Here's an officially official Super Haters webcomics announcement...
That's right, damn it!!! Destruct-O-Tron and Mind's Eye return next Monday, May 26th and run daily
(Monday through Friday to be exact) through Super Haters #500 on Wednesday, June 26th.
The festivities kick off on the 26th with the trailer for my collaboration with
Francisco Gruel, the artist of the above image. It's a fun story that's sure to offend you and tickle your tummy.
Oh, one other thing... I'm proud to announce that The Graphic Novel Formerly Known As The Bible 2
-- my hyper top secret collaboration with Daniel Arruda Massa (artist of the fun Haters fanart above) -- has found a publisher! That's all I can say for now. More news soon.
Super Haters is now on Amilova, an international webcomics website with tons of awesome original manga and comics. Along with the English version of Super Haters, Amilova also allows me to upload unlettered Super Haters pages.
Why leave all of the wordballoons blank? So the comics can be translated, of course! And that's where you come in --
I need your help translating Super Haters into different languages!
Aside from a few random words in French
(pomplamoose), Italian
(troia), and Spanish
(extremo), I don't know anything outside of the English language. But I have faith in you, my worldly and articulate Super Haters readers!
So if you're bilingual or
(better yet!) multilingual, pop on over to Amilova's new
Super Haters hub and exercise your expertise! I've already added my
collaboration with the incredible Nils-Petter Norlin. All you have to do is use their web service to translate my English text into the language of your choice. Here are some
video tutorials to help you get started.
In honor of
Creator Owned Day, I thought I'd share a fun piece of Super Haters history that I re-discovered today!
I was archiving some of my recent podcasts when I found the above image. Know what it is? It's the comic strip I almost made
instead of making Super Haters!!
In spring 2009, I experimented with a
lewd cut-and-paste webcomic using an image of Spidey and Captain America from the
90s Spider-Man cartoon. I enjoyed the challenge and decided that my next webcomic would be another cut-and-paste superhero comic strip.
I was really into War Machine then, so I planned to make a War Machine parody webcomic using images from the
90s Iron Man cartoon (a.k.a. half of the
Marvel Action Hour). As you can see in the image, I even created wordballoon templates for Rhodey and Tony.
Literally days away from fleshing out dialogue and plotting strips for this War Machine webcomic, I had a change of heart. Why sink hours upon hours of hard work into something that I'll never be able to own? It just didn't make sense to me.
So I fused my War Machine idea with a couple of other concepts I was working on...
and Super Haters was born!! It debuted a mere two weeks (June 25, 2009) after my final Spider-Man and Captain America webcomic (June 11, 2009). And according to the modified date on the file I found today (June 12, 2009), that War Machine webcomic was pretty damn close to happening!
Fortunately, Super Haters has grown beyond its humble origins to become something much bigger and more bizarre than I'd ever dreamed possible. That never woulda happened if I hadn't taken the time to think about the value of my work. HAPPY CREATOR OWNED DAY!!
You may remember that I said the Super Haters online store would relaunch this past Monday with a new way of selling eBooks and yadda yadda yaddaa blah blah blah yakety yak yak yak.
Well, you can forget about that nonsense. Unfortunately, I won't be selling eBooks any more...
...because I'm giving 'em away for FREE!!!
After a lot of hemming and hawing (which you can read about in full
in this blog post), I've decided to say
FUCK FISH FUCK SELLING EBOOKS BECAUSE IT'S A PAIN IN THE ASS and freely release
these PDFs for the good of the world.
The Super Haters PDF eBooks are sized at 960 x 640 pixels. They look rad on tablets, laptops, desktops, and even on smaller mobile devices. Currently, the following eBooks are available:
But that's not all!! As
Nik Furious, I've created a new song called
Destruct-O-Groove. It's been split up into four funky parts, and the only way to get it right now is by visiting each individual download page for Super Haters volumes 1-4. I hope ya dig it!
Although I wish it was easier to sell digital comics online, I'm still thrilled to make these webcomic collections available to everyone. I've put a buttload of work into them with the goal of making it more convenient to read large chunks of Super Haters comics.
So if you've been reluctant to get caught up on the Haters because there are too many webcomics,
these eBooks are the perfect opportunity to experience the non-adventures of Destruct-O-Tron and Mind's Eye without having to click through every webpage.
