October 23, 2001 - Live Bait

October 23, 2001 - click to embiggen

He was based on my old boss, but Marty quickly developed his own personality. I love his sincerity coupled with his concern for the bottom line.

October 16, 2001 - Off-Camera Violence

October 16, 2001 - click to embiggen

At the beginning of making all this, I never thought I'd be drawing from my work experience as much as I ended up doing.

Hopefully the idea comes across even if one doesn’t know that “Creator’s Universe” were these crappy trading cards that nobody wanted...

October 9, 2001 - Surprise Attack

October 9, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Nothing was more rewarding than flashing on an idea that moved the whole strip forward. Having “the girl” work out the store released a whole new flood of possibilities.

October 2, 2001 - And 0 Charisma

October 2, 2001 - click to embiggen

This is one of my favorites, even though it is a little too “in.” What would a nihilistic person do in a role-playing game that he was too afraid to do in real life? Commit suicide!

I feel like this was a true corner turned, because I could take these separate characters and bring them together rather than needing "extras."

September 25, 2001 - The Playah

September 25, 2001 - click to embiggen

I have more sympathy for Barry now than when I first created him. Ferret-squirrel love rules, but I never took it past this strip. It would’ve been fun to explore a romance for Gentle...

September 18, 2001 - World's Apart

September 18, 2001 - click to embiggen

Sometimes ideas spring from strange sources. After introducing the girl’s roommate in the previous strip, I realized the girl’s, ahem, orientation might come into question. So I came up with a gag to establish their relationship a little more clearly. 

Because I knew this endeavor would never lead to fame and fortune, I felt at ease cribbing from other comic masters. It's homage, people.

September 11, 2001 - What Sells

September 11, 2001 - click to embiggen

Okay, so this is a pet peeve of mine. What really gets me is that the “t’n’a” blinds people to all the good comics that are being made. 

Note: this day was fateful to our country. The reason it had no effect on the strips was that I was several months ahead of myself at the time. I stopped drawing for a while as i took in the enormity of the attacks.