This message is for Stan Lee. Please go ahead and pass it along to him or link this message up. I’d like everyone to read the NY times article where Kirby’s family states:

“Lisa Kirby, Mr. Kirby’s daughter, agreed. “I don’t know
how they live with themselves,” she said. “The estate
gets no compensation from Marvel at all."”

Dear Mr. Lieber,

Now that you’ve won the settlement with Marvel Comics, please do the right thing and give a percentage if not half of that money to the Kirby family and estate. No one needs to ask why– you know why. God knows why.

Years ago, it was Jack Kirby himself that wanted to have a contract like you obtained. And you told him your hands were tied. Now they are not. You’re free of Marvel, Sir. And they’re free of you. Jack is waiting for you to do the right thing. The noble thing. And in a very personal and public way.

You spoke about being a hero on your 60minutes interview. And doing what was right. Jack worked very hard for his family, and he too deserves some of what your contract claims credit to. Even if you feel that every penny is rightfully yours… please, do the right thing Stan. Do it for Jack. Do it for his family. Do it for comics, before it’s too late.

Now is the time for you to make things right… if you don’t–who will?

D.J. Coffman
-Cartoonist-

Okie dokie! So I’m a little behind here. Some of the lame computer problems I had ate into my schedule. But I’m hard at work on new comics here, and there’s no need to fear a delay of any kind.

It’s all good in the hood. I was reading the latest from Penny Arcade— funny thing about moving to Spokane to support yourself on the feeble money made from webcomics. He brings up some great points about rent, etc…. It reminds me of why I came back to Fayette-Nam in 1994.

Things are pretty darn reasonably priced around here. I keep telling friend on the internets they should move here and start a business. The only web design business is run by my wife’s cousins, and it’s laughable. WAY laughable. They’ll probably track this link about to give out and hate my guys— but whoa.. come on, I’m not even a web designer and I can do 5000times better than this stuff. – I’ve always said Fayette-Nam is like 10-15 years behind the times. And this web design service is proof positive of that. UGH!!! – They should have hired me to help out ages ago. I’m afraid it’s too late for them now. Here’s the link for you.

That’s probably rude mocking them like that… but hey, it’s DAH truth. They’d better hope I never get sick of my cushy cartooning gig here. Or that I dont talk my friend Chad into taking over the web design in this entire tri-county area!!! –

Anyway– for all it’s faults… I like Fayette-Nam.

LINK – Weird. Bob and I were just talking about her this morning. I said that if John McCain ran with a Dem as his VP in 2008, he could best her. And Bob thinks no one could beat the evil that is Hillary Clinton.

Well, even though I’m not a fan of the finangling Clintons, I hope she’ll be ok and its nothing serious.

See?? How’s that for some fair and balanced cartoon blogging?

Your efforts are useless. You’re wasting your time trying to post your URLs on my blog here. I know you’re trying, but move on to another blog. I have the nofollow plugin installed, and it’s also catching 100% of the new spam trying to come in. – I’m just politely letting you know you’re wasting your time trying to post on my blog…. not only will your comments not show up at all, but it will also not increase your google page rank thanks the the nifty nofollow.

Anyway, you probably wont read this for a couple weeks, as most of the spam unions seem to hit up older entries thinking no one will notice. But my blog is far superior to your feeble marketing efforts. Try something else.

Yes. The bitter liberal in me has awoken!!! - Nah, I’m not a liberal.. but I love making fun of political things. I maybe missed my calling as an editorial cartoonist, but I never thought they’d let me near a newspaper ever again. God bless you, internet.

Annoyed: I’m annoyed this morning. Not by anything in particular. My body didn’t want to get out of bed— and nothing seems to be where it should be. The dog’s water pitcher which I use to go out and water him… NOT THERE. The new Yirmumah running on the PV homepage, NOT THERE. The clothes I laid out, NOT THERE. A pack of important papers including tax crap, NOT THERE. –

It’s going to be one of those mondays. No one should test me today, or they might get a big old dose of grumpy and inconsiderate me.

I hate computer problems. Recently, my CD burner has been on the fritz. It’s lasted a good long time, but it appears to be kapoot now. It will run regular CDs, but when you pop a blank one in, it doesnt recognize them.

I’ve tried everything from messing with the drivers, reinstalling everthing, etc… and it seems like a lost cause. — I’ll most likely be looking for a reasonably priced CD burner soon. Darn…

I hate computer problems.

Dave and Bob are busy beating the holy beejeezus out of each other in Xbox Boxing… well, EA Fight Night 2004. I’m totally no good at that game. It appears as though Bob has found a game he can actually win.

Dave hasn’t seen today’s strip yet…. we thought for sure he was coming over with a gun when he called up to come and visit.

We love you Dave!

Today’s Strip was inspired by those old Hostess Cake ads. Only this of course was done in the Yirmumah way. It pretty much speaks for itself. And no, Dave isn’t gay. But his eyes MAY be bleeding right now.

Well, techincally, I’ve never seen Dave angry and he usually is happy all the time, sooo….

Scott McCloud Vs. A Bear!

DANGER SCOTT MCCLOUD! DANGER!!!!

So, no sooner did the NEW STRIP post, featuring Matthew Lesko… I was informed by a reader on my forum this morning that Scott Kurtz beat us to this joke by a week and a half. Goddamn! — Here’s a link to his version…

Unbelievable. We do our strip weeks, sometimes months ahead, especially the writing. And I really don’t follow any other webcomics for this very reason. When Bob showed me the script for the Lesko gag, I thought– WOW, that is totally obscure!!! No one will have a Lesko gag!!!– Bob wrote it because he actually bought the stupid book after many late nights seeing that damn commercial. By the way, Bob says most of the book is completely useless.

So, Scott Kurtz has bested us and stolen his Ubergeek back. Actually, I find it fascinating, the creative process…. like is there some level of consciousness cartoonists can reach where they tap into this highway of obscure ideas. — I sent an e-mail to Scott this morning to let him know we’re not apeing his stuff.

I have a way to dodge these things in the future though. It’s always the readers that catch these things first.

Ok. I finished up all the pre-press work for the Yirmumah book today. Let me tell you– it’s a doozy of a package. It’s wild going back and seeing all the cartooning I’ve done– and all in full color! Wow!

The book will be available for sale online soon, like soon as in as soon as the printer has our files and we get a batch printed up. The hard work is done though. I’m still waiting for a special moment to release the cover to the public. It’s a good one!

