tym godek

I had a good day. Thanks, everybody!

More good news!

The cover of the first issue of an upcoming new Concrete comic book series, Stars over Sand, written and drawn by Paul Chadwick. Hulking rock-man Concrete threatens a backpacker menacingly (the exact opposite of Concrete’s usual characterization) on a desert hilltop mottled with Inky shadows. The shadows also throw the backpackers upraised (in defense) hand into stark relief. A single, broken tree trunk lurches slightly, unsettlingly, off the center of the composition. It’s a scary image. Text reads “lost, lightning-struck, amnesiac. He looks at his hands. Odd… they are covered in stone.” Issue 1 of 5

Look at this cover! I’m not a multiple-cover kind of guy, but I am tempted to buy multiple covers here.

So much bad news going on, but this is good news! Sure, it doesn’t fix any of the bad stuff, but in a small way it does help.

Excited for this series!

I just had the misfortune of witnessing someone claiming Gustav Klimt’s the Kiss “looks like ai slop” so…

Sounds right.

One of the lucky ones! 😆

Looking at this Bluesky social map, I just look like I’m kind of lost, and… yeah, that tracks.

Yes 😂

A copy of Hyun Sook/Ryan Estrada’s book, Good Old Fashioned Korean Spirit. First comic bought(by me) in Wooster in around 25 years. (Coffee and Capes - a new storefront here in town.) Also, that’s my hand.

Hey @ryanestrada.com - we’ve got a brand new comics shop in my hometown after 15-20 years without one. Picked this one up as my first buy there!

A photograph of two pages from a printed comic, “some Gags Involving Mirrors” by Tym Godek. The first page (on the left) is a depiction of Dogbert of the Dilbert comic strip (by Scott Adams) sitting on the edge of a bed speaking to Dilbert himself, saying “everything you hate is a reflection of everything you love and everything you love is a reflection of you.” Another Dogbert sits in empty space below. On the top of the second page four Dogberts rotate around and invisible axis. The topmost Dogbert says “The mirror. The mirror.” Below, Dogbert sits on the edge of a bed much like on the first page and says “The Mirror!”

A photograph of one page of a printed comic, “some Gags Involving Mirrors” by Tym Godek. Dogbert, of the comic strip Dilbert by Scott Adams, sits on the edge of a bed. A horizontal line divides the page underneath. An empty space shows the dialogue, “the Mirror” ,

People are posting their takes on Dilbert to “honor” Scott Adams’ passing today, so I figured I could too. A couple of pages where I toyed with Dilbert pastiche in my comic “Some Gags Involving Mirrors.” This was the end of a piece called “Fun Things to do with Mirrors”

Rest, I guess, Scott Adams.

Novembre est terminé, si Tym le dit.

In case anyone was wondering, November is technically not over yet.

I don’t know what a skeep is, but I know those are the best of them.

Honor-bound to mention that space=time is a needlessly reductive shorthand when applied to how comics “work”, but it doesn’t hurt to think about it every once in a while. 😁

😂 I can see it.

Been thinking lately about how the old space=time adage might apply to 3 dimensions. More about pottery and the external dimensions there (cyclical shorts, etc…) but this format could be like the accordion/concertina books but in a “one-panel” comic instead of a strip.

Now go back and read the old page 8 & 9, but pretend they say 10 & 11, and also pretend that today is November 11th and we’ll be all caught up.

A comics page. 6 panels in 3 tiers. Panel 1 - an object resembling a spool of thread with a horizontal appendage lies on its side. We see 6 holes at its base. It appears to strain. Dialog comes from off panel. “Where the heck are you taking me anyway?” Panel 2 - a closer look at the appendage. The end - a wheel-like circle with two crossing axis bars - strains against the pavement. “Way out in the boonies… I don’t even know these streets, an’ I grew up here.” Panel 3 - the “spool” lay still. Something stirs from inside its center hole. “Just for some artsy-farts theater troop?” Panel 4 - a golden ball pops out from the center hole of the spool. “Oops. I mean avant garde. Heh heh.” Panel 5 - the ball rolls down the pavement from the spool. “Eric, if you don’t want to go, then don’t go. I wanna see what it’s all about!” Panel 6 - the ball seems to burst. In the distance the man (Eric) chases after the woman (Missy) “Missy. Wait.” Page 9/30

New page 9.

