Mint Condition

2010-05-20T19:01:00.004-05:00

So it seems as if ComicGenesis isn't working right now. I think it's backed up, which has happened before and it was extremely annoying. And it's just as annoying now.

So I guess this is as good a time as any to unveil the new site. www.mintconditioncomic.com.

It's not finished by any means, but it's on its way. It's got a working blog, and comic update, and you can comment on both! So please feel free, because I need validation!!! Anyway, I still have lots of comics to upload, but I'm on my way. But I do have the most recent ones, and several of the first ones, so until I get the rest uploaded you can at least enjoy the regular updates. Here's a thumbnail of the latest comic. Just click on it to go to the new site:

See you there.

2010-05-17T03:33:00.002-05:00

Mint Condition - Thoughtless Experiment.

Mint Condition on AD - Scarlett Johansson. 'Nuff said.

So first off today, I'll go ahead and point out for those who didn't notice that last Thursday I didn't post anything to the news section. It's not because I forgot, or because I just didn't feel like it, it's because...well, it's sort of because I didn't feel like it. But that's only because I was hard at work on the new site. I've been working on it so much that the news section was at the back of my mind. Hell, even today's comic was a few hours late since I spent so much of the last week building the new site and generally trying to figure out ComicPress.

Next, I'd like to say that apparently the cat toast paradox is actually real. Well, the "thought experiment" part of it is real. Nathan pointed it out to me, I did some research, and found it quite hilarious. But, in true Mint Condition fashion, instead of taking the high road with the punchline, I go straight for the zinger. As long as it makes you guys laugh, that's really all I care about.

Anyway, everything I'm doing with the new site will all be worth it though, and while I can't fully promise there will be a new News post every Monday and Thursday, there will be a new comic. I'm slowly trying to phase this site out as I make way for the new. I hope you'll all join in my excitement just a little bit.

So again I apologize for the lack of News last Thursday, and even the lack of explanation for the lack of news (confusing, I know), but you shan't worry about the comic. It will update just as always.

Until Thursday.

2010-05-10T00:12:00.003-05:00

Mint Condition - Shopping with kids can be fun!

Mint Condition on AD - How a toy collector sets his priorities.

You know, sometimes I forget Nathan has kids and a wife...I really should write for them more. I think I don't because drawing kids (and making them look like kids) is such a pain for me. It's so much more than "make them short". Kids have disproportionately large heads as opposed to adults who are (for the most part) proportionate. Also, I just haven't had a lot of experience with it, but I'm forcing myself here. Also, writing for Willow scares me too, but that's just because she's so different from all of the main cast.

Just about all of the Mint Condition cast is really geeky in some way, really random, funny, and often times stupid. The character of Willow (while being geeky in her own way), isn't really like that. And I don't want her to be. I like the idea of one of my characters being different from the rest, it just makes it hard to write for her and actually have the comic being funny. However, this being a year of major changes (remember when I said that?) I plan to rectify this, which is why this week we're dealing with Nathan and his family. And the tedious task of shopping. Anyway, enjoy this first one. I think it's cute, but also fun. And look at her tummy! I almost forgot Willow was pregnant again. Seriously, the other week I was telling myself to make Willow pregnant for a third time, before I was reminded she already was. This is also why I'm writing more comics with Willow. So I can remember these things!

Oh, and look at the backgrounds in today's comic! The Wacom really is awesome and is certainly making me more confident in my background drawing abilities. I like my backgrounds to be more painted than looking like they were inked, which was HARD to do with a mouse. Have I mentioned how much I love Sarah and her awesomeness for buying me this thing? Because I do.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed last week's guest comics. I know I did. I thought they were really good, but I won't lie. It was mostly because it allowed me enough time off to get ahead on some work. Like this week's comics! And general comic related stuff. It definitely was a load of pressure off my shoulders, that's for sure...so don't expect me to get behind anytime soon (hopefully never again, but I'm a realist).

If you're a Twitter follower of mine, you may have noticed my recent burst of "random sketches" that I do once and a while. If not, here are a couple of samples. I'm letting you know this, because I figured I'd let you guys offer up suggestions for future sketches. You can send them to me via email, by posting comments here on the blog, or by posting them in this forum dedicated to sketch suggestions. I'd prefer the latter, so it's easy to keep up with. When I have time I'll do a sketch! It could be yours, if it's awesome enough. I've just been having fun doodling with the Wacom that I just feel like drawing whatever, ya know? So send those suggestions!

And one more thing for today. Nathan (the real Nathan) is trying to widdle down his action figure collection and make some room on his shelves for future action figures and is currently selling his entire line of Resident Evil action figures from Palisades. If you're into that stuff, have a look-see and bid! You'd be helping him and yourself!

That's all for today. Until Thursday.

2010-05-06T12:38:00.002-05:00

The second guest comic from Camille Van Neste.

See? I told you, today's comic and Monday's comic go together. Enjoy. And give a huge thanks to Camille Van Neste by visiting her own site Of Something and Nothing in Particular and read her comic. It's good times.

I gotta be honest with you though...I don't have much else to say today. I've been so busy, ya know, getting my shit together, that I don't know if I have the capacity to write my usual long-winded news posts. So forgive me and take solace in the fact that I'm using the energy I would be using on writing news posts on working on comics and stuff related to Mint Condition.

Believe me, this week has proved to be much helpful to me. Thanks again for your understanding. And come back Monday for your regularly scheduled Mint Condition programming.

Until then.

2010-05-03T14:24:00.004-05:00

Mint Condition - Look! A guest comic!

Mint Condition on AD - Meet the new Masters of the Universe character! Sort of...

I'd like to preface this news post with an apology for updating so late in the day. Please read on to see just what the hell happened to me.

So if you couldn't tell, today's comic is not done by me. No, it's actually done by Camille Van Neste, who runs her own webcomic Of Something and Nothing in Particular. If you like the art in today's guest comic, you'll like her comic as well. And you can check out some of her art over on the site Elfworld, a website dedicated to sci-fi and fantasy based art. Oh, and just a heads up, she also did the comic for this Thursday as well. Today's comic and Thursday's kinda go together, just so you know. She sent me these a while ago when I first announced that I needed guest comics and I just had them sitting there for a rainy day.

Well, when it rains it pours. I sincerely apologize to all my readers out there. I really don't know what happened to me this past week. I wasn't that busy, so I don't know what happened. I started working on what would be today's comic YESTERDAY because I realized that I didn't have anything for today's update. Needless to say, I did not get it done. Then I fell asleep at my work desk and when I woke up HOLY CRAP I DIDN'T UPDATE. So yeah, I panicked. Luckily, the Camille was at my rescue and I remembered the guest comics she sent me a while back. Thank you Camille, you are a life saver.

So suffice it to say I am going to spend this week seriously getting my shit together. I'm really disappointed in myself and I have no idea how I let myself get this far behind, but since I don't have the pressure of updating the comic this week I can spend that time belting out the book, the new site, and possibly working on a buffer for the comic so this sort of thing won't happen again. I can't promise I'll completely finish the book and the site in just this one week, but I can get as close as possible. So I will.

I hope you all accept my apology for getting behind, and enjoy these two great guest comics and understand the situation I'm in right now. And know that I will fix it and, as I so eloquently put it earlier in the post, get my shit together. Until Thursday.

2010-04-29T04:36:00.003-05:00

It's funny, because it's true...

So if you woke up early enough to read it this morning, I was burned out yesterday. I promised a more relevant news post when I awoke, and well...I awoke. So here goes nothing. First of all, today's comic isn't necessarily about me, but about the artist in general. I know many people who feel this way, and it actually saddens me to see such great talent and potential going to waste. I don't really think I procrastinate, but I do overextend myself to the point where I forget to do something or just can't find the time in a day. You know how when you make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and there's only a little jelly left in the jar and you have to scrape the sides to get it out, but even then it's not enough and then you just scrape and scrape it across the bread in a futile attempt to get the entire surface covered, even though you're barely going to be able to taste it anyway? Yeah, I feel like the jelly. Or I'm hungry. I'm not sure where that analogy came from. The point is, I tend to spread myself too thin. But I don't know if I would have it any other way. Or if I could have it any other way. I love what I do, and I love that I get to create art whenever I feel like it and occasionally I get paid for it as well. That's fun.

So why exactly was I burned out yesterday? Tons and tons of work on the comic, book, or new site? Well...no. Actually I went to a special screening of the movie Drones as part of the USA Film Festival. The movie was directed by Amber Benson and Adam Busch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame. They were both actually at the screening to help promote the film. There was a Q&A session afterward, and it was a lot of fun. I've never gotten to go to a film festival before and not only see a really great movie before the rest of the world, but also get a chance to talk with the directors who I've been fans of since Buffy. It was great. As always when I meet famous types, I try to keep my cool, not to ramble, and not to talk about anything that only a fanboy would talk about. I kept it professional, calm, and talked about the movie in question. Ok, FINE. I did get them both to sign the box from my Buffy the Vampire Slayer Complete Series collection, and I got a bunch of pictures with them. And I got to hug Amber Benson. But that's all the fanboyness. I promise. Here's a photo of Sarah and I with Amber Benson and Adam Busch.

Look how happy Adam Busch is! He loves being attacked by merciless fans. Anyway, that's all for now. Until Monday.

2010-04-25T23:51:00.006-05:00

Mint Condition - Look! It's all digitally!

Mint Condition on AD - It's creepy how true to life this one is.

Yeah, that's right. I have joined the "big boys club" and used a wacom tablet to completely render my comic. For the time being I'm going to be making all my comics with it, because it's amazingly intuitive and actually helps me work faster. Which is awesome. I'm actually learning discipline with it, which is just what I needed.

I'm also planning on completely remastering some of the old comics for the book. Before I said I was only going to reletter the old comics since completely redoing them would be far too time consuming and really hard since I didn't have a Wacom tablet. Well, now I do. Although I already have finished most of the pages, I want to completley redo some of them as a special gesture for the book. I'm thinking of completely redoing Escape from Whatever the Fuck the Capital of India Is as well as the NecroComicCon story arc from a couple of Halloweens ago. It shouldn't take too long, especially with the tablet and since those are two of my biggest and personal favorite storylines that I've ever done, I think it could be a lot of fun. What do you all think of that? I can't imagine anyone being opposed to it, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. Until then, I'm going to keep playing with this thing. Seriously, it's caused me to lose some sleep recently. That ain't healthy, but I'm having so much fun! Who knows, you guys may even see some new wallpapers to download in the near future.

Also, this past weekend was the Sci-Fi Expo in Richardson Texas. I wasn't able to stay too long, and I mostly went there to look for cheap action figures to use as custom fodder. Which I found, so that's awesome. But I did bring with me my DVD of The Crow, as well as the original graphic novel, because James O'Barr happened to be in attendance. He lives in the area so he attends all the local conventions around here. It was awesome to see him again. Last time I didn't bring anything for him to sign, because I was strictly there as a professional. But this time, I thought...fuck it. I want to be in fanboy mode. I even managed to take a picture of him!

Next time, I'm totally going to commission him for a drawing. I didn't have enough money with me though. Well, that's about all the news for now.

Until Thursday.

2010-04-22T05:26:00.002-05:00

Finally, resolution!

So I turned twenty-two yesterday, and I have to say...I feel about the same. Sure physically I am a year older, but I dunno...I just don't feel it, I suppose. I guess that's a testament to my childlike spirit? I certainly have the maturity level of a 17 year old sometimes (i.e. all the time). I don't know why I'm looking for some profound epiphany or abundance of knowledge of some universal secret that can only be attained by turning twenty-two, I guess I'm just starting to realize I've reached the peak of what is basically growing up (21) and am now starting on the slow decent into what will eventually become middle age. Although I won't really start to freak out until I get close to thirty...

On a much lighter note, I had a pretty great birthday. At about midnight I got tons of texts from friends wishing me a happy birthday, and Sarah let me open my present early. She got me an Intuos4 Wacom Tablet. Yeah...she's that awesome. Seriously, I've been wanting one for forever and apparently she's been planning this since we went to the Dallas Webcomics Expo last year. She had been talking to a cartoonist about the Wacom Tablet, and saw my interest so she's been scheming it this whole time. Seriously. I love this girl. Sarah, when you read this, know that I love you. Although I would still love you just as much even if you hadn't gotten me anything.

Anyway, it's pretty amazing. Took a few minutes to get used to the feel, and there is definitely a bit of a learning curve. It feels foreign at first, but you do get used to it. Once you get the hang of it, set the buttons to your personal preferences, it's an amazing tool. I was up until about 6 AM yesterday playing with it, that's how much fun I had. Needless to say, because of that I didn't end up going to the Action Figure Museum in Oklahoma, but I honestly don't care right now. I spent all day playing with it, and even used it to finish today's comic. I don't know for sure if I'm going to exclusively use it from now on. It seems unlikely that I would, considering I won't always be near it when I'm drawing something. However, I did do Monday's comic completely with the tablet, so expect that. It won't look any different than the way the comic does already, except it might look a little crisper and the backgrounds might be more interesting. Other than that, the same. The tablet doesn't make you a better artist, or a worse artist, it's simply another tool to use. And it's a lot of fun too.

I'll end up going to the Museum another time. Right now I'm just having fun playing with my new toy. Speaking of, I better get started on another comic. Until Monday.

2010-04-19T11:07:00.005-05:00

Mint Condition - True story.

Mint Condition on AD - Toys and relationships...

So now you're starting to get the picture here. But, with John's statement in the last panel, what could it mean? Well, if you come back Thursday you'll find out.