Traffic– Wow, there are a good many people cruising through these parts now. Welcome to all the new folks. And I appreciate the e-mails I’ve received. I think I’ve caught up on emailing now, so if you sent me an e-mail, most likely I answered yah back.

Much more to come!!!

LINK!: There’s nothing like a good dick joke to start off your Thursday. Or end it for that matter.

Anyone up for a kidnapping?

Here’s the link to the strip for people reading on RSS or remotely–

Hitler was probably one of the worst bad guys in history. (like i need to remind anyone)– And it never gets old making fun of him or his flunkeys.

And we’re moving right along here! January is damn near over! Amazing how fast it went.

Alright– back to work for me. Enjoy the strip and have a great day.

I’ve received a bunch of emails from readers who want me to submit Yirmumah for a Harvey. I already completed my form, and sent it in, nominating some folks I know and like— I didn’t realize I was eligible for any categories. I have been informed that I indeed am. So.. here’s the deal. If you’re a comic creator of any kind on a pro level, self publisher, etc…. AND you enjoy our work here, YOU CAN nominate us. And you can also e-mail in your completed entry form via e-mail— Pretty easy. The suggested categories would be Best New Series, Best Cartoonist, Best New Talent –

Details: You can copy the ballot HERE in my forum. Fill it out with all it asks for and e-mail it to them at pjcjmc2@comcast.net by February 13th.

This is a long shot from hell here. But hey, why not? For even more on the great history of the Harvey Awards, AND it’s great new location, check out – http://www.moccany.org/harvey.html

Cruising around the blogosphere I came across this on Chris Pirillo’s blog… Radiostation in a box.

Radio Station in-a-Box (Mini-Interview)

Chris does the live show, The Chris Pirillo show using this thing. hmm.. It’s cool because it allows people to listen LIVE to your broadcast from your computer. I think you can even get on some local FM and AM waves…. Chris’s show is Thursday’s at 7, I do believe. And then there is this “podcasting” thing, where you can listen to interviews, shows, etc… Check that out.

This is fascinating, why? Well, we’ve thought it would be cool to have some sort of podcasting from Yirmumah central. Things you could listen to. Maybe brainstorming sessions or interviews with othe comic creators, etc….. no, not a radio show or anything– just some cool content to listen to and dig. Maybe even some Ukulele music! Heh…

More webcomic folk need to start researching these things more. Here’s a list of things you should keep up on or you’re going to be wayyy behind…….

XFN, Rubhub, TAGS, (technorati.com/tags) . Delicious, Podcasting—– All words I bring up and people around comics cyber stare at me like I’m high. I admit openly, hell, I just figured out my XFN thing today. It’s really groovy. The easiest way I can explain it is— its like giving a relationship category to your hyperlinks– if someone is a friend, a colleague—

Why does any of that matter??? Well, the more people who list you as a friend, colleague or COMIC THEY READ—- this will all be pretty important in the coming years.

Man, I am such a closet nerd.

Busy as ever here.I have some freelance work going on, logos, some caricatures, etc….

I spent all day today working on Saturday’s strip. It was originally suppossed to be a “book only” exclusive, but screw it…. I’d get behind doing exclusive stuff for the book. There will be SOMETHING in there, but not this strip. I’m super tempted to show off the cover for the new book right now… but I think I may wait until the book is actually available to order to show it off. It’s beautiful. I want posters of it too!

Traffic to the site here has been great. 3500 people or so a day on average. Some days it spikes way higher than that. I don’t know if that’s GOOD or not enough or what…. But people are reading and enjoying themselves and that’s all I really care about. It’s almost February, and I’ve decided that besides smaller jobs, I’m focusing all my efforts into this madness. #1, it makes me happy. #2 it quenches the desire I have to work, especially on a daily of some sort. I’ve never described it as such before, but producing on a daily schedule is like a drug. You get very addicted to it…. very fast. I guess there will be a burn out factor at some point. This week I havent felt like writing at all, but I’m lucky I have Bob on my side who’s written just TONS of great stuff for me to go with.

Fan Club - We have some fun ideas for a fan club. Man oh man, I can’t wait until I get a little more ahead on my work so I can unleash this out as well. Fun stuff.

Here’s dah link to today’s strip!! — Of course many of you read the blog on the main page. So I know this is redundant, but there are several hundred people using the RSS feed, so this is for them. I know it’s confusing. Hurm… I’ll figure it out.—

Wow. The Tonight Show tribute to Johnny Carson was sad….. But the best tribute I saw was on Adult Swim last night. Very nice.–

It’s great watching some of that great classic comedy again.

Dang! I wish I could afford this. It would go PERFECT with my tiki bar sertup! Anyone that has an extra 799 bucks laying around, but this for me! Jack Kirby+Angry Tiki Gods…
eBay item 6507100586 (Ends Jan-26-05 20:45:00 PST) - JACK KIRBY SUPER POWERS #3 ORIGINAL PENCILLED COVER! NR

That is SWEET. And it has WonderWoman on it which my wife is keen on too. Damn….. I need to be rich or get some ‘"fun” bank to buy stuff like this. I hate it when all our money goes to bills and the goverment.

:(

Here’s the link– Yeah, total fiction, eh? Come on! BoB need a little good luck now and then! Someone definitly has to be looking out for him.

More to come. I have a ton of comics to go get drawing.

My kids have a 2 hour delay. I’m going back to bed.

Efhing Steelers!

No… they might as well have been tossing New England’s salad.

Bah! –

It’s not so much that they lost— but seeing the New England punkasses waving the white towels in the air and telling the crowd to sit down was bullshit. Talk about unsportsmen like. They’re friggin lucky they don’t let the POOR people for Southwestern PA in there, or there could have been a riot or something like that NBA fight. That shit doesn’t fly in Fayette COunty.

You win AND lose like a MAN. Not a bitch.

Damn it all to hell.

Bob quit watching completely and went and took a shower.

I’m a die hard though. We need a miracle pulled out of our butts.

Wow… a fucking legend died today.

A lot of people my age, just aren’t familiar enough with Jonny’s humor. It’s a shame to me. The best in the history of late night— he went out on top. May 22nd 1992….

:(

I look forward to all the lame editorial cartoons of Peter announcing to Heaven …. “Herrrrrrre’s Jonny!”

