I will be at booth 1749 with David Willis, I’ll have t-shirts and books and sketches and prints and Lil’ Wil Plushies and it’s going to be a PARTYPARTYPARTYPARTYPARTY!!!

You know the drill about cookies and tiny bottles of booze, right? That shit is entirely still in effect.

Here’s a Lo-Fi follow up to this comic about perceived racism in the world of spandex clad mighty men.

As a straight white dude, it’s often easy to forget that not everyone sees themselves represented (not accurately, mind you, but REPRESENTED none the less) in every conceivable form of popular media. That isn’t to say I have ever really identified with the muscle bound ab-havers of the various comic book universes, but I imagine it’s even harder to relate for the non-white, non-enpenised, no having-boners-for-the-opposite-sex types of people.

• Michael B. Jordan on the Possibility of a Black Human Torch: “It’s 2013″

COMMENTERS:  Are there any minority characters in comics, or other nerd media that strike you as particularly accurate portrayals? If you belong to any minority group, was there ever a character in fiction that you identified with in a special way? Ladies, feel free to answer this one too. Even though you’re half of all people, you are still pretty underrepresented in geek pop culture as far as I’m concerned.

[It's 4:30am. I'll color this one when I wake up.]

Coulson Lives! Yay! Except that sort of deflates the emotional impetus for the unification of the team in the 3rd act of The Avengers! Boo! I have complex and conflicting emotions about a thing just like one of Joss Whedon’s characters! Yay! Oh no, I’ve been killed tragically, just like one of… You get the idea.

I am, in a word (SPOILERS: The word in question is “very.”) VERY excited about Marvel’s Agents Of SHIELD. The full trailer make it look like a more fun version of Fringe. Not that Fringe wasn’t fun. This just looks MORE fun. Perhaps more light hearted. I really hope it manages to bring back that “comedy in the face of tragedy, but also totally solid action and complex story telling” formula that has been missing from TV for so long. I can’t think of a single show that’s melded those attributes without leaning too heavily on one in spite of the others since Firefly, or before that, Buffy. Wait… I’m sensing a pattern here.

As for J.A.R.’s super secret role, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he is “basically Luke Cage” without actually being called “Luke Cage.” Seems like something they might do in order to free up licensing for the character and give them more creative freedom with his powers and backstory.

• Is J. August Richards Actually Luke Cage on Agents of SHIELD?
• J. August Richards Isn’t Playing Luke Cage In ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

COMMENTERS: So is it just me or are super heroes still overwhelmingly white? I know there are efforts being made to introduce more variety in the hero landscape (the new half-hispanic, half-black Spider-Man comes to mind), and I know I haven’t been a big comic reader since I was 14 (about 17 years ago), but I still don’t see much diversity among the metahumans. Though it seems DC is more diverse than Marvel. That could also be a total misconception on my part, but it SEEMS that way. You tell me.

Recording a music video of Bowie’s “Space Oddity” IN OUTER MOTHER FUCKING SPACE is mankind’s most baller achievement. Hats off… rather space helmets off to you, Commander Hadfield. Though I do fear his actions will usher in the coming Anime Apocalypse by creating the universe’s first actual outer space pop star. Alls I’m saying is when a cyborg cat-girl from the future and a plucky robot sidekick with plasma cannons for arms start doing backup vocals for the good Commander, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

• Commander Chris Hadfield’s Top 5 Moments in Space – Mashable
• So long, Commander Hadfield – and thanks for all the awesome! – Io9

COMMETNERS: What song would you have to sing at what location/time/historical event to approach the epicness of Commander Hadfield’s performance?

Don’t forget about submitting your entry to the HijiNKS Ensue 6 Year Anniversary Fancy Bastard Fancy Fan Art Contest. Submissions are due this Friday. THERE ARE PRIZES! Details HERE.

Phoenix Comicon is in 2 weeks (May 23-26)! I will be there with David Willis at Booth 1749. Would you like to be our intern for the weekend? We can offer a con badge that will get you in, probably some lunch and in return you’ll get to work at our booth, getting shirts, making change, etc. We’ll make sure you get time to check out the show as well. Email comics at hijinksensue dot com.

