deebrisbyfish

[deebrisbyfish]

If you've ever wanted to own ORIGINAL Finding Dee Comic strip art, now is your chance!!! ALL 5 of the strips drawn at C2E2, along with a signed copy of the book those strips ended up in, is up for auction NOW!!! https://www.ebay.com/itm/387738150422

[deebrisbyfish]

This entire strip was born out of me doing a random doodle of the "Finding Dee Window Cling Plushie" for no real reason. Once that was stuck in my head, I decided to build an entire strip to justify the concept and here we are. lol As for why it's tinted purple, I just felt like trying it to see if it looks cool for internet posting of the otherwise black-and-white strip.

[deebrisbyfish]

So, Lucipurr and Mewsikeen are NOT my first cats, and I've always known that cats have nictitating membranes, or 3rd eyelids, but Mewsie here is the 1st cat I've ever had that closes hers like this without closing her REGULAR ones. And she never does it EXCEPT when I'm giving her scritches, rubs, or any kind of attention she likes. It's a weird combo of gross and adorable, so I just HAD to try and capture it in the strip.

[deebrisbyfish]

So, as many of you know, I collect my strips in print as thick(ish) collected editions every year and a half or so, and there are currently 5 volumes available to order! HOWEVER, what many of you may NOT know, is that those trade paperbacks are collections of the Finding Dee COMIC BOOK! That's right, since 2017, every 24 or so strips has been collected in a classic, snazzy comic book and there are currently 14 issues with 3 more in process! These have generally only been available through direct online sales OR from me at conventions, however, I am going to make a BIG change to how I distribute these PRINTED copies of FINDING DEE the COMIC BOOK on PATREON!!! Starting in 2025, I will be adding 2 new reward tiers for my backers here! Folks at the $10 tier (including those already contributing at that level) will begin to receive, quarterly, packages of 3 issue bundles sent to you until you are caught up! And then, as new issues are released, those will be mailed out to you as well! And I'll also be adding a $20 tier where you will receive all of that, but with each issue SIGNED by me with an original doodle inside! Original art AND printed comics! I'm excited by this, and hopeful that it will be a fun way to get these comics into the hands of readers to enjoy and share!!!!

[deebrisbyfish]

Yeah, I'm 50 years old as of, technically, tomorrow, and for the last year or so, I've been dreading it. Dreading it, mostly, because it is a MAJOR trigger for my ever-present impostor syndrome that makes me focus on everything I HAVEN'T accomplished in life. I tend to depress myself fairly easily.

Also, if you're wondering why a strip in December is parodying the original, 1978 HALLOWEEN, it's because I wrote this in October and drew it in early November. The spooky season was still in the front of my mind. Plus, visualizing my anxiety with a fun parody was a LOT more fun than me just going on and on about it with lots of... words. Crap, I'm doing that HERE, aren't I? D'oh!

[deebrisbyfish]

This is actually an adaptation of a strip I first did YEARS ago for Dandy & Company that I've wanted to recreate here for Finding Dee. The biggest reason I've NOT until now is that, honestly, I stopped being curmudgeonly about Christmas YEARS ago, so it wouldn't have been authentic to cast me as the "Grinchy" one. Then, on Thanksgiving morning, as Heidi and I were getting dinner ready and starting to set up the tree to Christmas music, Rick emerged from the basement where he dwells and grumbled about us not waiting until after dinner to start and I knew what my twist was to make this work. In hindsight, I really should have down at least ONE setup strip to ESTABLISH him as grumpy about all things Christmas, but I am still happy with the execution here! And as a heads up, this is the kind of fun extra stuff that I do weekly as an exclusive for Patreon subscribers! Join today for all SORTS of extra goodies!

[deebrisbyfish]

This was something of an actual conversation that happened with a customer at Comicon Erie this past September that seemed like a perfect thing to translate to the strip. I didn't quite get THIS depressed, in reality, but I did stop in the middle of my well-rehearsed spiel to consider the wording. lol At the show, I laughed it off and then repeated the joke a few more times for fun, but for the strip, the angstier take seemed more appropriate. Zod willing, I turn 50 in a week of this strip, and that idea is living rent-free in my head. lol So, if you think this is the last time this will be brought up in the comic, I have some bad news for you. ;)

[deebrisbyfish]

We went to the Erie Comic Con last month and had a great time, but DID have a tricky time setting up the table. Over the years, I've published a LOT of different projects, and it's always tough trying to decide what to push, what to leave home, and what to try and balance.

[deebrisbyfish]

Join me at the OIL CITY LIBRARY this Saturday, November 16th from 11am to 3pm for a live signing event for my novel, "WOLVES OF THE HAVENLANDS", the long-awaited 2nd book in the HAVENWOLF CHRONICLES!

