First off, there will be, very soon, a return of comics to this, the most uncomicy of all web-comics. And I KNOW I’ve said as much before without actual comics appearing, but I’ve already seen said comics and so I can actually verify their existence.

And we might even see a return of Gilgrim…he’s not entirely returned from a place I like to call “the land of haggling and bullshit,” but he’s at least near a metaphorical telephone and will be able to phone in…

Lastly, I’ve often linked to Poor Mojo’s Newswire because it’s a place I get news. Also I know Mojo. You might even say that, if there existed a quasi-diety who presided over all small to medium sized internet endeavors, than Mojo would be my said diety.

Of course, the Poor Mojo empire has many capable souls manning her battlements, but I don’t personally know any of them…geography, she is a cruel mistress! But since I’ve been reading the newswire and almanac(k) for several years now, I have to say that I feel like I know them, in some small way.

So it was pretty awesome to see dave-o (AKA, Hugs) on the massively popular Ze Frank

http://www.zefrank.com/zesblog/archives/2007/11/the_male_condit.html

Sorry for the link, the flash won’t embed…sigh…

Well, here is the video embeded onto the site.

Exsulis

This was completed last Thursday, and seems to have finally gone up today… all in all I was surprised by the cancellation of the series, but the reasons for the cancellation are, well, not evident at this time. However, I was lucky enough to be able to put together one final strip in order to say goodbye to all of the wonderful readers who stuck it out and came back week after week for the 30+ installments. To all that have been reading the series and allowed me, April, Wednesday and even our son, Salem, to be a part of your lives - and to all of those who enjoyed the strips, thank you, very, very much.

So here it is, the final installment of Megalo Life - for Trickster Online Revolution.

And so 2007 closes today, and with it this weekly webcomic serial. Thank you again to everyone who showed their support, if you would like to leave comments for the series itself, please do so in the actual comments section for the Megalo Life series at the bottom of the URL link as I will be reading them there.

See you all next year!

–Aleister

‘Allo Normalinauts! Sorry, I’m not sure what new moniker to give to our loyal, almost double digit readership here, but for now, I’m throwing Normalinaut into play to see how it fairs. Anyone else who has a better one they’d like to throw down, by all means, please do.

Ok, so we’ve been on a fairly serious bent it seems for the last couple of posts, and with good reason, as what’s currently going on with the Presidential race will certainly effect not just the US but peoples in any other country where our nation’s sticky tentacle pull any sort of influence. So thank you for indulging us (and specifically, the more activist minded Kilian).

Now I’m not saying that this trend of seriousness, when serious issues come up will not be coming back to the forefront here on the old Normality, but I did want to take a moment to touch on some of the not-quite-as-serious things that have also been going on. Not to bend this to a completely egotistical outing, but there it is anyway.

So firstly, for anyone interested, and I assume that we’re seeing some new faces around here from ye olde MyTrix community as well as from Trickster Online Revolution in general, let me take this opportunity to say thank you very, very, very much for all of the truly heart-string-strumming comments on the final Megalo Life that went up this last Monday on the official Trickster Online Revolution website. I meant every last word that typed out in the episode’s commentary and a lot more that would really not be appropriate or in anyway professional for me add as well. I really did love (and hate using the past-tense) working on the strip week after week, and it is my belief thatthe silly little comic outing worked great to promote not only the game, the company, the community and to shed some light on the fact that the game is brought to its loyal players by real people who are weird, wonderful, falable and overwhelmingly human. This was, to my thinking, something that really set us apart from other games and communities that are out there. Obviously, there are games with better graphics, mechanics, support or any other individual component that you could name, than TOR, but I always held the belief that the strength of the title despite the uphill climb against newer, flashier titles and the seemingly endless stream of even-newer-debuting titles, was the community and the way it could interact with the company behind the game.

For me, Megalo Life was one of our several pronged efforts to create and sustain that sort of unusual community/company involvement, and in the passing of the comic, I am bitterly happy to see that I wasn’t too far off the marks in my thoughts. As it turns out, the community does seem to have enjoyed the comic. I never made the thing to have people start clammering that it was the greatest thing to hit the internet since porn, or even the best webcomic out there. It really was, at its inception and at its core, a means for those of us behind TOR to pull back the OZ-like curtain and say, ‘No, it’s ok, there is a man back here, it’s cool,’ and then /wave in a friendly manner. For whatever reason, it was pulled, canceled or decidedly ended… however you want to put it, it doesn’t matter the ultimate outcome was/is the same: the series is no more.

But as I said, the one really positive thing to come out of all of this, especially as the title to this post might suggest, is that when the air started to clear and emotions could be stowed for a bit to re-asses the aftermath, there was nothing more evident than the fact that the fallout of the series has shown what I might humbly term as overwhelming community support for the strip and my efforts.