Friday night, we thought about just putting ourselves into a cryogenic sleep until game time. It’s been a hellish wait here for the game to start. It’s overcome our minds here, and no other thoughts seem very important.

We’re sick human beings.

Here’s a shirt I will probably buy. I should seriously wear that all the time.

Haven’t updated the section in a couple weeks….

Here’s the Caricature I finished today for Mindy– CLICK HERE.

And here’s one for Frankie Bones…A godfather reinactment– CLICK HERE.

And, as always, you can view all the caricatures at yirmumah.net/caricatures

Only in Fayette-Nam —- Via Jack’s blog. Too funny…

Here’s the link– Yes, it’s true. We’re routing for the Steelers here this weekend. The funny thing is…. We don’t really care that much about football as a whole. All other teams are just considered enemies — We only follow our Steelers…. like any good Southwestern Pennsylvanian.

I’ll be honest. It’s a curse. It happens year after year. The Steelers do something GREAT– get a lot of buzz— then throw it all away at the last minute. Or the “Star” quarterbacks always flub up and bend under pressure. We in Fayette-Nam, neigh, all over Southwest PA are just use to the down in the dumps feeling of “The Steelers are going to fudge this up somehow.” – We’re almost expecting it. We really really thought last weekend was the terrible end. But it turned out being the “terrible win.” ————– Maybe that’s why they call it the terrible towel??

This time feels different. It ALWAYS feels different of course… But you gotta keep the faith.

For the record… My favorite player is Troy Polamalu #43 . Anytime someone on the other team catches the ball, his fro just comes flowing in and he nails them. Or he intercepts, or nearly intercepts it. And he does it all with NO gloating. Of course we love that crazy #86 – Psycho Ward is what we call him.

Now we wait patiently to be dissappointed, or pleasantly surprised.

Ok. We’ve heard over and over about getting some products for Yirmumah. We’re listening, and here’s what we have planned and what we’ve done.

Yirmumah Collected - All the strips from July to December. Full color. Book coming soon to the site. Stay tuned.

Poster Print - A really cool print is coming your way soon too. Look for a preview of it REAL soon on this site. All Yirmumah fans will want this one.

Updated Store Section, Affiliates, etc - Check out our STORE page, we’ve added two affiliates we’re endorsing here. It’s stuff we actually use, and you can too. In full disclosure, we’ve listed what we make on a sale there, so check it out.

We want to get some custom shirts made soon, but these are REAL YIRMUMAH friendly wares there. Drew Price is totally wearing this stuff, and you should too. Who doesn’t want a Can of Whoopass t-shirt??? – you that.

LINK: It’s true you know. Just you wait….

Main Page and Archive fixer upper: I spent some time yesterday trying to make the archives more easy to navigate. There were some issues with the Archive button, where you had to click twice on it, etc…. now everything should load up right on the main page. And the calendar for the strip archives is up to the right. Wow– I did away with the calendar thingy and 10 people e-mailed to say they wanted it back. At least I know people are paying attention. — Special thanks to Dan Johnson, who reads everyday, for his input and suggestions. He thinks he was being a pain…. but HEY, i want to hear from you readers out there. If something isn’t working for you, drop me a line. I can’t please everyone, of course, but I want the site to be tip-top and smooth for your viewing pleasure.

Ok– back to building the empire.

Ok.. I want to just rave about something here. I’ve been using Dreamhost for a few years, and it’s been, well, a DREAM. No problems. Zilch. Now it’s only 7.95 a month!!! Its amazing. I have more space than I’ll ever need for my files. Also– this very blog, Wordpress, is built in, ONE CLICK SETUP!!! ONE CLICK….. Plus other badass goodies in there too.

Anyway– some people e-mail me and ask how I do this or that or think Im some powerhouse of knowledge on web stuff— I am not. I just have Dreamhost on my side.

Even if you already have a service– Go check it out. It’s worth it. Here’s what you get for just 7.95 a month…..

1 FREE domain registration
www.yourname.com
3 full domains, 15 subdomains
2400 MB Disk, 120 GB Transfer
600 Mailboxes, 75 Shell/FTP Users

Jesus– I can remember when I was getting 20mb storage space— 2400!? Thats unheard of. Oh, and plenty of gigs in transfer too. I’ll never have to worry about site outtages– and if I do happen to go over with some big link from the media— they cover my butt. This should never be a problem for cartoonists who use this service.

Anyway– check it out. Anyone interested in webhosting for their comics, tell em to e-mail me about any questions they have. Hey, use me as a referrer too! Yirmumah will actually make a little money then too– Use this link– http://www.dreamhost.com/rewards.cgi?djc

DO IT! You’ll thank me later.

Linky-Linky-: Dave needs to write a sci fi book. That is all.

Enjoy your day.

Sometimes when I casually observe referrers on my visitor log, I find people saying nice things. So I link them back– And what a cool list and review that guy has going– I’m bookmarking it— NOW… Number 12’s Web Comics Picks

Enjoy.

Full Story here…

Now here’s the dirty lowdown Yirmumah editorial on this. — It makes me sick when I hear about millions of dollars being owed to Stan Lee. And that his lawyer touts him as the creator of all the characters, blah blah blah—– So… let me get this straight. When Stan Lee was head of Marvel and Jack Kirby wanted more ownership, Stan said his hands were tied…. but now Stan wants millions from the same sort of deals Kirby once tried to bargain for but was left in the cold. The whole thing was built on Kirby’s back. The WHOLE THING. If you don’t believe that, or think it’s an exageration, so be it. But it’s true. Hell, even when “newblood” came in, Marvel told them to do it the Kirby way.

Fine. Give him millions. Sure, they deserve it… THEY. Not just Stan Lee. Jack Kirby is dead. His family is still alive though. Why not give this money to Kirby’s daughters. The ghost of Jack won’t rest until justice is done. I’ll agree… they did create these things together. But c’mon now.. in life Kirby got the short end—

Anyway– this makes me sick. When will Justice be done?

People don’t realize… The comic industry has been in a gradual decline since 1994. Sure there have been spikes…. but its been bleak. The only thing keeping the big two afloat is Hollywood money at this point. It’s true. 1994…. You know who died in 1994?

The Curse of Kirby, ladies and gentlemen.

LINK:Today’s strip. – See? I told you all it wouldnt be long before we were back to are old ways.

