Happy Halloween! - 2012

Things have been pretty hectic around here. Christmas has hit early at my place of work and time has been at a premium. So unfortunately I haven't been able to do the Halloween story I've been planning for a while. It has meant that I've been able to add to the story, so come next year you should all be in for a treat (or trick!). So for now here is a little one-off replacement that will hopefully catch you after, or even mid-way through a suitably spooky Halloween!

Buckled Swashes

We've reached the action-packed denoument of our current piratey storyline. And while it took some time to surface I hope the length and the effort involved was worth it. We'll be wrapping up the story in the next espisode before moving on to some spooky goings on just in time for Halloween (in theory at least!).

Pirate Instant Messaging

Alight, so it's not ITLAPD, or even September anymore. But that doesn't mean we can't have more adventures with the plucky Captain Witless!
I'm hoping against hope that I can have the next episode out pretty quick as I have plans for the usual Halloween specials, and that celebration is rapidly approaching. Of course, catching a bad cold and working odd shifts did nothing to help this episode, but I'm determined to buckle down and get on with the next few episodes as long as I don't get distrac- ooh, what's that shiny..?

Pirating Pirates

It's International Talk Like A Pirate Day! So ya know what that means, don't ye, landlubbers? Yes ta the joy of some an' tha torment of others, we engage in more unsavoury adventures with our favourite inept pirate, Cap'n Witless!

Evolutionary Explanation

Ugh! You know what, I had absolutely no idea that this episode was going to be such a pain to do. For a strip that was only going to take me a week to do I feel like I've spent half my life on it. No matter what I tried I just couldn't get any of the characters to look right. It was as if I'd some how forgotten how to draw everyone I've been drawing for the last decade! If you've been frustrated waiting for this update, then believe me it's nothing compaired to the frustrations I've had making it.
Anyway, now that it is up you all get to see a little something about how the world of Quackers developed. Evolution there got distracted by something shiny and rather than just one species developing sapience and culture, numerous species did. This what lead to the Quackersverse being filled by so many diverse creatures. Of course this all means just one thing. I've put far too much thought into this comic...

DIY Fetch

As the summertime theme continues here on Quackers I find that I myself keep missing out on any short bursts of good weather we actually have. However, being forced to stay indoors has lead me to add a couple of new things to the website that have been long overdue! As you may have already noticed there is a new comments section under the latest comic. While I've never been able to implement comments before (not through lack of trying), I have finally been able to link FB comments to the site. so for the first time ever readers of Quackers can now leave their thoughts here on the site, and even link here from Facebook. Neat, huh?
A Google+ button has also been added too. So while you might not feel like commenting, you can still 'like' the page of any future episode. I'm also looking around to see what else I might integrate into the site - although my web-prgramming knowledge is very basic, so there might not be much else I can do. I'm also considering setting up a Quackers Wiki sometime in the future, so I'd appreciate anyone's thoughts on that. After all, the comic has been going for six/seven years now and there's plenty of history, characters and things that might benefit from some expanded references.

In the meantime enjoy the latest episode and feel free to comment on it (hint, hint). Quackers will be back again in the next week or so with some more summertime fun, and a little revelation about the evolutionary past the Quackers world!

Making The Most Of It

I really thought that I'd have this strip published a lot quicker than I did. But between a couple of heavy work weeks and also coming down with a bad sinus/throat infection (trying to sleep with a fever can be so much fun) I've been unable to concentrate on drawing much lately.
The upshot is that while I wrote this strip it was indeed sunny here in the UK, with me sat in the garden, scribbling away in my notebook and even getting something of a tan - another rarity for many an English citizen. But irony has since then jiggled its way into view as it's done almost nothing but remain cloudy or rain constantly from that day, proving once again that Jason and Tom certainly live in an alternate universe version of England. But hey, it's not going to stop me from posting more sunny summer-themed strips! It'll at least take my mind off the golf-ball sized rain drops currently bouncing off the floor outside...

The Challenge

Will Mr Hoppity remain a feather duster forever? Will he and Jason manage to get the better of the magic-shop keeper and get revenge for what he's done? You'll all have to wait and see until we take up the Role Playing storyline later in the year. I thought it was time for a little break from this set of strips and return to some more contemporary episodes for a while. It'll also give me a break from constantly drawing that shop interior (something I was getting a bit tired of), and hopefully get me back into a more regular updating routine. So tune in next time to see what the modern-day Jason and Tom have been getting up to after all these weeks.

