Archive for comic
Shaenon: Here’s the pre-colored art for the February wallpaper illustration. Now it’s a lovely coloring book page! Seriously, coloring this thing took forever. Channing: Yes, now you too can experience the unbridled joy of being a colorist!
Shaenon: All my love to the couple who went as the Ultimate Warrior and Macho Man Randy Savage. And thanks to everyone at the Silicon Valley Comic Con! I had a blast. Channing: Cosplay will never not weird me out[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: New soundtrack! You know what that means. Channing: Shaenon’s music collection never fails to astonish and impress me, since basically all I listen to nowadays is Robyn Hitchcock (with or without the Egyptians) and My Little Pony fan music.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Bubbles wiggling out of Dr. Lee’s grasp came out better in the thumbnail. Sometimes it just shakes out that way. Also, I love how lazy I get with the cobra drawings sometimes. They get cuter the closer they get[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Dr. Lee and cobras. Two of my favorite things to draw. Also, baby doodles! Or maybe toddler doodles. He’s getting pretty big. Channing: Sometimes I kinda envy Robin, growing up in a house with Cool Parents Who Can Draw[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Skin Horse 6 Kickstarter
Shaenon: This is it! We hereby launch the Kickstarter campaign to fund Skin Horse Volume 6, our first all-color volume. Check out the Kickstarter, back if you can, and please please please spread the word. Thanks so much! Can’t wait[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: I made the cover of the upcoming Skin Horse Volume 6 into a sweet wallpaper design. One week in, the Volume 6 Kickstarter has raised almost twice its original funding goal, allowing us to open up new pledge levels[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Awesome! Kate Beaumont drew this very cute image of Unity and Sweetheart. Check out her comics and art at cosmicmindcomics.tumblr.com. Channing: This is supergreat, Ms. Beaumont! Thanks so much for doing it. I always love me some fan art!
Shaenon: Drawing for a friend’s birthday. In other news, the Skin Horse 6 Kickstarter campaign is flipping rad. We’ve passed $17,000 and opened some new backer levels and stretch goals, so check it out. And please continue to spread the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: I really just wanted to draw Robin. In other news, the Skin Horse 6 Kickstarter has passed 300 backers! There are less than two weeks to go, so be sure to have a look. Channing: I’m always so pleased[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Steve Jackson of Steve Jackson Games was kind enough to write the introduction to Skin Horse Volume 6. Here’s my illustration for his bio in the book. Speaking of, the Skin Horse 6 Kickstarter is in its final week. […]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Jesse Berg sent us this extremely accurate piece of SH departmental paperwork. Thank you so much! Channing: The #1 response in “Justification,” on a lateral review of all extant filed copies of this form, is “It was a complicated[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: So many cobras. Channing: I kinda want “super-deformed cartoon Alfie” to be a character in the strip in addition to actual Alfie. They could be sort of a buddy cop duo.
Shaenon: Thumbnail for a page from “Forward…To the Past!”, the bonus story in the impending Skin Horse volume 6. This one features temporally confused mad scientists Imogene and Debbi, two of our favorite minor characters. Channing: Debbi was always meant[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: My pencil roughs for the Skin Horse 6 bonus story page I shared last week. Robin assisted me on some of the detail work. Channing: We should give him shared credit for the art! His contributions add quite a[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Hey! Cobras! As usual, if you make a donation in any amount to the Skin Horse Tip Jar, or contribute any amount to our Patreon, we’ll send you a link. Patreon contributors will continue to receive new wallpaper for[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Here’s the inked version of that page from the Skin Horse 6 bonus story. Jeff’s script called for increasingly jam-packed background collages of 1980s detritus, and I went noooooope and drew Trapper Keeper patterns instead. Channing: Hey, now. I[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Ta-da! The final version of the Skin Horse 6 bonus story page I’ve been sharing, with gorgeous Day-Glo color by Pancha Diaz. Channing: This is functionally everything I could have ever wanted out of my script! Thanks, you guys![…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Meet alert reader Artaban’s new kitten, Tigerlily Jones. So cute and funky! Channing: You can just see her wanting to stick it to The Man.
