Good Crook

2009-01-30T06:32:00.001-08:00

Well, it's over. I'm not sure what to say, and I don't think I should say too much, but here goes.
First of all, there's a bunch of people I want to thank. Joey Manley and Tea Fougner at Webcomicsnation, who not only made me feel welcome, but made my comic possible. Spike, Matt and the Iron Circus people, who are super cool and talented and probably directly responsible for whatever readership this comic had when it began. Mary Shyne, for being cool and drawing a great comic I can't wait to see more of. Kris, for being something of a Webcomics Mentor, and a good friend, and Erica, for being as welcoming, supportive and funny as any person could possibly be. And my mom, my dad and my brother, for not thinking any of the characters are supposed to be them, among other things. And of course I have to thank every single one of my readers, all of whom made this totally worth it.

What I'm going to do now is step away from The Good Crook for a while, and just not think about it. Once its sufficiently left my consciousness, I'm going to go back in with a fresh perspective and edit this thing. And then, I'm going to do my damnedest to get it published. What you can do to help me with that is to tell your friends about the comic, email it around, etc. I'm not done with this yet, even if I've gotten it all out of my head.

Now that it's complete, I hope you all go back in and read it start-to-finish, as it was meant to be read. And thanks everyone for sticking with me on this for a year and a half. I would be happy with myself for finishing this thing no matter what, but you guys make me proud to have done so.

2009-01-26T15:35:00.000-08:00

The end is near, guys.

Including Monday's, there are five pages of The Good Crook left.

Instead of having it end next Wednesday, I'll be running the comic on Tuesday-Thursday as well as MWF this week. Which means its the last week of the comic.

I have a lot of people to thank, but we'll save that for the final page. Needless to say I'm incredibly grateful to every person who ever read this comic, forever. (Also its my 21st birthday on the 31st. In case you were wondering.)

2008-12-23T15:17:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. Christmas is fast approaching and I know what everyone wants for Christmas- a huge update to the fanart section! Go check it out, there's a TON of really good stuff there.

Also, you may be able to tell that this comic is coming to a close. I haven't said anything about it because I have no idea what to say, except thank you to everyone who's been reading for this past year and a half. Have a great holiday, you guys, and I'll see you in the new year!

2008-10-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

Hola amigos. I know it's been a while since I rapped at ya. I've been busy with schoolwork and with my new comic Bobwhite. I'm thinking of putting together a book of Good Crook's first hundred pages or so. Is that something any of you might be interested in? I'll probably do it through Lulu since I'm not entirely ready to take the Seriously Published plunge yet.

2008-09-08T06:25:00.000-07:00

Guess what, everybody. I have a new comic strip! It's called Bobwhite, at bobwhitecomics.com. I know right?! This one's gonna be four panels, five days a week, still in full color. Are you as excited as me? How could you not be.
Good Crook's still going up three days a week as scheduled, but now you get more than double the amount of comics you were getting before! Crazy!

Also, there's 31 strips already in the archive, so read away!

2008-09-01T07:51:00.000-07:00

Oh shit guys! Do you know what today is? Today's the first anniversary of The Good Crook! Did you get me presents? No?! God damn you, guys. Seriously.

No, I'm kidding. This past year has gone better than I'd ever hoped it would. A few days ago I finished drawing the last page of this comic (minus color- I'm only a couple dozen ahead with the color pages.) I feel really great about, and I can't wait until I get to post that page here. The comic online is more than halfway done. But I've got a new comic that I've been working on. If all goes to plan it should debut next week, on Monday September 8! So stay tuned! And thank you for a wonderful year of misplaced guns, carjackings, the mafia, and little girls who are probably too smart for their age!

2008-08-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

Con was FUCKING AWESOME. Also I'm back in New York- my internship is sadly over. I'll have a better report on all that stuff up soon- I just wanted to get the post announcing "Comicon! It's comin' up" off the top of the blog. So, yes.

