October 20 and the Shields McKloskey-verse

Look at that.

If you can say you looked at that picture and tell me with a straight face that it isn't the prettiest thing you've seen in your life, I shall know that you are a liar, because if you have in fact seen a thing of greater beauty than that, your retinas could not possibly have survived the encounter.

Ladies and gentlemen, that is the cover to my new web comic, October 20th, painted by fantasy/science fiction illustrator Arthur Wang. I struggle to express how happy I am with the end result. He did an incredible job, and gave my comic a better start than I could have hoped for. The cover depicts the two main characters, Catherine and Rai, two people who on every 20th of October must join forces to try and survive the threat of an unseen enemy.

I hope those of you who enjoyed my silly little video game comics will also enjoy this. I know I'm having a great time making it.

QTMC 10!

Here it is, the decennial edition of Quick Time Moral Choice, written by yours truely, I'm sad to say.

(So is everyone else, Hjels...)

Unfortunately, I got no submissions for the guest writer spot, but I soldiered on on my own, completely alone in the cold, bitter wilderness. Like a bear cub, lost from it's mother, trudging across the barren tundra, I walked with no salvation in sight, with only my own unshakeable belief in the project for company. When the night was at it's darkest, I...

I seem to have lost my train of thought...

Ah yes! Read, enjoy, be back for more. Please...

I want YOU to write QTMC 10!

 My dear, sophisticated, gorgeous reader, whose razor-sharp wit is matched only by your impeccable fashion sense; do I have something special for you. As I was finishing my last comic strip, which I don't think anyone got, and I'm not quite sure there there was anyhting there to get, I began to think. My readers, who have been conclusively proven to possess the highest intelligence quotients and the smoothest skin of those of any site on the internet, are probably burning with good ideas for what they'd like to see depicted in my stupid little web-comic. And before you could say the words "are you completely artistically bankrupt, Hjels!?" I had an idea.

 Why not, since we've reached the tenth strip, why not throw it out to you to tell me what number ten should be? Whether you have a full script or just a general idea for QTMC 10, I want to hear it. The game you want me to make fun of is entirely up to you, the situation and the punchline, all entirely up to you. As long as you feel you want to contribute, let me know, either by email, through twitter or any other way the intertubes allows us to communicate.

The best entry will be turned into QTMC 10, complete with your name on it. (No money, I'm afraid.) If I don't get any entries, which isn't unlikely, I'll have to write it myself, and you don't want that, no sir. I have a pretty good idea for a tasteless, sexist, incredibly racist joke set in the ICO universe. To save the internet this indignity, send me your ideas. Now!

The contest will run for one week from today, or until I get any entries. I can wait all day.

QTMC #9

Wait a moment! What's this? It hasn't been two years since the last comic strip already has it? No, for once I've finished another one in the same decade as its predecessor. No gratuitous spoilers this time, so you can uncover your eyes. As always, let me know what you think. 

Oh, and by the way. Something very special is coming up for QTMC 10, and I will need your help to do it. Check back.

QTMC #7

I did it. I may have slaved into the wee hours of the night, but Quick Time Moral Choice number seven is actually, believe it or not, finished. I'm really excited about this one, folks. It turned out exactly like I'd seen it in my head, and I feel the quality of the drawings is the highest I've managed so far. I really hope you enjoy it, and please, feel free to tell me what you think in the comments, or on twitter, because I'm dying to know.

Housekeeping

I hope you all enjoyed the very first installement of Quick Time Moral Tales, our new bi-weekly padding segment we spew out in a desperate attempt at keeping your  interest while I try to get off my lazy ass to finish another comic strip. And let me tell you, my handsome/gorgeous friend, on the internet, that is pretty hard. There are alot of shiny things that want your attention out there. So from the bottom of my heart, whether you're a regular visitor, or someone who just stumbled in here by accident; if you find a sliver of enjoyment out of the dumb stuff I post here, I love you. So I hope that you'll check back in two week's time for QTMT number 2, which I've decided to call "The Legend of Chosokabe Masayo". Exciting stuff. And hopefully, I'll have finished QTMC 7 well before that. It really looks like it could be something special.