The current story arc --
Quacked Up -- will return next week. Monday and Tuesday will recap the first eight installments of Quacked Up, and then new strips will resume on Wednesday. Thanks for your patience during the hiatus :)
But first... tonight, I'll be doing a special reading of the Super Haters story arc Fast Cash at The Big Idea Bookstore in Pittsburgh. Here's
more info about the event.
Finally, here are a few links to some podcasts I've recorded over the past couple of weeks:
I know you're gonna be pissed at me, but... the Haters hiatus continues :(
But with good reason! I've been fucking busy over the past week and that's not gonna change this week either. Here's a list of stuff I've been doing, along with a small taste of the hijinks I'm getting into this week:
- A week and a half ago, I played an open mic at 720 Music, Clothing & Cafe here in Pittsburgh. I performed a new song called Boner Pissin'. You can download an mp3 of the song here. And here's a NSFW video of my performance:
- The next day, I released a digital version of my 2010 sci-fi minicomic, Passage. You can read it on my blog, Issuu, or as a PDF.
- This past Saturday, I exhibited at the N.E. Geek Expo in Jefferson, Ohio for the second year in a row. While my experience didn't wow me quite as much as 2011, I still had a ton of fun!!
- This weekend, I'll be at the Pittsburgh Comic & Collectibles Show hosted by New Dimension Comics in the Century III Mall. It's on Sunday, November 11 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Super Haters contributors including Brian John Mitchell, Scott Hedlund, and Shawn Atkins will be there too! I'll have tons of awesome comics with me, including these sexy Super Haters offerings:
Okay, that's all I got for now. I'll be back atcha with more updates soon :D
I've been pretty fucking busy in my week off from the Haters! Lemme catch you up a bit and toss some links your way.
- Sequential Underground #52 explored the issue of print first vs. digital first in comics. I'm all about digital first, but then again digital isn't very profitable and it's not the most broad way to reach people so I understand other perspectives on the issue.
- Yesterday, I gave a lecture at a University of Pittsburgh class with my friend Nate McDonough. We talked about the evolution of comics and their current state, as well as our work. It was pretty awesome! I recorded audio of the whole thing, but I don't know how listenable it is. I'll get back to you on that.
- Tomorrow, I'm presenting a session at PodCamp Pittsburgh 7 titled "I've Started a Podcast. Now What?" I'll be mixing my personal podcasting philosophy with my advice for podcasters looking to create a super-strong foundation for their show.
- I took this picture and made this GIF.
That's all for now! Unfortunately, I'm going to have to have to take another week off from Super Haters. TOO MUCH SHIT GOING ON!!! But D-Tron and Nilufa will be back soon. Don't worry.
When I said I wrote myself into a hole with Super Haters #445, I wasn't joking. Seriously. I'm in a hole with this story and I dunno how to crawl back out!! Combine that with the massive comics marathon of
this past weekend's 24 Hour Comics Day and I'm officially burned out.
So I'm gonna take the week off and regroup. If I make any progress on Quacked Up, I'll share my journey with you here. And in the meantime, I'll be posting links to stuff like my completed 24 Hour Comic, "Heat Seeker" (you can get an early look at the finished product
here), as well as some other awesome stuff.
Sorry to spring this on you so last minute, but that's just how it is sometimes when you're doing a daily webcomic!
As I type this on my phone, I'm sitting in JFK waiting for my flight back to Pittsburgh. New York Comic Con was fun, but it also wiped me out! Seeing as how I don't have any buffer built up for the Quacked Up story arc, I've decided to take the day off. But Destruct-O-Tron will be back on Tuesday with more ridiculousness. Plus, I'll have a link to the first of many NYCC recap podcasts. Catch ya in 24 hours!!!
Between getting ready for NYCC (more on that soon!) and handling some
other business, the next Super Haters story arc just isn't ready to launch today. But I'm gonna give it a premature push and make sure that it launches tomorrow!! See ya then ;D
History of the Haters pt 4 left us wondering...
is Mind's Eye actually pregnant with an elfin baby??
By the way, you can always hit up the
Archives or buy some
eBooks to get all of this history!