So last time I was telling you about how I felt weird considering I'm going to be 22 this Wednesday, and that means I'll be the exact same age Nathan was when I first met him 8 years ago. Continuing from there, I think I'd like to share some more sappiness with you guys. The story of the "Mint Condition Crew" can't be told without first going WAY back in time to when I was about 4 years old. When I was 4 my family and I moved into a house right across the street from Jeremy. From there we hung out, talked, picked on each other, and generally became good friends. It wasn't until years later (when I was about 14) that I met Nathan. He had been friends with Jeremy, and Jeremy's brother Chris for a long time but I hadn't met him until much later. I never really had an interest to to be honest. When I saw him, I just saw a guy who wore tight shirts, shiny pants, shades, and always had some sort of goatee. He looked like an asshole. So it feels good to know that my first impression of him was right. Just kidding. But seriously, he's an asshole. But he liked action figures, anime, and comic books and shit so he's pretty cool too. From there I met Jacqi and about a year later we met Adam working at a local comic book store. If you know the comic then you know those two get together. We also managed to meet Jimmy because Nathan started dating his sister. Good times, had by all.

Now you may be asking yourself "What about Tim and Dave?" I knew them years before meeting Nathan. We've been friends since the 7th grade. Sadly, they moved to Minnesota about the time I met Nathan but I still talk to them quite frequently. They still plan to move back, so here's hoping. All in all, it's been a crazy 8 years. The first few years were filled will all kinds of wacky mishaps, including broken hearts, fights, parties, and on one occasion Nathan giving me a lapdance. He also kissed me a one of our New Year's parties...methinks those shiny pants say more about Nathan than he's letting on? That's for him to come to terms with*. Anyway, after that I moved to the other side of the state for about 4 years. Those were not fun times, but extenuating circumstances forced my father, brother, and I to do it.

But I moved back to Garland last year so since then I guess you could say the old gang is back. All in all, looking back on the past 8 years (even the 4 I was gone) I'm not sure I would have changed a thing. Yeah it sucked to be gone, but it was truly a learning experience and it changed me for the better. If I hadn't moved, I might not have been able to take that trip to Belgium. How many people can say they visited another country before the age of 18...who are also middle class Americans? Not many, I'd imagine. But if everything hadn't happened exactly as it did then I wouldn't be where I am today and I like where I am. I'm quite happy. So to everyone reading this, friends, family, and of course my girlfriend Sarah, let me say thank you. Thank you for being like a second family to me who is occasionally more fun than my real family. Thank you for being there for me through the worst times of my life and for being there through some of the best. I hope all of you are with me in wanting as many years as possible in the future together. So to all of you guys I give a heartfelt....MALEVOLENT!

Until Thursday. *Please don't kill me Nathan!!!

2010-04-15T02:19:00.010-05:00

I told you guys if you just waited, all would be revealed...

Yep, this will be the start of a full reveal of the events toward the end of John's stay at the Sacred Cartoonist Monastery. Notice I said "start". Yeah this isn't just a one time joke, there is more to the story here. It's always funny though, Pictionary really does seem to be the ultimate duel between artists. There's a saying that goes: The better of an artist you are, the worse you are at Pictionary. I think this holds water. If you're a great artist you spend a lot of time perfecting your work, and by then you've run out of time, or your drawing is too detailed to really be recognizable. It's still fun as hell and is one of my favorite board games to play.

So if you're not someone who already knows me, you probably don't know that next Wednesday is my birthday. Yep, April 21. I'm going to be 22 next Wednesday which may seem really young to some of you, and maybe old to some of you??? That all depends on how many neglectful parents let their 13 year old read my comic. But I digress. Yeah, thanks to Sarah I've been thinking about it a lot. I usually don't ever think about my birthday, but since I've been with her she makes a big deal out of it so I can't help but notice. It feels weird to know that I'm going to be turning the same age Nathan was when I first met him 8 years ago. Time always seems to go by fast until you stop and think about it. Then it seems like ages ago. But yeah, I first met Nathan when he was 22 and I was 14 (there, now my site will show up under sex offender searches - the overly touched demographic). Perhaps next Monday, I'll grace you all with the story of how I first came into this group of ragtag ne'er-do-wells.

This Wednesday we have plans to travel back to Oklahoma to visit the Action Figure Museum so that should be fun. I'll let you know how that goes too, and if you see the donation link back up on the main page, it means I spent WAY too much money in their gift shop. Advance warning on that. I didn't want to mention my birthday as a way to fish for congratulations on surviving on this planet for another year (although I do welcome them...just sayin') I just wanted to let you know what's been on my mind. That's really all I got for today. Random thoughts bouncing around in my head. Here, I'll even leave you today with an old photo of me from around the time I met everyone. Some would say a better time. A simpler time:

And apparently a more monochromatically defined wardrobe sort of time.

Ah yes, the original trench coat. I think I still have it, albeit in tatters. Yeah, you can definitely expect more sappiness on next Monday's news post as well. Until then.

2010-04-11T22:11:00.010-05:00

Mint Condition - Hey look, a black guy!

Mint Condition on AD - It's good to have your priorities in order.

I'd like to apologize in advance if any of the following news post sounds like gibberish, because I'm typing it as I'm getting over being sick. So yeah...you were warned. In addition to the comic, the book, and the new site, I've started balancing something else to this juggling act of horror: a social life. My friends would gladly attest to my absence as of late with all the work I have to do. Sure I see them every now and again, but I certainly don't go out as much as I used to. I've recently been trying to remedy that, mostly because I'm starting to get serious cabin fever, and because getting some fresh air every once and a while is a good thing. Although I don't know how that would work around my friends since most of them smoke...anyway...

So what does this mean for you and why should you care? Well, because in addition to the comic every Monday and Thursday, me hanging out with my friends more could mean funny stories for me to tell right here in the news section. Plus, every time I go out with them, I end up with about a month's worth of material for the comic so that's always good. For instance, this past Wednesday I went out with everyone to Denny's, when, unbeknownst to Nathan and I, Jacqi took this photo and uploaded it to her facebook account in a matter of seconds. So, see? There you go. Added some humor to your day. Oh, and speaking of segues, I have something of a Facebook account myself. I've actually had it for years, but never used it until about a week ago. I'm slowly but surely making it not look like a random spambot account. If you have a mind to, feel free to add me. For fun. And just a quick update on the book: Soon! Almost done! It will be! Not just an update, but also a fun word jumble! Have at it. As I near the completion of the book I will put up preorders and whatnot for special signed copies with sketches inside. I don't want to put it up yet though, but you'll know that when you see it it will be finished.

Until Thursday.

2010-04-08T01:47:00.004-05:00

It's funny, because John Edward sucks.

Actually it's funny because John Edward is really coming to Dallas this month. It should be no surprise to anyone who's talked to me for more than 5 minutes that I view John Edward and everything he does as complete bullshit. Psychic readings, spiritual mediums...yeah. Bullshit. I'm always open to the idea of such things existing in this world, but John Edward is none of these things. He's an opportunist and a con artist and really just does more damage than good. He thinks he's giving these people some sense of hope, but it's false hope, and he's twisting their views of their deceased loved ones. Plus, false hope is bad, even if it's the only hope someone has. At least, that's my opinion.

So how will I be expressing my very intense beliefs, views, and criticisms on the world of so-called psychic mediums? Well, read today's comic and you're pretty much got the theme of this storyline. What can I say? My job is to make you laugh first, and think second. And sometimes the second part isn't integral to the process. Basically have fun with this one guys. Every time I do a big storyline, I like to follow it up with something simple and fun to let my brain rest.

I'd like to give a thanks to everyone who has offered their condolences in some form or another to Sarah for the loss of her uncle. It means a lot. And one more thing. Apparently Oklahoma pretty much sucks except for one aspect. They are home to, The Action Figure Museum. Yes...a museum...for action figures. We tried to swing by there on the way back to Texas, but they were closed. They're only closed on Mondays. GODDAMNIT. Yeah that sucked, but I'm totally going to go back out there one of these days with all my friends because really that's just a geek Mecca for us. Seriously, look at that 360 view and tell me you didn't cream a little. Well, unless you're not an action figure fan. I guess people who don't like action figures exist...right? Or are they an urban legend, like the outdoors? I'm not sure.

Anyway, I don't have anything else to talk about today, really. I have to wake up in 4 hours so I'm going to go to bed now. Until Monday everybody.

2010-04-05T00:11:00.007-05:00

Mint Condition - Settling in to a new home.

Mint Condition on AD - Why buying doubles of action figures is a good idea.

I think I drew those doors backwards...pretty sure the knobs are supposed to go on the other side...I don't know how that happened. Well anyway, yeah they're living in a new house. I figured this would be fitting since before it was never really explained whether or not all the characters lived in the same house. Situation - consider yourself explained. I'd also like to point out that if my friends ever did this in real life i would END THEM with the white hot fury of a thousand burning suns. Does that say something about me? Oh, and yeah Jeremy got a haircut. Two slight character design changes??? I guess I'm a maverick.

In book news, I seem to be doing very well juggling everything. I'm managing to stay ahead with the comics and still pump out pages for the book, which is going awesome by the way. I'm managed to pump out 40 pages last week. The whole thing would have been done by now if when I started Mint Condition I had the foresight to save the high resolution PDFs of all the comics. However, I was working on an inferior computer then (seriously, I'm talking Windows 98'!) so I basically didn't have the room and I didn't think about it to honest. Now I'm kicking myself...but I am remastering them, as it were. I mentioned this before, and for those of you who don't follow me on Twitter, I said that with the remastering process I'm not only making sure all the dialogue and sound effects are high res, in some cases I'm also changing the sound effects used in the original comic to better get across my original intention. I wasn't as skilled with Photoshop then as I am now, and my font library wasn't nearly as extensive as it now, so I'm able to get the point across a lot better. Here is an example of the remastering process:

As you can see, the sound effects and the burst effects around the words are a lot crisper and look better than before. And in the case of this comic I'm making the dialogue and speech bubbles bigger, since it is a little hard to read, and there's so much negative space in that comic to utilize! What was I thinking? All of this is hopefully something that makes the book a little more special to those who buy it.

Ok, now I gotta get back to working on this book. Well, after the funeral that is. Sarah's uncle died last Wednesday and we'll be driving 3 hours away in Oklahoma to attend the funeral. If you wish, you can offer your condolences here in the comments or over on the forums. Until Thursday.

2010-04-01T02:30:00.003-05:00

That hood really gets in the way of seeing things, it seems..

Ok, so some quick notes for today, because I'm really busy!

ONE: The response on the idea for a new store has been nothing but positive so far, so I feel confident in this being the right move towards independence for myself and for the Mint Condition "brand", as it were.

TWO: The book is coming along splendidly. I literally worked all day yesterday on it, and it's turning out better than I imagined. Unfortunately, for all the early comics I no longer have the high resolution versions of the comic. I am however, trying to "remaster" them for print. I can't redo them completely, though. I can't redraw them completely, because I just don't think I have the energy or time. Plus, I want the comics to appear in print as they did on the site at the time of publishing, and there's no way I can copy exactly the way I used to draw, and I don't have a Wacom tablet, so I can't digitally trace them either. I am relettering them though. Well, first I'm bumping each comic to 300 DPI. This is print quality, and even though it's perfectly high res, it will still look good when printed. But all the dialogue/sound effects/anything that is written on the page is being redone. It's the least I can do. I can't make the early comics perfectly high resolution, but I can easily redo the lettering for all the dialogue and redo all the sound effects so that when they appear in print the words will at least be perfectly high resolution, ensuring a perfect read. Again, it's the least I could do and I'm happy to do it. I just wish I had learned about saving the high res PDFs beforehand, but for book two I'm more than prepared. But that's another conversation. And finally...

THREE: I have to pee. That is all. Come back Monday for another comic, and don't miss this Sunday's comic over on Articulated Discussion. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a book to finish! Until Monday.

2010-03-28T20:52:00.004-05:00

Mint Condition - Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Mint Condition on AD - It may be an addiction, but at least toys are cheaper than drugs.

If you couldn't tell by today's comic we've returned to the normal story here in Mint Condition. We have John, back from his training, but what's this??? Missing friends, someone else living in his house???? Geez, I just love throwing those curve balls, don't I? I think it's safe to say John is about to learn the hard way about major life changes. I'm thinking of taking on day out of this week and just doing the SHIT out of this book, and taking another day out of the week and doing the SHIT out of the new site. What do you guys think? Thoughts? Opinions? It's a lot harder than it sounds, (really, who can dedicate an entire day to one task?)however that doesn't make it impossible. I'm currently finished with all my custom action figure commissions, and thanks to Dim I'm ahead on the comic (yay, buffer!) so I think now is as good a time as any.

I also wanted to go ahead and make an announcement about something regarding the new site. The store as you all currently know it, will be no more. Cafepress is severely holding me back and I think I'm just going to get rid my account on there. One thing about ComicGenesis is that you can't really have a store the way other Webcomics do where they have everything made themselves and whatnot. It's not specifically stated in the rules anywhere, but it has been mentioned a lot that if you're on ComicGenesis the most you can have is a store on Cafepress. Meaning, it has to be offered on some external site. So now that I have my own site I'm going to do things much differently, such as having a store full of items I have made myself. More on this as it develops (what am I, a news anchor?), but suffice it to say the word "preorder" will come up a lot in the future. It's the only way I'll be able to have stuff made. So that will certainly be a fun experience. Join me, won't you?

And speaking of joining me, please come back Thursday for another comic and some answers to some questions. Well, more like the answer to one question: What the hell is going on??? Until then.

2010-03-24T22:56:00.003-05:00

The Devil Knows My Hand, Part 3.

