Strip Supervisor would have more power than the President. I decided I'd better explain that part in this strip.

Sneaky, But Not Sneaky Enough!

So this is what Julia meant on Tuesday when she said "We'll see about that" when I predicted that she wouldn't have any success in the election.

Obviously Not

Apparently Heidi doesn't know the history of the Presidents of I.W.M.A.; she doesn't even know the current President is Lily.

Good, No Tom

So What Has She Got Up Her Sleeve?

That little line jutting out of my head is supposed to be my nose.

No, Please, Don't Do This Again!!

In case you need a refresher on what Julia's talking about, all you need to read is the last strip of last year's Election Week.

I Do Love A Bit Of Gorgonzola

Sometimes I need to shorten a strip idea to get it to fit in this Sunday format. But in this case, I actually needed to extend it a little.

I Thought They Lived SIMPLE Lives?

David Isn't Cool

:)

The title for the book came from me thinking about simple book titles, for something like a book without words. I can't exactly remember the details on how it turned into ":)".

How About, Just Don't Trust Him In General?!

This Strip is Pretty Funny

Not Scary One Bit

I was originally planning on using this idea for a calendar. But then I was looking for a good Halloween joke for this year, and I thought I'd use this strip.

Crud, I forgot to color in the pumpkin in the last panel!

Overly Complicated

The drop panel in the opening row (the one where Moe screams "YAAGH!") was in my original sketch for the strip. I decided to move it to the potentially removable top row to make more room for the rest of the strip. Even so, I needed to stack two panels on top of each other to make a bit more room.

Showoff

One thing I like about this strip is that Merlin was extremely careful about his painting and it turned out a bit pathetic; Bob, on the other hand, was almost careless with HIS painting, and it turned out like a photograph.

They Told Me Never, Never, Ever, to Disengage My Hair From My Head, or I Would Die

The post title is a reference to a line from Portal 2.

After I made this strip, I started thinking, "What if Erica said something like, 'What's a haircut?'" to justify the fact that she had NEVER had a haircut.

That Must Be One Big Back Fin!!

C-3PMerlin and R2-Bob2

Merlin's line is an actual line from Star Wars IV.

It All Makes Sense Now!

Long Fur

Bob's fur is actually much longer than the original sketch. Here it is:

When I drew this strip, I thought I'd make his fur a bit longer to emphasize Merlin's reaction. Then it came time to color it, and I thought, why not color outside the lines and make his fur even longer?

Worst Joke Ever

The Lightsaber With The Goofball Goes Vroom, Vroom, Vroom...

Just like Thursday's strip, the lightsaber is glowing. I decided not to color in the blade itself this time, to make it look more like the way they look in Star Wars.

Ostracized

Or Was It An Insult?

My brother said this to me one time, and I started to wonder this.

Moe's lightsaber is glowing.

Whoa, Einstein was Right!

This idea came into being after I heard some friends of mine discussing this saying. I felt that I wanted to have Charlie do something EXTREMELY stupid. At first I wanted to have him be about to accidentally walk off the roof blindfolded. Then I wanted to have him be above a bed of nails, but I figured that wouldn't work, because the house would be in the way. So I changed the roof to a tightrope, held to the wall by only a piece of tape. Also, if you look closely at Charlie, he's gripping the tightrope with his toes.

No, Something Else

I had finished this strip–color and all–when I decided to totally redo all the dialogue. Here's how the original dialogue went:

MOE: Ow...

MOE: There's something wrong with my eye.

CHARLIE: Your finger's in it.

I changed it to this because I felt that some people may not be able to connect Moe's line and Charlie's line.

Um, Yes, I Did

As a matter of fact, I did use that "excuse" last year.

This is our 1700th post! And to celebrate it, we're going to show some...

UNUSED HOLIDAY THEMED LOGO BOXES!

The text inside the stocking reads "And more and more attention!"

The text inside the turkey reads "With tons of food!"

The text on the candy bag reads "The scariest comic in town!"

So If They Started Talking, What Would Happen?

For every strip this week, I decided to use a different shade of orange for Moe's shirt.

At first, I was going to actually show the crowded room with the talk bubble crammed in there in the last two panels, but then I figured it'd be a little less obvious, so I changed the last two panels to me and Moe talking about it.

I think Moe was sick that day.

Something Hard to Pronounce

Copernicium

That must be a pretty recent "old Advanced Chemistry textbook."

The reason is because Copernicium (element 112 in the Periodic Table of Elements) was known as Ununbium until last year, when the discovery of it was made official and the name Copernicium was selected.

I was originally going to say that Copernicium is the one ELEMENT that c.g.f. won't affect, but then I figured that c.g.f. would also affect the oxygen around the reaction, as well as the surface it is resting on (I'm never going to explain the actual effects of crystallic geomoptic fusion are, like the meaning of "snake tulip," as well as Tom's appearance and voice). Then I figured that I'd better make it a bit more specific, so I looked up which group Element 112 was in in the Periodic Table of Elements, and I found out it was in the metals group.

So, crystallic geomoptic fusion will affect every metal known to mankind except Copernicium.

Nanoscope

I'm not sure why I decided to have David answer these questions. In fact, I wasn't even planning on using him beyond the two strips of last week.

I used the term "nanoscopes" implying that they were supposed to be a more powerful microscope (I used the term "nanoscope" because "nano" is smaller than "micro." I was planning on using "yoctoscope," but then I figured that would be too obscure, so I used the smallest easily recognizable unit of measurement). But then I was looking online and I found out that someone really invented something and called it a nanoscope, and that it was supposed to be a more powerful microscope. From what I've read, it could be powerful enough to see inside human cells.

Wow; if you need nanoscopes to get proper results in crystallic geomoptic fusion, that must be a molecular-level reaction!

Googupchupah

Sorry about the late post.

There Has Been a Flight Change; This Double Post Will Now Depart from Gate 6A3.

"6A3" in the post title is actually not just random numbers with a letter. It is actually this post number (#1693) in hexadecimal form. Why you would actually use hexadecimal numbers is beyond me, though.

Okay, here are the strips:

Sunday's is actually what my dad did once to my brother. I added in the last panel, though.

Also, here are the Double Post strips we've done so far:

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?
There Has Been a Flight Change; This Double Post Will Now Depart from Gate 6A3.

Why Does That Happen So Much?!

I drew this strip literally three hours before it was posted today.