Sick-In-Bed Linkage

Comments Off | Posted: January 31st, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized

Back to watching The Jerk.


Go Read This | Steve Martin for Smithsonian Magazine

Comments Off | Posted: January 30th, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized

Steve Martin on “Being Funny”

A skillful comedian could coax a laugh with tiny indicators such as a vocal tic (Bob Hope’s “But I wanna tell ya”) or even a slight body shift. Jack E. Leonard used to punctuate jokes by slapping his stomach with his hand. One night, watching him on “The Tonight Show,” I noticed that several of his punch lines had been unintelligible, and the audience had actually laughed at nothing but the cue of his hand slap.

These notions stayed with me until they formed an idea that revolutionized my comic direction: What if there were no punch lines? What if there were no indicators? What if I created tension and never released it? What if I headed for a climax, but all I delivered was an anticlimax? What would the audience do with all that tension? Theoretically, it would have to come out sometime. But if I kept denying them the formality of a punch line, the audience would eventually pick their own place to laugh, essentially out of desperation. This type of laugh seemed stronger to me, as they would be laughing at something they chose, rather than being told exactly when to laugh.


In Which I Help Out One Of My Favorite Cartoonists

Comments Off | Posted: January 30th, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized

I’ve been informed (by more than one person) that sales of Jason‘s books aren’t what they should be. As much as guys like me pimp his work, he’s just not gaining any real traction in the direct market or the bookstores. That’s why I’ve decided to help him out with slight modifications that should, at the very least, double his sales.




The Rack: An X-Tinction Agenda | Blatant Self Promotion

Comments Off | Posted: January 30th, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized


The Sandwich Saga continues in the latest strip.

And while we’re here, I’m going to remind you all that you can read additional material by me when you pick up What Where They Thinking?!? Volume 1, where I get to join people like Keith Giffen, John Rogers, Michael Alan Nelson, and Johanna Stokes in the fine art of completely ruining old comic books with all-new dialogue. It’s goofy, trashy fun that has no redeeming qualities. So, you know, it’s perfect for you guys. Here’s what the cover looks like:


Tina Fey as Tinkerbell, courtesy of Annie Liebovitz.

Comments Off | Posted: January 29th, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized



From BestWeekEver.tv


The Rack: Staff Picks for the week of January 30, 2008

Comments Off | Posted: January 29th, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized


If you’re wondering what to get at your comics shop this week, the staff at Yavin IV have some sweet choices for you. There’s also a special message to you, the loyal reader of The Rack from me!


The Rack: Motive.

Comments Off | Posted: January 28th, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized


Ok, seriously, if anyone has a new iMac laying around they’ll just hand to Birdie, that’d be great. Until then, strips like this are going to be late. Sorry!


Just Watch This | Flight of the Concords, "The Humans Are Dead" (Some NSFW Language)

Comments Off | Posted: January 28th, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized

BONUS! The Promo Version, With Awesome Costumes!

So fucking tired, so don’t expect much more from me today. My flight got in at 2:30 AM. This is what happens when you make fun of the people with a busted door, isn’t it?


Kevin’s Travel Tips for 2008: #2 (Even More Las Vegas Edition: The Airport!)

Comments Off | Posted: January 27th, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized
  • Curbside Check-in is worth the $2 per bag charge on a Sunday. Especially if you only have one bag.

  • The security lines at McCarran International Airport move very quickly, so don’t flip out like ten ninjas when you see a long queue. I’ve finally learned that it’s ten, maybe fifteen minutes tops for them to move you through the line and ensure that you’re not carrying a bayonet or more than 4oz of any hair care product.
  • The slot machines are tempting, but don’t fuckin’ do it.
  • The same goes for buying a 42″ flat screen television or iPod just because maybe you got some roulette love after ignoring my earlier advice.
  • If you’re taking US Airways, make sure they attach the door to your plane properly prior to departure because that shit will seriously delay your efforts to return home. No, I am not making that up. (No, that’s not my flight. Ha.)

