The BIGGEST MERCH SALE I HAVE EVER DONE  ENDS THIS WEEK (9/21/13)! GO NOW to the HE STORE $10 Books! $9 Shirts! 

[I’m hearing reports of unusually high shipping charges in the store. I’ve asked what the deal is but so far I have not gotten a straight answer. I PROMISE you that shipping prices will be normal when the store re-opens shortly after the blowout sale. I’m really sorry about this and I appreciate anyone that tried to support the sale, but had to abandon their cart due to crazy shipping prices.]

Hot damn if these new strips aren’t kicking my ass. I spent a day just trying to figure out how to draw Denise. Longtime HE readers may know that she’s appeared very infrequently and thus has never really had a consistent appearance. Primarily her scarceness was due to my lack of confidence with regards to drawing ladies. I am forcing myself to get better at this by writing them into the comics for essentially the first time ever. I am also taking more time on the backgrounds since I’ve realized that continuing stories will probably call for continuity in background settings. Feel free to check my math on that, but I’m pretty sure I’m right. Anyway, these new challenges have lead to my typical 4-5 hour comic process taking 8-10 hours.

Regardless of the additional time constraints I am extremely proud of the new comics and the feedback I’ve been getting is really reassuring. It’s does wonders for my enthusiasm to see people tweeting and posting jokes from my comics that are just dialog I’ve written between characters instead of my take on some Hollywood shenanigan or Doctor Whoism. There’s still a place for that in the Lo-fi comics (because I still love telling those kinds of jokes), but it’s gratifying to know I can invent something of my own and have it still be amusing to some.

COMMENTERS: What did you significant other do to make you realize that they just GET you? Or vice versa? When did you look at someone and go, “Oh, you feel that way about that thing, then our brains/hearts must have similar operating systems.”

NOTE: The Mobile Alt Text button broke when I put the big store sale banner in the site. As soon as the sale is over I will put the button back.

Have you seen my wife’s geeky jewelry creations? 

You can see her Tetris necklace below and more geeky goods in her shop! 

Comments (34)

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iampaul · 91 weeks ago

Im from the Philippines
But I dont seem to get it
Sky Boners?
Please explain
Thanks

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2 replies · active 91 weeks ago

benthorp· 91 weeks ago

Top Gun has been consistently accused of being full of thinly-veiled homoerotic motifs. The joke here is that, because of this, when it’s translated into another language the thin veil is removed – it’s not necessarily Philippines specific.

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hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

What he said. I’m glad you did this because I would rather chop off my own head with a brick than explain a joke.

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All-Purpose Guru· 91 weeks ago

I like Denise. No, I *really* like her. “My ass needs a couch, my brain needs a beer.”

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2 replies · active 72 weeks ago

Fren · 91 weeks ago

Give us six of her and worlds shall tremble.

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@mangoaxeboy · 72 weeks ago

Totally “borrowing” that line…

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@Micah__Taylor · 91 weeks ago

This is another positive comment about the new direction of the comic. You keep drawin’ ’em, we’ll keep readin’ ’em!

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Phil · 91 weeks ago

As a former American colony, the Philippines rarely gets alternate movie titles.

But if we did, Sky Boners would be TIGAS LANGIT. Which is awesome.

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4 replies · active 91 weeks ago

Stephanie · 91 weeks ago

Tigas Langit is a good name for the hero of an action sci fi adventure movie.

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hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

Is that Tagalog?

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hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

Also, please be super prepared for my vision of the Philippines and the ACTUAL Philippines to differ WILDLY.

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Phil · 91 weeks ago

Yep.

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Stephanie · 91 weeks ago

For me and my hubby it was the sense of humor. My best friend stuck us in a car together for a long drive to an exhibition game against another college. I started out bummed because I actually had a crush on another guy. But then we passed some land feature named after some sort of tableware (fork pass or something) and we spent the rest of the trip naming land features after tableware. It was silly and ridiculous, but it passed the time quickly. I relentlessly pursued him after that until he finally gave in and asked me out. We’ve now been married almost 10 years and we still have the same sense of humor. I’ve discovered that his ability to make me laugh when I’m having a bad day is the single most important thing in our marriage.

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AmyLynn · 91 weeks ago

My husband is a baseball geek as well as a Browncoat and a Trekkie. We find common ground on the latter all the time. The other day I said something like “yeah, but that record is from the dead-ball era” and he just stared at me. I swear I could see Looney Tunes style hearts emanating from his head.

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Bill Murphy · 91 weeks ago

While reading the comic and before reading your blog I thought to myself…
“Oh good, he’s staying consistent with the background.” It’s something I appreciate. I like to become familiar with character’s surroundings.
I also laughed at Joel in the third panel. 😉

As for the comment question, for no reason at all, I was given a Gamorrean Guard doll.

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Paul · 91 weeks ago

Just wanted to join the chorus and say that I think this move to continuing stories is a good idea. It’ll help you stretch creative muscles you may not have used previously, and I think that focusing on and expanding a cast of regular characters will build readership and contribute to the longevity of the strip.

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@MsMollyD · 91 weeks ago

I like Denise already!

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Sonia · 91 weeks ago

I love both the new direction you’re going in as well as the lo-fi strips and think you are doing a fantastic job. Challenging yourself artistically is a good thing. I will keep reading as will most of my friends.

