ryanmakescomics

Today's Funny Farm comic

2008-05-15T15:00:33Z

Since Keenspot's updater still is not working, I'll temporarily post today's comic here:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v359/dalvatron/20080515a.gif

Fanart is a blessing and a curse

2008-05-12T06:18:50Z

Unfortunately, I am guilty of playing Grand Theft Auto 4. The other series were boring work to me, but Rockstar put the fun back with this incarnation. I wouldn't even have bought this instant, if it weren't for a sale online that saved me $10. I'm certainly not as far as my friends, since they don't have the extra responsibilities I possess. Still, please forgive me if I take a few moments away from website work to indulge in some fun.

Banished:
Here be the strip that was originally meant to air last week!
http://banishedonline.com/d/20080512.html

I have to warn you that Brandon's hectic schedule may mean future sporadic updates. :\

So much effort goes into making the comics that it's easy to neglect stuff like website maintenance, promotions, etc. In this case it's finding a suitable place to keep fan art that other artists so graciously provide us. We love the stuff! Trust me when I say that! It's just that I'm a horrible person when it comes to the web work involved in archiving them. Much like I did with Funny Farm, I may create a flickr account and store the art pieces there.

Funny Farm:
http://funnyfarmcomics.com/
Not much to say, other than it looks like Gulius' exotic road trip has finally met its end. Doesn't mean the surprises will cease now that he's at Mike and Joy's place!

No comic. Have fan art instead.

2008-05-07T17:17:31Z

It looks like Brandon's job was the culprit for the delayed comic. I'm in possession of it now, but since it's already Wednesday I figure I'll keep holding onto it for Monday's update. In the comic's place, we got a neat bit of fan art from Jason Miller!

http://banishedonline.com/

An excellent job at both drawing and color. :)
You can find more of his artwork here: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/jasonmiller/

Funny Farm news:
http://funnyfarmcomics.com/

This isn't the first time I've abused animals in the comic. Mewn ran over a horse with farm equipment not long ago. A monkey is trapped under the Atlantic ocean. The list goes on....
I'm still working on Book 3, but with the recent house and puppy purchases, it's been hard to dedicate time on it. :\

No new Banished?

2008-05-06T18:50:16Z

I have some theories on why there's no new Banished strip up.

1. Brandon recently just moved and the internet got busted up again.

2. Brandon recently got a new daytime job and that, plus his other art obligations, got in the way of making a new comic.

3. I have somehow horribly offended Brandon and he quit without telling me.

I think #1 is the most likely scenario, but you'll find out when I do. :)

Funny Farm still updates, though:
http://funnyfarmcomics.com/

People seem to think Gulius will be pulled over by the cops. It's as if they believe driving with a dead moose squished in your car is bad thing.

I needed a week off

2008-05-05T06:17:54Z

My intentions were to update this daily, but last week....oooooh boy. So much was happening all at once. Enough to make writing in here low on the priority list. I'll see what I can do this week, however.

Funny Farm:
http://funnyfarmcomics.com/

"I" know female moose don't have horns, but I like to make characters ignorant of that fact. Or maybe I'm just covering my own ignorance by saying that. I guess we'll never know. ;D

Banished:
http://banishedonline.com/

There is no Banished update (yet), only because I'm not in possession of a comic to update with. :\

More on that later.

"Naked news is off the air" was up there for 3 months...

2008-04-24T02:17:40Z

http://www.funnyfarmcomics.com/d/20080424.html

I finally put the effort into getting the dropdown storyline box updated. It's easy to forget that little thing is there!
It still has some bugs to work out (because it's not the easiest thing in the world to program), but I'll get to them the next update. I know for certain the next comic series will have a much more simplified method of directing you to stories.

I may try that Oh No Robot thing to make individual strip searches possible too.

You may notice me experimenting in different layout and styles in recent comics. It's just me practicing up new techniques for when the brand new comic series begins. Hard to believe it's only a few months away. :\

Gulius should've been gay

2008-04-23T02:19:11Z

Sorry folks who exclusively read Banished. Since Funny Farm updates daily, I guess it'll get the most attention here in the blog. \:)

http://www.funnyfarmcomics.com/d/20080423.html

Whenever I write Gulius in a scenario like this (I forget how often it has been done to him) I always think to myself "Gulius totally should have been a closeted homosexual". He always exaggerates when he flips out upon seeing two guys showing affection, like someone trying to pretend he doesn't really like it. Plus he's always angry, which could be due to keeping his gayness bottled up. It all makes sense!