Shaenon: Now I’m looking at the title of this storyline and wishing it’d been a Pokemon crossover. Channing: We could give the Devils a cutesy sounding name and have them only be able to vocalize that word. That sort of[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Initially, I wanted to do up a topical wallpaper design related to presidential campaigns, but, historically, American campaign art has kind of sucked. Except for the WPA era, we’re weak at stylish propaganda. Then I started looking at Americana[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: A closer look at the tattoos I used as the background for this month’s wallpaper. I could kind of draw like this forever. Channing: These are some rad tattoos, I have to say. I particularly enjoy coy sailor Sweetheart,[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Thumbnails for “What Big Teeth.” Robin helped with some of these. Channing: I was heartbroken to leave the random blue scribbles in #2 on the cutting-room floor. My script had called for them from the very beginning, and at[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Possible cover for the next Couscous Collective anthology, FUTURE, slated to come out… sometime in the future, amazingly enough. This is my first Couscous cover, and I’m not sure if I like it or if I should try something[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Robin has started telling stories with his toys. Keychain Bear and Lego Cat go on a lot of adventures. Their team has recently been joined by a third member, Purple Pony. Channing: I absolutely, unironically, and desperately want to[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: One of the backer rewards for the Skin Horse Volume 6 Kickstarter is an ebook collection of “Grillo Parlante,” the guest-artist storyline that ran during my maternity leave. I made this cover for the ebook and liked it well[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Channing: Hey guys. As a lot of you know, I do almost no art at all. Thankfully I make up for this by occasionally writing stuff. Those of you who follow my blog over at Scrivnarium may have seen these[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Jeff nixed the line “Waltz with your bad self!” because Sousa marches aren’t in a waltz tempo. This is the dedication to accuracy you just don’t get in “Luann.” Channing: I know some of y’all are into the musics[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Channing: Hey, folks. Because we are professionals and stuff, we try to be good about making cuts to our work for pacing or whatever. Sometimes this results in a scene being trimmed down from the version you see in the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Every Couscous Collective anthology includes either a Narbonic story or a Skin Horse story. This is from the Narbonic story I’m drawing for the next anthology, FUTURE. That said, Artie’s also in Skin Horse, so I guess this one[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: I just watched Suspiria and was inspired to draw a tribute to 1970s Italian giallo horror. As usual, if you make a donation in any amount to the Skin Horse Tip Jar, or contribute any amount to our Patreon,[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Remember, a couple of weeks ago, I shared a penciled page from a story I’m drawing for the upcoming Couscous anthology FUTURE? Well, I did. And here’s the inked version. The room in the first panel is based on[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Could it be? It is! Skin Horse Volume 6 is here, in glowing full color, with an exclusive bonus story, guest pinups, and an introduction by the legendary Steve Jackson of Steve Jackson Games. Small men and cats alike[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: And here’s the final version of the page from “Outside the Box” I’ve been sharing, with colors by the wonderful Liz Conley. Thank you so much, Liz! This story will be in the next Couscous Collective anthology, FUTURE, set[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: The above strip is from a guest week-and-a-half drawn for my previous strip, Narbonic, by the wonderful Aaron Neathery. Years later, when I was editing the comics site Modern Tales, I was proud to include Aaron’s comic Endtown, which[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Doodling a dream I had. Sorry my dreams have cussing in them. Channing: This is a beautiful, powerful and symbolically-profound dream, especially compared to my last dream, which was literally me watching a 1950s black-and-white promotional short about unlimited[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Panels from a comic I’m working on. Yeah, it’s about Emperor Norton. But it’s not going to be entirely about Emperor Norton. Channing: Which is not to say that you couldn’t do a comic entirely about Emperor Norton. He[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: More work-in-progress from the comic I’m developing. This is about the annual Dickens Fair in San Francisco, which is kind of like a Ren Faire but Victorian and Christmassy. Channing: My major question here is why I’ve never heard[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to do a winter puppy wallpaper to go with the autumn one. Incidentally, Googling “Samoyeds in snow” brings up the ten thousand cutest pictures on the Internet. As usual, if you[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Folk musician Jacob Haller appears in this storyline as mad cryptozoologist and Sasquatch hunter Dr. Haller, a portrayal on which Jeff and I (mostly Jeff) have taken some creative liberties. But his monster-knitting skills, as portrayed in this strip,[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: This month’s issue of the Adventure Time comic book from Boom Studios features “The Princess Megathalon,” a story written by me and drawn by ultimate hero of comics Roger Langridge. So, you know, go check that out. Channing: It[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Hey, a party! I’m throwing a book release party for Skin Horse Volume 6 at the wonderful Borderlands Books in San Francisco on Saturday, January 14. Expect books, cupcakes, and wine. Channing: Man, I was at this thing a[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Busy drawing for the Kickstarter backers who asked for bonus character sketches. Sweetheart and Unity together are a popular request this time around. Channing: Man, you guys have the best ideas. Also, wow, Virginia’s book takes me back.
