Thank you to everyone who came out to the Emerald City con in Seattle! We had fun at the TopatoCo Castle and especially at the TMH Live pre-party. I’m very much looking forward to sharing the video of the event with you, as soon as it’s ready!

I also wanted to give a special thank-you to Shari for this wonderful sketch:

You may remember Shari’s spirited prequel to this comic. These are the sorts of things that arise when I livestream the comic-makin’ process! We get to chatting while I’m putting the comics together, and every little piece that goes into the work gets an elaborate backstory. Shari’s piece made me wonder just how Strivey got himself into that pickle in the first place…

It was an ordinary day for Strivey. He’d heard there might be some lettuce underneath the back porch of the big blue house, so he took a wide, ambling stroll around the side of the building, finding sure footing in the grass as the sun paced him. He liked to time his walks with the sun this way, keeping steadily in that pleasing light, and he fancied himself an escort for that old yellow friend, showing him the way across the old footbridge over the course of an afternoon, or around a large tree, or behind a big blue house.

But today, as they walked slowly and carefully together, the sun managed to tangle itself behind a stand of scraggly branches, and no amount of Strivey’s coaxing could urge it back out. It happened this way often, to Strivey’s chagrin and despite all his urging, and usually it took all night for the big lunkhead to free himself and meet Strivey sheepishly back in the morning. Strivey would shake his small, wrinkled head, and the sun would start to shine brighter and brighter as if saying “I know, I know,” and then they would go on a long walk again.

Today was no different. So by the time Strivey reached the deck behind the big blue house, it was dim; and even though the dimness of evening is never the best time to look for lettuce that might be hiding, he’d come this far, and he was hungry. He peered about in the deck’s corners and crevices, and when nothing was evident beneath the deck he managed to make his way on top of it, and then from there into the house itself, and from there down a long hallway and into a room which was emitting a bright glow as if the sun had beat him there. “That crafty devil managed to sneak in ahead of me,” thought Strivey, as he nosed his way through the doorway.

The sun was smaller in person, a tiny glass figure shouting fiercely at a woman’s leering face. Immediately Strivey knew something was wrong — for his friend’s light, though bright, was not warm, having been trapped within this bulb of glass like a genie captured in a bottle, and the woman was the trapper.

Strivey tried to turn back and flee, but he was, after all, a tortoise, and a sprint back toward the hall took him about twenty minutes.

Next up: Comicpalooza in Houston, TX, March 26-28!

ALSO: Regarding the One Too Many Mornings contest: I neglected to mention that the deadline is Friday at midnight! And if you don’t have Facebook or Twitter, but would still like to enter the contest, you can always tell the filmmakers your story directly — their contact info is listed at onetoomanymornings.com! But really, the point of the contest is to spread the word about the movie. So — email the filmmakers, then tell twenty strangers about the time you were hung over, and we’ll call it even. Deal? (I have no way of knowing if you don’t do the last part.)

ALSO here is a sketch I just did:

My friend Mike Mohan is a filmmaker. We went to film school together, worked on projects for each other, and both got jobs in the industry when we graduated — in fact he’s got one of the coolest breaking-in stories around:

I started out as an intern at Fox Searchlight Pictures. I actually got that job through the strangest of ways. They were having a test screening of Super Troopers at the local theatre, and I snuck in (film students weren’t allowed).

I was really hoping to weasel my way into the focus group at the end of the screening to meet one of the Searchlight executives, but apparently they already had enough 20-year-old white dudes. But after the screening they handed out a flyer that had the email address of someone that worked there. It read something like: “if you have any additional comments on Super Troopers, please email soandso@fox.com.”

At that moment, that was my only connection. This one email address of a complete stranger.

So I stayed up all night long composing the best email of my entire life. The thing would have made Tolstoy blush, it was so long. I discussed every minute detail of Super Troopers -– I even looked on imdb at the upcoming comedy releases, and tried to give them advice on exactly when they needed to release it later that year -– when there were no other competing comedies in the marketplace.

At the bottom of the email I even wrote “it will be in your best interest to call me tomorrow so we can set up an appointment for you to hire me as an intern.” The thing was absolutely and completely naive, but full of passion.

