Some of you have been asking for awhile now whether Bea is going to sleep through her date. Well, stop reading this and go find out! These pages were fun just because they have color. (All that rain was depressing me!)

Over at Drunk Duck, I’ve done a number of contests where I ask a trivia question about some historical fact that pertains to that day’s update. The winner gets a free copy of The Dreamer Teaser Comic. I realized that I haven’t done a contest here on the main site (my bad!) so I’m going to remedy my error. Contest! The first person to identify the artist of each self portrait in the above banner wins! We’ll see who was paying attention in Art History class…!

Well, things are crazy busy but exciting over here at Dreamer HQ. Mike and I have our hands full trying to get a few things ready for you in the next few months. I thought I’d give you a taste:

-The Dreamer will soon be available for download on WOWIO. More details to come!

-We’re also prepping Issues #1 & #2 for the printers… which will include a brand new Issue #1 cover!

-A friend of mine who works for Disney is painting the cover to Issue #4. I could show you the sketch, but I’ll make you wait. Take it from me, it’s going to be beautiful.

-Finally, I’ve been working with a writer to release the first ever official Dreamer fiction. This story will contain illustrations by yours truly, and tells the tale of a secret mission that Knowlton’s Rangers were sent on two months before the events in The Dreamer take place. I’ve scripted most of it already and if you like our boys in blue, you’ll love this.

-New voting incentive today! Vote for The Dreamer to see a character sketch of Sarah Mulligan-Whaley. You know… Bea’s mom.

Lots on the horizon! But for now, enjoy today’s update. So will Bea sleep through her date…? The wait is finally over!

Since voting has closed on the WCCAs, I thought it would be harmless to do a plug for my favorite nominee, last year’s winner in the Outstanding Newcomer category, Lackadaisy Cats by Tracy J Butler.  This is a great little comic about Prohibition in America told through a cast of cats.  I know, it sounds a lot like Maus, but it’s really quite different.

It has the most fantastic art I’ve seen yet in a web comic, and if she doesn’t win for Outstanding Artist this year, I have no faith in the voting capabilities of web artists everywhere.  It’s a great animated, energized style.  The expressions are priceless. (Especially Freckle, the cute younger cousin of the protagonist, Rocky.)  And the characters are oh so lovable.

My only qualms with the story (aside from the fact that updates seem infrequent at best) is that the black and white art and the difficulty of telling age differences in cats makes it hard to keep the characters straight at times.  The sepia tone style is flawless, but it would be easier if I could say, “Oh, it’s the red cat again!” She has an enormous cast, and some of the supporting characters confused me as they popped in and out of the story.  This coming from a girl who read most of the archives in one sitting.

My only other complaint is that even though every page *is* a work of art, and worthy of its own title, page numbers would be so much more helpful when going through the archives.

But she’s a fantastic storyteller with wonderful characters. A lot of web comics irk me because /nothing happens/ on each page and you’re waiting weeks for the story to move forward. Lackadaisy is great because every page is a self contained incident that stands alone. You’re always somewhere new at the end of each page. Which, as a reader, I appreciate in droves.

Well, if this one isn’t on your RSS feed yet, go add it.  It won’t disappoint! 

Ever since I wrote Issue #3, I’ve been waiting to draw these two pages.  I hope they don’t disappoint.  They have to be, hands down, my favorite two pages in The Dreamer so far.  So many drawings on these pages that I’m proud of!

Looks like our story is taking a turn, though, for Beatrice.  So next week should be interesting for our heroine…

As for today… it’s someone really, really important’s birthday today!  That’s right… my dad!  Oh, and yes, George Washington, too.  :)  Many thanks to my father, Rick Biondi, for floating the bill to send me to art school and everything else awesome he’s ever done for me.  And many thanks to founding father, General Washington, for pouring his life out as a grand act of public service to create the nation that I take so much pleasure in being a citizen of.  Happy 276th, Your Excellency!

Voting incentive this week is another chibis version of The Dreamer cast–Captain Nathan Hale.  And, if I can say so, it’s even cuter than the one she did of Alan & Bea.  So… Vote!  Thanks!

Back in December I did a project for DC comics, and you can pre-order it in this month’s Previews (the March issue to ship in May).  So if you wanted a copy, tell your local comic book dealer to order you Vertigo’s American Splendor Season 2, Issue 2.  It’s written by Harvey Pekar (of course) and contains one short story illustrated by me and inked by Y the Last Man’s Jose Marzan!