Again, for anyone interested, especially those from the TOR community, I am deeply thankful that you enjoyed the series, and I am very, truly moved by the outcries of support and even unhappiness to see it/me go. So thank you. I don’t know a better way to express it, than to just keep saying thank you over and over again.

I suppose that it was something of a pipe-dream to think that overwhelming outcries from the community would possibly spring some sort of rethinking to the cancellation decision as the evidence mounted to the fact that strip (like some of the other efforts, such as the now still missing GM Blog) actually did work. It did encourage interaction and involvement in the community and for the game itself. It was a useful effective tool to help set us and our collective efforts apart from the other, and oft-times behemoth-y-juggernaut-like competitors in the online gaming world who always have more money and resources to throw at things than we could dream of. Because of the players, the Tricksters, the community members and the readers of the Megalo Life series that returned week after week, and especially have been showing their support in the final installment, I think it is now assured that the points have been proven. There should no longer be a question as to whether or not it was effective, useful, and basically a good thing.

Doubt can no longer be attributed to the quantifying of the effort - and no question can reasonably be raised as to whether or not the series itself was a much needed bridge between players and corporation.

Thank you once more, sincerely and whole heartedly to every single one of you Tricksters who have come forward in the comment section on the final Megalo Life and in the My Trix thread to show your support and even your surprise at the sudden ending of the webcomic. My heart’ still heavy from the ending of it all, but I can watch now with a smile on my face because I know that I did make a difference, and I made that difference because you let me. Thank you.

The decision always has been and is still now, out of my hands. If I could change it, I would, and perhaps I thought naively that you could effect change as well. Maybe that will still happen, at this point my crystal ball can’t see quite that far into the future ^__^ but I’m glad to have your efforts behind it just the same.

As Megalo Life has ended, in a somewhat traumatic sort of way, suddenly, and without any real warning (announcements, or even being posted on the normal day of the week) I will be taking this week off to finish recuperating from what can only be described as a tumultuous, emotional, rollercoaster of crazy bat shit, and will not be posting a new strip for NR today. I should be able to return to form once more next week, and in the meantime I offer some other stimulus for visual trauma:

If you’ve noticed on the top right side of the NR site here, there is a new section added, along with the Comic Archive, and the Vote Campaign for TopWebComics, and other information, there is a new section (still being polished so be nice, please) titled Gilgrim’s Artwork. So if visual stimuli is what you crave, as they say, buy the ticket, take the ride.

Cheers,

–Aleister

KMFDM - Last Things

Well, I didn’t want to take down gilgrim’s post (since it is well written and heartfelt) for one quick thing…so anyway, read this and let your imagination pique at the possibility…

And I, for one, vote for Normalinauts!

–Kilian

And since that’s the case, I thought it a good idea to post a slightly narcicistic reminder about the new Cemeterians trade available directly through SLG and finer book buying outfits with actual taste the English speaking world over.

Also SLG has added the book to their online store, with the correct version of the cover art (which isn’t always correct on some of the other sites I’ve seen).

SLG Store - Cemeterians Trade!

I’ll be at SDCC at the SLG table (located, according to the convention website at plot 1815) on Friday and Saturday and will gladly scribble away on anything you have available (napkins, sketchbooks, bags, other peoples’ works, dogs etc) and as I said before, anyone who comes to the table with their own copy of the Cemeterians gets a free sketch of their choosing (no, you don’t have to purchase the book from SLG at the con, just have it on you… but they will be in stock at the booth of course ^__^).

Signing Schedule is as follows:

Fri. 10-12 (table 2B)
Sat. 10-11, 1-2, 4-6 (table 5B)

Both tables are likely a smaller part of the larger cog that is the great and terrible SLG creator’s horseshoe ring of doom filled to the brim with other souls generally more talented, and certainly more prolific than me. I’m not currently sure about the signing schedules for the other artists and creators, but anyone at the booth should be able to tell you when you get there - there are a lot of creators that deserve your attention and a quick thanks for helping to keep the sequential artform alive, fresh and innovative if not simply entertaining.

So see everyone next week, as APril and I trudge down to the geek-prom that is SDCC.

We love you all,

–Aleister

Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass

Somehow, this seems to have slipped through the cracks a bit, but there has been an update to the current Paypal drive for yours truly, with one gracious Normalinaut donating a cool $100 USD to the great casue! And what did we do in honor of this most generous donation? Nothing… yet! But we will, now with renewed vigor as it has been brought to our attention in the first place.

And btw faithful, gracious and giving Normalinaut, we will need a picture of you and the proper name you wish to be identified with to complete our end of the bargain ^__^ feel free to send these to either myself or Kilian when you’re ready.

For all Normalinauts keeping track, this puts us almost exclusively to the halfway mark for our ultimate goal!

Just a bit further you mighty and faithful few, we’re almost home! Current balance $203.01

We love you all,

–Aleister

Gorillaz - D-Sides