Credits
Crew (4/2010-5/2011)
Crew (5/9/2011)
Crew (current)
Artist Log > > >
Gate of the Month

Latest Log Entry -- 11 May 2024

Nearly a decade ago, when I drew strip #0, I was wearing my then-fairly-new SGU cast t-shirt. Yesterday, just a few minutes into the day, I drew strip #114, the final strip of the "Previously on SGU" section, I was again wearing that now very faded, slightly holey thanks to my cats, t-shirt. Silly, maybe, but it was important to me. With those strips now in the queue, I now know that this section will take one year and two days to appear online, reaching that oh-so-frustrating cliffhanger ending on 31 January 2025. This means the first strip of my continuation of the story will hit the web in February of 2025. Nine years late, but, I hope, better than never.

Log Entry -- 17 July 2017

It was a bad weekend for genre fans. We lost two of the greats. George A. Romero (1940-2017), who created the modern zombie movie and ushered in horror-as-social-commentary with 1969's Night of the Living Dead. And Martin Landau (1928-2017), the Oscar winner for Ed Wood, but perhaps better know for his iconic roles in Mission: Impossible and Space: 1999. Thank you, gentlemen, for the many, many hours of entertainment you provided.

Log Entry -- 18 July 2017

Welcome to the re-launch of Destiny, my homage to and continuation of Stargate: Universe.

Less than a week after the final episode aired, I started working on the art and plot. Life forced me to delay the planned 2014 premiere for a year, and then conspired against me again to force me to put it on hiatus after only 20 strips (though 36 were drawn). I finally feel things are settled enough to commit to re-launching it, and upping the schedule to 2 per week. Not sure if anyone will ever read it beside me, but it's mostly for my own satisfaction anyhow. Other people enjoying it would be a serious plus, but is not a requirement for me to continue. That said, if you're reading this, I hope you like it.

Log Entry -- 21 August 2017

Total Solar Eclipse Day. Heading outside to watch shortly.

10 strips online. 8 new ones drawn. Not quite back to a buffer-maintaining pace yet, but getting there.

Log Entry -- 22 August 2017

Eclipse was awesome. We only had 99.55% from our driveway, so no diamond ring, no corona. But we did get the eclipse-shaped sun dappling through the trees, the solar-snake effects in the shadows on the driveway, one very-cool solar flare, a 12 degree drop in temperature, and a hell of a good show.

Log Entry -- 29 January 2024

When the show went off the air in 2011, I went through stages of grief. This was the story I had waited my whole life for someone to tell, and the reality of the show far exceeded my imagined version. With props, blueprints, images, and swag all going up for auction, it occurred to me that combining those things (a few of which I purchased, many of which I downloaded images) with the awesomeness that is GateWorld.net, I might be able to do an unofficial webcomic continuation of the story. It took a ton of time from 2011-2014 to assemble the art and other details that I thought I needed. I attempted to launch the webcomic in 2015 and again in 2017, but life (first in the person of my wife, and then her combined with an interstate move for my job) got in the way. There were other things to occupy my time that were easier to do with life's constant interruptions, but my SGU cast photo, my SGU dog tags, and Riley's watch were still there in my home-office reminding me that I had left Destiny hanging. Then, about three months ago, I re-examined where I was in my personal and proffessinal life and concluded that there were no excuses anymore. It's been nearly thirteen years since that final enigmatic smile -- It's time to get on with it. The strip will be updating once per week to start and go to twice a week in late March. As I type this, that puts the archive of completed strips into August, by which time I should have a good grip on how many strips I can reliably produce per week, and if three weekly updates is maintainable, you'll see an increase. But for now, my goal is to make sure nothing derails this journey again.

Log Entry -- 10 March 2024

Two big updates this week: Stargates and Updates.

Stargates: I've added a new page called Gate of the Month which will feature (as the name implies) a new Stargate every month. Some of them will be the ones that you'd expect (Destiny's, Earth's, Atlantis'), while others will be variations or completely new designs. I started it just for my own entertainment, but some of them will find their way into the comic if I get deep enough into the story.

Updates: Thursday updates will begin (bringing Destiny to two updates per week) on 21 March 2024, and, ... wait for it ..., Thursday updates will end on 10 October 2024 when the update schedule increases to three per week (Monday/Wednesday/Friday) the following week. I've been pretty consistent about drawing three strips per week (more than three 3 times; less than 3 only once), so I thought it time to schedule the increase.

Log Entry -- 11 March 2024

Here's the truth: I am well aware that I am not a great artist. In fact, if you put me in a room with a couple of dozen randomly selected people, I might not even be the best artist in the room. But I do enjoy pixel-editing and in the same room, I would almost certainly be the best pixel-editor present. I'm also one of my own harshest critics. The combination of these things is why I spent over three years (mid-2011 to early-2015) drawing characters, sets, props, and miscellaneous components before I ever drew a single actual panel.

I did this because I wanted to be able to concentrate more on the story, and on those panels where the characters are doing something new or doing it in a new location. When the characters are in a standard location (Gateroom, Apple Core, Bridge) I wanted the sets to be plug-n-play, so that I could concentrate on placing the characters and positioning the dialog balloons.

A perfect example of why I did all that work on the standard locations is the strip I'm currently working on. It's for the "Previously, on Stargate Universe..." section, specifically the scene in "Awakening" (S2, ep3) where our heroes have just reached the control room of the seed ship. As with the actual show, this section shows only snippets of previous episodes that are/may be referenced in the current or future episodes. As such, exactly one panel takes place in the Seed Ship control room. And yet I just spent an hour trying to make sure I had the layout of the room correct and will likely spend several hours drawing the room ... including the five walls that WON'T be visible in the single panel of the single strip that take place here. Maybe I'll need it in the future, maybe I won't. But if I do, I'll have it. I'll also have the Gate Manufacturing room -- which doesn't even appear in ANY strips I currently have planned.

Log Entry -- 29 April 2024

Haven't found much time for writing Log Entries, but the drawing has been going great. With strip #19 having gone online today, I just finished the first panel of strip #105. (Fun note for Harry Potter fans, I have just 9 & 3/4 strips to draw until the end of the "Previously on SGU" chapter.) The rest of the drawing for this first chapter is all from "Gauntlet", the final, heartbreaking, cliffhanger episode. The episode that left me no choice but to try to continue (and maybe even finish) the story.

The thing about doing prep work for three years before drawing a single panel is that you start to think, "I've drawn everything--I got this." Oh, I'm so damn funny. Nearly every strip has at least one element that is brand new. But, therein lays the fun.

...