(And sorry I'm posting this late! I was up until 4am printing some goodies for next week's New York Comic Con.)
- After Mind's Eye did the math and determined that there was no fucking way Jerry Jingle was the father of her baby, RALF proceeded to eat Gary Jingle just like he ate Jerry.
- Broke and pregnant, Mind's Eye was feeling down in the dumps. That's when Destruct-O-Tron decided to take matters into his own hands and get his partner some money in Fast Cash.
- Todd cooked up an elaborate scheme wherein he would use method acting to help him win the role of a fast food clown for a well-paying TV commercial gig.
- After driving a windowless van full of french fries and cheeseburgers down to the local playground, Destruct-O-Tron was arrested. Mind's Eye soon bailed him out and he decided to give up the fast food clown lifestyle for good.
- Next was Scott Hedlund Guest Week. I took another break from the ongoing story to welcome aboard a collaborator for a short tale that featured the Haters in an office setting. [Scott Hedlund]
- Back in the sprawling narrative, we told a tale featuring Rob Liefeld's Glory as Destruct-O-Tron's babysitter! In Glorious, Mind's Eye decided to put her reckless teammate under house arrest to keep him out of trouble.
- RALF found himself extremely attracted to the new member of their household and devised a plan to score more time with Glory while getting Destruct-O-Tron out of house arrest -- a body swap!
- Exchanging bodies seemed like a sweet deal at first but things quickly went south when Glory put her ax through RALF's head, leaving Destruct-O-Tron stranded in RALF's alien body with no way to change back.
- Then we took a brief detour to tell the tale of the house pet from Hell in Virginia Shields Guest Week. [Virginia Shields]
- With Destruct-O-Tron stuck in an alien body, Mind's Eye decided to find a new superhero partner in Work for Hire. But Wet Dream turned out to be a real prima donna and soon jumped ship to join up with a different superhero team.
- Even though Mind's Eye lost her new partner, she got her old one back when Sister Hoodoo's magic proved to be powerful enough to restore Destruct-O-Tron to his regular body.
- Now that the Haters were back to normal, we shifted focus and told the tale of Wet Dream and Sister Hoodoo in Marvelous Detectives. The story arc introduced Mr. Magnifico and ended with Wet Dream's transformation into a supervillain.
- In Who's Your Daddy?, Destruct-O-Tron unearthed the secret of his parentage -- his long-lost father was really his Uncle Terry! And a ready-to-pop Mind's Eye turned it into a one-two punch by revealing that Todd was in fact the father of her child.
- The next story arc -- Baby Blues -- picked up three weeks after the birth to their new daughter, Annabelle. After endless days of crying, Mind's Eye put a spell on Annabelle that turned her into an adorable 8-year-old.
- That's when a strange visitor arrived on a mission: to retrieve Annabelle and take her into the post apocalyptic future! The visitor turned out to be 58-year-old Annabelle, and Mind's Eye and Destruct-O-Tron had no choice but to say yes.
That's all for now!! In fact, as of the moment I type this, you are now officially caught up on the story.
Of course, that won't last for long!
The History of the Haters pt 6 is somewhere on the distant horizon, drifting ever closer as we push forward in our epic journey on the ocean of superhero satire.
By the end of the
History of the Haters pt 3, Destruct-O-Tron was on the brink of becoming a supervillain!
(Remember -- you can also git yer Haters history from our
Archives and
eBooks.)
- Deserted by the man who claimed to be his long-lost father, Destruct-O-Tron was ready to give up the superhero lifestyle for good in Destruct-O-Tyranny.
- D-Tron changed up his costume and attempted to recruit some henchmen... but no one wanted to come work for his international supervillain organization! So he gave up.
- Next up, I took a break from the ongoing story and welcomed my first guest artist to Super Haters. Nils-Petter Norlin Guest Week poked fun at Hollywood cliches with Super Haters: The Movie. [Nils-Petter Norlin]
- When I resumed the serialized narrative, I decided to return to the six panel format with Le Hunger. An alien nicknamed RALF crash-landed into the Haters's roof and proceeded to become a pain in the ass.
- Meanwhile, Destruct-O-Tron became a comic book artist to make some extra money to pay for RALF's outrageous food bill.
