News: October 2000

         

Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2000
    The strip you see above is the Third Place prize from the Avalon Hockey Pool, awarded to BoxJam! And not really related but important nonetheless, BoxJam's Doodle has achieved a significant milestone... except we're not being told what it is. :-) You can have a guess at it at BoxJam's Doodle.
    Oh yeah, it's Hallowe'en. :-) Just a reminder to check out HalloKeen 2000, Keenspot's ode to the holiday. You'll also want to check out Fright Night II, a crossover event featuring dozens of webcomic artists.
    And the CGI problems have been fixed; we can go back to loading up the forum with nonsensical chatter. ;-)

Monday, Oct. 30, 2000
    Anyone in Canada who gets Teletoon on TV will have to see the new For Better or For Worse cartoon, which starts November 4. It's on Saturdays and Sundays, at 8:30pm and 11:30pm. Not only is the series based on Lynn Johnson's world-famous syndicated comic strip, but it's being produced here in downtown Ottawa by independent Funbag Studios. And if they're going to make a cartoon out of Johnson's Canadian comic strip, maybe they'll make one out of *my* Canadian comic strip... ;-)

Sunday, Oct. 29, 2000
    Yeah, that's Phoebe: Princess Warrior up there. :-) And you have Damonk to thank for this one... he's a regular in the forum, walking around half-dead all the time or somethin'. :-) He also draws a really cool comic called Framed! (I don't know how many exclamation marks are supposed to be at the end of the title). And he's a Canuck from the Maritimes, which explains an awful lot of things... ;-)
    Oh, hey, new poll! The last one was a blow-out, the cat people taking 54% of the vote. Dog people cam way behind with 22%. 17% of voters like both cats and dogs, and the remaining 7% hate both. And don't worry about a lack of options in this week's poll... the girls are on the list next week. :-)

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2000
    If I don't have two comics up tomorrow, there will be one here on Saturday.
    And in a lame attempt to gain some retribution for the lateness, I finally updated some of the Avalon link icons. They now come in Ceilidh, Joe, and Phoebe varieties. You can find them in the Banners/Icons section, hidden away under Misc.

Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2000
    My sincerest apologies, but there won't be a new comic up today. I decided last night that today's midterm would take priority over today's comic strip. :-) And I have *another* midterm tomorrow as well, and then a bit of a break before another one next week. But hopefully I can have today's comic up on Thursday, and everything on schedule again by the weekend.

Monday, Oct. 23, 2000
    A good number of people have e-mailed me recently about some really annoying ads from "speedyclick.com." Apparently these ads open a pop-up browser window after you leave the page. I personally haven't seen these ads myself. Also, I'm not responsible for what ads appear on this site... that's Keenspot's responsibility, and they get them from a middle-man ad provider. Keenspot has asked the provider to block the speedyclick ads, and time will tell if the ads will go away. In the meantime, feel free to contact Keenspot with any more ad-related problems.

Sunday, Oct. 22, 2000
    Today's Guest Artist Sunday strip is by David "Platypus" Formosa (a regular over in the forum). It's based upon this strip, and refers to the duality and subtext that we all love so much. ;-)
    Also, I took a trip to Kingston yesterday (2 hours from where I live), and it was the perfect day for driving. If you want to see what the Ontario countryside looks like in the fall, take a look at these photos: 1, 2, 3. These were taken on the 401 highway heading south, which you can see on the map to Avalon.

Friday, Oct. 20, 2000
    The Cast section just got a huge update... you can find info on just about any character to have appeared in Avalon. Also, each character has a set of links to some important strips in which they appeared. So if you ever want to know about a character, their history, connections to other characters, or even if you just need to attach a name to a face, make sure to check the cast page!

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2000
    Happy birthday, Corey! And CONGRATS! :-)

Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2000
    Well, the page for Fright Night II said something was going down yesterday. But it didn't. Someone's trying to confuse me. Bah...

Monday, Oct. 16, 2000
    Yeah, Hallowe'en's rearing it's ugly head once again, and Keenspot's gonna celebrate it... um... Keenspot style! Check out Hallowkeen 2000 to see how the Keenspot comics catch the spirit (awful pun intended) of the occassion!
    You'll also want to keep an eye on Fright Night II, a project being taken on by webcartoonists at large, which starts today.

Sunday, Oct. 15, 2000
    Here's another Guest Artist Sunday comic from Aaron Sacharow and Dan Jaaren of Clan Bob. I like this one a lot. :-) You can check out their submission from last Sunday, along with all the other Guest Artists' comics, in the Sundays section.
    Aaaaaaand... today is the final day of Avalon Life over at Caster's comic, What/s a Life. So if you haven't seen it yet, do so!

