Peach the Destroyer: Issue 018

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Hello, my faithful Destroyer fans! Not much to say about this week's comic…I considered putting a filler comic up (due to my schedule this week being slightly wonky), but decided against it when I realized it would take the same amount of effort either way.

Anyway, today's entry in my Ten Favorite Webcomics is a little bit…off the wall, I guess. As with most webcomics I follow, I can't remember how I found Jax's Across the Multiverse (I think the time vortex in one of the earlier comics helped endear it to me…plus someone in the comments name-dropped Doctor Who), but I'm always glad that I found another comic to enjoy. Like a lot of comics on my little list, it felt very…light and, while not as gag-based as some of the entries in my list, it still managed to grow into a surprisingly serious story. Jax still has a lot of the plot details closet to his chest and I can't wait to see where the story goes from here.

Well, that's all for this week, children. Come back next week for more crazy Peach the Destroyer action!

Peach the Destroyer: Issue 017

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I'm sorry that the comic's kinda...short this week, but...man, I tried writing around this moment or including a smaller version in a regular comic, but I really wanted this to be a big comedy moment and devoting an entire comic to it was the only way to do it.

One thing about Peach the Destroyer that I always strive for is rotating the art style with every arc. This arc I'm trying to bring a touch of Mike Mignola to the table, with a bit of Miki Aihara manga influence for the Photoshopped-up backgrounds (for the record, I painstakingly followed a very nice Photoshop tutorial to get the rock texture for the tunnel, but I think it came out looking like a picture of crumpled-up paper in some panels). I bring this up because every arc gives me a chance to re-design and re-create the characters. In particular, the return of Mittens brings a new take on the character that comes off looking like the director Guillermo del Toro. Why do I bring this up? No reason, I just think it's funny.

Before we get to my weekly installment of my Ten Favorite Webcomics, I'd like to shamelessly namedrop my new obsession...Spotify (that link is to a site to request an invite). Spotify is the reason I never signed up for things like Pandora, Last.fm, etc. It's a great program for streaming music and, from what I've read, it offers the largest catalog available.

For this week's entry in my Ten Favorite Webcomics, I'm going to highlight one I just started reading this past weekend, Doctor Cat. Yes, it's the second doctor-themed webcomic I've recommended, and the second cat-related webcomic I've recommended...but this one's completely different! It's a cat! That's a doctor! And it's freaking adorable because Dr. Cat says stuff like "thank mew" and acts all precious and cat-like! So, clearly, if you're already here, odds are you fit the profile to check out Doctor Cat while you're at it.

Well, faithful reader, that wraps things up for another week in the Destroyer business. Tune in next week for more wacky feline action!

Peach the Destroyer: Issue 016

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This was very nearly the second issue of Peach the Destroyer to feature color...I was going to give Peach those creepy green glowing eyes cats get in the dark, but I couldn't get the right color and...frankly, she kept looking evil. And you just can't do that to your hero...especially not when you're less than 20 comics in*. Also, my original script for the comic totally didn't have that cheesy arrow/tagline combo in panel 6, but I was worried the shadow wasn't playing good enough and we all know how I like to be subtle like a sledgehammer.

Moving on to this week's entry in my Ten Favorite Webcomics is one I've been wanting to include for a while...Jefbot! Seriously, this comic makes me nerd out like few others. This comic hit the ground running with stuff like the annual Christmas Bat (which totally sounds like something my family would've come up with), Jeff/Jefbot's feud with Wil Wheaton, and, as of late, a could-be girlfriend who runs the local arcade (I'm linking to the second comic in the arc where we first see her...if you want to start at the beginning of that arc, go back one).

Well, that's all for this week, kids. Hope you have a good week and I'll see you next time!

* - note: I'm totally sure someone could totally pull that off, but I just can't do it, man...

Peach the Destroyer: Issue 015

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Okay, first off, color? In MY Peach the Destroyer?! WHAT?! Okay, I needed a cheap crutch to show who was talking. Yes, this is my lovely wife's first appearance in Peach the Destroyer, albeit in audio form. Also, this conversation is more or less torn from my relationship and was one of the reasons I started Peach the Destroyer was to find an excuse to use that conversation.

Oh, and for everyone out there who's not familiar with the Nightman TV series (read: everyone), I present you with this:

Today's entry in my Ten Favorite Webcomics is El Goonish Shive. Dan Shive's long-running webcomic started as a simple gag comic and has evolved over the years to an awesome adventure comic dealing with high school, magic, an anime-style martial arts dojo, clones, and a main character who can transform into a squirrel (not necessarily in that order). Every morning I have somewhere around 20-30 comics lined up in my RSS feeds and El Goonish Shive is one of the ones I have to read as soon as I can to start my day. It's a fun slice of crazy that I'd highly recommend to anyone, especially if they liked last week's Dr. McNinja recommendation.

Peach the Destroyer: Issue 014

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...and with this UNBELIEVABLE CLIFFHANGER, Peach's Day off comes to a close. Not much to say about this week's issue. It's one of those ideas that's been floating in my head for weeks, so it's nice to finally get it out. Next week it's an ALL-NEW ADVENTURE! Anything could happen!

