Zoology Merchandise is Here! Nope, I didn't forget!

Okay, so I managed to put together a little Zoology store. Sorry, nothing fancy like plushies or anything yet...so far it's just shirts, hoodies and the like. I'll try to get other stuff done eventually! Right now there's 5 designs. In the next day or so I'm also going to put up colour versions of the Baker and Shandy w/Logo designs and the Angsty design. I tried to make everything as cheap as possible so a shirt won't put you in the poorhouse.

If there's a certain design/shirt style combination you don't see, just ask me via email or in the comments here and I'll make something up for you. You might even be able to convince me to draw you a custom shirt design if you want (although it will cost you more than a standard shirt).

The Zoology Giftshop!

Click Here to check out what products I can slap Zoology designs on. If you have any requests, just ask!

And hey, if you buy something send me feedback telling me what you though of your purchase once you get it. I'd love to get a picture of your modelling your shirt if you're the brave type.

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.

Apologies and Bonus Ramblings!

Sorry Wednesday's comic was a bit late...there was a bit of an ink related disaster and a couple panels had to be redrawn. My most humble apologies!

So anyways, as you may notice I'm kicking off a month-long Halloween themed storyline. I've resisted doing anything like this before because quite frankly I think Halloween has become overblown in recent years. Yeah sure, I loved hauling 30 pounds of candy home in a sack when I was a kid, but even then I was under no false impression that Halloween was an important holiday...it was the day where I put on a mask and begged strangers for candy, nothing worth making a huge deal of. Apparently the opinion on Halloween has changed amongst a good slice of society because the amount of Halloween junk they try to push on you these days is rivaled only by Christmas it seems. Talk of Halloween starts almost as soon as October begins (or even earlier) and of course the "Lol...tradition is uncool man" crowd the proliferates on the Internet love it precisely because it's so meaningless and are in the process of beating it to death like they have pirates, zombies, pictures of cats or whatever thing we're supposed to be enjoying ironically at the moment.

And uh...now I guess I'm on the Halloween bandwagon too. Seriously though, I think it's going to be a really good story, so I thought I'd stop being curmudgeon about the Halloween thing and just go for it.

Oh, and the story also marks the return of lil' Baker! I grew up in an era where those in charge of making cartoons were so creatively bankrupt that the only idea they had for new shows was to take an established cast of characters and make them kids or babies...and thus Saturday mornings were packed with shows like "A Pup Named Scooby Doo", "Muppet Babies" and "Tiny Toons". So to me it just seems natural...if you create a cartoon character you have to someday do a kid/baby version of them. There's simply no way around it. While we're on the subject, how adorable would baby Shandy be? Very adorable I think...I need to do a baby Shandy storyline.

Anyways, that's enough rambling for one day. I wouldn't want to spoil you.

"I wonder what kind of sheep she is?" "I wonder what kind of monkey he is?"

I'm about to share with you a deep dark secret never before revealed on this site. Zoology isn't the first comic I created...yes, earlier in life I had a torrid affair with another comic strip. Me and Zoology have an understanding about this.

Here it is.

(Note: Don't bother with the archive dropdown, it no longer works for some reason...just use the next/previous buttons).

"Of Monkeys and Mutton" was the precursor to Zoology...Zoology Beta if you will. Unlike Zoology that has a very loose format, following a number of different characters or groups of characters, Of Monkeys and Mutton followed Baker and Shandy only.

Of Monkeys and Mutton also had a really cheesy title...I still cringe to write it. There's a reason why I went with the ultra-simple "Zoology" for my follow up attempt at a comic strip.

I thought going for a very restrictive gimmick/concept for the strip would really get my creative juices flowing and masterful sequential art would be flowing from my pen like nobody's business as a result. Didn't really work out that way. It was too restrictive, and as you can see within about a dozen strips I was already introducing new characters, thus straying outside the original concept.

Still, out of this failed attempt that didn't even make it 20 strips, blossomed a much better one that's gone nearly 400. Shandy and Baker arguably remain the heart of Zoology and this is where they started (they certainly look different these days though...particularly Shandy. She must be hitting the gym, because she looked pretty stickish back in the day, didn't she?).

Character Profile: Shandy!

Name: Shandy
Species: Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta)
Astrological Sign: Aries
Favorite Foods: Nachos, cheese, nachos and cheese or cheese and nachos.

Baker’s friend from the other side of the wall. She doesn’t get along with the other monkeys in her cage particularly well, so hangs out and talks to Baker instead. Shandy’s feelings for him don’t seem to be as strong as his for her…but despite her sometimes cold treatment of Baker, she will occasionally let slip something that reveals that she cares more about him than she lets on. Shandy may sometimes seem to have a silly, frivolous personality, but she’s actually quite smart, tough and stubborn when she wants to be. Her self esteem can be kind of low sometimes and in fact she wishes she was one of the human's who pass her cage and thus tries to dress, eat and act like them. She also happens to be a dancin' machine and when nobody's around to hear she likes to sing.

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