There are many things to discuss about today's strip.

Let's be frank about this from the outset: Microsoft has not indicated any desire to purchase Vivendi's game business, which also includes Sierra and Universal Interactive. Of course, that hasn't stopped people (like ourselves) from looking at the playing field and seeing who could possibly be in the market for such a thing. Many, many worst-case scenarios have been played out, and we were trying to play one out, but then it got so cool that we thought maybe it might not be such a bad idea. A full Action/Strategy hybrid like Savage or Allegiance, the possibilities of Starcraft's great races and Blizzard's proven design are almost too titillating to entertain. I'm practically blacking out.

Also, as I'm sure is clear, the art in today's offering was done by yours truly. The drawring in my strips is steadily getting better, and I believe that after a few more iterations I will be able to jettison Gabe altogether. I'm that good. There are, however, a few clarifications that might help you enjoy my most recent work.

In Frame One, yes, that is Gabe's hair, and not a hedgehog. Tycho's expression is meant to depict slight to average annoyance.

In what is perhaps my richest panel to date, Frame Two reveals the bitter field of battle - where a lone Terran Marine and a moist Zerg Hydralisk reap a grim harvest. The eyebrow on the hideous Zerg warrior denotes frustration. The thing in front of the Marine is a gun. It is not, as some have suggested, a steely lobster claw, nor is it the "bong of the future."

Internally, I refer to Frame Three as "Dismay."

So, there you have it. In my opinion, gripping. It's the most original work on the Internet and probably the whole world. If we assume that there's nothing in outer space but space, and maybe a rock, I'm going to call Space too.

I said that I would deliver unto you Webcomics on Wednesday, and lo, I'm going to do it here in a second. At the booth, two very nice people came by and gave us a comic book that feels as though it was made on a color copier. Hopefully one of them works at a Kinko's or something, because this little bastard would have gotten expensive fast - regardless, it's called Mostly Acquisitions, in all lower-case type. I'd picked up other stuff in my very, very brief wanderings at the Convention, and it was (almost as a rule) fucking trash. I wondered briefly if there was an ipecac for eyes, and where I might procure some on such short notice. No so with this little book, which was a comfort to me amid the crush of people and the jungle sounds. It had five small stories from five cartoonists in there, every one of them was great in my estimation, and since I can't find the fucker online anywhere maybe I'll just scan it with big-ass, 48 point links to each of the creators or something. Anyhow. I'll have more comics for you tomorrow - but let me make some brief introductions. If you play your cards right - and bring up your spreadsheet window at the appropriate times - you might not have to do anything today. Also! I read that there was naughty stuff at some points in some of these, but I only read enough to know I liked them and never caught anything hot. Be warned, I suppose. Or really excited.

Jen Wang did the cover for the collection, but her last name is also Wang and that goes a long way on this site. She has a comic as well, long-form, and there's a lot of it up already.

Kevin Hanna's Random Frog Children is one I've linked to before, but my logs say you didn't go so I'm going to get all stern on you. What the fuck, ip number 69.193.226.56? You think I put this shit up here because I just love hypertext?

Dylan Meconis sounds like a good name for a superhero(ine), and maybe she is. Her comic "Bite Me" is historically delicious.

Erika Moen is fine by me. I devoured her art section in general and her comics section in particular.

Jesus Christ. Looking at Vera's sketchbook is like an eyegasm. Her comic Return To Sender is one I believe I have mentioned before, but perhaps I did not mention it with so much vehemence.

I include Bill Mudron here for purposes of completeness, even though his site is not what I would call full featured. He's obviously very talented, and his bit in the book might be my favorite, but he's a complete Goddamn mystery. This guy has the same name, is it him? Let's learn all about our new friend Bill Mudron.

So, that's what I've got for yas at the moment. I have some other exceedingly delicious links and assorted etcetera, I'll get them up here before the day is out, just see if I don't.

(CW)TB out.

i will be stable

Listen up, Empire Interactive, because I'm only going to say this once: "Ghost Master" is the stupidest fucking name for a game that I have ever heard.

I don't even care if your game has ghosts, and you have to master them. I almost didn't give your really cool game a second look because your Name Department fucked up so monumentally.

(CW)TB

The two items that seemed to pop up this week in my mail over and over again were the sale of Vivendi's games division and the map hack for Warcraft 3. Many of you were upset that Blizzard seemed unwilling or unable to deal with the map hack. Just as I was starting to agree with you they came out and made an official announcement about it on Wednesday. Apparently anyone caught using the hack will have their CD key banned. I understand that all they would need to do is go out and purchase another copy of the game but I still think it's a good deterrent. I honestly don't know if I have ever played against someone using the hack. I'd like to think that my many losses could be attributed to some form of treachery by the other player rather than my own incompetence. Blizzard has asked that you send in any replays in which you feel like you may have been the victim of one of these unscrupulous cheaters. After careful study of my own library of replays I could find no evidence of a hack that turns off fog of war. However I did find something even more dangerous. There appears to be an even more prevalent hack that lets people utilize a highly streamlined build order, intelligent troop configurations and strategic hero management to totally destroy my puny forces. Blizzard really needs to do something about this if you ask me.

Some of you took my advice and ordered Raging Bless from VGD last week only to discover that it was an import title that would not play on your US Playstation 2. I apologize if I did not make it clear enough. VGD is an import store. So whenever you hear me raving about some new game from them for any system just assume that it's and import game and you'll need to take certain steps in order to assure it's compatibility with your hardware. If you ever have any questions about what you will need to do to play a specific game from them please don't hesitate to mail me. While I'm talking about VGD I want to let all the other Neo-Geo fans out there know that they are now carrying Phantom 1 converters. Those of you new to the Neo scene may not be familiar with these little wonders. The Phantom 1 converter allows you to play MVS cartridges (Cartridges intended for use with the Arcade Neo-Geo hardware) in your home Neo-Geo system. When you consider the fact that cartridges designed for the Arcade system are often hundreds of dollars less than the exact same game made for the home system you can see why one of these converters is such a Godsend. If you have any questions about them feel free to mail me as I have one myself and can probably help you out. I have been getting lots of mail about when the next part of my guide to purchasing a Neo-Geo will be up. I apologize that it's taking me so long. This month has been crazy what with the Comic-Con and all. We will be heading out of town again next weekend for the Necrowombicon as well. I will try and get the next part of that feature cranked out once we get back.

-Gabe out

I just finished some new Warcraft 3 fan art and though I’d share it with all of you. I do hope you enjoy it.

-Gabe out