Muskrat Ramblings
“Free Holiday Comic Book,” you say?…
posted by John

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I wanted to give you all a Christmas present! So here’s a free copy of Dork Tower #7: the Holiday Special! It even contains a free game inside, as well, “Dealer’s Room”!

HOW MUCH FREE CAN YOU STAND?

Just go to Drive Thru Comics, and from now until January 1, you can get the PDF for free! (You may even test out some of the free iPad (etc) comic book readers out there.

BUT WAIT – THERE’S MORE!

We’ve got to make room for new electrons in 2012, so from now until January 1, we’re having a 25% off sale on all Drive Thru Comics PDFs of:

Dork Tower

SnapDragons

This included the foreign translations up there! Learn Spanish with Dork Tower!

Next week, I’ll try and run through some of the things I hope to accomplish in 2012 – Dork Tower’s 15th anniversary. But until then, THANK YOU all so much for reading my stuff these last few years. I deeply, truly appreciate it!

And have yourself a Dorky Little Christmas!

John

–
Dork Tower * Out of the Box * Munchkin
Dr. Blink: Superhero Shrink * My Little Cthulhu
Also: Much Stuff I’m Probably Forgetting

http://www.dorktower.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/johnkovalic
Twitter: https://twitter.com/muskrat_john

Dork Storm Press
Box 45063
Madison, WI 53711

Muskrat Ramblings
Fifteen Years and One Sketch Later…
posted by John

So I’m working on some art for the 15th anniversary of Dork Tower next year. But right now, it’s athe 10th anniversary of Munchkin. So I thought I’d do up some promotional cards and postcards and the like.

Here’s the art: Dork Tower and Munchkin: two great tastes that taste great together.

Here’s what it will look like, as a postcard:

In both instances, click on the image to see a larger version of it.

I’m pleased with the piece. It’s far more dynamic than the original sketch I did for the anniversary.

Coincidentally, it shares some similarities with Today’s Three-Minute Warm-Up Sketch. These help me loosen up a little, before approaching more ’serious’ drawings. I’m only so-so about this one, but for a very quick piece, I suppose I shouldn’t expect too much. But I thought yesterday’s sketch was more successful. Anyhoo – Matt and Gilly, as Batman and the Huntress:

John

Muskrat Ramblings
A Blast from the Past
posted by JOHN

As Monica has me getting things ready for Dork Tower’s 15th anniversary year, next year, I’ve been stumbling across a ton of interesting stuff in the archives.

One things many folks may not realize is that my first web strips actually went online in late 1995/early 1996 (still trying to ascertain the exact date). I was quite aware, at the time, that only a very few people had been putting comics up on the web. Now, with thousands of web cartoonists out there, many doing just amazing work, it’s kind of nice to look back and take a bit of pride in knowing I was amongst a mere handful of others, at the time.

Then I stop it, because I start to feel old.

The earliest WILD LIFE comic strip (starring Carson the Muskrat, my precursor to DORK TOWER) I can find, at the moment, seems to be have gone online December 1996. But there’s a note on the page saying “It’s been about a month since I’ve updated these pages, but I’m back!” Which would make sense, as I think I was first posting Wild Life online sometime in 1995.

(Hilariously, the page also notes “Downloading the entire week can take a couple of minutes, depending on your modem speed.”)

I’m not sure of the month, but DORK TOWER first went online in 1997, soon after it debuted in the January 1997 issue of SHADIS magazine (which came out in 1996). But anyway, THIS is what the website looked like back then:

(CLICK HERE for a larger version of the 1997 DORK TOWER HOME PAGE).

And here are the earliest WILD LIFEs I’ve yet found:

(CLICK HERE or on the image for a larger version of the EARLIEST WILD LIFES ONLINE (so far)).

More to come, as I unearth the archives…and my eyes continue to bleed…

*****

NOTE: Dork Tower will only be running Tuesday and Thursday this week, gang. My apologies – but gearing up for San Diego Comic Con is taking up an enormous amount of time. I won’t have a booth, but I’ll be wandering around, with lots of meetings scheduled. I may Tweet some secret times and places where you can get a “THE LUGGAGE” Munchkin Discworld card from me, so follow me at @muskrat_john on Twitter, if such silliness interest you…

====== JOHN

Muskrat Ramblings
And now, a note from Monica
posted by MONICA

Hoi! Monica here. Not John. Monica. Hi. Pleased to meet you!

Over the past, few weeks there’s been a lot going on behind-the-scenes at Muskrat Central for one purpose and one purpose only…

…to offer you MORE Dork Tower.