So here Dim gives us his final installment of his storyline for Clark Parker, everybody's favorite clown P.I. I really love the simplicity of the story. It's your basic kidnapping plot, but with the added twist of Clark Parker. The first comic has us (or me at least) believe that the ace of spades card found beside the dead body was the killer's calling card, when we get to the last one we realize it was a bunch of thugs in a poker game. We also don't know why the little girl was kidnapped. For ransom? Not likely since they murdered her father. Unless the mother has all the money and the father got in the way? Perhaps she was kidnapped for Human trafficking? Possibly. Who knows? That's what's great about the story. You can make your own interpretations from it and they could all be right. Dim wrote it specifically for that.

Perhaps one day he'll grace us with another guest comic someday because even though these didn't have punchlines they were still very well written. I hope you all enjoyed them as well, complete with the interludes.

At the same time though I hope you're excited as I am about getting back to the original storyline. Dim sure provided a great "season break" but it will feel great to get back into the swing of things. The regularly scheduled programming will proceed on Monday.

In other news, the new site is coming along. I gotta tell you, I'm starting to remember why I hated redoing the site the first time. It's a lot of work...but I'll get it done soon, because I don't want that new spiffy domain name to go to waste! More info on this as my procrastination permits. Same goes with the book. I definitely need to hire someone next time I do something like this, ha ha.

In toy news, it seems Mattell has won me over. I've succumbed to the current craze for the Masters of the Universe Classics figures. Thanks to the DC Universe Vs. Masters of the Universe 2 packs that recently showed up at Toys R' Us, they have won me over. Totally...much to the chagrin of my wallet. The price point certainly is a concern, being they are 20 bucks apiece plus almost 9 dollars for shipping, but damn they are nice. And that's saying something coming from a toy collector who usually doesn't like Mattell's products...that and I never really gave too much a crap about He-Man, but eh...call me an addict, I don't even care anymore. They're awesome figures, and balance perfectly between being a toy and being a collectible. I can't wait for more. So for the handful of my readers out there who care about my Plastic-filled Rants, there ya go.

Oh, and before I forget, if you could head on over to TopWebComics and give my comic a vote for today that would be great. The more I see votes from people the luckier I feel to have such great fans.

That's it for now. I don't have as much to say today as I do on Monday since we start the regular story back up then. You can expect plenty of rantings then. For now though, enjoy the wonderfully drawn comic courtesy of one of my closest friends, Dim McRemnant. Until Monday.

2010-03-21T20:31:00.005-05:00

Mint Condition - Another Interlude from our favorite Vaudevillian duo

Mint Condition on AD - Taking full advantage of the word "vacation".

I'll have you know that both of the comics featuring the Vaudeville Duo featured jokes straight from my father. I know he didn't exactly make up the jokes from this comic and I'm not claiming to either, but he just makes a lot of dumb jokes which inspired this little series of comics.

Now onto my vacation. Talking about it, that is. If you read the latest Mint Condition on Articulated Discussion you'll get a glimpse into what it was like.

I had a great time. I haven't seen my family in months, so it was excellent to see them again. My dad is doing great and so are my brother and his wife. My Nephew Kaedin is awesome! I think he's the coolest 14 month old kid there is. First of all he's walking now which is very exciting. Also his parents taught him sign language (sort of). He knows a few signs right now: milk, more, food, drink, sleepy, hurt. Those help my brother out a lot I'm sure.

I also had a lot of people recognize me and remember me when I lived there so that was fun. I didn't think anyone would remember me outside of my family. So that was fun. I also stopped at every store that I could along the way for toy hunting. I figured while we were alerady out I might as well take advantage of it! So yeah I had a blast. I can't wait to see them again, and honestly I like the drive there too. I couldn't imagine sitting in a car for 6+ hours and not be the one driving. How boring.

So on another note you may or may not have been wondering about the image link right below the archive of episodes from the McRemnant Report/Mint Condition hour. It's a link to a contest being hosted by TopWebComics. Since Richard (the big kahuna over at TWC) has been so great to me and Mint Condition I felt like I should support the cause. It seems like a fun contest. Here's a brief description of the contest:

Have you ever wanted to be a radio supervillain? Or rather, did you have an idea for a villain you'd love to actually hear on a radiostyle podcast? Submit your idea for a radio supervillain and read about where you can get hundreds of hours of free audio drama done by the impression cast of Decoder Ring Theatre, over at topwebcomics.com.

So if you're interested, check out the links and enter! That's it for today. As much fun as I had on vacation it feels great to be home and getting back into the swing of things. Come back Thursday for the conclusion to Dim McRemnant's: The Devil Knows My Hand. I'm literally awaiting the ending like you are. Haven't seen it yet. Until then.

2010-03-17T20:55:00.000-05:00

The Devil Knows My Hand, Part 2.

If you remember this comic was actually supposed to be up on Monday, but Dim McRemnant got very busy with previous engagements. He was filming some footage of someone's DeLorean made entirely to look like the Time Machine from Back to the Future. In fact here's a picture of Dim with the DeLorean. As soon as the short film becomes available via internet I'll post a link:

So yeah...I think we can all forgive him for being a few days late. Besides I like posting the interludes between the parts, it makes it feel like a crime noir movie serial. So with that, you should expect another interlude Monday from your favorite Vaudevillian duo.

Alrighty, I'm gonna go back to spending time with my family and playing with my one year old Nephew. I don't know when I'll get a chance to do this again. I'll see you all on Sunday at Articulated Discussion and next Monday right here. Until then.

2010-03-15T01:34:00.007-05:00

Mint Condition - A short interlude.

Mint Condition on AD - More He-Man related humor.

So turns out Dim got really really busy and couldn't get the comic finished today so I uploaded this comic which was originally intended to be next Monday's comic but also works here as a brief interlude between The Devil Knows My Hand parts 1 and 2. I have another interlude I'll be injecting between parts 2 and 3 as well so that will be fun. Part 2 will be up this Thursday, I am assured.

Also you should note that today I head out to visit my family. I'll be out of town until Thursday evening so for all my Twitter followers out there don't be surprised if there is a lack of tweets from me in the next few days.

I also have one more piece of news for today. It's actually quite a big announcement actually. Thanks to all of the donations I've recieved in the past few weeks, I now have enough money to buy my own domain registration and hosting!!! A special big thanks are in order to @Batdude247 on Twitter for donating so much and even to my girlfriend Sarah who, unbeknownst to me, donated money to my Paypal account without me even knowing. By the time I found out she had already closed her Paypal account ensuring that I couldn't send it back. So a big thanks to her stubborness. Thanks babe!

Anyway this is huge. The sky's the limit now. I'll finally be reaching a plateau that so many Webcartoonists have. Their own domain. So you can go ahead and already bookmark www.mintconditioncomic.com. Right now it's very VERY bare bones. Just the basic of things and all the links still lead back to here, so until the new site is completely up and running you can still check back here for updates. I'll be updating here regularly until the transfer is complete. And believe me it will take a while since I'll completely have to revamp the site, but it will be SO worth it.

Thanks again to everyone who donated! It's like I'm all grown up and moving out of my parents' house (in this case ComicGenesis) and going out on my own. Kinda brings a tear to my eye. I've been doing my comic on here for over 2 years so the change is definitely big and will take some adjusting, but I'm confident that me and all my readers out there will make it.

I'm actually even expecting more readers out of this since it will be a lot easier for new people to find my comic on my own domain rather than sifting through google's list of comicgenesis comics out there.

So yeah big stuff. And come back Thursday. I'll be sure to type a news post for then too even though I won't be at home. Until then.

2010-03-11T01:36:00.005-06:00

The first in a 3 part miniseries.

So if you haven't noticed by now, today's comic wasn't done by me. It was done by one of my best and closest friends Dim McRemnant. He had told me he was planning an "epic 3-part storyline" to do for me as a series of guest comics. He didn't tell me what it was going to be about, just that they were all connected, they were purely story driven (as opposed to joke driven) and the art style was an homage.

After getting this first page in I must admit I was blown away. Immediately I get the homage is to that of Frank Miller's Sin City, and I really dig the realistically drawn characters, and the fact that it's a Clark Parker story. Combine all this basassitude (copyright John Harmon 2010) together with the equally badass title "The Devil Knows My Hand" and that's a recipe for great comics as far as I'm concerned. I don't even care that it's not joke driven, I just can't wait to see what happens. As of this writing, I haven't gotten in the second or third pages so I have no idea what's going to happen. Seeing Dim work in such an unfamiliar art style is definitely a treat because he completely blew it away. I don't think I've ever seen such fluid, fantastic work in comic form from him, which is especially surprising since he's been out of the comic game for a while now, but I'd definitely say he's back in full swing. Or at least getting there. I don't know if he'll ever completely go back to comics, but it's great that offering me guest comics gives him an excuse to make comics again.

This is also very welcome considering I literally had NOTHING for today. I had planned something for today, however I have been working practically nonstop (my only breaks being sleep) on this latest custom action figure commission of mine, trying to get it finished because it's been taking too long. I got too into the work today and just...well, didn't get a comic finished. I sat down at the computer at 11:30 PM to crank one out and I check my email and lo and behold Dim sends me this gift. Needless to say, I was very pleased. It should be noted though that this is NOT Guest Week here on Mint Condition. These were going to be a part of guest week, but since I'm in such need right now I'm putting this up for today, and putting the other two parts up next Monday and Thursday, which also really helps me since I'll be out of town with Sarah all next week. We're driving to Plainview, TX to visit my family. I look very forward to seeing my one year old nephew Kaedin again. I really miss him.

But enough of that for now. In toy news, today I finally got my G.I. Joe: Pursuit of Cobra Desert Battle Ripcord and Desert Battle Zartan in the mail today. The figures are pre-production, meaning they aren't even packaged yet. I got them from a Chinese eBay seller, selling them for about 13 bucks a pop. It's with free shipping, but still. The only reason I bit that bullet was because after seeing the Pursuit of Cobra presentation at ToyFair this year, I noticed this extremely badass Ripcord figure was nowhere to be seen, and not only that, but the Zartan has a newly sculpted head and overall just looks terrible so I wanted to go ahead and get these figures now before they go for even higher prices. The figures as they are now are phenomenal. I can't believe Hasbro is going with such generic headsculpts and getting rid of the actor's heads for the Pursuit of Cobra line, but whatever...I got mine. I don't even mind that I had to pay extra to get them, the fact that they'll never be released as they are now is so worth it. Very awesome.

That's all for today. If you would, please join us again on Monday for the second part of The Devil Knows My Hand. Until then.

2010-03-07T20:23:00.006-06:00

Mint Condition - Anyone who says they saw this coming is a liar.

Mint Condition on AD - It's an addiction, really.

You know I just realized that for a story arc that's mostly about John's absence, he sure has been in this a lot...and now two of them? Why yes Freud, I can spell narcissism.

So as many of you know, or may have discovered, I update my News through Blogger. Well, I just got some bad news...apparently, as of May 1st 2010 Blogger will no longer update via FTP, which is exactly how I update this news. That means all the files are linked directly to this site as opposed to being linked to Blogger. So...I'm in a situation. I gotta figure something out. I might just be able to go back to the old way, but it will take some time to get it right. Or I might just end up choosing another way to update the news altogether. I'll have to anyway when I have my own domain. And I'm sure I'll have everything ready before May, but in the off chance that I don't, this could serve to be problem. Hopefully I can resolve it soon.

Speaking of that, I'm going to have to find a completely new way to update the entire site. I just realized, I won't be able to use ComicGenesis's update script on some other site...hm...I'll have to figure that out too. Maybe Comicpress? Perhaps PhP? That all sounds good, but I have no idea how to use either, and I'm not Comicpress's biggest fan simply because every site I've seen that uses it looks exactly the same and it's pretty bland. Again, I'll figure something else out but it will definitely require time. And most likely a complete site overhaul, which is actually great because something as grandiose as having moving from ComicGenesis to my own domain calls for having a new site design. I'm very excited about all of it.

Soon everyone. Soon...awesome things will happen. Oh, and I still need guest comics! Send in your own for a chance to have it displayed right here! Not only that, but it would remain a permanent comic in the archive. Alright, that's it for now. Until Thursday.

2010-03-03T21:10:00.001-06:00

Kinda like Misery, only instead of a fan it's your own character..

See? I told you I'd have the news entry up on time today. I through some of the things I had to do, but I am still incredibly busy. That's the life of an artist I suppose. Actually the life of most artist's is the exact opposite of this, I just happen to be an artist with a good work ethic. It's easy for me to get work done when it's something I'm excited about and enjoy doing. I just keep stacking things on top of each other which is something I should not do, but...eh. That's why I'm going to go ahead and keep plugging the Guest Week coming up here. Help take a load off my mind for a week so I can finish cranking out MC Volume One. Everyone wins! You get your art on my site, I get to finish the book, and you get the finished book! I believe in the business world that's known as "Synergy". So let's get crackin'.

In toy news, I picked up 2 of the Iron Man 2 figures last night at Walmart. Now you all know I'm primarily a 6 inch man (hold for laughs), except for my G.I. Joe collection anyway, but I must say these 3.75 inch Iron Man 2 figures are quite excellent. I picked up the Mark VI Iron Man and the Movie War Machine figures. Both are pretty good, but the War Machine is fucking amazing. Its only flaw is not being in 6 inch form, which apparently Hasbro is going to correct by releasing a Walmart exclusive 2 pack with the Mark VI Iron Man and the War Machine sometime in May. So yay for that. And now I don't have to feel like I'm cheating on my 6 inch Iron Man 1 collection.

That's it for today. Just a reminder to cast your votes for Mint Condition on TopWebComics. Always appreciated. Until Sunday on Articulated Discussion and Monday everybody.

2010-03-01T15:38:00.000-06:00

Mint Condition - The name of the font I used for the punching sound effect is aptly named "Whoop-Ass".

