Chapters: HijiNKS ENSUE

Baby Don’t Hurt Me

FUNDRAISER UPDATE: 58/100 “Daddy/Daughter Digital Drawing Time” prints are sold! If you were thinking about supporting this IRS “Get out of tax jail” fundraiser, NOW is the time.

hijinks ensue fundraiser print 2013 web

All proceeds are going to pay an unexpected IRS tax bill. Donations are also incredibly appreciated, if that’s more your style.

Here’s a new print I made and put in the HE store: “Adventure Time Lord.” I bet it will also be a shirt over at Sharksplode pretty soon.

hijinks-ensue-adventure-time-lord-print

Speaking of making new things, my wife just made a couple of Game Of Thrones inspired necklaces for you Starks and Lannisters.

Game Of Thrones Necklaces - Stark and Lannister - Science And Fiction - Etsy

Oh, just great. In addition to rush hour traffic and construction around the airport, NOW I have to deal with am emerging A.I. in my phone? You know, if it’s not one thing it’s the rise of the great machine intelligence that will soon subjugate all of humanity under it’s cold, logical boot heel.

I may or may not be planning to see Her this weekend. I hope Joaquin Phoenix does some raps.

A Guide To Good PaRANTing

FUNDRAISER UPDATE: 55/100 prints are sold! If you were thinking about supporting this IRS “Get out of tax jail” fundraiser, NOW is the time.  The “Daddy/Daughter Digital Drawing Time” print is signed by both of us, numbered and limited to 100 pieces. [More details HERE.]

hijinks ensue fundraiser print 2013 web

All proceeds are going to pay an unexpected IRS tax bill. Your support and help are greatly appreciated, plus you get a pretty sweet piece of art for your wall. Hate art? Hate walls? Donations are also incredibly appreciated, if that’s more your style.

Here’s a new print I made and put in the HE store: “Adventure Time Lord.” I bet it will also be a shirt over at Sharksplode pretty soon.

hijinks-ensue-adventure-time-lord-print

Speaking of making new things, my wife just made a couple of Game Of Thrones inspired necklaces for you Starks and Lannisters.

Game Of Thrones Necklaces - Stark and Lannister - Science And Fiction - Etsy

Thus ends my railing against Garfield… for now. If you want to see some truly dark, bizarre and experimental comics, please take a look at the Garfield archives starting HERE (going HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE) and ending HERE. [SPOILERS: I think maybe Garfield was dead the entire time.]

My stance on “Why are you being so hard on a kids movie/show/comic/whatever?” is pretty straight forward. OF COURSE there’s art that’s JUST for kids. Kid’s like dumb stuff and there’s a ton of dumb to fill that need. But kids ALSO like high quality stuff, and there’s plenty of high quality kids’ stuff out there that also has crossover appeal to adults. Sure, not everything can be Pixar, but a lot of it can exist on a spectrum of kid+adult entertainment that ranges from “non-annoying” to “I really want to see how Curious George gets out of this mess he’s gotten himself into.” And the simple fact that quality kids entertainment DOES exist and is READILY AVAILABLE just makes everything else unnecessary.

I don’t mind if my kid reads Garfield or other boring, not funny comics as long as she enjoys them. I even get excited that shes’s exploring the medium of comics on her own, regardless of what she’s reading. Hell, I get excited that she loves reading so much, regardless of what she’s actually reading. But I get extra special super excited when she reads something fantastic, something I loved and still love, something that sparked my imagination at her age and helped shape who I am and what I do today – something like Calvin And Hobbes. So I will continue to guide her along her geek journey and gently nudge her in the direction of quality, but I will also sit with her and watch incredibly vapid and annoying cartoons like Littlest Pet Shop (guhhhh) just to be around her and just to make sure she knows I am more interested in her than I am in making sure she likes the right things.

Arbiters Of Good Taste

FUNDRAISER UPDATE: 50/100 prints are sold! That’s half! MATH! I have to sell the rest by the end of January if I’m going to be able to pay my taxes. The “Daddy/Daughter Digital Drawing Time” print is signed by both of us, numbered and limited to 100 pieces. [More details HERE.]

hijinks ensue fundraiser print 2013 web

All proceeds are going to pay an unexpected IRS tax bill. Your support and help are greatly appreciated, plus you get a pretty sweet piece of art for your wall. Hate art? Hate walls? Donations are also incredibly appreciated, if that’s more your style.

I got some big plans for 2014. Check them out in the blog post under THIS comic.

