July 8th, 2008.  I write the first ever System comic*.  In the weeks that followed, I began writing two comics a day, all in hopes of having a 30-comic archive by the time I went to Connecticon, in order to proudly have a comic after a year of having no reason to refer to myself as a webcomic artist.

*Don’t get snarky with me, I back dated the first couple posts so I could move things along faster.  As such, I’m calling today the “anniversary”.

We’ve come a long way since then.  Thanks to some humble links from friends made along the way, support of family and friends, and of course the excessive free time of you Systemics, The System has grown into part of both your life and mine.  I’ve done a lot of thanks for all your help throughout the site, but I will do it once more because it couldn’t be a what it is without you coming back.  As my way of saying thank you, we’re having a new contest on the site.

Jimmy the Murderdog Fan Art Contest

Grown out of a hair-brained idea written in a room with high temperatures and no ventilation, Jimmy the Murderdog has become a sort of mascot for The System.  Here’s your chance to show your love for the murderdog that shows only murderous tendencies to others.

1. Draw your interpretation of Jimmy the Murderdog.  It can be a sketch, a refined drawing, or even an all-out comic.  It can be impressionist, a realistic interpretation, or made out of stained glass.  Really, just go nuts with it.
2. Email it in to: systemcomic at gmail, subject: HE’LL GET YOU.  You have until Midnight (the end of) Sunday, August 2nd.
3. The winner (chosen by me based on however I’m feeling) will receive a Jimmy the Murderdog T-Shirt, a Jimmy the Murderdog 13″ x 19″ poster, and a The System pin set! And, of course, all other Systemics will know that you, as winner, reign supreme.

Want some ideas to get your creative juices flowing?  Luckily for you, I’ve received to “star entries” from some fellow internet peeps.

This first one is by Charles Snow of Sordid City Blues.

Our friend Noah over at Skull A Day has gone a little more elaborate outside the box, with this amazing photograph.  Hey, I never said you had to draw it.  Click the image to see it bigger, btw.

Hopefully this opens your brains to some possibilities.  Remember, comic, drawing, or anything else you come up with to interpret Jimmy the Murderdog.  Email me with questions.  So get to work, Systemics!

Greetings, Systemics. I’m breaking the normal Monday through Friday schedule for the rest of this week as I head to Baltimore for Otakon.  I’ll be at a table with fellow webcomic artists Caf-Fiends, and hanging with the rest of the webcomics crew.  If you come to the con, come by and say hi!  If you’re not at the con, stay classy.

If you’re looking for a way to kill the time, I invite you to take Wednesday’s comic (above) and see if you can rewrite it to be more hilarious (or differently hilarious) than it already is.  Send that to me at systemcomic at gmail, and I’ll post the winner!

Remember when I asked you guys to help post a rating of The System on RateItAll?  At the time, I promised an awesome image as thanks for the help.  I emailed them out last night, but wanted to let you guys know what you missed by not doing my bidding.  I’m afraid the little guy you see above is all you get, but I assure you there’s more.  Next time, you’ll just have to participate in further Systemic actions.

Quick Epilogue: The System is #1 on the RateItAll list of Webcomics! WOO!

Howdy Systemics. Just wanted to issue a quick apology for all the spotty update times lately.  I’ve had a lot going on, and maybe I should have just put the comic on hiatus and gotten guest comics but instead I’ve chosen to push forward, and just post them at odd times.  I realize this has meant some oddball times (right around midnight at the end of Monday for the Monday post for example) I am trying to keep the funny coming.  So for the time being, please bear with me, and thanks for reading.

I’m sure you probably noticed the “Review” widget now added to the sidebar.  It’s a little widget produced by RateItAll.com which lets you do, well, exactly what it looks like you can do.  We have a Systemic planted deep in the midst of RateItAll, and they asked me to be a part of the launch of this new widget.  I was more than happy to oblige.  NOTE: I get NO money for this.

So here is a call to all true Systemics. Use the widget on the right or go to the site here and review the comic.  Be honest (especially if you love the comic) and let the world know what you think.  As of the time I’m writing this, The System is listed as #7, up from #17 a few days ago.  HELP ME GET IT TO #1.

So what’s in it for you?  If you go write a review, then post the link to the review in the comments of this post, I’ll email you a completely unique, just-for-this-call-to-action piece of System desktop artwork. You will be the envy of all of your friends and enemies!

A litte info on the site: RateItAll.com is a cool review site for literally EVERYTHING.  Your favorite restaurant, a book, a website, your new shirt, whatever.  It’s a great concept and I’m hoping it catches on.  Why deal with different rating sites for every piece of media, and not have it all in one place, right?

Finally feeling better.  We’ll turn the big switch and everything will be back to normal around here on Monday.

Sorry, Systemics.  I have a high fever and can’t get today’s comic done today.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better, but otherwise know that I’ll be back soon.  Like it says up top, comics will be posted until morale improves, and morale clearly hasn’t improved yet.

I just changed over the paragraph style on the blog posts to Georgia, because Georgia is a badass font with a AMAZING italics.  Yeah, that’s right.

Look at how awesome this looks. Hells to the yeah! Even the numbers look great 1234567890 oooooh baby.

Yeah.  That’s right.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t get enough of listening to me talk.  I also can’t get enough of talking shop about webcomics.  It is with these two statements in mind that I bring forth this new, semi-weekly podcast.  The Wonderful World of Webcomics is a podcast I host with a rotating cast of fellow webcomic artists, where we discuss what it’s like trying to make it as artists.

I know what you’re thinking.  There’s already a show like that, and it’s called Webcomics Weekly.  I know and love those guys, and it is not my intention to reproduce what they are already producing.  Instead, this show tries to offer a different perspective.  That of artists who are not experts, but instead up and comers trying to “make it” as artists or at least trying to improve our craft. So join us and listen to these hour-long podcasts where we share ideas, comisserate, experiment and otherwise try and figure out what we’re doing.  Oh, and it’s funny.  We’re funny people.  I swear.

As of right now two podcasts have been posted, and another two are pre-recorded and will go up soon.  The two up cover collaboration (like writer / artist teams) and a beginner’s guide to conventions.  Download one or two, or better yet subscribe to the feed and let iTunes do the rest.  You can check out the site here.

Remember a while back when I made shirts and started selling them?  Well, thanks to everyone who ordered them as preorder, you helped me get the System Merch Train rolling.  If you ordered a shirt, be sure to send me a pic of yourself in and/or near the shirt at systemcomic@gmail.com!

The full-on site will be available soon, but meanwhile you can drool at the things that you will be able to get here.  Patience!