Episode 463

Read the comic here.

I only have two "faces" for Luka - a grin, and a lopsided grin. I miss the scared/yelling faces of Mary Sue and Fox.

Pigs on the Wing: CONTEST IS CLOSED

It's 3:33am here - that means submissions for the Pigs on the Wing contest are now all in.

THE GRIDS HAVE ALL BEEN UPDATED. If your entry doesn't show up, it was either disqualified (hint: Human skeletons are not animals) or I never got it. (hint: I told you not to wait until the last moment to send.)

What's next? I need to finalize the judgment spreadsheets, email them out, and start on my own round of grading. I'm hoping to post results next week, assuming the judges can wade through the nearly 200 entries by then. (Next time: One or two entries per person, max.)

Feel free to comment here with discussion of your favorite models - there's a very diverse field to choose from this time, and our judges are probably all going to be looking for different things. Who will come out on top???

Pigs on the Wing: Final Hours!

Remember! You only have until 3:33am EASTERN STANDARD TIME on June 30th (that's tomorrow) to get your entries into my e-mailbox. Don't wait until the very last minute - I'd rather not have to disqualify anyone for tardiness.

The Entry Grids will be updated today at 6:00 pm EST - right now I'm off to go see Wall*E.

Episode 462

Read the comic here.

Hopefully this strip will help with the confusion about what happened earlier this week. It's a pretty concise recap of events from Luka's perspective.

Episode 461

Read the comic here.

Savvy readers had already spotted this little plot tidbit - but the characters have to take time to realize it as well. And just wait until Luka finds out...

Episode 460

Read the comic here.

You'd be disoriented, too.

As an aside, lining up the camera so that you could see Whiskey's eyes in his visor was a major pain in the buttocks.

Character Preview

Here's a sneak peek of a character "in development" for a future Chapter in Brick House. I was pleased with the way his helmet turned out, so I'm sharing an image early...

Episode 459

Read the comic here.

I wonder how many readers thought I'd stretch Luka's rescue out for another six weeks.

Not that this is the end of the "rescue" arc, though. Still a lot of storytelling to do.

Episode 458

Read the comic here.

Seems like a logical method to me.

Pigs on the Wing: Grid Update

Rejoice in the diversity. The Entry Grids have been updated again.

Episode 457

Read the comic here.

It's good to see the new Donut hasn't forgotten the goals of the previous incarnation.

Episode 456

Read the comic here.

Personally, I wouldn't want to be on Scotch's bad side...

Buy-Me-Mizer: New parts and a new promotion

I've added three new faces to the Buy-Me Mizer. I've also launched my summer promotion:

Click the photo for details!

Episode 455

Read the comic here.

A couple of questions cleared up. It may look as if this chapter is winding down, but it really isn't. There's still one big event left to go, and I'll introduce it in-strip before the end of the week.

Episode 454

Read the comic here.

Well, now you know who he is.

It was a lot of fun reading your guesses in the forum - I was tempted a couple of times to ditch my script and take things in a *really* unexpected direction. But this solution supports my plot the best.


For now.

Episode 453

Read the comic here.

The sandwich described in the strip is the current favorite sandwich at our home. We were introduced to a version of them at Zingerman's - a great bakery/deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but have since made a few minor adjustments (like swapping the bagel for sourdough) to make them truly our own "House Special."

I have the next strip ready - it'll be posted around noon EST. To give you time to "digest" this first serving.

Just an update...

Comic will definitely be delayed until tomorrow morning. Should have both today's and tomorrow's strip up by noon EST, though.

Also: My preferred method of contact is email. Other methods are flattering, but also vaguely stalker-ish. Just sayin'.

Pigs on the Wing: Grid Update

The Entry Grids have been updated again.

Boy, the judges are really going to have their hands full when it comes time to score everything...

Comics Delay

Sorry gang, but the comic is going to be delayed - either to later tonight or tomorrow. Real life getting in the way and all that. Don't worry, you'll still get all five comics this week; I'm just off to a slow start.

