Bug

I don’t know if I like where this reboot is going…

I have to admit, I never watched The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. I’ve always liked Conan but I’m just not interested in watching talk shows anymore – anyone’s talk show. But I did watch Conan’s last show on Friday and it made me think of a couple of things.

First: Conan, for all his goofy shenanigans, is a gentleman. Even though he had carte blanche to say whatever he wanted and even though it seems that most of America hates Jay Leno right now, he never once took a shot at Jay. Now, I wasn’t expecting him to – it wouldn’t help his cause, it would be out of character and it would’ve made him look bitter. But I found it interesting because I don’t know if many other folks would be so gracious after getting such a screw-job. It was nice to watch someone take the high road and play it cool.

Second: Conan said something near the end of his show that really spoke to me. He said:

“Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”

I’ve been trying to get a comic strip into the newspapers for over ten years and I’ve only recently given up this life-long goal. I never thought I’d do a webcomic, let alone start a webcomic with the intention of making it my bread and butter. But here I am, in webcomic land. I know there’s no guarantee that I’ll make a nickel out of this thing but it was comforting to hear someone else say: “Hey, I didn’t get what I wanted either but that’s no reason to give up.”

I wish you luck, Conan in whatever you do next.

When I started this webcomic, I assumed I’d be drawing it in a void for the first year or two. I figured the only people who would know of it’s existence would be my family and friends. To be honest, I liked the idea. You only get one chance to make a first impression and I didn’t want to reveal my strip to the world until I felt it was ready. Of course, the problem with that logic is that, knowing my perfectionism, I’d never feel the comic was ready and would keep it in a deep, dark well, never to see the light of day – much like Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs.

Well, that time has passed. “Bug” has taken off and found an audience all on it’s own. I blame Twitter. Part of me is nervous. I’m still figuring out how to do fairly basic things on website design and sometimes I feel like I entered a gross, newborn baby, still covered in afterbirth in a beauty contest. “She’ll get cuter! Give her time! Lemme wipe some of this goo off.” I shout. But I can’t deny how wonderful it feels to watch the amount of visitors I get steadily rise.

This feeling of euphoria peaked a couple of days ago when I received an email from the host of a podcast called “The Dish”. It’s a podcast that focuses on webcomics and comics as a whole, hosted by two guys and a girl (sans pizza place). The host informed me that “Bug” was going to be reviewed on their latest episode. You can check it out here. My review comes in at around 28 minutes in. It’s a fun podcast to listen to – and I’m not just saying that. I’m planning on listening to their next one.

Just wanted to formally thank all of you who commented and emailed me on the look of the website. You guys pretty much confirmed what I thought as well: the website should reflect the simplistic style of the strip.

I’ve wanted to be a cartoonist all my life but I always assumed I’d get into newspapers. It’s only in the past couple of years that I’ve redirected my efforts to the web so I’m a bit more behind all this CSS, HTML nonsense that I’m sure most of you out there have a firm grasp of. I like to think I know just enough to be dangerous – and I do mean dangerous. I once attempted to change the color to the calendar and accidentally locked myself, and everyone else, out of my website.

I’m glad most of you like the simple look. I do too. And more little changes will be coming (custom menu bar, custom navigation buttons, etc) but I think the overall look won’t change for a while.

Thanks for your help, everyone!

I know, I know. Blasphemy you say. The Office came first and Parks & Recreation is just copying their style (although both shows are copying England’s original version of The Office). And you’ll say that Amy Poehler is just a female version of Steve Carell’s character. And many of you will also say that Park’s Mark and Ann love story could never hold a candle to The Office’s Jim and Pam love story.

But hear me out.

I started watching Parks ever since it debuted and have enjoyed every episode. I’ve been feeling this unbalanced sense of affection for Parks & Rec for a while now but couldn’t figure out why this show endeared me. I finally figured it out: Parks & Recreation has more funny characters.

Let’s break it down. As far as consistently, funny characters, The Office has Michael and Dwight. That’s it. Oh sure, the other characters have a funny line here and there but none of them are as reliably funny as those two. Parks & Recreation has Leslie, Tom, Ron, Andy and April. That’s five characters who can easily deliver laughs. Five well defined characters who are very different from each other and are funny in their own right. I’d watch a whole episode that just followed any of those characters. Would you really want to watch a whole episode that featured just Oscar, Kelly or Toby? Even Jim and Pam (main characters mind you) are comedic duds by themselves  who need more interesting characters to bounce off of.

Plus, The Office has heartbreaking episodes that, while carrying a dramatic punch, are uncomfortable to watch. To be sure, Parks has sappy moments as well but they’re never overwhelming. I know some of you prefer some sad drama in your comedies (usually the same folks who love Scrubs) but not me. It’s easy to provoke a reaction by tugging at heartstrings. It’s comedy that’s tough. That’s why I have more respect for shows and movies that go for the laughs.  And that’s why Parks & Recreation is just a notch above The Office in my book.