Occasionally, you’re going to get some updates from people that aren’t John – LIKE ME, MONICA! – about what he’s up to or his work, because I’ve locked him in his studio he’s busy drawing at his table. So, without further adieu, I shed my cloak of invisibility to drop some hints about what’s coming up.

You might have seen John’s previous post about The Perky Summer Sale. If you haven’t picked up a digital copy of the earlier Dork Tower releases, We’ll be doing more stuff like this, and soon. John’s been working with the folks at DriveThruComics to get his back catalog online — just in time for the fifteen-year anniversary of Dork Tower.

Before we can start celebrating that, however, there’s another little milestone that’s just around the corner. Hard to believe, but this year is the ten-year anniversary of Munchkin!

***SPOILER ALERT*** In a couple of weeks, we’re going to announce a really fun Munchkin contest sponsored by Steve Jackson Games! ***END SPOILER ALERT***

Speaking of the Munchkin anniversary, Steve Jackson has posted a behind-the-scenes look into the changes Munchkin Czar Andrew Hackard has made over the past year. It’s a good read and talks about how the game has changed. Check out One Year of Color Munchkin.

Personally? I just want the Munchkin shot glass… For milk, of course!

We’ll keep you posted about the Munchkin happenings when we get a little closer to the last week of July.

That’s all I have for today. Excuse me while I– Hey, CARTOON BOY!… Who said you could be on Twitter? Did you finish the strip yet?

Yeah, I’m a slave driver. But this next strip’ll be sooooooo worth it.

Have a great day!

====== MONICA (Not John)

Muskrat Ramblings
The Matt Puppets
posted by John

So, I popped up to Convergence a couple of weeks ago, in part to take part in the annual madness that is IRON ARTIST, and in part to meet up with various members of Team Blink, as we get ever nearer to publishing more Dr. Blink comics.

Imagine my delight as I was confronted by my pal, the puppeteer, Gordon Smuder. Not just because Gordon’s a great guy, but because he had the first prototype for the Dork Tower Puppet Theater Matt puppet with him!

(Check out some of Gordon’s other puppetry works by clicking on through to Transylvania Television).

What’s that? You haven’t heard of Dork Tower Puppet Theater? Well, let’s leave that for another post. In the meantime, I’m astounded at how cool the Matt puppet is turning out. Eyeless though he currently is, and in a “vaguely wife-beather-ish” attire though he may be…

By the way, “The Matt Puppets” is an obscure 1980s musical joke. Those of you who know, will know.

Muskrat out,

Muskrat Ramblings
“REPEATS,” I repeat, are necessary evil. Let me REPEAT that…
posted by John

Argh! Argh! Nearly two months since I blogged about anything? Bloody hell.

OK. Life’s been busy. VERY busy. But I’m working hard to get things back under control.

Part of “Getting things back under control” means getting ahead on Dork Tower. Which I’m doing. Which is ALSO why there was a repeat (”classic”) strip on Wednesday and why there’s a repeat strip today, and why there will be repeat strips next week.

I try to run repeats only as a second-to-last resort. The LAST resort is, of course, putting nothing up, at all. But for the last few months, work has been so busy that I’ve been drawing Dork Towers virtually the night before they get posted. And sometimes writing them, then, as well. This is not a smart way of working.

So I’ve been building this backlog. And these repeats help, as well. Indeed, this is a nice series to repeat, as:

(a) I figure five-year-old strips are probably “new” to quite a few readers here, and…

(b) Sonia is a character I’ve wanted to reintroduce for a while now. So before I do any new strips with Sonia, running the old ones should bring everybody up to speed. And…

(c) It’s fascinating to me, seeing just how much my style has changed in five years.

There’s lots of new stuff happening in life, and big changes in how I approach my work, be it on the games, in the comics, or on other fronts. And there are several other fronts happening, right now. Good fronts.

Yet the other day, while working on this organizational front, I realized that come January 2012, Dork Tower will be fifteen years old.

FIFTEEN!

In other words, my little web strip will be old enough to start sneaking cigarettes, and Dad’s vodka.

How did that happen? I’m not entirely sure. But there are a few things going on that will (with luck) be completed long before the 15th anniversary of Dork Tower.

The most important one being, a renewed commitment from me, to the strip. Getting ahead of the game, working up new story lines, and tying up old plot threads. Once the comic books start coming out again, the timeline between what happens in the strip and what happens in the comic books should also tie together more consistently.