The only comfort I took during the final 30 minutes of this season of NBC’s Community is that it was likely THE ACTUAL FINAL 30 MINUTES AS IN FOREVER. With creator Dan Harmon gone the spirit of the show has progressively tanked all season. The characters have become parodies of themselves, which is no small achievement considering that USED to be part of the fun of their dynamic. When handled with subtlety and smarts, self-parody can be the foundation of some very endearing moments. With this season, Community has replaced subtlety and smarts with a sledgehammer and a pie in the face. It reads like bad fan-fiction. At it’s core (considering the driving creative force behind its inception is long gone) it IS bad fan-fiction.

My friend, and Leverage co-creator, Jon Rogers said to me, “…You wanted #community so now you’re going to EAT EVERY BIT OF IT. Monkey’s Paw, #community fans. Goddam monkey’s paw.” He’s right. Community fans made a deal with the TV Devil, and he’s a dirty dealer. They traded Community’s soul so that it could have a longer life. But is it really Community? Is it even alive? ZOMBIE TV SHOW ATE MY BRAINS! Coming this fall to NBC.

The only thing incorrect about Rogers’ statement is I (ME, the actual ME) did NOT want Community without Dan Harmon, just like I didn’t want a final, bizarro season of Scrubs, just like I didn’t want and continue to not want more seasons of The Simpsons or Futurama. Do like Jerry did. Leave on a high note and leave ‘em wanting more.

• NBC renews Community for a fifth season, possibly thanks to Amazon, Netflix
• The Best Sitcom Finales Of All Time
• Fox has somehow uncancelled 24

[Thanks to Mikey and an actual Yaoi I saw at SDCC for inspiring today's alt-text.]

COMMENTERS: Which show or fiction series (books? do they make… books?) do you wish had been cancelled before it was and why? 

Tomorrow (May 11, 2013), HijiNKS ENSUE turns 6 years old. To celebrate I want to hold a Fancy Bastard Fancy Fan Art contest.

You’ll have the next week, maybe 2 depending on how quick the submissions come in, to submit your most creative depiction of anything HE related in your artistic medium of choice. Crayon, paper mache, dubstep dance mix, digital drawing, whatever. There are no guidelines for what you can make or how you can make it, but know that I will be judging based on how much effort you appear to have put in or how funny/amusing it I find it.

Please create your thing and email it, or a picture of it if it is a physical item to comics at hijinksensue dot com. Please send attachments no larger than 1mb, but feel free to link to larger versions. HINT: I typically like to include this sort of thing in the backs of my books.

Soft Deadline is this coming Thursday with a winner to be announced 1 week from today (unless there are no submissions, then I will be sad and push it a week).

PRIZES! PRIZES! PRI-ZIZES!

First Place will get a digital commission by me! I will draw any HE related characters or thing you like and send you a full color file suitable for printing and framing!

2nd Place will get an Sharksplode shirt of their choosing, and a signed HE comic Print of their choice. International winners will need to pay shipping.

3rd Place will get a signed print of any HE comic of their choice.

If you don’t want to participate, but you want to tell HE happy birthday, please consider making a donation, buying something from the HE Store or Sharksplode or checking out my Amazon Wishlist.

Guess what, Internet? I have been hired by my good friends at Explosm to write for The Cyanide & Happiness show! 

I’ve been collaborating with Rob and Dave and Kris, et al on various comics, character ideas, animation concepts and songs over the last year or so, but now that their UNFATHOMABLY SUCCESSFUL Kickstarter is over and they’ve moved into full on production mode we’ve decided to make it official and I couldn’t be more excited.

The short version of the story is Explosm had been shopping the Cyanide & Happiness Show around to nearly every major network and cable outlet and after turning down offer after offer that required them to relinquish creative control of their show, they decided to forego the TV route entirely and produce the show on their own for the Internet.