Thing is he's not gay and I've always been paranoid someone is expecting me to "out" him.

I'm also noting a lack of lesbians in my comic. That's maybe due to every other comic out there being overrun with the things.

Streamlined!

2008-04-21T18:14:14Z

http://funnyfarmcomics.com/

Updated and simplified the main page. Includes a tag board even.

Perhaps I'm not as horrible at gaming comics as I think!

2008-04-21T06:23:04Z

I drove back from my home city not long ago. It's late and Moose has a puppy appointment tomorrow (technically today) morning, so I gotta' make this brief.

Banished!
http://banishedonline.com/d/20080421.html

Brandon makes the best expressions! It's amazing what Rak can survive. It's just a shame every obstacle keeps getting worse and...more irritating.
I know there's still a lot missing from the site, such as the art page and some of the link to various other sites who have generously linked to our comic. I swear I'll get to it this week! :\

Funny Farm
http://funnyfarmcomics.com/

Ha ha! Joystiq (a great big gamer blog) added the comic featuring a...."unique" twist to Brawl in their weekly webcomic roundup.
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/20/weekly-webcomic-wrapup-minus-garfield-plus-lair/#comments
Take THAT, Penny Arcade! ;D
(actually, PA is one of my favorite comics. Not because of the video game content, but rather how Tycho and Gabe produce a finely crafted comic strip in general).
I reckon' the people coming in from Joystiq will be sorely disappointed to see that FF isn't the type of comic they typically read....

THIS is the last video game related comic (at least of Brawl).

2008-04-16T02:56:17Z

http://funnyfarmcomics.com/d/20080416.html

Pom has been lewd with games before and it's not the first time he brought up GOATSE...

However, if you're unfamiliar with what's being parodied in today's strip, for the love of god only google for text descriptions. Looking at the pics and video of these things will possibly make you throw up on the very computer you're sitting at.
In fact, there's plenty of youtube videos dedicated to people's reactions while viewing 2 GIRLS 1 CUP. Watch that instead...

Some cartoonists would say that an artist should draw his material; not use images taken directly out of the game. If I recreated those scenes by hand, the humor would totally be lost since I doubt I could recreate them faithfully. Besides, it was too much fun trying to get these poses on my game! ;D

What is it with me and putting bugs in both comics?

2008-04-14T06:37:08Z

Another exciting and busy week for me. This time it involves buying lawn care supplies for the very first time. The snow is almost melted and I'm sure the back yard will keep me busy with its plenitude of yellowy green grass. A lot of landscaping has to be done before my yard becomes less homely looking too. I have to pace myself, however, which is why this year is solely dedicated to removing brambly bushes and creating some flowers/bushes beds. My mom will come over and help me with that, since I know diddly about buying flowers....

I mostly just want the current bushes gone. Do you know how much fun it is to try pulling bramble from a puppy's fur? It's fantastic!

Banished news:
http://banishedonline.com/d/20080414.html

Maybe Rak was wise in shoving Timbo into the safety of...wherever that teleporter leads to. Even if he does survive the onslaught of the Boscis missiles, you just know something even worse will be waiting to pounce on our cranky hero. ;)
I love that stick, btw! It's made an appearance before and I'm sure I'll shoehorn it into future stuff!

Funny Farm news:
http://funnyfarmcomics.com/

Yes I made two video game themed strips this weekend!
Smash Bros. Brawl...well, who didn't expect me to reference it at least once? Team Fortress 2 may be more obscure to the non-gamers out there, but It's a great game and if it weren't for Brawl I'd still be playing it. :)
I like to keep in touch with the video game biz and once I even thought about making a new comic based on the genre. Judging by my recent work, maybe it's for the best I didn't. :\
Online comics may be numerous in numbers, making it difficult for anything new to get an audience, but the gaming genre is just as tough. It's like a double whammy in that regard. Plus, Keenspot started God Mode and got all "meh" about the subject....

God. Mario Kart Wii and Grand Theft Auto 4 is almost upon us. Where's an illegal immigrant to help with my yard work when I need them the most?

