Somewhat related, The System’s Order of Magnitude and of course my Pile System.

Here it is, comic number 599, which means the next one is the big 600! Technically we are past 600, as there’s one I accidently screwed up the number and a few in the archive that don’t really have numbers or don’t fit into the number scheme. Still, exciting to see round numbers.

For those of you that came out to Connecticon this past weekend and said hello at the table OR came to Super Art Fight, thank you so much. It was great to see Rick, ParasitePaladin, Allison, Ray, and all the rest of you who came by to say hi or bought something. And to you newbies, hello. This is my website, hope you like.

To say Connecticon was a success would be an understatement. It was huge. I did the 2nd best sales I’ve ever done at a con and had $0 in costs for the trip, as they were all covered since I was a guest. Not to mention, lots of people came by and said they read the comic which always makes me feel better. No crazy lines or anything, but it’s a wonderful reminder that people actually read this thing I put time into and post on the Internet. The numbers in analytics and the comments I see are written by people who wonder why I didn’t update on Monday, who share it with friends and coworkers, etc. It’s an amazing human connection that I absolutely love, and rejuvenates me until the next show.

Now excuse me while I work on The System Book 1….

I need to buy more RAM, right now my state-of-the-art computer (that you guys helped me buy, thanks!) only came with 2GB and FREAKS THE HELL OUT whenever I ask it to do, yknow, things. I’m adding more, don’t worry.

Come see me at Connecticon!

I’m here at Connecticon already! All weekend I’ll be at a table with posters, comic prints, and some shirts from the online store. You should come by and see it! It’ll look something like this:

Also, if you come by, I’ll give you free stuff if you mention you read the comic. It’s that easy. Just say that you read it. I won’t quiz you! High fives are free.

I feel a little bad about this one. Maybe I should consult a physician.

Oh, and this coming weekend I’ll be traveling with the Super Art Fight gang to Connecticon in Hartford, CT! If you’re going, be sure to come find my table and say hello. I’ll have parts of the HilariAwesome.com store and custom prints of comics and things. It’ll be fun!

(Click to make bigger)

This is a poster I made for the Super Precious art show on blockbuster movies. I normally post this kinda thing on my Tumblr (and I did) but thought I’d share it here as well. It was really fun to make and write, and I owe much of the writing to my friend and Super Art Fight co-host Marty F’n Day, who is much more of a movie buff than I am (I haven’t bought a DVD in about 7 years and he owns everything on Blu-Ray). It was really fun to write and make all the little parody jokes, and we actually wrote more but couldn’t fit them. If anyone wants prints, let me know and I’ll post them on HilariAwesome.com (the online store of The System).

It was really fun to play with all the tropes of movie posters. The over-done grit and all the tiny type at the bottom (which is both funny writing and in Univers Ultra-Condensed). I’m mainly proud of all the texture on it, that’s not a style any client ever asks for so it’s fun to have a chance to experiment with stuff like this.

I’d happily do another parody movie poster, and am looking for ideas! Feel free to write quotes to use or movie ideas in the comments, I might use them.

Welcome to the first installment of “Ask Rossmom”, where people write in and my mother (yes, my actual mother) answers your queries about life, the universe, and everything! If you like it after reading this one, and want your own questions answered by my mom, write them to systemcomic@gmail.com, subject line “Ask Rossmom”. The first one comes from Jess:

Dear Rossmom,

I’ve heard you have an affinity for dogs. Could you please share your thoughts on Jimmy the murderdog? Does he represent a fear of dogs or a mistrust of animals? Why do you think there are muderdogs but no mudercats, muderrabbits, etc?

—Jess

Dogs are descendents of of grey wolves and wolves have a reputation as being carnivorous (think of Little Red Robin Hood); so, it seems like a natural progression.  I don’t think he represents a mistrust of animals.

A fear of dogs, well, no I don’t think that either; however, I can see how that could be an interpretation.  After all, dogs tend to go crazy at the sight of a mailman.  And, if you have a good watchdog, you’ll hear barking at the scent of a nearby stranger.  Even friendly dogs can jump on you to show their happiness at seeing you and I suppose that could scare someone, especially if you aren’t a dog person.  Hey, to carry it to an extreme, some people could be scared of dogs because of walking out of a room or house coated with fur–you never know. (I considered merely being frustrating.  However, I would never have considered giving up my dog because of its shedding.  Now, when it peed on any male who walked into the house, well, that I considered embarrassing, but still wouldn’t have considered parting with my dog.)

I think (although only Rosscott knows for sure) Jimmy represents an animal whose body can best fit pictures of guns and the name sounds a lot better than Jimmy the Murdercat or Jimmy the Murderrabbit.  Aside from that, cats would generally rather ignore you than attack you and a rabbit is thought of as a furry little adorable creature.

However, as I feel it is my responsibility, apparently there exists “leporiphobia”–a fear of rabbits.  It is rare, but it exists.  Not that this relates to that fear but rabbits “were considered rodents until 1912, when taxonomists put them into a separate family due to their unique teeth and diet.”members of the animal kingdom.

And, those are my thoughts about Jimmy.