You’re probably thinking: this is another fairly amusing animal comic, but where is the title character? Where’s the story??
I just want to let you know that he’ll be returning soon. I have a lot of other work I’m in the middle of and I haven’t had as much time as I’d like to sit and think about the next arc of the story (the specifics of it, anyway, like how it should actually begin). So rather than jump in unprepared, I’m doing weekly stand-alone strips until I feel comfortable with the direction I want to take.
It could be another few weeks until Charles and Gilgamesh reappear, but there’ll still be a new comic here every Wednesday, so sit tight and imagine that they’re wandering through the woods somewhere on their way to the mountain. Easy, right?
 

This strip was inspired by Mr.Asbo, who is a poster boy for jerk swans. I have never personally been attacked by a swan, but I’ve been chased by them and they can be pretty scary. I was also chased by a flock of turkey vultures once, but that’s a story for another day…
 
CONTEST NEWS: If you entered the Colouring Contest from a few weeks back (or even if you didn’t) you can now check out all of the entries on the Abominable Facebook page. We’ll be picking a winner* this week and that person will get a free book with a character sketch of their choice. Tune in next week for the results!
 
*by ‘We’ I mean ‘my 10-month old son’.

This pretty much encapsulates all of my experiences playing organized sports. Or any team-based anything, really.

Nothing like topical humour!
I want to assure you all that I re-watched ‘Three Men and a Baby‘ this morning in order to properly capture the feel of the film for this dramatization. So now you don’t have to.
It may also interest you to know that the movie was directed by Leonard Nimoy! I can’t be certain, but I think he might play the doorman outside of the Three Mens’ apartment building. Either that or he did voice-over for that bit. So there you have it.
I also totally saw the ghost boy behind the curtains.
 
I had to leave the studio early today so this strip is presented in the original black & white. I’ll add tones to it later.
See you next week!
-karl

I think this might be the first lizard in this comic. If so, I apologize to lizards everywhere for the oversight.
So it’s officially almost the Year of the Dragon, and I thought I’d ring it in by listing some things I like which contain dragons. Feel free to add your own!
In no particular order:
 

 
CONTEST NOTE: Thanks to everyone for the colouring contest submissions! I’m sorting them all and judging will begin soon!

Happy Holidays, everyone! Hope you’re all spending time with loved ones and enjoying the season.
I guess this is the last Abominable strip of 2011. I want to thank you all for coming back here every week for the last four years and sharing these moments with me, and I want to thank all of the amazing people who contributed guest strips for the last few weeks!
Next year we’ll kick off the third chapter of the story, there’ll be a new hardcover book, and I’ll be doing more conventions, so hopefully I’ll get to meet some more of you in person. Until then, enjoy what’s left of 2011 and I’ll see you next year!
 
-karl
 
Before I go, I want to remind everyone that the colouring contest ends on December 31st, as does the sale at the Abominable Store! So if you want to win a free book with a sketch or get your hands on cheaper stuff, now’s the time!
 

This week’s guest strip answers some important questions about Charles’ genetic roots. Or does it? Is that face human? Some things are better left unanswered.
 
Tyson Hesse is a character designer, animator, cartoonist, colourist, writer and self-publisher of his own comics. That’s a lot of stuff. All of it is really good.
I first found him via his webcomic, Boxerhockey, and then proceeded to marvel at his portfolio and his prints. His sense of colour is amazing, and when I was asked to do a House of Night story for Dark Horse comics I requested his services as colourist so he’d make me look better than I am. He doesn’t know it yet, but I plan to come calling again soon.
Thanks for taking the time to do this, Tyson! And for giving me night terrors. Panel five is like something out of a Lynch movie.

This is unbelievable. I asked Dave Guertin and Greg Baldwin at Creaturebox if they’d be interested in doing an Abominable guest strip for me, assuming that they might have time for a small sketch or a couple of panels. And this is what they sent me. Practically every character (and some new ones!) rendered in full, lush colour.
I can’t stop looking at it.
Maybe you’re already familiar with their design work on the Ratchet & Clank series of video games and maybe you’re familiar with some of the comics they put up on the web, but you still owe it to yourself to go to their site and soak in the talent. From character design to illustration to sequential art to website design, everything there oozes professionalism and ingenuity. So, so much for me to learn.
I also love their twitter feed for the random doodles and inspirational sketches that show up.
Thank you so much, guys!
 
-karl

Kenji is 8 months old, so it’s time he started pulling his own weight. For this week’s strip I drew a colouring page for him and asked him to finish the image with some paints. “Just be yourself”, I told him. “Let it all happen on the page. Push the envelope. Explore the space.”
If you can’t see the genius in the above image, you have no taste whatsoever.
 
BONUS: You can check out the behind-the-scenes video of the making of this masterpiece, or even download the blank line art and colour your own! I’ll post some of the results and let Kenji choose his favourite. The winner will get a free book with a sketch*.
All submissions should be mailed to mail@abominable.cc by December 31st with the subject line: “Colouring Contest”.
 
* The sketch is by me, not Kenji.

The first of the Abominable Guest Strips is by the super-talented duo of Yuko Ota and Ananth Panagariya. You’ve probably seen their work in a number of places, including the collaborative Johnny Wander, which is sometimes an autobio comic and sometimes not. Whatever it is or isn’t, it’s always great. Ananth also co-creates Applegeeks with Mohammad Haque and Yuko has a fantastic illustration blog which I frequent – mostly for drawings of Direwolves.
As you can see, they’re very, very busy. So I’m doubly grateful that they took the time to do this guest strip for me. And it features the Porcupine (still nameless) – one of my favourite grumpy adolescent characters who doesn’t really get enough time in the spotlight.
Thanks, guys!
 
Fun Fact: When I first met Yuko a few years ago she drew this picture for me on a small card, which I still have beside my desk!

So ends Chapter Two of The Abominable Charles Christopher (and the Story of Vivol & Moon Bear).
I’m going to try to take some time off to think about the next arc of the story, but don’t go away because there will be new content here every Wednesday, either in the form of guest strips or random illustrations by me.
Thanks to all of you readers for sticking with me for another long, winding chapter. It may have seemed laborious and random at times, but I think if you go back to where it began and read through again it’ll feel like a satisfying chunk of story. I’m excited to see where it goes from here.
 
-karl
 
And because a lot of people are asking, YES, there will be a second hardcover to match the first one and it will be just as furry. It should be out sometime in the first half of 2012.