Dr. Lee in Color by Arcum42
Shaenon: Arcum42 was kind enough to color one of the Kickstarter sketches I posted last Sunday. Nice! Thanks so much! Channing: Always appreciated, A42! Nice work!
Shaenon: More sketches for Skin Horse 6 Kickstarter backers. Bubbles is another popular request. Channing: Ooh, once again, good requests from all y’all’s. Also, I already miss Tigerlily and we’ve only been away from her for like a few weeks.
Shaenon: More sketches for Kickstarter backers. This is way too small to make out, but Nick is drinking “Coffee of Uoodo” Japanese canned coffee, based on an anime reference older than he is. I have to keep the ancient weeaboo[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: The Nick/Dr. Lee relationship is all hells of messed up, but I love drawing them. All the flowers in the illustration signify secret or forbidden love in Victorian flower language. SECRET LOOOOVE. As usual, if you make a donation[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Some people just want to see Unity from when she had dead bobcat ears stitched to her head. I respect that. Channing: Man, you guys are just the best. It’s always neat to see the tiny little slices of[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Tuitey Fruity drew this cute picture of Artie and Sergio. In official Skin Horse continuity, of course, these two were only a couple in an alternative universe where things went horribly wrong and they probably got eaten by plant[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: I like when people request art of the Killotrons, but at the same time it’s kind of a hassle because I always forget which one has which arm implements. I ought to keep a reference chart of all the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Jeff suggested I do an album cover for the Dark Matter Rangers, Chris and Marcie’s funky team name in “Purple Waves.” I ended up doing a Fillmore-style concert poster. As usual, if you make a donation in any amount[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: I hope Jeff continues to enjoy my dorky drawings of him. Thanks very much to Lancer and all our Patreon patrons! Channing: The dorky drawings of me remain one of the major coups of having done this for, what,[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: I end up drawing a lot of brains for Kickstarters. Not that I’m complaining. Channing: That Hitty is adorbs times three. Kudos to the requestor!
Shaenon: Another Kickstarter sketch beautifully colored by Arcum42. Look at the patchwork patterns. Thank you so much! Channing: The crazy color palette for Unity’s coat is, of course, a reference in and of itself, as the colorist has pointed out[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: One final Kickstarter sketch and two interviews! Jeffrey and I were fortunate enough to be interviewed for the webcomics site Basket Case. Here’s my interview: https://webcomicsinterviews.com/2017/03/13/908/ And here’s Jeff’s: https://webcomicsinterviews.com/2017/03/20/jeffrey-c-wells-interview/ Enjoy! Channing: And now, the panic begins that I’ve[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: My new editor is ruthless. Channing: Robin seems to be suggesting that the first two panels of each strip be rotated clockwise in position, putting 2.1 on 2.2, 2.2 on 3.2, and so forth. Hell, it’d probably be an[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
April 2017 Wallpaper: The Unicorn at Leisure
Shaenon: I wanted to give Baron Mistycorn a wallpaper, so here’s a design based on the medieval Unicorn Tapestries. Looking at it now, though, maybe I should’ve made him purple. Should he be purple? As usual, if you make a[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: A closer look at the background of the lovely unicorn tapestry in this month’s wallpaper. Incidentally, this is the first Skin Horse wallpaper that Jeff asked for a copy of. That guy is really into unicorns. Channing: The official[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: My first sketches of Aimee. For a while I was hung up on the idea of covering one eye with her hair as a reference to the horrible nerdgirl protagonist of the manga WataMote, but between that and the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Look at this! I’m illustrating a children’s alphabet book, The Adventurous ABCs, written by Jess Nevins. We’re running a Kickstarter for it now; back it to get the book, T-shirts, coloring pages, and more. The image here is my[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: A logo for a circuitboard, done as a freelance project. I would be very happy to become the go-to person for nerdy lady-oriented Art Noveau artwork. Here’s the final piece as built by Trammell Hudson: Channing: On reflection, I[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Another illustration for The Adventurous ABCs, written by Jess Nevins and drawn by me. This is the A page. Channing: Loving the background detail! At time of writing, Shaenon’s team is almost halfway to goal on this. If you[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Another illustration for The Adventurous ABCs, my alphabet book with Jess Nevins. Just a few days left on the Kickstarter campaign! This here is the Y page. Channing: Ha! With the comic title, bet you thought this was going[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: This storyline was co-written with David Blake, who pledged at the Arbiter of Reality level of our last Kickstarter and thus gained the privilege of doing Jeff’s job for a week. As it turned out, this storyline was so[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: This storyline was co-written with David Blake, who pledged at the Arbiter of Reality level of our last Kickstarter and thus gained the privilege of doing Jeff’s job. Thank you, David!