Another important change is a total redesign of the Dork Tower.com, Kovalic.com and Dr. Blink.com sites. A very, very past due redesign. Complete with ARCHIVES THAT DON’T SUCK. You know, ones that are fully indexed and tagged, with older material being as searchable as the new stuff. With dates that are consistent. With organization that makes sense. WITH BUTTONS THAT WORK.

So, yes…changes are coming. I’ll go into specifics soon. Probably next week. And I’ll introduce some of the folks who are helping to make the changes become a reality. It’ll be hard work, but hard work towards a goal you believe in is fun.

And I’m having fun. Exhausted, sleepless fun. Nervous fun. Uncertain, self-doubt-riddled fun. But fun, nevertheless. I’m excited.

ANYHOO, this was meant to be just a short note, to be expanded upon later. Next week, say. Once I get my act back in gear and keep everyone updated a bit (read: “a LOT”) better.

So, in brief: still alive. Work’s grand. Need to organize. Busy. Deadlines. Treading water. Yadda, yadda, yadda. But – AND THIS IS RATHER IMPORTANT – I’d like YOU to be involved, if you wish. If you have any suggestions as t other ways DorkTower.com could be improved, I’d love to hear them (”Learn how to draw muskrats, dummy” possibly unhelpful. “Get rid of those full-page ads before we can get to the cartoon” very helpful. I hate those, too).

I sure hope you like some of the stuff that’s gonna be coming down the pipeline.

Muskrat out,

PS.Since there are repeats this and next week, here’s a NEW strip I did for the Madison Mallards, whose season began last week, and in whose FINE 2011 program THIS VERY CARTOON MAY BE FOUND. This one. GO MALLARDS!

link rel=”image_src” href=”http://dorktower.com/images/global/Mallards2011.gif” />

Muskrat Ramblings
Army of Dorkness…welcome ALINA PEET
posted by John

Today’s Dork Tower? It’s not a “guest strip,” per se. It’s a teaser, perhaps. An amuse-bouche. It’s…it’s…

…hum. How to explain?

Because, honestly, this is important. But, um, the explanation is lengthy.

Yet worth it.

Sooooo worth it.

Seated comfortably? OK. Here we go.

As everybody here is more than aware, I have too much on my plate. FAR too much.

Hell, my plate is piled higher than most of those seen leaving the buffet line of Ponderosa.

A couple of months ago, I made a list of all the major projects I was involved with this year. These ranged from the My Little Cthulhu and Mythos Buddies lines at Dreamland Toyworks (which have become major hits in the vinyl toy world, and have taken on a life of their own), to the re-launch of the Dork Tower and Dr. Blink comic books (progressing well, but a TON of work), to my Munchkin contributions (huge amount of time needed on this – 3,000 cards and counting, so far), to my continued co-ownership of Out of the Box Games (Apples to Apples was only the beginning), to the Dork Tower web strip, to Dork Tower, Dr. Blink and gaming stuff going on in Hollywood (trust me – FAR less glamorous and FAR more of a time-suck than you could possibly imagine), to Kobolds Ate My Babies new hotness, various freelance games and illustrations (I have learned how to say “no” FAR more often, these days), to my paintings, to convention appearances, to my own game creations (”ROFL,” “Person to Person,” etc.) to…to…well, honestly, to SPENDING AS MUCH TIME AS I CAN WITH MY TWO-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER AND WIFE WHOM I ADORE!

Well, you get the idea.

Anyway, ever since the holidays, I’ve been meaning to get ahead of the game, but more and more, it feels like I’m treading water, at best. AT BEST!

And then you may have noticed, a bit of news hit Madison, Wisconsin. Just half a block from my studio, huge demonstrations raged. My concentration was – at best – spotty, and my mind was elsewhere. I kept up with the basic, important deadlines, but others were not given the attention they deserved.

And I do NOT enjoy doing anything other than my best work. And by “not enjoy,” I mean “hate.” Hate, hate, HATE. It eats me up inside.

Something had to give.

Essentially, it came down to this: which do I want to do MORE – Dork Tower COMIC BOOKS, or Dork Tower WEBSTRIPS. In my heart of hearts, of course, I wanted to do BOTH. But that’s simply not a possibility anymore. Not if I want to do my best work. Choose one, John. Just one.

In stepped Alina Peet, the brilliant Canadian cartoonist who’s the mind behind Weregeek.

I first met Alina at a convention in Montana a couple of years ago, and we hit it off like a house on fire. I think she’s talented and hilarious, and truly one of the brightest, hardest-working web cartoonists today.

