Archive for Chapter 1

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Year of the Cow – Chapter 1 / Page 15

by on April 18, 2012 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Chapter 1

Simon B.:  PHEW!  This took a bit longer than anticipated, but we have a new page up and a new character to introduce (hoping he lives long enough to introduce him).  Chubi here seems to be a bit of a runt, so it’s no wonder he’s likely to be picked on.  Looks like he seems to have some handy disguise skills, and maybe jump to conclusions.

Let’s just hope he survives in the next page.

Meanwhile, lots of life stuffs going on for me and Dew, but that’ll have to wait for another time.  All you need to know is that currently, Dew and I are working hard to keep up and get the comic back on track.  We’re a bit under the gun at the moment, and if we miss a Wednesday update, then the comic goes on a temporary hiatus until we can build a buffer of comics so we don’t fall behind again.

I want to thank everyone for their patience and patronage and hope you all come back again next Wednesday!

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Year of the Cow – Chapter 1 / Page 14

by on March 28, 2012 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Chapter 1

Simon B.:  Oh man, what a whirlwind of a ride it’s been.  Ever since the last post, things have STILL been rather hectic, but the good news is that I am finally over this cold, am feeling much better, and actually have some new drive, vim, and vigor now too!  Dew has succeeded in finishing up Page 14 (a little late, but we’re working on it), and we think we now have a plan to make sure that we can STICK to a regular, Wednesday update schedule.

It may not be easy, but I’ve also been researching a few ways to help make this better for Dew and I!  Currently, we don’t have much in the way of resources such as computer equipment or other funds necessary to really take YotC where we want to take it.

And recently, I’ve been doing a lot of research on KickStarter.

***Speaking of which, make sure you check out the “Peter & Company Animated Pilot Episode” Kickstarter here:

www.KickStarter.com

Trust me, you’ll be glad you did!***

Thanks to the new found “KickStarter Spring” that began with the amazing, and unanticipated success of Tim Schafer’s KickStarter campaign to fund the creation of a new Point and Click PC Adventure game, a lot of KickStarter campaigns from varous game developers have appeared, asking for people to pledge to make their dreams a reality.  And in addition, this doesn’t just hold true for video game based KickStarter campaigns either.  Ever since Tim Schafer’s campaign, there has been a significant increase in KickStarter campaigns reaching their goals overall.

This is the part where I’d link you to a nifty chart I had found about a week ago, showing the increase in successful KickStarters once Tim Schafer’s campaign took off.  But I can’t seem to find the right chart, and can’t remember if it was on Forbes, Bloomberg News, or Giant Bomb.

So, long story short (Too Late!), if Dew and I made a KickStarter campaign to raise funds to get some better tools and equipment to make Year of the Cow, would you be willing to pledge?  This is just an informal poll and an idea that just popped into my head, but hey: can’t hurt to ask!  🙂

I hope you folks enjoy the new comic, and stay tuned for next Wednesday to find out the SECRET OF THE LIVING BUSH!

…I should really start thinking about titling some of these comics sometime.

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Year of the Cow – Chapter 1 / Page 13

by on March 10, 2012 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Chapter 1

Simon B.:  Ah… AH…

*AAAACCHOOOOO!*

*SNIIIFFFFF*

Hey folks, I am so… so sorry for the massive delay between this and the last page.  It’s been about a month now, and I haven’t even added comments on the last one.  Hoo Boy, I better explain.  Here’s what happened:

Back on January 4th, 2012, I was terminated from my job.  And by terminated, I mean fired.  This meant that I was uneligible for unemployment benefits, had no income, and was very worried and concerned about my future for me and my family.  This also had an effect on Dew as well who was very concerned too.

Thankfully, after interviews and resume submissions, I found luck in a recruiter who wanted to get me into a contract position with a company here in my hometown of Cleveland, OH for tech work.  This position would lead to a contract-to-hire possibility, and could provide more money, more benefits, and more stability for me.

THE CATCH…

…I wouldn’t be starting work in Cleveland… I’d be starting it in Rochester, NY.

For the first two weeks, they needed me to go to the city where I went to college so that I could take an inventory of all the networked printers for a leading grocery chain up there.  This meant LOTS and LOTS of driving, and would also keep me VERY busy and away from my computer for a while.

Still, the hotel was paid for by the company, they reimbursed me on food and miles traveled, and overall I made a good chunk of change during that time.  The 2nd week, I was even able to have my wife join me on the trip so we could both tour around our old haunts.