I'm also still working on character designs on my next comic series. Remember that FF april fools strip? Yeah, the characters that appeared totally look different now. ;)

Bon Voyage, Timbo

2008-04-07T05:30:57Z

Whew. Working nights last week and taking care of an increasingly rambunctious puppy sure took it's toll on me. I briefly became sick with a flu, no less. It was my first time trying Buckley's medicine and besides tasting like 300% concentrated cough syrup I rather liked it. I think it did the trick and made my weekend much more bearable.

Much of it was spent catching up with sleep at my parent's, but that's beside the point.

Banished news:
http://banishedonline.com/d/20080407.html

Andrew did an excellent job illustrating the comics, but Brandon is back now and will continue for the long run. I do hope to have Andrew back some day, though.
We're still updating once a week, but there's always worse. Right? Right.
Sad news for the main duo of the series, however. Will Rak come to regret this decision? We'll find out soon enough.

Funny Farm news
http://funnyfarmcomics.com/

It's been about 8 years since Boe and Mileena first met. It's kinda' about time they became a legitimate couple. :)
Ront might be disturbed by this talk, due to being close friends with both. It's like a brother, or sister talking about sloppy kisses and you're all, like, "BLEAH!".
I haven't forgotten about streamlining the FF main site, too. Considering how many people miss it, a shoutbox of some sort will probably be implemented as well.
When I get a good free moment of time! ;(

April Fools!

2008-04-01T06:41:24Z

http://funnyfarmcomics.com/

Granted, it's not the silliest thing I've ever done, but it should provide you with some unexpected hijynx. I'm not gonna' explain it. I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out what I'm showing ya' on your own. :)

http://banishedonline.com/

I'm not sure why Banished! isn't up on the site. I put the strip in the server and told it to update. I'm guessing it's just very slow right now....
I'll alert ya' when it's working!

Right now I'm waiting for the washing machine to finish before going to bed. Who knew puppies like to pee on stuff?!

Puppy distractions and Easter

2008-03-24T07:05:54Z

I worked all Easter, so I'm pretty pooped!
Fortunately Moose (ze puppy) has been adapting to her new surroundings pretty well. She's able to do things by herself without me holding her paw. I'm ESPECIALLY glad I don't have to sleep on the floor with her anymore. That wasn't the most comfortable experience ever...

Banished:
http://banishedonline.com/d/20080324.html
Guest artist is...Brandon! Surprise!
Brandon was originally supposed to resume the drawing of Banished! now, but he's very preoccupied at the moment. I'm not even sure where he is at the moment....
That's okay, however. Andrew is happy to continue in the meantime. :)
We're very lucky to have him!

Funny Farm:
http://funnyfarmcomics.com/
It's nice that the exceedingly dramatic material is behind us now...but what do you suppose is happening next? Is there more to this grandfather clock than meets the eye?!
Besides the erroneous VI that's in the Sunday strip. :p

Things I have decided about my next comic ventures are that I'm no longer doing anything in color.
I'm not a big fan of how I color, due to the limited amount of time I have to do it. Things look great when you dedicate the effort into it, but that's a luxury I don't seem to have nowadays.
Plus, it's expensive to publish stuff with color. That should go without saying. :\

More news about my future strip endeavors later!

Puppy Distractions

2008-03-17T06:11:50Z

First the comic news:

Funny Farm
http://funnyfarmcomics.com/d/20080316.html
Almost all the FF villains have been removed from the comic, one way or another. Could PC be sharing a similar fate?!
....and....is that...? That can't possibly be who I think it is left behind in the last panel of today's comic!

Banished
I got the comic after I left town for the weekend. I'll edit it up and have the strip uploaded tomorrow evenin'!

In other news:

Meet my latest distraction!

(Bah! I don't know why the image isn't embedding. Here's the link though: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2324/2339173491_418f32084d.jpg)

d'aaaaawwww!

In truth, Mr. Mayers will probably just wear sunglasses

2008-03-11T02:19:03Z

Oh man! I've got so many distractions going on. Smash Bros. Brawl is one thing, but I'm also working nights, have an impending dentist appointment and....a puppy to pick up tomorrow! My house will soon be home to all sorts of pettables before I know it. :O
A lot of pre-puppy preparations had to be made today. A baby gate had to be assembled, snow shoveled to allow back yard access and cleaning the bathroom....for when my puppy-sitter arrives tomorrow while I'm at work.

