#144 - Expecting You
Thursday, April 17th, 2008Mini comic status: The minis were delayed being shipped from England and I finally got them all a couple days ago. I am going through and signing them all and hopefully I will be able to send them all out tomorrow! Thanks for your patience.
Good to know: All the minis are sold!
Also Friday’s comic will be up late. Signing all these minis is hard work. Whew!
April 17th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
I don’t like that look on Bjorn’s face.
By the way, the watercolors are rockin’, The comic looks beautiful. Keep up the awesome work.
April 17th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
awwww man!
btw I love the fact that Bjorn’s naked. It should be like a punch to the face for Anders.
April 17th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Anders is probably freaked out at the fact that Bjorn is playing music without any strings! *Slapped*
Both of their expressions are PRICELESS.
April 17th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Oh, Bjorn! You always did know how to accent passive aggression with nekkidness.
April 17th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
nah, taeshi, he’s just playing it a bit unconventionally (i.e., with his weens)
you know, anders’ little pussyfists might actually have a chance against björn’s pacifism. go for it, anders! go paw at him ineffectually!
April 17th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Something tells me Rene is going to run out of Red paint due to overuse of tomorrow’s comic.
April 17th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
btw love @ anders. you know we down, dogg.
April 17th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
REALLY diggin’ the watercolours!
April 17th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Rene - kan jag inte få beställa en mini och skicka pengar i brev i stället? har sånt krångel med paypal. man ska inte gifta sig och byta efternamn tydligen :-/
April 17th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
umm… why is anders wearing socks in someone else’s house..?
April 17th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
oh now that’s nasty.
strange place for a knob.
(on the guitar. harhar.)
strangely enough i find myself on anders’ side now. i just don’t like the look on björn’s face.
April 17th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
it’s a time-honoured swedish custom to refrain from taking your socks off before entering a home.
April 17th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I’m just waiting for this to turn into “THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!” combat, and that look on Bjorn’s face says he damn well knew Anders was coming.
April 17th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
@gogalucky:
that’s because the first thing swedish people do on entering a house is taking their shoes off. at least that’s what a swedish person told me (after i said to him he needn’t take his shoes off because the floor was cold and not that clean anyway)…
April 17th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
(yeah, too slow, and alex f. even expressed it a lot better than i did)
April 17th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
The watercolors are really working well.
April 17th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Yes, Swedes will always take their shoes off. But for the record, this is Anders’ home.
April 17th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
oO wait. Have Bjorn and Anders even met before? I don’t remember them having met. If they haven’t, then this is an even bigger trout slap across the face for Anders.
April 17th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Helvete Bjorn!!
Go away!
This cannot bode well.
April 17th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
I don’t understand why people wouldn’t take their shoes off when entering a house. The socks make total sense to me.
That said, I love this comic.
April 17th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
On the comment about him playing without strings, I just assumed he was playing Guitar Hero.
April 17th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
I absolutly LOVE the look on his face! Oh he knew Anders was coming. You make me love Bjorn more and more each time I see him. Such a subtle punch to the face. Just rubbing it in a little more with each horrible grin.
Rene, I adore the way you build your characters, I really do. And the watercolor does really well. Have you ever thought about maybe doing the comic in computer and the flashbacks or side stories in watercolor? Or kinda differeing between the two? I really like both, I know a lot of people who change styles for flash back and other things. Just an idea! Keep up the awesome work!
April 17th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
evilbugz: I will probably change styles loads of times. I love trying out new things. I doubt you have seen the last of the vectors.
April 17th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Fucken lol. The look on Bjorn’s face is priceless.
April 17th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Whoa wait, what is Bjorn doing in Anders’ home? Was this where Maria and Anders were living post-fight?
So confused.
April 17th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
You know the speech bubbles are something like… perfect now?
I don’t know why, I think Björn and Anders could be good friends.
April 17th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
is this going to end in fisticuffs? and what the hell IS bjorn doing in anders’ house?
my only problem with the watercolors is that it’s so different from your previous coloring methods that i can’t get over the feeling that it’s a side-story, even though i know it’s not.
but…i love how anders’ feet look so skinny and flat in their socks. ^_^
April 17th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Björn has been living with Maria since she went back to Stockholm. It is also the shared residence of Anders and Maria.
April 17th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Bjorn is in there because it’s Maria’s home, and he is living with Maria. Maria went back to the house she and anders had previously shared. Unless I’m incredibly mistaken.
Also, one word about today: PERFECT. I can now whole-heartedly love the watercolours. The way you changed the speech bubble outlines (and other things, I’m sure) has really made it look sharp.
April 17th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Much love Alex. *fist pound*
I happen to have very powerful fists when needed.
April 17th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Bjorn looks downright maniacal. Also I just realized how horrible maniacal is to spell. I think I’ve only ever heard the word.
My 2 cents on the new style is thumbs up!
April 17th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Alex F. Thanks for the laugh
Err.. Well the blues are better now but i’m sure anders could have a little more colour in his face in panel 2 (and maybe 4).
Maybe the lines could be a little thicker/darker and STRAIGHTER :-p Especially for the edges of the room and the radiator.
How big are your paintings?
Anyway, I think its wonderful.
Is it Anders’ guitar? Because that could make things ugly. Btw in my experience a guitar will “make contact” when heald like that.. so if Bjorn is fully nude, his.. thing is probably touching the back of the guitar… I.. have a little OCD.. *shudders*
April 17th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
I am very impressed with Bjorn’s skills. He doesn’t even have a strap to that guitar! Kirk Hammett’s custom ESP is all-black like that. http://www.espguitars.com/guitars_kirk.html
I’m guessing that ‘knob’ is a pick, Strange One. (That was fun to type).
