3-16-08: "All the Newshounds Fit to Print" has been nominated for "Best Other Literary Work" and "Newshounds II" has been nominated as "Best Comic Strip" in the Ursa Major Awards. Make a Thomas happy and place your vote for Newshounds! 2-29-08: Happy Leap Year Day. For those of you discovering Newshounds through the newsbox, here is some background to explain today's strip. 2-16-08: I've probably never begged and pleaded for an award before, but please nominate "All the Newshounds Fit to Print" for Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work in the Ursa Major awards. As I consider it the "definitive" Newshounds work, this would mean a lot to me. Find out how you can help an old Thomas out. 1-18-08: Just a note for everyone that I will be at Further Confusion in San Jose, California, from January 25 through 27. You can find me at the Ozy and Millie table. Hope to see you there! 1-15-08: You may have noticed a few changes to the site. I apologize for that, but the changes have become necessary. The only problem is I have about 200+ individual pages to update, and I've just recently had to take on a second job, so I don't have much time to work these pages over. I'm doing what I can in the interim; the archive pages all work, and the intro and recap sections work as well. Some of the NH1 sections are online too, but a lot of the links have been taken off until the pages can be fixed. So I apologize for this and appreciate your patience. I'll keep fixing what I can in the limited time I have, and the comic will still be updating regularly! 1-5-08: Happy New Year! I've contributed a guest comic for Dandy and Company! Go take a look-see! 12-20-07: Spread some Christmas cheer. Go visit Breakpoint City and learn how to make a cheery Zaltor-endorsed snow globe. 11-16-07: Newshounds has an RSS feed, if you want it. 11-12-07: Tim Tylor, Newshounds supporter, Manifestations artist, and all around swell-guy, offers a bit of art related to a certain rat and a certain teenage wizard. 11-1-07: Ten years ago today Newshounds began its run as a regular webcomic. I'm glad I'm still here. 10-8-07: I've spent the last two days moving my stuff from Santa Clara to Seattle, and as a result, I needed a couple of guest strips for the week. D. C. Simpson has thus kindly stepped into the breach. I came up with the general idea and D.C.S. ran with it well, so enjoy this tiny peek into Stormy and Connor's life! 8-21-07: If you're in the Seattle area I will be at RainFurrest at D. C. Simpson's table this weekend, August 25 and 26. Stop on by, please-please-please! 8-17-07: I've just done a guest comic for Exterminatus Now, a great strip that I discovered well over a year ago. Go check it out! (Warning: the strip itself has some adult jokes and language, for those who mind such things.) 7-16-07: The Quasi-FAQ has been updated. There is also an archive page for Newshounds II now. 7-3-07: Thanks to the keen eyes of Tim Tylor, some bugs have been fixed. Also, just a reminder: Newshounds is running Monday and Friday. 7-2-07: Welcome to Newshounds II! And as you can see, the site has gotten a makeover, though there are likely to be some bugs left over. My HTML skills are still, as they say, "nascent." If you notice any such bugs, post them in the forum or use the "Contact" field above. Also, we have a very special deal for you. While supplies last, you can receive all six Plan Nine books (including the first self-published one) for $70. This includes shipping via Priority Mail. If you'd like the books sent Media Mail, the price is $65. This is about seven years' worth of Newshounds, with all sorts of bonus material included. I'm thoroughly encouraging you to buy now, because I'm in a serious financial bind, and your help would mean the world to me. To order, just click on the PayPal link above, and I'll forward the order to Kerry O'Day, who has kindly agreed to send the books out for me. Many heartfelt thanks to those of you who take advantage of this great deal. Other current notes: The commentary is gone, so if there were any words of wit you wanted to save from me, contact me above and I can send you a gif. "Kid Gloves" has its own archive here. I'll be making a special link for it soon. Again, any site problems you find, feel free to let me know. Enjoy the show! 6-4-07: Yep, the sequel officially begins July 2, 2007. In the meantime, I'm also taking some classes in various subjects and trying to get a day job. However, the sequel's off to a nice start already and I hope you find it as fun and interesting as I do. Some additional details: 1) The sequel will run twice a week, Monday and Friday. To space out my projects evenly, that means that Something Happens will now be moving to Wednesday. 2) The last "Kid Gloves" comic will appear on June 29. I kept my promise to continue it until the sequel began, but I can't continue it after that, especially since the characters will be folded into Newshounds II anyway. 3) The commentary will continue right up to June 28. So be sure to return when the Newshounds story continues with the former KPET crew making their indelible stamp upon the mainstream news world. 5-10-07: Rory O'Bannion, fan of Newshounds from way back, has entered the online comics world again with Percy's Song. Go check it out! 5-4-07: This weekend I will be at Califur in Costa Mesa, California, so if you're going to be there, come by and say hullo! 3-22-07: I'll be out of town and away from the internet for the next four days, but everything's all set to update, so there should be no worries! 3-13-07: Once again, I have made a contribution to D. C. Simpson's I Drew This! 3-5-07: Thanks again for all the response last week regarding "Kid Gloves." For now, there'll be a new strip, again in color, every Friday, until further notice. I may need to put up a mini-FAQ soon. 2-27-07: Thanks to everyone for the response! I'll be getting back to everybody as soon as I'm done coloring everything. ;) But please, by all means, feel free to give feedback if you haven't already, especially once you've seen the full week's strips. Thanks again! 2-26-07: "Kid Gloves", a tentative possible concept featuring the two Blitzen children, Malcolm and Emma, will be running all this week. Thanks to Darking from the forum for the (other) working title! The two of them may look a little younger here than in the previous two test strips (hopefully) but that's intentional. Be sure to let me know what you think! I need to know! 2-22-07: D.C. Simpson of Ozy and Millie and I Drew This contributed a guest strip for Something Happens. Check it out! 1-31-07: Another adventure with Malcolm and Emma. Also, Tom Radigan has provided another image from his video game idea. Just as a reminder, this has to do with zombie versions of the NH characters running rampant. 