Man, (woman) it is snowing like a mother crunker here. No worries though, I’m trapped inside with a pile of work to do. Coffee is soooooo much better when it’s cold outside. It’s true!

A crappy caricature service…. that charges WAY more…

Wow. I never thought I’d say this… but I definitly am undercutting myself on the caricature thing. hahaha– My whole point was to make them extremely affordable for the readers out there. — A potential new customer just sent me a link to this other caricature service– and I looked at some of their samples and….. and… Ugh… I don’t want to say they suck. They’re OK… but…. they’re way expensive and sell really well. Dang.

Am I raising my prices? Nope. Because I want people to be able to afford it. And if I do a terrible job with them, they dont have to feel like they wasted a HUGE amount of money. So far so good though.

There’s something happening here….

After the election, I’ve kept myself away from the news… hell, I didn’t even know this Thursday is when old Bush takes the oath of office. But wow. Some of the news I slipped upon…. Washington is in an extreme lockdown mode. A reader e-mailed to tell me he wasn’t able to get into his apartment building because people in suits were “sweeping” the whole building.

Anyways… It reminds me of something Bob often says. We’re not a free country. Not at all. We’re just a little freer than other countries. When it’s down to the wire… we’re not free at all.

Remember when the President use to walk the last part of the parade route? I bet that won’t be happening this year. I wonder if some shit is going to go down there— if there is some crazy group of rebels who are going to riot or something. I dont’ know. I’ll most likely be watching from my TV though.

Maybe cheering them on a little.

WORK-It’s all work and no play here today. But still, I’m having FUN. For one, I’m inking a batch of new strips. Also, I have the cover for the collected book to ink and color. Also working on some other ideas and more writing.

BUTTONS- I’ve been thinking about getting some buttons made by my friend Jay, but I don’t know what to do with buttons. Would people buy buttons? I don’t know. I’d like them to be cooler than just a character slapped on the button. Something you could actually wear. One idea popped in my head today…. Emotion buttons. Like, you’d get BOB MOODS you could wear or something. The moods are yet to be determined. But you can only guess if you follow our strip and humor.

Also, a batch of caricature orders have come in. There was a small lull there on those– but now I’ll be back busy with that. I have 3 to get done by the weekend.

OTHER- The birthday went well. Thanks for all the e-mails, instant messages, well wishes, etc…. Damn, people actually knew it was my birthday. My wife’s grandparents actually called me to wish me a happy birthday. I thought they hated me. Well, maybe they still do. —– Anyway, I’m sorry if I didnt e-mail you back– I had about 65 happy birthday e-mails scattered throughout my inboxes and I didnt get back with everyone. I want to say publicly a big THANKS!!!!!

LINK - Yeah. No toilety punchline here. But for people who have been following along since November, some nifty character development.

New Daily YIrmumah. Happy Birthday Drew!

Instead of staying inside all day in my bigfoot like way… We decided to journey out to the antique store place. I discovered a cool Palm Springs post card from the 1940s. It’s a nifty foldout souvenir book thingy, with several full color, art over photos deals. I don’t know what you call that….. Anyway, my wife can’t figure out why I’d want that— I went to High School there for god’s sake. Actually, I spent the years of 12-18 there! – So seeing all the fold out art of Tahquitz Canyon the old Oasis hotel.. it just brought back many slacker filled days to me. We were the desert rats. —It occured to me, that the Coachella Valley is a psuedo tropical place. I never realized it when I lived there. My wife would never move there, and I don’t really long to go back, but I do miss Palm Trees and the environment sometimes. The people were kinda dicks though. Anyways, now that postcard has a spot at the tiki bar. Maybe I’ll post photos sometime.

So… here it is. My last couple hours of being 28 years old. It’s been 10 years since I left Southern California to start my life anew in FayetteNam. I ain’t got it so bad. I have three of the coolest kids on the planet, a hot wife who makes me laugh and more.. and I have some of the best friends a guy could have. And I get to draw comics every stinking day.

Plus I’ve been lucky to work with some really talented folks over the years here. Listen to me– I sound like I’m old! Actually, hell no, I’m young. That’s why I feel so lucky to have all I’ve got here.

I also never thought I’d know how to play a musical instrument. I can now jam out on my ukulele and it’s very soothing to me. Sure, people laugh when they hear i play that. But they don’t know what they’re missing I tell yah.

Good god. I thought we were going to be had by that damn Steelers curse, where they blow it at the end… But I kept the faith…. Bob had given up– but I was hanging in….

GOOD GOD!! What a fucking game!!! I can’t believe it. That was one of the best games I’ve seen. Those JETS played HARD– but their extra point kicker SUCKS!!!! hahahahah– Bob and I are going to send him a post card or something—-

Ok…. thats all from here.

Read Fun Facts about the TITAN MOON.

Now, read Fun facts about farts.

Great. We (the earth) sent a probe to a giant FART planet. Well, no sulfer there yet– BUT, it has TONS of methane. Which means, if we go there, and someone lights a fart, we could turn the whole thing into a HUGE ball of blue flame.

Look… it’s even called the Titan MOON. It’s a moon, shrouded in Methane gas. —

I’m sorry. My juvenile humor was ignited whenI read all these stories about this great scientific feat. It really is amazing. Now give me a match!

Here’s the new strip. Click here if you’re not reading this on the main page.

Fun facts. I have the tag thing figured out… it’s built right into wordpress– DUH! Stupid me. So that’s that. Actually, my traffic has gone up quite a bit since getting listed by these blog engines. So WELCOME to all the new readers who are coming from the abyss.

Fun Fayette-Nam fact. Well, not so fun fact… That guy who was just found guilty of prisoner abuse.. .he’s from Uniontown PA… the heart of Fayette-Nam. It freaking figures. Anyway, I just thought I would point that out. I run into morons like that all the time around here when I go out. People are SOOOO bigoted, racist bastards around here. So i hide inside a good bit and stay away from the natives. It would take an efhed up idiot from Fayette Nam to do something like that– wouldn’t it??

Ok. So much like state forest rangers tag animals in the wild– blogs are now being tagged. In fact, I’m testing this post out to see if IT gets tagged like it’s suppose to. It’s an interesting thing. And allows you to jump to specific categories of your liking… filed under humor

Now I’ll wait for every webcomic person to catch onto this. Yirmumah sticks it’s flag deep in the heart of this new tagging phenomenon.