- It wasn't long before Destruct-O-Tron's new found career began to crumble. Between RALF's horrible hijinks (like eating Jerry) and Mind's Eye's lack of faith, Destruct-O-Tron decided to give up making comics.
- But he wasn't done doing crazy shit! He found an old video camera and tried to convince Nilufa to make a reality show with him in the aptly named Reality arc. This story introduced Bernie, Destruct-O-Tron's agent, to the cast.
- After that, I was joined by my second guest artist to tell the tale of an epic Super Haters quest. Andrew Kilian Guest Week featured hyper-real Haters trying to find the glen of the mysterious sabertooth unicorn. [Andrew Kilian]
- That was followed by Byron Winton Guest Weeks, which explored the theme of identity by transplanting the cast of Super Haters into familiar cinematic settings. [Byron Winton]
- Back in the ongoing Super Haters saga, Mind's Eye dropped a bomb on Destruct-O-Tron when she told him that she was pregnant in Republican Motherhood.
- Things got even more wild and weird in Maternity Test when Jerry's brother, Gary, showed up and tried to convince Mind's Eye that she was carrying his dead brother's baby!
Is Mind's Eye actually preggers with Jerry's child? Find out tomorrow as things conclude in
The History of the Haters pt 5.
History of the Haters pt 2 put Destruct-O-Tron and Mind's Eye through ringer. Now they're ready for some R&R!
(And remember, if ya want the real deal... go visit the
Archives or buy our
eBooks.)
- A Vacation was a long time comin' for the Super Haters! Destruct-O-Tron and Mind's Eye traveled to Hawaii, and you can best believe that they fucked up everything along the way.
- For example: Destruct-O-Tron was worried about getting sunburnt. So Mind's Eye put a spell on him. And turned him white.
- Nilufa eventually found the right spell to change Todd back to his normal self just in time for the Haters to catch their flight home. Oh and BTW, the Vacation arc introduced Jerry, Mind's Eye's secret sex slave elf.
- Shawn Atkins Guest Week was a fun diversion from the ongoing narrative, taking the Haters on a quest to find Captain Boner's Pimp Chalice of Ultimate Power. [Shawn Atkins]
- Once the Super Haters were finally settled, Susan came to Mind's Eye with a problem. See, Susan wasn't gettin' any and so Mind's Eye offered a solution -- Jerry.
- That was just the beginning of In Lust. Things started off innocently... but when Jerry and Susan fell in love, shit hit the fan.
- Angry and hurt, Mind's Eye found comfort in the arms of Destruct-O-Bot. But that was short-lived as it wasn't long before Bot flew the coop and ended up in a threesome with Jerry and Susan. EWW!!
- Dejected and seeking affection, Mind's Eye made the mistake of hooking up with Degenerate Dwarf in Pete Borrebach Guest Week. After that, Nilufa decided to take a break from sex for a little bit. [Pete Borrebach]
- But the hijinks weren't over! Soon, a bad spell sent Mind's Eye and Destruct-O-Tron to another dimension in Stick Haters.
- While attempting to get back home, Mind's Eye messed up her magic again, causing Destruct-O-Tron to switch places with the stick figure god, Rodney. Luckily, the tyrannical reign of Destruct-O-God didn't last long.
- But that didn't mean the trouble was over yet! In Get Real, the Haters passed through another dimension... one shockingly similar to the real life that us humans drudge through everyday.
- Finally, upon returning to their home dimension for good, Mind's Eye and Destruct-O-Tron received a shocking visit...
- Brian John Mitchell Guest Weeks introduced Tony, a man claiming to be Destruct-O-Tron's long-lost father. Unfortunately, Tony didn't stick around long enough for the Haters to find out if he was really telling the truth. [Brian John Mitchell]
- Still, being deserted by his daddy -- real or not -- was enough to shake Destruct-O-Tron to his core! In fact, the experience sent Destruct-O-Tron into a downward spiral, causing him to make a life changing decision.
In tomorrow's
The History of the Haters pt 4: Destruct-O-Tron...
supervillain?!?
Read
History of the Haters pt 1 to learn about the earliest adventures of Destruct-O-Tron and Mind's Eye.
And if this recap makes you itchy to read the comics, you can always visit the
Archives or buy our
eBooks!
