New Page #47!
That is debatable, Alan.
Oh, it’s funny how we never see ourselves quite accurately, do we…? Alan looks like he needs a shave, a power nap and a hug.
There’s more to this tale than you see on this page. Look for an all new Dreamer short story about the three days after Bunker Hill next month! I plan to release it on June 17th. We read an excerpt from it at the Dreamer Meet Up last month. What did you all think?
Are there any Pittsburghers in the house (besides me)? Steve Regina who owns Joy’s Japanimation in Greensburg interviewed me for Swerve Magazine, which covers Entertainment and Pop Culture news in Western Pa.
Check out the interview. Steve is a thoughtful interviewer who asked great questions because he actually reads my comic. So no “…why the American Revolution…?” questions, which most of you could answer for me at this point. We talked about writing historical fiction, To Appomattox, Hercules Mulligan, lettering The Dreamer, and everything in between!
VOTE to preview the next page!
* I’ll be at a Tristate Con in Huntington, WV onJune 9th. *
I legit can’t stop laughing after this page! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
New story? WWHHHEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!
Doesn’t make rash decisions, huh? *smirk* Oh Alan…
KNOWLTON!!! <3 <3 <3
I'll be checking out the interview :D
Oh, and typo in the title. Elists? lol
Fixed!
Huzzah! :)
Oh my, this is a great page.
If Alan Elists then I’m in even if I’m a woman.
I elisted once, but it turned out to be a sting operation.
Heck, I’d “elist” under Knowlton any day of the week ;)
Interesting to see that Alan isn’t in this as a patriot…or at least, not solely patriotic reasons.
VI–uh oh. Does that lovely Rebel mob break some of Bea’s windows? I suppose that might make it easier for Alan to climb through, but that doesn’t seem to be foremost on his mind at the moment.
Nope. Alan was at Bunker Hill for patriotic reasons but he probably would’ve gone home to his beloved little farm, sticking with the militia if Joseph hadn’t died. That’s been Knowlton’s problem with Alan all along: it’s not business with him, it’s personal.
I think it’s easy to read about this stuff and put blanket assumptions on people’s motivations. The country was divided, people flip flopped as the winds changed or it benefited them and once zealous patriots grew weary and gave up. I wanted to give Alan a more three dimensional story than a text book version of patriotism.
George Washington’s reasons were personal- he’d been slighted by the British. So had Franklin. And it was because he loved Pennsylvania that Dickinson wouldn’t vote yes for independence. But once they had…? He served in the war. I love these stories because they are human. And all of us are a big pile of changing emotions, conflicting beliefs, and often indicernable motives. Out if the mess of human decisions comes history. Which makes it so complex.
I remember Dickinson’s character from “1776″ but I can’t recall his first name. Please let me know so I can look him up. He sounds like an interesting fellow, not voting for independence but then going off to fight for it anyway, or at least for Pennsylvania.
The full name is John Dickinson, if I recall correctly.
Got it. Thanks.
Dickinson is a rather interesting character, far more so than you get from “1776.” And he certainly wasn’t a newcomer to the British/Colonial conflict at the Second Continental Congress. In response to the Stamp Act he wrote a series of public letters entitled “Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer” between 1767 and 1768 in which he denies Parliament’s right to specifically tax the Colonies for revenue and call on “my dear country men ROUSE yourselves… the tragedy of American liberty is finished… if Great-Britain can order us to come to her for necessaries… and can order us to pay what taxes she pleases…or…we are as abject slaves…” (Letter 2). So yeah, lot’s of dimension there. I just took a class this semester on the politics of the American Revolution and Civil War, it’s really cool how the ideas of independence and even representation evolved over time.
I wonder if the real-life Dickinson could ALSO sing? *chuckles*
Awesome! VI- oooooh, their in trouble…..
There’s quite a bit of “hot” on this page. Gorgeous, angry men with dirt on their faces.
My, my.
…I felt that way when I got Julie’s colors back yesterday. Yum!
So you think dirty faces are “Hot”? But then I guess that depends on WHOSE faces the dirt is on. Am I right?
Knowlton could face plant in mud and it would only make him hotter.
The End.
agreed :)
Amen, sister! XD
Ah, but would you feel that way if Knowlton looked like Lee Van Cleef?
