Christmas Tree

As you may suspect, this is not based on a true story at all. 
Actually, I don't think I have ever bought a real tree for Christmas.
I do own a tiny fake foldable tree though, it takes about 20 seconds to set up.
It's perfect! :D

Predator

 

Yet another true story! This happens on a regular basis, actually. Storm is a great hunter. Luckily for the birds and mice in the neighbourhood, he doesn't get to go outside, other than on our balcony. But still he manages to hunt and catch everything that invades (t)his space!

Laptop Memories

This is a true story. Though I didn't take my laptop to the beach or held it near fire, because I don't think you should do that. 

I am not completely laptopless at the moment, I have my father's old laptop (from 2007, I think that officially makes it an antique), and I borrowed my brother's old laptop (slightly newer) so at least I was able to use Photoshop to colour my comic again. I think I prefer the water-coloured ones I did the past few weeks though, so I may get back to that. 

But still... I miss my old laptop :'(

Halloween

Halloween is not something that is widely celebrated here in the Netherlands, as far as I am aware of. If it was though, I'd hope a feline version was celebrated as well. A while ago, I learned that horrible things are done to black cats in some countries, in particular this time of year. Seriously, it's just a black cat! A furry bundle of cuddles! Love them, don't hurt them! 

Oh, and I promise to hand any cat, black or any other colour, a big festive Halloween cat-treat if it shows up at my door! (Which is unlikely, by the way, since I live on the 4th floor, but still.)

Happy Halloween! 

Smelly

This really happened! Well, without Storm standing on two legs and pointing at my shoe, but he did sniff it and look at me as if he thought it was the origin of the smell. Cunning, but I did not fall for it! ;)

Toys

You are probably wondering what happened to this comic to make it look so... different. Well, my work-pc crashed, so I couldn't scan and colour my comic like I always do. So what I did was draw it (you probably saw that coming), colour the original with watercolour/pencil/marker (which was extremely scary), and then I took a picture. Which is why it looks rather horrible. It should be a temporary issue though, I hope all is back to normal by the time I post the next comic.

I don't like laser mouse toys. I noticed they confuse Storm, because he can't find his 'prey' after hunting it. Even when I tried to make certain the red dot 'disappeared' under furniture when we were playing with the laser mouse, he still kept looking and searching for it. So Storm was frustrated and I felt guilty, not exactly the way you want to feel after a nice play-workout with your cat! So we stick to crumpled up paper mostly now :D

My Bubble Fox Guest Comic

Jon Esparza asked me to do a Bubble Fox guest comic for him, which you can find here: http://bubblefox.thecomicseries.com/comics/199

I had a lot of fun drawing this, and I just had to make my cartoon self and Storm meet Bubble Fox!

Great Expectations

So what would Storm really do if he had a lot of money to spend? (let's just assume he could grasp the concept of money) He would probably not buy a gigantic litter box... Food maybe? I don't know, he doesn't seem particularly interested in food, as long as it's there, he takes a few bites and leaves it for later. And if he feels it's time to be fed, he gently headnudges me in the direction of his dining corner. Toys? No, he has enough of those, I am sure he would agree with me on that. Perhaps a large garden (we don't have that) with lots of birds (to watch, I hope) and flies (to hunt). And grass to eat. I would appreciate that too, by the way, though I probably wouldn't join him with the grass eating... 

Redundant - again!

As you may notice, this week's comic is a bit more space-efficient than usual. One strip seemed a better fitting size for this idea, and stretching it to cover 2 strips would not have made it better. 

I find deciding what goes in which panel the hardest part of making a comic. It needs to build towards the gag, which is in the final panel (you did notice that, right? If not, I am failing badly!), but you don't want the reader to see the joke coming from a mile away, yet you have to be sure it's clear what the joke is! I need to watch the amount of text I use, since I have a tendency of going on and on about something, yet I do want the text to be a substantial part of the story, because I like text.

It's hard work. Really.
So I am sure you can see how unfair it is that my job was stolen by a cat. My cat. 

And yes, I am perfectly capable of distinguishing reality from fiction, why are you even asking that? 

Appreciation

This reminds me of that time I bought Storm a collar. I had moved to my current apartment, and since it's on the 4th floor, I was somewhat worried Storm would fall of the balcony (he can be rather clumsy when walking over narrow ledges), so I bought him a beautiful red collar. Much like in this week's cartoon, though it didn't have a heart-shaped tag with his name on it. Now that I think about it, perhaps he would have liked it more if it had. Unfortunately, he hated the collar. When I put it on him (which was a bit of a struggle), he crouched on the floor, as if something extremely heavy was on his back. In the end I gave up and put chicken wire all around the balcony. So now when I am enjoying a cup of coffee on my balcony, I feel like I am sitting in a chicken coop. Ah well, anything for the cat.....

Couch Time

Actually, I do appreciate my couch time with Storm a lot. It usually also marks the end of my 'working day', I get to relax a bit. And what better to relax with than a fuzzy cat? Well, perhaps a fuzzy cat and a glass of red wine, depending on the time of day of course. But still, the cat is most important there. And, contrary to his cartoon-version, Storm seems to value our couch time as well!  