Shaenon: This storyline was co-written with David Blake, who pledged at the Arbiter of Reality level of our last Kickstarter and thus gained the privilege of doing Jeff’s job. Thank you, David!
Shaenon: This storyline was co-written with David Blake, who pledged at the Arbiter of Reality level of our last Kickstarter and thus gained the privilege of doing Jeff’s job. Thank you, David!
Shaenon: This storyline was co-written with David Blake, who pledged at the Arbiter of Reality level of our last Kickstarter and thus gained the privilege of doing Jeff’s job. Thank you, David!
Shaenon: This storyline was co-written with David Blake, who pledged at the Arbiter of Reality level of our last Kickstarter and thus gained the privilege of doing Jeff’s job. Thank you, David!
Shaenon: Thanks so much to Tuitey Fruity for this sweet pinup of Nick and Dr. Lee, with Dr. Lee in her superhero gear from the Jersey Devil storyline. This is excellent! Channing: This! This right here! Obviously I need to[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Some thumbnails from this lovely short storyline. I can’t thank David Blake enough for writing this with me and coming up with all the good ideas, including the Twinkie joke. And Jeff got a two-week break to write the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: This month’s wallpaper illustration is based on the children’s book A Visit to William Blake’s Inn, written by Nancy Willard and illustrated by the husband/wife team of Alice and Martin Provensen, who drew lots of beautiful children’s books in[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Oh my gosh, look at this! I did a sketch of Gavotte enjoying a nice cup of tea for Valerie Kaplan, and she went and TATTOOED IT ON HER ACTUAL BODY. This is, to my knowledge, the first time[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Tuitey Fruity writes, ” The current fashion story arc and Unity playing dress up made me want to draw her modeling some extreme fashion and a funny shirt.” Thank you so much! Channing: She is totally rocking those star-shaped glasses.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Personally, I think of “Cherry Lips” as just Tip’s theme. My pick for overall Skin Horse theme song is Bowie’s “Oh! You Pretty Things.” Anyway, thanks for the great question! Channing: Subsequent to the drawing of this strip, I[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: I’m planning a Kickstarter campaign to reprint the Narbonic books, which recently sold out their first print run. This art is for a bookmark I’m making for Kickstarter backers. More on this exciting story as it progresses. Channing: More[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Remember the Narbonic bookmark illustration I posted last Sunday? I made a wallpaper out of it. I know this isn’t technically Skin Horse art, but I dig it anyway and I hope you do too. As usual, if you[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Drew this at the annual National Cartoonists Society meeting in May. Based on a true story and real cartoon people! Channing: Also known as the “Cardboard Box The Toy Came In” paradigm. Children routinely refuse to enjoy or be[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Gil Tamar was kind enough to send a picture of a sketch I did of Dr. Lee and Nick, framed and hanging on the wall. Look how classy! Channing: I mean, as a member of the evil shadow government,[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Look how awesome this is! GoComics, which e-publishes Skin Horse, has included it in next year’s page-a-day comics calendar. It looks so classy. These would make excellent holiday gifts for literally everyone. I’m just saying. Channing: Naturally, our contribution[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Another illustration for the Narbonic reprint Kickstarter, which I’m planning to launch next month. If all goes well, this will be part of a stretch goal project. Channing: Aw, how sweet and acutely destructive!
Shaenon: Here’s one of my non-Skin Horse (but thematically related) projects. My husband Andrew and I wrote the booklet that comes with this tiny desktop-sized Zombie Garden Gnome. And here he is rampaging in my own vegetable garden! This is[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Mark V. sent us this drawing of H.T. destroying human civilization and stuff, like he does. I really like his Cheshire Cat-like face. Thank you so much! Channing: Aw, sweet! Thanks so much! I’m digging the miniturtle army.