LEGO Italian Spiderman

Ah, the wonder of Italian Spiderman. Click the link to watch the videos. Or visit the creator's homepage at Alrugo.com. Not everyone understands the awesome power and humor of Italian Spiderman. Perhaps you have to be twisted in just the right ways.

I happen to love it.

I also had some clear stickers on hand and decided to try making my first customized mini-figure. Click the picture to view the gallery.

Viva Italian Spiderman! And make me a macchiato. PRONTO.

Episode 452

Read the comic here.

I realized I had to put some sort of structure into the hole left by the Brick House - I took inspiration from the Death Star II model and just put in some flooring.

Episode 451

Read the comic here.

Captain M's original line was just "Because you're the butch." However, I figured that was a bit too forward...after all, these two just met. Sort of.

Episode 450

Read the comic here.

"Captain Mysterious" is slightly cooler than "Mysterious Stranger", don't you think? Either way, we'll be learning more about him very soon.

Comics Portaling

A few months ago, Ian mentioned an idea he had for creating a portal for LEGO-based webcomics. I know many of the readers of this blog (and Ian's) have dabbled in strip creation - and I'm sure there are dozens of LEGO based-strips that I just haven't been exposed to yet. It would be nice to have a jumping-off point to explore those strips - hopefully widening the audience by sharing readers.

I'm working on a revamp of my own comic menu areas - if I were to try and implement something like a portal, now would be the time for it. The question is, if I build it, would anyone come?

I was thinking of some sort of moderated links page - anyone could submit a link, but you'd have to meet some basic criteria before you were added. Criteria like "more than three episodes published and some sort of track record for accomplishing updates at least once a month."

If you're linked, you'd need to put some sort link-back image on your main comic page - nothing too obnoxious, but if the traffic isn't two-way there's not much point in having an index. There could be cluster-wide events and crossovers, contests, or...well, who knows.

Maybe we could get one of the more eloquent blogs to agree to do a weekly review of one of the strips in the cluster, again with the idea of bringing these strips to a wider audience.

What do you guys think? Would this be something you'd be interested in seeing/participating in? Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?

Pigs on the Wing: Grid Update

The Entry Grids have been updated again. We're over fifty racers in Class One - I doubt there'll be a racetrack/cave big enough to hold them all by the time we're done.

Great work so far, too - it's fun to see so many new names and styles popping up on the grid.

Episode 449

Read the comic here.

It was tempting to blow Whiskey off the base of the Brick House, drop him 50 floors, and write him out of the story. I even did a few test shots of him dangling on the edge of the baseplate so we could explicitly watch him fall.

But I figured there were enough plot threads dangling already.

Episode 448

Read the comic here.

I tried finding 1x1 dots or cones to represent the weapons and characters in the mini-scale BH shot, but they just looked dorky. Oh well, can't have everything.

Episode 447

Read the comic here.

I had planned to have the house's weapons come out of doors/ports on the building itself, but I couldn't get the angles to work right. So these weapons came up out of the lawn like vengeful lawn gnomes or something.

And, yes, the lawn that travels with the BH is very, very thin. But the Brick House has teseract technology, as you'll recall. Big things can fit into small places. So just relax and go with the joke.

Pigs on the Wing: Entry Grids Updated

The Entry Grids have been updated again.

Again, as of this writing, I've posted all the entires I've received. I've you've submitted, take a moment and check things over. If you spot a change that needs to be made, please just let me know.

Episode 446

Read the comic here.

So...not much more than a walk-on for poor Past!Morpheus. Well, he was a busy guy.

Episode 445

Read the comic here.

Our Mysterious Stranger's dialog isn't supposed to mean anything in particular, it's just the usual technobabble you hear in moments like this.

Episode 444

Read the comic here.

For those of you wondering, yes, this is meant to be the Morpheus from the Matrix series as portrayed by Laurence Fishburne. The cast has caught up with him on his way up to the executive offices (he arrives up there in Strip 257)

Pigs on the Wing: Grid Update

The Entry Grids have been updated again.

As of this writing, I've posted all the entires I've received. I've you've submitted, take a moment and check things over. If you spot a change that needs to be made, please just let me know.

This is shaping up to be quite the contest!

Episode 443

Read the comic here.

Comic should be linking normally now.