It worked. The next day both a development exec, AND a creative advertising exec called me.

In the years since we both graduated, as I began to develop a career doing comics and talking to all you people, Mike kept making movies. I always joked with friends how I hadn’t seen Mike’s latest film because he’d made a dozen more since the last one. He made slightly disturbing shorts, moody music videos, absurd children’s shows, and a memorable fake infomercial. And now he’s made a feature film.

After two years of shooting on nights and weekends, One Too Many Mornings premiered at Sundance this year. The film is self-distributed — meaning that Mike, along with Anthony Deptula and Stephen Hale (the co-writers and stars), are putting DVDs into envelopes themselves, booking theatrical gigs themselves, and showing the movie everywhere they can to whomever’s willing to come out and watch it. It’s a ballsy move, but it can work — it’s a close cousin to what I do, after all. And folks have taken notice of them: here’s the LA Times talking about OTMM; here’s the NY Times; here’s famous screenwriter/blogger John August, and the filmmakers talk a lot about their process, and link to other interviews, on their blog as well.

I’m hugely proud of what these guys have accomplished, and I’d encourage you to check their screening schedule to see if OTMM’s coming to your town soon, or consider a DVD or direct download of the film. In fact, OTMM is having its next Los Angeles screening next Tuesday, the 16th of March, 8PM at the Downtown Independent, with John August hosting a filmmaker Q+A after the show. Tickets are $7…

OR…how about free? In an amazing example of cross-internet synergy, Mike and the gang have decided to award two pairs of tickets to the March 16 screening to LA-area Wondermark readers, as well as two limited-edition DVDs to anyone out of town! Here’s the word direct from Mike:

In the first 5 minutes of One Too Many Mornings, the main character, Fischer, wakes up with the worst hangover of his life. He’s late to his little league soccer practice — and he’s the coach. You would think that nursing a pounding headache and queasy stomach while being surrounded by excited 8-year-olds would be the most horrible scenario possible, but go from bad to worse: he throws up. Not in front of any kids, but literally on a cute and unsuspecting kid who was quietly tying his shoe behind him.

We pose this question to you: What was the worst thing you’ve ever had to do with a hangover?

Enter to win by answering this question on Twitter or Facebook: either tweet using hashtag #otmmLA (to enter for the screening tickets) or #otmmDVD (to enter for a DVD), or post on the official OTMM Facebook wall (using the same hashtags — I know Facebook doesn’t really do hashtags, but work with us here).

Mike and the OTMM gang will read your replies — and regardless of who wins, everyone who enters will receive a link to download one of their prior short films! “La Dentista” tells the strange story of an illegal dentist operating out of an apartment building. It is pretty nutty.

So there we have it! One Too Many Mornings! Hangover questions! Enter to win! Free! Yes. Okay. Hooray! OH YEAH UPDATE: The deadline is Friday midnight! UPDATE 2: Which is now in the past!

I’ll be appearing in Seattle next week! I can’t wait — the Emerald City Comicon is one of my favorite shows of the year. But I’m also doing something else special: a live performance of my podcast Tweet Me Harder!

Kris Straub and I will be headlining the TopatoCo Pre-Con Kickoff Party on Friday night, March 12, in West Seattle. Admission is free, and it’ll be a fun time with cartoonists and friends! Everyone’s invited to come have a great time. It is The Official ECCC Pre-Party. More info here, or it’s on Facebook right here.

THEN: Saturday and Sunday, March 13-14, I’ll be at the Emerald City Comicon (at the TopatoCo booth, just inside the front doors and to the left). I’ll have shirts, books, prints, hopefully some brand-new stickers (if they arrive in time) and of course, awkward hugs and shifty glances for all. It’s my official kickoff to the spring convention season, so catch me while I’m still chipper and excited. Hope to see you there!

“You hear two sounds,” the old people say, “always two sounds. They come on the wind. Always the two sounds.

“The low one is the moans;

“The high one is the whip.”

(If you have trouble viewing the comic, please see here for more information about stereographs, or try this alternate version with the sides swapped.)