Alina already ran a guest-week’s worth of strips on Dork Tower a year ago, and the reaction was great. So I asked her, a while ago, if she’d like to fill in on the Dork Tower web strips more frequently. She (foolish woman) appeared all too eager. And a few more series ran. A couple of which folks didn’t even notice were “guest strips.”

ANY-hoo, last Summer, Alina came through Madison on her ay to GenCon, and we got to hang out a bit. And we got to drink a bit more. And it was after several such drinks (doesn’t it always happen that way?) that the the GERM of an idea hit me: if I’ve got to give up something, why not just pass that something on to someone I admire? Someone who’d be not just a caretaker, but who could push the work forward?

I suppose I always knew Alina Peet was such a person. But damn if it didn’t take some Tullamore Dew to get me to thinking about something – I’m not kidding – I may otherwise have been to scared to even think about. Thinking…then talking about it. With Alina.

I asked Alina to take over the Dork Tower webcomic.

And (after some hemming and hawing, and, frankly, more than a few financial negotiations, and months and MONTHS of back and forths – but, for the sake of storytelling, let’s say “immediately”), she said “yes.” (Fortunately, we were BOTH more sober when the financial matters and co-ownership were being discussed.)

The scheming, then, started almost nine months ago. The planning’s been a LOT more complicated than ever I’d have imagined it to be, but it was all amicable. And, in the end, we can finally announce it:

As of Monday, April 4, Alina Peet will be the cartoonist and writer behind http://www.dorktower.com – the Dork Tower web strip.

It’s taken Alina MONTHS to draw the basic characters in what is essentially my “style” (or lack thereof): to the point where she can capture my characters as well as I can. But as you can see from today’s strip, she’s done it brilliantly.

I’ll still dabble in the web strips from time to time, of course, but these forays will be EXCEPTIONS, rather than the rules. I’ll be a guest-artist in my own creation. Let me make this clear: Dork Tower, as a series on the web, is, as of next Monday, Alina’s baby.

We’ll be talking often – more often even than we already do now, believe it or not – to keep storylines consistent between the comic books and the web strips. And, yes, given Alina’s incredibly important contribution to the Dork Tower universe (hey, it’s better than “Dorkverse” or “Kovalicverse”), she’ll become a minority co-owner of Dork Tower, as well as Dork Storm Press and Shetland Productions. She’ll also be a majority co-owner of anything NEW she creates for the IP (all of which I must approve of, beforehand – HEY! I’m still the head honcho in the land of Dork).

And, NO, her Dork Towers won’t be Werewolf-based, if today’s “transition” strip gives you pause. As I mentioned: today’s just a teaser. Expect Dork Towers full of classic Matt, Igor, Ken, Carson and Gilly, the Perky Goth. Classic situations, classic resolutions, and…HEY! Hey! Did he just say…?

YES! GILLY IS COMING BACK! AND SOON! Thank-you, Alina!

In the coming weeks, we’ll both be posting more about our basic agreement. But I have to say, no matter how hard it is to hand your baby over to someone else (and trust me, it is very, VERY hard), there’s NOBODY I’d rather hve doing this than Alina Peet.

Realizing you can’t do everything by yourself is hard. Realizing you have someone like Alina in your corner is utterly wonderful.

Do check out Alina’s prior work, Weregeek, if you can. In fact, I urge you to. She’s astounding, and I’m excited about what she’ll be bringing to Dork Tower. We’ve talked through many of her ideeas, already. And They. Are. ASTONISHINGLY FUNNY.

So, please, Army of Dorkness, join me in welcoming Alina Peet to the fold. Alina Peet. You know. The Dork Tower web cartoonist, starting Monday, April 4.

You know…three days from TODAY… APRIL FIRST.

AKA: April Fool’s Day.

Muskrat out,

Muskrat Ramblings
Twitter is my Co-Pilot
posted by John

I’m not entirely sure how it happened, but suddenly I find myself a month ahead on Dork Tower.

Well, OK, I’m partly sure. Much of it came in a series of Tweets last week that turned out to be fine comic-strip punchlines (no, not the ones about bacon and vodka – more’s the pity).

In part, I use my Facebook account and my Twitter stream as a testing-ground for material. If I throw off a line, and it plays well, there’s a decent chance it’ll make it into Dork Tower in punchline form. Or maybe a throwaway line will see life suddenly as a spiffy new t-shirt. The Internet’s become something of a virtual sketchbook, for me. And ya know what? The system works!