A comics page. 6 panels in 3 tiers. A conversation between a man and a woman. Panel 1 - they stand close together, her hand on his cheek. He slyly smiles “we could just skip it… go back to my place…” Panel 2 - the view shifts down slightly. We see they are embraced, but her arm drops. “Orrr… you could go back to your place alone…” Panel 3 - now at their feet. A small cylindrical object with a horizontal appendage sits on the oavement next to them. “Nah… you’d miss me.” Panel 4 - the cylinder, which resembles a spool of thread with a nail or screw stock into it, shakes and strains. “Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn’t.” Panel 5 - the cylinder falls. Six small holes - one in the center surrounded by five smaller equally spaced - are seen on the disc at the now-revealed base. “Either way I’d still [obscured]et to see the show.” Panel 6 - the cylinder rolls over until its appendage hits the ground, stopping it short. “Come on… don’t want to be late.” Page 8 of 30 (for real this time)

New page 8. This plus the new page 9 push the old 8 & 9 into 10 & 11 territory.

A comics page. One panel inset in the upper left in a larger scene. In the panel a young man (Eric) is talking to a young woman (I didn’t catch her name yet). They are coming out of an intimate embrace, her left hand still hovers near his jawline. Eric: “Babe, you know I’ll go. I’d do just about anything… for you.” She is smiling: “Yeah? Good…) The rest of the page - part of a 2-page spread - depicts an industrial lot the building there has a large overhead, garage-type door. (Continued on the next page.) Page 8/30

A comics page. No panels - a whole-page continuation of the scene on the previous page, an industrial lot. In the middle ground a roadside marquis with arrow and removable letters is seen. It spells out (with some letters missing, out of place, or with substitutions) “T NIGHT ONLY: THEATER OF THE THEAT[E]R OF TH [A]BSURD” A young couple stands in the foreground at the far right of the page. The woman beckons the man toward the industrial building: “cuz we’re here.” Page 9/30

Pages 8+9/30, spells out the acronym mentioned on page 6. You’re welcome.

A comics page. 6 panels in 3 tiers. The last panel is borderless. Panel 1 shows a man with slicked down bangs and a woman in chunky glasses and barrettes walking and talking. Other people pass by, but they are not important. You can tell because they’re kind of just scribbled in. The woman, smiling: “Ha-ha. Don’t be a jerk, Eric.” The man (Eric) echoes her smile: “I am what I am, you know.” Panel 2 - is s profile view of the conversant. Eric (looking more serious): “Seriously, though. If it’s any of that edgy bullshit…” the woman, smirks: “have I ever led you astray?” Panel 3 - close up on the man’s face, a sly grin and tilt of his head: “maybe. A time or two.” Panel 4 - the woman smirks and side-eyes Eric. Panel 5 - the woman moves in smiling, for a playful punch to Eric’s chest: “You Jerk!” He reacts with a slight feint and a grin. Panel 6 - the man and woman embrace in a kiss. Page 7 of 30

Page 7/30. Finally! Some action! 😜

A comics page. 6 panels with other overlayed panels/images. Panel 1 is obscured by a cell phone shape. An irregular pyramid with feet is being attacked on the right by a fucked up giraffe-thing, and on the left by a fashionable dodo bird. Several -400 counters accompany the attacks. P 2 - a man in a knit cap taps on his phone. He looked frustrated and says, “c’mon…” In the background there is another man talking - maybe to you! His dialog is partly off-panel. “[obscured]ne is even listenin[obscured]” P 3 - the bottom of cap man’s face because the phone shape over panel one extends part way over panel 3. He looks upset. -400 symbols float in the air around him as he repeats, “don’t” “don’t” “don’t” Background man’s dialog continues too. “[obscured] get anyone d[obscured]” Overset on panel 3 and 4 are 2 panels depicting an in-game detail. In the first inset half a “life” is shown In the second it’s replaced by a burst of some sort. P 4 - “GAME OVER” text and the pyramid lying on its side. Dialog comes from three sources (the dialog is different colors.) Cap man (indicated by the same color dialog as the other panels he speaks in) says “aw, cripes” Background man says “[obscured]ome days i barely [obscured]n look at boxes.” The third bit of dialog comes from parts unknown, as we haven’t seen this color dialog before. “You don’t know, you might even enjoy it!” P 5 - cap man leans back in the bus stop shelter, sighing a “phff”. Background man leans into the panel saying, “[obscured] to see my boxes some time?” Another dialog (new color) says “Right. I doubt that. Isn’t it just like… weirdo performance crap.?” P 6 - shifts to the source of the new dialogs. A man and a woman are walking together, away from us. Background man seems to react to this change of viewpoint “okay… I.. maybe see you later?” The woman’s dialog is ovekayed on top of this. “TOTTOA are not crap. They’re just… forward thinking.” The man replies “Ohh… I get it. They’re “Deep.” Page 6/30

Page 6/30 - Game over, man.