- Destruct-O-Tron's visage was finally revealed in Face to Face. Upon seeing his mug for the first time, Mind's Eye set him up on a date with her old friend, Susan.
- Susan and D-Tron shared an awkward evening in Blind Date. Most of their time was spent discussing Mind's Eye.
- Still, the date wasn't that bad. Susan returned home with Destruct-O-Tron and they knocked boots in Blind Sex. Afterwards, Mind's Eye was consumed by jealousy and propositioned Todd. While he appreciated the attention, he was in no mood to hook up.
- And then the unthinkable happened -- Destruct-O-Tron died. Ross Campbell Guest Week was a depressing trip down memory lane, featuring characters old and new as they mourned Todd's passing. [Ross Campbell]
- In Armor, Mind's Eye did her best to move on... but it just didn't work. She was too hung up on D-Tron's death to go it alone.
- So she joined forces with Shadoweyes in the Eyes story arc! However, their partnership didn't last long and soon Mind's Eye was questioning if she would be alone for the rest of her life.
- Dan Greenwald Guest Week flashed back to a simpler time, detailing an untold Destruct-O-Tron adventure. [Dan Greenwald]
- Then it was time for the moment we all knew was coming... the return of Destruct-O-Tron! In Destruct-O-Inferno, Todd plotted his escape from the afterlife, journeying through the circles of Hell on his way back to the land of the living via Satan's anus.
- Destruct-O-Inferno was our longest story arc to date and it introduced a slew of new characters, from Dr. Perverto to Bloodbath to Robot Moses to the aforementioned butt cheeks of Satan.
- In Back in Black, Destruct-O-Tron experienced an existential crisis upon escaping from Hell. He joined a band, starting writing poetry, and emo'd up his armor.
- However, the changes were only temporary. Mind Blowing featured Destruct-O-Tron back in his regular armor. In fact, it featured multiple Destruct-O-Trons! The doppelgangers turned out to be erratic clones and Mind's Eye promptly killed them.
In tomorrow's
The History of the Haters pt 3, Destruct-O-Tron and Mind's Eye take a much needed vacation!
Wanna get caught up on the Haters without reading all of the comics in the
Archives or the
eBooks?
Then begin here with this first summary of the epic ongoing Super Haters saga!!!
- Things started off raw and raunchy on June 25, 2009 with Getting to Know You, the debut Super Haters story arc.
- Teamwork was a loosely connected series of strips that established the basics of Mind's Eye and Destruct-O-Tron's on-again off-again relationship. After having awkward sex, Mind's Eye decided to kick Destruct-O-Tron out and find a new partner.
- In Casting Call, Mind's Eye's search for a new partner was fraught with problems. No one met her exacting standards, but none of the applicants were hot shit either. This story arc introduced Señor Limpio, BRAINS!, Degenerate Dwarf, and Mulldusa.
- Mind's Eye accepted Destruct-O-Tron back into her life, only to decide that the time was ripe for a vacation. Mindless Destruction chronicled Destruct-O-Tron's struggle with feelings of inadequacy and loneliness as he tried to make new friends. This story arc introduced Doc, Skull, King Steve, and Knows.
- Destruct-O-Tron's search for friends was fruitless. Ready to give up the superhero life altogether, D-Tron was visited by the ghost of his former partner -- Eggstradamus -- in A Destruct-O-Carol. After other ghostly visits from Destruct-O-Granny and Disgust-O-Tron, Destruct-O-Tron decided to keep being a superhero.
- NEW LAYOUT!! Starting with Under Construction, I switched to six panels per strip. This arc breaks the 4th wall and provides some meta commentary on the change.
- The Same Old was a nonsensical follow-up to the previous arc.
- The Haters returned to narrative storytelling with The Gift of Time, a time-travel scenario wherein Destruct-O-Tron thought he was three months in the future when he was really nine months in the past.
- Back in Action was my attempt to reclaim the excitement I felt while making the Teamwork storyline. It didn't work.
- Sick of Destruct-O-Tron and Mind's Eye, I killed them off in the WTF? story arc. They were replaced by Mulldusa and The Living Bling, who I promptly killed off a few strips later.
