Tomorrow, the 24 Hour Comic that started Alex’s Guide is turning three years old! Yay! ^_^ You can buy print copies of the 24 Hour Comic. Maybe someone you know would like a copy? Eh? Ehh?
MAN, this comic was a long time in coming. Chris and I had this conversation early on when we first started dating, and it’s been in the back of my brain as a comic idea for years. Finally, the Manliest of Man Soaps will be known by all.
HEY CAPTAIN AMERICA SIGNAGE, I’M TALKING ABOUT YOU. It’s impossible for me to share everything wrong with that main Cap image they used in all their retail promotional materials, but I’m shocked at the aliasing and artifacting all over that sign. Get with the program, Warner Brothers, and get your graphic designers good, high-res source images. I was a little baffled at how the image seemed to be entirely stitched together in Photoshop, and not actually shot with Chris Evans.
/pretentious art rant
On the flip side, Gator Golf has really adorable box art, but the actual toy is horrendous. x_x
Happy Halloween!
This comic is being very fickle and didn’t want to post the first three times! Hopefully it will behave now.
We thought this up while at the wedding we attended a few weeks ago, but the structure of this strip was Chris’s idea. ^_^ If you have no idea what we’re referencing here, head on over to the Wikipedia article for 4’33″.
And congratulations to Talcott and Val!
Oh, this was so much fun to draw! I was planning on doing this next Friday, but I was stuck on comic ideas this morning, so I’m doing it now!
Obviously, I grew up in a homemade/found-item costume kind of house, and I can’t really recall a single year where I wore something store bought. Now indulge me in a rundown so that I may reminisce!
Fairy: This was my kindergarten costume. My dad made me wings out of wire hangers and plastic wrap, and my “gown” was a secondhand dressing gown. 1992.
Cat: This was my go-to-costume for a couple years as a kid. I was a little cat-crazy until we got our first cat in 1998 or so. 1993-??
Cheerleader: A hand-me-down costume that one of my older sisters wore at one point. Before anyone cries foul at an OSU alum in blue and gold, those were the colors for my elementary school, Harvard. My elementary school can totally beat up your elementary school, because it’s a fucking castle.
Also, that hill is killer for sledding in the winter. 1993-5ish.
Butterfly: A liberal interpretation of a butterfly, sure. I think this was from some sort of nightie set that I don’t even know how I acquired, but it was fluttery and awesome. That year, we had an exchange student from Mexico named Efrén who would tease the hell out of me by calling me a Peanut Butter Fly. 1996.
Bunny: I think was was a last-minute costume my mom put together because I don’t remember much about it other than it was a white sweatshirt, sweatpants, and a bunny tail and ears. 1998.
Witch: I planned this costume with my BFF at the time, who was also a witch that year. I was in love with my wig, because it had the grey streak! First year of middle school. 1999.
Buttercup: A very crude homemade costume that consisted of white stirrup pants (I lived in stirrup pants during the last half og the 90s) a green t-shirt, and a black belt that I cut out of an old pair of pajama pants, I think. 2000.
Tejina: An original character from my longtime project The Hues, at the time. I mostly did this because I had the right glasses, and it was an easy costume. 2002.
Arwen: My friend Amanda made this costume for me for Trilogy Tuesday! Those big sleeves were perfect for smuggling food into the movie theater. Amanda made herself a very impressive Legolas costume, and my sister was Rosie Cotton. I actually wore this dress to my senior prom, too. ^_^; 2003.
Jeremy: This was the ill-fated Great Trifecta Switch. I was going to dress like Jeremy, Jeremy was going to dress like Aryn, and Aryn was going to dress like me. When it came down to it, I was dressed like Jeremy, Jeremy was dressed like a scarecrow, and Aryn didn’t dress up at all. I even rubbed dish soap in my hair to make it extra grimy, man! Not that I’m still bitter, or anything… 2005.
Generic Elf: A group of us went to Kent, OH for their big Halloween fest, so I paired my bridesmaid dress with my Arwen cloak to be a generic, fancy elf. It was a fun time, and I’m glad I got to wear my dress more than once, though I think it’s still got a faint Diet Coke stain down the front of it from that night. 2005.
Chris: I went to a Halloween party that Chris wasn’t able to attend, so I brought him along in spirit. Chris had long hair when I first met him, so I put mine in a ponytail, donned my glasses, and stole a red shirt and flannel from his closet to complete the ensemble. I even made a fake PDA with a printed-out picture of the Wikipedia home page to carry around. Our friends were very entertained. 2008.
Lori Beth Denberg: Some of you may remember this because I mentioned it last year before Youmacon! This costume is entirely why the Corn exists. Lori Beth was an original cast member on All That, and is one of my fat heroes. 2010.
Cass Elliot: This is my costume this year. It will be epic. For those who don’t know who Cass Elloit is, get thee to YouTube. I’m fashioning my costume after this album cover:
And these are just the ones I can remember. There are a couple holes in the timeline where either I can’t remember what I wore, or I just didn’t dress up. Did you have a favorite childhood (or adult) costume? Throw it out there in the comments. :D
This takes me back, way back, to my first few months of college, when MTV2 aired reruns of Pimp My Ride for hours on end. I’ve watched more Pimp My Ride than I care to admit, folks.
A swing through the pony aisle is pretty much a guaranteed pick-me-up.
I lettered the GASP! with an actual brush! Baby steps, y’all.
The response to my comic on Monday has been really overwhelming. Thank you, everyone, for your outpourings of support! It was a long time in coming, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready or not, but I’m really glad I did it. ^_^ Y’all are awesome! As always, if you’re curious about body acceptance and want to know more, let me know and I can recommend a few websites and books.
Last but not least, Youmacon may be back on the cards for me. My roommates are going to have an AA table, but one of them might not be able to go, so I might take his place instead! I’ll let you know how it goes either way. Youmacon is November 3-6 in Detroit, MI.
Have a good weekend!
Hopefully pointing this out doesn’t alienate a bunch of you. I’ve been pretty lucky that in a year and a half, I haven’t gotten any people trolling around the place pointing out how fat I am, and my audacity in actually drawing myself as such.
New to fat acceptance? Here’s a good place to start. The vast and wide community has a lot of overlap with other social justice groups, so you see a lot of cross-conversation. If you’re a more visual person, watch this. (Edit: video link has been fixed! WATCH NOW!)
Two years ago, I certainly couldn’t have looked at a picture of myself looking like this and thought, “Damn, I’m looking pretty good up there.” It feels good.
Now that I’ve danced in heels, I suppose I have earned my Fancy Lady merit badge.
Last Friday night was fun! My sister and I went to the local gay club for Drag Queen Night with Aryn and Jeremy, which had the upside of being awesome and the downside of making me a bit danced-out when we went to our friends’ wedding the next day.
Monday’s comic is going to be NUMBER 150! What fun thing shall I do? Oh, the intrigue and suspense. Have a good weekend!
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