1-30-07: Today's comic is a bit of fun with the potential future adventures of the Blitzen brood. Enjoy, there may be a couple more. 1-29-07: The book is Now Available. Buy it today if you haven't already! 1-15-07: I'll be at Further Confusion from the 19th to the 21st. The book is premiering there, so come and see me so you can get a copy of your very own! With fifteen pages' worth of bonus material, it's definitely worth getting! I'll be at table 61. And whether you can or can't make it, be sure to tune in Thursday for the first glimpse of the Blitzen-O'Shea progeny. 1-5-07: Happy new year! And now, as my first resolution, I should point out a mention of KPET in the comic strip Jack. (Warning: The rest of the site is for mature readers.) Also, I did a guest strip for Ozy and Millie recently. If I've forgotten anything, let me know on the forum. :) 12-19-06: My apologies; it's been a busy week, and I forgot to announce that the commentary will be five days a week. Heck, I've got nine years' worth of strips. Although I'm not going to remark on every single one, it's still enough to keep up a commentary five days a week, especially with occasional sketches, drawings and news items thrown in. 12-13-06: Okay, I was going to start commentary today, but this picture from the awesome Albert Temple just had to be displayed here! Who knows... maybe Kevin IS caught in an infinite time loop! 12-6-06: And that's it. Friday there's an additional little doodle, and then next week... well, it'll be a grab bag of material, including commentary, additional sketches, and anything vaguely Newshounds-related I can come up with, three times a week. I'll also keep people posted on any possible future projects. Thanks, everybody, for all your support. This strip has been a lot of fun, and I hope to do bigger and better things in the future. 12-4-06: Alan Foreman did this great walking animation of Renata! Check it out. 11-17-06: Bonus strip on the forum! 11-13-06: I'm really late pointing this out, but the KPET folks have made a cameo in Boomer Express. Check it out! 11-1-06: And thus, on the nine-year anniversary of Newshounds, the Grand Finale begins. This has been a constant sweat, as I've written and rewritten this several times over the past few months, so hopefully what comes out resembles sensibility. One change that happened in some last-minute rewrites is that the final strip will now be on DECEMBER 6. It's a shame because it ruins all the nice little symmetry I'd established, but you can't have everything. The book, now titled ALL THE NEWSHOUNDS FIT TO PRINT, is on track and ready to be published by January 1, 2007. There are about sixteen pages' worth of bonus material, including nine pages of bonus comics and an author's commentary. Believe me, if I had more time, I'd make more bonus material, because even though it's been a lot of work, it's been a lot of fun as well. Anyway, enjoy the Grand Finale! 9-11-06: Work is proceeding at a grand pace on the "Ultimate Newshounds Collection", which may or may not be the book's final title. There will be more about this book and the other Newshounds books in a future announcement. Also, when Newshounds completes its daily strip run on December 1, I may be doing a "commentary/reflection" feature for the next few months. That is, I will be rerunning old strips with additional commentary. Some of it should be fairly interesting, so I hope you'll find it somewhat worth your while. ;) 8-13-06: Official announcement. Please read! Thanks! 7-20-06: Just a reminder; if you haven't bought Attitude 3 yet, please do. I'm still reading the other interviews! 6-19-06: Thanks to everyone who voted over the weekend. It's much appreciated! 6-16-06: The contact form is working again, so feel free to share words. Also, you'll notice that with the Saturday update, there'll be an uncharacteristic ad (of sorts) up there in the comic strip space. If you click here, scroll to the bottom and vote for Travelers, you'll be doing me a fantastic service. So please help and fortune shall smile down upon you and yours. 5-17-06: Tom Radigan shares his image of Kevin goin' medieval on ol' Bud Jinseki. Ah, a yellow dog can dream, can't he... 5-5-06: A little late to be mentioning this, I suppose... but if you're going to be in Orange County this weekend, stop by Califur in Costa Mesa. I'll be there in the Dealer's Den courtesy the Merchandise Maven, who will also have several other Plan Nine titles, so please drop by! 4-14-06: An important announcement to make. Some of you know this already, but now here it is for the general public. Next week I'm starting a new comic called Something Happens. It's basically random takes on everyday life, politics, humanity, and our place in the universe (next to the ice machine). It's wilder, sketchier and more out there than Newshounds could ever dream of being. And yet I believe it'll provide mass quantities of enjoyment for everyone. Be sure to check it out when it starts on April 18!. Something Happens will be running every Tuesday and Thursday. Unfortunately, with that kind of a schedule, that means something has to go, and that means Newshounds will revert to a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule. I wish I could keep it to five days a week, along with the two-day-a-week new strip, but if I did that, I'd really burn out. Keep tuning in, though. If I get really inspired and have a few five-day-weeks, I'll be sure to warn you in advance. Thanks for your patience. The new strip means a lot to me. I think you'll have as much fun reading it as I'll have drawing it. And a lot will happen in Newshounds, too. Onward and upward! 3-16-06: Finally rearranged the archives a little. The introduction and the recap are now in the Intro section. 3-3-06: Thanks to everyone who gave me feedback regarding "The Battle or the War?" Even if you felt you were negative, I've been really glad to hear what you've had to say. I'm going to be replying to everyone individually soon, but let me assure people that the regular Newshounds comic will not be going anywhere for quite a long while. TBotW is just a small part of a germ of a possibility, and time (along with your input) will tell if it bears any fruit or not. And, again.... thanks, Tim. You're awesome. 