One of the things that’s really hard to achieve in the strip format is any sense of scale. A comic book page gives you that vertical space that really allows you to expand the visuals out that a strip just doesn’t. True, there’s nothing saying we HAVE to do this in strips–that’s a self-imposed restriction–but [...]
Last Wednesday’s strip generated some great discussion about what Dr. Rocket and Zurida are up to. Today’s strip should provide those answers handily. Those of you with good memories should recall that Zurida saw Jerry quite clearly when she “visited” Valhalla in the previous chapter. Zurida’s invitation to Dr. Rocket to enter her palace kicks [...]
I’m starting to find some unique joys in having a long-running webcomic. One of them is scenes like this. There’s a huge gap between how Cap and Doc related to each other at the beginning of the strip and how they are now. I believe firmly in change. People don’t stay one way through their [...]
I derive an unexpected amount of satisfaction from this interaction between Dr. Rocket and Captain Spectacular. Even more than the hug last week, I just love that they’re so simpatico here. Maybe this is born of my secret desire for Superman and Lex Luthor to knock back a couple of root beers and work their [...]
I know I can be a wordy sonuvagun (though I’d like to think I’ve gotten better with time and experience), but I really do love strips like this that are more about economy of storytelling than how many words I can stick in a panel. Marc nailed the emotion in a big way, putting the [...]
Sometimes you just have to slow things down to give them their proper weight. I know if you’re following the updates on the days they come out there’s not much new here, but I think for future readers who get to experience this chapter in book form or all at once, this will be a [...]
Marc did such a great job pacing this strip and conveying the emotion that you almost don’t even need words to get what’s happening here between Cap, Zurida and Michelle. In fact, I was able to get rid of a little bit of dialogue, and it’s a stronger strip for it. Next week we’ll be [...]
I wish I had a lot more space to give over to Percy as I think he’s a pretty fascinating dude with some real identity issues. Hopefully, tidbits like the ones you’re getting today are enticing. I’d love to do a SuperFogeys Origin with Percy someday. I mean, with a hot, despot mom and a [...]
If we’ve done our job right, today’s post is not quite what you were expecting. I’ve been touting SF 500 for weeks now as a gigantic update–and it certainly is at quadruple the normal size–but the scope of the tale is actually quite intimate, not unlike SF 300 a couple years back. This is, simply, [...]
Welcome back, everyone! Last week’s break was, I’m sure, completely unwelcome, but we both appreciate your patience and understanding. Your response to SF 500 was overwhelming and so, so positive. 107 comments and counting. For a webcomic with a modest readership like ours, that’s a big friggin’ deal. That makes today’s update sort of long-awaited. [...]
This strip is a Marc Lapierre special. I’ve learned that with action scenes the less scripting I do the better. Marc has references to pull from that I can’t touch and a much better visual mind for the choreography and how it should play out across panels than I do. Even in the last panel, [...]
I imagine when you’re older you have to really conserve your movements. Think about it: energy reserves are lower than in the past and maybe the bones don’t work as well. So, you don’t do anything that requires more energy than necessary. Money Man has obviously learned this lesson well. Lots of great, (sometimes) crazy [...]
I don’t think you get to strike the pose Money Man is OWNING in the first panel and not be considered a total bad@$$. Like, he’s not even gonna give you his front. Naw, you gotta look at him from the side if you wanna admire him after he takes out the bad guy (or [...]
This is probably the week you’ve been waiting for. Maybe you’re like Cap and you want to know how Money Man is back, but is that really the question you should be asking? Money Man says no. And when Money Man says no, that’s it. He’s rich. He can do what he wants. In other [...]
I’m gonna be honest with you guys–I did not plan on introducing this story thread in this chapter. I mean, there’s an alien invasion going on. How many more threats do the Fogeys need to deal with? This isn’t the same as saying this is an unplanned story. What Money Man is talking about is [...]
I think I mentioned that I’ve been rereading SF lately as I prepare files for Comixology. In the course of that, I’ve noticed that one thing I have a tendency to do is cut rapidly between simultaneously occurring scenes, jumping from character to character sometimes after only one or two strips. That’s fun and it [...]
Some expert storytelling from Marc in this strip. It looks deceptively simple, but there’s really a lot going on across these four panels and fitting all the beats in and choosing just the right angle is no mean trick. I honestly didn’t know how Marc was going to interpret the script, but he did a [...]
While it may not have seemed like it at the beginning, this chapter is, I think, aptly named. Every single character has got so many different secrets and agendas and a rule of storytelling (at least one of my rules) is that nothing that is hidden remains so forever. True, new mysteries have been introduced [...]
New to SuperFogeys? Then you’ve come on the right day. Though the invaders first arrived at Earth in SF 400, this is the first time their overall plan has been spelled out. We’ve known their motivation–Dr. Rocket made a genocidal sweep of the universe in a merciless act of vengeance–but their goal has been somewhat [...]
I confess the speculation last week’s strip inspired caught me unawares. It didn’t even occur to me that Zurida’s words in the last panel might be construed to mean that she was suggesting another mastermind behind everything. Obviously, that’s not exactly the case. Of course, there IS another mastermind lurking somewhere and we’ll meet him [...]