Shaenon: Before Skin Horse, I drew a strip called Narbonic. The two-volume print collection of Narbonic sold out of its first print run earlier this year, because it’s awesome. Now I’m running a Kickstarter campaign to do a second printing.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Last month, my son Robin and I had the pleasure of visiting England, where my parents currently live. Robin got to go to Nottingham and retrace the steps of one of his namesakes, Robin Hood. I was inspired to[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: As these thumbnails prove, I wrote the sequence with Tip in his handsome suit early on, probably in the first year of the strip. Originally the context was completely different, but there’s never a wrong time for a handsome[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: The latest Couscous Collection, FUTURE, is here! I did a Narbonic story for this one as well as drawing the cover. This is the shortest Couscous anthology, hence the super-low price. Look how beautiful! (Also: The Narbonic Kickstarter just[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Check out the sweet Halloween piece I drew for this month’s wallpaper! As usual, if you make a donation in any amount to the Skin Horse Tip Jar, or contribute any amount to our Patreon, we’ll send you a[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: More not-quite-Skin-Horse news… The Narbonic Kickstarter has passed both its initial stretch goals! That means I’ll be printing The Narbonic Reactorside Reader, a collection of short comics and stories, and The Astonishing Excursions of Helen Narbon &Co., a Victorian[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Here’s the image I used for Jonah’s and Nera’s charts of the Conspiracy. It’s about half callbacks to things from past storylines, and half children’s book references. In addition to Project Skin Horse, the code name we all know[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: As you can see from the quality of these sketches, this was another sequence we came up with way back when. Shelby started out as a background character in the second storyline of Skin Horse, “Borrowers,” but he was[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: One more non-Skin Horse update… The Kickstarter campaign to reprint Narbonic: The Perfect Collection has ended and is officially the most successful Kickstarter I’ve run so far. Thank you so much to everyone who pledged and/or got the word[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Because I really, really like Star Trek, I am delighted by this illustration of the cast as a starship crew. Tuitey Fruity has also written bios for everyone! Captain’s Fancy Valentine Sweetheart Sweetheart is a member of an alien[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: I’m out of Skin Horse art I can share, so today yinz get drawings of my kid. Channing: Child logic is best logic.
Shaenon: More old thumbnails for strips that wound up in this storyline. Originally an AG-I agent was going to try to recruit Jonah in his senior year of high school by posing as a military recruiter. Somehow the idea of[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Channing: This storyline has gone through a fair bit of restructuring. For your edification, there was a time when Jonah and Nera were shunted back to the Skin Horse offices before arriving at the Habakkuk. You may access my preliminary[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Yet another non-Skin Horse project in the works. I sometimes write stuff without pictures, and next year I want to self-publish a collection of my sci-fi and fantasy stories. This is the cover art I drew for it. Our[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Yes! Opossums in Christmas sweaters! I did it! As usual, if you make a donation in any amount to the Skin Horse Tip Jar, or contribute any amount to our Patreon, we’ll send you a link to this wallpaper.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Rough sketch for this month’s wallpaper. I wanted something cozy-looking in chilly colors, and I also wanted to use some characters who hadn’t been featured in the wallpaper designs in a while. The final version ended up close to[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Channing: In October 2007, Shaenon K. Garrity sent me some mail that changed my life for the better. In it, she described to me a hypothetical new daily webcomic she was planning as a follow-up to her much-beloved Narbonic and[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Like I don’t have enough going on, I’ve started a daily sketchblog, Horror Every Day, as an outlet for my obsession with horror movies (that’s what I usually watch when I’m drawing and scanning Skin Horse). I select the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Sketch for a commission of roleplaying characters. If you’ve ever thought, “I’d like to hire Shaenon to draw my characters but she probably wouldn’t be into it,” you are so wrong. I love drawing people’s characters! Channing: She even[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Originally this was going to be a romantic illustration of Jonah and Nera. Somehow it ended up as Nera alone, probably writing Poe/Finn fanfiction. As usual, if you make a donation in any amount to the Skin Horse Tip[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: I just got my comp copies, so I thought I’d share the news: my short story “To Whatever” appears in the new anthology The Cackle of Cthulhu, out this month. It’s a big book of funny stories inspired by[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: As long as I’m plugging my other projects, here’s a big one. As a bonus in my recent Narbonic Kickstarter campaign, I promised to bring back my on-hiatus comic Monster of the Week for another season. And here it[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: For those of you wondering how long it’d take me to exploit my child, here’s a page from a book Robin and I made as a holiday gift, with his stories and my illustrations. Our cat Eve is the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Okay, one more page from the book I made with Robin. This is a song he sang out of nowhere one day and never brought up again. Channing: This is actually strangely moving. Good poem, Robin!
