Issue 3 page 4

Remember the disk that Alder found way back in issue 1? No? Well... uh... she found a disk in issue 1.

Issue 3 page 3

It figures that the first thing we see Pickles do is something stupid. As Keith "Just No Point" Taylor suggested the reason why she's so heavily scarred is because she's in dangerous situations often, though sometimes it's due to an extreme lack of foresight on her own part.
Recently it's occurred to me that with her midriff-baring outfit and scars Pickles passingly resembles a different character from a much better comic. This is just a coincidence, but it is kind of neat. Regarding the page itself, I rather like the dialogue here.

Issue 3 page 2

It occurs to me that I've hardly mentioned anything about this issue before starting it. Uhh... it's somewhat more Alder-heavy than the previous two issues and it's inked mostly with a brush.
Whew! Glad I got that out of the way. Now this page I admit is rather talky, and I'll also admit it's not really 100% clear what these pirates are talking about. It generally bothers me when characters exposition for the reader's benefit, though maybe I could have offered more details than I did.
Also this page finally reveals the name of the mysterious scar-girl-- Pickles.

Guest Comic, by Everett Patterson

Today's guest comic is from Everett Patterson. In case you were ever wondering how Jack would choose to recap events this is pretty accurate! What I think I love most about this is the signal flare, which apparently is made of some kind of super-explosive. Hey, a giant explosion would certainly get people's attention!
Everett does a comic called Savage Nobles in the Land of Enchantment, which without giving too much away is about a punk rock band lost in the desert of New Mexico. It's also an insightful story about self-discovery, seriously good stuff! Also coming out in book form soon!

Guest Comic, by Amanda Harpold

Oh my! Is he coaxing her into selling her organs? That's literally selling your body! Going by her expression it looks like Alder has too much self-respect for that though.
This funny little single panel was provided by Amanda Harpold, perhaps best known for her photo comic But Not Really-- which is also very funny. Thanks, Amanda!

Guest Comic, by Keith Taylor

Our next comic is by Keith Taylor. I confess that my knowledge of black holes is somewhat dubious but as I understand it, it's true nobody knows exactly what happens to an object after crossing the event horizon. Though I think it's generally agreed that there's a lot of crushing involved. Apparently it involves some skull-face action too!
What's pretty awesome about this page is that there was a first version of it where the colors were slightly off, considering that it's a guest page for a comic that's in black and white I didn't think that was a problem. Keith then took it upon himself to go back and fix the colors, 'cause Keith Taylor don't half-ass nothin'!
Keith Taylor's best known for drawing The Devon Legacy Prologue, which was posted on Drunk Duck in its entirety before the site crash and is now posting on Comic Fury. So hey, if you're ever in the mood for a Sci-Fi action series go ahead and check out the Devon Legacy.

Guest Comic, by Vickie Boutwell

Our first guest comic is by Vickie Boutwell who also does a comic called Used Books which by the way inspired the TV show Alder was watching a while back. Vickie also does a comic called Gelotology which is humor strip about SCIENCE!
I love all the attention to detail here, the vest hanging on the wall is even there! Tiny Sue is now my favorite character.

Issue 2 page 24

Who are these mysterious people? Other pirates? Well, this is the last page of issue 2 so stay tuned for the next issue to find out!
Thursday I'll start uploading guest comics, and I got some great ones!

Issue 2 page 23

Last CAT! page for a while. The ship gets a name other than Butterworth and thank goodness, also the comic title probably makes a little more sense now.
For those of you in the Portland area I'll be sharing a table at the Portland Zine Symposium with the awesome Everett Patterson, so I'm sure that I'll be seeing some of you.

Issue 2 page 22

CAT!

Issue 2 page 21

Issue two winding down, and also CAT!
Thanks very much to readers that agreed to do guest comics, I really appreciate it very much. Honestly I need as many as I can get, I'll be sure to write thank you cards.

Issue 2 page 20

And the deal is made! I wanted Jack's fake license to have a more mechanical-looking lettering style and look slightly out of place. Any sane person would have downloaded a decent font and made it with Photoshop, however I am a crazy person. That said, I made a mock-up of the license with a typewriter.
Now for something rather embarrassing seeing as how I don't like asking for favors, Issue Two is wrapping up and Issue Three is being drawn but I'd like to at least have it be mostly done when I start posting. So, if anyone would be up for doing a one-off guest comic I'd be very grateful. Anyone?

Issue 2 page 19

Jack is a master of subtlety! I rather like the set dressing here, I imagine that Honest Dan's is some kind of pawn or junk shop. The legality of some of the wares might be somewhat dubious.

Issue 2 page 18

It would be really helpful for theses two if one of them was "street smart," unfortunately neither of them really are. Bummer.
My weekend was pretty awesome, my drawing buddy Virginia introduced me to her friend Yumi Sakugawa. Yumi makes some beautiful comics and you should totally check her stuff out.

Issue 2 page 17

Damn, New Harbin was a huge pain to draw. As a piece of side trivia New Harbin is actually an asteroid with an artificial shell covering its surface. Said shell is made mostly of salvaged materials like derelict spaceship hulls. This will never come up in the story.
Also today is the day of the First Thursday show for Papercutter at Floating World Comics Papercutter is an awesome anthology series put out by Tugboat Press which I would recommend to just about anyone and is now premiering its 16th issue!

Issue 2 page 16

Jack get space-flight practice! Alder gets motion sickness! Hooray! Now it's time to figure out where they are and where they're going.

Issue 2 page 15

OK, time for a long overdue shoutout. One of the cooler things about Blogger is that I can see what sites people were referred from and even what countries hits are coming from. That said, I get a surprising number of hits from Russia, at one point more than the United States! So anyway, thanks Russia! While I'm at it I should thank Malaysia too because I also get a lot of hits from there. Seriously, all you guys are great!

Regarding the page, I always find it interesting that in a show like Star Trek in a situation like the one Miller is in the appropriate thing to do is press on courageously because warnings from engineering can be safely ignored. Obviously this is not the case here, I guess Miller knows that he doesn't have main character Starfleet captain powers.

issue 2 page, 14

Ahh... Back from a family reunion over the weekend which was great! It was good to see family I almost never see otherwise, my uncle and cousin even came up from Tennessee!

Regarding the page, uhh... yup, that's how you escape from a situation like this. I do sort of like how the dialogue is paced here.

Issue 2 page 13

Well, looks like Jack's finished and... wait...
Personally I rather like the three panel sequence on the bottom row, even if the physics involved make little to no sense.
Also, I'll have artwork in a show on Saturday, June 25th 6-9pm at Guapo Comics and Coffee. The show is called Faque Cartoons and it's a show of animation cels from shows that never existed, if you're anything like me you probably think that's awesome! Here's what my cel looks like:


Here's what the guy in charge of the show John Isaacson says about it:
“Forget about half-hour time slots and commercial breaks or product placement;
This is a parallel universe of infinite channels where your imagination is the limit. Welcome to fake cartoons; dreams that made you regret waking up are now real”
Featuring art by:
Elijah Brubaker, Chris Cilla, Gariet Cowin, Patrick Devine, Gabby Holden, John Isaacson, Amy Kuttab, Leda Zawacki, and many more!
I'm stoked, how 'bout you?

Issue 2 page 12

Hooray! Blaze of glory!