The end of a chapter is my favorite part. It’s when everything comes together and the design of the thing is made clear. The chapter basically has three endings. You’ve seen one already, but this next one coming up should be obvious to longtime readers with good memories. But it’s the third ending I’m REALLY [...]
If there’s something you want that you’ll do just about ANYTHING to have it… then what would you do to keep it? I feel like the tide is always shifting on Jerry. Sometimes you guys love him, sometimes you hate him. I wonder if today’s strip will garner reactions just as divisive. Huge kudos to [...]
…and Swifty saw it all. Speculate at will. Next week will be a lot of fun. Hey, quick note about an update to the website. There is now a handy dandy “Like” button for The SuperFogeys Facebook page on the left side. SuperFans on Facebook not only get the privilege of being admitted to Valhalla, [...]
UPDATE 2! Since this time travel business has been woven so much into the background of the story of the SuperFogeys (and time travel can be kind of confusing), I want to help point you guys towards the right places as much as possible. Some of you are wondering WHY this is happening, and I [...]
I’ve been much encouraged by the way Soviet Sam has been accepted by the majority of you since his proper introduction to the strip in SF 322. In a story with A LOT of characters (seriously, the cast is getting too big. I gotta kill a few off), he’s managed to come in fairly late [...]
This is it! The Penultimate strip of Chapter 16 – Invasion, Pt. 3: Secrets, Secrets are No Fun. It’s all been building to what happens on Wednesday. There was a seed planted a long, long time ago that is finally gonna pay off–one I don’t think anyone has ever noticed. My mind has already turned [...]
UPDATE! Have some fun and read Chapter 16 from the beginning all the way through right here! Secrets, secrets are no fun Secrets, secrets hurt someone Here’s the deal, the title of this chapter is a lie. Secrets are really fun. It’s fun to have them, it’s fun to keep them and, in storytelling, they’re [...]
We’re back! I know this has been a bummer of a wait for you all to get to this new chapter, Chapter 17 – Invasion, Pt. 4: The End of Lies, but your patience is much appreciated. Circumstances in the past year amazingly allowed my wife and I to go to Europe for a couple [...]
Holy cow! I can’t apologize enough for the past couple days of darkness and the slow, slow, slow SF site over the weekend. We’ve never experienced an outage like that and I hope we never have to again. Basically, what happened was the site’s server was getting bogged down with hidden junk so we moved [...]
Okay, so the site didn’t quite get as fixed last week as we thought. Some people are still having much difficulty loading it. A more full explanation can be found of what to do in this new blog, but basically it comes down to you need to reset your bookmark to superfogeys.com. You shouldn’t see [...]
I try to go pretty easy on the artists I work with. I play to their strengths, I think about how tricky a page or a panel might be and make the next one a little easier to balance things out, etc. But if there’s one thing I ask to be just right every time [...]
Many of you have been commenting on how calm Spy Gal has been so far in this chapter and how scary that makes her. I think whenever someone is behaving in a manner contrary to how we expect, that can be a little concerning. If a child knows he’s done wrong and he knows his [...]
In addition to the usual miracles Marc does with the art in each strip, in this one he went a little further and chose much better angles than I originally scripted. Sometimes I try to think of the version of SuperFogeys that would exist if I was still drawing it and it’s… better that didn’t [...]
We’ve all got our thing–that thing that, should we give into it, that will take us down a dark path. For some, that dark path is the thing itself (I pity those who simply must keep up with the Kardashians), for others it can start out as something much more innocuous and then turn into [...]
Some great, great discussion in Monday’s strip. I love that this little comic that started out as just a gagfest can inspire such great debate about such important things like temptation, what is right and wrong, and what makes a hero. I actually did post quite a few more comments than what you’ll see currently [...]
Have ever been in trouble–and I mean big time–and you thought there was still a way out of it? I mean, there’s caught and then there’s caught. If your sin is big enough, you might deny, deny, deny–even to the point of convincing yourself. You’ve done nothing wrong. They must just be mistaken. Maybe you [...]
I’ve talked a little bit about Jerry’s “underlying psychology” in the comments to recent strips. Any three dimensional character should really have an underlying psychology to their actions, i.e. motivations that even they themselves may not be aware of. It’s called depth and it can be really tough to create. Every writer tries to instill [...]
Raise of hands who wants to see Marc draw the twisted version of Jerry all day. That’s what I thought. Seriously, Marc has got one heckuva dark side or something because that shot of Jerry cackling is just horrendously terrific. You guys have been great about really digging into Jerry lately and figuring out what [...]
Those of you who follow Marc on Twitter or Facebook know that he likes to try out lots of different art styles. We’d been looking for an excuse for him to incorporate one of those art styles into the strip and today’s seemed like a natural fit. I think it came off beautifully. For you [...]
I don’t think one single strip has ever gotten Marc more praise than last week’s–and not even for the portion of the strip that was the biggest effort. More than a few of you were instead impressed with Marc’s work on Jerry’s expression in the last panel, and rightly so. It reminded me of the [...]
