This wraps up the Baby Talk story line.  I left things pretty wide open, because I’m having a huge creative block that’s been sticking around for almost a month.  I don’t know what’s going to come up on Sunday, so hopefully we’ll all be pleasantly surprised.

One more comic in this story line, then on to some one-offs and more lobster.  Things are a bit disappointing here, but the next comic will leave this story with hope.  Clearly I will not be introducing a baby for the time being, though I may revisit the guy’s inner dialog with the daughter he imagines he will have.  It is a great mechanism for exploring his maturity.

I have come to the inescapable conclusion that companies can become too big for their own good.  Also, with the way many large companies treat the public and their employees, is it any wonder that distrust is so infectious and pervasive that it seems to be an epidemic?  If you’re reading this and are in a position to make changes at your company (ha!) you may want to check how you deal with the public and with your employees.  Make sure it is fair not only with respect to the letter of the law, but to the spirit of the law as well.  Whether or not you are part of the problem, the collective image is very negative right now.  A little bit will go a long way.

Individuals, we should deal with each other fairly in letter and in spirit, too. First, companies are made up of individuals.  This might help.   Second, we as individuals can’t expect lofty ethical standards of corporations if we don’t hold ourselves to the same.  Lead by example (and vote with your wallet).

It’s good to be back in the swing of things!  Unfortunately I started on a more serious arc when I backed off the updates, but I’ll bring the comic back to a lighthearted tone for a while after this.

“Yes” but No will be explained in the upcoming comic.  Suffice it to say, at this time, it looks as if the baby talk has hit an impasse.

I’m not sure how I wanted the second panel to look, but I did still want him to be unsure about things until just now.  I hope you guys are enjoying this story, which is rapidly coming to its conclusion.  For a while, I want to go back to gag-a-day strips and bring the lobster back to the forefront.

I really can’t think of anything to say for this one, but I feel obligated to say something.  It’s an odd feeling, really.  In the context of the story so far, this strip is what it is.

I’m really trying to experiment with the brushes in Photoshop to learn coloring much better.  Rob Lundy of Console Hopping has some excellent video tutorials/working companions on his process, and not only is it fun to watch but he actually gives useful information about how he gets his results.  It occurs to me that I really need to review those now that I have a better grasp on Photoshop.  There was a lot I knew I missed the first (few) times through, and I think I’m ready to get a lot more out of them now.  If I can get my act together, expect lots of coloring experiments through the next few updates.  As always, opinions are welcome.  Feel free to shoot me an e-mail or converse with me in 140 characters or less through Twitter!

I went back and fixed the girl’s eye color in the previous strip: She has her father’s eyes.  Of course, you can’t really tell that yesterday without squinting, but it was bothering me.  She carries most of her mother’s traits, I felt it was an important detail.

Kids in comics generally seem to have one heck of a vocabulary, a fact I have always found endearing.  The little girl here will endeavor to do the same, though her efforts will be frustrated by my writing.  I’m one man with a full-time job and several hobbies, so I beg your forgiveness if my efforts here are a bit slack.

I have experimented with using children to convey things, but mostly it’s been showing the childish side of the main characters.  I didn’t like the way it worked out, so I haven’t done it in a while.  By introducing the main character’s potential daughter, I get to have the variety of perspective without committing to a new character.  If it doesn’t work out, she doesn’t have to come back.  If it does, maybe it’ll be a recurring theme.  That would be nice, because it’s something I’ve missed but haven’t yet found a way to execute well.

If it’s not clear in this strip, the main character is falling asleep.  Yes, this is a dream.  I’m not really giving away any spoilers, because the setup for the joke in the next strip makes it painfully clear.

I wish I had more time to spend so I could shade this comic, but I pretty much always have something I wish there were more time to throw at.  I’m actually excited about the inking in this one.  It finally feels like it’s loosening up a bit for me, which is important: I’m not an mechanical draftsman, after all.  I’ve noticed huge improvements in my pencils, but I’m still having a hard time translating that in to huge improvements in my inks, so it’s hard to show that progress to y’all.  Perhaps I should resume fixing the gallery code and making more gallery posts?

Perhaps that’s a project for the holiday break, if I get much of one.  I have burned through my vacation time at work, so I won’t be off much this month, and I have to burn through whatever overtime I can to get everything squared away for the year.  It’ll be a long two weeks or so coming up, but stick with me: I will finish this story line in some way, shape or form.