I have received a few emails, and a post questioning whether AG will return. The answer is; No, it is not dead, it is just on hiatus. Over the summer, I was asked to teach full time at the local college. (Teaching graphic design, and Illustration) The status at school, combined with keeping my full-time studio work moving along has pressed me for time. It is a common story for web comics, especially in these economic times. However, next semester is looking better and I hope to be back in the saddle soon.

We will see if I still have readers then. There are still a lot of places that AG wants to explore and peoples to meet. For those holding and wondering, I appreciated the loyalty. AG will be back soon.

Thanks again for reading.

A number of people have expressed this well thought summation to yesterday’s comic; Huh?

A wise man once said, “if you really want to kill a joke, make sure it has inside elements that only you understand. If you want to drive a stake through the joke’s heart, to make sure it will never rise again … attempt to explain it.”

So here is what I was thinking concerning the Lindenium comic:

I invented Lindenium as a fictional element to explain how everyone on this world flies, floats, and teleports from place to place. Linden Labs created the virtual world Second Life. Although I do not mention Second life by name inside the panel, I allude to some of its major components as a basis for discovery on one of the worlds that Artiste visits. In a sense I am asking the question; what if virtual worlds were real?

Fatalism is a submissive attitude about the events that unfold around us in life. A belief that becasue it is out of your hands, or out of your control, certain things are inevitable. An avatar in real life is just an expression of the the person who created it. In the comic, the floating girl is expressing the fatalistic belief that her life is not her own and that certain things are inevitable or out of her control. The Hmmmm factor is “the devil made me do it” correlation; “I am my creator’s avatar.” What if we are the avatars or expressions of a greater power that controls our destiny?

Of course if this were true that would mean, that our creator has billions of alt accounts and half of the avatars he plays are female. Which upon reflection, makes perfect geeky sense. (Another inside joke for another day.)

School ended last week and I am posting today! No more exams or grading. Its amazing what a little time and flexibility can accomplish. The Lindenium installment is a nod, an homage, an editorial to the world that Phillip built, Linden Labs, aka Second Life. Yes I do build there from time to time (like a seven-pack-a-day smoker who describes his use as a casual habit.) I do not know if Lindenium actually exists or if it is the secret ingredient to grid stability (or instability). Those people who know that I play always ask who my avatar is? I tell them I have many “alts” but they are as reluctant to talk about me as I am to talk about them. It is a truce that serves us both.

In an episode of The Office (the American version) Dwight explains to Jim: “Second Life is a multi-user virtual environment. It doesn’t have points or scores; it doesn’t have winners or losers.” To which Jim replies. “Oh it has losers.” Yep. We are a proud lot.

Lets see; Second Life, web comic loving, blog posting, tech saavy computer nerd, Whos favorite mail order catalog is ThinkGeek. Sigh. There really is no hope is there?

For the better part of a month I have been sitting with my laptop in various spots around the city, waiting for something, or someone, stealing 15 minutes here and 15 minutes there, slowly assembling and rendering this particular post to the point where you see it here. Its not like I hate it or anything. It is more a revelation, of how, broken up into bits, the work looses some sort of unity. That being said there are things about it I really like. Number one; I like that I posted something. Number two: I like the story. I had to cut it down quite a bit as I imagined the stagings of how a dragon got to be a firefighter and how that works. The story makes my head hot and tingly, which is generally a good sign that the brain is firing on all two cylinders. (Yes, where most artists have Porsches, I have a moped.)

I also saw an opportunity to make some design changes. I have been searching for a typographic solution for my little pieces of flash fiction for quite some time. I was really stuck on keeping the journal idea intact by using a handwritten font. The problem is; handwritten fonts are really meant to be used as display elements and not meant for long body copy. I finally opted for an old-world Garamond, which still has character and flavor but infinitely more readable. Another plus is that it has a full character set, so punctuation is not a compromise anymore. I also changed the title font. I liked the fantasy feel the other font had but it was poorly constructed so that all the hinting and spacing (font metrics) were a mess and I ended up resetting each letter by hand each time. This new font still has a fantasy feel, but it is professionally constructed and a dream to use.

I hope the new changes make it easier to read, make it look more professional, and contribute to the over all success of the work. Thanks for reading! I am working on a mermaid panel and a panel inspired by a MMORPG game called Second life — that ought to be interesting.

I am slowly working on a a few AG posts, and trying ot keep my head above water. I am going to be posting something this weekend, and hopefully get back on schedule after that. Again thanks for your support, kind emails, and continued interest.

See you all soon!