3-2-06: Three things. As it says above, next week will be a KPET Summer Movie Preview, and the regular comics will begin on March 13. Sorry about the delay again, but I'll be out of town next weekend, and I wanted to make sure there was some enjoyable content on the site every day. Second, please, please take a look at The Battle or the War?, written by me and illustrated by Albert Temple. When you're finished, feedback, either on the forum or sent privately, is welcome. Thanks, folks! Also, this is a reminder to pre-order Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists from Amazon or from Barnes and Noble. The more pre-orders they get, the more the publisher will print, so I strongly encourage you to do it! 2-27-06: Okay. Here it is at last. Monday through Wednesday will be the last three pages of the recap. (That's right, it ended up being a total of 15 pages after all.) Thursday and Friday will feature some filler material, but I do recommend that you check in both days. Once again, sorry about the stagger fashion of the updates. This was a trial, but it's all for a good cause. 2-21-06: Okay, these next two weeks will be equally tough. As a result, there will be four pages of recap this week and two pages next week. The rest of the time I'll have some fun filler content up, so keep tuning in. Regular strips will resume the week of March 6. Sorry about the delays. These are hard and man, do I have demands for my time piling on from external sources. ;) 2-13-06: Whew. This might be a tough week. I will have at least three pages of the recap up this week, which may turn out to be enough, as I might end up boiling it down to thirteen pages instead of fifteen. Sorry about this, but this is something that I've had to revise and rework over and over again. I'm such a perfectionist. Anyway, I'll have some guest art up sometime this week. I just don't know if it'll be one or two bits of guest art, so just bear with me. 2-8-06: Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists is now available for pre-order from Amazon.com! Two of my cartoons even feature on the cover. Whoohoo! The book features several of my cartoons and an interview with me. I would heartily encourage you to pre-order if you can! 2-6-06: And here it is, the recap. For the next three weeks we go over seven years of Newshounds history, leading up to this strip. Just so you know, the primary intent is to furnish as much of the backstory as possible to current comic strip events. Therefore, some stories are going to be glossed over, but others may seem to be emphasized out of proportion. Don't be too upset if a favorite bit is left out. As promised, I also have the Plan Nine Christmas Annual story up for your viewing pleasure. The other project (the one Albert Temple of Gene Catlow fame illustrated) will be up next week, as I work to make some adjustments. 2-2-06: THANK YOU!!! After Tuesday's plea, people came through in a big way, allowing me to reach my goal and then some. Some people just donated without asking for anything in return (but I'll be glad to give something, even if it's just a pencil sketch). Thanks, everybody. I'm thrilled and touched at the same time that I have such giving, supportive readers. You all are the greatest. 1-31-06: Please read this. I'm not fond of making abject pleas like this, but I've gone over my finances. Sales at Further Confusion were down; insurance rates and the rent will be going up. Catching up will take a long time and put me in the red for a while. I need your help. I'm putting all my original strips on sale for $40.00. That includes postage. I really need $200 within the next couple of weeks. If only five people would buy one original each, that would make my goal, and I wouldn't have to go into any further debt. Please consider helping out if you can. The PayPal link is above, and you can use the contact form to reach me and let me know which strip you would like. Thanks, everyone. You know I wouldn't run a PBS Pledge Drive unless I needed to. :) 1-12-06: I will be at Further Confusion this year, in San Jose, California, at the Plan Nine Publishing table, January 20-22. Come buy a book or a sketch or a strip or two. If you will be there and want to buy a specific strip, let me know now via the contact button above and I will bring it. :) 1-5-06: Hey folks! More about what’s going on. As you can see, we’ve begun 2006 with a retelling of how KPET began, starting with Lorna graduating from college and ending with the station’s first day on the air. Once that's over, in February, we’ll have three separate projects running concurrently. On the site’s main page will be a recap, in Mark IV style, of all of the events leading up to November 2004 Basically, this will be summarizing seven years’ worth of Newshounds history in fourteen pages. Since, obviously, this will be something you’ve seen before, only drawn differently, there will be two additional bonuses. One is a piece called “The Future is Coming... So Draw the Shades!” that I drew for the Plan Nine 2000 Christmas Annual. I’ve been told that the Christmas Annual is now officially out of print, so since other artists involved with the Annual have run their contributions on their respective sites, I see no harm in running mine. The other bonus is a separate project using the Newshounds characters and illustrated by Albert Temple. This was a test run to see how certain ideas may pan out. This project may be a portent of the future, but nothing’s set in stone yet. On February 27, 2006, normal comics will resume. The recap will disappear from the archives and the sneak preview will be inaccessible, so be sure to catch it in February! (The Christmas Annual piece will stay on the site.) Also, the old Mark III intro will be gone as well, replaced by the current set of comics, which will be on a separate area of the site. That’s right; as far as the archives are concerned, we’ll be jumping directly from January 1, 2006 to February 27, 2006. Why am I doing all this? As I’ve announced, Newshounds is being included in an Ted Rall's new anthology of modern web cartoonists. It occurred to me that I don’t have anything I feel is representative of the modern strip. I’m not terribly happy with my art style prior to the fall of 2004 – Mark IV took a long time to settle into something I’m comfortable with. Therefore I wanted to make a definitive “history” of Newshounds, to be published at the end of 2006. The working title is “Good Dog, and Good Luck – The Ultimate Newshounds History.” (Thanks to David Brodbeck for that one.) It would include the “How KPET Began” strips, February’s recap, and then all the strips from November 2004 to the summer of 2006, along with some bonus material. So enjoy all the fun stuff; Newshounds will return to its version of normality before long. 1-2-06: Happy New Year! As you can see, I'm recapping the early days of Lorna Dilbrook and her ascent with KPET. I'll have more about this later, so stay tuned. 