New Profiles Galore!

I've been kind of slacking with the profiles...I had originally wanted to get all the major characters up quickly. So to make up for it, here's 3 at once!

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Name: Angsty
Species: Reef Octopus (Octopus Briarius)
Astrological Sign: Scorpio
Favorite TV Show: America's Funniest Home Videos

A somewhat self-loathing individual with nerdish leanings that has surprisingly found himself in his first relationship and isn’t quite sure how to deal with either the girl or the fact that he’s suddenly finding himself feeling, you know, happy. For a guy whose greatest joy used to be feeling sorry for himself it’s a bit of a dilemma. Angsty sometimes likes to project an air of snobbish intellectual superiority when he’s dealing with people, but in actuality he’s a rather naïve and sweet guy underneath.

Name: Laura
Species: Pacific Red Octopus (Octopus Reubescens)
Astrological Sign: Aquarius
Secret Shame: She's a reformed goth.

A girl who likes a challenge, Laura is intent on bringing out the good in Angsty and not letting him wallow in self-pity where he’s comfortable. She's had more dating experience than Angsty but it's hard to say how much more because she's not exactly a social butterfly herself. It may seem like she treats Angsty harshly sometimes, but she does it because she cares. Well, that and the fact that she seems to have some anger management issues. She also had the cutest hairdo you’re likely to ever see on an octopus.



Name: Rose
Species: It's another sheep!
Breed: German Pomeranian
Astrological Sign: Aries
Favorite Food: Grapes

Rose met Baker when he accidentally blinded himself temporarily by staring into the sun, although Baker never got to see her face-to-face before she was whisked away to another pen (he did see her on the cover for the 2007 zoo calendar though). Kind, warm and helpful, Rose made the decision on her own that she would nurse the disabled Baker back to health. Surprised by her unexpected attention and interest, Baker was wary of Rose at first, but she quickly grew on him. They have become pen pals since and Rose has made a number of attempts to escape her pen and meet up with Baker again.

I'll be posting more profiles in the future and you'll be able to access them all at This Link!

Happy Birthday to Me (and Sorry for the Lateness).

Sorry about Wednesday's comic being a bit late, but it was my birthday and it's kind of hard to say "opening presents and eating cake is going to have to wait...cartoon sheep need shading!".

In case you're wondering I'm 26, which means I'm now closer to 30 and 20...in other words I'm an old man. On the upside at least being a senior citizen now means I get a discount at the movies.

In birthday related news that ties in with the comic, I got me a Wacom tablet as a gift. I've been wanting one of these for a while, if only so I can say I have one. You can't be a webcomic artist these days and not have a Wacom tablet. It's nothing too fancy, just a medium-sized Bamboo Fun (I realize that sounds like a toy you'd give a preschooler, but the Bamboo tablets are actually a replacement/continuation/improvement of the Graphire line).

^ I realize the above paragraph will make absolutely no sense to most of you with the exception of a small handful of my readers who also draw comics. To put it simply I got me a new toy that lets me draw on the computer without a mouse.

I've been playing around with the tablet quite a bit (and shaded today's comic with it). Maybe I'll post some sketches I did with it tomorrow or something, but for now I have to go to bed. Us old folks can't be staying up all night.

Check Out Some More Non-Zoology Comedic Stylings Written by Yours Truly

I put my rapier sharp wit to use and wrote another article for Cracked that went up today. As before, it's more of a PG-13 than the usual G/PG goings-on around here, so beware (heh, I'm lookin' at you Shine!).

http://www.cracked.com/article_15669_10-most-insane-medical-practices-in-history.html

Here's my first article again if you missed it...

http://www.cracked.com/article_15628_5-creepiest-urban-legends-that-happen-be-true.html

If you have a Digg account then give 'em a Digg...I'd appreciate it!

Also I'm still looking for you reader's imput on possibility of Zoology merchanise! Leave a comment on that here...

http://zoologycomic.blogspot.com/2007/11/seeking-you-fine-readers-imput.html

*Phew*, that's a lot of linking. I think I have to go lay down.

Seeking you Fine Reader's Input!

So, these days the comic has been averaging about 3000 page views a day. While obviously nothing astounding compared to some other sites that definitely adds up when you think about it, plus Zoology has reached that level without me ever paying for advertising or even really aggressively promoting it. The popularity of the strip is based pretty much entirely of the quality of the comic (whatever that may be) and my various writings around the web that link back to it, which I'm kind of proud of. I've also been pleased with how this blog has gone...past attempts to do messageboards and the like have pretty much been a flop, but this is working out pretty well and I'm getting more and more people commenting as they notice it exists.

Anywho, to get to the point...maybe it's finally time to try out making some Zoology merchanise. Of course a lot of people set up stores for their comic before they have 5 strips up, but I've avoided it until now because, well, that's pretty freakin' lame. But maybe now it's finally time to start squeezing some cash out of this operation.

Seriously though, I'm under no false-illusion that I'm going to be able to grow fat off Zoology merchandise profits anytime soon...really I'm just floating the idea for you readers more than anything. Is this something any of you out there would actually be interested in? I don't want to put the effort into putting a store together and have nobody ever buy anything.

So basically a) are you interested in Zoology merchandise and b) if you are what would you want? What characters do ya want and what do ya what 'em slapped on? Thanks for your input!

Random Zoological Musings

Hmmm, been a while since I updated this thing.

Anyways, today's comic was the 400th Zoology strip! Woooooo! Party on down! Well actually, it's not much of a milestone...I'll make a bigger deal when the strip hits 500 strips.

I realized as I was drawing this strip that every year Zoology has been in existence I've written a strip about the first snowflake of the season falling...it's sort of become an unintentional tradition. What can I say? Living where I do the first snowflake is a big deal. Speaking of which, where do you fine readers imagine the zoo in Zoology is exists? I've never made it clear (although it's obviously somewhere with long snowy winters) so I've wondered where the readers imagine it exits.

Oh, and I like the Shandy drawing in this strip...don't you? Very cute, but where exactly did she plug in that hair dryer? A mystery for you.