We got to see our number 1 favorite anime store ever, again: Hammergirl Anime

http://www.hammergirlanime.com/

and we got to go to the Strong National Museum of Play and check out the National Toy Hall of Fame and, most importantly, the eGameRevolution exhibit!

http://www.museumofplay.org/see-do/exhibits/egamerevolution

Which was TOTALLY AWESOME!

Anyway, after the trip was over, I immediately began working in the labs here in Cleveland…

…and not soon after, I got sick with either a cold or a flu… which I STILL have!

*UGH*

On the plus side, I’ve had lots of time to think about what to do next in the story of the comic, and have some scripts already finished in advance.

However, we could definitely use some tips to help get comic pages up faster, so I’m gonna turn this over to Dew while I try and remove some phlegm from my windpipe.

Dew:  The past couple weeks were brutal for me too.

Last month I was supposed to go to MegaCon for two days, but my brother didn’t have enough money to go there until his tax refund came in.  I had gone last year and was really bummed out that I couldn’t go this year.

I also kept on waking up in the afternoon without any motivation to draw anything at all.  Simon was able to help with that a little by showing me some of Osamu Tezuka’s characters from his “Star System” to practice sketching.  Either Simon or I would go and find some pictures of the characters, and then I’d try and draw them on my own without any tracing.  Another thing that will help is this nice old watch I found while cleaning up my room last Thursday.  It still works and has an alarm with vibration in it.  I’m going to keep it around my wrist to wake me up in the morning so I can get up bright and early to work on the next page.

Next week, I’m not going to be online for a few days because I’m having company coming over this Tuesday – Thursday or Friday.  So while I’m gone on Wednesday, Steve’s going to show you guys my Tezuka Sketches that I’ve been drawing to practice with.  Then next Wednesday, we should be able to get back on track with regular Wednesday updates again.  (Also I’m going to Orlando tomorrow for a day, but unfortunately it’s not for Disney World this time.  ^^;  )

See you guys next Friday or Saturday.  :3

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Year of the Cow – Chapter 1 / Page 11

by on January 18, 2012 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Chapter 1, Comic, Volume 1

Simon B.:  Before I go on the soapbox to talk about important political stuff that you might not care about (but should), let’s talk about the comic today!

Meet Hibiki Koumori: student of Bamboo Grove High School and its Student Council President.  Kind of looks like she has a bit of an ego, doesn’t it?  You’ll be seeing more of her throughout the comic, so stay tuned!

And if you want to see more of her now, then I have good news!

NEW CHARACTER GALLERY UNLOCKED!!!

That’s right, Hibiki now has her own gallery section on the gallery page!  As each character makes a named appearance in the comic, their respective galleries will unlock in the gallery section, and you’ll get to see concept sketches, portraits, and more as the comic goes on!  Right now, Hibiki’s gallery has her earliest concept sketches from 2009 on display!

Also, I expect to add more new things to the comic in addition to the comic itself including a links page, an about page, and more!  So keep a lookout for those!

—————————————————

Now for the serious stuff:

As you may have noticed, Petite Symphony was down yesterday in protest of the pending SOPA and PIPA bills that are making their way through congress.  The protest got wide spread media attention, and successfully got 8 of the major bill supporters to back off and change their mind!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16623831

That there is big news in and of itself, but the bills haven’t been officially killed off yet.  SOPA’s primary pusher and supporter, House of Representatives Congressman Lamar Smith, is still planning on seeing SOPA through.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120117/12563317437/its-baaaaaaaaack-lamar-smith-says-sopa-markup-to-resume-february.shtml

Yes, I know that some of you are getting tired of hearing all this, but this IS big news!  Imagine if entire websites are taken down simply because some corporation doesn’t like X, Y, or Z about them, and files a complaint with the government with no due process applied?  You get the internet blackout on a MUCH LARGER scale FOREVER!  This is why many people are openly opposed to these two bills in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

And for the people reading this that DON’T live in the USA, don’t think you’re out of hot water either!  There’s still a matter of ACTA that could potentially cause just as much problems for people abroad as there is with SOPA and PIPA here!

https://www.eff.org/issues/acta

There are lots of resources out there for learning more, and I don’t really want to list them all now, but if you ask, I’ll gladly share anything I’ve come across for you.  Thanks for reading, and keep contacting your representatives USA peoples!

http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

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Year of the Cow – Chapter 1 / Page 10

by on January 11, 2012 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Chapter 1, Comic, Volume 1

Simon B.:  *PANT PANT WHEEZE*

Oh geez, I apologize so much for the lateness of this page.  This is all my bad as I had some bad stuff happen to me this last week that put me in a funk and held up my script writing, and then also brought down Dew who got into a bit of a funk as well.