2008-07-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

Comicon! It's comin' up. On Tuesday Kris and I are heading out to San Diego! Here's what's going on:
I'll be wandering around with flyers and hanging around the Halfpixel booth (2107!), so stop by and see me! I'm dying to meet you guys (really!).
Here's the crazy exciting part- When you get to booth 2107, you can buy a Good Crook minicomic or some of my original art! This is the first time I've tried to sell any of my work so I'm really excited and a little nervous about this. The minicomic has the first twelve pages in grayscale, with many of the panels redrawn to not be so terrible. You're basically getting brand new, never before seen art which you won't find online! Of course you can also get that if you want to grab one of the Good Crook original pieces, which are one of a kind. I'm pretty happy with how they came out and I hope you'll like them too.
Also get some Starslip stuff too, it's pretty great. There's gonna be a whole bunch of awesome stuff going on and we've been getting ready all week, so I hope to see you there!
Also- I've also put up a new page in the Extra Comics section, which you might like. The comics that are up there are all little stories about the Good Crook characters that don't directly relate to the main plot, but I hope they add a little something after you've read them. This one is no exception but its probably the most direct "prequel" so far.

2008-06-23T08:19:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, probably eleven or twelve, I bought an Adam Sandler comedy cd. My dad immediately gave me a copy of George Carlin's You Are All Diseased, saying that if I was going to listen to that kind of thing, I might as well listen to the good stuff. From that point on, George Carlin was my all-time favorite comedian.

George Carlin passed away yesterday and I just wanted to write a little bit here about what he meant to me. What does this have to do with The Good Crook, you ask? Well, George Carlin's bit about how he prays to Joe Pesci (because he looks like a guy who can get things done, and the results are the same anyway) was a big part of what got me interested in mafia movies in the first place.

I'm still a little shocked about this. RIP, George. In one of his routines, he said he believes that when people die, they go wherever they think they're gonna go. I hope he thought he was going somewhere good.

2008-06-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

Remember when I said I was gonna put up a forum? I totally wasn't lying. There's a link to it up now, and I've started a couple of (hopefully) fun threads! Please come hang out with me there. It's up to you guys to make this not suck.

2008-06-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Guess where I am right now. Okay, I'll just tell you- I'm in Dallas Texas, working with Kris Straub (and Erica Stephens) of Starslip Crisis! I have a blog post over there about it and there will be a few more over the month and a half I'll be here. Starslip is also one of my favorite comics so check it out if you haven't already. I'm learning tons about the webcomics business, and hopefully I'll use it to make this site and this comic better. Everyone wins!

Also, I'll be with Kris and some of the other Halfpixel guys at SDCC, so come visit me! This will be my first time actually working at the con so I'm really excited. See you there!

2008-05-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! A few quick things-

Site updates: I've made some changes to the cast page. Check it out if you're interested in that kind of stuff. I'm gonna be fixing up most of the "extras" pages over the next week so they match the rest of the site, especially the "about" page which has been down for a little while. So NOW YOU KNOW.

Forum: I'm ... thinking of putting one up...? There's nothing sadder than a forum with no posts, but I think there's enough of you guys around by now to make it worth the risk. So... y'know, look for that. In the meantime, you can follow me on Twitter if you want!

Cons: Again, I'm gonna be at MoCCA and SDCC. So say hi! I'm told I'm a very nice person.

There's more big news coming up, but I'm not sure when to talk about it. Stay tuned!

2008-05-19T03:51:00.001-07:00

It's my brother's birthday today. Happy birthday, Delaney!

Right now I'm excited because I'm done with school on Wednesday. I have to pack up all my crap by then. Wish me luck.

I'll be at Mocca this year, and also SDCC. For Mocca I'll just be wandering around, possibly with my mom, so I guess say hi if you see me? Seriously e-mail me (magnoliaporter@hotmail.com) if any of you guys in New York want to meet up there (Hi, Mary!). Unless you're crazy murderers. Anyway, it's gonna be awesome.

2008-05-14T07:52:00.000-07:00

Okay so, that short story in Extra Comics is done now! You can go ahead and click "back" on it to read the whole thing on one page. It's pretty short so it won't take too much time, and hopefully it should contain some interesting information.