Shaenon: Looking through old Skin Horse thumbnails, I found these sketches for an idea SH colorist Pancha Diaz and I had ages ago. I’d forgotten all about Agnes Starbreaker: Bootlegger of Mars, but it’d be a boss comic book. Channing: I[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Oh, boy! Wet dogs! If you make a donation in any amount to the Skin Horse Tip Jar, or contribute any amount to our Patreon, we’ll give you a link to this wallpaper. Patreon contributors will continue to receive[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Random recent doodles for my old strip, Narbonic. I’m working on a TV/movie adaptation, though when or whether such a thing will happen is anyone’s guess. Channing: If this actually comes to pass, it will confirm that this is[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Check it out! I’ve got a two-page spread in this upcoming collection of science fiction comics about San Francisco. SF in SF! I drew a sci-fi map of the city, so you can follow the W.A.S.T.E. pickup route in[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Hey! Puppy sketches! Channing: Once again I question why we didn’t choose to spend ten years doing 100% Baby Sweetheart instead.
Channing: I have been taken to task for the inaccuracy of calling my own short stories about Skin Horse “fanfic” since I am one of the co-creators of the original series, but I stand by my description. They are, both[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Illustration I drew for a comics website. I asked Robin what to draw, he said birds, so I drew some birds. Channing: Robin is a good art commissioner!
Shaenon: Robin has created a super-villain, Tuperman, nemesis of Superman. He looks like a cave and there is a man inside the cave (who I think is operating Tuperman? More research is required). Superman stops him by throwing snowballs. I[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: I’m very excited to be able to announce The Zombie Gnome Defense Guide, which I wrote with the lovely Andrew Farago. It’s technically not Skin Horse-related, but probably relevant to many readers’ interests, especially as I continue my streak[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: More news on my old comic, Narbonic, which takes place in the Skin Horse universe and is about the kind of people Project Skin Horse has to clean up after. I have two beautiful new books of Narbonic comics! […]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: The Narbonic Victorian story–now available in print!–has some pages of odd lengths, so to fill out the space in the print version I drew period advertisements. Here’s one that crosses over with Skin Horse. Channing: Man, I have tinkered[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Channing: “Unsinkable” was a rather difficult storyline to bring in to port, so to speak. At one time, the ending was going to be much different than the one you saw, involving a massive deus ex machina with Nera’s mom. […]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Channing: Alert reader and atomic kitten catapult fancier Paul Lenoue has of late found an excellent use for his image editing software, to wit, making cute little macros out of both Shaenon’s art and some theme-appropriate Real Life photographs. Observe:[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Look what my husband Andrew gave me for my birthday! It’s a beautiful stainless-steel pendant of the Skin Horse rocking-horse logo. I love it so much. Channing: Very classy, Andrew.
Shaenon: Some sketches I did of Artie for another project. Man, I’ve been drawing this guy for so long. Channing: Artie was always my favorite character in Narbonic and it is immensely satisfying to be able to write him in[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Some thumbnails for this storyline. Surprisingly, the room full of cages dangling over a spike floor was my idea, even though it was hard to draw. Channing: It’s true, Shaenon brought that one on herself. I’m still responsible for[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Last month I got to visit London and see the National Gallery. It reminded me of how much I love the paintings of Henri Rousseau, so this month I did a Rousseau-inspired illustration. If you make a donation in[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Just popping in to note that my horror movie blog, Horror Every Day, is almost halfway complete. I’ve been recommending a thematically appropriate horror movie every day for nearly six months! This is the sketch I did for a[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Sketches for an upcoming mystery project that I’m hoping will happen. Channing: Whatever it is, it looks exceptionally charming!
Shaenon: Robin helps me with my art. Here’s some of the original art to my horror movie blog, Horror Every Day. As you can see, he added roads to my sketches of Tourist Trap and Let the Right One In,[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Another sketch from my current mystery project. Channing: Intrigued levels rising. What could it be, I wonder? I’m not being coy, I really don’t know.
