by Brian Gott
News Archives
October-December, 2003
October 6, 2003
A belated Hello goes out to all those joining us from Ishouldbeworking.com. Now get back to work before I tell your boss you were here!
October 10, 2003
NOW I'M NOT TRYING TO MAKE EXCUSES OR ANYTHING, BUT...
The original concept for today's comic would have called for a number of extras coming out of the church as Oswald and the Pastor are talking. Part of the reason the strip was late was that I spent too much time drawing extras for whom I ended up not having room!
October 15, 2003
DON'T GET ME WRONG, I ENJOY OZY AND MILLIE, BUT...
It just struck me (about time, too) that some who read both my comic strip and D.C. Simpson's
Ozy and Millie might mistakenly conclude that Oswald's top hat is some
sort of a tribute to Ozy's. Sorry, David, it isn't -- at least, not that I'm aware of.
I don't really remember what possessed me to put such a lid on Oswald. I think it was probably more a matter of
general humor potential, having him produce odd items out of the hat and so on. (As we've
already seen him do.)
But it's always been my intention to avoid imitating other Web comics too closely. I've wanted Dodo to be my own
original not-at-all-ripped-off creative endeavor.
Just thought I'd explain that.
October 24, 2003
THIRTY!
Today's is the THIRTIETH Way of the Dodo comic!
I'm so excited I think I'm going to say it again! Today's is the THIRTIETH Way of the Dodo comic!
Celebrate by Voting for Way of the Dodo at OnlineComics.Net!
It's Easy! Click here.
SO WHADDYA THINK SO FAR?
As of Thursday morning, my FastCounter gizmo shows 801 hits.
The funky little Javascript I got from Stephen's Web Referrer System shows 260 links from ishouldbeworking.com's Office Humor links page.
Now, I'm not complaining here. I'm flattered by the attention.
But the thing is, I'd like to hear back from a few of you! A major incentive to put Dodo on the Web in the first place was the chance to get a little feedback on my work. And so far, very few people have taken the time to offer any.
Unlike many web comics, I don't have a forum set up. (Yet. Maybe I should get around to doing that...) So by all means, drop me an email at wayofthedodo at hotmail dot com! It's okay, I talked to your boss, he won't sack you for it...
October 25, 2003
WHOOPS!
Took me all day to notice a mistake in Friday's comic. I had included the clock that has previously been seen in the cubicles, but it was positioned in such a way that the hands appeared to be protruding from Oswald's beak! This has now been fixed. See for yourself.
October 27, 2003
IS THIS THING ON?
If anyone has heeded my request for feedback, I'm afraid your email did not get through. I've suspected for a while that my Hotmail account is blocking things inadvertently, but so far I haven't found any settings that would make it. Funny thing is, newsletters for which I've signed up, and replies to emails I send out, get through just fine.
So I may have an overzealous spam filter, or maybe I'm just shouting at an empty room.
(I considered a third possibility -- namely, that the Conspiracy has decided to prevent me from receiving feedback for fear
that I'd be encouraged to keep on doing the comic, and in doing so destroy all their carefully laid out plans. But then I decided that I was just being paranoid.)
Seriously, if anyone HAS tried to email me, please send again, this time to briang at nccw.net. Thanks.
October 31, 2003
NO, DON'T CALL ME ISHMAEL, MY NAME'S STILL BRIAN!
note: See the strip I'm talking about here.
This gag has probably gone through the most last-minute rewrites of anything to date! And now that I've finally finished it -- it still doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? Oh well, too late now...
(Yeah, you thought I was quoting Wrath of Khan, didn't you?)
November 7, 2003
EH. THURSDAY THE SIXTH, FRIDAY THE SEVENTH . . . CLOSE ENOUGH!
Okay, here's what happened with Friday's comic. I gave the gif of the comic the wrong name -- I called it Nov. 6 instead of Nov. 7. Since the date specified on the page is based on the filename of the latest comic, the setup carried on as if that comic was for Thursday!
And for those of you who came after I fixed this and have no idea what I'm talking about: Fuhgedaboudit!