Also this car scene is wrapping up and I'd love to know how you guys felt about it. I was gonna talk about it but I decided it's a little too early to do that. I'm gonna wait for the deluxe hardcover book edition that costs sixty bucks and is sold out everywhere and has a gushing foreword by Alex Robinson. (totally gonna happen)

2008-05-05T06:45:00.000-07:00

Good morning! I just want to quickly announce that a Good Crook minicomic will be running M-F this week and M-W next week over at Short Stories section. We won't be seeing Jackie's friend Rico for a while so he has a starring role in this one. (It's a flashback!)

My 24-hour-comic "Mickey Rooney" is also up there, you can read that one too if you haven't yet. In fact I would recommend reading that one first. It's not vital, but that's how I would do it.

These extra comics aren't hugely important to read to understand the story, but these characters go other places in my head, and do things that don't really have a place in the main comic. (I'd make a joke about how "LULZ cartoonists are crazy!" but I'm sure you've all heard people say stuff like this a million times before.) I do these extra comics sometimes just to try out these different stories. So maybe you'll like them too...?

2008-04-30T09:52:00.001-07:00

Someday I hope to be remembered for writing such sparkling dialogue as "Get the fuck away!" and "You fuckin' get away, man!"

Now I know how Oscar Levant feels.

Anyway, I really want to talk about this part of the story, but I guess I'll wait for the scene to be over. CARRY ON.

2008-04-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

Oh man, I totally forgot that we passed the 100-comics mark a while ago! Oh well. So, um, hooray for me.

2008-04-23T07:27:00.000-07:00

This is the last page of probably one of my favorite scenes. I hope you guys liked it too. Fortunately I had kind of a small jump in readers during this scene- I'm glad people came in for that part of the comic. Anyway.

I had a great time at NYCC! There's new fanart up from Mary C. Shyne, who I met at the con. It was totally awesome discussing the women there walking around in leather underwear with her. (For real, con-going ladies, let's be serious for five seconds. )

I got a sketch from Alex Robinson too, and I was so nervous and excited I can't even tell you. He gave me a really good sketch but sometimes its weird getting drawings at conventions. I'm never sure whether to talk or not when they're drawing; I don't want to distract them, but there's also this awkward sort of silence. Oh well!

There was only one bad part to all this. When I got back from New York, I found out that Martin Scorsese had done a lecture at Brown that weekend, which is right next to my school. And I missed it. Noooooooo

2008-04-18T04:51:00.001-07:00

Hey guys! I'm going home for NYCC. If any of you are going, maybe... maybe I'll see you there?

This is going to be awesome.

2008-04-04T07:18:00.000-07:00

I loved drawing this page. I think this is a good one for new readers to come in on, if only because this is kind of the closest I've gotten so far to making The Good Crook EXACTLY what I want it to be. Does that make sense? No? Okay.

2008-04-02T03:59:00.001-07:00

In case you guys don't remember, "Frank Brodka" is the name Nona found on the inside of the box where the gun was, back in the car when she was rooting around for it.

P.S. Kids with guns? Way way WAY fun to draw.

And hey, check out this comic Twelve Steps from Superman. The story is really cool so far, it feels like the opening scene of a great movie. Plus the art and characters are great, I love the layout and all the interesting little visual detours. That's the kind of stuff I wish I could do in The Good Crook but I'm afraid I'll screw it up. The artist, Mary Shyne, seems like a cool person too. I like it a lot is what I'm trying to say.

2008-03-14T06:08:00.001-07:00

ARRRGH I SPELLED "WEIRD" WRONG NOOOO

Not to draw your attention to it or anything.

I'll fix that later today. Also, still messing with the site! Thanks for your patience. By the way, the Making Webcomics book is out! Not that it needs my traffic, but I'm excited. I pre-ordered mine so I'll be checking my mail with anticipation every day until it comes. It'll be like that one Calvin and Hobbes story.

OH MY GOD.

2008-03-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

When I first started putting comics online, I said to myself, "I'll know I'm a Real Webcartoonist the day I get my first fanart."

Ladies and gentlemen, that day is today.

