July 3, 2001 - Rockin' a Beard

July 3, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Trying to capture the different flavors who came into a store like the one I’d worked, I created “the goth.” While the character had limited potential, his dialogue was so fun to write.

June 26, 2001 - Feedback

June 26, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Hey everyone, hope you are enjoying these blasts from my past. It's nice to revisit these and create a nice online home for them.

This and the previous strip were examples of the first time I chose to “publish” in a different order than I had actually created. Something indefinable about the development of the strip and when I wanted to introduce new characters. Both Q (second from left) and the goth were about to be featured more heavily.

June 19, 2001 - As Free as the Grass Grows

June 19, 2001 - Click to embiggen

I knew the time would come when Gentle would speak directly to the “camera,” but it was a convention I did not want to overuse. I really enjoyed drawing a larger version of him.

I should note that I have never personally owned a ferret nor did I do any research for this strip, so I apologize for any unintentional misrepresentations of ferrets or ferret ownership.

June 12, 2001 - What Dreams May Come

June 12, 2001 - Click to embiggen

So I had a few more ideas for the “winged potato” saga (can’t remember what they were now), but again the weekly format suggested that I wrap things up and move on. I really like this one, though.

June 5, 2001 - Crowd Pleasing

June 5, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Creation by committee--sigh. More characters make first appearances here. I took a chance having the punchline partially refer to Joe’s comment on the previous strip. Doing a weekly instead of a daily comic limited some of the storytelling options.

May 29, 2001 - High Horse

May 29, 2001 - Click to embiggen

I really urge you to view the full version by clicking on the image above. Much easier on the eyes.

Marty is the shopkeep and Joe is his help (“Joe Worker”), based on my beloved co-worker Mark Kohrmann. I was pleased with the interplay between Joe and Gentle “underneath” the actual strip. Joe often tries Marty’s patience. Double facepalm!

May 22, 2001 - Reading Into Things

May 22, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Well, we're plugging ahead. This one didn’t come out the way I wanted. Giving that many characters a voice in one panel at the end took some of the punch out of it.

May 15, 2001 - Takin' It to the Streets

May 15, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Hey everyone! Did you know that in my mind, "winged" is a 2-syllable word when referring to "the wing-ed potato"? Not that it matters.

As for the strip above, maybe this is too “in,” but at the time people seemed to get that Jake was showing his work to a comic store owner. The character on the far right was based physically on a wonderful old co-worker of mine, though he (the co-worker) is much smarter than the character is portrayed.

May 8, 2001 - An Inconvenient Strip

May 8, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Well, he was an easy target, but I really like this one! Something about the timing... Of course now, with so much time passed, the topical nature sucks the punch out of the gag.