Saturday, Oct. 14, 2000
    Okay, so my comic strip still hasn't been printed in The Charlatan, but I'm gonna put it up here anyway. And just as some background info for those of you who don't attend Carleton University (um, is that all of you? ;-) ): There is a bar called Oliver's on the 1st floor of the Unicentre; OC Transpo is Ottawa-Carleton's public transportation service; and Taco Bell was in the Unicentre food court up until last summer... when it was unjustifiably taken from us! That annoying little freak chihuahua still has a place in my heart.

Friday, Oct. 13, 2000
    NEW POLL! As for last week's, it was a close one, but 33% of voters think Alan is the one who left the necklace for Ceilidh. Joe almost came in first, taking 32% of the vote. About 14% of people are disillusioned and think Ceilidh left it for herself. 13% of voters still have a soft spot for Phoebe, and the remaining 6% are willing to admit out loud that they thought it was Alison. ;-)

Thursday, Oct. 12, 2000
    Before you ask: 1 pica = one sixth of an inch. And now you know. :-)

Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2000
    If you're just wandering in from the Newsbox, then welcome to Avalon! I recommend everyone try to start from the beginning to fully understand the story thus far, or at the very least, start from the beginning of the school year. Also check out the Cast section to get familiar with the characters. Finally, feel free to hop on to the Avalon Forum to discuss the strip, ask questions, or to just chat with the locals!
    Oh, and if any of the regulars try to convince you to join their lynch mob, kindly decline. For my sake? Thanks. ;-)

Monday, Oct. 9, 2000
    Announcing the Avalon Store! Now you can buy Avalon clothing, mugs, or mousepads, and show off to all your friends! You also support Avalon with your purchases, and by showing everyone how much you love the comic! Hey, Christmas is coming, and these things could make great gifts! Okay, have I done enough frikkin' P.R. here? ;-) Check it out, already!

Sunday, Oct. 8, 2000
    Thanks to Aaron Sacharow and Dan Jaaren of Clan Bob for today's Sunday Guest Artist strip! And I hope I'm giving the right credit, because Aaron sent the e-mail, but it appears Dan drew the thing. So yeah, thanks! :-)

Saturday, Oct. 7, 2000
    I don't have a CUSA comic for today, since last Thursday's Charlatan appeared to be some stripped-down version without a CUSA Corner feature to put the comic in. So it'll be published this Thursday the 12th, and it'll be up here on Saturday the 14th.
    Also (and I'm sure Sierra's gonna love me for announcing this... :-) ) you can get free merchandise produced for the now-defunct Babylon 5 space-fighter game, Into The Fire. That's right, the game was cancelled (dammit), and this stuff is free. You just have to pay the shipping.

Friday, Oct. 6, 2000
    Terry "Caster" Harjanto has started his Avalon Life thingamajigger over at his comic, What/s A Life. So make sure to keep an eye on that!
    Also, Damonk, and Acadian lyncher (heh heh... ;-) ) has started his own new strip, Framed, which features a couple trapped in a comic strip. It's pretty funny so far, and has a unique art style, so check it out now, dagnabbit!

Thursday, Oct. 5, 2000
    Forgot to mention, I swindled Vincent of ESN to draw me a comic in return. And here it is! Note: Kid Rock finally gets what's comin' to him. Thanks Vincent; I feel for ya, man.
    And my apologies in advance, but Friday's comic will probably be a couple hours late. In short: Friday is a school holiday, the Ottawa Senators' season opener is tonight, and there are many sports bars in the region with TVs bigger than mine or my friends'.

Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2000
    I continue to suck up to Vincent. ;-)

Monday, Oct. 2, 2000
    Okay, got a whole lotta stuff to pack into today's news. First off, Selena "Kitsune76" Ulrich, a good friend of mine (can I call you a friend, Selena? ;-) ) has started a new webcomic today, called C.ulture Shocked. It's an English strip set in the States, so there'll be no shortage of material. ;-) As usual, it's quite a treat to be able to follow a strip daily from it's first day, so make sure you check it out!
    And after you've seen that, head on over to Ein Stück Natur. I was sick and tired of no new comics over there, so I drew one for him. Now we have to convince Vincent to start drawing his *own* again. ;-)
    There's some new Avalon fan art, too... the first one is by Erisu L., a very cool drawing of a depressed Ceilidh and a bilssfully oblivious Joe. :-) And the second is a big "realism" drawing of the cast that you really have to see for yourself, by Chris Cowley. Thanks to both of you for some kick-arse drawings! These and previous works can be found in the Fan Art section (which is nestled under Misc.).

Sunday, Oct. 1, 2000
    Thanks to MizonoL for today's Guest Artist Sunday! All the Lynchers should be able to appreciate this one. ;-)