NEWS:

01.31.05 - Terrence Marks:

It's been a busy week - that's all I'm saying about it right now. Right now, we're watching Yakitate!! Japan, which is extremely cool. And Isabel redesigned the site, as I'm sure you noticed. I really like the new look. As you know, I'm trying to read through a new comic each week. Most of the comics I read are by folks who've been around for a while; it's hard to read a new 500-1000 strip comic each week. That's why I'm a week behind. But I tell you this - any cartoonist who e-mails me gets put at the top of my to-read list; if you read the Spare Parts news, I'll read your comic. I'm serious; don't be afraid to e-mail me. This week's comic is Schlock Mercenary. It's military humor in a sci-fi setting. The science and the humor are both strong. Originally, I didn't want to read the comic because of Schlock. Let's face it, he isn't pretty. I'm sure Mr. Tayler gets that a lot. I read a month or two and was hooked. I realized I was reading it because of Schlock. Not because he's the main character or the most interesting. Kevyn, Elf, Captain Tagon, Ennesby, Admiral Branwen...there are characters who are more interesting than Schlock. He's the mascot. Unlike a lot of other mascots, he's not cute, or attractive, or ironic, or anything. Because the series isn't concerned with being hip or cute or marketable. It's got science and sometime science isn't pretty. You're saying "So I should read this comic because it has science in it?". No; you should read it because it explores some really interesting concepts; science is just a tool used to explore them. And having an amorphous blob in mascot/title role signifies that the comic is interested in creative applications of science.

02.02.05 - Terrence Marks:

I've been mentioning secret projects for a while now. NamirDeiter.net is that project. It's a members-only site; if you donate more than $10, you get a membership. It has a commentary section, where you can read all three of our strips - with exclusive commentary - on one page. We've got commentary on all the comics from February 1st onwards (which will be considerably more impressive in a few weeks time). It has a bonus comic each week. And we're going to be adding more stuff to it. I've got a whole bunch more programming to do for it. I may not be able to read a new comic this week; there are a few comics I'm going through but I don't think I'll be able to finish them just yet. I'll try to do one next week and two the week after that. But basically, due to the enthusiasm that everybody is showing for NamirDeiter.net, I'm adding some content and automating some things.