It’s been, jeez, three and a half years since I last did one of these recap comics. And over nine years since I started The System. If you don’t know what I’m talking about when I say “recap comics”, every 100 comics (like numbers 700, 600, 500, 400, 300, 200 and 100) we take a step back and review what we’ve learned. To say that three and a half years ago feels like an eternity feels like an understatement. Here’s some updates from the world here at System HQ:

• 5 years ago I started a design firm. 3.5 years ago there were three of us. Now there’s seven.
• A relationship didn’t work out. You may have picked up on some subtext about that.
• There was a bout with anxiety and depression.
• I moved! Twice. From that one-bedroom to a studio, and that studio to a house.
• Oh yeah! I live in a house now! And that house also has an amazing girlfriend in it.
• That house has a very nice bike commute to work.
• And of course, it has felt oftentimes like the world is going to hell.

I have debated calling the comic quits here at comic number 800. As it is, I can take every 200 comics and catch up on publishing books, and it will make for a nice four-book set. They can each be color-coded as C-M-Y-K (the first was yellow, the second is going to be cyan, we’re going a little out of order but we can get there). Truthfully though, I don’t want to put a giant period at the end of this project. As much as it sucks to have it lingering, when I do find the time to put one of these comics together it still means a great deal to me, and I’ve heard from some of you it means a great deal to you as well.

So for now, consider the project moving at a colossally slow rate for the time being. Book 2 is actually all designed and ready to go, and as soon as I find some time I’ll be putting together a Kickstarter for it so y’all can order your own copies. Hopefully the last two books will follow, and with them more comics.

Also, if you are a convention-going type, I still am hitting up the convention circuit with shirts, books, prints, and touring with the Super Art Fight gang.

Meanwhile, I’ll keep posting comics until morale improves.

—Rosscott

But what’s the real best gift?

This was last week’s Medium chart. Of course, this week’s chart is up now.

Last week Geoff (my Friendly Design Bro) introduced me to a game called Ridiculous Fishing, which I wholeheartedly recommend to you all. Here’s the highlights:

• You try and avoid fish while your lure attempts to make its way further downward to the bottom of the lake/sea/ocean.
• You have a chainsaw.
• Once you snag a fish, you try and grab as many as you can on your way back up.
• When you get to the surface, they all shoot into the air!
• THEN YOU SHOOT THEM WITH A GUN.

Steve Napierski of Dueling Analogs is a ridiculously talented illustrator, but decided to flush all that down the toilet and draw a comic in the unique style you Systemics have come to know and love (teaser seen above). If you want to just see the damn thing, click on this link here. Otherwise, here’s his breakdown:

First, I had the idea for the comic and then I came up with the title for it: Beating the System. After that my affinity for puns took over because I began to associate the title/comic with Ross Nover’s popular webcomic The System. Then I started thinking, “Since ‘the system’ is in the title why not make the comic look like The System, as well?” So I did and here we are.

POPULAR? Really Steve? I think we all know better than that. If you like video games and you like my comic, you should check out the guest comics I did for him in the past over at his site here and here.

Oh, and thanks, Steve!

I was in a bike accident on Sunday and beyond any physical damage (stitches in my chin and a severe blow to my pride) I’m playing catch-up all this week, so you guys get some guest comics!

Hatton and I clearly share a kinship, as his comic In His Likeness uses a sort of minimalism akin to what goes on often here at The System. Of course the style and usage are very different, as his is much more of a continuing story following God, the Devil, etc. This is also most likely a reference to a guest comic I did for him recently which you should check out here.

The minute I posted word about the accident and the need for guest comics, Hatton jumped to it straight away. As much as we jibe at each other, he’s a good friend and it’s moments like that that make doing a website by myself actually fell like much more of a community.

Thanks for the Birthday Wishes

A quick thank you to all of you from both Rossmom and myself! You helped her celebrate her 60th birthday in style, leaving a whopping 58 comments! I know, half of them are her responses, but I give you credit all the same. The times this site goes from a monologue to a dialogue are always great for me, and for that I thank all of you Systemics. Also, this was a really cheap gift to give her, so that helped too.

Trivia Night Sunday

Any of you in the DC area should come by Bedrock Billiards in Adams Morgan on Sunday night, I’ll be hosting a trivia night. Topics will include (but not be limited to) “Stupid Shit on the Internet”, a favorite of mine. It’s free to come and play, and the winner gets $50 off Sunday night’s bar tab, as well as a shirt from the HilariAwesome.com store. Bring a few friends and come along!

It’s an 8-bit game based on the cult midnight movie so-bad-its-good The Room. It’s a great movie in itself (well, in the same way Birdemic is a great movie) but the game is what gets me. It’s thorough. They have all the scenes broken down into a really fun little game, with Final Fantasy style dialogue and fighting, and even an 8-bit chiptune-style soundtrack. The real joy of it is the places the writers got snazzy with the things that were off screen. Be sure to explore what’s on the next block, what’s inside Denny’s room, and talk to all the people on the street. I got pretty far into it but had to give up. As my friend Cledwyn had to say, I got fed up with this wurld.

You can play the game here »
Here’s a Wired article on it where it Systemic Cledwyn found it »

If you’re looking for the comic, it’ll be up around 1pm EST-ish.

Let’s see here…

• Bad pun? Check.
• Web design reference? Check.
• Old school video game reference? Check.

Yeah, I think my work is done here.

But your work isn’t done! Some outstanding Systemic Actions need your help!

The Venn F%*king Diagrams shirt is up for sale. Lots of you were interested and haven’t preordered yet, consider this your best chance to do so. Don’t have the cash? I’d consider it a solid favor if you spread the word just the same.

Still trying to get that SXSW panel! If you could go to the site and vote for it, then leave a comment that would help a ton. The site is at 10 comments right now. If it gets to 20, I’ll do more custom art (like I did for the survey, see below).

Jami “Angry Zen Master” Noguchi is working on Puppy Cow, and needs your help milking the last 25% of the funding together. He even did a cute comic thingy with Puppy Cow (just follow that link).

Oh, and remember that survey you guys filled out? I lived up to my end of the bargain! Go check out the post to see some custom awesome artwork I did, and if you haven’t filled out the survey please do. It helps, and thanks to those of you who already did!

This made my day yesterday.

This one originally ran as a guest comic for Steve “Dueling Analogs” Napierski, and did pretty well for him making the rounds on Reddit and the like.  I couldn’t let him have all the fun, not to mention I wanted it somewhere in The System’s archive. An old addage says “the more things change, the more they stay the same”.  In this case, “the more things change, the more buttons you have to memorize”.  Sometimes less is more, simpler is better.

Oh, and what’s that? You want a print? It’s even for sale in the store, Hilariawesome.com!

I got this in the mail a few weeks ago, which means I just finally got around to seeing it at the bottom of a pile today.  Thanks to Caldwell (who does some awesome comics) for this awesome drawing on this great postcard. The card is from a series that has so many of my friends involved that I’m amazed I didn’t hear about it sooner! Go webcomics!

As for the content of the card itself, it says “Plumber X-ing” and is what I suppose goes on traffic signs in the Mushroom Kingdom. Well done, sir.