Freedom.

Gnorm's tree may be cramped and Walter's house may be small and remote, but everyone needs a refuge. It's probably for the best these two get separated for a while. You know, before they kill each other and all.

More Interruption.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Holy crap, did he just pull out a reference to the opera Pagliacci? In a webcomic?!" Well, you're damn skippy I did. Booyah.

I'm posting Friday's comic a little early since I will be too busy tomorrow to do it. Hope that doesn't throw anyone off too much.

Journaling.

Sometimes seeing your situation clearly can be worse than whatever delusion of normalcy you've been kidding yourself with. Ignorance can be bliss, if you let it.

Facing the Truth.

I initially felt the first line of the third panel was the punch line, but kept thinking that it was a little too obvious. So, I added the the secondary joke of someone describing that visual gag of calling someone nuts. I hope it turns the obvious around on you a little.

Interruption.

I had a whole, complex explanation laid out about what was going on in that room and trust me, it's more bizarre than you might think. Then I thought, maybe it isn't more bizarre than what you think. So, I think I'll just leave it as a visual and let you, dear reader, try to fill in the blanks. The weirder the better.

Glow Sticks.

I'm sure that if one were to eat a glow stick or drink the glowing liquid inside it would probably just make you very sick. But, this version sounded funnier to me, so I went with glowing bones.

What a World.

If you've ever visited a an older relative you may have noticed their affinity for extreme heat. The folks of my grandparents' generation just crank that heater up to an amazing, blood boiling temperature and I don't know how they stand it. If I could display such an extreme visual metaphor like Gnorm here maybe they'd take the hint better that the heat is uncomfortable. But, probably not.

A Very Special Episode.

Getting cabin fever while stuck inside during a cold winter can lead to some strange ways to spend your time. Even fake TV show prop crafts. Yes, even that.

Swirly.

Seriously kids, they do not open from the inside. Don't try this at home. It may cause high levels of... hilarity.

Today is the Day.

I don't know why exactly I had Walter dressing up for his big trip off his property. I have a vague notion that back in the day folks seemed to dress up for everything they did outside of their house. I think Walter probably comes from a generation that would do that. Of course, he couldn't go through with it anyway so I guess that whole suit idea was moot from the start anyway. Poor Walter.

Gone Fishin.

Being someone's house guest isn't always easy. You don't want to be rude, but you also can't help but to be kinda creeped out by some of the things you find out about what your hosts do behind closed doors. It's interesting how far Gnorm was willing to go before he got to the point he felt this was odd.

Pop Up New York posted this video to the web that explores the Archie exhibit on display at the The Museum of Cartoonists and Cartooning Art (MoCCA) in NY. It's a bit of a fluff piece, but it does show some interesting original artwork.

Look at that Plant.

Time to get back to the fun. To be honest I really had enough of talking about county planning commissions and customer service red tape. I felt like I was leading you guys down a boring rabbit hole. There will be a reason for that story-line later, but for now let's get back to some craziness. Today's strip idea comes to you courtesy of an idea from my six year old son who, along with the rest of his kindergarten class, find eyeballs hysterical. Who am I to argue with the current trends in comedy.

Vague Resolution.

No need to get bogged down in the details. Also no need to think I had written myself into a corner here. Because I didn't. At all.

This video from the Wall Street Journal features Mort Walker, cartoonist behind Beetle Bailey among other comic strips, discussing his life as a cartoonist and his huge collection of original comics art from throughout the history of comics.

Robocalling.

Here's an old phone phreak trick that's as fun today as it was back in the 80's when I first heard about it. Get two phones with two different lines. We used to use pay-phones that were next to each, but I don't know if those exist anymore. On each phone call a different customer service number and then hold them up to each other so each agent thinks the other called them. Hilarity then ensues. Double points for connecting two different customer service agents in the same company.

A Long, Strange Trip.

I'm sure anyone who has ever tried to get tech support over the phone has experienced that single moment, that dawning realization that the quick phone call you thought you were going to have to get an answer to a question was about to turn into an epic quest for forbidden knowledge. Well, if you though the dark annals of corporate customer support was bad just wait until the day you must sift through governmental red tape over the phone. I shudder to even imagine it.

Oh...Right.

Walter's problems just keep piling up. He's been brewing for a fight with the city bureaucrats over the planned construction so much that the thought of having to bring the fight off his hill never occurred to him. He's got some details to work out.

So, I am working on alternative technologies to continue posting to a new blog feed. As I play around with the code on the back end readers may see some funkiness on my site. If you see something screwy don't hesitate to let me know so I can fix it. Hopefully this transition won't cause too much of a disruption and won't take too long either.

Quiet Rage.

Over Reaction.

This past November I posted the 200th Hermit Hill comic strip to the site. I recently pulled them all together from all the various shelves, backpacks, desk draws, etc. where I had tossed them. Here's a shot of the stack of strips. You can see the pile in a bigger image and a couple more shots if you click on the photo. This is what a year and a half of drawing looks like.