(Also: I'm trying to fix up the site so it looks a little better. Unfortunately, I am completely terrible at this kind of thing. Sorry it looks weird right now, I'm still messing around.)

2008-03-05T07:13:00.000-08:00

I don't have much to say, but I wanted to get that There Will Be Blood post off the front page (although I saw it again the other day and it was EVEN BETTER).

I like Nona's expression in the "chick flick" panel, although it wasn't exactly what I was going for. She usually doesn't make the kind of faces Jackie does- in fact I think probably she would actively try not to. But it's fun to draw once in a while, because their faces are such a different shape.

I KNOW SO INTERESTING RIGHT

Oscars 2008

2008-02-24T20:59:00.000-08:00

Well, my personal favorite There Will Be Blood didn't win Best Picture. But at least Daniel Day-Lewis got the well-deserved Best Actor. I was afraid they were gonna give one of those "You sucked in this, but you've done good stuff before" oscars to Johnny "I look like a fourteen-year-old goth on a Southern plantation in 1860" Depp.

There, I said it.

Anyway, I'm glad that didn't happen.

I'm such a sucker for Hollywood. I was weeping ten minutes into the ceremony. And I'm not ashamed.

2008-02-21T05:14:00.000-08:00

I don't think I need to tell you why this is one of my new favorite Achewoods ever.

2008-02-20T07:23:00.000-08:00

Feb 20's page:

I'm not sure why I think this is funny, but I really, really do.

I'm the first to admit that Good Crook was not written as a webcomic. I wrote it as a single book with a definite end. I hope it doesn't seem too slowly paced. I'm a little nervous to talk about this stuff here because I don't want to seem too down on my own work. I'm not; I'm very proud of this, but I do have some worries as I imagine you have to in order to hopefully start improving. (I'm also sometimes very doubtful of my skills as a colorist, and just generally transferring a page to the screen. It always looks to me like something's lost in the process. Oh well.)
I've got a decent bunch of readers right now- I'm pretty much where I sort of wanted and expected to be after the first few months of the comic. We're sort of nearing the hundredth page now, and I hope to get the comic out there a little more. I'm not totally sure how to do that, but... wish me luck. All of you who read, thank you! And those of you who have talked about and linked to the comic- it means a lot to me, more than I can say.
If you read, please don't hesitate to tell me what you think! I'd love to talk to you guys.
I hope this post doesn't seem negative. It isn't! I feel like my life is going pretty well right now and I guess I'm sort of trying to transfer a little more of that to my comics. Or something.
Anyway, there was a recent bunch of arrests of mob bosses from the Gambino family, and one of the guys they got owned the restaurant a block away from my house. We always called it "the mafia restaurant." It's weirdly satisfying to find out we were right.

2008-02-11T05:02:00.000-08:00

There's a new picture for Valentine's Day up at the top of the page there. I drew that entirely while watching The Graduate, which is a pretty good Valentine's Day movie if you ask me. But in my "Viewer's Cut", Ben runs to the chapel at the end, bangs on the glass, yells "MRS. ROBINSONNN!" and then they run away together.

I mean, come on. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

2008-02-08T06:08:00.000-08:00

I also just want to say that panel 4 there is pretty much the perfect Jackie moment. Getting seriously offended when someone doesn't believe an obvious lie.

Just saying.

2008-02-06T06:49:00.000-08:00

This is one of the only times where I drew the expression EXACTLY how I wanted it.

ENJOY.

2008-01-31T13:56:00.001-08:00

It's my birthday! HOORAY.

2008-01-29T13:20:00.001-08:00

Just to let you know: the updated Sketches page is coming soon.

Also, I found something cool recently that I thought I might share with you guys. A few months ago a mob boss was arrested, and they found a piece of paper containing a list of ten "commandments" for being a good mobster. If you're like me, you think that's the coolest thing you ever heard of. I was going to do a one page for the Extra Comics section (which I hope will someday have a lot more in it) illustrating these commandments with Jackie and Nona, but I couldn't really think of a good way to do that. Here they are anyway.