I love Bjorn’s expression in that last panel. He’s totally enjoying this.
April 17th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
p.s. the guitar is really well coloured.. Just needs strings. Maybe you could, if you needed to do that again, paint some pale grey roughly where the strings will be, mask off 4/6 little lines where you want the strings, then paint the guitar on top? Peel off the masking tape (or whatever?) leaving some small well defined lines? I don’t know how practical that is, I don’t paint :-/
April 17th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Dave. The strips are drawn and painted on A4. I don’t get too hung up on small details or worry about straight lines. I’m sure the lines will be more confident with the more strips I do. My motto is to get the strip done and go on to the next, I won’t be going back and fixing this. As to the strap, I merely forgot to paint one. Oh wells!
April 17th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Kick his ass, anders!
April 17th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Tangent: In high school I was friends with Laotians, who also left their shoes at the threshold. A habit I employ at friend’s and family’s houses- but oddly enough, not my own.
As for the strip, I love the new style
April 17th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Why has everyone been so nitpicky about little details lately?
I also don’t understand where the confusion as to who’s house they were in and why came from? Oh well.
Great job, Rene!!
April 17th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Maybe the guitar is from rock band?
That would rock!
hehe… rock…
April 17th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Art critic is FAIL. Rene, you could forget to paint their facial features all together and i’d still love it.
April 17th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
This is his apartment, I think it’s fine that he takes his shoes off, lol.
April 18th, 2008 at 2:02 am
Wait a sec! Hey Rene, If Björn has been living with Maria (as we all know he has) all this time, what about his place back home? Does he still have a home back there anymore?
April 18th, 2008 at 3:28 am
@Ashley: they don’t matter, really. It’s part of Rene’s style and 99,9% of us don’t give a baboon’s arse about it.
:3
hehe, rock…
April 18th, 2008 at 4:36 am
I think I would be a little pissed if I were Anders… ok, he messed up and Maria’s with someone else, but having that guy run around your house naked? I agree with the OCD comment from earlier…my first thought was ‘ew!! Must clean, must clean!!’
April 18th, 2008 at 5:03 am
doesn’t everyone take their shoes off when they get home? Otherwise dirt will get everywhere.
Go Björn!
April 18th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Bjorn is quite…hairless. :X
April 18th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Love your comic, been following it for a few months now and I got to say I kind of like the old coloring better, it gave it a very polished look, not that the new art isn’t pretty as well, guess I just liked it better.
awe another gay moment (April 1 comic) for anders? soon we’ll be reading Anders Loves Men
April 18th, 2008 at 8:32 am
I GOT TWO WORDS:
OH
DIP
April 18th, 2008 at 8:35 am
@ the shoe/sock thing. Funny fact, going around in your socks actually treks dirt more efficiently. Teh oils from your feet coupled with the fibers of the sock act sort of like a semi-sticky dirt-collector-redepositer-er… (y’know because that’s a totally legitimate term) But shoes are just as bad. Bare feet are the way to go. Yeah they’re still oily but there’s not too many places for dirt to collect and redeposit.
On a more related note I really like the organic feel of your pages as of late.
April 18th, 2008 at 9:26 am
I love the new style, I love Bjorn, I love this comic. YOSH! 8D The last two panels are hilarious.
“:|”
“>8J”
April 18th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I’ve enjoyed the comic so far, but I have to say I don’t like the new style. Sorry. The computer artwork is really attractive and different, and that’s what drew me into reading. I wouldn’t have looked any further if this had been the first thing I’d seen when I found this comic.
And I really hope you’re going to go back and clarify what happened with Tina, since going from them in bed to Anders leaving the next day felt like turning over two pages at once.
In general, love it, though!
April 18th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Amanda, in a country that frequently gets a lot of snow/rain and mud, shoes are definately worse than socks and therefore out of the question.
April 18th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
I just gotta say that I love the comic, and the new watercolour style is absolutely lovely.
April 18th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
did you do everything on the computer before or did you trace scans for coloring.
I must say that if you don’t have money issues a wacom screen would be a good purchase you can paint right on the screen, and even choose water color as your desired medium(in painter)
I am a computer freak so therefore I always go the digital way, maybe its not your thing but I must say that since the comic is online it would probably make updating easier
April 18th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
MoBurkhardt:
Most of the old work is done on a computer using a wacom intuos (all I can afford) and Illustrator. I will go back to that eventually because I really enjoy it.
I like to switch sometimes because it’s fun to get away from the computer screen, especially now that the weather is warmer.
April 18th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Ha ha ha ha!!!!
April 18th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Well I’m loving it
Wobbly lines or not :-p
April 18th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Strings…well…since they were not present on that side of the guitar, I assumed they must be on the back….but…then that means….Bjorn is strumming with his…we’ll. Hey, did Anders put on weight? heh
Also I was taught it’s impolite to keep your shoes on while in someones house. So It’s not just a Swedish thing.
April 18th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Jep, shoes in houses are a big No-No here in Germany, too. At least in the more eastern parts.
April 18th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
When I first arrived in Tokyo I was shown (along with an entire group of students) around the apartment I would be renting. As our guide entered the apartment we all began to follow her, only to have her come running back at us screeching “KUTSU! KUTSU!” (kutsu = shoes in japanese). Totally had forgotten how important it is to take off your shoes in Japan before entering a house.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Honestly, I love how you can make characters arcs within one panel. How people used to hate Bjorn, then Tina, then Anders, then Tina again. You’re amazing.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Xtine: Heh heh!
April 18th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Ahh, I can’t wait to get my mini.