Mint Condition on AD - Toy collector's growing up

First off let me say I'm sorry for the really late news update. I haven't been late on one of these in a very long time so it feels weird. And I am sorry. I've just been so overworked for the past couple of days. I've only been getting 5 hours of sleep MAX for the last couple of nights and yesterday it really hit me. I feel asleep very early and just stayed in bed until about 12 today. So I guess I caught up on my sleep, but it just cost me getting my work done on time. Hopefully this won't happen again, but if it does then just kick my ass until I get it done.

Alright, moving on. In regards to the upcoming guest week, I've gotten many comments about interested parties, but no comics as of yet. If you're out there and want to show off your skills and show your support for Mint Condition get cracking! There's 7 spots open for a full week of guest comic goodness. I look forward to seeing what you all can do.

As for The Get Mint Condition its own Domain and Site Hosting donation, it's going very well. I've got almost $100 in donations already thanks in large part to @Batdude247 on Twitter for donating $60 dollars already. This is huge to me and means so much. Whenever you read this Batdude247 (I believe this was the name his parents actually gave him and they had 246 previous kids with the same name) thank you. You have no idea how much it means to me. Considering I would have been ecstatic over a $2.00 donation or hell even a $0.50 donation this is amazing. At this rate Mint Condition will be out on its own in no time. Soon Mint Condition will be independent of its ComicGenesis parents. I can smell the freedom already.

It should be noted that I will also be using some of my own money (whatever I can anyway) whenever it gets close to $160 so that way I can end the donations early and at the same time have my own site earlier as well. Very excited.

I also want to give a shoutout to my friend Dim McRemnant's new site Dim McRemnant Designs. You may know him as the man behind The McRemnant Report, but he's since moved on from the world of Webcomics to enter the world of Web Page Design. He just recently got his new site up and it's still under construction but you can go check it out! He offers his skills as an internet wizard at designing web pages, banners, logos, you name it. So if you're wanting a nifty looking site of your own but don't want to go through the hassle of designing everything yourself, email him and he'll set everything up. Since his site is new he's even offering a 30% discount on everything so take advantage of it!

Well that's it for now. Hope you're enjoying the weird trip John is taking and again I apologize for the late news update. Until Thursday (not Thursday afternoon).

2010-02-24T19:48:00.003-06:00

Those backgrounds took a surprisingly long time to paint.

First off for today, I finally got my white whale! I've been searching for the G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra Kamakura figure for a long time. I don't think it ever showed up in Texas at all...anyway, I bought it on eBay for a relatively cheap price considering he goes for 30+ dollars (without shipping). So...go me.

Now onto news people actually care about. I'm really really tired of not having this book done. It seems like every time I get even a little time to work on it, I remember something else I have to do. What with having my actual comic to work on, the Articulated Discussion comics, and custom commissions, my plate is well and good full. It seems like the only way to get extra time to work on the book is if I don't sleep. And you know you have a problem when you get excited at the thought that if you didn't have to sleep you could work more.

So here's the thing...I'm wanting to have a week of guest comics. And when I say week, I mean a whole week. 7 days. I only update my comic Monday and Thursday, but if I had a guest week I would update Monday-Sunday for that week. I figure if I'm going to have a week of comics that aren't by me, I might as well balance it out by updating more than twice for that week. During this week I will be working steadily and heavily on the book, hopefully finishing it (or at least getting really close to finishing it). If you have some free time and want to make a comic that could appear on the site go ahead! It may end up here. I'll pick seven to appear on the site for that week, and any others that I happen to get I'll just save for another rainy week. The basic rules for guest comics on here are:

1. They must use the set characters from Mint Condition.
2. They can either be in gray scale, or color format. Gray scale is preferable.
3. No nudity (unless censored), but swearing is ok.
4. Must include "Copyright 2010 John Harmon" somewhere on the comic. If you want to include your own name and URL to your site you may.

I have no idea when this guest week will even happen. Sometime in the future after I've recieved at least 7 comics I'll determine a date. It will also have to be once I've reached a stopping point in the current storyline. So get drawing! And if you know someone who you think might be interested let 'em know! I'm excited to see what you can all come up with. Ok that's it for now. Until Monday.

2010-02-21T20:57:00.005-06:00

Mint Condition - What do you fear?

Mint Condition on AD - The next blockbuster movie based on a toy!

So a BIG thanks to everyone who has donated to the cause. It means a lot to get so much response so soon and to have so much support. At this rate Mint Condition will have its own domain and hosting in no time! Thank you all.

So I saw Valentine's Day last Monday with Sarah. I wasn't expecting much from it, but I must say I was surprised. It was a pretty good movie, considering it had Ashton Kutcher in it. It's in the same vein as Love, Actually (another great movie starring Liam Neeson) in that it chronicles the stories of several different people and cleverly weaves them all together. Valentine's Day did this too, and it actually worked. I didn't think it would, but it did. Although with as many failed relationships as there are in that movie I'm surprised it wasn't called "Love Sucks". If you're feeling in a cheesy mood (or have a girlfriend who keeps bugging you about seeing it) then I'd say go for it. Now I have to seriously balance that out by going and seeing Wolfman! I've been waiting for that movie since 2008 when it was supposed to come out.

That's pretty much it for today. I thought I'd have more to say, but as work keeps piling higher and higher I find myself coming up blank on things to say here in the news. I'm hard at work on doing the comic, working on some custom action figure commissions, and slothfully trudging through the wave of destruction that is Mint Condition volume one. If you find my lack of words disturbing, feel free to kick my ass about it in the comments or on the forums. Perhaps I'll grumble in response. Ok enough chit-chat, I gotta get back to comicking! Until Thursday.

2010-02-17T20:37:00.006-06:00

Let's take a break from all this money business for a while.

So now you all get to see what John's been up to. I thought this would be a good break from everything going on with the rest of the MC gang. I don't really want to comment too much on the comics for the time being. I just want you all to enjoy the ride. Now in other news, I've been thinking lately of seriously moving off of ComicGenesis onto my own site, with my own domain and everything. The only thing preventing me from doing this is the cost for hosting. I've found really great deals, and they would totally be worth it, I just need that initial capital. As part of the big changes to the site this year, I'd like for this to be one of them. I'm already planning on it as we speak, so hopefully this will come to fruition. How you can help is by buying something from the store, or if you've been wanting a certain custom action figure, then just send a request my way and I'll see what I can do.

I'm also going to add a donate button to the right of the comic, under the link to TopWebComics. I've noticed some even high profile Webcartoonists like David Willis from Shortpacked! use a donate button so I thought I'd give it a try. All the proceeds are going directly to fund domain hosting for Mint Condition for the next 2 years. For 2 years of unlimited hosting I have to pay roughly $160.00 USD, so that's my goal. Once I have it I'll take the donate button down, so if you want to help support Mint Condition, click on the button help out. Every little big counts. Sorry to be so serious this post, but I've got serious things to talk about, like the future of my comic which is very important to me (and hopefully to all of you as well). This could prove to be the most important year for Mint Condition yet. I've got huge plans, some of which has already come to pass, and some of which I'm working on as we speak. One of the biggest being the fabled Mint Condition Volume One which I am still working on. I'm working on collecting old strips while working on new strips for the site. It's quite a juggling act, haha. That's enough "biz" talk for today. Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance to all comments and donations I get. Let's help make Mint Condition the best site it could possibly be. Until Monday everyone.

2010-02-14T21:32:00.007-06:00

Mint Condition - What a twist!

Mint Condition on AD - Seriously, why are they making a Stretch Armstrong movie?

Thanks to everyone who has commented in some way or another on the recent customs update. Expect some more, at...some point I'm sure. Now, about today's comic. You know what? I don't think I should comment on it. I'll let it speak for itself. Just wait until Thursday's comic, that's about all I can say. If you have questions/comments post them here or on the forum. In toy news, I'm equal parts pissed/excited about the photos from the Toy Fair this weekend. Hasbro unveiled figures from their Pursuit of Cobra G.I. Joe line, supposedly following Rise of Cobra. I've been excited about it for a long time, and loved early photos of the figures from months ago. Now I see the same figures except the heads do not look like the actors. Instead, they're just these generic...weird looking things. Disappointed...apparently Hasbro won't be using actor's likenesses for Pursuit of Cobra, but hopefully we'll see them again when the second G.I. Joe movie comes out. Also, I hate the new packaging/logo for the figures. Now when I said I was excited it's because there are several figures I'm highly anticipating, especially the new H.I.S.S. tank that Hasbro unveiled. Looks very awesome.

In Movie News, I just saw Taken the other night for the first time. Sarah bought it for me and we watched it together. It was AMAZING. It's no wonder Liam Neeson is my favorite actor. The man is phenomenal, and even though he's close to 60 years old, he really pushes himself in this movie. He's doing so many stunts while maintaining such a fragile character it's amazing. When I was watching the opening credits I read that it was co-written by Luc Besson. For those who don't know, Luc Besson is one of my favorite directors/writers and is responsible for some of the coolest and I'd say, most brilliant movies ever made. Leon, the Professional would be a perfect example of this. He also did Le Femme Nikita, The Fifth Element, The Transporter, and most recently he's responsible for From Paris With Love (yet to see this). Truly I was meant to see Taken. I'd go so far as to say I was taken with Taken. Eh? No? Ok, moving on...anyway, it's a great movie. Go watch it, you'll love it. Let's see, what else is there to talk about today? Oh yeah, Happy One Day After Valentine's Day! And, head on over to TopWebComics to vote for Mint Condition if you don't mind. That's it for now everybody. Expect awesome things this Thursday.

2010-02-10T20:30:00.002-06:00

Money Money Money.

So, holy damn. That huge custom update I was talking about? Damn did it take longer than I thought...but I have it finished now. I have eight new customs up on my customs page. Just scroll down to "My Latest Customs". Or just follow the links here.

I have a second version of my Movie style Apocalypse only this time it's on a 12 inch scale. See it here. I also did a movie style version of Wade Wilson from the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie. Fun stuff. The rest of the update involve some G.I. Joe customs. First off, a repaint of the Cobra Commander figure from the Rise of Cobra movie. Up next we have a movie accurate Zartan, as well as a movie concept for the character Deep Six. Next is some different concept versions for Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes. And topping off this custom update is right now the most sentimental custom I've ever done. Long time readers of the comic will remember last September when I had to have a guest comic done for me because I injured myself and had to go to the hospital for stitches. You might remember this photo. Well, this custom is the reason. Click to see which custom is responsible for my lovely huge scar on my finger. That's it for today's update. You get a new comic, and a ton of new custom action figures. Enjoy. I'll see you all Sunday for the latest Articulated Discussion comic, and of course be here Monday for an all new comic. Until then.

2010-02-07T21:55:00.002-06:00

Mint Condition - Happy Black History Month!

Mint Condition on AD - The Call of the Wild.

Let it be said that I'm an asshat. Yes, that's how I want to start this news entry. I, John Harmon, am an asshat. I got super busy this weekend with the actual comic, that I didn't have as much time as I originally planned to work on the customs upload. I got...one done all weekend. I had forgotten how long it takes to prepare custom photos for internet use, make collages, add logos and urls, etc...it's probably why I procrastinated so long getting it done in the first place. So, as of this writing there are no custom figure updates. I will at least get some uploaded later today, and when I do I'll make an edit with links. Expect that. EXPECT IT!!!

I'd now like to take a moment to talk about today's comic. I'm very proud of today's comic. Not because I think the art is super amazing or even the writing for that matter. I'm proud of it because I actually, finally made the damned thing! And what I mean by that is I've had this idea in my head for about a year and a half. I was planning to do this joke last February, but that entire month seemed to be taken up by the whole Clark Parker debacle. So yeah...I'm glad I was finally able to spit it out. Ha! Sound self-felating enough? I wish. But I digress. I actually love wheat bread. Some of my closest friends are loaves of wheat bread.

And in other news, I recieved an email recently from the guys who ran DWEX last year. Apparently it's happening again! Yay! It's going to be at the same place (Southfork Hotel, Plano TX) on Saturday, August 21st. I'll keep you all updated. I'll definitely be there. Last year was too much of a blast not to.

And in complete WTF news, apparently Taylor Lautner has been cast as Stretch Armstrong in the upcoming movie of the same name. There. I think your minds have sufficiently been blown. Until Thursday.

2010-02-03T20:33:00.005-06:00

Give credit where credit's due.

I didn't really ever want to drudge the comic into "real world" scenarios like making the characters get jobs and actually explaining what they do, but it would help the story so I deemed it necessary and hopefully put an entertaining/funny twist to it as well. Seriously, you gotta love the sheer enjoyment on Jimmy's face.

Oh, and for those of you who are new or at least haven't been around very long, this is the storyline Dave is referring to in the third panel.

And here's a bit of news for all you people who keep up with my custom action figure work. I'm planning a HUGE update sometime between now and Monday. Possibly tomorrow. At any rate I'll make an announcement about it Monday. I haven't updated the customs page in MONTHS, however I have been cranking out customs left and right. Mostly to sell on eBay or as commissions that were of characters I've done before. Anyway, the other day I took photos of all the customs I've done for the past however many months and will be posting them on the customs page within a few days. So for those who care...enjoy!

Speaking of toys and customs, I was surprised today when I went into Walmart to buy some G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra figures to use as custom fodder and despite the price tags all saying $5.00 they rang up $2.75!!! Holy balls in a slingshot Batman! I totally went back and bought up a lot more figures for my collection, and for custom fodder. Unfortunately, Walmart still won't mark down the vehicles. But I'm still waiting... Oh, and I don't think this is something happening to every Walmart in the U.S., so for those who are interested and live in the are it's the Walmart on Marketplace Dr. and Northwest Highway in Garland, Texas. Fun times.