The show will consist of  a series of animated shorts strung together into 12 minute episodes. The writing has been going FANTASTICALLY. It’s really some of the funniest stuff I’ve ever been a part of and the early animations are just outstanding. This show is going to DESTROY the Internet (as it was foretold in scripture) with laugh-make-times. I can not wait for you to see, and hear what we’ve got in store for you. Oh, what’s that? Yes, HEAR, because I will also be a voice actor on the show. I’m just checking boxes off my “Magical Wish Unicorn Dream List” left and right.

So, there you go. Big news. I’m super happy about it.

The World Wide Web is 20! They grow up so fast. Seems like only yesterday he was sticking erotic playing cards in the spokes of his bike and now he’s graduating boner pill college and marrying a sexy sorority slut in your home town who’s waiting for you.

NEWS FROM THE FUTURE! [Posted 5/9/13]

Here are things you should know about: 

• You can now read HijiNKS ENSUE (and a crap load of other fine comics) on the Official iOS app of webcomics, Comics Chameleon. It’s free and has a pretty slick interface and it supports the creators of the comics it displays (unlike EVERY OTHER webcomic app in the app store).
• Phoenix Comicon is in 2 weeks (May 23-26)! I will be there with David Willis at Booth 1749.
• Speaking of David, he is kickstarting his new Dumbing Of Age book, for which I wrote the foreword. It’s already funded, but you should back the hell out it anyway.
• Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have an announcement regarding my involvement with the Cyanide and Happiness Show.
• LAST THING! HijiNKS ENSUE turns 6 on Saturday (May 11). If you have an idea for a piece of HE related fan art (using any medium), I will announce a Fancy Bastard Fancy Fan Art Contest on Friday. The winner (chosen by me) will get prizes! Get to arting!

COMMENTERS: What was your very first experience with The Internet (I know the WWW isn’t exactly THE INTERNET, but hey… whatever)? What type of machine was it on? When did you first use the Internet/WWW and realize that it was going to change basically everything about how society operates?

I am very bad at seeing movies right when they come out. As my parenting has gotten stronger, my ability to drop everything at a moment’s notice and go to a 1am showing of a movie where nerds are likely to be dressed up in cloaks and brandishing lazer swords has severely diminished. I am also bad at seeing a headline like “DO NOT READ THIS ARTICLE BECAUSE IT SPOILS THE ENTIRE MOVIE YOU REALLY WANT TO GO SEE IF YOU CAN FIND A BABY SITTER IN A FEW WEEKS!!!” and not reading it immediately.  I am my nerd enjoyment’s own worst enemy.

COMMENTERS: What’s the greatest length you’ve ever gone to in order to remain unspoiled? Given up the Internet? Severed friendships? GIVEN UP THE INTERET?!?! THE ACTUAL INTERNET?!?!?

Josh reminds us all of the tale of the ant and the grasshopper. The ant torrented terabytes of pornography to see him through the harsh winter and kept redundant backups of his data, both on external hard drives and in the cloud. While the foolish grasshopper had a paper bag with a Hustler, a Juggs and two Penthouse Forums, which he eventually had to eat to survive. And he DID survive. Up until he died, choking on a letter from a guy who “never dreamed this would happen to me, but…”

Google keeps announcing different, random shithole towns as test beds for Google Fiber. Yes, I know Austin, TX is on the list. Here’s the deal: if they are putting amazing, futuristic tech services in Austin BEFORE Dallas (where I am), then I know they aren’t taking this whole thing seriously. “Hello, Google Fiber? I’m in austin and I’d like to have fiber internet installed directly to my bong. Excuse me bongS. Why, yes, I AM a bass player.”

• Google adds Shawnee, KS to its Fiber map
• Provo council approves fiber network sale to Google, but city must front $1.7 million

COMMENTERS: Have you ever had to wait for a fun, fancy or futurey tech service (or any kind of service) to come to your town or even your country? I know Canada JUST got Square. That shit changed my life. Does anyone NOT have Netflix at this point? What about something as essential as phone lines or power? WHY DON’T YOU HAVE POWER? DO YOU LIVE IN A VOLCANO?!