One of the hard parts of being a geek/nerd parent is letting your kid figure out what THEY are into as opposed to pushing onto them what YOU’re into. Eventually you (hopefully) realize that you are an entirely different person with potentially WILDLY different tastes from your child’s and you let them find their own way. If you’re a good parent and they trust you; trust your opinion then you can expose them to the things you love and they will take your endorsement as a sign of quality. They still might hate your favorite movie, but at least they’ll give it a try. Unless it’s Ghostbusters. If they hate Ghostbusters, you should see a doctor immediately. If a doctor can’t help, then just take them to the edge of the woods, point them away from you and tell them to walk until they hit water. This isn’t cruel, because what you had wasn’t a child. It was a monster.

Just beneath the instinct to force you likes and loves on your kids is the more rational argument, “I’ve already sifted through all the stuff. I’ve spent years cultivating and curating and THIS, THIS IS THE STUFF that is the good stuff. START with THIS STUFF and your life will be easier than mine.” That’s the kind and helpful idea, at least. The reality of that argument and way of thinking is that you’re denying the importance of the act of discovery. The ways you find things, the people that introduce them to you, the reasons you pick one book over another, THESE are the actions that make geeks fall in love with books, movies, tv shows, games, comics, etc. Sure, there are the things you love because your parents shared them with you, but there are also the things you love because you spent the night at a friends house and they were allowed to watch scarier movies that you were allowed to watch, so now you love Friday The 13th, or because your parents were late picking you up from the mall, so you had to walk around the book store for 30 minutes and ended up discovering Ray Bradbury all on your own. The circumstances by which geeks claim their geerkeries is almost as important as the subject matter. They’re the spices that accent the meal. NOT robbing your geeklings of that is just as important as making sure they see Monty Python.

Oh yeah, here’s a new print I made and put in the HE store.

Adventure Time Lord

hijinks-ensue-adventure-time-lord-print

This was taken from one of the recent Fancy Digital Sketches. I was super happy with out it turned out and decided to make it into a print which can be yours for only Only $11.95!

Major huge giant thanks to Fancy Bastard Wesley B. for the inspiration to draw this.

We’re Ready To Party, We’re Ready

FUNDRAISER UPDATE: 40/100 prints are sold. I have to sell the rest by the end of January if I’m going to be able to pay my taxes. The “Daddy/Daughter Digital Drawing Time” print is signed by both of us, numbered and limited to 100 pieces. [More details HERE.] hijinks ensue fundraiser print 2013 web

All proceeds are going to pay an unexpected IRS tax bill. Your support and help are greatly appreciated, plus you get a pretty sweet piece of art for your wall. Hate art? Hate walls? Donations are also incredibly appreciated, if that’s more your style.

I got some big plans for 2014. Check them out in the blog post under THIS comic.

Part 2 of a interview I did with The Anglerfish is up HERE now. Part 1 is HERE. It’s a good read if you are interested in why I’ve made the recent changes to HE that I’ve made. I talk a lot about parenting and creative work and softball dads. Also I ramble a bit because I was actually drawing a comic while they were interviewing me.

The Sign On The Door Says Pull

FUNDRAISER UPDATE: 33/100 prints are sold. I have to sell the rest by the end of January if I’m going to be able to pay my taxes.

The “Daddy/Daughter Digital Drawing Time” print is signed by both of us, numbered and limited to 100 pieces. [More details HERE.]

hijinks ensue fundraiser print 2013 web

All proceeds are going to pay an unexpected IRS tax bill. Your support and help are greatly appreciated, plus you get a pretty sweet piece of art for your wall. Hate art? Hate walls? Donations are also incredibly appreciated, if that’s more your style.

Where has HijiNKS ENSUE been? I took some time off for the holidays to basically relax, enjoy my family, finish some WAY overdue digital sketches and make some plans for 2014. Here’s a bit more of an explanation.

Here’s a short list of what I’ve got planned for 2014: 

  • Finish selling all of the fundraiser prints THIS MONTH and pay dem taxes!
  • Finish the last handful of Fancy Digital Sketches (6 or 7 of you are still waiting)
  • Start a Patreon campaign for HijiNKS ENSUE to will ensure more frequent comic updates and an actual update schedule (a FIRST for HE)
  • Do WAY LESS conventions. So far I am only scheduled for 2 conventions in 2014 (and a handful helping out the guys at Cyanide & Happiness). I want to focus on comic, comics, COMICS this year and all the travel and con prep is too much of a distraction from the one thing that should be the most important. COMICS.
  • NEW BOOK! I am hoping to release a book that will contain most if not all of the remaining HE pop culture strips, so I can have them all in a nice collection and move on to making books of the story based comics in 2015.
  • Website improvements! A friendlier layout, updated character and about pages, a better archive, separating the pop culture and story strips so it’s easier for new readers to get into the new comics, but still very easy to find and read the old ones, maybe less tan and brown…
  • LOTS MORE! This is just the start. 2014 is sort of my “start over” year. I’m taking everything I’ve learned as a self employed pro-cartoonist over the last 6 years and making the changes that need to be made so I can still be a self employed pro-cartoonist in another 6 years.