And now to finish this damned book! Now that I've filed my taxes for the year I have more time to devote to it. So yay. That's about it for today. Don't forget to join me over on Articulated Discussion this Sunday for another "AD Mint Condition". Apparently The Articulated One was so pleased with the first batch of comics that he ordered 4 more from me. Yay! Until then (and until Monday). Oh, and don't forget to vote!. Thanks.

2010-02-01T04:18:00.003-06:00

Mint Condition - Plot Progression!

Mint Condition on AD - The Origins of a Collector Revealed.

So now you all know where John is. Or at least where he's supposedly heading. I've been planning this for months, so I don't know if I can fully express my excitement that it's finally happening. I can only hope you all share in the excitement for where the story is heading.

In other news, Happy February! Yay...? There's Black History Month and Valentine's Day, but other than that not much. Except that since it's the first of the month, the ranks over on TopWebComics have been reset (nice segue, eh?). That means everyone starts fresh and it's a new month of voting! So do be a dear and head on over and cast your votes. Today, tomorrow, everyday if you feel like. I know I probably sound like a broken friggin' record with all the voting crap, but it really does help me and it means a lot to have your support. Without it, well...I'd be talking to nobody right now. Thank you all in advance for this. It means the world to me.

Now for the Obama speech. I must say, I was thoroughly impressed. I've never watched an entire State of the Union address before, and it was awesome. He was kicking everyone's ass with his words and he was definitely taking names. I really liked how he specifically mentioned things that he wanted to accomplish within the year. Not just vague ramblings, but real, measurable plans. I can get behind this. I don't want to talk too long on this, just give you my two cents on the situation. I don't care if his popularity is dropping, my opinion on him really hasn't changed.

Well that's it for now. Join us Thursday for another comic. Until then folks.

2010-01-27T20:45:00.003-06:00

The plot thickens...

You know you were all just waiting for this to happen. I don't think there's any other way this part of the story could have ended. To find out what happens next, just keep reading.

Now I'd like to take this time to give an update of "the book". It's actually coming, I promise this. Admittedly I was very ambitious when I first announced it and severely underestimated just how hard it is to make a book and just how hard it is to balance this work with my regular comic work. However, I am still working diligently. Just ask Sarah, she'll tell you how annoyed she is with my near-sleepless nights working on the thing. But I truly think it will be worth it. If you haven't already, let me know your excitement, or lack thereof, for the upcoming book. Send an email, make a comment here or on the forum and let me know. I'd also like to take this time to thank everyone for continuing their voting for Mint Condition on TopWebComics. In just a couple of days the ranking for Mint Condition has jumped up tremendously. And if it weren't for all the readers out there it wouldn't have happened. So again thank you. I hope I can continue to have your support and I hope I can keep you laughing for a very long time.

Now if you'll excuse me, as of this writing I'm watching President Obama's state of the Union Address, so I gotta get back to it. Full comments on it on Monday. Follow me on Twitter for snippy joke comments later. Also, don't forget to check Articulated Discussion this Sunday evening for another installment of Mint Condition and until Thursday for another comic here!

2010-01-24T21:38:00.003-06:00

Mint Condition - Hey look! Adam still has a job!

Mint Condition on AD - Venture Bros. action figures!!!

Seriously, it's been a while since I did a comic showing Adam at work. Thought I'd introduce his never-before-seen coworker Vegan Matt. Created for the sole purpose of this joke, and hopefully some more in the future if I can think of any. I really feel for Adam in this one. I mean, he did run out of milk at home for crying out loud.

So, in case you've missed me rambling about it either on here or on Twitter recently, last Thursday I went to see Eddie Izzard live. It was an AMAZING show to say the least. Everything about it was perfect (minus the $4.50 non free-refillable soda) and it was tons of fun.

Eddie Izzard is easily my favorite stand-up comedian. His comedy is is gold and delightfully irreverent. It's obvious his train of thought, while hilarious to us, makes complete and perfect sense to him. Hell, it makes sense to me, which is probably why I'm a fan. To hear him run off on tangents only to go back to what he was originally talking about 20 minutes later and then say "So yeah, all that's true" is fucking hysterical. He has boundless energy on stage and an excellent stage presence. He's like a child on stage, very laid back, but also really excited. It really makes you feel comfortable watching him while being stuck in a small seat.

He also brings up some good points in his show, such as one of his many arguments for the existence of evolution. Other than "follow the science" he talks about how the appendix is useless to humans. It's used for digesting grass, which humans don't eat. "Unless we USED TO" Izzard brings up. Then goes on to act out the appendixes frustration at being useless by "calling up" Intelligent Design and complaining about how he's going to explode if he doesn't have anything to do. "I want to be in the back of books..." he says. Very thought provoking, very hilarious, nigh perfect is what I'd call the show I went to. Thanks to Sarah for buying the tickets and getting great seats, and thanks to Eddie Izzard for giving me endless amounts of laughter and causing my throat and hands to hurt by the end of the show (in a non-sexual way I assure you). Although Eddie Izzard is my personal Jesus Christ.

Ok, I think I've spent too much of your time with these rantings. Suffice it to say Eddie Izzard's show was phenomenal. To anyone else who went, I hope you had as good a time as I did, and for those reading this who have never heard of Eddie Izzard, I hope this was informative and causes you to look up his stuff. You won't be dissapointed. Until Thursday.

2010-01-20T21:44:00.005-06:00

Am I the only one who's actually done this before?

Just to let you know, the next couple of comics will be Adam-centric. Don't know why, just had some good ideas that I thought I would feature Adam in. So enjoy. I broke down and bought the G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra Pit playset last night. It was $65 at Walmart (and that's the clearance price). I was gonna wait until it got cheaper, but they're starting to disappear, even at 65 bucks so I figured why not? If I see one cheaper later, I can always return the one I have...I haven't opened it yet though. I'm sort of intimidated by it...I've heard stories of it taking up to 5 hours to build and apply all the stickers/decals and I don't know if I have that much time right now. Maybe later, haha. I'll let you know what I really think of it when I get it done.

Other than that there's not much else to say today. As usual, my thanks go out to all who keep voting for me on TopWebComics. Your continued support means the world to me. And now, let me leave you with yet another animated panel from one of my comics. You should probably expect more of these in the future. They're fun to make!

2010-01-17T23:12:00.004-06:00

Mint Condition: They're really just his Garbage Pail Kids cards.

Mint Condition on Articulated Discussion: I like to think he does this sort of thing all the time.

Yep, it's really happening...Nathan is having another kid. At this point it's becoming a hobby...I'm not sure how I feel about doing a sort of story-within-a-story since this is taking place in "The Trek of John" (working title), but I think I better get used to it...so should you. I'm kinda just going every which way for a while. Why? because it suits me. Hope you're enjoying the ride so far.

In other news, if you haven't noticed, there's a link to the second comic I've done being featured on Articulated Discussion. If you missed the first one, go here. In other really geeky toy news, I got a huge haul the other day at Kohl's of all places. They have their G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra products marked down by 70%, so I pciked up a couple of figure for about 3 bucks a piece (for customizing purposes) and I picked up a Cobra Gunship and an Ice Dagger for about 10 bucks each (original price was about 30 bucks) so I'm feeling very accomplished...someone let me know if they find a Rise of Cobra Pit playset on clearance anywhere. The lowest I've seen it is 65 bucks at Walmart. I'm hoping for lower to be quite honest... That's about it for today. Join us Thursday for another comic. Oh, and another thing happening this Thursday is I get to go see Eddie Izzard live!!! It was Sarah's anniversary present to me...I'm so excited. He's my favorite stand-up comedian. Ok, that's all. Until Thursday.

2010-01-13T20:34:00.002-06:00

Seriously...this is really happening.

More site updates!!! Well, a minor site update anyway. In my ever-growing attempt to get more votes, in addition to the TopWebComics ranking to the right of the comic, I've also added a handy "vote" button on the comic navigation bar right above and right below the comic. Ya know, just in case the point has driven home enough yet...Sorry to annoy with all the voting talk, I'm just really aggressively acting upon this and it means a lot to me, so each and every one of your votes count.

In other news, my inaugural comic over on Articulated Discussion seems to be a success! Thanks to everyone who read the comic, and especially thanks to those who enjoyed it and commented. The Articulated One seems to be pleased with the success as well, so look forward to a new Mint Condition on AD this Sunday evening! Of course if you miss it I'll be linking to it on Monday's news post, so no worries there. I'm still getting into the swing of things with balancing 3 comics a week on two different sites that involve the same characters, but I think I can handle it.

As for today's comic, I actually think this is kind of cool. I've never watched UFC before, but seeing him in the show may make me watch, if only just to see him kicking ass for real. Also, think about the possibilities of him being a UFC fighter...he could be a character in the next UFC video game...hopefully customizable. Plus, with the new UFC toy line, he could have his own action figure! His first action figure NOT as a power ranger! Think of the customizing possibilities!!! Wait, is that just me? Well, what can I say? Power Rangers ruled my life when I was a kid, I can't help but think of these types of things.

That's about it for today. Join me over on Articulated Discussion this Sunday, and join me right here next Monday for a brand new comic. Until Then, everybody.

2010-01-11T01:14:00.005-06:00

You'll be seeing a lot of him, so get used to it.

Mint Condition@Articulated Discussion: SHOOT HER!!!

If you're wondering what that second link is up there, it's something new I'm doing. Remember my interview on Articulated Discussion? Well, I was asked by the owner of the website (known only as "The Articulated One") to do an exclusive weekly comic for AD featuring the Mint Condition in toy-specific comics.

Thrilled at the opportunity, I heartily agreed and there ya go. This is a new feature, so for now it's only guaranteed that there will be 4 comics. That fills up the rest of this month. If it does well on his site, it will become a permanent feature on AD and will update every Sunday. So for those of you wanting more Mint Condition goodness, look for a new comic every Monday and Thursday here, and a new comic every Sunday on Articulated Discussion. The format will be a newspaper strip style, which is very different for me, but a lot of fun! I think the extra geeky readers out there will especially appreciate the jokes in the AD comics.

As for the comic today, like I said before, you will be seeing plenty of the "dummy John" (not to be confused with the real John [also a dummy]) in the coming weeks. It's amazing how easily the others fall for it. They're either really dumb, or they really don't pay very much attention to John. I leave it open to your interpretation. For those frustrated at not knowing John's whereabouts, cheer up with a dancing Dave face!.

Until Thursday.

2010-01-06T22:39:00.012-06:00

A cookie goes to anyone who can name all 3 movie references in this comic.

Sherlock Holmes was a really good movie. It was action packed and had me guessing until the end. The mystery itself was just about impossible to solve before the end though, but the relationship between Holmes and Watson alone is enough to love this movie. They're like bickering brothers most of the time. This is something I can relate to having a younger brother of my own. I loved it. Can't wait for a sequel.

I'd like to take this time to thank everybody who has voted for Mint Condition over on TopWebComics. All your support means so much to me and makes it entirely worth it to do this comic. You're welcome to vote for the comic any time you want...as long as it's once every 24 hours anyway. So feel free to keep showing your support. I've gotten a lot more visits because of your help. Thank you all!!!

Now in comic news...if you haven't noticed by now, the comic is bigger now. It used to be 650 pixels wide, but now it's 700 pixels wide, and almost 1000 pixels tall. The comic has been the same width since I first started. It's a new year and I decided it was time for a change. Plus, when I was making this comic I thought the words were too tiny so I knew it was time to implement my size change. At this size, the comic seems to fit better in the site in my opinion. I hope you all think so too. Oh, and the previous comics will remain unaffected so you don't have to worry about this messing them up. Expect more changes throughout the year though.

In geek news, I was in a good mood last night and noticed Walmart had the G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra Night Raven toy on sale for 19 bucks. I had to buy it. And I did. And it's loads of fun. The Air Viper figure it comes with is OK, but the hip joints are really messed up. I'm definitely going to replace this. And the wheels DON'T WORK. The only real complaint I have with it though. I'll put on custom wheels that actually roll. The lights and sounds and the "gun" feature is cool too. It comes with a pull-down handle+trigger to fire the missiles and it makes it easier to hold when making it "fly". Again...I'm a geek..

And speaking of action figures, the awesome Dr. Nightmare over at Articulated Discussion wanted to do an interview with me about Mint Condition, my custom action figures, and my thoughts on action figures in general. Be sure to check it out. It was a lot of fun. That's about it for today. Come back Monday where our regularly scheduled story continues. Until then.

2010-01-04T04:44:00.005-06:00

You know you've all thought of it before.

So, happy New Year everyone! It's 2010 and so far the year is looking good. Granted, it started like...4 days ago, but still. I'm having a pretty good year so far. How about you?

I know this current comic has nothing to do with the current storyline, and just to warn you neither will Thursday's. I was just feeling like this storyline was starting to drag a little and weighing down a lot so I decided to take a break and just so some random funny jokes. The Alternate Superhero/Villain Career Choices seem to be fan favorites, so I'll keep doing them sporadically (i.e. when I can think of them). This little break also feels to me like something of a "season break" if you will. If you think of the comic as a television show, last Thursday's comic was the "season finale" so this is sort of a break. Am I ranting enough about this? Thought so...

Now onto other things. I need a favor from all of you out there. If you haven't noticed already, there is a link to the right of the comic right under the ad that says "Vote for Mint Condition on TopWebComics!". If you haven't already wondered about it, or haven't clicked on it yet, please do. I'm looking to increase my ranking on the website Top Webcomics.

If you click on the link near the top, or just click here it will take you right to the voting page for my comic. You don't have to register to the site to vote, just click the vote button. Every vote helps. If I can raise my ranking on the site it will help gain exposure for Mint Condition, and that's what counts. So if you could spare a few seconds today, tomorrow, or whenever (you can vote every 24 hours per computer network) it would mean a lot. I'd like to thank everyone in advance who participates in this for me. Until Thursday.

2009-12-30T23:52:00.005-06:00

Yep, it's true.

