Let’s try this again…
Yes, to answer the questions I know everyone is going to ask, I just wiped out any and all memories of Bud’s transformations for his friends here on forward. No one will remember but him (and his little memento). So to all of you who have asked is Old Bud telling his daughter of the transformations, the answer is clearly no. I know I’ve pulled a Star Trek bending the time line sorta thing here, but the transformations had run their course, in my opinion, and I did not want to have a 50 year old man suddenly turning into a woman every time someone cut him off in traffic… and in Chicagoland, that’s at every turn practically. The events of the Road Trip have not changed… Bud’s car is still cut up, Jeff’s car is blown up, all of the pets are gone (except ol’ Poco) and so on. Only Bud will remember his transformations and he won’t transform again… UNLESS a certain frog happens back into his life… hint. So Budette may show up again… just something else will trigger it.
I do not often get a chance to put in a political zinger that rings true from 1977 to today, but when I wrote this Road Trip finale months ago, I knew I wanted to take a crack at our 43rd President. You may send you hate emails to… Anyway, in my attempts to track down where the Bush family lived in 1977, I came upon the interesting fact that George W. and Laura were married in 1977. Oh, that capped it, I was going to use this joke.
Ah, 1968’s “Beggar’s Banquet” from the Rolling Stones was one of those albums I didn’t discover until much later in my life, but what an opening song “Sympathy for the Devil” is! The only thing I’m not too hot on is Richard’s guitar solo which seems painfully out of place for some odd reason (at least to me). So, a little sympathy as our lady Devil looses Bud’s soul. 🙂 (BTW, I do not spell the titles in the song box bellow, that’s some other miscreant’s misspelling!)
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Discussion (60) ¬
Haha, it’s all good Byron. It’s cool seeing the ‘sketchy look’ with ’77. We’ll be here for the finished version… 😀
A lot of people have commented they like the sketch versions, I have to be honest, I like them better than the full color versions sometimes as well. I am a great penciller, but not so much at the inking and coloring. In traditional comic creation, I would never do the inks, etc., that’s for someone else. So, when I trained years and years ago, it was always with pencils as that’s what I thought I’d end up being.
I don’t mind doing the whole show, but I know there are some talented inkers & colorists that just blow me away. I should get a few comics done and see what they look like by “professional” inkers. That would be interesting.
🙂
Good job on the storyline. 🙂
Thanks! And it’s only 1/2 of it, so I seem to be going in the right direction.
🙂
Sometimes seeing the bare bones is a special treat for the fans. It’s like watching a ‘the making of…’ special extra on a DVD 😉
I am STILL convinced that that’s Frank the LiveJournal goat, y’know…
What a great name for our devilish goat… Frank! “Push the button, Frank!” ala MST3K.
Now he has a name…
😉
Oh, and I LOVE those extras. Check out this article over at Webcomic Planet I posted about how I draw 1977. You should enjoy it!
http://webcomicplanet.com/articles/how-to-draw-digitally/
🙂
LOL! Glad to have helped name him – and the LJ-ers will be amused 🙂
I’ve never seen MST3K. Never even heard of it until a couple of years ago. I’ve now read about it quite a bit, and have come to the conclusion that it must be a ‘you had to be there’ thing because it just doesn’t sound all that funny…then again, I gave Robot Chicken a suck-and-see when it first went viral, and for that most part *that* doesn’t seem as funny to me as it’s made out to be either. Obviously I wasn’t born to be a nerd 😛 😛 😛
The article is excellent – thx for the link! But the mystery remains: why do most webcomic ‘artists’ turn out eye-melting shite with Manga Studio, when you prove over and over again that it’s possible to turn out Stuff That Looks Great?
Now that I know your methods, I am going to eventually hassle you into trying your hand at a little slice of You Know What. Like, a single three-panel strip. Though I’m willing to let you just draw You Know Who from behind/in semi-profile, so you don’t have the Crew complaining 😛 😛 😛
Because she broke a spell, she also broke the contract?
Because her contract didn’t cover both his souls. By “cheating” and eliminating the other soul, which she did not have control over, it breaks the contract she had on Bud’s soul. She has to read the manual…
🙂
If she ever finds it, that is…..
one soul cancelled out the other. nice. 🙂
budette must make a reappearance. and maybe learn how to play bass left-handed…after all, if i could … then she could too! 😀
this’ll look nice in colour.
good luck gettin’ yer shit done for the day, man.
–dee!
still awol. but happy that its no longer -19F out.
Budette is not gone forever. “She” will come back in some form or another. I just wanted to remove the “Bud gets pissed and changes” routine as in the near future, he’s gonna get pissed and I didnt’ want to have to deal with the “Why didn’t he transform?” scenario. Trust me, Budette is not gone nor forgotten… at least for Bud.