1. No-one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it.
2. Never look at the wives of friends.
3. Never be seen with cops.
4. Don't go to pubs and clubs.
5. Always being available for Cosa Nostra is a duty - even if your wife's about to give birth.
6. Appointments must absolutely be respected.
7. Wives must be treated with respect.
8. When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth.
9. Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families.
10. People who can't be part of Cosa Nostra: anyone who has a close relative in the police, anyone with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn't hold to moral values.

How badass is that? (Answer: SO badass.)

2008-01-21T06:42:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! Happy MLK day! If the comic looks a little different today, it's because I redid most of this week's pages at the last minute. Just, y'know, a heads up.

Also, it is ten days to my twentieth birthday. AUGH.

2008-01-17T22:34:00.000-08:00

The first panel just made Spike Lee's head explode.

Just sayin'.

2008-01-08T04:59:00.000-08:00

Okay, so, the WCCAs are coming up. I already filled out my nomination ballot but maybe if you haven't yet you could cast a vote for me for best newcomer please? Maybe? That would be pretty great.

I started writing and drawing this comic in August of 2006. I started thinking about putting it online in 2007. Then Octopus Pie started in May and I seriously thought to myself, "Well dammit, there goes my Best Newcomer chances."

(p.s. it would still be an honor to be nominated.)

Also: I'm working on some new stuff for the main site, including a permanent link to the sketch page and some other "special features". I might want to work the whole thing like a DVD menu someday. Or maybe that would be too cutesy. Hell, I dunno.

2007-12-31T04:26:00.000-08:00

This page, by the way, is where the rousing travel music kicks in if this was a movie.

Also, one of my favorite cartoonists, Shaenon Garrity, just started a new webcomic! I seriously doubt she needs the links from me, but what can I say, I'm excited. It's called Skin Horse, and it's only one strip in but so far I love it. Sincerely.

Judging from the intro, it's named after the skin horse from the Velveteen Rabbit, which was my my favorite story of all time ever when I was a kid. Oh, the Velveteen Rabbit! I love that little guy. Double bonus!

2007-12-28T07:57:00.000-08:00

Oh crap! I forgot to fix the color of Jackie's pants before I posted this! I'll have to change it when I get home. (What was I thinking?)

2007-12-26T07:07:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! Mine was pretty good. Every year we watch It's A Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve if we can, and every year I'm reminded that it really is a completely awesome movie. I think Frank Capra's "Capra-corn" reputation is a little undeserved. Most of his movies have such bleak circumstances that the usually uplifting endings seem very welcome and sincere, and not at all over the top.

But anyway, I hope you all had a great holiday, and thanks so much for reading! That's your christmas present to me.

(Okay, maybe that sentence was a little over the top, but I mean it.)

2007-12-21T05:17:00.000-08:00

Oh man, it's almost time for Death Pool! I only got Joey Bishop this year. I had lots of good ones, too. Jerry Lewis, I love you, but I cannot fucking believe that you are still alive.

2007-12-19T06:16:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to say that this page is one of my favorites of all the ones I ever drew.

Nona's got "Black Beauty" there. Dean Martin claimed that was the only book he ever read, besides comic books. (He loved Batman.)

...Look, I love Dean Martin, okay?!

2007-12-10T06:48:00.000-08:00

Josh is every boy I knew in high school. Every white boy, anyway.

I just made a Sketch page, but it's not linked on the main page yet. For now, you can find it here. There's only four things up there now, but there's a lot more coming.
Last blog entry I recommended the movie Dog Day Afternoon. This time I'm gonna suggest Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. It's a very early Scorsese, and sort of atypical because it's about a single woman and her son. This was also a huge huge inspiration for The Good Crook, or at least I think it was. It's a good one, and much much better than the TV show it spawned (Alice.)

It's also a little closer to being a christmas movie for the whole family. But not totally. There's swearing. Kids swearing. (That's one of my favorite things.)

2007-11-30T06:17:00.001-08:00

You might notice a link to a Good Crook holiday card I made above the logo there. I think it came out pretty okay! I might use it as my regular holiday card except for it has guns in it.