Now the recent comics all make sense. It's something I've felt coming for a while now, and finally thought it was time to bring it to fruition. John's leaving. But it's not as simple as him just not being in the comic for a while. I have very specific plans for him and hopefully you'll all think the ride is as fun as it will be for me to set it up. Things are going to happen. Big things. Big story-arc related things. I'm very excited about 2010. Not only is it a new year, but I've just got so many plans for Mint Condition that I can't wait for everything to happen. Here's hoping you all share in the excitement.

So I hope you all enjoyed 2009 for Mint Condition. I hope everyone has a happy (and safe) New Year and that's all for now. Until Monday (and until the year 2010!!!)

2009-12-28T00:55:00.001-06:00

Cue the rimshot.

So...this past weekend...wow. I have to tell you, this comic almost didn't even make it. First of all, this past Thursday was mine and Sarah's one year anniversary. On that day I felt like Death's bowel movement. I got no work done the entire day. Oh, and our desktop (the computer I use to make the comics) got a serious virus. I won't name it, out of fear of it showing up again (like Candyman or Beetlejuice), but suffice it to say it SUCKED. So even if I hadn't been sick I still couldn't have gotten any work done, because the damned PC was infected.

I felt a little better on Friday, but it was Christmas and I spent the whole day at Sarah's mom's place. I got a little work done that night, but not much. However, with Sarah's help, I got rid of the computer virus. I had to dig into the darkest regions of my computer and manually delete every file, directory, etc. associated with the virus in order to erradicate it. And erradicate it I did. Naturally I was very happy.

Saturday was better. I had a sore throat, but I managed to finish today's comic in Photoshop! So that's a plus. Oh, and I recieved my prize for the Calamities of Nature guest strip I did. I got a copy of his book which is the first collected volume of his strips on his site. It's good stuff. And he signed and doodled inside the book for me. Hilarious. So another plus that day.

Now on Sunday things were looking up. I got a new book, and the comic was all finished. BUT...trying to upload it was another story. I thought Comicgenesis was having a problem with my "new method" for updating the comic, but as it turns out I'm an idiot. I messed up the template for my site's main page the other day and didn't even notice it. So I fixed it, but jeez it's just another thing on top of everything else this weekend...oy.

As you can see by this longwinded post (if you've even read this far), my weekend was anything but eventless. It's truly a miracle that you even got to read this comic today. I had to overcome a lot of hurdles in the past few days, but it feels so worth it. So...until Thursday.

2009-12-23T22:53:00.006-06:00

An enlightening look into their relationship.

So if you haven't noticed by now, there are a few changes I've made to the site. first off, I've added some advertising slots into the design. I'm just trying to earn more profits through Project Wonderful so I can continue advertising on other peoples' sites. All the profits I have in my Project Wonderful account go straight to putting ads for my comic out there more. I don't know how long it will take for there to be ads, so just bear with the placeholders for now.

You'll also notice I've changed the banner directly under the comic. I'm trying to gain more attention toward the other artistic efforts of this site, Mint Condition Customs. So there will be an ad for MC Customs under the comic from now on with an eBay widget so people can see all the custom figures I put up for auction there. And from now on, directly to the left of this there will be another ad showing off my latest financial efforts towards Mint Condition.

So sorry that today's update had to be all about friggin' ads. Sometimes you have to be a business man even if you're an artist. I hope you don't find any of these changes to be a distraction from the comic and you continue reading and enjoying it. Have a great Holiday tomorrow (whatever it may be to you) and have a good weekend. Until Monday.

2009-12-20T22:48:00.009-06:00

The downside to having male friends.

So did you know it's hard to make a book? Seriously. I knew it would be a challenge, but Jezzass. There's different formats, and formats for the formats...it makes my brain hurt. And not in the good "Kevin Smith just made a bestiality joke" kind of way, but the bad "Oh God it's another Uwe Boll film" way. But it is being made.

So if you haven't already, mouse over the comic for today. Notice something? That's right...alt description. It's something I'm trying out. I'm using a different method for updating the comic. If you haven't noticed before, if you ever tried to directly link to a comic from my archive (i.e. the actual IMAGE) you can't. ComicGenesis has an anti-hotlinking policy for their images that are uploaded to the root directories of their servers. So I kinda hacked around it with some clever html and uploading the actual comic image into a different directory...long story short: You can link the comic images now. Plus...ALT DESCRIPTIONS!!! Wow...that was a mouthful. Anyone who doesn't know or care about how websites get made just had a coma reading that I'm sure...Oh and I'm really excited, because I have plans for the comic and this storyline (sort of continued from "The Artist's Worst Nightmare") is going somewhere BIG. Like...HUGE. I'm actually writing out scripts for the comics before drawing them. This is something I don't normally do. So you know it's big.

That's it for now everyone. Hope you're enjoying where the comic is going, and don't be afraid to post comments! I like to read stuff!!! Until Thursday.

2009-12-18T10:02:00.004-06:00

Whoa, a Friday update?!?!

yeah, I'm doing a quick update today. I just wanted to let you all know that I did a guest strip for the hilarious Webcomic Calamities of Nature by Tony Piro, and it's up today. If you've never read his comic you should. It's very funny, and most of the time very insightful and philosophical. I had a lot of fun doing the guest strip, but it was also a lot of work. I really wanted to go all out for it, since it's the first guest strip I've ever done for anybody. So if you get a chance today, go check it out.

That's it for now. Until Monday.

2009-12-17T02:06:00.002-06:00

Yes, that's really how I feel about it.

So lots of things to talk about today...well, maybe not a whole lot, BUT I have made a lot of progress with the Mint Condition: Vol. 1 book!!! So far it's turning out better than I could have hoped, albeit a little slower than I would have hoped, but that's what happens when a first-time book designer tries to...design a book for the first time.

So I probably won't have it ready by next week (read: I won't have it ready by Christmas), but that's not to say it won't be ready soon after that. I would love to have it finished right now, but life and work keep getting in the way. So, I will have it finished as quickly as I can and into each of your hands. What I can tell you right about it is that before I launch it for sale I will be offering a limited quantity preorder. Everyone who preorders the book will recieve the copy signed by me with a personalization sketch on the title page! So, if you're into that sort of thing, then yay!

That's about it for now. Perhaps sometime soon I will show you the cover. But you have to be good! Until Monday, folks!

2009-12-14T03:09:00.002-06:00

Fin.

So I'm thinking of selling high quality prints of my latest painting, "Homage", but only if I can gain enough interest first. If you'd like to own a print of this, let me know, either with email, or with comments on here or on the forum.

In other news, last night's Venture Bros. 4.1 season finale was amazing. The second half of season 4 is supposed to air sometime next Spring. Sucks to have to wait that long, but it will be totally worth it. For those of you who don't know what The Venture Bros. is, you've got homework to do.

Hope you enjoyed this wacky trip into the dreams of an artist. Until Thursday.

2009-12-10T01:37:00.009-06:00

Let's see if he haunts me now.

So ever since I started the wallpapers page, I seem to be on a bender, because I recently completed the fourth wallpaper in the section. If you haven't already seen it, here it is:

You can go here to find all the resolutions to choose from. If you didn't already know, the painting is based off of the last panel of this comic, which in turned was based off the famous painting from Rocky 3. I'm really proud of my latest painting. It turned out MUCH better than I expected it too, and now I give it to all of you for enjoyment and making your dekstop look mathematically 36% more awesome.

That's about it for now. Until Monday.

2009-12-06T22:44:00.003-06:00

The artist's worst nightmare continues.

First of all I'd like to point out that if you missed it, on Friday the Webcomics Imitating Art feature article went live on the Dallas Art News website. Scroll about halfway through the page and you'll find my piece. The MC cast in the same poses as Da Vinci's Last Supper. Also, look at the other pieces too. There's a lot of good ones.

Speaking of my art for the Dallas Art News, it's also available as a wallpaper! There are also two other wallpapers currently available to download for your desktop. I think I got most of the major screen resolutions. Oh, also, there's a wallpapers page!!!! GAH!!!! Just click on Extras at the top to get to it. Geez, I don't know why that excites me so much. It just seems like a long time coming and something I should have done a long time ago, but I was always just busy with...ya know...the comic...but no longer. I'm actually working on a fourth wallpaper that hopefully will be finished sometime this week if I can find time.

So to recap, I'm honored to have been a part of such a great article, and...WALLPAPERS!!! GAH!!! Until Thursday.

2009-12-03T02:59:00.002-06:00

I've been having trouble with fleshing out a new storyline idea I have. This is how I plan to resolve it.

Let me tell you folks, the Holidays are here with a Vengeance...I can feel it. You know when those times approach. All you want to do is lay back and relax and snuggle up with someone special...but you have all this crap to do first. You can actually feel your body slowing down. I swear, as I type this, I'm going in slow-motion. Although, it could be the sleep deprivation causing halluciantions. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this...I think I need an assistant. Or just someone to help with all the Webmaster and html stuff that I hate dealing with.

Alright folks, that's it for now. I'm off to bed. Until Monday.

2009-11-30T02:04:00.003-06:00

Batman comics are always funny.

So first off today, I'd like to send a huge thanks to @Liz_Enthusiasm on Twitter (and on the MC forums) for donating a webcam to me. Later that day, Sarah bought me a mic for the computer, and also later that day I downloaded VH Multi-Cam. With these three things combined, I can have my very own Ustream show!!! That's right, coming soon (after some testing) I will have my very own broadcast on Ustream called Mint Condition TV. It probably won't have a schedule at first other than random, but it will be me working live on the comic or any other artsy stuff. You'll be able to see what I'm doing in Photoshop in real time thanks to VH Multi-Cam, and I can switch to Webcam view and I can answer any questions or respond to any comments you guys may have via chat room on my Ustream page. It should be a lot of fun, so if you're interested then be on the lookout for it. I'll update its progress here. Oh, and don't forget to tell your friends to tune in!

Now I just need to figure out Ustream. Until Thursday.

2009-11-25T23:48:00.010-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! I don't have a whole lot to say today. As far as Ultimate Gandhi and awesome things are concerned, in the holiday spirit I give you the first ever official Mint Condition wallpaper! I think I have all the major screen resolutions out there.

800X600
1024X768
1280X1024
1600X1200

That's all for now. I'm off to stuff my face and spend time with my family and 11 month old nephew whom I haven't seen in months. Until Monday.

2009-11-23T10:07:00.002-06:00

Yes Adam is wearing a beanie.

It's astounding how much this comic is actually about me...any of my friends can attest to the fact that pretty much all I do is sit around and draw. I don't like to go out too much, because I could miss out on some good drawing time. It's true. I mean I try to have a social life, but how can I go out when staying at home and trying out my new non-photo blue pencils is just so damned tempting?! Ok, on to serious stuff. Remember when I said I would have those prints up for sale? Yeah, I'm still working on that. up to date I've been using Cafe Press and other various outside websites to handle my merch, but the prints I got made myself so I'm going to sell them directly through a checkout cart system on my site. Problem is, I don't exactly know how to set up up...hrm...so when I figure that out they will be up for sale. It's just a few prints left over from the Dallas Webcomics Expo.

Other than that, not much to report today. So...until Thursday.

2009-11-19T12:34:00.003-06:00

"The president of the United States is dead. He was murdered in the morning sunlight by a four-year-old boy..." Welcome to J.C. Hutchins' SF thriller 7th Son: Descent, a novel set in present day featuring human cloning, dangerous technologies, and "beyond Top Secret" government conspiracies. I'm letting everyone know about an exciting publication that started as an online podcast, and now is being sold in stores everywhere. And whats more amazing than a fellow internet creator bringing his works from the free digital format to the printed page, is that he's still publishing everything for free online. If you want to check this out, listen to the book for free, read it for free, or even buy the book, check out his site over here: JCHutchins.net.

I really am looking forward to the show. In all seriousness, I think it's really awesome that Seagal has been doing this for over 20 years. He's been helping out the police in the area with hand to hand and firearm combat techniques. And now we get to watch him as a police officer. FOR REAL. It's easy to make fun of Steven Seagal, but I think that's pretty awesome. However, Chin Fights would still be much better.

In other news, on December 3rd, I'm going to be featured in an article on Dallas Art News. The article will have 11 other webcartoonists create one image imitating a famous piece of art with their own art style and characters. I'm really excited about this. You can read the full article here.

That's about it for now. Until Monday everyone.

2009-11-16T10:00:00.003-06:00

Recap of DWEX '09.

So yeah, the Dallas Webcomics Expo was a ton of fun, especially for a first year Con. They had about 100 people show up, which was their goal, so it looks like there will be another Expo next year! Yay. I talked to a lot of people, handed out a lot of cards/flyers to a lot of people, including some artists as well. I couldn't have done it without the help of Sarah and Jimmy. Seriously, they helped me out a lot. Thanks guys. Oh and happy birthday to Sarah!!! Actually, her birthday was yesterday, but I don't make a post then, so...yeah. Wish her a happy belated birthday. I have some stuff left over that I will be selling on the site, so look out for that. Oh, and I got some doodling done. I managed to belt this out that will become the very first Mint Condition downloadable wallpaper in the near future. Also might become a limited print.

That's about it for today. Thanks to everyone who came out to DWEX this year. Because of you, there will be a DWEX '10. Awesome. Until Thursday.

2009-11-12T10:15:00.004-06:00

New clothes for Jacqi.

So again I miss a news update for Monday. Again, sorry. Been preparing for the Webcomics Expo which will be this Saturday from 11am to 6pm at the Southfork Hotel in Plano, TX. Address is 1600 N Central Expy Plano, TX 75074-5798 phone number (972) 578-8555. Only 5 bucks a person to get in.