Professional Help

Don't worry, I didn't really need to seek professional help. Well, not yet anyway. In real life, I don't think I would feel envious of Storm's success. Of course, in real life he doesn't draw... Let's hope he will never start that, just in case....

The Debut Book

Well, well, Storm is quite successful, from the look of it. His own book! I do wonder what he would have to say if he really wrote a book. Or had a real interprrter. I will probably never find out. And if it would be anything like this book, that's a good thing!

Redundant?

Talking

Storm (the real one, not the cartoon cat) isn't very talkative, he keeps his meowing limited to occasions where it's really necessary: convincing me it's time to get up in the morning, sometimes when he feels it's time I feed him, and when he spots tiny animals (spiders etc). Which is handy, because I can scoop them up and put them outside instead of finding them under or in my bed later!

 

 

Success

Ah, just when you think success is finally going to happen, your cat takes off with the prize! 

I started this comic almost half a year ago, and though I love drawing it, it's starting to get too much to do every week. So, from now on, it will appear every other week! 

Trading Places

Who wouldn't want to trade places with a cat? It seems wonderful, doesn't it, the life of a cat. Sleep, eat, play, repeat. 
No worries, no stress. 

It's 'purrfect'!  ;)

Storm draws?

I wonder what Storm would draw, if he could. It seems very likely it would have to do with food or birds. He loves sneaking up on birds behind the window (he can never get to them, don't worry). Or would he draw me, and how I always so annoyingly keep him from sitting on my laptop? Hmm...

Picky

This actually happened, though I am not sure if those were Storm's exact thoughts, of course...(but it must have been something like that, I just know it!)

Dummy

Yet another attempt to keep Storm away from my laptop. But alas, it's painfully obvious who the real dummy is here.... I will keep trying though!

Unwrapping

This didn't really happen, of course. Though Storm wouldn't mind a nice big pile of bandages to play with, I am sure!

Intimidation

Storm is easily startled. An unfamiliar or sudden noise will do it usually, or me brushing my teeth. Now, he is not a very large cat, so it's understandable he tries to make himself appear as big as possible, by turning sideways and expanding his tail and such. But then he does the silly hopping thing, and doesn't look big and scary at all anymore. In fact he makes me laugh out loud when he does that.

Or perhaps that is the idea, when your 'enemy' is on the floor laughing, they are not likely to attack you. Hmmm.....

The Idea

It is true: sometimes it isn't easy at all to come up with something, while other times an idea just pops up out of nowhere. I am awful at working ahead, so, since this comic/blog updates on Thursday, I usually get a little worried if I didn't think of something yet on Monday. It takes a few days to draw and colour, after all. And Storm, who is always a distraction, seems to try even harder to distract me when I am in an 'I really have to think of something now!-state'.

Luckily, I sometimes get an idea out of his distructi... err, distractive behaviour. Quite often, actually. Come to think of it, this comic might not even have lasted without him. Seventeen episodes already! And it still doesn't have a title... I am considering 'Taken by Storm' at the moment, since he tends to take over the comic on a regular basis. Though Google just told me there's books and movies and companies called that already. There must be a lot of cats called Storm that are like my Storm.....

Cat Hair

I would never really do that, I promise.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some knitting to do.... >:D

Jobs

It is no secret that, in general, a career as an illustrator or cartoonist isn't the way to get rich. Though there are exceptions, of course. I never really felt I had a choice though, drawing is the only thing I am good at. Or moderate. Or I could be worse, I think... Well anyway. Of course I have tried other jobs, but they never lasted long. 

And Storm? Well, Storm is good at being a cat. No doubt about that! 

Catfood

Friday the 13th

Though I am not superstitious, I do understand mild just-in-case forms of superstition. Like the football-player who refuses to wash his socks because he is afraid his team's winning streak will end. It can't hurt, right? Apart from being a potential health hazard maybe. 

What I do not and will never understand, is how some people think black cats are bad luck, and go out to hurt them in some countries. If you are that convinced they are evil, you should lock yourself up in your house on Friday the 13th, that way you can be sure you will not run into any black cats. Better yet, get yourself institutionalized, because you are crazy. Really.

I do admit to avoiding to walk under ladders, though. Why? Because I don't want to end up with a bucket of water or paint on my head. Simple as that.

Not superstitious, but practical. 

 

   

Communication Issues

Sometimes I think I know what Storm means when he is 'talking' to me. But I have absolutely no clue what these occasional random meowing sprees mean. Are they just cries for attention? Voice tests? A feline equivalent of singing? Is it a game, where he sees how long he can get me to follow him around wondering what he wants? 
We will never know. Cats just don't make sense most of the time. 

And I think they do that on purpose.  

Sto(r)mping

And again, a true story! Well, partly, anyway. Storm didn't really get new self-made shoes.... I am actually still trying to think of something that will stop him from hitting the keyboard keys. Just now he typed 'uyyyyy444444444555555555555555555555' in the browser address-bar. A secret site for cats that like to sabotage? Who knows?