The other day I watched one of my favorite movies again for the first time in probably a year, Dog Day Afternoon. If you like this comic I strongly recommend it (not that this comic is anywhere close to that movie in terms of ... goodness). Al Pacino's character in that movie was a huge inspiration for Jackie, especially visually. There are some major differences, though. For instance, Jackie is not a young, gay bank robber. So, y'know. It's also worth it just for John Cazale's performance (he was Fredo in Godfather). He'll break your heart, but doesn't he always?
So anyway, Dog Day Afternoon: It's a perfect holiday movie for the whole family! (Not really.)

2007-11-26T05:37:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! I'm really late on the Scott Pilgrim train but seriously it may be the coolest comic book of all time. I didn't want to read it before because I thought it was about anime hipsters, and it kind of is, except somehow really good.

I've been looking forever for my sketchook with all the concept work I did for Good Crook. I just found it yesterday, so I'll put up a sketches section really soon. It's a Thanksgiving miracle!

2007-11-12T14:27:00.000-08:00

Hey, everyone! I hope you're enjoying the comic. Please don't hesitate to let me know what you think, whether it's by emailing me or on this blog. There's no "chapters" in this, because I want it all to be more sort of cinematic or something, but this page does mark the start of the second thirty-page installment block, so I guess you could call it part two if you want.

There's been two mob movies released recently, We Own The Night and American Gangster. I thought both of them had a raging case of Trying Too Hard To Be Goodfellas syndrome, which is only marginally more tolerable than Trying Too Hard To Be Pulp Fiction syndrome. We need some new brand of mob movie for everyone to rip off. The age of the gritty, realistic mafia and the hip, self-aware mafia is over. It is time for an earnest, whimsical mafia movie that's sweetly charming and vaguely magical. James Cromwell can star as the grumpy, strict old don who learns to love again with the help of his bright-eyed, inventive new consigliere.

Well, it sounds awesome to me.

2007-10-31T05:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! Here's a quick Halloween picture I did (it'll open in a new window). Features characters from Templar, Starslip, and Gunnerkrigg Court. (I don't like that cutesy "Guess who they're supposed to be!" thing.)

In "real life", I don't think any of the characters read webcomics. I think Nona would most likely go as Lyra from Golden Compass. The movie version better not suck.

2007-10-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

Quick note- You may notice an "Extra Comics" link there. I'm still messing around with it, so expect it to be all wierd until at least the weekend. You can still hit the link at the header to see the 24 hour comic all in one place.

2007-10-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

For now, my 24-hour comic, about Jackie and his dad, can be found here. It's just a temporary location though, I'm still trying to decide how to present it. I might just make a seperate series here on Webcomics Nation for Good Crook related short stories, since I have a couple of em in the works. I'll try to get that done, maybe on Thursday or something.

2007-10-22T05:16:00.000-07:00

Guys who read Bukowski when they should be working. What are you gonna do?!

Anyway, I did 24 Hour Comics Day! At first I was worried that I had resigned myself to spending the whole Saturday in my room hunched over my desk, but it actually turned out to be really fun. I wrote a story about Jackie's dad. I'm not gonna post it here yet because I used part of an anecdote one of my teachers told me, and I need to ask his permission to use it. Hopefully I'll have it up on Wednesday. It came out pretty nice if I do say so myself.

2007-10-17T08:23:00.000-07:00

Four new things in the gallery, including the teaser image that used to be up in the archives.

I plan on participating in 24-hour-comics day this Saturday, if I can get a handle on my homework and stuff. It will probably be Good Crook-related, and if so, I'll post it here. I'm also working on a short series of comic strips featuring just Nona, which I might put up in November. Anyway, look for an "Extra Comics" section soon.

2007-10-12T05:38:00.000-07:00

I like this page.

Also, there's a new picture in the gallery. It came out pretty sweet, if I do say so myself.

2007-10-08T05:27:00.000-07:00

If the characters look slightly different in the first few panels of today's comic, it's because I completely redrew them yesterday morning because I decided the writing there was dumb. I tried to draw Jackie like I used to. It was way harder then I thought it would be.