November 10, 2003
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Way of the Dodo might be taking a week or so off in the very near future. I'm trying to get a syndication package together, which may interfere with the process of creating more comics. (I've got to start getting ahead of the ball here!)
I'm also hoping to redraw some of the earlier comics as time permits. Think of the comics I've already posted as rough drafts, subject to possible revision.
That's one nice thing about working on the Internet. If I decide that the comic I've posted looks like garbage, I can engage in some retroactive revision.
That way, future generations of Dodo readers don't have to plow through a lot of substandard artwork!
November 21, 2003
NO, HE'S STILL NOT IN!
Yesterday, my grandfather received one of those gift catalogs that fill so many mailboxes this time of year. The cover of this particular one bore the large-type warning:
This may be your last catalog.
November 24, 2003
DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU!
Yes, it's the sad truth. I've got too much going on this week to give Dodo the attention that I would need to in order to do it halfway decently.
So the comic will have to take its VERY FIRST hiatus.
In the meantime, I'll be posting random non-Way of the Dodo gags on the normal update days.
As ever, I'm hoping to get further ahead on the writing side of things -- and also to find time to finish that syndication package I keep going on about. (Who knows? I might even get the cast page up at last!)
December 1, 2003
...AND WE ARE BACK! (Sort of.)
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I got to spend the holiday with two of my three nephews, and Friday driving home through heavy rain and snow with high traffic and low visibility! So much fun. But you know, it was worth it to see the little guys sitting in a room full of toys, playing with a cardboard box!
And I hope everyone enjoyed the "Plan B" interlude. You can expect to see things like that at those times when I can't put the time into drawing Dodo -- at least, until I get a backlog of comics going. ("Don't you threaten ME!")
Speaking of drawing Dodo...
I've actually got a couple of weeks' worth of written material sitting in my folder. The problem, as ever, is sitting in front of the computer, fighting with Corel Presentations to produce the artwork. The fact that that material includes a new character, who so far has four or five possible heads and no body yet, doesn't help. I don't want to rush the process of character design. Those of you who are of an artistic bent, you'll understand.
So what's going to happen is this: I'm going to run a few random gags featuring other inhabitants of the Dodoverse. Think of it as a glimpse of what the others are doing while Oswald argues with his new friends. Rest assured, that conversation will be finished, and soon!
December 8, 2003
WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT FIVE DAYS OF DODO?
I'm "planning" to update FIVE days this week! Why, you ask? (Yes, I know. You didn't ask. But I'm telling you anyway!!! If you have a problem with that, go read Sheldon!)
It's simple. It's 9:30 on Sunday night as I'm writing this. I've got a job interview in the morning. At this point the only way to get the comic done that I originally intended to run on Monday (the one bringing in the NEW CHARACTER!) would be to make it a rush job, which I don't want to have to do.
So that comic is going to pushed back one more day. By a coincidence, I was already planning to run a bonus comic on Tuesday, so that gets pushed back to Wednesday. And Wednesday's to Thursday, and so on.
(And why is the word "planning" in quotes above? Because my plans often have this disturbing habit of falling apart, that's why! But don't worry -- you WILL get your funny as soon as I can produce it!)
So enjoy FIVE DAYS of Way of the Dodo this week! (We hope.) Next week I'll be back to the MWF update schedule, most likely.
December 9, 2003
NEVER USE MAPQUEST!
You'll recall that I said I had a job interview Monday morning. I've been out of work for quite a while now. And interviews are far too few and far between, so it's a pretty big deal when I get a nibble.
Being somewhat navigationally challenged, I went to MapQuest to get directions to the place, which was in a corporate park in Mayfield Village. Well, Monday morning I followed the MapQuest directions with little difficulty, and I soon found myself . . .
. . . in an upscale housing complex in Highland Heights. NOT EVEN IN THE SAME SUBURB!
It was 10:50 by the time I finally found the place thanks to my Rand-McNally road atlas. By then I was so stressed out that I decided it would be even more inconsiderate to walk in nearly an hour late and expect them to interview me. I decided I'd better go home and call to reschedule if possible.
THERE'S NEW STUFF BELOW! WHAT IS THIS NEW STUFF?
Update: That didn't last long. I subsequently chose to end my association with LinkShare.