I've been toiling extra hard to get comics made during this crazy period. Some...edits need to be made when I get back home ("Venessa"? Really?), but I'm all gung-ho about making 'em, because the drama themes are behind me now. Wee! :D

http://www.funnyfarmcomics.com/d/20080311.html

I shouldn't forget the oh so important Brawl friend code:

5026 4129 4962

Post yours where I can see 'em, and I'll add you ASAP. Don't expect to see me during normal playing hours this week, however. I won't get to play until after midnight and in the early afternoon...

The mind wants to play more Brawl, but the flesh is weak...

2008-03-10T05:24:56Z

I wonder if all game stores everywhere were as crowded as the one I visited while buying Smash Bros. Brawl. I got to play a fair deal with my friend and I approve of the game! I won't have the friend code until I'm back at home, however. Tomorrow I'll post it and the exchanges can take place.

It would seem in my haste to leave on Friday, I forgot to upload Funny Farm's Monday's comic. I'll have it up again tomorrow afternoon, so don't worry.

Banished, however, updated!
http://banishedonline.com/

That's all from me. Gotta' get my sleeps before traveling back home tomorrow and working an evening shift at the hospital. :\

I got your Banished! right here! shakes fist

2008-03-04T06:37:09Z

Sorry for the delay. Like I said, it's pretty much my fault, what with me waiting until the last minute to get things done. :\

http://banishedonline.com/d/20080303.html

Timbo is always prepared to philosophize at the most inopportune times. Rak's probably used to that by now.
I'm pleased as punch at Andrew's work with these strips. Even though we're operating at a schedule that offers the least number of strips possible, things are going quite smoothly. Now that I can say that, I might begin looking into advertising again. You can never have enough readers, after all! Please pimp us wherever you can. ;)

http://funnyfarmcomics.com/

It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, now that the bulk of DRAMA is behind us. I hope I don't appear too whiny when I talk about stuff like this. I'm not looking for sympathy, just in case some are wondering. I just figure a few of you might be interested in what's going through my head during the comic making process.
Speaking of which, I recently acquired Painter. I may be experimenting with it on future comics (coloring, shading, etc). That way I'll determine whether if it'll be useful on my future projects. I'm trying to experiment with different styles so that my next comic series doesn't look like Funny Farm, but with different characters. :p

I have also grown to dislike how the current FF site looks. When I have time, I'm going to significantly simplify it...and hopefully program this LJ blog to conform with it better. Probably remove some of the ads, as well.
Banished! still needs all its ad banners, however! The bulk of the proceeds goes towards the artist! :o

Finally!

2008-03-03T08:09:54Z

Just FYI, there are times when I just don't feel like typing any news. I sit back, let the strips update and go about my other business. There's a heckuva' lot of other business for me to do, sadly. ;(

But, today I do feel like typing!

http://banishedonline.com/
First thing I'll mention is that Banished! is going to have a late update. It's mostly my fault, because I may have misplaced the final version of today's strip. I would have noticed it was missing sooner, if life wasn't distracting me so much right now. As soon as Andrew gives me the inked copy of today's comic, I'll get it up and alert you to the update!

http://funnyfarmcomics.com/
Funny Farm, I'm happy to say, has now entered the conclusion of the horribly long, dramatic storyline that's been tying up the loose ends to some of our favorite recurring major nemeses. That last Sunday strip? The one with the mystery and blood and death? That's about it for all the serious stuff. Everything is going to be happy and fun from now on. Up until the ultimate ending, at least. That makes me content, because as I said before dramatic story lines sap all my energy. It's probably all the exposition that's involved. I dunno'.
I am happy with how the pacing came out. Not too fast. Not too slow. Just enough to get the story out the door without missing any relevant info. It's tougher than you think, all you non-cartooning folk out there! ;)

To end things off, here's a youtube vid of my pets.
Did you know I have two ferrets? Now you do!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw2oD92a3Lw

I thought I uploaded this last night...