A comics page. The main layout is 6 panels in tiers of 2, but there are also two vertical panels overlayed on top of panels 1 through 4, mostly obscuring panels 1 & 2 especially. It’s difficult to tell what is depicted in the first two panels, but an unintelligible (obscured) dialog definitely runs throughout. The overlay panels depict some kind of pixelated mobile video game (phone screen). An irregular red pyramid-like structure with a split opening seems to traverse across a yellow and green landscape. Leg-like appendages emerge from the split and seem to be the manner of locomotion. Pixelated bird-things fly right to left across the screen. There is some kind of in-game display overlay, but it’s unclear what it all represents. Could be a scoring system or “lives” left. It seems to be a progress bar at the bottom. Panel 3 - only partially obscured by the “screen” panels - depicts a closer view of the game. One of the bird-things appears to have collided with the pyramid. There is a negative number indicated in red, kind of looks like negative 400. Panel 4: a man who might be wearing a knit cap is gritting his teeth in concentration or frustration. A tap tap tap tap tapping noise dominates the panel. Behind the man an unintelligible dialog continues. Panel 5: a finger taps on the screen. A fucked-up looking giraffe or something approaches the pyramid. In the background the dialog continues. All we can make out of that is “diff” “it” and “yw” so not a lot to go on. The tapping continues too. Panel 6: one of the leg-appendages emerges from the pyramid and connects a blow to the giraffe-thing. A positive indicator appears, maybe +500 or 600? The tapping continues. Page 5/30

The other day I actually fell asleep drawing that last page. I can honestly say that has never happened to me before.

Here’s page 5.

A comics page. Five panels in three tiers. The first panel spans the width of the page and the following tiers have two panels each. A man is speaking while waiting at a bus stop. Panel 1: the man looks downward, unfocused. He absentmindedly scratches at his chest. “it’s hard. to find time, you know.” “Sometimes you have to choose…” Panel 2: the focus shifts slightly to the man’s right. Behind him a man in a knit beanie cap (or tobaggan, what have you. I never know what to call them) is sitting on a bench tapping on his phone. In the foreground, the man continues, “Like… organize my boxes or do the dishes?something has to give.” Panel 3: focusing past the first man, the toboggan guy starts to become the focus. He tap tap tap tap taps on his phone. The first man continues. His dialog starts to be cut off by the panel border, but can still be mostly made out. “i don’t know if people [obscured]ealize how long it takes to do it.” Panel 4: full focus is on toboggan guy now. Or knit cap guy. Whatever. He is furiously tapping on his phone, as depicted by a cloud of the word “TAP” surrounding him. The first man’s dialog continues but is mostly obscured now. “[obscured] how? [obscured] do it ri[obscured]” Panel 5: looking over cap guy’s shoulder at his phone in his hands. On the phone is a pixelated image of red pyramid-like structure with a split opening. It seems to traverse across a yellow and green landscape. Cap dude continues his rhythmic tapping. The first man’s dialog comes from off panel, cut off but discernible for the most part. “i want my boxes to make [obscured] but not… too, too obvio[obscured]” Page 4/30