Oh, and if your desktop has been looking a little drab lately, there are now two new wallpapers of the magic shop in the wallpaper section that might just help...

For my Next Trick...

This is a strip I've had planned for the role playing storyline for quite some time. I'd had the basic idea plotted out in a notebook years ago and I've always had a good idea in my head of how this episode would pan out... Except it never occurred to my until I came to draw it that it was going to be something of a challenge to depict an arm/handless snake applauding. I tried thinking of a couple of ways to make it seem plausible, but to no avail. So in the end I just stuck with him whistling. And yes, that's how snakes whistle for those of you who were wondering...

Judging A Hat By Its Cover

Now, who can resist the allure of fireworks? Jason for one as he's more into showmanship than outright showing off. But it remains to be seen whether Jason's ability to put on a show will help the team get the items they need... See how well that goes in the next episde!
In other news I have a shiny new camera, which means that my activity on DA and Flickr should increase assuming we actually get some dry(ish) weather soon so I can get out and take some decent photos!

Dressed For the Job

It's been a very busy month with very little free time but the next episode is here at last. I have to admit that while this part is setting things up for the upcoming episodes, I really just wanted to work in the joke at the end. People's reactions to Jason's hat was meant to be a bit of a running gag, but I realised I'd not touched on it for quite some time. Something I felt needed remedying.
Coming up, see Jason trying to prove his wizardy worth...

Cash Flow

Here's part two! After setting myself the challenge of making the backgrounds of this episode better than the last one it took some extra time to finish. Too much of a perfectionist? Yes. But was it fun? Absolutely!
And also I'd like to say Happy Birthday to André, who's birthday it was this week, and without whom this site wouldn't be here today. Thanks for putting up with all my technical issues!

It's What's Inside That Counts

I was a little surprised to see that it has been almost two years since I last did a strip of the role-playing game so I thought it was about time we got back to it. And here we are with the first episode of a new chapter in the ongoing story. An episode that I had a lot of fun drawing, because if there's any kind of story that makes the most of backgrounds, it's one with a fantasy setting. My full-time job has been taking up much of my time lately, and as this is such a lengthy strip it took some time to finish. Not to mention I had to spend the better part of a week without internet access due to landline problems and an overwhelming sense of apathy from the phone company over their part in it. And then I had a few more technical problems which have caused a few more delays! But everything seems to be alright now... *pauses briefly to see what else might happen now he's said that* Anyway, I've made sure to use the time I did have to add extra detail to the strip and I hope it shows. I'm pretty pleased with the look of it (no matter how iffy the scrpit may or may not be), and I'll even be posting a new addition in the wallpaper section of the site in the next couple of days taken from this episode.
Work on the next couple of episodes may be a little slow due to my job and the potential for even more ludicrously overdone backgrounds. However, I promise it'll all be worth it as the story will gear up for a bit of action toward the end of this chapter! So please stick with us and I'll try not to make the wait between strips too agonisingly long (The Great Llama permitting).

Countdown To The New Year

In with the new year and the first Quackers strip of the year! A strip which sees the return of one almost long-forgotten character who's appearance I'm sure will make one or two people happy. Also it seems that without thinking I've managed to draw the cast in pretty much every style I've used over the last 12-18 months all in this one strip. Oddly appropriate for a comic dealing with this the New Year, usually a time for reflection on the past...
So to all the readers of Quackers new and old, regardless of how bad or good your 2011 was, I hope 2012 will be better. Happy New Year everyone!

Imposter

OK, we had the usual bout of problems Quackers always has at this time of year... Technical issues, a lack of internet access, work taking up all my time (not to mention a rewrite or two). But we're past those now and I can *finally* post the next episode. For those fairly new to Quackers, or who don't remember what happened a few years ago, head to this strip to see what all the fuss with Santa is about.
I hope that all our readers have been enjoying the holidays so far (those of you who have had them, my sympathies for those who haven't). Stay tuned tomorrow for a follow up to today's misadventures!

Do Not Leave Your Ducks Unattended

As pointed out in a previous holiday related strip (way back in the first year of the comic), it is unwise to leave a duck unsupervised for too long. The consequences of ignoring or forgetting that advice will become apparent in the next few strips, as well as what happens when unattended raccoons get caught up in the mayhem...