12-29-05: Well, I certainly ain't tellin' yet, anyway. Be sure to visit the site on New Year's Day! Signing out until 2006. :) 12-18-05: Dylan works his magic once again! Please give a warm welcome to Ferris! 12-13-05: I suppose it's official now. I'm set to appear in Ted Rall's next anthology of modern comics, called ATTITUDE 3: THE NEW SUBVERSIVE ONLINE CARTOONISTS. The book is due out in June 2006 and also features D. C. Simpson and Mark Fiore, among many others. As soon as pre-ordering is available, I'll let you know right here on our very own stage! 11-8-05: Another thing I'd forgotten to mention. Tim Tylor pointed out that last week was Newshounds' eighth anniversary. I've gotten so lost in comics and other life-related matters that it slipped my mind entirely. 10-17-05: I'd forgotten to mention. About three months ago I quietly added my 2002 comics from Keenspot's 2002 comic book "L33T" to the site. If you haven't read them yet and have some spare time, feel free to read and enjoy, or enjoy or read, whichever order fits your lifestyle better. 10-10-05: I haven't updated for a while, as not much has happened. I've spent more time at the gym watching the scale deliberately provoke me, and I've had to take a second job to help keep my finances in order. Other than that, I want to recommend a great comic I've been enjoying reading: Mullein Fields, a comic that could be described as "Walt Kelly in New Jersey" if I were crass enough to force all the nuance into a log line. You've seen it in the link below, but I can't say enough about it. The characters are engaging, the art is appealing and the rural New Jersey atmosphere is very inviting. If you've got a moment, go check it out. I bought the book, too. 9-13-05: I've donated a strip to the Webcomic Telethon for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, so check it out regularly, and be sure to give as well! 8-25-05: Dylan works his magic again on a wonderfully rendered Alistair. Again, kudos and gracias! 8-22-05: Newshounds is back to five days a week. 7-26-05: Dylan strikes again! This time it's Wolfram! Thanks again; these are excellent! 7-25-05: New bits of fan art! First, Tom Radigan has a new image from his arcade game. Second, the marvelous Dylan has drawn exceptional portraits of Sam and Kevin! Thanks, Dylan! 7-18-05: Back from Comic-Con! Read about it here. 7-5-05: Hope everyone had a good July 4 weekend. I've been asked when exactly will I be behind the Keenspot table at Comic-Con. On Saturday, I'll be there probably five minutes after the exhibitor's room opens (give me time to find the table, ha ha), and I'll be behind the table most of the day. I'll be on the Keenspot panel from 5:00 to 7:00. (Actually, I think I'm there for an hour, but I don't know which hour.) Hopefully that's plenty of time. We're talking 10:05 - 5:00, at least. 6-21-05: Back during Further Confusion 2005, I drew this guest strip for Tyrnn of Boomer Express. Take a look! 6-6-05: Some fan art that I've delayed putting up for too long, largely because it might overly swell up Wolfram's head. Tom Radigan depicts Wolfram being a bit choosy with his fur care, Valk shows us Wolfram and Rochelle's potential offspring, and Ben Yackley recounts what happens when you put someone windy into somewhere windy. Thanks, folks, it's wonderful stuff! 5-27-05: I will be out of town this weekend, and I admit I've been slow this week in making updates. Valk, Tom Radigan and others have made some nice Newshounds art which I need to link to soon. So check out the updated important announcement in the meantime and continue to enjoy the strip! I'll be back on Tuesday. 5-18-05: Reminder: I will be at Califur in Costa Mesa, California this weekend. I will be in the dealer's den, waiting for you. Don't make me wait too long. ;) 5-3-05: I will be at Califur in Costa Mesa, California on Saturday, May 21 and Sunday morning, May 22. Won't you stop by? 4-27-05: April 18 was my 36th birthday, and I got some wonderful pictures from Albert Temple, Valk and Tim Tylor. Thanks, guys! These made for a great quadruple-nine. :) (EDIT: Fixed the links. Sorry!) 4-15-05: The official, and I do mean official, restart date for Newshounds returning to five days a week will be September 5, 2005 (Labor Day). It's a long time away, I know, but I've already written a great deal for this summer, and for once in the strip's life, its future is pretty much mapped out. Plus the workouts are still draining me. However, I am not waiting a day past September. Count on it. :) Also, I can't remember if I announced this, but I will be at San Diego Comic-Con this summer, probably at the Keenspot booth. Come one, come all! 3-24-05: Renata makes a cameo in Tyrnn's Boomer Express! Ferris just can't stop messing up, can he? 3-13-05: I haven't had much of an update in a month. So I'll just report that I might end up returning to five days a week in mid-May. 2-17-05: I'll be out of town this weekend, so this is just to remind everyone Newshounds will be going to three days a week next week, per the above announcement. 2-14-05: Sorry today's comic is late. I put it in the wrong folder, wouldn't you know. It's all confusion this week, as I'm going to be out of town for President's Day weekend, so I'm hurrying to stay ahead. Thanks for being patient! 2-7-05: Surgery in the Park is now available for pre-order, and will be shipping by next week! Buy now for wonderful winter reading. Also to report: Some new fan art from Tom Radigan and Valk. Observe and enjoy! 1-29-05: I did some site updates. Moved the hiatus strips to their rightful spot on the Etcetera page, among other things. 