😉
So my new year wish for you came true. The one for myself didn’t, so far, but that is par for the course. I hope the biz picks up so much the comic goes to a once a week format. I’d miss the comic, but all that dosh coming in will ensure longevity. I like to plan long-term over instant fix.
I once saw the Stones do SFTD with a raft of African drummers. The intro was super long, they invited audience members up to join the rhythm section, then suddenly Jagger began to sing and a seemingly unconnected complex drum piece became SFTD.
Magic.
Bryan Ferry also does a version I like on his first solo album, though it’s not for everyone, and then there’s the ethereal version from Alien Nation (during the Stripper scene) which sounded interesting.
Keep up the good work when you can.
Steve.
Thank you, Steve. I’m hoping that this turn of business is a sign that the economy is turning every so slowly. It is my firm belief companies, big and small, have been sitting back going “Oh my God! There’s no money!” and cutting everything. Well, if you don’t market or advertise, how in the hell do you expect to recover? So, these clients are realizing you have to spend something. So, I’m not knocking down what I use to, but at least it will be some form of income. And that’s better than Zero anyday.
The comic ain’t goin’ anywhere, I’ll see to that! 🙂
Well, wait’ll Bud gets into his 40’s, he’s married, let himself go a little and we’ll yet again find himself commenting what a nice “rack” he has!! But this time, they’ll be nothing but saggy moobs!! o.O
Heh, “moobs” My word of the day…
😀
Why do I get the feeling this Devil couldn’t program a VCR, because you have to read the manual for that too. 🙂 Not that we…use VCR’s much anymore. Oh man, that made me feel old. LOL.
VCRs came out in 1977, so I doubt she could program one. I have been trying to hint all along that the Devil is a bit of a screw-up… from the time she mentioned to Bud that she couldn’t fly them out since she “lost her gold fiddle to the little shit Johnny…” She even had to go back to Hell and break up a fight just before she let Bud know of the TV show deal. So, I’ve been playing her for the fool, but just not so “in your face” as to make it the obvious way I was going to end the story arc.
VCRs? What’s that? 🙂
I found this comic on stumbleupon, and haven’t stopped reading it after I decided to impulsively read it from start to current submission. I absolutely love the transition from the start to now, and I am very excited for the rest to come. But I as well enjoy the sketchy look to this comic, occasionally. Just wanted to drop that, thanks though.
First, Greetings and welcome to the party! I love when readers go through the whole archive like that. I do it every so often myself and it reminds of stuff I’ve got to do!
It seems to me if I did a comic once in a while, or once a week, in sketchy form (cleaner than above) that might satisfy those folks who like their comics in the tradition of B&W. I love the color, but it does take forever.
Thanks for tagging along for the ride! It’s shifting into overdrive this year!
Byron
The pencil line drawings are good, but why not make them “Subscriber’s Treats” every week, thus promoting subscriptions and giving the pencil drawing freaks (;) ) something of their own.
I personally love the colour drawings as they really “come to life” and the transition from B&W to colour makes the comic really work for me (despite you saying you’re not that good at it!)
Oh and I’ve worked out a “sliding scale” for man-boobs, in order of size from smallest to largest they go mits – moobs – mosoms! 😉
LOL
😉
Keep ’em coming and I to am glad you’re getting some work again.
As a self-employed peep myself i have some hard times too!
Bob
Thanks Bob! I may just do that. Everyone seems to like the sketch versions from time to time, so I should come up with a format where I can pop one in at times.
I am hoping that if the sun has started to shine in my dark world, that it will rise again for all of you. It is such a relief to have even a small amount of work again!
🙂
Man, the first comic that I ever saw on here was the first time Bud transformed into girl Bud. I’m gonna miss here. And for more than that reason. 😀 Anyways, nice comic and, I’m sorry, I just can’t think of the comic without her.
Minor typo, I meant: I’m gonna miss HER.
Read carefully… she will be back… we just don’t how or when!
🙂
well glad I read the comments, I was about to lament about girl-Bud vanishing. You arn’t going to make it that being splashed with cold water makes him a girl and warm water back again are you? LoL.
I’m already working on the next “how it happens” scenario… It will be a good one hopefully. Actually, Budette was around a long time in the Road Trip series, and I just worried that newcomers would be confused. So I try to keep the transformations short and easily explained.
