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I'm going to leave the Malakhim link up. It's rare to find people who are so dedicated and passionate about their work. IMHO, that type of outlook should be applauded and encouraged.

Next weekend is Wizard World East, and I'm planning on going. So, if the update is a little late, it's because I'll be too tired from driving.

Now for something completely different. So, for those of you who follow anime news, you might have heard that "Fullmetal Alchemist" (one of my personal favorite shows lately) has been liscensed by Funimation. It has also been announce that Cartoon Network will also show it at some point. First of all, the fact that good anime is getting brought over to the US is good news (The only disappointment for me is that I'll probably have to wait over a year before I see the rest of the show). However, I am a little worried about Funimation picking it up (I really wish Geneon/pioneer would have gotten it. Their DVD transfers are always awesome). Fullmetal Alchemist has a notable amount of blood and touches upon a number of religious and philosophical themes. After seeing what Funimation did with Blue Gender when that was shown on Cartoon Netowrk, I'm really worried about what they'll do for FMA.

Ok, Funimation and Cartoon Network (like anyone from there is actually going to read this), let me give you some advice. First of all, don't change the names of the "bad guys". They're named after the seven deadly sins for a reason. Second, call it the "philosopher stone" because that's what it really is. I really don't know why they changed it to "sorcerer stone" in the Harry Potter books when the brought them to the US, but just because they did doesn't mean you have to. Finally, _DO NOT_ hack apart the episode talking about how Ed and Al got into their current states to splice them into other episodes. That episode is a powerful one that deserves to be shown in its entirty. It literally defines the entire series. IMHO, if you hack up that episode, you might as well not show the series at all.

Oh, and as a kind of side note, you can probably satisfy some of the fans by putting together a kick-ass box (something made of metal) for the DVDs. And, you should look into releasing the sound tracks too.

Eh, sorry about the later than usual page. I forgot that I was going to a friend's bridal shower this week. 0_o Oh well.

For some strange reason, in the past week or so, a lot of people have asked me about my art process on the comic. I don't know what caused all these questions to emerge at once, maybe some kind of cosmic alignment. But I thought I'd just sort of summarize it here for anyone else who's curious.

Now, up until the Christmas piece I did in 2002, I hand drew all the comics with a 2H pencil on bristol board. For like the first couple pages of the comic, I inked the pencils with a ball point pen, but later decided that it just took too much time, so I cut out that step. Instead, I just cleaned up the art in Photoshop when I scanned it in. Then I would color the comic in Photoshop, save the file and bring it into Illustrator where I would lay out all the type. Then I would bring the image back into Photoshop, tweak it or make any changes or fixes, and save it for the web.

Then, when I got my Wacom tablet and the Painter program a little over a year ago, I basically just started drawing the comic right on the computer. I find it saves some time and let's me create cleaner looking images. I've also started to do some of the coloring in Painter, mostly backgrounds, and then I bring the file into Photoshop and resume from there.

So, I hope that satisfies anyone else who might've been curious. I'm always open to questions about it, so feel free to e-mail me. But I can't give out any almighty art secrets. It's just the same with everyone, practice and hard work.