NoBoy and the Inside Ocean of Why

The original “Page 1” of this comic, 5.5 x 8.5”, graphite on copy paper.

When making comics, sometimes it pays to just wing it.

I drew this little 5-pager out on cheap copy paper with no plan—just following my nose panel by panel until it got to the end. It’s really hard to articulate the process, because a lot of it was about just going by feel, like wandering through a new city or inventing a new song.

But every beat in this story was informed by the last one, and I let my amusement guide me as I attempted to escalate the ridiculousness of this little tale. Much of it was informed by the pandemic trash fire that was 2020, with every day seemingly crazier than the last. The ending kind of alludes to the cyclical nature of time last year. I still find myself wondering what day of the week it is (the answer was always “Blursday.”)

Once I had the five sketched-out pages, I redrew them in proper print-ready size using Procreate on the iPad, tweaking a few things along the way (like the title, obviously.) Scroll down to read the entire story. I hope you like it!

Pins and Needles

I had a medical emergency this past month, which necessitated a bunch of scary procedures like extraction, biopsy and bone graft. So between surgery and recovery, it's been a draining April of lying in bed and drinking bone broth, but I feel like the hard reset has done me some good. I spoiled myself with sleep, read a whole mess of comics and percolated on some projects.

Not a ton of creative output, but some really good input. Sometimes you need that--a period for just absorbing influences and letting them roll around in your brain stew. For those of you who, like me, often confuse productivity with self-worth, you'll know how rare and precious this time is. And how can I complain, when this just happened:

Nothing I've done in the past few months has felt more important that this. It's a step in the right direction. It's a bid for herd immunity. I know, I know—no guarantees, final verdict still in beta, and there’s the specter of mutant strains looming on the horizon, but dammit, it feels good to have SOMETHING to fight back with. I've never tested positive for COVID-19, and I don't ever want to, much less be a carrier for it.

I can barely describe this relief I feel, knowing that my immune system now has some kind of antiviral response to the ‘rona. Well...it will in two weeks, after the dust has settled and my antibodies get smart.

So masks and social distancing and mindful hand-washing is still on the table. And honestly, these are habits I don't mind keeping around post-pandemic. They’re good for more than just the COVID, and I would love to keep wearing my gloriously stupid cow mask. 🐄

Anyway, at the risk of eulogizing the pandemic (because there's still WAY more to go before we can even think of putting a pin on all this,) here's a short comic I drew last year, in August 2020:

Four more months to go until my next birthday. Feels like it’s gonna be okay.