Moving on to my Ten Favorite Webcomics, this week it's Dr. McNinja. He's a doctor. Who's a ninja. I really shouldn't have to say anything else, you should already have clicked the link. Actually, truth be told, it took me a few tries to read through the archives...it's a lot of plot to absorb and it can get so surreal it makes what I do on Peach the Destroyer look completely sane and rational, but if you get past stuff like the good Doctor having a gorilla receptionist and a pet velociraptor (named Yoshi, naturally), you're in for one of the best rides in webcomics.

Peach the Destroyer: Issue 013

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Whoa! Six panels of non-stop action! Well...four panels of non-stop action and two panels of Peach being a little bit of a fangirl. But still, just look at how far we've come in 13 issues, gentle audience. Plus, hey, there are even some backgrounds! Will the evolution ever cease?!

Overall, I'm pretty proud of this one. Don't worry, we'll be seeing more of this mysterious new figure (who, yes, is very blatantly based on my favorite DC Comics character) in the future.

Moving on to this week's entry in my Ten Favorite Webcomics, I'm picking something a little more random today...Brawl in the Family. My wife found it via a tweet from ThinkGeek, she told me about it, and I've been hooked ever since. Yes, it's more than a little silly. Yes, it's nerdy as all get-out. But y'know what? It's darn good fun. Matthew's Brawl in the Family keeps things light, with great Nintendo-flavored comics starring the entire pantheon of Nintendo characters (yes, even some from NES games I never got to play when I was a kid...fortunately, he likes to explain things in his commentaries for people like me). At the time of this entry, the latest Brawl comic shows the unexpected consequences of Link smashing random pots for money in all of the Zelda games.

It's just awesome.

Peach the Destroyer: Issue 012

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Whoa! What's this?! A different layout? A new character?! WHAT COMIC IS THIS, ANYWAY?!

Oh, right. Still mine.

Okay, this was one of those slow burns of an idea that was rattling around in my head pretty much since the start of this story arc. See, back when I was initially sketching everyone out before I started the comic, Peach's backup in that storyline was going to consist of the well-meaning duo of Mittens and an unnamed cat with a bow and arrows. That archery-themed cat stayed in my mind, waiting for the right time. Then, as I was plotting Peach's Day Off, the idea of that archery cat swooping in to save the day with the "A NEW CHALLENGER HAS APPEARED!" caption box just would. Not. Leave. My. Head. So I had to draw it.

Yeah, we'll be seeing more of this new cat next week.

Up next, I'm still going through my Ten Favorite Webcomics (which, believe me, is a harder task than you'd think and that's without me bothering to form it into a countdown). This week, after a lot of hemming and hawing, I've settled on The Laugh Out Loud Cats.

Now, for the five of you on the internet who don't know what a LOLcat is, I'll just direct you here and ask you to come back in a few minutes.

All caught up? Well, as Adam "Apelad" Koford tells us, his great-grandfather Aloysius "Gorilla" Koford created the tales of the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats, which chronicles "the exploits of one Meowlin Q. Kitteh (a sort of cat hobo-raconteur) and his young hapless kitten friend, Pip." This comic is just a joy to read. It's cute, sweet, has an occasional anti-smoking message, and the large poster-sized comic for every hundredth comic is always a treat. Check it out, it's sure to make you laugh out loud (see what I did there? ...I'm shameless).

Peach the Destroyer: Issue 011

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Not much to say about the comic this week. I apologize for the massive dialogue dump, but things are slowly getting into place and there is a payoff coming (the payoff is better than off-panel fighting and Peach solving things by yelling the name of the comic, by the way).

On to exciting things, like my Ten Favorite Webcomics. This week, I'm highlighting Wayward Sons: Legends. No, not this...I'm talking about this.

First, some backstory: last summer, my wife and I went to San Diego Comic-Con. I literally have no idea where, why, or how, but somewhere on the show floor I got a promo copy of Wayward Sons. I read it on the flight home, looked it up online, and I was instantly hooked.

My painfully oversimplified explanation of the comic is imagine the Greek pantheon battling the Egyptian pantheon, except everyone's aliens. Who have superpowers. I'm probably killing my own fanbase by handing you a link to these guys. Once you see the fine, professionally-crafted beauty of their DAILY updates (who ever heard of such a thing?! Clearly not me...), you'll probably be reluctant to come back and see my silly cat doodles once a week.

Wayward Sons, for me, is the golden standard of webcomics. There's layer upon layer to the story, the artwork couldn't be better, and it's something I look forward to starting my day with.

As a (nerdy) aside, I'd like to say that Benny Powell and the crew at Red Giant Entertainment (the team responsible for Wayward Sons) are top-notch guys. When I first went to their site, the layout was different, and there was no RSS feed. I emailed them about this and within 24 hours, I had a reply assuring me upgrades were coming. Not only that, but months later, I got another email because someone saw my old email and wanted to make sure I knew that they DID have an RSS feed now. Great guys all around.

Well, that's all for now, kids. I'll see you next week!