Really ripping through these 30-days this year, huh?
Page 4/30

A comics page in 5 panels, over 3 tiers. In the first panel a bird looks at a star shaped spool on the pavement. The second panel shows a man, talking to you or the narrator. Over his head the bird flies away with the spool now in its mouth. The man says: “one time I had to eat a pretty large quantity of crackers. Like… all at once.” A narrative caption interrupts, in all caps: “NATE CAMPBELL IS S NAME PERHAPS YOU’VE NEVER HEARD.” Panels 3 and 4 are divided but depict a continuous minimal street scene. The man stands in panel 3 but slightly overlapping the border into 4. He speaks in panel 3: “you… i… um…” The narration continues: “OR MAYBE YOU HAVE BUT YOU DON’T REMEMBER” In panel 4 the narration continues: “THAT’S POSSIBLE. EVEN LIKELY, FOR NICK IS S MAN UNLIKE ANY OTHER.” The man: “i eat a lot of crackers…” Panel five takes up the whole third (and last) tier. It’s mostly narrative text partially overlaid on top of the man’s face. The narration goes: “BORN WITH A COMPLETE INABILITY TO MAKE ANY KIND OF LASTING IMPRESSION HE LEADS A QUIET LIFE OF WTETCHED ISOLATION. HE IS NICO CRUMBUM…” And then, in larger letters over the man’s face: “THE MAN WITHOUT CHARISMA” The man: “it’s Noah, actually. my name is… so… Page 3 of 30

And, as promised earlier, page three.

A comics page. 5 panels in 3 tiers so that the first four panels divide the top 2 tiers equally (2 panels each) and the bottom tier is only one “double-wide panel. Panel one depicts the lower half of a man’s body, focusing more on the ground beneath him. A crumpled paper bag lies st his feet and a bird descends from the top right towards the bag. The man speaks: “i collect cracker boxes” The next panel focuses in further on the now landed bird, examining the paper bag. The bird’s body begins to obscure the man’s continuing dialog. “From all over… all periods of design. You know of histor[obscured]” Panel three, the bird pokes its head into the bag. Dialog continues: “[obscured]ut also, like… um… [obscured]ou can learn a lo[obscured]rom just everyday packa[obscured] Panel four. The bird jolts upright as the bag is stuck on its head. “[obscured]nd… oh! and cookies [obscured]ometimes too. th[obscured]e are [obscured]ulture [obscured]ckers cook[obscured]s a[obscured] vice v[obscured]rsa.” Panel 5, multiple overlapping images of the bird as it shakes the bag off its head. Also falling from the bag is a flat star-shaped spool for thread, which seems to have old, broken-off bits of thread, in various colours. A small wooden crossbar sticks out of the middle of the star, and another small rod is joined to that at a right angle. Dialog continues: “[obscured]d of cours[obscured] can’t [obscured]eep the [obscured]kers in t[h]e packag[obscured]g th[obscured]y co[me] in … Page 2 of 30

Page two of thirty.

No internet at the house last night (gasp!) so I couldn’t post a page for 30-days. Guess I’ll post two tonight. I tried 🤷🏻‍♂️

A comics page, three panels: one large square on top of two equal smaller square panels. The large panel depicts a diminutive, round headed man waiting at a bus stop amid a busy city scene. He stands with slightly slumped shoulders and arms hanging at his side. One hand holds a plastic grocery bag that appears to have something in it. Around him other people pass by, or lounge on the nearby bench. A bird is visible at the foot of a trash can to the right of the man. Across the top of the panel there is a lot of text. Introductory narration in all caps: “LOOK AND YOU WILL FIND THEM, THE LIGHTS IF OUR TIME. WINNERS. BORN LEADERS. THE LUCKY FEW. MORE THAN MERELY INTERESTING, THEIR COMMANDING PRESENCE INSPIRES CONFIDENCE, COMFORT, TRUST, AND DEMANDS YOUR WILLING CONSIDERATION. NATHAN CRUMBWELL EXHIBITED NONE IF THESE TRAITS. BORN WITH AN UTTER INABILITY TO HILD ANYONE’S SUSTAINED ATTENTION, HE LIVES IN A WORLD HE CAN NEVER TRULY BE A PART OF. HE IS BAT CRUMBWELL…” And then in large text: “THE MAN WITHOUT CHARISMA” Panel two is a closer view of the man’s face. He speaks directly to the reader, or maybe to the narrator. His dialogue is all lower case: “i wouldn’t say it’s all bad…” Panel three focuses on his abdomen, where his free hand scratches his belly, “scrtch scrtch” He continues: “i’ve got a decent job. my hobbies…” Page 1 of 30

Re-starting* 30 days of comics late this year.
(*-I posted the wrong thing a second ago.)

Anyway, still shooting for one-a-day and still shooting for thirty.

Here’s page one: meet Nathan Parker Crumbwell.

I’m traveling today - and all this week - 30 days of comics will be spotty.
When I post them just pretend you’re reading on the day I drew it.

I do like some Shrigley in the way I can also appreciate, like, some middling gag strip or something. (Maybe a little more than that, but hit-and-miss)