- I decided to completely relaunch Super Haters with Wacky and Morbid, two concurrent story arcs that featured new characters in a totally different situation. While the experience was fun, it still didn't capture the magic I initially felt with Destruct-O-Tron and Mind's Eye (who returned at the very end, BTW). Following the completion of these stories, the webcomic went on hiatus.
- After a six month break, the Haters returned in Issues. Joined by my new co-writer -- Justique Woolridge -- we decided to bring back Destruct-O-Tron and Mind's Eye for an ongoing serialized narrative (something I'd deviated from ever since Under Construction). This tale introduced Captain Nasty and Destruct-O-Bot, and revealed Destruct-O-Tron's first name to be Todd.
- Mind's Eye turned back the clock in Kids, helping Destruct-O-Tron and Destruct-O-Bot work out their childhood problems.
- In Stuck, Mind's Eye struggled to find the right magic spell to get the Super Haters back into adult form. This story arc introduced Battle Pixie and Ross.
- After successfully becoming adults again, Mind's Eye came down with a cold in Sick. This story arc revealed Mind's Eye's first name to be Nilufa and ended with an especially intense cliffhanger...
Be back tomorrow for
The History of the Haters pt 2, featuring the reveal of Destruct-O-Tron's face and tons more!!
SORRY!!! One half of the Haters team (hint: not me) has to go to the Emergency Resort. That means I'm not at home and can't post today's comic. But we WILL be back tomorrow! I promise :D
I got back to Pittsburgh from the 2012 Small Press Expo really late last night and I'm too burned out to deliver your usual dose of Destruct-O-Tron and Mind's Eye today!
Shout out to all of the new peeps I met at the show, especially those that picked up Super Haters comics!! And shout out to the friends that I kicked it with too.
It was awesome seeing all of you!!
Todd and Nilufa will be back tomorrow with Baby Blues pt 6 wherein you'll find out exactly what's going on with their
newborn baby girl eight-year-old daughter, Annabelle.
On their
latest Critiquing Comics podcast,
Tim and
Mulele take a look at a recent chunk of Super Haters strips (from around #
355-
394) and, well, they don't like it very much...
at all. In fact,
Critiquing Comics gives Super Haters a 3 out of 10 ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Truth be told, they simply don't like the comic strip and I think they were extremely fair in expressing their distaste. They make sure to state that they've only read the past couple of story arcs. And while they're not fans of my relatively unmoving art, they did enjoy what they saw of the
Guest Weeks (namely,
Virginia's work).
And me? Well, I enjoyed listening to them tear Super Haters to shreds. Here are some of my favorite moments:
- Mulele, in reference to Work for Hire: "The premise itself is just nonsense."
- Tim: "I sometimes failed to see what was really funny about what was meant to be a joke."
- Mulele: "These characters are self-involved ego maniacs who basically dislike each other but for some reason continue to interact."
- Mulele: "It's just not interesting."
There's only one thing I'm bummed about and it's not specific to this Critiquing Comics review -- the vast majority of
reviews have completely overlooked the meta commentary on modern superhero storytelling inherent in the physical nature of Super Haters. The Big Two corporate properties are often written like unchanging, unmovtivated, attention-starved sociopaths. That's the whole fucking point behind Super Haters... to make fun of that!!!
Anyway, thx to Tim and Mulele for taking the time to read and review Super Haters.
Remember, the
Work for Hire story arc is back starting Monday. And a new character will make her first appearance next week!
Also, today
I blogged about the first pages of original comic book art that I purchased last month. Even though the current storyline pokes fun at Aquaman (
specifically Pt 6), I really do have a lot of affection for the character -- one of the pages I bought is from 1994's Aquaman #2. The other page is from a TMNT issue by
past (and hopefully future!) Super Haters contributor,
Ross Campbell.
Anyhoo, tomorrow I've got an art treat from masta blasta Andrew Kilian and I'll see you on Monday with Work for Hire pt 11 (#390)!!
Shaenon Garrity shared some thoughts about Super Haters in
her first set of webcomics capsule reviews on The Comics Journal.
Here's an excerpt:
I'm bummed that she spent most of the review ripping into the early Haters strips and didn't mention any of the good stuff that happened between #50-350 (plus, she calls it "Superhaters" the whole time)... but, regardless, it still feels good to get trashed by TCJ!!! ;D