On a different topic, while you're wandering aimlessly around the intertubes, you might want to give Conjectural Figments, the new science-fiction e-zine a click. Curated by ninja master and author of the upcoming novel Knuckleduster Andrew Post, and features the short stories and poems of some truly talented people, like Jhon Z Baker, Dale Herring, Simon West-Bulford, Craig Wallwork and Rommel Luna H. You should also pay close attention to the stunning artwork of mr. Glenn Porter, twice the man I am in more ways that one. In addition, you get a fascinating interview with Simon Morden, author of the Petrovich trilogy, which I am currently racing through. And it's all free! It is a must for anyone who enjoys good science fiction.

Now, the cynics among you might notice that there is a name I've left out of the people contributing to the very first issue, namely my own. The really cynical among you might even go so far as to say: "Hjels, you self-promoting sack of crap, you just gave us that entire spiel to sell something you're a part of. How can we trust anything you say!?"  

To that I would say, whoa back up, buddy, I have feelings too, you know. And then I'd say this: Reading this issue, I felt like that one guy who gets cast in a movie because of his good looks, while the classically trained thespians in the cast look at him going, "how did this asshole get the part?" They operate on a different level than I do, and just being associated with these people is a tremendous honour for me.

So do yourself a favour and check it out. I guarantee you won't be dissapointed, or your money back.

QTMC #6

Aaaand, here it is... My quickest turnaround from conception to finished product yet, and maybe a promise of  more frequent updates in the future. Maybe.

In the mean time, I hope you enjoy it. As always, I'd love it if some of you could leave me with a comment or two? Please? Just one?

I'll dance for you...

QTMC #6 coming along, and... something else...

So I thought I'd give a quick update in the wake of the fifth strip getting cancelled in an unexpected turn of empathy. The next strip, though still as juvenile but not as tactless as the cancelled one, is coming along nicely. I just finisehd the inking, and all that remains is the colouring in photoshop.

Which I hate. That's why these things always take so long.

I've got news for the Miranda fans out there though. Oh, man, you're gonna get a kick out of this...

You favorite, sultry Cerberus operative... will play no part in QTMC 6.

(-What a dick you are, Hjels.)

Tali will though. You guys like Tali, right?

Anyway, hope to have it on the blog in the near future. Oooh, and I almost forgot. On twitter I promised a little teaser for my latest, non-QTMC project. So it is with great pleasure that I give you the raw, uncleaned penned drawing of my upcoming, one-shot webcomic "One more year":

 (-Hjels, what the hell is that?)

That is a shoe.

(-I can tell...)

More than that, that is the shoe of the main character.

(-A story about shoes... I'll be sure to read that...)

Excellent! I hope the rest of you will, too. I'll have a new, seperate blog up, once I've made more progress on it. For now, QTMC 6 should be right around the corner.

Quick Time Moral Choice #4

I told you.

I told you there'd be cowboys. I'll be honest, and say that this one stayed in the pipeline for a long time. (Red Dead Redemption, Hjels!? Get with the times, grampa!)

But since I had been working on it for a while, I decided to finish it, even though looking at it now, I can say that I feel it is the least of my works on this little web-comic project of mine. But I am still quite happy with the outcome. As you can see, I am still trying to lock down the style of QTMC, and I wouldn't hold my breath for any greater consistence to my drawing any time soon.

When I'm happy with it, I'll stick with it, dang it!

Anyhoo; QTMC #4, for your viewing (and hopefully laughing) pleasure.

By the way, I shall start work with #5 almost immediately, and we'll be going back BioWare's games again. Not telling you which one, though.  

Quick Time Moral Choice #3 (really!)

"Whoa, dude!" you might say. "What's up, bro!?" you might continue.

And I would understand exactly where you are coming from. Well, here it is, children. I promised you a new strip in august, and I have duly delivered!

...in April the following year...

Now, I will not get defensive, and try to defend my lack of updates, other than to reiterate the fact that I am a lazy, lazy man, and leave it at that. And I will not make any more concrete (and empty) promises like last time. I will only attempt to make these appear more frequently. (Less frequently is hardly possible, am I right?)

Anyway, here is QTMC #3. Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks by the way, to @killjoi (that's twitter, kids) for helping me do a last minute re-write.

Quick Time Moral Choice #2

 

Second strip is done, and I'll take a well deserved breather. Keep checking back for more QTMC. Hope you like it.

Quick Time Moral Choice #1

 

Here it is, the first of what will hopefully be many strips in my little web-comic experiment.