I'll will be in the library with copies of the new book, along with copies of book 1, "LYCANTHROPY AND THE SINGLE GIRL" and collections of my semi-autobiographical webcomic series, "FINDING DEE" as well.

Hope to see you there!

[deebrisbyfish]

There's not much I need to say to add to the message in this VERY wordy strip, so I'll instead confirm that YES... the format is a parody of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

[deebrisbyfish]

After spending most of yesterday numb, angry, and terrified, I took the time to think about how I both want and NEED to move forward.

For months, I've been pondering if it’s time to move on from my semi-autobiographical webcomic, “Finding Dee”, for a few months now. I wrote a whole blog post about it, and I’ve even been working on some potential new ideas for new comic strips. All kinds of fun stuff. I’ve been considering that when I had enough material for one more trade… about 40 weeks of strips… I might put this comic to bed and move on. Then, I woke up yesterday morning to the election results and have spent most of that day feeling like I’ve been repeatedly kicked in the stomach. That feeling hasn’t really gone away and likely won’t for a while, but like a lot of chronic pain, I’m learning how to function with it being ever-present. Whee.

As such, it was important to me yesterday afternoon, after I finished with work, to immediately draw THIS. To put these thoughts out there in my chosen medium of expression, doing the thing I love to do the most: make comics Now, another factor in my concerns over whether it was time to end “Finding Dee” came down to the election, and the promises contained within Project 2025. 

The incoming regime has promised that in their new world order, being publicly transgender can become a punishable crime. Telling transgender stories will be flagged as porn, and porn will be made illegal as well. I will be branded a sex criminal for telling what can quantifiably be called the LEAST sexy webcomic ever. Because Republicans needed a boogeyman to terrify their ignorant base, and we were RIGHT THERE.

But, after a lot of thought and consideration, I decided that I am not ready to retire this strip just yet. Maybe if something cool happens and I decide to move on, but like I said in the strip here… I want that to be MY choice. Not the government.

So, I’m moving forward. The strip will continue as it’s been until I DECIDE that I’m done with it. End of rant… for now.

[deebrisbyfish]

Sometimes, when an idea occurs to me and I want to get it drawn and posted that day, I'll make strips like these where I rough them out and do loose digital pencils. There's something very fun and immediate to these that I find to be creatively satisfying to do on occasion. And, in this case, the reasoning is well explained in the strip itself. I... may NEVER get the hang of Daylight Savings Time.

[deebrisbyfish]

This is an idea I scripted and actually bluelined months ago as part of a storyline about being creatively burnt out. I decided that, while I LIKED the joke, the storyline was already running long and figured it would work better as a stand-alone gag later on. Then, recently, we put up one of those fans with a light you can screw into an existing socket for our kitchen. We turned it on and were immediately blinded by how dang BRIGHT it was. Once my vision returned, I figured it would be a good time to finish this strip idea. ;)

[deebrisbyfish]

What's THIS!? An EXTRA strip!? An obviously timely parody of Frank Miller's Sin City? An new artist homage!? A SATURDAY strip!? A COLOR PANEL!? What magical holiday warrants all of this extra goodness and laughs? Why, the end of Daylight Savings Time tomorrow, of course. I REALLY hate waking up in what feels like the middle of the night in order to get ready for work, and the hi-contrast, black-and-white style of Miller's grimdark oeuvre seemed like the perfect match! As for the final panel being in color, no, it's not the start of anything regular. It's just that the visual contrast wasn't as strong with it in my usual black-and-white style!

That all said, I hope you enjoy this special bit of fun!

[deebrisbyfish]

So, for my fellow Scream fans, you'll notice I specifically said "at LEAST 4". You’ve got Mrs. Loomis in 2. Jill in 4. Amber in 5, and Quinn in 6. And if you want to get specific, Angelina was SUPPOSED to be one of the killers in the shooting script for 3 before they changed it. Also, I'm not counting the TV series, as it's not canon to the films. So there. :)

[deebrisbyfish]

Hey there! If you liked the Poe Halloween costume options, there are even MORE hilarious concepts up on my PATREON this week! Here's a "Horrible" sneak peek of just ONE of the alternate ideas!

[deebrisbyfish]

While Poe LOVES dressing up in t-shirts and sweaters, he's not crazy about Halloween costumes once they get up to his head or down to his feet. So, he'd likely not really care for the non-actionable "Chiroptera-based superhero" costume or "Magical stab-horse" as seen here. Still, these were a LOT of fun to draw. ;)