The Rack: A Less Peaceable Kingdom

Comments Off | Posted: January 25th, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized

I’m out and about and can’t link directly on my phone. Just go to TheRackComic.com


The Rack: A Peaceable Kingdom

Comments Off | Posted: January 23rd, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized


After some technical difficulties (which means we’re probably going to need to have a fundraiser soon), here’s the end of this story.


Sent in by Amiable Aaron Coker!

Comments Off | Posted: January 23rd, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized

This will have to tide you over – I had two other posts that I was working on for today that got lost when I didn’t follow my own “Save Early, Save Often” advice. That’s what I get for being a big ol’ hypocrite, huh? Anyway, I’m going out of town for a couple of days, so any posts from now until Monday will most likely just be pointing you to The Rack.

(Yes, I heard you, in the back, saying “How’s that any different than the norm?” Fuck you.)


Just Watch This | S.P.O.C.K.

Comments Off | Posted: January 22nd, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized

“Never Trust A Klingon”

“Alien Attack”

“Astro Girl” (Slideshow. Badly mixed live version here.)

Bonus! “Spock Rock” by Passion Exchange.


The Rack: Staff Picks for the week of January 23, 2008

Comments Off | Posted: January 22nd, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized


Anyway, here’s this week’s staff picks from Yavin IV!


Something I noticed.

Comments Off | Posted: January 21st, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized


The Rack: Détente

Comments Off | Posted: January 21st, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized


So, it’s come to this, has it? Stay tuned!


Here are some things you can use on your favorite internet forum.

Comments Off | Posted: January 20th, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized











A random roundup.

Comments Off | Posted: January 20th, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized

From Ken Levine’s latest entry:

Go back through your script. I bet you could lose two pages. (Probably page 8 and one other.)

I swear, just picking a panel in a page or strip to axe sometimes crystallizes things so damn well.


OK, if this is the result of the free-rein capitalism that so many conservatives and libertarians love, then call me Mao Tse Church. $4,000,000,000 a month for an unpopular war, and this is happening on the home front?

(For the record, I live in the only state that requires its citizens to have insurance, something that comes out of my own damn pocket since I’m a freelancer. Yes, I sort of hate that I am spending a huge chunk of my own money, but I can afford to, unlike many, many citizens.)


If you like hip-hop bookmark this search and check with it every so often. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the last few weeks’ worth of Solid Steel – they’ve been really embracing the experimental end of things lately, with the year-end episode being an especially good example. How can I resist any mix that goes from Venetian Snares through New Order and ending at Donovan in the span of ten minutes?


I’ve been reading Tekkon Kinkreet: Black and White and was trying to find a link to a review to show it to a friend and came across the About.com profile of the book, in which the following items were listed as cons:
  • Numerous violent and bloody fight scenes make this a title strictly for mature readers
  • Surreal story sequences can make it difficult to follow what’s real and what’s not.
  • Unconventional story and art may perplex readers expecting ‘normal’ manga

I fail to see any of these as a con, particularly, but then I am a bloodthirsty sort who likes to read books for grownups sometimes. I’d think the “Parental Advisory: Explicit Content” label on the front, when combined with the “RATED M FOR MATURE” icon on the back would sort of inform just about everyone that it’s not for kids, but just when you think there’s some headway in the war against the public’s perceptions blah blah blah you’ve read this part before.

(Yes, I’m very impressed with the book so far.)


Speaking of manga, I just finished Yuichi Yokoyama’s New Engineering, which left me cold. I understand why it’s popular with the arched-eyebrow crowd, but I need more than the repetitive, explicit presentation of the book’s theme to engage me is a reader. Points for the eye-catching design, though, and the (unintentional?) hilarity of subtitles that say things like “The sound of Astroturf unrolling” has some value.


What the hell is Spike doing on this cover?

Comments Off | Posted: January 20th, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized


Just Watch This | Sparks, "When I Kiss You (I Hear Charlie Parker Playing)" (Live)

Comments Off | Posted: January 19th, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized