D’oh!

Whilst there has been no comic from me this week, it’s not because I’m lazy or have given up. Oh no, I love drawing little cartoons! The reason there hasn’t been anything from me lately is because I’ve been working on developing my own style.

For those that know me personally, you already know of how I like to experiment in all manner of different styles, I never really stick to one. The problem is with webcomics (or any comic really) is that the artist needs to stick to a personal style so it becomes recognisable. Just check out the fantastic work of Mike for an example of what I mean. Even if he left out his signature strip, I would be able to tell it’s him. Also, check out the rut as another good example.

I’m not saying my style is going to be unique, just that I am going to try and settle on one in particular. I’m also going to sign the graphics with my initials rather than as “Noddegamra”. Or I may even sign it as “Matt”, I haven’t decided yet (any suggestions?). Next week I will be on holiday with my girlfriend, so you may just have to wait one more week before I finish the next comic strip.

Oh! And just one more thing! The picture in this post is similar to my finalised style, although the finished version will look better as I will be using my graphics tablet (or even scanned drawings) instead of (once again) using my mouse out of laziness/convenience!

How many people dressed as Smurfs can you gather in one place at one time?

This is the record the people of Komin, Croatia decided that they could beat. Research on the Internet revealed that they would only have to gather more than two-hundred and ninety Smurfs in one place to clinch the record. The press were notified, campaigns were launched and a date was set. When the time came, three-hundred and ninety-five Smurfs descended on Komin.

Nearly four-hundred men, women and children all painted blue from head to foot, wearing white trousers and floppy white hats gathered together for the record attempt. With over one-hundred more Smurfs than the current record, they were surely a shoe-in.

However, when they contacted Guinness to verify the record, they were informed that it had all been a waste of time. Last year, Warwick University students managed to amass four-hundred and fifty-one Smurfs, besting the Croatian effort by fifty-six.

A down-beat Croat spokesman said: “We could easily have got more Smurfs, but we thought that over a hundred more than the American record we found on the Internet would be enough”.

The moral of the story? Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet!

Text Version 

About two years ago, I bought the game Animal Crossing. It was fun for awhile, me and my brother played it for about a month, then got tired of it.

I’m always trying to convert my parents to videogames, however, and thought that Animal Crossing would be simple enough for them to get into. I let my mom set up a house, and she soon got into the game in a big way. (As a kid, she had polio, and now she had multiple sclerosis. She was largely homebound, except for the once our twice when she’d either leave to go shopping or to church.)

Spending all day at home in a wheel chair bored her, so the relief Animal Crossing provided her was kind of amazing. She’d spend so much time playing it, that it became something of an obsession. She played it so much that she was constantly getting kidded by the family.

She payed off her house in the game, she collected all the fossils, etc. Whenever I saw her playing, I thought that the game must have long since stopped being interesting to her, yet she kept playing- even after me and my brother had long since stopped.

Her condition got progressively worse, and she eventually stopped playing. About a year ago, she passed away.

I had forgotten about Animal Crossing, I hadn’t played it in over a year and a half. Today, however, I decided to visit the village again and see what was up. Weeds had grown everywhere, the villagers wondered where my mom and I had gone.

Then I came to my mailbox, it was full of letters with presents- all from my mom. Every letter was pretty much the same. “Thinking of you. Thought you’d like this present. Love, Mom” Even though I’d stopped playing, she continued to send me presents. I look back now at how I made fun of her for playing even after she’d done everything, and I realize now that she was probably spending her time getting presents for me.

Anyway, I know it’s probably cheesy, but I was just amazed at how much this affected me and I thought I’d share. Show your parents as much love as you can, while you still can guys.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

“Halloween originated from the Pagan festival Samhain, celebrated among the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain. Irish and Scottish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. Other western countries embraced the holiday in the late twentieth century. Halloween is now celebrated in several parts of the western world, most commonly in Ireland, the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom and occasionally in parts of Australia and New Zealand”. – Wikipedia

If you are dressing up or doing some pumpkin carving, check out our forum competition, or for more information on Halloween click here.
I hope you all have a great time tonight!

Wondering what this is? This two-headed pike was caught in the Missouri River, North Dakota. It’s part of Ten of the Strangest Things Caught While Fishing. Click here to see the article in full.

Sandy Hartness of Yucaipa Valley, California, turned her standard poodle into a Ninja Turtle named Leonardoodle. She took 1st place last year by transforming her dog into a dragon.