1-24-05: It may be fixed by the time this page updates, but this is a note to let you know that Manifestations is having difficulty updating. Because Manifestations is completely different from Newshounds in how it's structured because it's a PREMIUM feature, I can't manually fix it the way I could if it were Newshounds. I really have no idea why these hiccups occur; it's very technical, and I dropped out of technical school after "On-Off Switches 101." So if Manifestations is slow to react next time, please be patient. Tim and I are doing our best to stay on top of it. Thanks. 1-19-05: Back from Further Confusion. Very behind on strips, so I'm slowly getting back to email and stuff. Should be all caught up by Saturday. Thanks, everyone. Hope you've been enjoying the toons. :) 1-10-05: Tom Radigan offers more in the way of fan art as Ferris gets in trouble with one of the Beatles' more species-insensitive lyrics. 1-9-05: Reminder: I will be at Further Confusion this weekend, the 13th through the 16th. As a result, I'm working hard to keep strips on the table and bacon on the ceiling. So cross your fingers for steady updates! 1-4-05: Bad news. Surgery in the Park will not be available by Further Confusion. So, this is a plea: If you want a particular original strip and will be at Further Confusion, let me know which one you want and I'll make a special note to bring it along. Originals will be going for $50. If you've thought about buying one, please consider buying one this year. Thanks very much! 1-3-05: Happy new year, everyone! (Okay, I'm three days late.) The 2005 archive page will be set up soon, and within a week or two I'll have the 2004 archive page's comics titled. Ah, the joys of maintenance work. La la la! 12-29-04: I'm behind on my comics a little, finishing each one the night before, so I'm still behind on other things. In the meantime, Valk has provided us with a fantastic picture of Renata and Wolfram. Those outfits excel beyond excellence. 12-25-04: Happy holidays to everybody! 12-23-04: Bonus bit of fun stuff this Saturday! 12-20-04: Well, I'm back, more or less. Thank you for sticking with me through the hiatus. For those who don't know, I will be at Further Confusion between January 13 through 16. I'll be in the dealer's room, selling books, so come and see me. 12-8-04: Things are beginning to settle down, so I can post again somewhat. Two things. First, Tim Tylor has corrected his fan strip of Tuesday, and has offered his apologies. It's no big deal, Tim. We don't know that much about this Guy Fawkes bloke over here, either. ;) Second, a good friend of mine, Ryan Dewalt, is offering a great deal in web hosting and/or programming. Take the time to look at his offer. He's reliable, trustworthy, and a really great guy all around. 11-24-04: As of today, my DSL will be out and will not return until December 3. So if I'm slow to reply to things, be kind to me. However, don't let that stop you from talking on the forum! :) 11-22-04: I'm going to be intensely busy with family affairs and moving roommates for the next couple of weeks. On top of that, my DSL will be out for a week or so. As a result, I'll be going on hiatus as of next week, but be of stout heart and elevated courage: there will be material five days a week. Next week will feature a new "KPET Movie Preview." The following week will feature guest strips from Ben Yackley, Tim Tylor, Richard Furman, and David Simpson. (Thanks very much to all the artists who have contributed!) So keep checking in regularly. There may be a few surprises in the end! P.S. I've also updated the Cast Page, though I still consider it a work-in-progress. 11-08-04: In a few weeks, a lot will be happening, so I will have to take two weeks off starting November 29. I don't know yet what will fill the space, but I'll try to have something. Thanks for being understanding, and Newshounds will be back! 11-03-04: Well, as of 11:30 PM, as promised, this is what I'd seen, so that's what did happen. But what could have happened? Check here. 11-02-04: First, get out and vote! Second, be sure to return tomorrow! Whichever candidate is declared the winner by 11:30 PST will be reflected in tomorrow's strip. If no candidate is declared a winner by then, that will be reflected too. So be sure to return and find out whether Alistair will win the bet with Kerry or Sam will win the bet with Bush! 10-30-04: Three things made me toss off this little doodle at work. First, two fellow artists, Rory O'Bannion and Scotty Arsenault are BoSox fans. (Dang it, shoulda included CK in the drawing.) Second, I like underdogs coming out from behind and winning. Third, when I moved Connor and Stormy to Boston, I'd more or less chosen what I thought was a random city. Whenever it makes the news, though, I can't help but do something based around them. Gives NH so much more "reality", you know? 10-28-04: Bonus bit of fun this Saturday, so tune in. Also a really sweet piece of art by an artist who wishes to remain anonymous. I think you can buy these cheap on ebay! 10-26-04: Comixpedia's Al Schroeder has done interview with me. Take a peek! 10-13-04: After a weekend of crashes and pain, my computer died last night, and so I had to buy a new one. As a result I'm doing a LOT of catching up. However, if you haven't heard about Newshounds appearing in newspapers, go look now. 9-27-04: A little late with this one: a great little animated gif from Alan Foreman. In addition, why not revisit his Flash animation of Ferris and Renata? Visit S.S.D.D., too. It may contain mature content, so consider yourself warned if you consider yourself needing warning. 9-15-04: Some comic news: The comic formerly known as Spellshocked has returned, now known as Delyria. Ben Yackley is taking to this new direction with a will, so will yourself over there and take a look. 9-7-04: Still more fan art: Tom Radigan has drawn Hal receiving one of the simple canine pleasures of life. Also please note: This month I'm extra busy getting bonus material and such ready for the next book, Surgery in the Park. If I'm slow in answering your email, please be patient. I appreciate all your support! Gracias, merci and 10-Q. :) 9-6-04: New fan art from Richard Furman! Ferris should have been more careful in choosing his words. Thanks, Richard! And thanks to Jeff Darlington for letting him borrow a character! 8-21-04: Valk has done two more fantastic pieces of art: one of Hal, and another pic for Tom Radigan's arcade game. Since it has to do with zombies, it's a bit graphic, but it's a really fantastic picture! Great work, Valk! 8-16-04: Regime Change is back in stock for the time being. 