Bug Martini

I’m proud to announce that Bug has won Best Gag-a-Day comic for the 2010 Webcomics List Awards. Click here to check it out.

Thanks to everyone that voted, and thanks to all of you who read my comic and turned it on to a friend. There’s no better advertising than word-of-mouth, and Bug would never have gotten the attention of the nomination committee without you guys spreading the word. I’m truly grateful for each and every one of you.

Also – if any of you catch me shouting “I’m king of the world!” please hit me over the head with a garden shovel.

I was just gonna post this in the Fan Art page but I feel the need to talk about it.

This Christmas was a real bear, mostly due to my own stupidity. Christmas eve was Friday this year, but for some reason I thought it was Thursday. My plan was to go to my parent’s house immediately after work on Thursday – which meant I needed to get Friday’s strip done a day ahead of schedule.

Now, normally it takes me a whole day to crank out a strip. Drawing the strip isn’t too difficult; from blank paper to finished comic is about two hours. What takes all day is the writing. I usually write several drafts of each strip, making hundreds of alterations until the eleventh hour. So the idea of writing and drawing an extra strip, in addition to doing all my Christmas shopping, was daunting. But I was up for the challenge. Eye of the Tiger and all that. So I dove headfirst into my work and, after several late nights, I made it. I got Friday’s strip done by Wednesday night. Big pump-fist. Woo-hoo! I did it!

Now, it’s Thursday morning and I’m at work. I already wrapped presents, packed my suitcase, and loaded my car the night before. I’m feeling good about my accomplishments. Then, the rusty gears in my brain start to turn. I start getting that feeling that something isn’t quite right in Adamville. I check a calendar and realize that I didn’t have to go to my folk’s house till tomorrow. All that work, all that sweat, all that extra effort. For what? For nuthin! I drove home (my home) after work, unloaded my car (because I had stuff I didn’t want in my car overnight) plopped down in my recliner and sulked.

Glad though I am for getting ahead of my work, I’m still bummed. So I was in a slightly crummy mood when I checked my email and saw a message from Simon. Simon had been reading my comic for a while and was kind enough to turn his girlfriend, Kat, on to it. Kat is tremendously talented with a needle and thread. Simon enclosed a pic to show just how talented she is. What I saw changed my mood 180 degrees.

This. This is one of the best Christmas gifts I have ever received:

I don’t know about you, but I got in a rut with my desktop wallpaper. I assume most folks change their background on a regular basis but I haven’t changed mine in over two years. On top of that, I have a desktop and a netbook computer and I had the SAME image on both! How painfully uncreative of me.

I finally decided to change them. In honor of my renewed interest in Star Trek, I got a Klingon Bird of Prey on the desktop and the Enterprise (the one from Star Trek I and II) on the netbook. I’m actually quite surprised how much happier I am when I sit in front of both machines now.

And with that, I decided it was high time I made you guys some desktop wallpaper of my own.

I’ve never done this before but it looks pretty simple and straightforward. All I gotta do is make sure I offer various resolutions, right? I’m also interested in making some lil’ avatars as well. Basically, I’m just ripping ideas off another great cartoonist, Mary Varn, who draws the delightfully geeky NPC. Click here to check it out.

I have no problem with folks who charge a small fee for this kinda stuff, but to be honest, I just don’t feel like charging for this stuff. I like the idea of offering some sort of freebies. Plus, I’m lazy and don’t feel like figuring out how to set up the payment system.

My plan is to start working on designs this weekend and I’d absolutely love to get some feedback from you guys. Is there anything you’d like to see as far as wallpaper and avatars? Sock it to me.