Preposterous Proportions

I'm finding that this week's strip - as well as the last one - are helping to vent some frustrations I have. I've spent the better part of my working life slaving away for various companies in shopping malls. It's quite hellish at times, but never more so than around the Christmas period. From the TARDIS-like interiors of some shopping centres (you'd be amazed how long it can take to walk from one end to the other of some of them), to the inability to find even one parking space amongst several thousand, Christmas denotes a special kind of damnation for me. Something which is made all the worse as I can't escape as I work in the misdt of it all! So for those of you who haven't guessed, these holiday strips are a testament to these nightmares, as well as an excuse for some traditional Quackers escapades.

How To Spot A Zombie: Part Five

Yes, Halloween was yesterday, but due to a delay on Saturday's update it meant my carefully planned (and by that I mean fluked) schedule was thrown out by a day. But as always that was never going to stop me finishing my halloween series! So here is the last in the Quackers zombie spotters guide. Hopefully you all learned something and will be prepared the next time you're confronted by one of the pesky undead. Happy Halloween everyone! (belated as it is)

So You Want To Be A Pirate? (Part Four)

Looking back on the last few strips it occurs to me that Jason is very much into on the job training. He'll give you the right tools, but after that you're on your own! Alas this last caper brings the current pirate story to a close. I have plenty more to go at down the line, so Captain Witless and the crew of the Salty Seal will return in the future. However, now that we're nearing the end of October and Halloween is fast approaching we will be getting into the usual Quackers spirit with a series of ghostly-themed comics. Keep checking back from Thursday through to Monday to follow the Quackers Guide To Spotting Zombies!

So You Want To Be A Pirate? (Part Three)

Traditional grog was merely watered down rum. Not the tastiest of beverages, even when you have been spending months at sea without access to a well stocked pub. Pirate grog on the other hand (at least here in the world of Qucakers) is something a little more... potent.
Oh, and any corrolation between these strips and the Monkey Island series of games is purely unfounded. Completely true, but unfounded nonetheless!

So You Want To Be A Pirate? (Part Two)

And here is the second part of how to be a pirate. It remains to be seen just what kind of pirate Tom will end up being after following instructions cooked up by Jason. But we won't find until after another two installments... assuming they both have the attention span to follow things through for that long.

So You Want To Be A Pirate? (Part One)

Ok, so we're about a week late for the actual International Talk Like A Pirate Day, but I don't think it's too late to do a piraty-themed comic. Actually I've been itching to return to the Tales of the Salty Seal for a while and I think that a two year wait has been long enough. Admittedly I was planning to do this stroryline last year, but things weren't going all that smoothly back then.
As you can probably tell from the title within the strip itself, there will be another three parts. While I don't expect to get them wrapped up within the week as I wanted to I'm going to try and make sure it doesn't get dragged out too long. After all, I have the traditional Hallowe'en special to get through next! :D

ITLaPD 2011

Arr, hello again ya landlubbering lot and Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day! I be wanting to have a traditional Tales O' the Salty Seal strip up in honour of the day, but the Fates and Neptune be conspirin' against me and alas Quackers is without a piraty presence on this momentous day. However, a small story featuring the fearless Captain Witless will be appearin' soon (maybe as soon as tomorrow) to satiate yer piratical needs! Arr!

Cuidado con el Enmascarado Censor

Well that felt good! I wrote this strip out quite a long time ago and I've been itching to get it done for a while now. Sure there are things I could tweak or change to make it better, but it's been cathartic to get it drawn. It's also nice to have a bit of random weirdness in the strip again.
However I do feel I ought to apologise to any Spanish speaking readers. I myself don't know the first thing about the language and so I had to rely on Google and similar translation tools for the dialogue. As a result I can only imagine how terrible and messed up the resulting Spanish dialogue must be!

Some Things Are Unforgivable

so many rewrites! That'll teach me to try using ideas I came up with when half-asleep in bed without thinking it through properly later. Next time we'll be heading back to contemporary times to catch up with present day Jason and Tom. Commander Witless will come back again someday, but I think I'll be shelving him for the rest of the year, so you can all heave a sigh of relief!

The Third Batch This Week...

OK, so getting this strip done in a week was asking a bit too much. Between work, the more detailed backgrounds and coming up with the various new extra characters and aliens it's taking me a bit longer than I wanted to do each strip. But I'm finding them fun to draw and I hope the extra effort is making it worth the wait between strips. That being said I'm planning on doing one more Commander Witless strip and then we'll be returning to the usual iterations of Jason and Tom.