8-2-04: Regime Change, the most recent book, seems to be sold out. Well, sort of. I have some copies of my own, but I use those for conventions. If it comes down to it I'll send my copies back. Hopefully there'll be a new printing soon. 7-22-04: A couple of familiar newscasters have appeared in the (out of this) world of 21st Century Fox. Thanks, Scott! 7-14-04: Valk from the forum has been really busy with Newshounds art. Check 'em all out, including the ones for Tom Radigan's game! 7-4-04: Happy Fourth of July, everyone! In order that I might stay caught up, Monday's strip will be a guest strip by Nicodemus. Thanks, Nick! 7-2-04: I'm back from vacation. A little worn out and a bit sunburned, but relatively intact. So the comics will continue unabated. But I'll bet you weren't worried. ;) 6-23-04: Tonight I'll be leaving town, and I'll literally be away from the net for a little over a week. And I mean it, too; I'll have no web access at all. The strips are all taken care of until next Friday, though, so you're all covered. There's also a little forum bonus just posted, too. I hope I don't go into withdrawal... 6-12-04: Today's strip is a tribute to Melonpool, which, for the time being, will soon be ending its webcomic run. See more to the tribute here. 6-10-04: Bonus strip this Saturday! Be sure to catch it! 6-6-04: Forum's back! Yes!! 6-5-04: STILL no Nightstar forum. If this problem isn't cleared up by Monday night I'll fix up the pages to point to the old Keenspot forum (which you're free to use as a backup now). I hope I don't have to, because it's a lengthy process, but I will. Sorry for all the inconvenience. If anyone knows what's going on with Nightstar please contact me. 6-1-04: Tom Radigan held a contest on the forum to find out which of the dogs would get a tummy rub. Find out who won. 5-31-04: As mentioned before, this week will be filler week, as Ferris documents his desire to be the next "American Idol." Also Richard Furman has a new pic featuring Renata and Hal. The lyrics are from "Falling in Love Again" from Josef von Sternberg's 1930 film The Blue Angel. Ah, romance! Kinda... of a sort... maybe. Thanks, Richard! Also, if you haven't seen Albert Temple's birthday picture from last month, see it now! (As Edward R. Murrow would say.) 5-27-04: I want to thank everyone who's donated to the tip jar. It's been much appreciated. You guys are all terrific! ... In additional news, I've made a slight change. Next week will be "filler" material about a Ferris-y moment in Ferris's continued existence. I promise it'll be grand fun in a momentous way. 5-25-04: I would be remiss in not giving Mary Jo Pehl's new book from Plan Nine its proper plug, considering how tremendously fun she was at Midwest Furfest last year. She read excerpts of it one night, and trust me, if the whole book is half as good, then it's twice as good as me. Or... something not as mangled as that. Anyway, order it! Now! Chop chop! 5-24-04: I'm on the verge of serious burnout, so I've decided to make next week a "What We Think" week. For once, I can give adequate notice about these things! ;) 5-18-04: Because of semi-dire financial circumstances, I've decided to put up a Paypal tip jar. I don't intend to keep it there and no one is obligated to pay. It's only if you feel like you'd like to kick in a buck or two. If you do decide to make a tip, my thanks are eternal. Also, The L33T comic mentioned below has moved here. 5-15-04: For most of 2002, I supplied a one-page comic for Keenspot's L33T. L33T seems to be gone, or on hiatus, or something, because it ended at issue #7. A lot of these haven't been seen by the average NH fan, and the two comics I did after L33T's run ended haven't been seen by anybody. It's likely now that those last two comics won't be published, and even if they were, they're drawn in the Mark III style, which I don't really want to push anymore. Therefore, I'll probably run them now and again as bonus material. Depending on how things turn out in June, I may run a whole week's worth of these as filler material. Anyway, as you can see, these comics involve Ferris playing video games and Kevin making commentary on said gaming. Most of this material was inspired by my then-roommates David Pratt and Joel Butler's cornucopia of video games, or my memories or other video games. I really don't play them myself, which probably should have signalled me as to how ill-advised this project was. But all the same, have fun. I may have more on the way. 5-13-04: To make up for my general inactivity on the forum, and as a nice break from the Continuing Story of Bungalow Hal, I'm offering a bonus bit of fun stuff this Saturday. Be sure to tune in then! 5-5-04: It's both National Cartoonist's Day and Online Comics Day! I didn't have time to do anything myself this year, but why not have some fun and see all the folks who did. 5-4-04: Tom Radigan has drawn a tribute to Pat Tillman. 4-27-04: Due to extremely annoying factors beyond my control, I will be away from the net all day today. Back tomorrow. 4-16-04: Tom Radigan has provided us with another image from his arcade game. This time, it's Virgil who's on the prowl! 4-9-04: Well, the spambots won. I've removed my email address and replaced it with a feedback form designed by Richard Furman and hosted by Allen Woolley. My thanks go to both of them. Feel free to check it out. If you have any problems, let me know on the forum. Thank you! 3-30-04: Tom Radigan, busy guy that he is, supplies another picture of Alistair. 3-29-04: It's in the cards: Richard Furman has outdone himself with an elaborate work of art featuring Renata, Rochelle, Alistair, Zodiac, Randy, Kevin and Della. Whew! Pat Sajak could do no better! 3-25-04: My work computer has made my forum inaccessible to me, so I will have to limit posts to evenings. Now that I'm caught up with the strips, it should be easier now. 3-24-04: K. Ivan Ruppert provides us with the first-ever bit of Della fan art. He calls it sketchy. I call it great. Some call it maize. 3-16-04: The indefatigable Zia has provided us with a Newshounds/Battlestar Galactica crossover. And they said it couldn't be done. Warning: it's long, but it's also a fun read. Enjoy! 3-14-04: This week's Manifestations installment is now up. We apologize for the delay. 