Lots to do, lots of fun, lots of work and hopefully lots of support from you Fancy Bastards. Hey, here’s a weird idea. Come back tomorrow and I bet there might (maybe) be another new comic. What?! I know. More on that (and more on a solid update schedule) after the Patreon Campaign launches.

Part 2 of a interview I did with The Anglerfish is up HERE now. Part 1 is HERE. It’s a good read if you are interested in why I’ve made the recent changes to HE that I’ve made. I talk a lot about parenting and creative work and softball dads. Also I ramble a bit because I was actually drawing a comic while they were interviewing me.

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hijinksensue· 75 weeks ago

I am currently planning to attend ECCC in Seattle and PHXCC in hell. The rest I do (SDCC, NYCC maybe one in Canada) will be with Cyanide and Happiness.
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hijinksensue· 75 weeks ago

I might be going to Calgary, but probably not as HijiNKS ENSUE. I might just be going as a hired Sharpie for Cyanide and Happiness.
Richard Kane's avatar

Richard Kane · 75 weeks ago

That’s a wonderful moment ! The day my 4 year old son found my old Calvin and Hobbes books was a life changer for both of us.

1 reply · active 75 weeks ago

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gabepuratekuta· 75 weeks ago

Especially when he started playing his own version of Calvinball?
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danwcole· 75 weeks ago

I remember when I discovered Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side. I can’t wait to pass that along.
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wrdeaton1· 75 weeks ago

according to my mom, I started reading “The Far Side” when I was 4 or 5, when I was too young to get all of the jokes. According to her, she can tell it had an effect on my life and sense of humor. If I ever have kids, this noble tradition will be passed on….
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moffattbooks· 75 weeks ago

new book?? <throws money at you> when???….hang on, better yet, release it when you’re good’ and ready, just know that we will squeal, then throw money at you across the Internet
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Bill Murphy · 75 weeks ago

Welcome back and happy New year! 😀
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nate · 75 weeks ago

Happy new year!!!!
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tomspeelman· 75 weeks ago

Awww man, good on Joel here for doing this! I was introduced to Calvin and Hobbes when I was about 8 and The Far Side shortly thereafter. Haven’t looked back since.
lou's avatar

lou · 75 weeks ago

SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS GOES “BOINK”
One of my favorite Calvin & Hobbes books, and possibly my first. You gots good taste, man.
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hijinksensue· 75 weeks ago

So THAT’s why it disappeared off my wishlist. I thought someone had bought it for me, and I waited and waited for delivery like a sad-eyed puppy. I realized someone must have gotten it for themselves not realizing it marks it as purchased on my list so I re-added it.
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Jingy · 75 weeks ago

Oh wait… you mean YOU actually wanted the stuff of you wishlist?
I thought those things were just like, things you wanted us to buy… you know… for US.
I guess I’ve been granting peoples “wishes” all wrong. I feel bad for that.
But on the upside, all this great stuff I’ve gotten myself makes me feel a LOT better!

Excuse me while I go play with these Legos off my nephews wishlist.

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Richard Hendricks · 75 weeks ago

I made my son buy his own copies of C&H, he ain’t getting his grubby hands on my hardback 3 volume collector’s edition, no matter how much he promises to take good care of them…He’ll thank me when I will them to him on my deathbed. 🙂
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Kathleen · 75 weeks ago

I got the kids Calvin and Hobbes books for Christmas….

Such a good mommy am I

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antisocialbutterflie· 75 weeks ago

Have you seen “Hobbes and Bacon” yet? It’s tribute comic that takes place 26 years after Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin has a daughter named Bacon and he gives her Hobbes. It captures both the art and the sensibilities of the original comic. The feels factor is through the roof.

2 replies · active 75 weeks ago

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Jingy · 75 weeks ago

Weren’t there only a handful of those made?
I remember reading them and being sad it ended so quickly.
Did the artist end up continuing it at a later date? because the project seemed dead back when I came across it.
Bruceski's avatar

Bruceski · 75 weeks ago

Good timing, I was humming “how much is that tiger in the window” this afternoon.
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petsinwinter · 75 weeks ago

But I like the tan and brown!

1 reply · active 75 weeks ago

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hijinksensue· 75 weeks ago

I like it too, but the site has been unchanged for years.
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Adrienne · 75 weeks ago

Way less cons? Whew, glad I made it out to Austin this year then. I have a signed book and it was worth the horrible death diseases I got from all the grubby people.

1 reply · active 75 weeks ago

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hijinksensue· 75 weeks ago

Yeah I need to take a break or else I’m going to get burnt out and never want to do cons again. It takes a toll.