Striptease

10/3/11: Striptease Reruns with Creator Commentary!

WELCOME BACK. I'll be posting the entire archive, start to finish, with commentary. All strips, from good to bad, had a bit of history, so I'll try to explain the jokes, the art, the characters. For those that are interested, this is a behind the scenes look at Striptease. Join me, won't you?

Also, I won't be updating the LiveJournal or Keenspot forums anymore. I'm just updating Twitter about posts. it's SO much easier!

Chris

9/6/11: the end?

About eleven years ago, I was in a completely different world. I was in Savannah, Georgia, having just started the graduate program at SCAD, living with weird people I had just met, single, and confused about what the next chapter in life would bring. At that time, I only had a faint idea that I wanted to do a webcomic. One of my friends from college was doing it, and it seemed doable, but I didn't know the first thing about starting one. Along came a modern art history class that was a required class. That professor made us do a hands on research paper, getting students to interview someone in the field of art we were interested in pursuing. I wasn't gonna get Jim Lee on the phone, but I might be able to interview some webcomic artists. And I did.

As part of the project, I had decided to also start my own comic. Based on the interviews, I would use that info to make my own "test" webcomic. After many sketches, I came up with a rough idea for 'Striptease.'

11 years, and 1000 strips later, I'm on the other side of the country, happily married, in a different carreer, and have even been doing a second webcomic for over 4 years. A lot has changed, to be sure. Readers have come and gone, but those of you that have come back, given this comic a second, or third, or fourth chance, I thank you. At times, the support from people reading this strip is what kept me going. I know it's only a little slice of the internet, but I happy to share that slice with you, and I hope you've enjoyed it.

So what's next? Well, I'm not completely done with Striptease. Now I focus on the first book collection, hopefully due next summer, with more books to follow after that. After a little vacation with my wife, I'll be starting to repost the archive with commentary from the very beginning. And I'll still be working on Punch an' Pie which starts back up in November. As for other comics? well, that would be telling...

Thank you again, to everyone who has supported, commented, taken the time to just check this out. Even if you got here through a google search hoping to see some boobs, I hope you got a chuckle from the comic (or at least looked through the archive looking for boobs). Thanks to my family, for not judging my weird little project, and actually reading it. To Keenspot for hosting the comic, and giving me a shot. To all the webcartoonists that have given friendly advice, I couldn't ask for a better bunch of upstarts and weirdos to be associated with. To my amazing wife, Anna, for always supporting me, pushing me to get the next comic done, peeking at the next script before I was done, letting me vent, and being honest with me. And finally to the fans. I always hated using the word "fans", because it seemed to separate the connection I had with the readers of the strip, and I didn't want to be on that pedestal. But I know there are those readers that have stuck with the strip through years of missed updates, artistic upheavals, site downtimes, and bad plot twists. You've donated, bought stuff at cons, and been overly supportive. You've sent emails, instant messages, and posted on message boards. And if we ever got to meet, Stritpease "fans" are some of the nicest people out there. You're a quiet bunch, and a little weird, but that's okay... I'm in good company.

So tune back in later this year. I'll crank up the archive machine, and we'll revisit the story all over again.

maybe with a few twists along the way? we'll see...

-Chris

7/6/11: Comic Con

UPDATE! We'll be back at Booth #1230 in the WEBCOMICS PAVILLION. We're right next to Halfpixel, across from Keenspot and Topatoco, and around the corner from Penny Arcade. I'll be doing sketches, selling the last T-shirts (SALE!), poster, comic con exclusive prints, and will have an exclusive look at the END of the comic for readers that really really want to see. Hope to see lots of you there!

Chris

6/29/11: Comic Con

I will be sharing a booth at San Diego Comic Con international this year with Randy from Something Positive, and James and Mel from Two Lumps. It should be in the same place as the last two years, in the Webcomics Pavillion area, across from Topatoco, Keenspot, and other webcomics booths. Be sure to drop by, say hi, ask questions, and ask for sketches! I'll have some exclusive prints and will be trying to clear stock of the shirts, so BIG DISCOUNTS!

Chris