Shaenon: I love the midcentury tropical pastel palette our colorist Pancha used for Queen Elena. For this month’s Skin Horse wallpaper, here’s a Bad Island travel poster designed with that vibe in mind. If you make a donation in any[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: As part of the stretch goals for my most recent Kickstarter, I agreed to draw a new season of my X-Files recap comic, Monster of the Week. That promise has been fulfilled! Please enjoy Season 5 of Monster of[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Some ideas for Queen Elena and this month’s wallpaper. Also, as a bonus, this amazing cat Robin drew. Channing: Shaenon didn’t go into this storyline expecting to create entirely new character designs for as-yet-unseen characters. Great job on the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: This is what I do to entertain myself. My only regret is that I didn’t have the chance to make Ira give Unity bran as well as pins. Channing: What a relief. One less thing I have to worry[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Channing: Hey there, fans. As you well know, recently there was kind of a big reveal in the strip which we had been planning literally since the strip started; it just took us this long to get there. Though we[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Channing: Welcome back to the second half of my original attempt at the recent big reveal. I really hope you find the included content illuminating! Once again, if you’re not caught up on the strip and are just reading this[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Look at this! The Zombie Gnome Defense Guide, written by Andrew Farago and myself and illustrated by Brian Heemskerk, is out in stores! Please enjoy our harrowing chronicle of the Zombie Gnome invasion. Channing: Eat your heart out, Max[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: I don’t work in bright, primary colors enough. This palette was taken from vintage toy packaging, but it also reminds me of OshKosh outfits my mom dressed me in back in the ’70s. As always, if you make a[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Right now I’m drawing sketches for backers of the Narbonic Kickstarter campaign. As some of them are of characters who also appear in Skin Horse, I thought I’d share. Nick and Dr. Lee are not in Narbonic. People just[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: More sketches for the Narbonic Kickstarter. A surprising number of people asked for Tip, who, for the record, does not appear in Narbonic. Channing: He is, however, amazingly sexy. I’m going to go out on a limb and say[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Doodles for another work in progress. Channing: Whatever this is, it looks pretty amazing. I think we all secretly wish to be able to perform a dramatic denouement stride on command.
Shaenon: Oh, man, is October ever shaping up to be busy. Jeff and I will be attending MileHiCon in Denver, Colorado from October 19-21. It’s a big anniversary year for the con, so I’m just one of many returning[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: For this month’s wallpaper I was planning to do a horror-movie-themed illustration, and somehow it turned into this Art Deco Metropolis situation. Anyway, enjoy! As always, if you make a donation in any amount to the Skin Horse Tip[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Jeff and I are at MileHiCon in Denver this weekend. Enjoy this sketch of Robin making books with my long-arm stapler. Channing: Oh, Robin. Never change. Well, grow up a little so you can reliably assist with household chores,[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: A doodle of the main characters in my novel-in-progress. I’m psyching myself up to do some prose writing next month. “Drunk Fools from the Future” is not the title of the book. But maybe it should be. Channing: Okay,[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: I wanted to draw something warm and cozy, so here’s a quilt-themed illustration. As always, if you make a donation in any amount to the Skin Horse Tip Jar, or contribute any amount to our Patreon, we’ll give you a[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: A few more sketches for the Narbonic Kickstarter campaign. These are all Narbonic-related, so sorry for the lack of Skin Horse characters. Channing: On the other hand, Narbonic characters are super awesome, so there seems to me to be[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: Just some miscellaneous sketches from my notebook. Channing: I now intensely regret never having written a storyline featuring Bed-Head Unity because man, that is adorable. Kind of like a scraggly barn cat is adorable, though.
Channing: Hello, lovely readers. One of the things we like to do over at our Patreon blog is compare some of my original working scripts to the final version that appears in the comic proper. As my scripts make their[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: This month’s illustration is inspired by “The Nutcracker,” and nutcrackers in general, and their freaky little faces. As always, if you make a donation in any amount to the Skin Horse Tip Jar, or contribute any amount to our[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Shaenon: All the little nutcracker robots from this month’s wallpaper. These were so fun to draw. Channing: The guy on the top right will politely tip his hat to you before incinerating your clothing with his plasma rifle. His name[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…







































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































