Fancy Bastards Assemble!

FANCY BASTARDS ASSEMBLE! Here’s your chance to help me do something very special for my family and in return get something very special of your own.

SHORT VERSION: For $35 you (and 99 other Fancy Bastards) will get the “Fancy Bastards Assemble!” 11″x 17″ print, plus an additional signed, large sized 11″x 17″ print of your choice (“The Doctor Is In,” “Winter Is Coming” or “Yatta Bub!”). For $55 you can get all 4 prints! As I get closer to the goal I will reveal more of the characters on the limited print HERE ON THIS PAGE.

~~CLICK HERE TO ORDER!~~ [SOLD OUT]

LONG VERSION: Being self employed has many rewards: no set hours, no boss, no commute, but it also has its drawbacks: no healthcare, no steady paycheck and NO VACATION! With your help I aim to do something about that last one. My wife and I haven’t been on a real, adult vacation since our honeymoon 7 years ago. We have set a goal of joining the Sea Monkeys of JoCo Cruise Crazy 2. Unfortunately this is AN INCREDIBLY EXPENSIVE GOAL. We need to raise $3500 for the trip. To that end, I have created a limited (to only 100), signed and numbered print featuring the HE cast as a familiar super hero team.

EXPANDED VERSION: At least a dozen of my friends, and a dozen more people I greatly admire and would like to become friends with are going on this cruise. Last year they had such an amazing time THEY ALL STILL TALK ABOUT IT CONSTANTLY. I want to share in this communal geek experience at sea, and I want to share it with my family. If you can help me achieve this goal I will (continue to) be eternally grateful. Plus you get a some fancy wall art out of the deal. Everyone wins.

UPDATE 10/26/11: HOLY EFFING ESS OUT MY AYY! 60/100 Print packs are already gone! I thought this was going to take weeks, not hours. I am completely floored. I have just revealed two more characters. The final 3 will be unveiled when we reach the 100/100 goal. Giant happy thanks to all those that have ordered so far!

UPDATE AGAIN: WOW! There are only 3 print packs left as of this writing. I have updated the comic with Josh in all his hulking glory and will add the last two after the final 3 are sold. Thank you guys so much for the wonderful support.

UPDATE 10/27/11: All 100 print packs are sold out! I expected this to take weeks if not months instead of days. I have to escalate the production and shipping schedule accordingly. I will add the last couple of characters to the comic/print in the next few days. Thank you all so much for the support! If you didn’t get a chance to order before they sold out, I might make the 3 bonus prints available in a pack for $30 if there is any interest.

UPDATE 11/2/11: The final two Fancy Bastards are revealed. Wil Wheaton and Mikey Neumann! Wil is just this guy, you know? And Mikey is the creative director of Gearbox Software (Brothers In Arms, Borderlands, Aliens: Colonial Marines). Mikey previously appeared on HE in THIS comic. He assumes the guise of Director Fury since, after surviving a stroke, he actually wears an eyepatch from time to time.

For those of you that didn’t get a chance to order one of the 100 limited prints, you can donate any amount and get a desktop wallpaper of this image in THE VAULT.

Indistinguishable From Magic

“George Hurt You” shirts are in the store!!!

All I know is that if you say, “Siri, call me Butt Commander,” it will reply thusly, “From now on, I’ll call you Butt Commander. Ok?” That alone is worth the price of entry.

COMMENTERS: Those of you with the iPhone 4s, are you actually using Siri? Is it a novelty or the beginning of our transition into a Star Trek reality. What would you like to see Siri evolve into (what functionality would you like to see added to the platform?) Have you gotten any surprising answers to your Siri-queries? When we were in New York this weekend, my friend Rob told Siri, “I want to see some boobs,” to which she replied, “Ok, there are 17 strip clubs in your area.”

Otherwise Occupied

“George Hurt You” shirts are in the store!!!

First and foremost, I AM NOT casting judgement. I am merely expressing my confusion at the fandom of teenage to adult males surrounding My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, a cartoon made for little girls. I’ve heard all the arguments. It’s well animated, well voice acted, well written, etc. I agree on all accounts. I still just don’t get it. That said, I have always been of the “Fan and let fan” mindset.

This comic is inspired by (and guest stars) my friend Lar, who I spent last weekend with at New York Comic Con. He was expressing an honest desire to understand the Bronies and what makes them tick (I suspect rainbows and sparkles are involved). Later he tweeted most of what I have portrayed him saying panel 1 and I couldn’t help but think he could have just as easily been talking about Occupy Wallstreet. I think he might have been offering himself as defacto leader if there was no other claim to the throne.