A Yirmumah reader, and now friend of mine in Hawaii has a website up, showcasing his collection of original art. His site is coming along great. Here’s a link to his Yirmumah page, showing everything from the art he bought from me, to the sketches I drew on the backs of some of em, and the doodle I did on the mailing box!

Yirmumah Originals Collected

Check out some of the other cool art there as well. He’s amassing quite the collection!

A great post from Eric Burns at Websnark. Well written. He kinda takes you with him, no? He saved me a 9 hour drive or something… not that I was going to go or knew anything about this thing, or would have went anyway– BUT still, it sounded like a fun time. Those Dumbrella guys are A-okay. Check the link!

Websnark.com: Views of the Q-List: The Dumbrella Meet and Greet.

Ok. I’m behind the times. I have an old version of Dreamweaver 4, 100% legal, mind you, and in the course of some extensive use, it started to NOT want to close. So, I decide, I’m going to reinstall it. I dig up the old serial code, the install disk, etc… everything goes great, it installs… and then.. nothing. The program won’t even open. It just sits there in limbo. No, I’m not spending a DIME to upgrade this crap.

Sometimes I think it would be EASIER to be a pirate and get new versions of everything when it comes out. Of course, I’m NOT a pirate. I’m a poor cartoonist with a broken Dreamweaver4.

Anyway, curse you Dreamweaver 4! Curse you!

New strip here. Not sure if I have any notes on it at all. Like Drew, I’ll be 29 on Monday as well— No, not a depressing thing. A 3rd of my life is gone though– well, if I live to be 90ish.

“Ali G” Risks Riot At US Rodeo

God damn. Ali G is the funniest bastard on the planet! Check that link for the full article, or read this snippit! He did this in his Boraq character:

“After telling the crowd he supported America’s war on terrorism, he said, “I hope you kill every man, woman and child in Iraq, down to the lizards … And may George W Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq.” He then sang a garbled version of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

That’s too funny. Ali Gi gets the Yirmumah award for the week. BING!

Dear Yirmumah readers…

The Blog is now featured on the main page under the current comic strip. It’s in an “iframe” which feeds the blog into it. Please let me know if you have any problems viewing the main page, etc…. I’ve been tinkering with this awhile and I think I got all the bugs out.

Now the front page is much more informative. You get the kick ass strips, AND the notes from us right here in the old blog.

Scientists create artificial fiber, stronger than silk.

Found this on Don’s Blog.

Introducing Calypso.

Yes. That’s right. Drew’s been married all this time. Can you believe it??? So why haven’t I mentioned Calypso before? Who is she? Etc?

It’s no surprise to people who know me that Calypso is a character loosely based on my wife, just as Bob is loosely based on a guy named Bob. I only included her in one TWO tiny panels in the Yirmumah history. One was a photo on a nightstand, the other she was in bed. Unlike myself, Drew Price doesn’t have kids. Anyway, I’ve thought about doing this for awhile, and it’s a big change to the dynamic of things. I think for the better. I could never have Bob say to drew “I’m going to rip your balls off.” – Well, I could actually…. but, you know what I mean.

My wife’s name is Calista though. So why the name Calypso??? It’s an ode, a tip of the hat to our old friend Dave Laws who passed away last year. When he met my wife, he instantly heard her name and began calling he Calypso. Anytime we saw him, he wished Calypso a great happy day. You’d hear…. “Ahhhh, Calypso!” coming from the back corner of the coffee shop.

What a great way to put in two people in my real life that I love so much.

You’ll notice the nifty RSS button in the right column. I’ve also spruced up some spacing issues, and tweeked the colors around.

Nothing MAJOR. But Firefox has a nice extension that lets you edit CSS style sheets right in the browser to see what they’ll look like. So, that’s pretty darn nifty. I’ll have to do a new header image or something soon. Just a little wider or something…

Here be the new strip!

Since many many more people are subscribing to this blog, I’ll be sure to toss a “New Strip” link in everyday now, to make it easy on the folks out there.

That is all.

I’m dragging along today. Sloooooowwwwww….. So much housework to do, and my ass is just planted and doesnt want to move.

It’ll most likely be another late night of cartooning here.

Anyone want to do my laundry?

OH, before I get to work. I checked out ToddandPenguin. A strip approved by the Yirmumah Code. No, you won’t find swearing, crude language, or tawdry toilet jokes like our strip. But damn, Dave Wright has come a long way with his strip. This strip has been running for 5 years! Today is an amazing jumping on point for new readers. Do go and check it out.

Todd and Penguin

I slept in. Well, no, I was up.. but then I just went back to bed. The only time I get to see my wife now is well, before she goes to work, and then at 1am when she comes home. Then I’m up at 7:30am to get the kids off to school. Today was too much. My brain bitch slapped me back to bed. And the internet wasn’t working this morning, so I couldnt sit in my usualy zombie-like stupor and surf the regular blogs I check.

So the strip collection is going to happen. I have a little teeny wee bit of work to do for it before it can be available, but I’m talking with my printer and, well, publisher now, working out details. It’ll be neat to see all the color strips from 2004 packed into a book of some sort. I was surprised how well they read smaller and in print. And they don’t look half bad in grayscale, but I just gotta do this book in color.

That’s all. Now I gots to get me some coffee and get cranking on more dailies. A small confession before I go. I’m not sure if anyone else who draws a regular comic experiences this… but late at night when I finally lay down to rest, my brain is totally plotting more strips, making diabolical plans for comic domination. It use to torture me, but I’ve given into it. And now it’s fun. I’m no longer bored or frustrated with my pencil not moving. My brain keeps going a mile a minute. Maybe it senses that I’m almost fucking 30?

Much to do. Much to do.

Listed this blog with the Technorati thing. Im not sure exactly what that does.. but several people have told me to do it. So it’s done!

Now… onward– to BED!

So, I’ve had firefox, almost since it was released. But I rarely use it. I’m always clicking the “E” and opening Explore up. Dammit…

So today, it occurs to me, Favicons are NOT working right in IE at all. I put a favicon on the Yirmumah site, because my stats showed it was the most failed request. I opened my IE, no favicons. I open Firefox…. favicons.

Now, my beef with Firefox is simple. Im a caveman. So when I searched my normal crawl through the net, there were some sites that were WACKED looking in firefox. So I just skipped using it.

