Milo comic number ten

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I'm having a blast drawing Lou. I also like nervous hide-y Hank and his teddy. But frankly I'm as ready to get rid of the teddy as Hank is. Still have a few more strips to go with this though.

EDIT: (I just realized that the teddy-bear has the string on the wrong hand in this one. Damn you, editorial department!! You're supposed to catch these things BEFORE I post them!)

Chatting with Milo (or Hank)

So I'm testing out a new thing. I've installed a Digsby widget in the page, and now you can chat with Milo. Or if I'm feeling like letting Hank have his say, I may give Hank the chat access for a while. Obviously the Hank chats will be more colorful, but I thought it'd be cool to have a bit of fun with the characters and let people chat with them if they'd like.

If it gets out of hand, or people start abusing Milo, he'll go away, so be nice. Otherwise I'll have it be Lou the Cardinal chat, and he'll just sit there logging your IP addresses and compiling a list of people upon whom to visit his chainsaw fury.

Milo's coming...

I'll hopefully have something for you guys today, but it's not going to be a full strip. This weekend was all music and driving, so there was no time for comic-creation. I drove to St. Joseph, Missouri to sing in the wedding of a friend. The wedding was beautiful, and the reception a blast. I was happy to do it, and my part seemed to go over well. I sang "A Simple Song" by Leonard Bernstein, and it was such a nice space for singing. Only thing is, St. Joseph is 8 hours drive from Chicago, so I'm beat. I drove the 8 hours after working an almost full day on Friday. Left around 7:30 and got in around 3:30. Then I was too wired to sleep, because I'd been drinking caffeine to stay awake.

Needless to say, I wasn't feeling very fluffy or cloudlike. Milo had to go on the back burner this weekend. But that's cool, because I've got the next part of the multi-part story simmering. I think you'll dig it...if you've been digging it so far. And if you haven't, well, then maybe you'll start, because it's going to take a bit of a turn in a couple strips or so. Much as Lou makes me smile, he's not the whole story here.

The fun thing about doing this is that I've really started to think that I've got something that's continue-able. I've just met these characters as you have, and they're starting to really talk to me all day long. I'll see something or someone and I'll hear Milo or Hank commenting on the situation, which-while a bit unnerving-is really cool.

Anywho, might post something later tonight, if I can get my wake up enough to get my pen hand running on my lunch break. Hope everybody's Monday is as sunny and blue as mine looks.

Milo Comic Strip #9

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No real story here. Just loved the idea of a tiny cardinal chasing someone with scissors. And it happens to be Hank, because he's Hank. Hope everybody has a great weekend.

Milo Comic Strip #8

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Introducing Lou, the cardinal. The new character was initially going to be a grackle, because we saw these gawky hyperactive grackles in Mexico, and I loved them. Only problem is that I couldn't capture the personality in something that has to be drawn that small. My attempts ended up looking either too cartoon-y or too UN-cartoon-y, and I just wasn't happy with them. So I completely changed tack and went for completely the opposite personality. The grackle was going to talk a mile a minute and always be in motion. Lou, the cardinal, is going to be stoic and silent.

I figure you guys are going to get enough yakking out of Hank. Enjoy the matter-of-fact calm of Lou.

Hope everybody had a great Valentine's day.

Valentine - freebie

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This is just a quickie because I felt like there should be a Valentine from this crew. You know, for all the folks who end up going to the grocery store and picking up a sad batch of dyed carnations and a box of sad heart-shaped chocolates. Here's something you can print out and hand to your special someone to let them know that you cared enough to copy someone else's valentine and print it out for them. Or send it to them in an email, if you're REALLY gunning for that pole position in the Lame-o 500.

Or, you could do us all a favor and actually take twenty minutes on your lunch hour to write that person a love letter to let them know how much you care about them. Doesn't have to be on heart-shaped paper, or even have a doily fringe. Just tell them they mean the most to you.

And if you're smart, you'll copy a picture of Hank, and give it to them telling them that he's the official balloon of love this season, and that they should go check out his adventures with Milo at Milothecloud.com because that's what all the really soulful lovers are doing, and they want to be soulful lovers, don't they? No? Well, that's a shame.

Oh, sorry. I got attacked by one of those time-share a-holes while we were in Mexico, and I think it rubbed off on me a little.

Happy Valentines weekend. (that's right, spend the whole weekend, not just the day).

Milo Comic Strip #7

Click for full size as usual.

In which Hank flips out, and Milo tells us something profound about being a cloud.

Milo Comic Strip #6

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This is the first part of a longer storyline in which you'll meet some new characters.

Milo Comic Strip #5

Click the comic for full size - as usual.

I was out walking and saw a newly formed contrail. It made me think about Milo, and then I looked a little ways off where the contrail was quickly dissipating. Well, quicker than regular clouds at any rate. I wondered to myself if contrails would make very good friends, and then I thought about all those movies in which two people fall in love only to find out that Charlize Theron is dying and Richard Gere loves Winona Ryder anyway, and Michael Keaton is going to make a movie for the baby he's put in Nicole Kidman's belly, and well, you get the picture.

My head is a strange place. But you get these comics out of the deal, so quit your moanin'.