The HappyGlyphs Shop, New!

I've been running my own online shop for some time now, which has been great thanks to the PayPal shopping cart.  However, as my inventory has grown, the shop has grown, and that means adding or updating multiple pages of HTML.  I haven't had any problems, thank goodness, but I do wonder if new customers have any trust issues, or security concerns, and updating when inventory is low sometimes takes a while.... well, there's a list of minor concerns.  So... I am considering moving to a new shop.

After searching, and researching, I came across Storenvy.  It has a similar PayPal shopping cart, and similar type of layout (although I can't change the header for every page, can I?) and several features which I think can save me lots of time in the future.  For one, it updates pretty quickly, and for another I get pages nearly instantaneously, without me having to do the HTML thing, and testing them in different browsers.

There is also a way to add coupons, link from my facebook page, and it actually keeps track of inventory for me!  Plus, even though it's still my shop, Storenvy is like an overseer, to give you that extra sense of security. I maintain a professional reputation, but here that will hopefully be more visible.

I'm slowly moving all of my current products into the new shop, and best of all, I'm adding new stuff, especially original art, since it's easier for me to add new products.  I'm adding my best original art, and have already sold one piece, so don't hesitate if you see something you like.  Original art is one of a kind, so once it's gone, it's gone.  And look for other fun items I'll be adding now that I have the ability. :0)

So, new shop, and so far it's working well.  Is it perfect?  No, but it is comfortable, so far.  And it's t0o early to tell if the social marketing aspect of the shop works, or if the marketplace fees will affect prices in any way.  As always, it helps me if you check it out, click 'envy' on products you like, and of course, buy stuff.  To help you get started, here's a coupon I'm currently running. (if this is an old post, I can't guarantee the coupon will still be active)


Use the code "SHEEP" to get 10% off on all items!




And here's the link to the new shop!

http://happyglyphs.storenvy.com/

Any questions, concerns, comments?  Please let me know.
Cheers,    JOHN :0)

On my iPod?  Fish, A Feast of Consequences

Fall Cleaning: A Treasure Trove of Comics

For various reasons, I needed to do some research into my own career, and therefore dug through the hundreds (or more!) of original comic strips that I have drawn over the years. What a delight! It was great seeing strips that I haven't thought of in a while, and seeing the originals of some favorites, and totally awesome to find some strips that for some reason or another were never finished or published!

Okay, you're thinking that maybe they were rubbish, if I never got around to drawing or finishing them, and truth be told, I thought the same thing. Then again, you probably don't know me like I know myself. :0) I try to hide the fact that I make mistakes on occassion, and that I can't draw everything no matter how hard I try, and especially that I can sometimes get terribly disorganised... a state that is very hard to recover from.

So... if I didn't finish drawing a strip, it was probably because I got swamped with other projects, or was moving house, or something earth-shattering like that. It is entirely possible that I could have forgotten I was in the middle of a strip. Of course, it's also entirely possible that at the time I found the strip to be challenging, or that at that moment I did think it was rubbish. Who knows?



What I can say is that finding them now I really like them! Nostalgia? Possibly. Change of heart? Probably. I'll leave you to judge whether they are good or not. I've finished The Inquiring Minds strip and colored it, even though the original was a mess of smeared ink and random notes. The Sunday Knight and Day I just redrew it neater, but it is far from finished, but worth a read. The Knight and Day daily was finished, but never published for some reason. I truly think it was just lost in the shuffle. Then again, this was from a time when I was trying to figure out if I should pursue The Inquiring Minds, Knight and Day, or both. A tough time for me, mentally.



There was some other stuff, but these ar ethe strips I thought worth sharing, and I am pretty sure that there are no more 'lost' strips to share. Knight and Day and The Inquiring Minds are now all caught up, discrepancies in number and continuity repaired, and all is well... except that I really need to find time to draw some new stuff and to finish The Ghost Pirate Skeletons of Three Craters Lake!

But, another big deadline looms, and there are last minute changes to the beautiful magazine cover I am illustrating, so new strips will have to wait a few more days. But they are coming! Promise. :0)

All the best, JOHN ;0)

Downtime... please stand by...

As part of my 're-creating', we are updating and upgrading the business, starting with HappyGlyphs.com.

We are migrating to a new and better server, so you may experience a lot of white boxes with red 'x's in them. Please stand by.

It is weird doing this in the middle of The Ghost Pirate Skeletons of Three Craters Lake, but it had to be done since we were constantly running out of hosting space, having had the archives of two comic strips and a graphic novel in the system.

HappyGlyphs will now have unlimited space and bandwidth, and some nicer features which will give us all a nicer, easier way of doing things.

New strips are coming, a much better website is coming, and since I cannot send out a newsletter at the moment, all updates will be at this page for the meantime.

Hopefully we will be back in business by tomorrow(Tuesday) March 3rd.

Cheers, and wish me luck! JOHN :0)

PS Please enjoy these ancient comic strips I found from when I was first creating Knight and Day. 'Yikes' for the art, but the jokes are still good. :0) And if you like these, Steve and Amy's amusing and wonderful story can be found in my first book, "Take Me Away From All This!!"... an honest look at those first days of marriage. Remember, these were the practice strips... the strips in the book are much better, and tell the first year of Steve and Amy's marriage, with all the ups and downs of sharing space, and chores, and the fights, and making up, and even house hunting, job loss, and yes, a pregnancy. All very good stuff! Just ask anyone who's read the book. :0)

Knight and Day revisited

It's hard to believe that it's been five years since my first comic strip collection came out. Knight and Day is our flagship comic, and still holds it's own with a recent graphic novel sequel, and a host of other projects to stand beside.

