I somehow severely miscalculated how much text I could fit into a page, resulting in a bit of re-fiddling of this an a few other pages needed. Nothing major, but had to re-storyboard a bit, which is a small part of why it’s a bit later than expected.
Mium’s recent data is probably referring to the Consul.
Anyway, sorry the page is a little bit late. Did my best to get it up today, but lots of stuff and things.
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A note on that last panel’s last bubble. It’s only reassuring if the person in question SURVIVES the “short rise” in assassination chance.
I think that I might be very interested in how long that short rise lasts.
I want to know what the survival rate is…
I take it there’s no new page this week?
I was still hoping it’d be done today, but I just got a pile of new work so that chance is vanishing a bit.
Maybe I’ll get time, as it’s already this late in the week… Let’s go ahead and say this’ll be a missed one though š
Will be back on Monday.
New comic expected 7/6? I can live with that.
Just to update folks; I am still aiming to update tomorrow, but things have been a little hectic over the weekend. My computer died on Friday (a rolling failure of sorts, but Friday was when the boot drive died, which was a bit final).
Now this isn’t a class A disaster; I have a full online backup of my stuff for this sort of thing, so there won’t be data loss… (I still have the whole comic archive, for example) but it has been disruptive. Reinstalling the OS lead to a lot of problems getting my programs reinstalled and reauthorized.
For example, it took quite awhile to get my drawing program set back up, as I had to find a licence key from a very long time ago to get it reinstalled, and now I’ve found that I wasn’t on the latest version, so now that I’m back in it everything is changed… not to mention I lost all my pen presets and things…
The comic should still be up tomorrow, but may look a little different. Still trying to get my flow configuring and get back things like fonts and brushes and things. I will still need to replace the rest of the computer at some point, but that’s a problem for future me.
As I am on my second go at replacing a failed hard drive, I do sympathize. While it had been backed up, finding the back-up has proven elusive!
May you manage to get everything ‘just so’ for your drawing and writing comfort.
I, for one, appreciate every bit you give us. I am not only not alone, but pretty sure there are folks even more appreciative than I, despite my strong sentiments.
Echoing Josh S’ sentiments about the comic and our appreciation of your work. After a few close calls with failed hard drives, I resolved to never miss weekly backups (more frequently if important material is added to the drive), and to only use SSDs. They are more expensive, but far more reliable. The only moving part in my laptop is the fan.
Yeah, I resolved to never miss weekly backups a number of times myself… almost as many times as I’ve backed up my systems. š
The trick is to actually never miss weekly backups, rather than just resolving to do so, because the resolving to is easy, but not very effective without the other.
Still betting on a 7/6 delivery. Sorry you had such a lousy weekend. Hope the next one’s better.
I find that between early onset dementia* and the judicious application of alcohol, new comics can be made to appear regularly.
For instance I believed we had at least 3 new comics this week. Only the comments and dates on the comments let me discover otherwise.
*Possibly work place induced.
An interesting methodology. I manage by hitting the archives and bingeing a year or two. Always pick up something I had missed before….(or had forgotten due to on time dementia).
I manage by have a wide selection of interests. Tomorrow, for instance, I’ll be dusting my collection of portraits of PU (none are for sale, so don’t ask).
Ahhh. A fine side hobby there.
Remember, restraining orders are just another way to say “I love you”.
I really love Peter’s mother. She was a bit ‘unknown’ earlier, but in a couple of pages has cemented herself as so no-nonsense and analytical, whilst also projecting as someone who is able to care for and not engender dislike in her family – Mari coming for dinner, no single bad comment for her from any other character to date, including Peter. The fact that she simultaneously anticipated and supported with the dinner for her husband, and challenged him on what he was doing and why he was getting the reactions that he did. I just love the way she’s such a focused, distinct personality within a few pages. And you can instantly look at Peter and see a similarity.
I love pretty much every page where Muim has significant dialog!
“Yes, this is uncomfortable because you aren’t used to your house blowing up.”
“Assassination probabilities will only experience a short spike”
LOL! I was going to tease PastUtopia about Mium poking Query. But it occurred to me I should check something…and sure enough! POKE is a computer term for reading memory!
PEEK reads memory.
