So in case you missed it, today’s pages went up yesterday.  But it’s Friday, and it’s also Halloween, so I should give you a “Treat” so you all don’t “Trick” me!  Last year my favorite Trick-or-Treater was a little girl dressed in colonial garb.  How sweet, I thought.  Until she got closer.  I noticed her eyes were hollowed out and there was blood coming out of her mouth.  When she got even closer still, I noticed the noose around her neck.  ”Who are you?” I asked.  ”A witch,” she said, “But they hung me.”

A ha ha ha ha haaaa!  If I ever have kids, I hope they’re exactly like that.  (Fun note, did you know that Nathan Hale had ancestors involved in the Salem Witch trials?  Yup.  A judge and a woman accused.  They were, erm, husband and wife.  That can’t be good for your marriage!!)

Anyway, about Halloween… Alan Evans, during Wizard World Chicago, told me that he was planning on dressing all his characters up as other webcomic characters for Halloween.  I thought it was such a fun idea that I stole it.  :)  Good thing we’re friends!!  Have fun matching The Dreamer gang’s costumes with the webcomics they come from.  I don’t have a links page here, so you can use this as my recommendation for webcomics that you really must read.  These are my favs!

Just for fun I sized it to fit my computer as a wallpaper.  Feel free to use it!  

I had fun drawing all the kids.  None of them have been in since what, issue #3?  I miss Ben’s dimples!!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Yes, new pages, that’s what I said!  I know it’s not Friday, but I’m headed out of town for a very special wedding (one of the members of the Dream Team is getting hitched!) and rather than have to worry about whether or not the pages go up while I’m out of state, I thought I’d just give them to you early!

So new page, err, Thursday, everyone!  Pages 16 & 17!

Historical fun fact:  The musket was pretty unreliable (aim wise) if you started to get too far away from your target.  They were effective in warfare when everyone stood in a line and fired at each other.  It acted like grapeshot, except the musket balls were the size of marbles and would shatter your bones.  (Ewwww.)  But if you wanted to take aim from a distance, the long rifle was really the way to go.  The difference comes from the smooth barrel (musket) vs. rifling in the barrel (long rifle), which puts spin on the ball, like a football, and gives it much more precision.  But rifles took longer to load.  (Hence the fancy powder horn and bag…)  There were some regiments of riflemen in the Continental Army (such as the 1st Continental Line who Bea & Nate met in Issue #4) but the bulk of the Continental Army used muskets.  Interestingly, the British and Hessian troops were so frightened of the American Riflemen, that Washington actually took to putting his regular troops in hunting shirts so they looked like the riflemen to their enemies!  

Well, that’s it!  Tomorrow is Halloween so come back tomorrow because I have something fun for you!

Oh, and VOTE this week to take a peek at next week’s pages!  Oh noes!

Tonight I had to say goodbye to Dreamer Cover artist Chris Oatley.  But as goodbyes go, this was a pretty good one.  The Disney film he worked on just happened to come out on DVD today, so at least 30 of his closest friends (and a dozen kids) crammed into a friends’ house and we all watched Tinkerbell.  All right, with that many kids all crawling over each other and everyone else talking in the room and several dogs running about, I didn’t hear very much of the film.  But visually, it’s dazzling.  It has a fantastic color palate, which is something that I’ve always found striking about Chris’s work.  

His official title was “Visual Developer” and he worked on all the props.  Essentially anything that Tinkerbell and her friends picked up or interacted with in any way (baskets, stools, hammers, paintbrushes, music boxes, etc, etc) he drew and painted.  Then a 3D modeler took his 2D designs and built them in the computer so they could be used in the film.  I was astounded how much of an effect Chris’s designs had on the over all look of the film.  In every scene his designs were strewn about to flush out the environment and bring life to it.  He even has his very own credit at the end.  We all cheered.

So as he sets out for California to find more of this kind of work, I offer Chris a hearty “Congratulations!” “I’ll miss you!” “Best luck!” and may God bless you in this latest adventure.  

We love you Chris!  Huzzah!

Hey, we’re back!  And if you’re interested in our trip to Massachusetts and Connecticut, you can check out my blogs from earlier this week.  Thanks to all of you who have been out ordering your copies of The Dreamer #1 and #2 and I think you can even order #3 now.  If you’re buying from one of the online comic shops, you can actually subscribe to The Dreamer.  That way, you’ll automatically be sent each issue and you won’t miss any.  A lot of questions about International orders: I have no idea if you can order through a store overseas, but it appears you can from the online shops.  Try either of these:  Heavy Ink or TFAW.

Thanks everyone, you’re amazing!  We appreciate all the support!  Get the buzz out there!

(I don’t think Alan realizes that Bea didn’t go to all the trouble of saving him, just to watch him get killed…)

New Pages 14 and 15 today!  Do any of you love Colonel Knowlton?  If you don’t, I hope you do after today.

Thanks for all the patience as I’ve been trying to juggle family, work and the 2008 convention season.  The Dreamer should be back on it’s regular Friday update schedule from here on out, huzzah!  So thanks for bearing with me.

Oh, and VOTE this week to preview next week’s pages.  We’re getting really high on the list on Buzzcomix!  Go vote for me, and lets see if I can make it in the top ten!  It would be a great thing for The Dreamer, because it’s free advertising!  Thanks for VOTING everyone!