Archive for July, 2006

6 items.

When He’s Not Looking

July 27th, 2006 | by Tyler Martin
Posted In: Comics
When He’s Not Looking

Great googly eyes! I think I’ve grown fond of that pitiful little penguin, I decided to give him a few more appearances in the comic and just maybe I’ll bring him back from time to time… if you are able to tolerate looking upon him again.

What’s With the Updates?

I’d like to say that I’ve been at Comic-Con for the extended weekend, but that was not the case. At least Osborne found a way to make it there without me… on a shirt. (thanks Gilead). So I’ve missed the con two years in a row now, when I started the comic last year I had hoped I might be able to have a table and book there by this year, but the book is still in development anyway, so maybe I’ll see some of you there by next year.

In actuality, I’ve just been real busy with projects. When you guys post, “when’s the next comic?!” I don’t mind, let’s me know the comic is loved. I feel bad it is not being updated so regularly this Summer. But I have these other people that are saying, “where’s that completed project?!”. I think as my readers you guys are my favorite, but these other people throw the money to pay the bills my way so they win this round. :)

I went into the comic as a side project. I seemed to be able to keep up with them in my spare time. But they seem to take me longer to write and create these days. Maybe I’m more involved in it and giving it more love. So that combined with less spare time has cost the updates a bit. Hopefully many of you are out enjoying the summer anyway. I don’t know how though, it is so hot out there. Once I finish up the workload I have right now I will try and balance future projects with time for the comic.

In conclusion, the updates will be back up to five days a week soon. Thanks for sticking around and reading!

61 Comments

Still Swiping Rocks

July 18th, 2006 | by Tyler Martin
Posted In: Comics
Still Swiping Rocks

As you saw in the video from my last post, the adelie penguins are pretty good at stealing rocks when the nest’s owner isn’t looking. But sometimes they can get into some nasty little spats over the rocks too. I’ll try and share some video footage of that next time. It’s kind of entertaining, especially this one technique…

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Swiping Rocks

July 14th, 2006 | by Tyler Martin
Posted In: Comics
Swiping Rocks

Some colonies on some beaches just don’t have enough rocks of the right size to go around among adelie nests. So they swipe them from each other. I had mentioned how they will play clips of adelie’s doing this in documentaries and someone asked to see one so here you go. This is a clip from Antarctica: IMAX of an adelie colony, complete with rock swiping and silly music.


[ link ]

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Penguins In the Hood

July 11th, 2006 | by Tyler Martin
Posted In: Comics
Penguins In the Hood

Unlike the emperor penguins whose colonies literally cover each others backs (when they huddle during storms on the ice), the adelie do find safety in numbers but squabble over rocks and nesting sites. They build a little circle of rocks so their eggs cannot roll away and become victim to a skua and they lay in the circle on top of the eggs to wait out storms.

Documentaries featuring penguins in Antarctica will often include a few entertaining clips of some adelies running back and forth snagging rocks from each others nests to the tune of some silly music.

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An Adelie Home

July 5th, 2006 | by Tyler Martin
Posted In: Comics
An Adelie Home

As opposed to the emperor penguin that keeps its eggs on its feet out in the middle of the ice in winter, the adelie penguins build a nest of rock during the summer in places where the snow has receded. They actually build a little circle of rocks around themselves to keep the egg from rolling away and help shield it from harsh weather. They return to the same nest each year.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I know some of you had grown fond of the On the Rocks name, hopefully the new one will also find a place in your heart.

As far as the new look of the site, I like change every once in a while (it had been a year) and wanted something with more contrast from the comic, more colorful and feeling a bit more cozy. PurpleKoopa got it right in the comments the other day, the look is based on the steel of the ice-breaking ships of Antarctica that have appeared in the comic a few times.

But if you just got to have the old layout, don’t like change or want to live in last year, there is good news, you still can. To the left, at the bottom of the sidebar you will see an option for THEMES. You can switch back to the old theme there. Technology for teh win! I’ll be adding some more themes too, a minimalistic one and a small sized one for those with 800×600 displays or that are on dial-up connections.

As far as the readability, Lee mentioned that the black was a bit hard to read on the orange. Actually it was brown, so I changed it to black to create a bit more contrast. I will continue to develop the layout a bit and make sure everything is clear on everyone’s different display setups. Speaking of Lee, he’s already right on top of the Wikipedia article, thanks Lee. One of the nice things about the new name is stuff like the article and the domain name do not have to have extra words like “comics” thrown in to specify it. Since Wally & Osborne is more original.

Also, yes I need to update the banners and get the new comments emoticons back on. Will do!

57 Comments

A New Home

July 3rd, 2006 | by Tyler Martin
Posted In: Comics
A New Home

Welcome to the new home of Wally and Osborne, please change your bookmarks to:

wallyandosborne.com

This actually begins a new storyline to find Wally and Osborne an actual home as opposed to just living randomly on the ice. I just thought it would be great to time it with them getting their new home on the web as well.

One Year Anniversary!

That’s right, July 4th (tomorrow technically) marks one year of the comic being on the web. When I started the project I told myself I would work hard at it for a year and then sit back and see where I’m at with it or where I want to go with it. I’ve had a great time doing the comic and chatting with you readers over this last year. I am proud to have the comic syndicated at the Funbrain site. I’m starting to put the first book collection together. I’ve decided everything is great and to press on, not a thing I would change… well, except the name.

Name Change?

Yes, the comic will now be known as “Wally & Osborne” rather than “On the Rocks”. We will consider On the Rocks the project or working title for its first year. It wasn’t an easy decision after promoting it with that name, but one I made long ago as I’ve never really liked the name to begin with. I just kind of picked it because it seemed clever, people working in Antarctica actually use the term to refer to it. To me though it just feels so generic, being such a common phrase, one that normally applies to alcoholic drinks or shakey marriages, neither which associate with Wally and Osborne. “Wally & Osborne” was also to be the title for any of the longer format comic book stories I was going to do. It is much more unique to the duo and should be better for searching them out online or in future book catalogs. Many cartoon and comic characters have had good success using the characters name, I think it helps them be more identifiable and strengthens the fact that the comic is their own. Harder was the decision to change the spelling of Osbourne to Osborne (if you caught that). Osborne is the more common spelling, shorter, and really reads better so I’ll be omitting some u’s from the old comics.

So yeah, one year kicked in the butt, a name change and a brand new site. Thanks for sticking with me and reading. Here’s to a brand new year of fun. Cheers!

46 Comments