It’s also a direct line into Geek Though. When the news broke from Skywalker Ranch, I had to quickly – QUICKLY – cobble together a series of Star Wars 3D gags quickly, and bump back the strips I’d already done. With the advent of social networking, humor is more like a fish fillet than ever: if it’s not fresh, it starts to stink. The humor cycle on Twitter is maybe – MAYBE – 24 hours.

And ideas are not to be sat on. Somebody, somewhere, will Tweet what you thought was your polished gem, should you wait too long on it. Publish it too late, and you’ll get a couple hundred messages telling you that your “original” strip went viral last Thursday when Joe Pigfarmer from Iowa had the exact same line, but got it out there before you had a chance. Oh, and by the way, you’re lame, you suck, and you probably ripped it off him. Pigfarmer hater. Loser.

In the old days – you know, five years ago – you’d do a strip for a magazine or a newspaper, and it wouldn’t run for a month or more. You could plan for the future. You could relax. Sit back, Have a cuppa. Now, of course, you’re up against everyone on the planet with WiFi. This cartoon ran back in February, but it really is how I feel some mornings:

So I’m a month ahead. I’m not sure that all the cartoons this month are classics. But I like a lot of them. I think I hit the “one-in-three” ratio, and then some.

Being a four-weeks ahead certainly allows a bit of breathing room. If I go over the strips, and realize that the Dork Tower scheduled to run (saaaaaay) two weeks from this Friday isn’t the best thing I’ve ever done – indeed, doesn’t work at all – I have some time to try and come up with something better.

But on a day-to-day basis, it also means I don’t have to draw a cartoon every single Monday, Wednesday and Friday on deadline, and can just sit down and crank them out when the ideas hit.

It also means I’ve got nice large blocks of time to think about the big projects for the month: Munchkin Zombies needs to be off my drawing table by the first week of November. I have a screenplay to begin, and a television pitch to work up. And finish off two games I’m creating. And try and get “Ooze the Cook” artwork off my “to-do” list. And complete some paintings that were commissioned. And…

Of course, this is all in an ideal world. Unfortunately, the Internet isn’t always the final word on humor. Sometimes (saaaaay, two weeks from this Friday) a strip will go up run that just KILLED online. But in comic form, it falls flat. The timings off, it doesn’t translate, or, in the immortal words of the Smiths, “that joke isn’t funny anymore.”

And when a cartoon runs that isn’t as HI-larious as I thought it would be…or I realize I uploaded something that’s not my best work, well, that’s a gut-churningly sucky feeling. I just want to crawl under a rock.

And hide from the world.

And Tweet about it.

Twitter is my co-pilot.

I just wish it knew how it ink, as well…

Yer bestest pal forever,

====== John

Muskrat Ramblings
DORK TOWER: Now in Wrapping Paper and E-Comicbook formats!
posted by John

Just a couple of quick announcements before I go back to drawing Munchkins and (coincidentally) Zombies.

In my never-ending quest to confuse people, I seem never to have really promoted the fact that the first six DORK TOWER collections are now available in HANDY-DANDY ELECTRONIC FORMAT at Drive Thru Comics! Yes, those shiny electrons of mirth can be yours! Now! Just click on the spiffy image below!

Each volume is prices at $8.95, and the next three DORK TOWER collections (Dork Side of the Goon; Go, Dork! Go!; Dork Decade) along with SnapDragons Volume I, should be up, soon.

*******

I gave some not-so-subtle hints about Dork Tower Holiday Wrapping Paper, possibly soon, a week or two ago.

Well, I’ll not keep it secret from you any longer: THERE WILL BE DORK TOWER HOLIDAY WRAPPING PAPER! Soon! Like: this Holiday Season, soon!

Here is the sell-sheet, from Gaming Paper, the people who make amazing gaming paper.

Gaming Paper Dork Tower Wrapping Paper is another unique and exciting addition to
the growing Gaming Paper product line.

Nothing captures the spirit of the holidays better than a gift adorned with festive wrapping paper… nothing says “please don’t kill my character” to your DM better than a gift wrapped in Dork Tower Wrapping Paper! Matt, Igor, Ken, Carson the Muskrat, and Gilly the Perky Goth cover 30 square feet (30” x 12’) of Gaming Paper’s signature hobby wrapping paper in original art drawn by the man himself, John Kovalic! It’s the perfect wrapping paper for
every gamer on your gift-giving list this holiday season.

If you need a larger image of the sell-sheet, just click on the above picture. OR, click here for a PDF. These should have all the info you need to help your friendly local gaming store order it from Alliance Distribution or ACD Distribution.

Yer bestest pal forever,

====== John