Even yirmumah.net was looking a little wacked, and the logo was going somewhere it shouldnt– but I tweaked the pages a teeny bit and uploaded them, and now they look great in Firefox. And also, when a site has an RSS feed, it shows up in the lower right corner, I click it, name it and it gives me all the headlines from that site if I dont want to go directly there.

Now my little tab list is all favicons, and no tezt. I love it. I can go to Websnark, check my blog, forums, etc… all in a few clicks. It’ll take a little getting use to. I still automatically go toward the blue “e"— and I have to keep it there… my wife and friends who use my computer will be whigged out if I change something and they cant surf all normal to them.

www.spreadfirefox.com

Great comic I just found courtesy of the Evil Joey Manley blog . Hunter and Painter. It’s like a little ministory arc, 15 strips. Great stuff.

Hunter and Painter -

Dang, I wish that strip were daily online!

I woke up and finished coloring next Saturday’s comic. – Then I chatted with Brandon and Stuart a bit on the Instant Messenger.

Brandon asked if I was going to collect the 2004 strips in some way. And Bob has been hounding me about this as well… and about 12 other people have asked seriously— so I tinkered with some things… and I figured out how to make it work. So I can announce.

There WILL BE a collected book of Yirmumah strips coming soon. Really, I have to do a cover, an inside front and inside back cover, and one intro page strip and the thing is DONE. That’s right. I layed out all the pages today for the interior. It will totally work.

Here’s the dillemma though. I want to do this bad boy in color. Not black and white or grayscale. Thats what people want, right? – I don’t know what the price will be. I’m going to try to make it as cheap as I can. Also, it will be a tad bigger than a normal sized comic book. Just because. And no, I wont be going through Diamond. Although other people tell me to. I don’t know– maybe?? It depends on my costs. I can’t have them making all the profits off our hard work that we put out for free to the good folks in internet land.

Ok… that’s all. Just wanted to blog a little about that. Now on to lettering comics…

No. I don’t think cancer is funny at all. I got an e-mail today from an angry reader– well, not sure if he was really angry, but he wasnt happy. Here it is. But I will keep him anonymous.

“DJ,

I love your comics and read regularly. I was a little taken aback to see you’re joking about cancer now. And when I browsed your archive, I also noticed the Deniro cancer joke as well.

Mr. Anonymous.”

_______________

Ok. Time out here!!! Time out!!! Believe me… There are several times in the course of writing that I stop myself, or when Bob and I are writing together, and something is just too dark and funny, and I scrap it. Bob is up for ANYTHING usually, and I stop myself. I’m not mocking people with illnesses. In a way, I’d like to think I’m mocking the illnesses themselves sometimes. Or… I dont know.. it’s ok to smile. You know? If you can’t laugh at yourself, I don’t know, it got the best of you I guess.

Yirmumah is NOT for everyone. In fact, I cringe sometimes when my kids run in and they read a strip with foul language and I scramble to get them away from the Yirm-Computer. Or if I’m around some, well, people I know would hate my stuff, I’m always sure to NOT give them the web address.—- Anyway, I just want everyone to know– YEP, I’m human. And I know people have cancer and other diseases and they’re suffering. I’m not making fun of them. It’s not my intention to hurt anyone’s feelings with my work…. well, unless they REALLY diserve it, and EVEN THEN I usually withold attacks on people. If I have to start an apology list or people I may have offended with my work, I’d be here for a LONNNNG time. And as for “sinking my ship” , I dont think its a problem at all. If everyone stops reading because of one crude joke– shit! what can we do??

We’re fucked up bastards. That is for sure. But we do have hearts.

With all that said…. Tune in again tomorrow for more strips featuring buckets loads of cancer references!

If loving Yirmumah is wrong.. then I don’t want to be right.

From Websnark: “This is wrong on so *many* levels.”

Maybe we’ll make his daily trawl this year. Glad people are liking these. There is so much more to come.

Hope everyone is enjoying the strip. I don’t condone faking that you have cancer. Bad mojo.

But BOB is all about the bad mojo, you bad mamajammas!

Big shout out to Bob too. He’s written some great stuff that will be coming up. And he always adds a nice punch to the strips. Sometimes he’s way too corny, but I love working with the guy.

And I didn’t mention how old baby 2k4 went out this year. Got a good amount of e-mail from folks who enjoyed the weekend strip. I don’t know what else to say but THANKS! It’s good to hear from folks that are reading. Traffic has really spiked around here.

Alright, so I’ve used up all my blog time for today. I gotta make dinner, and then get cranking on new strips for your consumption.

That’s all for now.

I just kicked bob’s ass repeatedly in Xbox football. It’s an old 2k3 edition, but it’s pretty fun none the less. Fun top make him SUFFER!!!

BOOYAH!

You know, I’ve taught him how to log in here, but he’s an idiot and can’t seem to blog right. Someday he’ll figure it all out.

Ok. So I’m pretty much done commenting on idiots, or petty debates about comics, especially the one about the syndicated newspaper artists belittling online comics. It really boils down to the people being nitwits. And afraid. They don’t show their fear by running or yelling, or hiding and crying. They show their fear by sniping and poking, and slyly elluding. Saying things like “…at least his comics aren’t made with cutsie strictly to merchandise.” – which is just poking at Scott Kurtz again. They chided him as being nothing more than a T-shirt salesman, and they wont let this go— Thats why the “merchandising” thing comes up. In fact, anytime you hear it in an argument pertaining to webcomics, have no doubt the webbie vs printy debate spawned it. It means these people want to see people like Scott Kurtz fail.

Anyway. It’s stupid to me. Of course I’ll still TALK. I’ll let my opinions flow freely. I was talking to a really prominant and popular blogger, and he said there was no point in even blogging about these “kevetching old dinosaurs.” That point summed it up for me. The penny-arcade guys of course summed it all up really nicely.

I’m in a mood. Actually several different moods. I went off on a friend who sent out a Press Release saying all profits from his comic would go to Tsunami relief. It seemed disingenius to me, because, well, most indy comics just don’t clear a profit at all. Especially when you pay people to write and draw it, and pay printing, etc.. you never recoup your costs. I shouldnt have busted his balls so hard, and I deleted my posts out. It was late, but I still mean what I said. I wont even say WHO it is now. But he knows. I dont think it was his intention to make PR for his comic off the Tsunami disaster, but I read it that way. And I’m his friend . Well, maybe not anymore since I brought out the ball busting broom.