Way of the Dodo has joined the LinkShare network. Please consider supporting the fine institutions listed at the bottom of the page.
December 10, 2003
ART IMITATES LIFE
note: See the strip I'm talking about here.
Today's comic was inspired by a bit of trouble I had with my ISP for a little while Tuesday afternoon. (Dialup service is great for learning patience, but not so good for running a Web comic.)
December 11, 2003
ACCEPT THE MADNESS. EMBRACE THE MADNESS. BE THE MADNESS.
note: See the strip I'm talking about here.
Now I thought that I'd gotten to know these characters reasonably well before I started actually drawing the comic. But I have to say, Hanna's little sadistic streak has really surprised me! It's a little disturbing to see how much she seems to enjoy watching others struggle through the chaos that is RIFCo.
REMEMBER WHEN THEY SHOWED A CARTOON BEFORE THE MOVIE?
Is it just me, or is anyone else getting sick and tired of being inundated with advertisements every which way we turn? (DISCLAIMER: Yes, I know I've put eleven more ads on my site -- down at the bottom of the page where you can ignore them if you want to! And they stay in their box instead of getting in your face like some of those animated ads whose creators must think that their ad is the only important thing on the page!)
Anyway. *ahem* where was I? Sick of ads, yes...
Regal Cinema has decided that a handful of movie trailers and the odd commercial before the movie are not enough. They have decided to take the captive audience in a movie theatre and subject them to a twenty-minute barrage called “the 2wenty.” (On a side note: Do you want to use the NUMBER 20 or the WORD "twenty?" Make up your mind for goodness' sake!) This apparently consists of ads, trailers, and "original content" which I'm guessing is likely to be more ads by another name! And you know that if we let Regal get away with this, before you know it they'll ALL be doing it!
You can read about this disturbing development here.
(What I want to know is, is that the twenty minutes BEFORE or AFTER the listed start time? Of course, for those of us with punctuality problems, "after" just gives us twenty more minutes to get to the theatre!)
December 14, 2003
HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE FIVE UPDATES LAST WEEK . . .
. . . Because we're back to three updates this week. I think I want to try to build up more of a backlog of finished comics before I try that again!
December 23, 2003
I'VE GOT A BUSINESS PROPOSITION TO DISCUSS WITH YOU...
As some of you may have heard, OnlineComics.Net is planning to start a new service, allowing member cartoonists to sell their work on the OCN site.
Rest assured, Way of the Dodo is not about to become a subscription-only comic. The "daily" or three-times-a-week comics will continue to be posted here, to be viewed free of charge.
But I'm considering making Sunday-style Dodo comics available for a small fee through OnlineComics.Net. I haven't determined an appropriate price yet, but I'm sure it would only be a few cents per reader per comic.
So what do you think? Drop me a line at briang at nccw.net and let me know a)Would you be willing to pay to read Sunday comics and b)What would you consider a fair price?
Or you can just show your support by voting for Way of the Dodo at OnlineComics.Net.
December 29, 2003
note: If my sister-in-law is reading this: Don't worry, the toe-mashing was not at your house. And the bite is healing nicely.
And we're back! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I spent a good part of the day at my brother's house, and we had our annual family gathering on Friday.
(My brother's cat gave me a very special gift: a great big flesh-rending chomp on the hand! Clumsy me also got the sheer joy of stubbing the SAME STINKIN TOE on the SAME STINKIN CHAIR TWICE in one day! But it's like I always say, if you can spend time with loved ones and escape with only minor injuries, isn't that what Christmas is all about?)
So enjoy the filler cartoon procrastinating me threw together after realizing I wasn't going to have the regularly scheduled comic done! The storyline will resume by Wednesday. Tuesday if I can help it.
And beware the cat: he knows the taste of blood.
December 31, 2003
"NOW THAT I'VE GOT IT -- WHAT'VE I GOT?"
note: See the strip I'm talking about here.
No, this isn't the comic that was giving me all the trouble, in case you were wondering -- that comes Friday. This was just a little addition that came to mind Tuesday morning. I thought maybe we ought to see a little more of Oswald doing his Abbot-and-Costello routine!