Let me explain.
It’s not the amount of dirt/mud/blood in and of itself. It’s whatever heroic & manly thing he was doing when he got dirtied/muddied/bloodied. Hence: dirtier = hotter.
Right, ladies?
Correct, Faith! I am with you! :)
We REALLY seem to have a misunderstanding here. I merely asked if you’d still think Knowlton was “Hot” if he WASN’T all ruggedly handsome, that’s all. Of course looks AREN’T everything and they shouldn’t be a requirement for “Hotness”. That’s just narrow minded thinking. Right?
Right, David. That is why I agreed with faith about the deeds. I would love a man for his character, especially if that character includes standing up for what is good and right in this world, helping others in need, and laying his life down if necessary for the people he loves. A man who is faulty, yes, for what would you expect? But he would a man who would stand by you even if you yell at his face or become old or disfigured. That is why I “love” some of the Founding Fathers. If you read their letters, you find they had faults, yes. But you also discover that they loved their family and were willing to stand up for what they believed in, no matter the cost. Look at Thomas Knowlton, Nathan Hale, Lafayette, Kociouszko, George Washington, and Joseph Warren.That they were good-looking is just a fraction of the appeal.
So, I ranted. I hope I made some sense. Lol!
No misunderstanding, just good fun & a whole lotta love for manly menfolk. ;)
@Amber: I read you loud and clear. :)
@Faith: Got it. Just remember ol’ Thomas is already taken! :D
@Amber: So would you say that, despite his sinister “looks”, Lee Van Cleef could have been considered to have been “hot” in a badass tough-guy sort of way? Apparently he was a pretty decent fellow and I personally think he was cool. I suppose it would depend on how you define “hot”.
@David. I did not know anything about Lee Van Cleef until you mentioned him. Lol. I googled him. His villainous characters in movies I would not like. But if he was a good character apart from his movie roles, then yes.
That’s what I figured as well. Anyway, now we can move on to other things, such as trying to figure out what Lora’s favorite color is. While she’s certainly been less than forthcoming about it we can probably rule out any variations of red. For all we know it could actually be Faith’s suggestion of periwinkle!
No, he doesn’t make rash decisions — he makes poorly planned decisions with more pitfalls than a Rube Goldberg device.
Also, two days , man? Geez, I’d give it at least a week, and maybe then I’d — oh, right, the decision thing.
By the way, in panel 6 Knowlton is totally thinking, “Lord, it’s a grown version of Fred. God help me if those two ever actually meet. ”
And on that note….. INCENTIVE CAPTION!!!! (now with more fiber!)
Alan: “Oh my God!”
Bystander: “What is it?”
Alan: “Lora finally admitted her favorite color is red-orange, and it’s almost sundown! Run!”
*panic ensues, crayons fall, everybody dyes*
Everyone *dyes* LOL!!!
Red-orange. I’m trying to think what that color is officially known as. Would it be vermilion?
Burnt Umber, perhaps?
I think Burnt Umber is a type of brown shade. Maybe it’s some kind of Tomato Red?
Brent, I daresay your captions, which already were great in the beginning, get more creative and greater over time. I could not stop chuckling after reading this!
Thanks! :-)
Is it really? Did she say her favorite color was red orange? *everyone dyes* LOL
No. These crazy people are making things up.
what is it then? :)
I only said she said she said it — I didnt say that was it. :-)
I DO wish she’d finally just fess up already! :D
No! Then the game (which I just lost, a-thank you) would be over!
It’s periwinkle. It’s always periwinkle when they won’t fess up.
@Brent: So basically you’re like one of those conspiracy buffs who actually DON’T want the mystery to be solved because it would probably turn out to be a big disappointment? Kind of like how many JFK assassination buffs will never accept the possibility that Oswald COULD have worked alone. I get where you’re coming from. Heck, part of me hopes that Amelia Earhart’s remains are never found and that instead she’s actually in suspended animation somewhere just waiting to be revived sometime in the future. That would be nice, don’t you think? :)
@David: In answer to that, I direct you to my complete set of Lost DVDs (which I watch yearly), my Sherlock Holmes story collection, my sudoku grids, and the amount of DLC I have for various games.
O-kayyyy. That pretty much answers my question!
