Hey guys. Sorry for the lack of updates. Trying to get this book done, and between work and living with parents, it’s taking forever.
As you can probably guess, I’m updating to let you know there won’t be any updates for a good, long while. When the book is done, I’ll get back to it. Probably with a new look. We’ll see.
Super-proud of my hometown. You can read more about the 30,000 and Sunday’s March for Our Lives here.
Definitely worth checking out!
And of course, I’m not in favor of a total gun ban. That’d be stupid. But some surely some kind of legislative or cultural shift needs to happen? We’ve had something like 20 school shootings since January?
Come on. Let’s do something.
Hey, folks! Long-time readers may remember me talking eons ago about a book called “The Emerald Sword.” I’m still working on it, but NOW I have come up with a plan to have the final draft done in just ten short weeks.
Ok, ten regular-length weeks, but you get the idea.
The novel is about a fiery redheaded girl who embarks on a quest to save her family from an evil wizard and his skeleton army and winds up embroiled in a conflict that may lead to the destruction of all she holds dear. Plus, there are werewolves, fairies, dragons, buffalo, and maybe even some chocolate if I can squeeze it in there.
Depending on how the agent hunt goes, we could be looking at publication as early as 2020 or even later! Whoopee!!
I’ve also been working on making the site more accessible to my blind visitors and those with slower internet connections. PLEASE let me know if you have trouble accessing any part of this site! I’ve been adding alt-text and image description to all my images. A bunch got erased on accident and had to be either replaced or junked indefinitely (don’t leave me alone with computers). So now most of the images on this site should be friendly to screen readers. I’m only now getting started with this sort of thing, so please be patient and let me know if I’m doing this right.
I haven’t added descriptions yet for my Bubblegum-Man and In His Spare Time comics. I’ll be working on those soon!
Finally, I’m toying with the idea of putting In His Spare Time up in the comic space. Probably plow through some of my back catalog before posting new material. Let me know what you think.
I’ve posted on this topic in the past, on my old blog. My feelings haven’t changed.
Escapism is often decried as immature or irresponsible. As if to say someone locked in a basement filled with spiders, frantically trying to find another way out, is somehow guilty of sloth.
Escapism is a perfectly rational response to a world filled with evil. Engage and defeat evil if you can, of course. But if you cannot, escape is a valid second option.
The human desire to escape to a better world could be seen as evidence that we are not meant to be here. That we are meant for heaven. As the good book says, our hearts know no rest until they rest in Thee.
This is not to say we should not work for a better world. Or at least that we should work to help our own neighbors where they are. But there’s only so much we can do. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. And we are so tired.
In the meantime, we have Star Wars and fantasy and superheroes to sate our yearning for a better world.
Let no one mock our escapist fantasies, our dreams of a better tomorrow. Come my friends, tis not to late to seek a better world!
Gonna talk feminism for a second. Feel free to check out.
Was just thinking about something. In 3rd grade, my friend K wanted me to hold her medication bottle for her because she didn’t want a bulge showing in her jeans on class picture day.
That’s messed up, right? She was freaking 8. Who told her what societal expectations of women were? Who was holding her to them?
Anyway, she went through a LOT as we got older. I hope she’s doing alright now.
I dunno. I got nothin’.
That’s all folks. Read my comic. It’s funny, and there’s aliens and lasers and magic and stuff.
Hiya, kids! Well, Bubblegum-Man #3 is currently updating. We’ll be putting up a page a week until the end of December. That should keep y’all slimy and satisfied. After issue 3 ends, I’ll start putting up issue 4 and 5 as soon as I can. Hopefully, we won’t have as much of a break as after issue 2. Once the current story arc is completed, I’m going to see what we can do to get a store up and running. I’d like to start selling T-Shirts with the Toxic Inc. logo (that fancy smiley-face with skull/crossbones thing up at the top there), but moreso I want to make a full-color graphic novel collecting the first Bubblegum-Man story arc: The Archon Invasion.
I have some ideas of what could come next for the world’s Stickiest Superhuman, but for now, consider the saga closed with the end of issue 5. Should be a fitting conclusion. I may be posting some old In His Spare Time comics up top, so keep an eye out for those as well.
Sneak peek at the cover. It’s gonna rock, y’all. If you’ve never read my comic before, START HERE!
Issue 3 drops September 1. Be ready.
(That’s September. Not August. Just in time for Labor Day. Plus, more time to get Issue 4 up here!)
Hey, kids. Here are some quick updates to what I’ve been doing.
I forgot to turn off the air conditioning for that first one, so…yeah.
So there’s that.
Adorable, right?
Issue 3 is gonna be lit, y’all!
Hey folks. As you can see, we’ve gone through a couple cosmetic changes: TheOptimistsUmbrella.com is now conqcomix.net. The content hasn’t really changed that much. We’ll still be putting up Bubblegum-Man comics (issue 3 on the way, promise), as well as posting updates on my creative works and for the site as a whole under the “State of the Conq” category and blogging on a variety of subjects in the “Side of Conq” category. Bubblegum-Man will continue to use the “Bubblegum-Man” category and will still update at the top of the page. Comics like In His Spare Time and Apples and Oranges (coming soon-ish) will update with the blog postings. Hope you like the new layout! Let me know what you think. If you haven’t read Bubblegum-Man yet, now’s the time to get caught up on issues 1 and 2. Just click on the links below.
These two issues will be getting remastered in the near future, with clearer dialogue and tighter plotting. Keep your eyes out for that!
UPDATE: For convenience and old times’ sake, TheOptimistsUmbrella.com and williambrust.com will both still direct to this site.
(...and some I have)
Musings and books from a grunty overthinker
Dean Yockey's Webcomics
Ever wondered what goes on when the proprietor of secondhand record shop at the butt end of the world chucks in the towel and goes back to having a life??
Moving past my 1/3 life crisis
Hopefully by the time I'm thirty I'll have this all figured out.
Subnormality and some other stuff too.
A daily comic about real stuff little kids say in school. By Matt Gajdoš
Where creativity gets hit by a brick.