But it’s okay!  I’m better, she’s better, and we got the new page out on… at least… the day new pages are supposed to come out on.

My bad, and Dew and I will make sure this doesn’t happen again next week.

Anyhoo, we finally get a new look at another familiar face if anyone remembers the old comics of Dew’s.  What could she mean with her “Absolute Rule”?  Just what is she planning?  And how much farther away is the dang school anyway?

Stay tuned, and also I have a question for you guys:

If Year of the Cow was able to have two comics each week, what days would you want to see them on?

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Year of the Cow – Chapter 1 / Page 9

by on January 4, 2012 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Chapter 1, Comic, Volume 1

Simon B:  And here we are with the first new comic of the new year!  I hope everyone’s looking forward to 2012 as much as we are!  It’s gonna be the Year of the Dragon, so expect BIG things!

Not much to really add to the add to the comic here, other than that when I was trying to describe the effect I was looking for with this page, I referred Dew to this montage to help set the atmosphere:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9vUNDY45Jc

‘Nuff Said.

(Oh by the way, those things in the pond are called “Frish”: Half Frog / Half Fish.  Particularly of the “Koi/Carp” variety.)

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Year of the Cow – Chapter 1 / Page 8

by on December 21, 2011 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Chapter 1, Comic, Volume 1

Simon B.:  Today’s page was a labor of love.  Several hours straight were put into drawing this, and actually, truth be told, drawing didn’t begin until Monday!  So it was crunch time with lots of effort going into making this page happen (mostly) on time!

You see, while I write these blurbs, write the script, and post the comic here each week, the real star of this comic is Dew!

And lately, she’s been feeling down and out about her art skills because she sees lots of other artists either do this or that which she either has not yet developed the skill for, or is amazed at the work ethic of other artists who seem to just make art like it’s nothing at all.  She’s worried about her future, her career, and while a future in comic/cartoon/animation would be like a dream for her, she’s uncertain if she’ll ever make it.

That’s where you, the READER, come in!

I want everyone to show Dew some love and visit her pages here!  Say hello, give her some compliments, feedback, or whatever, and let her know that you appreciate all the hard work she puts in each week to make these comics happen.

It’s not easy doing this on a weekly basis, especially when you don’t make a living off of it.  While we’d love to make some merchandise that we can sell with special artwork through sites like Etsy or Cafepress, we don’t have anything like that yet, and right now, there’s not much of a demand for YotC merchandise (yet).

So until that time when money and future woes are no longer an issue, show your love by visiting her pages here:

DeviantArt:  DYW14

Tumblr:  dabathhouse

Twitter:  DYW14

YouTube:  DYW14

FurAffinity:  DYW14

Let her know that you appreciate the comic and all the hard work, and that you want to see more!  With your motivation, it will help us make sure we get the comic to you, on time, each week, sore arms or not!  🙂

So thank you very much for your continued readership!

——————

Oh yeah, and the words on the sign in this comic read:  “Blacksmith”

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Year of the Cow – Chapter 1 / Page 7a

by on December 14, 2011 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Chapter 1, Comic, Volume 1

Simon B.:  Hey folks!  Another week, another new page in Year of the Cow!

Dew and I both apologize for the lack of update last week, and I think Dew’s learned her lesson when it comes to arm exercises.

Today’s page is actually not so much “Page 8” as it is “Page 7a”.  Originally, this was meant to be the last panel of Page 7, but I asked Dew if we could do something to try and portray Mui’s feeling of loneliness here in this page, and put some scope into it.  It wasn’t easy, and required a few tweaks here and there to get it right.

I think it turned out really well, and to help with making this page, Dew also worked on some perspective exercises to help with making backgrounds, rooms, and the like in future pages and art.

Next week, we get to meet some other characters in the comic that have yet to make an appearance.  Stay tuned!

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Year of the Cow – Chapter 1 / Page 7

by on November 30, 2011 at 2:36 am
Posted In: Chapter 1, Comic, Volume 1

Simon B:  Oh man, another close one this week!  This one’s my bad, since I actually got a bit too exhausted from Thanksgiving to get the script to Dew on time for arting.  But thanks to how amazing she is, she was able to get this done in a short amount of time that’s nothing less than awe inspiring!  I tell yah, she can come through in a pinch!

So we have our cowgirl Mui heading to school.  But as she starts heading away from home, she seems to be feeling a bit down!  Perhaps we can find out why coming soon?

And also, this page’s last panel was actually too large to fit into the comic this week, so keep an eye out!  You might find something has slipped in between this week’s page and next week’s!  Stay tuned!

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