I'll of course be there. I'll be signing stuff, taking commissioned art requests, I'll be selling prints of several comics, including this one and this one, and I'll be selling several custom action figures, many of which I haven't even posted yet, but will later in the day. I'll be at (table #26). Also joining me that day will be my lovely girlfriend Sarah, and the real life counterpart to Jimmy and Nathan!!! We will all be your performing monkeys for the day.

I can't wait. This Saturday is going to be great, I can tell. Until then everyone, and as always, until Monday (news post then too, I promise!!!).

2009-11-04T21:37:00.006-06:00

I love the way panel 4 turned out. So I know I missed a news update for Monday. Sorry. I've been super busy with getting everything ready for the Webcomics Expo. Speaking of, it took 'em a while, but they finally sent me a digital floorplan of the event, complete with what table I'll be at (table #26). Click on the image below for an expanded view:

I'm really excited for this event. I can't wait. I know I won't be able to see all of you, since many of you don't live anywhere near Texas, but I at least hope to see some of you! Until Monday.

2009-10-29T01:29:00.004-05:00

If it's Halloween... So...big news today. I couldn't mention it before, because there was no confirmation, but I will officially be attending a convention as a guest!

What's the convention you ask? Why it's the Dallas Webcomics Expo. It's the first one of its kind in the area. Lots of local big name Webcartoonists will be there, including Scott Kurtz and Rob Denbleyker. Honestly I didn't know so many awesome artists lived so close to me...this will definitely be fun.

As I said before, this will be Mint Condition's first con attendance as a guest. I'll have my own table and I will be selling stuff, such as prints, maybe some tees, possibly some sample comic books before the official big book comes out, commissioned art, and some custom action figures. I haven't gotten a table assignment yet, but when I do I'll let everyone know.

Anyone who can come should. It's Saturday November 14th, at the Southfork Hotel in Plano from 11 AM - 6 PM. It's only 5 bucks to get in and it seems to be shaping up into a really fun event. Come there, show your support, come by my table and say hi (I'll have my own cardboard standie with my name, logo, etc.), and if you feel gracious enough buy stuff.

Can't wait to see everyone there. Oh yeah, and bring Diet Coke to sooth me. If you come bearing Diet Coke and peppermints I will know you mean no harm. Until Monday.

2009-10-26T10:41:00.003-05:00

Hey, look at that, the comic is updated on time. Woot.

So I was supposed to have new products with a new design ready by today, but certain things have kept it from being completed quite yet. So I'll keep working on it to get things expedited and they will be ready by Thursday at the LATEST, but more than likely it will be ready later today. So be sure to check back.

EDIT: The new shirt design is now up. You can view it by going to the store and scrolling to the bottom, or by clicking on that big ass ad under the comic. Either way it will take you here.

Enjoy some awesomeness, just in time for Halloween! Show your Mint Condition Zombie spirit!

Until Thursday.

2009-10-22T15:33:00.002-05:00

Late, but here it is.

Sorry for that...read the below news post to find out why it's late. But at least it's up on THURSDAY...ha. I woke up at 11:30 AM and started working and didn't stop until around 3:30 PM. I wish I woke up earlier, but I haven't gotten much sleep the past few days so it was actually nice.

Oh, and I'll be unveiling a new shirt design either later today or tomorrow, so check back. I think you'll all like it. It's just in time for the Halloween season, so check back soon!

Until Monday...I promise.

2009-10-22T00:54:00.002-05:00

So yeah, if you couldn't tell, today's comic is the same as Monday's...that's because today's comic isn't finished yet.

Yesterday was...well, let's say it was rough to say the least. I didn't get the comic finished on time, and I was so exhausted and burned out I decided it would be better to get some sleep and finish it in the morning than to post the unfinished, half-assed work that it is right now and call it a completed comic.

The new comic for today will be up later...today. For all of you reading this on the other side of the world, it's already tomorrow for you so it will be up yesterday...or today. Or tomorrow. I don't really know that works.

Until...later today.

2009-10-19T05:25:00.003-05:00

Five...thirty...in the morning...really...need...to get organized...

*// POWERING DOWN...

*** PRESS CTRL + F12 TO INITIATE REBOOT SEQUENCE ***

...

*// INITIATING REBOOT SEQUENCE...

_______________________
||| Until Thursday |||
-----------------------

2009-10-15T05:06:00.002-05:00

I don't want to say too much about the current storyline until it's over, but suffice it to say yes, it's back..

And look, an old friend returns. This should be interesting. I had a lot of fun doing this comic. I mean look at that serious head wound...no reference shot for that. All from pure gorey memory...I think I need help...but yeah, that's about all I'll say for this comic.

If this leaves some of you confused, then I've done my job. All will be revealed soon. Until Monday.

2009-10-12T04:25:00.000-05:00

It feels strange, yet familiar, going back to the ol' art style. Still, it feels sort of refreshed, and I feel like I'm already bringing new things to it.

I tried something new with the background. I'm trying to make it feel more organic with the comic, so I did a rough outline sketch and painted in the detail behind it in a sort of blurred effect. Not sure if it's too effective, seeing as it's in grayscale, but I think you get the jist of it. I'll be trying out different things with the backgrounds from now on, since I'm weak in that. I want to get better at drawing and rendering backgrounds. Tips, advice, or whatever would be appreciated from anyone out there whose forte is backgrounds and landscapes.

Oh yeah, and the weather really is that wacky right now...it's so annoying. Make up your MIND. I like the cold. Give me that. Not "freezing cold at night, then burning up the next morning". I can't deal with that. Stupid weather...oh well. Until Thursday.

2009-10-08T02:28:00.003-05:00

As I promised, a real comic for today. However, if you couldn't tell, it's in yet another experimental art style.

But I think I'm going back to the good ol' Mint Condition art style for Monday. I've had enough experimenting. I just needed something new to do, you know? I think it happens to every artist, where they just strive to do something different and just get it out of their system. Believe me, doing this comic, in such an unfamiliar art style to me, got my experimental phase completely out of my system. And now hopefully when I go back to the old art style I'll be refreshed and even bring in some new aspects to the art style. It took me a while to get this down the way I wanted, but I was determined to do so. Whether it's good or not is up to you to decide. Thanks to my girlfriend Sarah for giving me the idea for this joke.

Until Monday everybody.

2009-10-05T04:54:00.002-05:00

Update. Thy name is cover. Or something. I dunno. I'm writing this REALLY early in the morning as the time stamp at the bottom will indicate, so this post may not make too much sense.

Chrysanthemum.

But I digress. Yes the book is coming along. I don't have an official release date yet, and I won't just throw one out there, but rest assured that it will definitely come out before December. I know that December seems far away, and it's like "Huh? December???" but trust me...that time will go by fast. So yeah, the book will be out before the Holidays. Oh, and that Pixelated blur at the bottom IS the title of the book. But you'll have to wait to know what that is. Tee-hee.

Let's see, any more updates...hmm...oh yeah, my hand. Still not fully healed. Almost there. I think. Those stitches inside need to dissolve so I can use my finger again. I play the guitar ya know, so this sucks. Hell, the other day I hurt my finger playing AIR GUITAR. You know my hand is messed up.

That's about it for now. There will be an actual comic for Thursday. I just wanted to keep you guys updated. That, and I got REALLY backed up this weekend, so I apologize. Comic on Thursday. Promise. Until then.

Zanzibar.

2009-10-01T04:13:00.000-05:00

So, as I promised, I'm still in the experimentation mood with today's comic. It's all to help me get back to my usual 100% drawing ability...which is like...what...35%-48% of what real cartoonists can do? Kidding. Kinda.

So yeah, I had actually planned to do today's comic completely left-handed, proving to myself and everyone that my left hand (gimpy hand) had fully healed...I tried it, and after much face-grimacing I realized I couldn't. It hurt. My hand isn't fully healed. The stitches are gone, but the wound still needs to finish sealing at the top, so the edges are being held together by bandages right now. Also, the stitches inside my finger haven't dissolved yet, so I still am unable to bend my finger...without pain I mean. So yeah...not the most fun of times. But I will submit this promise to everyone reading this. You 5 know who you are...I WILL do a full comic complete with my left hand and I will work on for however long it takes until I'm happy with how it turns out.

Whether or not anyone actually likes it is still up in the air...we'll see about that.

Until Monday.

P.S. I want the new Dethklok album. I want it sooo bad.

2009-09-28T04:33:00.000-05:00

So as you can see, I did something differen't with today's comic.

This is because as part of my self-prescribed "hand therapy" I'm forcing myself to do something visually different with this week's comics. The art style in this comic is different than I'm used to and it's because it's something I've been wanting to do. This isn't a permanent change mind you, but I love experimenting and hope that you'll all want to join in. So come back Thursday for some more experimenting.

Hopefully it will also make you laugh. Until then.

2009-09-24T02:38:00.000-05:00

So the hand is still injured, which is why today's comic is just sketchy. Sorry, my inking skills aren't quite back up to 100% just yet. Still, I hope you like it.

The accuracy to my actual experience in the hospital is uncanny. Except for the crazy mad scientist doctor...he was actually a wonderfully nice elderly doctor. But the pain I experienced at the beginning of the "procedure" made me feel otherwise at first...those local anesthetics...ouch. For about 20 seconds. Then paradise. It's still sore, but it's healing quite nicely so I expect a good recovery.

But there's no way in hell I'm paying 200 more bucks for them to remove the stitches for me. I'll do it myself. Until Monday.

2009-09-21T00:50:00.001-05:00

Thanks to my friend Dim McRemnant for the guest comic. After I told him about the incident regarding my finger, he stepped in to save the day. Thanks buddy.

For those unfamiliar with Dim's work, you can check out his Webcomic The McRemnant Report. Sadly it doesn't update anymore, but you can still enjoy the archived comics. Also, for those unfamilar with the character who interrupted John, his name is Frank the Angry Wrapper and he is magnificent. I really like how he emulated my artistic style. Good stuff.

Thanks again to Dim for the comic, I hope you all liked it. Hopefully by Thursday I won't need a guest comic, so for now expect one from me. Until then.

2009-09-17T06:42:00.000-05:00

So yeah. Today isn't a comic, but instead you get a sneak peek at the upcoming printed book of Mint Condition comics. I won't say much else for now, but since I couldn't get an actual comic done today, I thought you guys still deserved something cool. So here you go. This is just a rough concept/layout, so the actual cover may and probably will look at least a little different. Oh yeah, and there's totally going to be a book. In case you didn't already know...

There was supposed to be a guest comic for today, done by my good friend Dim McRemnant, however it got pushed back until Monday. So I guested for the guest comic. And for those of you wondering why I need guest comics, I sliced open my left index finger quite badly Monday evening and had to go to the hospital to get stitches. It happened while I was working on a new custom action figure. Suffice it to say I'm in a good deal of pain, and while it wasn't on my drawing hand, it still makes certain tasks difficult to perform. So yeah...the next time someone makes fun of you for collecting or playing with action figures, just show them this:

Until Monday.

2009-09-14T07:20:00.000-05:00

The end.

So this comic was fun and took longer to complete than I had originally anticipated. I did a lot of experimenting and I like how it turned out. I just love how Jimmy's face turned out in the last panel...and now a link to a trailer of one of my most anticipated movies this year, Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day!!! I SOOOO can't wait for that movie...it's going to be about as epic as epic can get. I'm calling it right now. Boondock Saints 2 > Your Face.

Until Thursday.

2009-09-10T16:05:00.002-05:00

They just can't win can they?

Sorry for the late news entry today, I was trying to finish updating the site before posting so I could talk about it...and now...um...I can talk about it. Yeah. So, if you notice below the comic now you'll see a bunch of tiny pictures and the words "Share this comic". Those links are to various social networking sites where you can submit various items from the internet for hundreds of thousands of people to see and submit themselves. It all sounds kinda wonky when you say it like that, but trust me it's good stuff. I have links to stumbleupon, reddit, digg, del.icio.us., twitter, and facebook. Now, if you read a comic you like, just click on one of those links and share the comic on the site of your choosing! So have fun with it.

Until Monday.

2009-09-07T06:00:00.002-05:00

Let's hope Jimmy doesn't turn into a Werebusey.

In all seriousness though, this is turning out to be quite a fun storyline for me to do. I always enjoy working on comics that feature "backburner" characters, i.e. characters I don't use as much. I seem to have a crutch in 3 main characters I always use (John, Nathan, Tim) more than the others, and I hate that I rely on them so much, so I always love doing storylines like these. I can definitely guarantee more storylines featuring backburner characters in the future.

Maybe even have Jimmy and Jeremy be a duo. They seem to have a straight man/funny man thing going on for sure. Anyways, until Thursday folks.

2009-09-03T11:10:00.002-05:00

You know, it may sound like a funny idea I came up with for the comic, but alas...you can have Gary Busey on your G.P.S.

Also, don't think that the recent merger of Disney and Marvel has slipped by me. I may comment on this at some point later (once I gather my brain matter back up), or I may do a comic about it. Not sure yet. One more quick thing. Discussion for comic prints is still up, so if you haven't voiced your opinion yet, go here and do so. I haven't gotten very many comments about it, which is not what I expected, so if enough people don't want comic prints then I wouldn't be able to do them. If you're sitting there thinking "I really want one, but I don't have the time to say so" then do! Like...totally...I can't read minds (yet) so if you want one, head on over to that link and scream it from the rooftops!!! Just not in all CAPS please.

Until Monday everybody.

2009-08-31T07:23:00.000-05:00

I don't know what it is with me...second comic in a row to have a poop joke. Oh well.