You can totally sense the rage and anger in Alan’s eyes. I think Knowlton can sense it too!
Pittsburghers in the house! Well, Monroeville, technically, but close enough. I’ll definitely check out the interview, regardless.
Knowlton can also smell the rum all over Alan, too. That’s a little harder to draw. ;)
What’s that Japanese hibachi grill restaurant in Monroeville? I used to love that place when I lived in Western PA. We didn’t have one in our town. (I’m from Jeannette.)
Shogun
Shogun! It still tastes the same as ever. Delicious!
Yum! Sounds like its time for a trip back home…
Great interview, by the way! X-Men was one of my faves too, that thing about the gutters caught me, and…….only OBJECT DELETED more issues in Act 1? Oooooo…..
Oh, and OBJECT DELETED and OBJECT DELETED for Uncle Herc? Nice….
Glad you approve.
I find it so ironic that alan says “I’m a level headed man that doesn’t make rash decisions”
but then his idea of what Knowlton and the rangers do is ” make a profession of killing those bastards”
which is so blatantly persona tragedy-seek to butcher the guilty party as a way to deal with the grief– that i’m 100% expecting knowlton to flat out say “not now son. GO HOME and REST”
Bystander, thinking: What in God’s name…?
Alan: Please tell me it’s still a beautiful day in the neighbourhood!
Uh-oh! Brent may have competition for funny VI captions! :) This one was awesome!
Aha! I’ve been curious about how enlisting was done for quite some time now… I could never find quite enough information to get an image in my head of what the setup would actually look like! I think I read something about writing your name and putting it on a drum the officer had set up or something… not sure if that’s accurate at all or not. But this definitely helps!!
Love the comic to pieces, by the way. My favorite days of the week are Wednesdays and Fridays!
Alan! It’s a bit of a stretch that he doesn’t make rash decisions, but hey, I’m sure he’s put the thought into it. :)
I can’t stress how excited I am over the short story! I loved what you read at Anime Boston.
lol – I love how the juxtaposition of the various comments Alan makes completely disprove each other. One moment, he’s saying he’s not going to make a rash decision, and the very next, he’s all, “When can I go and kill those bastards?” Um…right….But that’s also a very human reaction and I love him for it.
One thing is for sure, that guy is lookin’ for major payback for Joseph. He’s out for BLOOD!
By the way, I found out when Canada stopped calling itself a “Dominion”. There was no specific event or date involved. It had just simply been “phased out” by the mid-60′s. But then you probably already know this! :)
I’m seriously loving Knowlton’s 18th-century laptop setup. I may have to retrofit my office.
HA!!!!!
How long before he’s walking with a crick in his back?
“Why would I want a mouse? I barely get enough cheese as it is!”
LOL, Brent, I think I love you XD
Yeah, good one!
Oh Alan…you sure need to work on your fibbing. You can’t say something like “I’m a level-headed man” and follow it with “You guys kill Brits? I’m in! [insert serious growly face here]” You have to give the people time to forget that little white lie so they don’t see right through you when you contradict yourself. :P
Loving this page…my 2 favorite mens. :D
Hahahaha! Riiiiight, Alan.
Loved the interview–I love seeing who influences the faces that show up here, whether actors or friends. It makes so much sense to have some kind of real-world reference to keep characters consistent.
I’m from Pittsburgh! I love Joy’s Japanimation too! Great interview, I was so excited to see it!
This conversation reminds me of one they had about a certain lady and taking some time off. Thomas Knowlton, Font of Wisdom. Too bad nobody listens. ;)
p.s. He makes even a barrel and a plank of wood look good. I need to get a Knowlton standee and put it next to whatever I’m trying to sell. (The standee would NOT be for sale, of course.)
HA! You’re right. Alan apparently never takes Thom’s advice. Maybe now that he’s… *sniff* gone, he’ll reconsider? I’ll bet that furlough form is still active.
Like a cat playing with a mouse, you are.
;)
he’s going to need a furlough after this little episode, but I doubt he’ll be feeling well enough to propose…
The thing is, if he does ask I think she would say yes regardless of personality and temporal state, so that then begs the question of what happens with her relationships back here in the present.
he looks like he hasnt slept in awhile and that hes been crying. okay, thats duh