The system is so broken, that indy creators do things out of desperation to try to boost their Diamond sales numbers just so they can stay “out there.” – They scramble to get bigger names to do their covers… bigger names to put ON a cover. One time, a Big name guy was in a collection, and he was late on his art… he fucking scribbled this mess of an entry… and the publisher was stumped. – Who came to save the day? The real talent. An underground guy, swooped in and made that entry look pretty with grayscales and some nice shading, etc… but everyone who saw the original.. UGH.

Im sick of these sort of things. Its not the creators faults at all. They scramble. They need to make those numbers to stay alive in the game. Hurry, put that hot guys name on the cover and you win!——- But do you? Whoa! Big global disaster, how can this benefit my public image? Quick! Send a press release!– –

Who forces us to play these games? Business is just NOT pretty at all. It’s motherfucking ugly as hell. Ugly and drooling. Right now, I know SEVERAL independent comic folks… there is an air of bullshit about all of it. We all fudge or stretch the truth to make our names look better, our products more buzz, etc. I’m guilty of it too. But I quit that game. It wasn’t until I totally quit it, that I saw it all around me. I saw the public face of things, but then would hear the down story behind the scenes. I know those feelings. No one wants to fail at something they try. But it’s never ever a failure if you keep going– but

There is another way. I can’t wait for the day when people don’t have to play in some structure like this.

Fucking comic books.

So I’m up inking strips. Drinking a Guinness or 3, and eating chex mix.

I’m not just inking any strip. I’m inking something that’s been a long time coming– something that’s been asked for many times, but I just couldnt do it. Now I’m doing it. And while it might not seem like a big deal to other people, it is a huge commitment– and could change the Yirmumah mythos forever.

It’s ok though. It’s a good thing. Tune in…hmm.. lets see, next Thursday to see what it is. No one will probably even remember me mentioning this.

Back to the bar.

Yirmumah will be a featured comic in the Sonic Slang Comics Section - Sonic Slang is a cool site primarily focused on music reviews, etc. Good stuff there. Check it out!

Yirmumah may be running on a few select sites this year remotely, and then linking back to the main HQ here. Actually, it would be nice to have a feed that would update automatically, but I can’t figure it out. I forgot how to set that sort of thing up. Hurm.

Anyway, I’ll most likely have a list of where Yirmumah can be seen, or at least announce it here in the blog.

Me go back to drawy now.

Here’s a link to the latest Yir-Caricatures… it’s for the band Tone Def All Stars. Check out their website at http://tonedefallstars.com

I asked them if they’re interested in doing the official Yirmumah theme song, sung to the tune of Led Zepplin’s immigrant song. That would be sweet. These guys are pretty darn good.

Woke up this morning to read about Garfield being dropped by LA Times.

I must say, I have mixed feelings about that. For one, it’s ONE stinking paper. Garfield isn’t going anywhere. Another side of me is cheering that a large paper actually stood up and removed the crap. One down, like 15 or so more to go–

But the other side of me loves Garfield, somewhere, deep down, the 8 year old in me LOVES GARFIELD. — But look at what it has become?

I wonder though, how Jim Davis feels? Is he bothered at all, or is he out counting money? Or both? Stuart points out that it’s ironic that it happened on a Monday.

Back to drawing my crude, juvenile, online webcomics.

I’ve been thinking about a sort of fanclub for Yirmumah or the work we’re doing. Actually, I’ve had people ask for awhile, so I thought I’d put it out public and get feedback. Part of me asks, why does such a thing even need to exist?? The only reason I can even think of doing such a thing for me is to better serve the readers and fans.

I was wondering what other people might like in a club of the sort?– A decoder ring? Membership card? – You tell me.

Actually, I’ll say a little more. The plan I’ve devised hasnt to my knowledge EVER been done for a comic, especially online. It might be the first comic in history to do it. How’s that?? Also, this has nothing to do with locking up the archives or some subscriber only thing like the Norm has done. Think backward. Way backward. Anyway, when I get my scheduled strips done, Im going to look long and hard at a special fan section, a “CLUB YIRMUMAH” if you will. Here are some things that may be included in such a thing.

#1 The big top secret thing which I cant speak of yet. Because once I do it, others will follow. Trust me. It’s good.

#2 membership card or something goofy like that.

#3 Monthly giveaways. Things like art– maybe a random member gets a free caricature.

#4 Depending on the amount of memberships, a yearly Xmas gift of some sort?

#5 Quarterly newsletter?

#6 free entry into Bob’s Dead Pool, wherein, you could actually win friggin money or something. I don’t know, it’s bob’s thing.

Lastly– it would be dirt cheap. Just like everything else that says Yirmumah. All those things listed after #1 are just thrown in ideas. #1 is the big deal for fans. Like I said, I’ll say more when I actually plan this thing out.

So– let me know what you’d like. Here are the limits. The strip must reman free to the public. No locking up my archive or putting some lame ass banner across my strip everyday. No tampering with the work. Its here everyday for people, regardless if they are Club Yirmumah members or not.

THoughts?

I just realized by checking my site stats today that I’m at the level of readership I had with Gravity online. That’s pretty neat. It seems to only be growing and growing by the day here. Yesterday, 1005 unique people logged in to the site to read. Looks like a good many folks are going right to the archives, the pageviews are through the roof. And there a good many people just coming for their own bookmarks or just typing yirmumah.net in themselves without a referring link.

Anyways, I just want to say thanks. Thats very cool to know someone is reading— even if some of them think I totally suck.

Here’s the latest entry from Hugh at Gaping Void. Thanks for posting this, Hugh. Every cartoonist should read it and think about it.

gapingvoid: edward gorey

It’s past 1pm already, and I’m cursing myself. I got the kids off to school this morning, and then went back to bed with my wife and slept until 11-ish. Then groggily walked around my house, doing laundry, making coffee, feeding my dog—– my wife left and I won’t see her until 1-am again. –

On the bright side of things. Besides dealing with my 3 year old’s commandments, It’s time to draw comics! Weee!

It’s been my experience in life so far, that there is usually someone waiting around to try to rain on your parade, or pee in your cheerios. Those types of things use to really anger me when I saw them happen, but now I pay no real mind to them.