Maybe because it was my first book, but it holds a very special place in my heart, and I believe it still holds the most sales. Of course, it's had a head start on the other books, and in retrospect, it is still a very strong book, full of lots of fun, lots of laughs, and lots of life.



"Take Me Away From All This!!" is the story of Steven and Amy (Day) Knight... newlyweds who are learning what it means to share everything with another person, from personal space to finances, to... everything! And they're learning that it is not easy.

Besides being my first "hit", Knight and Day had a lot of firsts for me, and a lot going for it. The comic strip was syndicated across dozens of websites, appeared in a local newspaper, and even appeared at Tribune Media's Comics Edge. This strip was my closest to beign syndicated, as well, and it was nice to receive praise from comic strip Editors... although they eventually passed on the strip. Still, the reason they passed was that it was too similar to other strips out there, in particular strips about newlyweds. Being compared to other strips already syndicated was strong praise indeed, but watching the strips I was compared to eventually end and fade away was just a little frustrating, with me wondering if I had had the chance, would I have 'made it'.

I'm sure I would have. I really wanted it, and still do. Right now, though, I'm enjoying a terrific freelance career, and am taking the time to develop my art and writing. I have a new comic strip in mind, but I won't debut it until it is ready. I learned that lesson with Knight and Day, and my earlier strips.



With Knight and Day I followed the advice of all the greats... I wrote every day, I drew every day, and I did not rush to send strips out to the Editors. I dreew several hundred strips, and even then I only drew the ones that I was absolutely sure about.

Even better, I didn't start the strip until I was ready. I spent 3 months doing nothing but taking notes and making sketches. I worked out all the problems and all the details in the preliminary stages, so that when I started the strip, I knew where I was going with it.

Belive me, if you want to create a comic strip, or similar project, this is some of the best advice anyone can give. I heard it from others, and they heard it from others, but we all pretty much learned it the hard way.

**You cannot rush greatness**

Knight and Day was a hit pretty much from day one (alright, day 6), and it was because I took the time to get it right. I've seen a lot of strips on the web that are not consistent, or have no direction. Some tell stories, which helps keep direction, but Editors are not looking for story strips because they need strips that have easily identifiable characters: strong characters that the reader can identify with, and 'know' in a short time. You simply can't make this stuff up as you go along, or you might get lost. And if you get lost, your reader's are going to get lost... in more ways than one. :0)

The book also has my first travel stories, with the ever popular trip to England, and some greta crossover work with Cartoonist Brian Hughes, and a few other special events in there, including my tributes to some of my favorite Cartoonists at the time.

Check it out at the link below. I'd really appreciate it. :0)

All the best, JOHN :0)




Learn more about this book here, or...

Le Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinee

Although I cannot in good conscious recommend a trip to Brussels, Belgium, I can offer you a nice place to visit if you ever find yourself stuck there for a day.

Le Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinee, or as I shall call it, the Cartoon Museum of Brussels, is a place worth visiting if cartoons and comic strips interest you in the slightest. The museum is bigger than I expected, 4 floors I believe, and has an extensive gift shop offering thousands of comic strip collections, many of which I had never seen before.

Of course, most of them are in French, but there are sections that cater to other languages, and heck, many of the books are worth perusing for the artwork alone. Most of the displays, as well, are labeled in French and Dutch, which can cause a little displacement after a few hours, for those of us who read mainly in English.

Still, there are larger than life displays, numerous activities, and rows and rows of artwork to see. Altogether, it is a very nice presentation, covering everything from the artists, their tools, their influences, popularity, etc.

Tintin, of course, prevails over the museum, although I was disappointed that another favorite of mine, Asterix, was resigned to a small statue in the lobby and a tiny little alcove on the top floor. I really wanted to see several examples of original art from Asterix and Obelix, but could not find any. The museum is a big place, as mentioned, and after a while I found myself walking faster to assure that I didn't miss anything particularly interesting.

A majority of the Artists found here ar European, if not specifically Belgian. I recognized some of the artwork here, but knew very few of the names. There were a few examples of American Artists, so I assume the museum is not strictly European in it's representation. If so, there were many great Artists from America, Japan, and others that I would have liked to see present there as well.

One problem with the Eurocentric displays is that so many of the European artists are very, very much influenced by Herge's Tintin, Asterix, and a few others, to the point that so much of the art starts to blend together. I mean, why look at copy after copy of Tintin, when there are Herge originals to enjoy? None of the copies seemed as interesting as the original, but the amount of them shows there must be a high demand for this kind of work in Belgium.

Now, I do not wish to disparage all of the European Artists. As I mentioned, there were several that I recognized, and many that I want to learn more about. American Artists could learn a few things from the European Comics Masters, especially in the areas of Backgrounds.

We all know that backgrounds are not my forte, so I was especially fascinated to see so much artwork where the backgrounds are so rich in detail, and truly set a scene in mood and place. Very inspirational, which is what a trip to a museum should be.

All in all, a worthy place to visit, although prices in Brussels are very expensive right now, especially for travelling Americans. And if you take the Chunnel train, like we did, I can highly recommend a little cafe near the train station called Le Brunch, which has great food, and, more importantly, friendly people.

Cheers, JOHN :0)

What's on my iPod today? 'All is Full of Love' video by Bjork