After the comic has been going up for a while I'm going to put that, and a few other pages, up in a category called "Deleted Scenes". Because there are a lot of pages I redraw or cut from the comic. And it might be ... sort of ... interesting? I don't know.

2007-10-01T05:30:00.001-07:00

I am so proud of that drawing of Robert Deniro, for reals. Man, what a cool guy.

When my brother read this, he looked up at me and said with a big smile, "You based Rico on me, right?" My answer was "Well... I don't think so- actually, well, maybe." So let's just say for now that the answer is yes.

I'm gonna put up a cast page and maybe some other stuff at the end of the week.

2007-09-28T04:39:00.001-07:00

Hey guys! You may notice I've added a gallery of Good Crook-related images. Eventually I'm gonna put up a cast page and other extras, but not yet.

Today's page is one of my favorites, by the way.

2007-09-21T06:51:00.000-07:00

Drawing this page, I learned that omelettes are way harder to draw than they look. At least, for me.

I'm mainly just posting now so that big long one below isn't on the top. I get embarrassed when I write long blog posts.

Do you guys read My Year of Flops? It's a blog on the Onion A.V. Club where this guy writes about movies that failed critically and commercially, and didn't even get a cult following afterward- movies that were either completely forgotten or became a sad joke. It's really interesting, and I want to see more of the movies reviewed there then the ones that get good grades on the main site.

2007-09-20T10:07:00.001-07:00

Even though there's no page today, I wanted to write a short post about some stuff I've been thinking about. But first:
Thanks so much to Spike of Templar, Arizona for linking Good Crook and saying some really nice things in her blog. Templar is one of my absolute favorite comics of all time, for serious. And Spike is an artist who has a certain sensibility that I just really get into. It's not just that I love her work- I also love the sort of mindset I get when I read her stuff. It's very inventive, but completely natural at the same time, which is very rare. It's the same for me when I read Michael Chabon- it takes me a while to get out of the mood the writing puts me in. Know what I mean? Anyway, I swear to the god of the Internet I would still be saying this if she hadn't linked me.

So, yeah. This comic has barely started, but I hope you'll stick with it. Maybe this isn't the format it's best suited for, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway. I'm excited about it, and maybe you will be too.

2007-09-12T04:29:00.000-07:00

Guys, I drew most of this like a year ago. I promise- the drawings -will- get better.

Also, I'm gonna add other stuff like a cast page and sketches and whatever after a few more pages go up. We're almost at the talking!

2007-09-07T05:48:00.000-07:00

Still no talking for maybe another two pages, but this is still one of my favorites.

This past week of comics has done way better than I thought it would, so thanks to everyone who's reading!

Anyway, you can now get to this comic from www.goodcrook.com. That's probably easier.

2007-09-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

So, here we go. I wrote this thing as a graphic novel or whatever, so the first couple of pages aren't going to be... action-packed, exactly. It'll probably take a week and a half of updates to get into, you know, talking and stuff. I'm pretty happy with the drawings, though. Come back here Wednesday for the next page, which at least has one of the characters on it. After that the comic will be up MWF. This counts as Monday's, just because I wanted it to start on the first of the month.

Does it look wierd that the comic is on a white background but the page is black? Or is that okay? I don't know, I'm not very good at site design and stuff like that. It's good that Webcomics Nation does most of the work for me.

By the way, soon you'll be able to find this page at www.goodcrook.com. FANCY.

2007-08-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

So I'm setting up for when I start posting pages of Good Crook.
Basically copying the blog setup for Templar, Arizona.
Um... sorry.

There's probably something better than Blogger to use for something like this,
but um... I'm not gonna worry about that right now.

Anyway, this comic is something I've been working on for
over a year now. I'm giving myself until September to keep ironing
out the details. I wrote it as a graphic novel and I'm still a little worried
about positng it online. The pacing isn't really written for page-a-day stuff.
But, I think posting on the web is the best way to get myself used to showing
it to people. I'll probably keep making small changes even after I post pages
though.

But yeah. I hope you guys... will like it? Or something.

First

2007-08-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

Testing some stuff...