Kinda related, but an off point… there are people who scoff at the idea that anything online is pretty much pointless and just vanity publishing, etc… They believe maybe that only because they are in newspapers, or won some fancy awards, or have a nationwide book distribution, that it validates their work in some way MORE than things that are just put online for anyone to see. — I think it scares them. There is definitly an element of fear. Over on gapingvoid, Hugh McLeod has made a point over and over again that you have a serious problem when markets start getting smarter. You need smarter conversations. Instead, most of the time, you get a bunch of stuffy shirts telling you the world is flat. And they can’t wait for ANY opportunity to arise to bring up their pretty much obsolete points.

I find it amusing now. Watching some people squirm. It has nothing to do with me or my work at all– I just like observing people’s reactions to something they think might threaten them or their livelihoods in some manner.

Oh! Funny example of something similar that just happened TODAY! – So there was that column about Comixpress on Newsarma. Great Print on Demand comic printer and place you can sell your comics. Who should chime in there?? A guy from Cold Cut Distribution– Saying pretty much, POD is great if you’re SMALL, but if you want to be in shops, you have to use a distributor and uhm, well, you have to buy in bigger numbers to accomadate yourself a profit.———— This is a moot point now. I mean, 90% of the independent books in there don’t even sell over a 1000 copies! AHK! – But I can sit on my buttocks have my minicomic available 24/7/365, printed, sold and delivered without me lifting a finger! — And there is no “benchmark” or monthly pre-order form blah blah blah— no complex number to have people memorize— you want it, its sent to you.

With the level of quality I’ve seen, I would question why any independent creator would really want to use the old broken systems at all. Well, most likely because the new ways aren’t proven yet. No one has some set road map on how to do things at all, especially when it comes to new comics over the internet.

It’s true what they say. #1 The best things in life are free. – But then again,#2 there is no such thing as a free lunch. It’s gotta be someone’s dime… right??? —- Maybe the next step is, sure the best thing in life are free, but the even better things are like a buck extra.

What the hell am i talking about anyway? BLAH!, I have no idea. Its way too late, and I have to be backup way too early.

Sometimes it feels good to be mentioned. I was mentioned today on Newsarama, primarily because of my loud mouth and bragging about Comixpress…

Anyways.. sometimes I feel like an ass. It’s good to know that my incessant blabbering about Comixpress actually is worth it. It’s a good product, great service… good people. I hear it could be a LITTLE faster, but hell, we’re talking about pretty much a one man operation. Waiting 2-3 weeks to get bulk packs of your books is pretty friggin impressive. For readers, like buying your product once it’s in the system there, I hear the books are shipped out really fast.

How cool is that? It’s definitly the highlight thing of 2004 for me. Just that it even exists is great for indy comics. So, I blabber once again…. ladies and germs… COMIXPRESS.

On a related Yirmumah note– there’s a Drew Price on the back of most of those books on the Comixpress ad.

Comic book legend/master and prolific mind, Will Eisner passed away today. He was 86 years old. http://willeisner.com/

Not really any words to describe the feeling. Like something you loved was snatched away suddenly. But really, I never knew him. But his work remains for me. It inspires and challenges me on a regular basis.

When I was a know-nothing punk, my buddy Jim Rugg brought up the name to me– I only knew the name because of the awards named after him– but Jim lent me his copy of “Comics and Sequential Art” and even though I had seen it before, this time it sunk in how much this guy meant to comics as an artform. Taking it ALL to the next level.

I’ve often talked about, what these old timers would have done with the internet and webcomics if they would have had the luxuries we have here. Look at the Spirit section in the paper! Every damn week, there was a full color 7-8 page story by Will Eisner in there! To this day, no one is turning out that type of quantity and quality. That really drives me. Sure, he had a small staff helping with chores on that– but there were many weeks where Will Eisner himself would draw 3 installements of the strip. 21 pages in a week!—-

Anyway, I could go on and on about the man and his work. All of those guys are my heroes. If there is an afterlife, damn, there will be some KICK ASS comics being made there.

Yuck… the blog looks dirty without some nice pictures. So I devised this:

Can anyone guess who the new Baby New Year will be??

I just finished up next Saturday’s strip. It’s a doozy! Clocking in at like, 13 panels or so. Fans of last year’s “Yir-Resolutions” will love this one.— See? Something to look forward to!

I’ll most likely be up until 1 am or so– I can’t decided if I should just unwind and veg out, or just keep on working.

I hope you’re all happy. As I toil away with my digital crayons.

I’m doing this all for YOU.

That, and my incesant need to produce many many comics.

Did I spell incesant right? I don’t think so. But it doesnt matter… I return to my digital crayons now.

Today begins the first official Yirmumah Daily. The strip will run Mon-Fri in black and white strip style, then on the weekend you get a big color comic like you’ve all been enjoying the past couple months. The weekend edition will also run at www.pvcomics.com as well.

For now, go enjoy the new Yirmumah Daily!

Why the move? Well, because it’s what I want to do. Deal with it, sister!

In the coming weeks, I have another announcement, something cool for regular readers or fans of the strip. I just have to get my ducks in a row on it, then I’ll tell you all about it.

Be sure to tune into http://yirmumah.net for the newest installment of the Yirmumah strip, and a big surprise. Once you know what it is, spread the word and tell your friends.

Back to work for me. Got a lot of work to do here.

Sometimes when I call people names, I don’t mean it. I recently called Joey Manley a Twat. I kinda met it after I read what I read– I was just over reacting. He did have the balls to come to the forums where I called him that, and admit that he was being twatlike though. So I can respect that. Look, I’ll even add his blog to my link list, because I do check it every day in my link list. He’s no Scott McCloud though… thank god.

To be completely honest, I don’t really care what anyone thinks. And everyone is entitled to their opinion. And sometimes I misread things, because I’m human. Some things get under my skin very temporarily, but what I’m really focused on now is my own work. For a minute there I was kinda focused on webcomics as a medium as a whole, blah blah blah blah blah….. but I came to the conclussion that I’m a doer, not a talker. I do much better when I’m simply producing than giving out my ideas for how I think some things should work. Or even yelling about how I feel some creators online aren’t paid fairly. – Hell, the truth is, not many cartoonists are paid at all! But who’s fault is that? Maybe they should hussle a little more… I don’t know, and frankly, I’m not concerned with it.

I’m content on forgetting about other people’s projects and making my own work to the best of my ability. If I do something right along the way, and people want to praise it, link it, admire it, or even hate me…. so be it.

I am a very flawed human being. But I’m trying to live and do the best with what I got. So I’m glad people are enjoying the comics. There’s plenty more a’ comin.