3-7-04: This week, to be honest, I'm a bit burned out on art at the moment, so this week will feature the characters commenting on current events. Also, to make up for the loss, the filler material will cover all seven days. That's right; there will be an update Monday through Sunday before regular comics resume on March 15. Enjoy! 3-5-04: The forum is now working again. Talk freely. 3-4-04: The forum is apparently switching servers, so for the moment it's "read-only". Hopefully that won't last too long. 2-23-04: Two notes: First, Lupine serenades us with a new image of Ferris in Paris. Très bien! Second, this story promises to be another one of those epics I'm wont to write when people don't sedate me properly. So if it seems to jump around, be aware it's going somewhere. Somewhere interesting, I hope. 2-18-04: Arrived back in town Monday night to find more arcade-game imagery from Tom Radigan! Ferris is in peril! 2-9-04: I'll be out of town this coming weekend, so my schedule is pretty filled up trying to stay ahead on comics. However, I've found some time to make a small change. I've moved all the pictures of Newshounds-related real life events to their own page. The page is not very big right now, but in time, perhaps it will grow.... 2-2-04: Lupine strikes again! This time hegives us an alternate universe version of Wolfram. Find out what bad dogs do... Also, don't forget to read the new version of Manifestations with new artist Tim Tylor! 1-28-04: If you're confused by Renata's pronouncement in the third panel of today's strip, check here and here. Yes, it's a bit of indulgence on my part, but I'm allowed. ;) 1-16-04: To anyone living in or visiting the Bay Area: I will be at Further Confusion on January 23-25, at the Doubletree Hotel in San Jose, California. Look for me in the dealer's room. 1-13-04: Two notes: if you've come here from the Daily Kos site, be sure to bookmark Newshounds, as the ad will expire today. Also, more on the fan art front: Lupine scores again with Renata's plastic surgery getting rocky. Thanks again, Lupine! 1-9-04: Two more items of fan art: first, Sean McCammond shows Nigel being comforted by an unusual (but not surprising) ally. Second, a new contributor, Lupine, shows Sam kickin' back behind the scenes. Thanks very much, folks! 1-2-04: Tom Radigan delivers again with a new image from his Newshounds arcade game idea. This time Ferris distracts the police as Lorna goes on her rescue mission. 1-1-04: Happy New Year to all! Here's hoping everyone has a happy 2004. And to begin the year with a ray of hope, here's a happy announcement about Manifestations! Please read it! 12-29-03: Fan art once again! First, Tom Radigan shows us Sam's deepest desire. Second, Richard Furman, with the help of Ferris and O&M's Millie, defines scarcity. Thanks folks! 12-22-2003: Two new pieces of fan art: Richard Furman shows us what Newshounds might look like if it emulated a more popular comic strip. Also, David Pratt gives us the very first bit of Nigel fan art. Have a great holiday season everybody! 12-10-03: For those people who don't understand today's strip and what Ferris is saying, please be patient, as a new storyline begins today. Enjoy Wolfram's fashion psychosis instead. ;) 12-10-03: I've moved the guest strips to their own page.. Also, happy birthday to Jason Furness! Let's hope Pixelated returns soon. 12-1-03: Newshounds is back. Thanks to the kind folks who filled in for me while I was away. 11-19-03: Today is the day I head out to Chicago for MFF. Because of a special art commitment (which I can't discuss yet) I wasn't able to get strips done for next week. As a result, three fans have stepped up to the plate to help with guest strips for that week. Richard Furman for Monday and Tuesday, Ben Yackley for Wednesday, and Rubbertex Cooper on Thursday and Friday. Thanks very much, folks! Newshounds will be back in full force December 1. 11-13-03: Lots of stuff. Brian Emling has offered up his vision of Newshounds Mark V, without Mr. Hat this time. Also, Steele from the forum has begun the Newshounds Fan Club on Yahoo Groups! Last but not least, here is a reminder that the fifth book, Regime Change is available from Plan Nine. Order now, won't you? 11-6-03: Sorry about yesterday. It was completely my error. 11-5-03: Rich Furman has delivered again artwise with Renata playing Snow White in her own special (and unusual) way! Also, the link for the forum seems to have changed. All the pages have been updated to the new link. But just in case it changes back, here's the old link. 10-30-03: The Red Cross needs you once again, this time for help with evacuees from the Southern California wildfires. Donate if you can! 10-27-03: I will be at the Las Vegas Comic Con on Friday, October 31. I'll be near the Keenspot table. My apologies if I'm a little quiet this week as I'll be getting ahead with the comic strips. 10-24-03: Regime Change, the fifth book, is now available for pre-order from Plan Nine. Pre-order now and save two dollars off the cover price! 10-15-03: About today's strip. To show how topical and up-to-the-minute I can be, Sam's line in the third panel would have been "the Cubs' making it to the World Series is a very good omen", had the Marlins not won last night. 9-16-03: Hurricane Isabel is set to strike North Carolina. No one is able to predict what damage the hurricane may inflict. The Red Cross needs your help in preparing for this. Please donate! 9-8-03: Right now things are hectic, since I'm spending every free moment putting together some bonus material for Book #5, Regime Change. Click here to see the cover, once again designed by David Pratt. With any luck, the new book will be ready at Midwest Furfest. 9-1-03: Enjoy the traditional whimsy of Labor Day with a ride on Rich Furman's Ferris Wheel! And when you're done with that, read his strip Cat-tharsis! 8-27-03: Alan Foreman of S.S.D.D. has captured Renata's recent joyousness rather well. Don't be a Ferris in her vicinity right now. 8-25-03: So what have I been doing this weekend? Find out. (Warning: Excessive fannishness alert. I'm not the disaffected neo-Beat I let on to be.) ;) 8-22-03: If you have a moment, register for the forum and answer the poll. The universe will revere you for it. :) 8-20-03: Sobig.F is attacking my Keenspot email address like crazy. If you do email me, please put something strip-specific in the subject line or I'll probably end up deleting it. Thanks! 