At least I managed to finish another episode of this comic, despite Stomping Storm!

Domestic Power Struggles

This is a true story. And it happens quite often. Is it that Storm wants to be the center of my attention at all times? Or does he think the laptop (my laptop!), the newspaper, the table, any book I attempt to read and myself are fancy cat pillows for him to sit on? Or maybe it's all a game to him. What ever it is, I have to admit he is very annoying at times. It's not just that I can't work with him sitting on my keyboard, but he also manages to hit a lot of keyboard shortcuts for whichever program is running in the foreground on my laptop. And it takes a while for me every time to restore everything to it's old state, *sigh*.

Ah well, he's adorable when he is sleeping, which is luckily most of the time. Which gives me time to draw comics about him. So in the end, I win, muwahaha!

Ice Skating

Us Dutch definitely have a thing with ice skating. It's probably because this country is flat, and has a lot of water. Sadly, as I mentioned before, Winters aren't what they used to be, so there are Winters now where our ice skates remain unused. I should stop here, I don't want to ramble on about the weather again. But I do want my Winter back!!

Winter (part 2)

This morning, I was greeted by a White World when I woke up. Most of it is gone now (an hour later), but at least the rooftops still look white, so it almost feels like real Winter. 

And that's all from me for this week, I am going to stare at the snow for as long as it lasts! 

Winter

When I was young, everything was better. Or seemed better when looking back, at least. Sometimes I pick up an old video game, a Super Nintendo (snes) game for instance (from the last decade of the last century), and when playing it, it doesn't look as fabulous as I recall it did at all. Time did something with my memory, or perhaps my memory didn't progress the way the game industry did, I don't know.
With some things, however, it is a fact that they were better back in the days. This is true for Dutch Winters. We used to have real Winters here. With snow and ice! It was cold! You went out with your sled and only came back when your hands were almost frozen! And your mother made you some hot chocolate milk! And the ice-skating was so much fun, we used to live near a small stream, which didn't take too long to freeze over, so we were skating there most of the Winter. 
But now, those Winters are gone. We have only two seasons now: Summer, and Fall, the latter stretches out over nine months or so. It rains, and is a boring kind of 'in-between weather'. Drowsy. Of course it is colder now than it is in October or April, but it isn't freezing. Or snowing. If it was up to me, I would move this entire country a few hundred miles to the north. That's where the Winter is!

The Dutch are also obsessed with the weather, by the way. If you walk into a random grocery store and say "How about that weather, eh?", you'll most likely be discussing the weather with fellow customers for at least half an hour. It's fun to do when you don't have anything better to do. Like ice-skating... sled-riding.... *sigh*. 

Compulsive Cats

Cats are known to be playful, of course, but my cat Storm seems obsessed with playing. And I suspect he is not the only cat with that 'problem'. He has a lot of toys, which are usually scattered across the living room, and he rarely manages to walk past them without touching them. His playfulness extends beyond his own possessions, he tends to see playing possibilities where I see simple household items and such. My pencils and erasers are not safe from him either, nor are my reading glasses (!). He loves to 'steal' things like that, and plays with them near the front door, preferably hiding them in my shoes after. 
I sometimes test his compulsiveness by lining up various small objects (plastic lids from bottles, wine corks, matchboxes etc) near the edge of a table, to see if he can walk past them without pushing them off. He never can. 

Of course it is that same (be it obsessive or not) playfulness which makes me love him, and all cats for that matter. So I take the occasional eraser in my shoe for granted :)   

Running

Now, I don't know what it is like where you live, but my neighbourhood sees a rather large increase in runners at the start of the new year. My house is situated next to a small road and bicycle-lane, which I can see from the room where I do my drawing. So I see many runners run by. They don't seem to care whether it's freezing or raining, they stick to their plan and run anyway. I admire them. I do some running myself, but never when it is too cold or too hot. And preferably when there is no rain and the sun is shining. 

So that is roughly four times per year.

Until next week, and keep running if you are into that! I'll be cheering you on from behind my desk-at-the-window!    

As the search for 'my comic' continues, I find myself stuck in these bandages for a bit longer. Don't worry, in real life I am not bandaged at all, but it's just that imagining someone going out on the streets while totally covered in bandages brought on a lot of funny ideas.

Now, as you remember from the previous episode, there was no plastic surgery involved at all, just a confused cat. Cosmetic surgery is a funny thing though, isn't it? I would feel silly having an upper lip that's so swollen it looks like it was stung by a bee, yet there's people who get that done intentionally! And just this week, I read about this 'real-life-soap-star' who stated the best way to avoid facial wrinkles was to not laugh at all! That's just crazy. Ah well. I do hope that doesn't keep you from laughing!

Happy New Year!

First of all: 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

You are, of course, wondering what my new year resolutions are. Well. I promise to keep this comic strip updated as planned, and with that, I aim to bring a smile to your face every week :)

Speaking of which, here it is: 

As you can see, sometimes it is better to stay as you are. 

Wonder what I (or, the cartoon me) will look like next? You will find out next week!