Sometimes the daft jokes are the best. This one is especially daft for a couple of reasons; the main one being the question of why anyone would want to simulate Franky’s life. Entertainment value, most likely. Franky is a weird one so chances are a simulation would be fun to watch from a “what daft thing could happen next?” point of view.

I’m considering putting Series Two on haiatus and concentrating on twice-weekly updates for Series Three for a while. This would mean two instances of the three-panel strips each week for a while. I’m not sure how long I’d do this for but if I do decide to try it, it’s likely to run for at least a month. I don’t think an adequate trial of the idea could be done in any less time than that.

The Series Three stories take les time to draw but more time to write, as the jokes have to be snappier. You can’t just take a series two story and cut it down into three panels, unfortunately, so it takes a bit of work to wrie. Still, it’s worth the effort when it all works out.

I’ll keep you posted on any decisions.

I’m no fan of censorship so any chance to make fun of those who feel a need to censor things rather than just get on with their lives is a chance I have to take.  In this case, however, the joke was simply one that had to be told, whether I love to make fun of censorship or not.  The idea that someone couldn’t hear what someone else was saying because they’d been censored just seemed so funny when Jenny and I were discussing it.  Perhaps we could have gone with the speech being obscured by some kind of mic feedback whine or something similar but this, I think, was the better choice.

I’m away next weekend on holiday but I’ve got most of the strips finished to keep the series going while I’m away.  You should therefore see no drop in service unless something horrible happens to the server.  If that happens, I’ll not be able to fix it until I get back but don’t worry, I’ll do what I can when I return if such a horrible eventuality were to occur.

Those who remember the last time Bernard the Health and Safety man turned up will already know that I have no time for the kind of person who wants to control others, and this comic takes that loathing one step further.  I’m not suggesting anyone should go and commit assault and battery on public officials but if you see one stuck in a bin, it might be an opportunity to reflect on the fact that maybe they deserved their fate.  You can then help them out if you want.  It’s your choice.

I’m back from holiday now, as you might have noticed.  I’m still revising, so don’t expect any new massive Series Two story epics just yet.  There may be a Series Three comic on Monday or I may have to skip that alltogether.  We’ll have to wait and see.  The problem is that I’ve got very little time to spend doing comics right now, so finding a six hour window to produce a Series Two episode is like trying to pan for gold and expecting to get rich.  It’s just not going to happen unless you’re very, very lucky.  A Series Three strip, because they’re much shorter, may be doable however; so do pop back on Monday or use our super-fantastic RSS feed to check up on the site.  It’s your choice.

This story has been something Jenny and I have bandied around for a while.  I think it was originally inspired by the Olympics but we didn’t have a chance to put it up on the site back then because we already had a stack of ideas to run through.  It’s a daft idea but sometimes the best ideas are daft, at least to a point.

I’ll let you decide how closely this strip fits with that description.

When an idea strikes you, it isn’t like someone punching you in the face; although the experience can be just as shocking.  It’s more like someone grabs you by the ears and pulls your head toward theirs, so they can better shout in your ear.  That’s how ideas strike me, anyway.  Your experiences may be different.

The idea for this story came to me some time last week but the actual realisation of it in comic form took a while.  Ideas need to gestate, to develop a life and personality of their own, before they can be released into the wild, so to speak.  In this case, it was a matter of deciding who exactly Nob Mouse would be talking to, and where.  The actual conversation turned up fully formed, as did the image of the toothy sweet for panel two, but the rest needed work.

I’ve yet to decide whether Monday’s strip will be the finale of The Scary House or whether I will split it (in my mind it’s rather long) into two parts, one running on Monday and the other running on Friday in place of the Series Three strip.  I’m not certain which way I’ll go yet, so you’ll have to come back on Monday to find out.

Until then, don’t have nightmares – it’s just a story, after all!