Episode 552

Read the comic here.

Happy Halloween, indeed.

Episode 551

Read the comic here.

Episode 550

Read the comic here.

Spooky Star Wars: Final Days!

The Entry Grids for Spooky Star Wars are up to date - and the turnout so far is pretty light. There are some very nice models - but honestly I was expecting to see some more builders represented. Hopefully everyone is doing the usual - waiting until very near the deadline to submit...

Speaking of, you still have until this Sunday to get your entries in - but learn a lesson from our past contests and don't wait until the last day to submit. We've had some real prize-worthy entries have to be sidelined due to late emails. I'd hate to see that happen again this time around.

Click the banner to check out the rules - and get to building!

Episode 549

Read the comic here.

That's not the same door that's been in the background - this one clearly has a strip of lights along the top and a bouncer. Looking back, I probably should have tweaked the design a bit more.

Episode 548

Read the comic here.

And now you know where Ian was going with Scotch in the previous couple of episodes. Kudos to those of you who noticed the background action.

Episode 547

Read the comic here.

After doing some digging, I learned the comment issue that appeared yesterday is a new blogger upgrade in-the-works. Details are here. Mine was one of the blogs that it was accidentally enabled on. What do you regulars think? Now that you know a bit more about it, is it a feature you'd like me to activate?

Episode 546

Read the comic here.

Episode 545

Read the comic here.

Episode 544

Read the comic here.

Episode 543

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Again, for those of you who refuse to see the films: Trinity.

It's sad that the best catchphrase my strip has to offer is "Has anyone noticed that phone before?"

Episode 542

Read the comic here.

Note the classy tattoo on the dancer's back. I had built this figure a long time ago (although with a different hairstyle), back in the days when I didn't have a baggie of plain yellow torsos on hand. So I swapped the arms on a classic space torso and called it
"good enough".

Episode 541

Read the comic here.

Yes, that's a different dancer. They do swap them out from time to time. I had this young lady dancing elsewhere in the club in earlier strips, but she never actually made it into shot. Oh well.

We could accuse Ian of being a big spender, but the "100" is the smallest denomination in LEGO cash. He doesn't really have a choice.

Episode 540

Read the comic here.

For the record, the guys *did* think of this - they were trying to change Morpheus back when Neo decided to Chili-Up. Then the wheels came off, and they were off on to other plans. (See strip 485)

This scripting style is based on "Real Life", as anyone who works in an office environment with more than one manager can tell you.

Episode 539

Read the comic here.

The dialog for this strip was finalized around the same time I was getting nearly daily blog-comments about "I've lost the plot. What are they doing?"

Here, Ian vents my own frustration at the convoluted mess the backstory has become.

On the other hand, the archive is there for a reason. The story reads a lot better in big chunks. Try it and see.

Episode 538

Read the comic here.

Another new set. This one turned out a bit sleazier looking than the last. Oh well.

Episode 537

Read the comic here.

When I started writing the "Boys in Wonderland" arc I had such a wholesome storyline in mind. And yet, somehow, I ended up with this.

Episode 536

Read the comic here.

A super power almost anyone can acquire.

Episode 535

Read the comic here.

No, I'm not mad at Ian. That's just the booze talking.

Episode 534

Read the comic here.

For those of you who don't follow Ian's webcomic, the Adventures of the S-Team (and why don't you? It's great stuff.), Tiny is a height-challenged villain who chased Ian off his own set.

And here you thought my characters treated me poorly.

Episode 533

Read the comic here.

Yes, I know you all figured out this was Ian the moment he appeared. But remember Whiskey has never seen him before in person - much less in LEGO form.

Episode 532

Read the comic here.

There are days that I wish this strip was a radio play, just so you could hear the character's voices as I hear them. Today is definitely one of those days.

Spooky Star Wars - First Entries are up

I've just added the Entry Grids to the contest - we've already had two models submitted.

It's going to take a lot to top the quality of the creations we saw in the SCIENCE contest, but I have a feeling we're in for some very nice surprises.

(Since these things take time to develop, I should probably mention that I don't have anything lined up for a follow-up contest yet. If you're interested in partnering with Reasonably Clever for the next round, drop me an email.)

Episode 531

Read the comic here.

That is one BIG hot wing.

Before anyone asks, the Jester Hat is from this year's Castle Advent Calendar.

(Yeah, I cheated a bit. Before LEGO offered the shop-at-home deal to US customers a friend of mine in the UK had already arranged getting a couple to me. To save on shipping, I got one boxed, and one loose. So I have all these cool parts in a ziploc bag...the temptation to use them "before their time" was just too great.)

Spooky Star Wars!

It's time to announce our latest contest!

Thanks to the kind sponsorship (and connections) of Reasonably Clever Regular TK-1420 of the 501st, our October challenge is the

There are some incredible prizes, and some amazing celebrity judges...but first, let's let TK-1420 tell us about the competition itself....

(Click for full sized view)

Now...as to those prizes....how about some rare and out-of-print Star Wars sets?

And as to those celebrity judges...

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Stephen J. Sansweet is the Director of Content Management and Head of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm and the owner of the world's largest private collection of Star Wars memorabilia. Sansweet is also the author of 12 books, 10 of them about Star Wars.

(Bio and photo lifted from linked Wikipedia article)

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and

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Mary Franklin is the Events Manager for Lucasfilm Ltd. where she coordinates various marketing and promotional events for the company, such as Star Wars Celebration II, Celebration III, Celebration IV, the yearly E3 Expo, and San Diego Comic-Con International.

Mary Franklin is also the current editor of Bantha Tracks in the Star Wars Insider magazine.

(Bio and photo lifted from linked Wookieepedia article)

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How Cool Is THAT???

And that's not all...look for more announcements as the contest progresses!

Episode 530

Read the comic here.

Yep, another new set. I didn't think this one through very well - I ended up having to take apart parts of the stage so that I could photograph the boy's faces. It made for some interesting shots, though, like the one in panel four.

Oh, and Whiskey's love of Hot Wings was established back in Episode 19!