I talked to one of the guys at Hasbro (a Hasbrony?) about the Brony phenomenon. He said their official policy is “we don’t get it, but we love it.” He confirmed my suspicion that they are careful NOT to cater to Bronies with the production of the show or the official merchandise, because it would probably have the opposite effect and drive them away. What they are obsessed with is the show which Hasbro thought it was making for little girls. To alter course now, would likely alienate both core audiences. It was a very enlightening conversation that got me thinking about what happens when you create something and put it out there for mass consumption. The audience you get isn’t always the one you want, but rather the one you deserve.

COMMENTERS: Other than MLP:FiM, are there any shows, movies, or other entertainment products that you’ve enjoyed despite being out of the target demographic (age, gender, etc)? Speaking of Hasbro, when I was a kid I LOVED Jem. I was always too embarrassed to ask for the toys for my birthday. Eventually I got up the nerve and came up with this thing about how I wanted the guy (whatever Jem’s boyfriend’s name was) and I “might as well get the girl to go along with him.” The ruse didn’t work and I remained Jemless.

A Wrong Turn At Albuquerque

“Winter Is Coming” shirts are now IN THE STORE!!! [based on this comic]

If regular episodes of Breaking Bad give me ulcers, the season finales typically cause my stomach to attempt to digest itself. I can’t really comment on this Sunday’s season finale since essentially everything I can say is a SPOILER. I will say this, however, “OMGWTFWALTERWHITEABQ!!!” Yeah, it was that type of situation.

COMMENTERS: The idea for this comic was born out of some fun I was having with the Fancy Bastards on Twitter this weekend coming up with alternative, alliterative shows that might star Bryan Cranston as Walter White. I started with Baking Bread, Braking Boards, Busking Broads and went full speed to stupid-town from there. I will post some of my favorite @responses from readers in the comments. Feel free to come up with your own. Please do not post any Breaking Bad spoilers in the comments.

GUEST WEEK AND NYCC!!!
I am going to be at New York Comic-Con with Blind Ferret at Booth #1821 this weekend (10-13 to 10-16).

I will have books 1 and 2, T-Shirts (including the new “Winter Is Coming” shirt and maybe a debut of another new shirt), stickers, sketches and prints. I am going to be staying in Brooklyn so I hope to hit up the Doctor Who themed bar, The Way Station. Maybe we can do a bit of an informal Fancy Bastard Meetup there.

Starting tomorrow (Wednesday), I will be running a few guest comics created just for you by several of my webcomicing cohorts (Paul Southworth, Sam Logan, Randy Milholland and Alina Pete). Based on what I’ve seen so far, this will be the most epic HE guest week ever.

Here’s To The Crazy One, The Misfit, The Rebel, The Troublemaker…

“Winter Is Coming” shirts are now IN THE STORE!!! [based on this comic]

When Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO of Apple, I made a comic about it and wrote a post about the impact Steve has has on my life and the world at large. I felt weird writing about him like he was gone, eulogizing a living man. I guess I wasn’t that far off. I’ll repost those words below along with some of my favorite Steve quotes.

I honestly feel that Steve Jobs, and his singular vision for his company, have done more to increase the acceptance of technology by the general public and the integration of that technology into our daily lives that any other single person in the last 50 years. Like his products or hate them [for whatever arbitrary reason] they have consistently strived to make high end, seemingly “magic” devices accessible to technophiles and n00bs alike. Your mom has an iPad. A device that wasn’t even on the horizon 5 years ago. Steve helped bring us [that] much closer to the future, and for that I will always be grateful to him. Not to Apple, but to him directly. Ever since he returned to Apple in the 90′s, Steve’s drive, commitment, integrity and borderline certifiable insanity have directly influenced how we interact with technology. He’s a total nutter, but great men often are. I think you’d be hard pressed to find any one person that REALLY changed the world (for better or worse) that wasn’t at least a little unhinged. Here’s hoping he’s in better health than I expect he is, and that his input will continue to lead to wonderful shiny gadgets for years to come.

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.” – Wikiquote, as quoted in The Wall Street Journal (Summer 1993).

“I want to put a ding in the universe.”

“Click. Boom. Amazing!” – Macworld keynote 2006

“We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? And we’ve all chosen to do this with our lives. So it better be damn good. It better be worth it.” – Fortune

“Almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” – Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Address

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” – Think Different, narrated by Steve Jobs

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Address

I have made 100% of my comics (save the very first one),and all of books, t-shirts and other merchandise on Apple computers. I’ve even made comics on the iPad. I owe a large part of my career to Steve and for that I will always be grateful. You can read more comics I’ve made about Steve Jobs here, if you need some cheering up.

NOTE: I was halfway through a comic about the iPhone 4s yesterday, when I heard about Steve. I decided to hold off on it for a day or two. I will backdate it in the archive and post a link HERE when it’s done. [update: it’s done and linked]

COMMENTERS: Feel free to post any thoughts or fond memories of Steve, or links to tributes, etc. Did the products he created change your life? How? Anything he said or did that made YOU think differently? No negativity or Apple fanboy bashing. Please be respectful.