2008-02-19T18:34:04Z

New Banished strip is up!
http://banishedonline.com/d/20080218.html

I guess I uploaded it wrong, because it was supposed to be available to read this morning. :\
In a perfect world, I'd dedicate more time to the battles between the Strix and Boscis. The story isn't about them, though! This is merely demonstrating what's going on, while we go back to see what Rak and Timbo are up to. The current Banished story is very close to ending. So very close....
My goal is to at least make it that far before debating whether or not to continue the comic series.

Funny Farm also continues its ending:
http://funnyfarmcomics.com/w/20080211.html

Whenever I do reeeeeally long storylines in FF, I generally get sick of making the comics. This is no exception. ;(
It's almost over and soon we'll be back to some fun content before the finale hits....um....maybe by the end of summer. It's difficult to guess, because this current story is taking longer than anticipated. Woops!

The good news is that if I end FF without finishing up some of the extra story bits I have planned, they can be bonus material for future books. ;)

Where's Banished?

2008-02-19T06:56:43Z

I've been catching up on all the things I procrastinated on, back when I was sick. In my haste I neglected to notice I only had the sketch version of the newest Banished! strip. Andrew has since provided me with the inked version, but I'm too exhausted now to finish it up.

I'll tell ya' when it's up tomorrow! :)

Sick

2008-02-12T04:59:58Z

I got hit with a wicked cold last Tuesday and just now it's almost gone.
Wasn't too horribly painful, but it sucked the energy right outta' me. Motivation to do anything in negative numbers...

http://banishedonline.com/d/20080211.html
Banished update introduces Gavol. He likes to practice tough love.

http://funnyfarmcomics.com/
Funny Farm...well, continues with its resolution. Someone asked if fans of FF will like my new comic project. Hard to say, but humor and adventure will be involved, just different characters and setting. It'll be worth checking out. :)

Wii friend codes have been inputted. Don't be alarmed if odd Miis start showing up...

My Wii friend code is 6474 5001 3779 1384

2008-02-04T06:24:57Z

Feel free to post your friend codes anywhere you like and I'll try to copy them down.
I'm sure I'll have other games that feature friend codes (Advance Wars: Days of Ruin has it, if anyone else is playing), which I'll post here in the future *ahemSmashBrosahem*. ;)

Funny Farm:
The strip continues its ending and secrets are still being discussed among the characters. Soon we'll be discovering the fate of original Boe and the climax of this story (9 years in the making) will appear!
http://funnyfarmcomics.com/d/20080204.html
I'd like to point out that even though I still am in the Daily Grind contest, I'm only maintaining my daily updates so that the momentum to FF's ending doesn't end. When Funny Farm is over, I have no intention of being in that contest any further. That means I'm probably having a month vacation from cartooning, before starting my next webcomic project(s). :)

Banished:
Andrew continues his beautiful black and white strips as another comic enters a rather exciting story arc:
http://banishedonline.com/d/20080204.html
Banished was conceived to tell its story with a 3-day-a-week update schedule. As mentioned earlier, we can only do 1-a-week now and guarantee a dependable update time. The story may slow down a bit, but the strips should continue to entertain. :)

Oh, and the forum link has been added. I'll keep adding the missing links as we go on. Busy busy!

Darn lucky Japan

2008-02-01T07:57:14Z

The one game I've been looking forward to the most is released in Japan right now. Countless spoiler videos are out about Smash Bros. Brawl and I have to go into quasi internet hermit-dome to avoid them. ;(
Secret character reveals I don't mind, but vids including various scenes (including the ending) I don't wanna' hear about.

In Funny Farm news, the Pete saga continues:
http://funnyfarmcomics.com/d/20080201.html
As mentioned before, not EVERY detail is going to be brought up in this story. You'll have to do an archive trawl to find all the nods I made about his secret identity.
I've been hearing some positive feedback, so I'm content knowing Funny Farm is at least ending on a hight note. I should make more publicity about this, but that requires much more effort than I have time to spare. :\

In Banished news:
I was in such a rush with the latest web site updates that I forgot to include links to the other pages. The forum still exists and I'll have a link to it again next update. I swear!

Are there many Wii owners out there, btw?
This may be a good opportunity to hand out friend codes...

Comic for Wednesday

2008-01-30T07:34:25Z

I'm not sure why the comic didn't update, but the parts of Keenspot that allow me to manually update aren't working at the moment.

Here's today's comic, until I can correct this problem on the site.