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InkBlot· 91 weeks ago

My wife told me when we were dating that she wanted me to come over and watch the NHL finals with her. I grew up playing hockey, she had only a tangential knowledge of it. She then asked me to explain it to her. I’m not sure there is anything better for a sports fan than explaining the sport to a newbie.

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@lunamoth42 · 91 weeks ago

“What did you significant other do to make you realize that they just GET you?”

He trusted me when I asked him to start watching all the Star Trek series’ with me on Netflix. Now he’s just as likely to quote something as I am, and has nicknamed our cat “Shaka, when the walls fell!” (Or, sometimes she is both Darmak and Jalad)

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HikingViking · 91 weeks ago

I’m glad I wasn’t drinking coffee when I read about Pretty Horse and Mustache Duck, or I would have spit it out. Because laughter.

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Thatman42 · 91 weeks ago

Anything you decide to do with the comic I will support. I’ve been reading it for a couple of years and have enjoyed it all.
I used to be pretty into Warhammer back when I had more time to devote to it. My fiance isn’t much of a geek but one year for Christmas she made a folding warhammer table for me. At that point I realized that even though she may not be into all the same stuff I’m into, she will at the very least support and encourage my involvement which is awesome.

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Richter · 91 weeks ago

When I rebuilt an engine over the kitchen sink

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@warholreject · 91 weeks ago

This is like, the exact opposite of the real Denise… I know because she told me just a week ago about how she’s trying to divorce Eli’s Top Gunnery shenanigans… but just the shenanigans, not Eli…

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thehappysmith· 91 weeks ago

I knew the ex and I were in trouble when we went to the Grand Canyon and she described it unironically as “just a hole in the ground.”

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2 replies · active 91 weeks ago

Huttj509 · 91 weeks ago

When my family went there, my reaction was basically “It’s pretty, a bit bigger than what I’m used to, but not as magical as the hype has it.”

Then I moved to Indiana, and realized how good scenery-wise I had it back in northern New Mexico, with the Rio Grande gorge literally in my backyard.

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Bruceski · 91 weeks ago

The main thought I remember from the Grand Canyon was at sunrise, when the shadows combined with the size of it killed my brain’s sense of scale and made it look like a cardboard diorama.

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Jon · 91 weeks ago

When my wife got me a giant book of DC comics art. I want to put it on a pedestal in the living room like some families do to bibles. In turn I gave her a pendant of Mars for her birthday. The look on her face was priceless as she is obsessed with the planet and space in general. As for the new direction I dig it. Reading this comic is like grabbing coffee with good friends.

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Neph Sy · 91 weeks ago

Having a similar sense of humor was the turning point for me. I’d been attracted to men that were funny, but most of them liked to be the center of attention, as if they were constantly on stage performing a set. Then I met someone who thought “I” was funny, would laugh at the odd things I say, and then could join in and throw back his own concoctions to get me going too. Rarely does a day go by when we’re not being silly and joking around.

And it didn’t hurt that on our first official date when I was talking about my favourite science fiction and fantasy authors (at the time) he ran into his boarding house and came out carrying their latest releases!

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Aetheling · 91 weeks ago

Pretty much as soon as I met her!
She’s an English Civil War re-enactor who specifically runs a cannon crew, she shares the same man-crushes as me, listens to dodgy eighties hair metal, and farted at me in the pub on the very first occasion we met.
After that, I knew it was only a matter of time.

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Dudeguy · 91 weeks ago

I once told my wife that sometimes, on long car trips, I imagined shooting laser beams out of my pinkie finger (since the others were occupied) and blowing up stuff on the side of the road. She looked at me like I was absolutely nuts, shook her head slowly and said “That’s stupid. Everyone knows the index is your laser finger.”

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Laura · 91 weeks ago

There have been many things with my boyfriend (like when I mentioned that after long gaming sessions, I would get in the car and be disappointed that it wasn’t my epic mount, to which he responded “Yeah, so you keep reaching for the spacebar to jump, and slowly realize you can’t just fly over the other cars…”) but the most recent have been as a result of moving into a new place together. Talking about getting art for the walls and such, he mentioned putting up giant prints of Magic: the Gathering art and I mentioned a series of DC comics based art that caught my eye. We were both thrilled with the other’s choice.

Also, although moving costs have left us strapped for cash, he told me the other day, “So the first time we ordered pizza over here, I tipped the guy really well. $10 on a $30 order. I’ve been tipping similarly well every time since then. Our delivery time has been cut in half.” Priorities, man…. priorities.

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@maggielou42 · 90 weeks ago

Well, there was the one Christmas where we each got the game Pandemic for each other… The best part being that we got to keep a copy of Pandemic AND go shopping together at the game store with returns money.
I met my husband in high school, though, and almost daily I’m amazed that I met someone way back then who gets me so well.

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hijinksensue· 90 weeks ago

My wife got me Pandemic for my last birthday.

We started dating when we were 18, and it wasn’t that I met her so long ago and she still “gets me.” It’s that we got each other when we were 18, then we started to grow up and mature and refine our interests and become more complex people… together. We sort of progressed at the same rate, changed in very similar ways, and through luck stayed compatible though we are both entirely different people that we were when we met.

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