Recent Comments

1. 5 months ago on New Adventures of Queen Victoria

   Hi, gang. Just wanted to poke my head back in. I had no idea my upload links still worked.

   I was curious whether anyone would even notice. I guess a few of you still do.

   I’m 99% sure I won’t be doing the daily strip again; too much going on to give it the attention it deserves. But I may upload something if I’m inspired enough.

2. over 1 year ago on New Adventures of Queen Victoria

   By the way, if anyone wants to nominate me for a Pulitzer, I wouldn’t say no. :)

3. over 1 year ago on New Adventures of Queen Victoria

   And so the 15 year experiment comes to an end. Growing out of what I thought was a one time joke on someone else’s LiveJournal, it took on a life of its own. At one point I thought it might last a couple of months.

   Then I moved it from just LiveJournal onto Comics Sherpa, where it caught the eye of John Glynn and was one of a handful of strips (most notably the Argyle Sweater) he selected over time to move to the main GoComics page. He and I shared a joke that our relationship was just like that of William Randolph Hearst and George Herriman, in that Hearst kept the strip in print because he wanted to read it.

   In the end, the strip outlived both of its original homes: LiveJournal and Comics Sherpa.

   Our supporting cast in the background today represent almost every “supporting cast” production piece I had in PhotoImpact or on my hard drive. The exceptions tend to be from variations on a character (although I did include a few Victoria variants and Edward’s doppelganger Renfrew). Do not ask me to name them all; there are some who I forgot who they were. I also deliberately chose not to include Fearless Leader; I’ve had enough of him and don’t want to give him any more brain time.

   I just ran out of space (I didn’t know there was a maximum comment size) and had to take out two paragraphs so I had room to end properly. As for what comes next, I’m going back to writing hoping to finish my next novel and next play. At the same time, by friend S.P. Burke (a great writer in his own right and a much better artist than I) are at work on a new strip. It will be more mainstream than TNAOQV, but will still feature our subversive senses of humor. If we can pull it off, it will probably come out in a year or two. If not, well, we’ll go do something else.

   Thank you all for fifteen years of mediocre jokes and horrible art. It was fun for me and I hope you found it funny, too. — Pab

4. over 1 year ago on New Adventures of Queen Victoria

   Andy: I made the decision to end the strip.

5. over 1 year ago on New Adventures of Queen Victoria

   Yeah, this storyline is a little of an homage to that. Berkely knew when to quit while he was ahead. I never did. That’s why this strip ran 15 years while the first Bloom County only ran for nine. He went out before the quality dropped.

6. over 1 year ago on New Adventures of Queen Victoria

   They have enough of those already.

7. over 1 year ago on New Adventures of Queen Victoria

   Hi, everyone. Haven’t been hanging out much here with the new day job monopolizing my time. But I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words as the strip winds down to the end.

   It’s been bittersweet writing this last storyline, leading up to the final installment on Sunday February 14th. It’s weird thinking that I don’t have much longer to go, but I’m still trying to keep the strip up to at least its usual standard.

   Thanks again, everyone.

8. over 1 year ago on New Adventures of Queen Victoria

   Probably later this month I’m launching the kickstarter for “The White Book” and “The Waltzing Dead.” After that, we will see.

   I would like to have a few more collections, followed by one last omnibus called “Let It We.”

9. over 1 year ago on New Adventures of Queen Victoria

   And now, the big announcement.

   Some of you who have been watching the calendar know that in February, the strip will be celebrating its 15th anniversary.

   The recent strips with the big numbers startling Victoria are indeed, as some have theorized, a countdown. And yes, the “95” this week points to Sunday, February 14, 2021.

   Over the past few years, with our financial difficulties, losing one house and nearly losing another, I’ve suffered from a lot of stress. Then the pandemic hit. It’s become harder for me to keep coming up with gags for these characters. There is only so much you can do with cutout photographs, after all, and I doubt many of you will argue that the strip hasn’t suffered the past few years.

   So, after long thought and contemplation, I decided that 15 years is long enough to do anything.

   The strip will reach its 15th anniversary on Monday, February 8th, and the following Sunday, February 14, will be its last installment.

   I’ve discussed this with my reps at the Syndicate, and while they are sorry to see the strip go, they understand my reasoning and support the decision. I want to emphasize that the decision to end the strip is mine and mine alone. I am not being pressured off the page or censored or anything like that. It’s just that the time has finally come to end the strip.

   At this point, no decision has been made on whether or not the strip will continue in reruns. If you want to see the reruns, let the GoComics people know. As for my future, I do have some ideas for new strips, but will wait until an artist comes along for me to work with. The Fumetti days are over,

   Those of you who have been sponsoring the strip on Patreon will want to cancel your sponsorship before February 1st.

   Thank you all for 15 years of fun.

10. over 1 year ago on New Adventures of Queen Victoria

    I’ve got a big announcement coming on Friday. Stay tuned.