8-18-03: Busy busy week! Next weekend I will be out of town, so I'll be working my underworked tail off getting ahead on the strips. So if I'm a little slow on emails, be gentle with me. I'll have a very interesting report about next weekend when it's over. Also, Tom Radigan has created a new image for his arcade game idea. Manny's back... and it's personal! 8-13-03: This has been a great week. First the little Renata and Rochelle cameo in Commander Kitty and now this little display of Rochelle's madness. Good? He's the best. It's fun! :D 8-12-03: Ha ha! An artist who we'll call Mr. A (although his real name is Scotty Arsenault) pulled a surprise on me, the same day I pulled a surprise on him! It's hard for me to type when my smile spans across my face like a majestic bridge. Thanks, Scotty! 8-11-03: Keenspot strips alert: Aaron Farber's Men in Hats has returned from hiatusabbatical. And that is all. 7-25-03: Huzzah! I made it through the week without missing a day. Joy to the world! :-) 7-21-03: This may be a difficult week for updates. A number of circumstances have caused me to be a little slow in producing strips. Hopefully Newshounds will be on schedule this week, but there's always a chance it won't, so just be aware. Thanks! 7-7-03: Tom Radigan, as you may know, developed a video game idea. He's made some images to go with it, too! I've shown you one, and now here's the next. Quite exciting! Look for it on a Playstation near you! 7-2-03: Some news. I now have a steady day job, more or less. It's a day job that requires I stay off the internet, so my access may be limited. But I will try to be more involved in the forum. All your chat really makes me feel like I'm doing something worthwhile, so keep it up! Also, why not check out Vinci and Arty? It's done by a very good friend of mine, Candy Lewin. It's funny and touching. Quite a combo! 6-27-03: Tom Radigan weighs in with an old nemesis of the Newshounds' after Alistair again. 6-26-03: Wolfram is suspending more than his disbelief in Breakpoint City! Observe! 6-24-03: An update... to thank the good Keenspot folks for running the newsbox one more day. 6-22-03: Just when Newshounds is in the newsbox, the forum seems to be dead. Plus Keenspot servers have been undergoing some down time due to maintenance. All I can ask is to be patient; hopefully this situation will be corrected by Monday. 6-20-03: My good friend David Pratt has contributed this based on Lorna's morale-boosting event. Rochelle's back. Ready for summer. In a tank top built for extreme mini golf. 6-17-03: Finally! DSL! To celebrate, here are two more Newshounds sprites. The left was done by Brian Emling; the one on the right was done by Rory O'Bannion. 6-11-03: Quick announcement: bonus strip this Saturday. A little bit of fluffy self-indulgence. The real updates will resume shortly. Thanks! 6-9-03: Want to buy a book, but don't trust the Internet with your credit card information? Call Plan Nine Toll-Free! Now! Sale continues till 9 PM Eastern time. 6-6-03: No DSL over here yet; I'm using an AOL account. First, check out Tom Radigan's video game idea; he's put a lot of thought into it. Second, check these out: They're Newshounds sprites by Brian Emling! Thanks, Tom and Brian! 6-1-03: This is it. I will be officially incommunicado for at least a week. See you in L.A.! 5-29-03: Things are becoming increasingly hectic. Apparently DSL won't be set up at our new L.A. place for another two weeks. Therefore Friday will be a guest strip by David Simpson. (Thanks, David!) In the interim I'll try to get as far ahead as I can so there won't be any breaks in the updating. Thanks for being patient! 5-26-03: Back from househunting, but this is when things get busier: packing boxes, moving furniture, getting trailers, etc. So it may be quiet on the newsfront for a while. In the meantime, look at some new art by Mages Errant co-author Alethea Marti! 5-16-03: This weekend I'll be out and about apartment hunting, but here are a couple of updates: First, two more colored strips by Raven! Second, a clever cut-and-paste strip from Mike Sander! Thanks to both of you! 5-15-03: I apologize for the lack of updates. Really behind on a lot of things, especially with the forthcoming move. I will try to make a proper update tomorrow. Thanks. 5-5-03: Webcomics Awareness Day! View my contribution. In fact, view my contribution for last year too. And be sure to support webcomics today! Also of note. I'm behind on my email, and I apologize. I've gotten some wonderful email from readers which I will be getting to today, I promise. 5-2-03: Late update. Raven has colored three strips now, and they've all been assembled on this page. Take a look-see now, if not sooner. 4-30-03: Spellshocked has returned! Now a solo project by Ben Yackley, it's back, better than ever and weekly. Check it out! 4-28-03: Renata and Alistair appear at 21st Century Fox! Yeeha! 4-24-03: Sean McCammond delivers again. This is his character meeting Kevin. Howdy! Also, an artist by the name of Raven has colored two of my strips. Thanks bunches! 4-23-03: Sorry for the late update. I could have sworn I'd uploaded the strips, but apparently I hadn't. Anyway, here they are. 4-17-03: Gonna be out of town for the next four days, so why not peruse some bonus stuff while I'm away? 4-11-03: KeenCribs! Find out about my whole work area! 4-10-03: Still here, just nothing to report. Things have been the same over here. The big news is I will be moving to L.A. at the end of May, saying good-bye to my life in the Bay Area. Who knows, you may even see me at the Keenspot store sometime. I'll keep you posted! 3-21-03: Tom Radigan says: add Sam to Saddam and this is what you get! 3-7-03: We All Came Out to Mantra is now available from Plan Nine! Order today! Check here for more Newshounds books and projects! 3-4-03: Wow. I've had such an overwhelmingly positive response to the new art style and the new site design (the latter, as you remember, courtesy David Pratt). I'm really thankful to everyone who posted on the forum, sent emails or posted to mailing lists about Mark IV. It's done my soul a lot of good, and I promise to do everything possible to make Mark IV worthy of your praise. More news! I've been named as one of the Guests of Honor at Midwest Furfest! Come one, come all! 3-3-03:Manifestations has begun! Experience it! Warning: Be aware that it's rather R-rated. 3-1-03: Visit Pixelated! Wolfram and Renata have made a cameo there! More additions to the site will be forthcoming. I will try to put everything that used to be on the site back on it in due time. Thanks again for your patience!