We’ll have to see what comes up next!@
🙂
This should cut down on creepy fan mail nicely. 😉
Aw, I’m so laid back nothing is creepy to me… except worms or something…
😉
does this mean no more sexy Bud?
oh wait yeah of course it does -.- great work i’m a big fan
Yep, Budette seems to be a bigger hit than I thought… so her death was announced prematurely and she’ll be back again someday… Actually, this gives me a chance to work up new circumstances for the transformations to happen. Done the Hulk-out thing, now maybe when he eats too much pizza or something…
😉
Don’t overuse it or the T-chasers will start to show. Trust me on this one. :/
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! ~rolls on floor laughing~
Ohh-kayyy, the completed strip is TOTAL WIN. Especially the punchline!
Since this one was up in its rough form for a few days before you brought on the full glory of the finished piece, you might want to mention that when you post up the epilogue – just in case people miss it.
LOL! Thanks, man! I love the final frame. Zing!
Yes, I am going to let everyone know on Monday they should go back a couple days and make sure they’re caught up. With all that’s been going on, I can’t remember shit lately, so I’ll b sure to do that!
🙂
Most excellent, dude! Hee.
This is a comment for all you avid webcomic readers out there According to the “Dave’s Dead, Dave” storyline in the webcomic Narbonic Dave Davenport was born in…1977. You can find the strip here. http://narbonic.com/052701.html. Just thought it was oddly relevant.
1977 was a pivotal year it seems.
“It could mean that, that point in time inherently contains some sort of cosmic significance. Almost as if it were the junction point for the entire space-time continuum. On the other hand, it could just be an amazing coincidence.” Doc Brown…
Woah, this is heavy.
Oh just to ask. How is your son’s comic coming along. Haven’t really heard much about it for quite a while, and it got me curious.
You have a helluva a memory. My oldest suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome and it is a hindrance in his professional life. He’s looking for an artist to help him at the moment as he can only focus on one thing at a time… so he’s writing now and hopes to have someone help him draw it. He’s got a great talent and can beat the pants off me when it comes to pencil sketches, but his handicap holds him back sometimes. He’ll get it conquered and be a bigger webcomic artist then me someday (which is not that hard).
🙂
I went away and came back and it’s magically in colour. WOOHOO!
Ha ha doing a sex-change on a character is always funny. Not to mention added boob factor!
“Boob Factor Nine! Engage!” Yep, gotta love them boobs… 🙂
The 4th panel is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen and you should do it without speech bubbles as a desk top.
Seconded!
Your wish is my command! I’ll get on that this week! And I’ll make it available for everyone, not just subscribers too. I’ll work on the background a tad, there’s actually a tunnel back there over the river Styx and has the word “Hell” in Neon, but the damn lightning effect covered it up… DOH!
🙂
“Hot diggity dawg, Paw! I ain’t been so excited since the b’ar et Grandmaw!”
😀
Yep 1977 is very significant … I was 21 in June 1977!
In the peak of my youth and raring to go (actually had been “raring” for a good few years by then, but still…)
Bob
I was starting to take on the world myself, from bar room floors mostly. We got past it and here we are!
🙂
*LOUD LAUGHTER*
Love it – especially with the “new” punchline. (I saw the original sketch; the inked/ revised version is a big improvement.)
Great stuff, dude. Thanks!
(I guess we’ll agree to disagree on Keither’s guitar solo – it’s one of my all-time favorites ever, in my all-time favorite Stones cut. Funny – I always wanted to figure out how to play a bass guitar version of that one…)
Cheers!
Yeah, I don’t know what it is that bugs me, but it always has. Not to the point I can’t listen to the song, but there’s just something in my ears that goes “man, he struggling or something…” Just me.
🙂
FWIW I’ve always seen (well, heard) it as intentional – it’s jagged-edged and tortured-sounding and fits well with the thrust of the lyrics IMO. But to each, y’know? 🙂
See, you’ve cleared up another rock and roll mystery to me. I would have NEVER thought of that. I always figured he was just too stoned or drunk and they just let it go. So, it’s suppose to be that way. Who’da thunk? Not me…
OoooO!! Can I draw a sloppy comic and say it’s “suppose” to be that way? Yeah, yeah, that’s brilliant!
😀
Byron, that’s hilarious! You hardly ever (;)) get to hear a guy say he had a hot rack and the last panel was brilliant.
LOL! If a guy does state he has a great rack, then… who know’s… Lola may be on the loose.
🙂
Yeah, I don’t get a chance to zing political types, but I made an exception this time!
Relax about the Politician joke… Just about every one of ’em sells their soul to somebody at one point or another. Usually, it’s to one industrial giant or another… And they can usually only provide A senator’s seat. If you want the BIG chair, you gotta deal with the big D.
So that is how George W Bush became president not just his father George H W Bush nor his brother or even Cathy Harris. She is one hot devil poor little goat thing are baaaaad.