So I have a proposition for all you readers out there. I'm thinking of setting up a print service on this site. That is, you can buy a print of any comic in my archive. It would be high quality, printed on semi-gloss photo paper and be 8 1/2 X 11 inches. I can't say for sure what the price for a print would be, but a rough estimate would be around 10 bucks (plus shipping). I don't want to make any plans yet or start printing any comics until I have enough interest. If anyone is interested in buying high quality prints of any comic on my site then let me know. They'll even come signed for free if you want. And depending on how things go, I may only offer a select few comics for printing, but we'll see how it goes.

That's it for now. Until Thursday everyone.

2009-08-27T07:23:00.000-05:00

I say pretty much this exact thing to my girlfriend Sarah all the time. She does not find it amusing...

In other news, Amazon recently revealed a contest they are doing. The Comic Strip Superstar contest. I've seen some people comment on it, and I thought I'd offer my two cents. Personally I think this could be a great chance for any cartoonist out there looking for exposure. On the other hand, I think anyone entering the contest should be cautious. King Features Syndicate is pretty much the go-to syndication for pretty much all the major newspaper comic strips. They're not in desperate need of new talent, so just be careful and ask yourself why they would be spending time and money to take a chance on someone new. Chances are they are just trying to gain publicity, but they're also looking for new talent and since it's a big contest that could make someone a star, they won't care about the "fine print" in the contract, and the artist might end up getting screwed.

However, you would still be getting your art out there, and if that's all you care about then by all means go right ahead. If you want to comment on it, go right ahead. For in-depth discussion on the subject go here. Until Monday.

2009-08-24T07:41:00.000-05:00

Yes that is really what Cobra Commander looks like in the new G.I. Joe movie, sans helmet-mask thingy. But all joking aside I really liked the movie. It felt like your typical random makes-no-sense G.I. Joe plot. Loved it.

In other news, it seems my Tek Jansen custom recieved custom of the week over on TNI. Check it out. Always excited about honorable mentions. I'll have a new custom I just finished posted soon, so keep an eye out.

That's about it for now. Hope you enjoyed the ass-hattery of this epic (not epic) 2-parter. Regular ass-hattery to come on Thursday. Until then.

2009-08-20T07:35:00.000-05:00

I don't know why I keep dressing Jimmy up as a woman...it's just so...funny...but really I liked the G.I. Joe movie a lot. I got so swept up in it I bought just about all the figures they released for the movie. I don't know how my girlfriend Sarah puts up with it, but damnit I love her.

I want to thank everyone for suggesting ideas for site improvements. If you were one of them, then I'm talking to you. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then you're still welcome to go here and post any suggestions for how the site could improve. I also just wanted to say that to anyone who has accounts with any social networking sites, feel free to copy and paste my comics. Adding a link back to the site wouldn't hurt either. Any exposure is good exposure.

That's about it for now. Today's comic was the setup, but come back Monday when the cast of Mint Condition go see G.I. Joe!!!! Fun, eh? Until then.

2009-08-17T11:27:00.004-05:00

The Dallas Comic-Con was fantastic! Thanks to everyone who showed up to support me, and thanks to everyone who didn't me bugging them with my stickers. I got to meet James O'Barr (the creator of The Crow, who isn't really like how I portrayed him in this comic. He's actually a great guy) and I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm weird, and I got to see Barry Bostwick!!! Awesomeness.

Also, if you look to your left of this news entry, or go to this link you will notice a new video posted. It's about 4-6 hours of work in photoshop that I did condensed into about 8 minutes with a cool soundtrack playing over it to keep you interested. Go check it out.

That's about it for today kiddies. Thanks again to everyone, and thanks to my girlfriend Sarah for not letting me spend all my money at the Con. Until Thursday.

2009-08-13T01:00:00.005-05:00

You know, my girlfriend and I had this exact conversation a couple of weeks ago. She still looks at me weird...so anyway...

Just to remind everyone again, this weekend is the Dallas Comic-Con and I will be there. If you can't find me, don't worry I'll probably find you. I'll be talking to everyone. Should be loads of fun. I can't wait.

In other news, I need your help. Just follow that link and give me suggestions for how you think the site could improve. And just so you know, suggestions for future story ideas will not be read. They will be deleted from the forum so I can't accidentally read them. Sorry, I write for myself and I don't want to read any ideas that I may already have for future stories. And remember, only post suggestions on that forum. It will be easier to organize them. So anyway, hope to see you at the Con on Saturday. Until then, and until Monday for the new comic.

2009-08-10T10:58:00.002-05:00

Yep. This is how the new Ultimate Gandhi storyline ends. Plus, you get to know the name of the current storyline. I thought "Broken Parts" Was somewhat fitting. I really enjoed doing another UG storyline, but I'm SO glad it's over. It took so much out of me. Thursday will bring back the original MC cast in...you know...wackiness and geek stuff and such. So look forward to that.

Also, just a reminder, this weekend is the Dallas Comic-Con. So look for me there. I'll be the one wearing a Mint Condition t-shirt and having perfect hair. I'll also be reminding everyone on Thursday as well.

Have a great week, hope everyone isn't too pissed at me for the way the story ended, and hope to see you at the Comic-Con this weekend. Until Thursday.

2009-08-06T07:32:00.000-05:00

Umm...I'm not sure I should comment much on this one...I mean I would, but all your pitchforks are so shiny and...forky...HEY LOOK OVER THERE!!!

So yeah. This happens. No cybernetic enhancements for U.G. as someone had speculated. But it's not the end of the story. There's one more chapter to the U.G. story, so join us again on Monday for the shocking conclusion of the latest Ultimate Gandhi storyline.

Until then everyone.

2009-08-03T11:52:00.002-05:00

Yes the Guard Leader has cybernetic enhancements, and yes he totally just sma-kracked UG's arm...I told you guys this was different from any UG story before. I've never injured him before. At least not like this.

I'm still on for the Dallas Comic-Con for anyone who wants to show up and visit with me. Again, I'll be the one wearing a Mint Condition T-Shirt. Not a whole lot else to report today. Finishing up a new custom action figure I've been working on, I'll be ready to reveal that soon enough.

Again, hope everyone is enjoying the story. Until Thursday.

2009-07-30T12:27:00.002-05:00

Bum-Bum-BUUUUUUMMMM!!!! Yep, the British Guard Leader makes his return right here. And what's? A Robotic eye??? PLOT TWIST!!! Ok, not really but you see what I mean.

I just wanted to let everyone know that my customs are still up on eBay for the next couple of hours. Just follow this link to my eBay page right now to view my customs for sale. I'm selling all of my Watchmen customs, including the 6 inch Walter Kovacs based on his look in the movie. Happy bidding! Don't let them slip away!

Join us Monday for the fight everyone (or maybe like 3, 4 people) have been waiting for! Until then.

2009-07-27T12:12:00.002-05:00

The new UG storyline is coming along nicely. I hope you're all enjoying it. I'm having a blast doing it. This is definitely turning out to be my favorite UG story. I think you'll all like how it ends, as well.

But enough of that. Thanks to everyone for their support and congratulations of Mint Condition's birthday. It really means a lot. Your continued support is what makes this all worth it. In the words of Joss Whedon: "I'd rather have a show that 100 people need to see than a show that 1000 people like to see".

I couldn't agree more. Until Thursday.

2009-07-23T16:46:00.004-05:00

Sorry it took so long in the day to post something. I've been soooo busy. But anyway, yeah here it is. 2 years of Mint Condition being on the Web, and with it I bring you a brand new Ultimate Gandhi storyline. It won't be too long, but it won't be too short either. I was excited to do another storyline featuring UG, considering I haven't done one in over a year and my art has changed a lot since then.

And now some news bulletins. One, the weekend of August 15-16 I will be at the Dallas Comic-Con. I won't have a table, but I will be walking around promoting and buying stuff I shouldn't. I'll be wearing a Mint Condition shirt, so you can't miss me if you want to meet me. Also, There are some new custom action figures up on my customs page. And speaking of customs, I'm selling a bunch on eBay right now. You may have to wait a little while for them to show up on that page though, because I just listed them. I'm selling all of my Watchmen customs, including the 6 inch Walter Kovacs based on his look in the movie.

Well, that's about it for now. I'll keep you guys updated on any new developments. Hope you enjoy the new story, and thanks for making the past 2 years more enjoyable every day. Until Monday.

2009-07-20T14:38:00.001-05:00

So now I have an internet connection at home. And digital cable. Woot. The cable just left not too long ago. So regular news updates will occur now. Hope you guys liked the storyline I set up.

Join us Thursday for Mint Condition's two year anniversary! That's right...this comic has been alive for two whole years...feels weird. But we'll talk about that more on Thursday.

Until then.

2009-07-16T00:30:00.000-05:00

So, yeah. I've pretty much settled in to my new apartment. I'm still waiting on getting an internet connection, because I'm waiting for a new computer I bought online to arrive first. I'm very excited about that. But as you can see, I'm still alive and posting. So no worries there.

The comic is still updating regularly, and I hope you're enjoying the current story. I've been wanting to include Hunter S. Thompson into the comic for a long time. No specific purpose really, I just love the thought of the kind of dialogue I can write for him.

Until Monday.

2009-07-09T15:39:00.002-05:00

So here I am, completely moved into my new apartment in Garland, Texas with my girlfriend Sarah. I'm really liking it so far as well. The apartment is already setup. We just have to wait a bit for the cable/internet to be hooked up, so for now I'm at the...public library...yikes.

But fear not, the comic will still be updated as scheduled. I'll keep everyone updated on everything. For now, I think I'm finally going to go see the new Transformers movie with my lovely girlfriend!

Until Monday.

2009-07-02T16:28:00.002-05:00

So you may have noticed some minor changes to the site today. First off I changed the size of the talkshoe badge for my internet radio show to make it fit more nicely into the design of the site. I also changed the comic navigation buttons. I wanted something that felt more...buttony. I also added a random button and a button for discussing the latest comic. When you click on "random" it takes you to a random comic from the archive. When you click on "Discuss" it takes you to a forum on my site to discuss the latest comic!

I will be trial running these buttons. Depending on the feedback I get will determine if I keep them. I like the idea of a random button, so if you like it, then speak up! The discuss button will be used to try and increase traffic to the forums which are currently "mostly dead". Well, I'm moving this weekend, so there may or may not be a news post on Monday. But there will definitely be a comic.

Until then.

2009-06-29T12:28:00.002-05:00

I'm not entirely sure what the purpose for this little two-parter is...I think I just wanted to use that "Not even sure I believe in Earth" joke...I'm feeling very blah lately and I can't explain why. I think I just have a lot on my mind right now, what with the moving and all.

Still, I won't let that get in the way of me making you all laugh. However I can make no promises on the amount of nonsense that may or may not be in my comic for the next month. But it's not like nonsense is a stranger to Mint Condition...I'm ranting now.

Until Thursday.

2009-06-25T12:03:00.003-05:00

Wow, for a moment I thought the comic didn't update today. I had to refresh the page to see it. Weird...

So big BIG news. I'm moving. The weekend of July 4th, I'm moving from my current location all the way across the state. I'm moving back to my hometown of Garland, Texas. So I'm very excited about that. I'm letting you all know that the comic will still be updating on time, I've worked ahead and already thought of that. However, my news updates may lack for a little while as I get adjusted to my new home.

Until Monday.

2009-06-25T00:30:00.001-05:00

Just thought I'd let you guys know that my Matrix customs are still up for auction. Neo and Agent Smith will be ending soon though, so act now!

In other news, I just checked my Google Analytics, and I'd like to give a shoutout to my one reader in South Africa. Hope you keep coming back! That's about all for now. Join us Monday for a follow up to today's kind of "WTF?"esque comic.

Until Then.

2009-06-22T00:30:00.000-05:00

Man, I'm just full of the callbacks lately aren't I? I don't know what's up with me, I just feel a good opportunity to do something so I do it. Plain and simple.

Of course the comic which I'm calling back to here was a while ago, but it still makes me chortle. Anyway, not much else to report. Just got some stuff I'm working on and/or trying to work out with my life right now. I'll keep you updated.

Until Thursday.

2009-06-19T15:48:00.000-05:00

That censor bar speaks for itself...

2009-06-15T14:12:00.002-05:00

Seriously, have you ever bought a Transformers figure that ever looks like it does on the box? No. There's always like, one or two parts that won't fit into the right places like they should.

This just happens to show what might come of one attempting to perform the perfect transformation. Let that be a lesson. Keep reading on Thursday to find out what happens.

Until then.

2009-06-11T00:30:00.000-05:00

And "Tasteless Humor Week" concludes with today's tasteless comic. I didn't plan for this to happen, it just kinda did. Anyway, don't judge me. I'm not a chauvenist. I don't even how to spell it. Seriously, is that spelled right? I dunno...

Anyway, I hope you're all liking the slight changes to the sight, most notably the "What's on My Mind" section, that being a Twitter feed straight from my account...again, don't judge me.

Until Monday.

2009-06-08T17:23:00.002-05:00

Ok, NOW the Twitter feed is finished. got it completely the way I want it. Nerver-wracking process, let me tell you...

So I've officially dubbed this week "Tasteless Humor Week". It starts off with today's particularly tasteless comic, and comes full circle this Thursday. See, now you're just frothing at the mouths in anticipation.

Until Thursday.

2009-06-05T15:53:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that Mint Condition now has a working Twitter feed! I know you're thinking "more Twitter???" but truth be told, I've been a member of Twitter long before this sudden burst of popularity. I just haven't gotten around to making a working Twitter feed on the site until now.

But I've wanted one for a while. There's a link right below the feed to my Twitter page where you can follow all of my escapades (in 140 characters or less).

Until Monday.

2009-06-01T14:19:00.004-05:00

So now you all know where I get my inspiration from. I'm really not a satanic worshipper, nor do I practice the black arts in any way, shape, or form...

As always, I just couldn't resist a good joke. A little side note: If I don't say that chant exactly right, my soul gets transported into a doll.

Until Thursday folks.