Chippy and Loopus!!!

Yes, again a delay..

Hey, work and life continue to intrude, but I'll have a strip up soon. In the mean time, I have started to read the controversial Charles Schulz biography by David Michaelis. It's pretty good so far, but I have yet to get to the passes that the Shulz family object to. I have read the

(Later)
Ahem. Sorry about that.
Anyway, I've been reading the Schulz family's comments on "Cartoon Brew" and I'm keeping them in mind as I read. That said, I haven't found anything terribly out of line with what I already knew about Shullz. I've read the Rhetta Gremsley Johnson biography written in 1989, and Schulz's own "Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Me". So far this biography has helped fill out the picture that was aready painted for me by the previous biographies. The intresting thing is the way Michaelis uses Peanusts strips to support the text, illustrating just how autobiographical Peanuts actually was.
As I said before, I haven't yet reached the controversial passages, so the jury is still out on the book.
One thing the book has done is got me thinking about comics and comic strips seriously again. Recently, I've been doing my strip as a page, like a sunday or a comic book page, the reason being, I wanted to prepare myself for The Afterworks story and give folks a little extra since I only do the strip once a week (more or less).
but now, I'm thinking about the strip again and what a great format it is. Sure it's only 4 panels, as opposed to 9, but that limitation makes things interesting. It's a discipline, a form that forces you to think creatively. The masters of this form do amazing things with it, like Schulz, Watterson and Kelly.
Anyway, it makes me want to try the 4 panel form again.
I'm still going to do the Afterworks story, but at the same time, I want to earnestly develop this strip into something that might one day appear in newspapers.
I'll be lookiing to all of you for your comments. Let me know when I screw up. Let me know what you like and what you don't. Seriously. I need all the help I can get.
Thanks for listening!
-John

New Episode!!! This week: "Zuuuh?"

Previously, on "Chippy and Loopus"....

It's been so long since I've posted a strip that I figured I'd better do one of those cheesy, cheap-ass recaps similar to the ones that the producers of "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" use to pad out their seasons.
So, here we go:

This is Chippy, he's an easily irritated, foul-mouthed little rabbit.
He loves to fight and is super strong.

This is Loopus. He is remarkably stupid.

He sometimes talks to a pink unicorn that lives in his head. Somehow, The imaginary Unicorn is smarter than Loopus.

Chippy and Loopus were invited to a Co-ed Baby shower by their good friend Carl.
They were horrified.

Unable to weasle out of it, they did what they felt they had to in order steel themselves for such a helleacious trial....

They arrive enebriated to the utter horror of their hosts. Things go from bad to worse, and Chippy almost gets into a fight with one of the other party goers. Thinking fast, Carl seizes on what he thinks is the only solution...

Carl and Loopus tuck the comatose Chippy safelly away in the basement. Unfortunately, Carl's somewhat questionable past rears it's ugly head..

Carl is quick to deduce that the only way to get rid of the gangsters is to awaken Chippy and aim his considerable rage in their direction. He turns to his resourcefull twin sons, Tucker and Tyler...

After a tense moment, Chippy awakens and handily deals with the gangsters.

The battle destroys a huge chunk of Carl's house. Chippy agrees to help fix it.
Unfortunatly, the wake-up potion has a few side effects..

Loopus is little help...

Chippy threatens Loopus with visceral mutilation if he so much as touches the nail gun again. However, Loopus is Loopus, and so ...

This prompts the reappearance of the Unicorn who shows his usual contempt and disdain for his benefactor...

And that pretty much brings us up to date. I think there was a piss joke in there somewhere, but it was tangential, and thus not worth re-living. I'll post a new episode in the next couple of days. I promise.
I am sorry for the huuuuuuuge delay, but life and work have been monumentally busy.
In other news, I am still working on that story that will be a part of "Afterworks 3". Schedule permitting, I will be traveling to the San Diego Comic Con with my After works pals to help promote the book. I'll try to get some t-shirts together for the event. Good ones, not like those cheapy Cafe Press ones that are for sale on the right. I think I'm the only one who buys those. Well, Lee Roy bought one. But no one else.
These will be neat. I promise.
Anything else? Hmmm...I can't remember.
Oh yeah, our old friend Handel written me an open letter on his blog and has either invited me to dinner or challenged me to a fight. He has set the date for the San Diego Comic Con next year.
Check it out
http://countrstrike.blogspot.com/
You know, this sort of thing NEVER happens to Ronnie Del Carmen. Or Jenny LeRew. Or Mark Kennedy.
Or Jeff Pidgeon... or...
Oh well.
Thanks for reading.
-John