I think that, in annals of songwriting, one of the all-time stupidest is Bryan Adams’ “Everything I Do (I Do It For You)”. In the song, Mr. Adams names all the things he’d do for his love: lie, die, walk the wire, etc. First of all, who walks on wires for their love? Is this [...]
My mind is at peace once again. No longer do I hear the chatter and the mantra, “Bring back Mega Matt! Bring back Mega Matt!” For he is here. You may commence rejoicing. While you can… Marc, ever the artistic scientist, did a some more experimenting to achieve the art in today’s strip. In his [...]
If we’re doing it right, we’re trying to become better people all the time. I try to take stock once in a while, look at where I’ve been and what improvements I’ve made and remind myself I can change. That enables me to take an honest look at who I am now and then identify [...]
Feels like forever since we’ve check in on Cap and company. When last we left them, they had a heckuva surprise visitor who had some ominous news before taking off. Now, they’re locked up in Zurida’s Palace–somewhat by choice, somewhat not. Cap made a devil’s bargain to get Michelle back… so now what? I really [...]
When last we saw Zurida she was making one heckuva deal with Jerry. What is still unexplained is what, exactly, she wants to do with the power crystal now that she has it. That’s next week. See you then. Sometimes, strips like this are frustrating because they essentially serve as transitions to to the stuff [...]
UPDATE! Marc posted this shot of the inks for this strip on his Instagram and I just had to share it with you guys: Sometimes, Marc just goes all out. I know for a fact this monster of a strip consumed his life for the past few days. Well worth it, Marc. Well worth it. [...]
Marc did a great little character design with Sokol, who is appearing for the first time with this chapter. I believe Marc’s getting a blog up soon about the thought that went into the look of Sokol. There’s some really nice little touches in there that might not be real obvious at first. Next week [...]
When last we left Spy Gal she had found out her husband, Jerry, was living a triple life as the founder of Valhalla and the villainous Third Man. Then she found out a whole bunch of other stuff. It’s been a rough day. One of the things that was extremely important to me in this [...]
Atomic Fly and Raptor X are two of the newer Fogeys introduced during this alien invasion super arc, but I already kind of love them. Atomic Fly in particular. I know introducing new characters to such a long-running story with an established cast can be problematic, but hopefully you guys are enjoying these little peeks [...]
We all have those mementos we hold dear that, when we look at smell or hear or hold them, take us right back to a particular time and place. Usually, those things serve to remind us of good times. Who would want to be reminded of hurt? Not most people, but sometimes you need to. [...]
This is it, the last SuperFogeys of the regular story for a couple of weeks. This strip wasn’t intended to be an extended cliffhanger, but now that we have it serving that purpose I quite like it. What happens immediately following this strip is my favorite stuff in this chapter, so it will be good [...]
Marc is back! But you knew that. And with him he brings the regular narrative back to life. I think this strip was one of the hardest to conceive for this chapter. Spy Gal started this conversation by throwing a punch, and I knew she couldn’t end it with one. You’d take a journey, internally, [...]
Only a little bit of discussion was created by Monday’s strip,but I thought some good points were made about Spy Gal and Jerry. It’s worth checking out. I feel terrible right now (everybody is throwing up in my house and I really want to but can’t), so I’m gonna keep this short. I look forward [...]
Last week’s discussion was AWESOME. Some great, opposing point of views were shared and I really appreciate how respectful and thoughtful everyone is around here. There’s more meat to chew on in these little webcomics than might at first appear, and you guys get that. Tangerine has been struggling with the big decision of whether [...]
There’s a few debates going on in regards to what’s happening with Tangerine right now, but the one that I find most interesting is this idea that, when it comes to kids and family, perhaps a special morality takes over where we can do differently than we might otherwise because those we love re in [...]
My wife and I teach a class at church together called “Strengthening Marriage.” We’ve been doing it for almost three years now and in that time we’ve heard a lot of revealing stories and shared more than a few of our own. We’ve had couples in there that were newly married, couples with young kids, [...]
Okay, this is not going to be immediately apparent upon reading this strip, but believe it or not that last panel is fairly significant. For a few years in a row we posted teaser posters that hinted at upcoming storylines. The last one we did was in April of 2012. I really, really, honestly thought [...]
I may have overextended a bit with this one. For those of you keeping track at home, there’s 7 characters in panel 2. You artists out there know that the more characters you add to a panel, the longer that panel takes. I kind of put Marc to work on this one since panels 1 [...]
It’s the small SF 550! The milestone that isn’t! Do you feel it though? Pieces… pieces moving into place. Marc once again did a stellar job fitting a lot of characters into a small space. I’m always so grateful he’s on my team. What’s going on behind the scenes right now? (aka why are you [...]
Marc is just killin’ it with these interior Palace scenes. I might have said that before, but I can’t really say it enough. There’s a lot more meat to this strip that might at first appear to a casual reader. You’ll recall Zurida got the power crystal from Jerry and that Jerry confessed to Spy [...]