PEEK and POKE: read and write.
ā¦ now, was that significant? š
In my head, I wrote down access memory, not read. š I’m giving PastUtopia a pass on this. He’s adding a hidden easter egg. …Or is he?
I’m sure the Mium is doing some POKEing as well as PEEKing. Updates, defrags, rerouting around damage, etc. But could there be a plot significant POKE in all of that? Maybe!
Personally, I love the line about not being used to houses blowing up. Hearing that its such a common occurrence, their son is used to it is probably not the best way to put parents at ease.
A minor spelling nitpick: Panel 6, says “Qury” instead of “Query”. Looks like everything else was already caught.
I count it as panel 7. Good catch! I read this comic at least 3 times without seeing it before reading your post. And then I had to read it another 3 times before I found it.
Yup. Panel seven. I counted them half a dozen times when Gorfeywog first mentioned it and kept getting 5.
Finally it hit me that my panel 3 was in fact panels 3, 4, and 5.
Eh? Eh? I told you it’d be a doozy!
And I’m still dizzy…
@PastUtopia I think you should rename the post for Thursday June 4, since that’s when I would expected to see a comic that says it updates on Thursday. All of the calendar type things I have ready access to says is today rather unsurprisingly is one of those.
You should then stop beating yourself up about the past. The past is currently immutable. All you are doing is adding unnecessary stress to yourself which reduces your ability to affect the future in a planned manageable way.
I have long suggested that you concentrate on putting out 1 comic page, the same size as todays page, every Thursday (my biased choice because of current reading habits … a dearth of comics produce on MFTuWSuThSa). You should rigorously follow this regimen forever. If you want to make something special, designate no more than 6 double issues per calandar year. Any extra pages should be committed to buffer and Patreon and people wanting to follow along at a faster pace can assist with your bills.
The slackers like my self can have a regular comic, that will draw in new readers because it is regular comic. You will have a manageable project as long as the comic runs. This will reduce your stress. The people compensating you directly will receive direct benefit from it. The larger the buffer the more likely someone will convert to paying you for your excellent work which will further reduce your stress. You will no longer need to debase yourself for being just like the rest of us schlubs for failure to meet your own high standards (this is a problem I encounter with my own work). Your regular apologies for things that you should not be making apology for actually tire the readership and remind us that we have projects we are slacking on ourselves, and no one likes to be reminded of that.
I call on others to corroborate these terms of contract, because the best thing for any serial work is for it to be regular and consistent. These are the hallmarks I’ve seen on successful comics after reading them for nearly 20 years.
PS: One further benefit just occurred to me. The patreon subscribers to “PastUtopia Raw” will be able to polish the gold and clean up little spelling and word issues before you publish the work to us plebeian masses — further enhancing the quality of the product that is people’s first exposure to your work.
Yes, exactly that!
Also buy a Toyota, they’re great cars. A RAV4.
A red one.
VIN number JT1YM3D78E5H32371
And don’t eat red meat. Cook it first so it’s brown.
https://xkcd.com/1567/
Panel 7: “I can let you take it TO see if you can repair it…”
And… somehow, I don’t think Kyle’s mind will be put at ease by Mium’s observation in Panel 7, either.
I think this extra ‘to’ you want is unnecessarily wordy. Instead of that word, put in a period. It accentuates the following sentence making it more a challenge.
This is Kyle Kepler head of the Civil Service. His ire is up. This person is in his house by breaking in. He accomplishes things. He provides oratory language to drive his points home, not passive soft run on sentences.
I can’t give this, but I can let you take it. See if you can fix it, IF you are working with Peter.
This follows on, in tone, with Kyle’s query in the following bubble.
Fixed; maybe. I went between the routes suggested by you and Just_IDD, and used “and” there rather than “to” or just a “.”
The Council and in a skewed way that idiot head of state he kidnapped. Because of the kidnapping, he no longer had a reason to kill him. the task was completed without needing extreme tactics, and taught him more about the way the idiot operated
I’m not sure the idiot head of state was really “working with” Mium. At one point Mium even pointed out that his cooperation was unnecessary. His role was satisfied with or without active participation.
Your point stands though, IHoS survived. And his country eventually seems headed in a more stable direction.