The Right Tool For The Job

I do feel the need to apologise for the length of time between comics lately. Having a full-time job is taking it's toll, but I have also been working on some Quackers related things, too, so I hope I'm forgiven. First I managed to (finally) work all my scattered comic ideas for Commander Witless - and there were a lot more than I thought - into several cohesive stories. So further down the line our hapless sci-fi hero will be getting more than just a handful of one-shot strips. At least once I write some extra episodes to tie together some of the more dangly loose threads.
The attentive among you may also have noticed the new navigation icons at the top of the comic pages. I made period specific ones, so each of Jason's personas has new themed buttons. Not too intensive an idea until I realised I had many, many pages to recode to use the new icons.
Topping off the delays I put a lot of effort into the latest episode. So much so I even made the first panel into a wallpaper you can download here. The concept stages for the newly seen shuttle, the plantlife and the fuzzy little alien took time as well. I am a stickler for detail after all... So much so I spent time thinking about what colour the flora should be scientifically, and by extention the alien as well. Then I realised this is a comic with a 5'7" duck as the star. Reality rarely pokes its nose in here and visual aesthetics win out anyday. So enjoy today's comic, look out for more tidying of the site in the near future (when I have time) and look forward to the next comic in the coming week! (I'm sure of it. Mostly)

Clear as *crackle* *hiss*

LET THE GEEKERY BEGIN!
I had a lot of problems getting this strip out. First of all, it wasn't my first choice out of all the Commander Witless strips I have roughed out. But as I was going through the large pile of other strips I had in mind I realised that most of them would be workable as a story-arch, and so I had to rethink which ones I would use and when. Another problem I hit was that some of them are interchangable between two story ideas I have and I have yet to make a firm decision on which plot they belong to! And to top it all off when it came to me actually drawing this comic I realised that a good two years have gone by since the team of the Finicky Fowl were last shown that I had trouble actually rendering them, andeven more problems drawing the ship itself. So, I apologise for the lack of quality in some of the frames of this episode (just don't stare too hard at the first and second panels). Oh, and a particularly stubborn cold I've managed to catch hasn't been helping either...
More geeky sci-fi fun is to come here on Quackers once I have the time to draw it (it sucks having a full-time job sometimes).

Patching Is Futile

This week we have a particularly geeky episode of Quackers. More than Quackers usually gets. It's just something that has to be done sometimes if for no other reason than to get this stuff out of my head and make room in there for other things. It also serves quite well to segue into the upcoming strips where I'll be unleashing mine and Jason's inner-geek as we return to the Adventures of Commander Witless, starring the futuristic incarnation of our cherished knucklehead. Looking back it's been over two years since I first drew a Commander Witless strip, so we're long overdue to return to the future and see how the crew of the Finicky Fowl are holding up. So consider yourselves warned, there will be much sci-fi geekery ahead in the coming weeks!
Oh, and as I'm kind of proud of the time and effort I put into the first and last panels of this episode, I've posted larger versions for all to see on the Quackers Facebook Fanpage, so be sure to take a look to see those and many other unique Quackers pictures and previews. Why not think about joining the group while you're there? (hint, hint)

Noisy Neighbours

I have a love/hate relationship with my neighbours. They love to be annoying and I hate it. The problem with the noise seeping into the house from next-door has been an intermittent problem over the years, but lately it's been growing more frequent. As a result, this week's strip was born! As such it is dedicated to all of you out there who suffer the same fate as me, which is to endure the horror that is a next-door neighbour...

Disruptive

After several months - or what must be an eternity for most of you - we have finally reached the end of our spate of gym-related strips. Sure they dragged on a while, but I really needed to get it out of my system. And as it seems that the Rapture hasn't occurred and the end of the World isn't upon us as predicted, Quackers shall be continuing (albeit fitfully). So with the next episode of Quackers we can go back to the usual random craziness that our characters get up to. At least for a short while until I initiate the next protracted storyline ;)

Immersive Exercise

Gee, Life just doesn't want me to work on this comic, does it? Phone-line outages preventing internet access, full-time work and a multitude of disasters have been taking their toll. But we're back again with another gym-related installment of Quackers. I won't say when the next strip will be aired as my free time is still limited and I still have lots of things to sort out in my life that take precedence over the comic, I'm afraid. One day I'll get my life in order and then I suppose the Univesre will implode. As for the next strip, it'll be one of, if not the last of the gym episodes. I know it's been running for a little too long, but hang in there, we're almost through! After that we'll be back to some of the more usual craziness.

White Ducks Can't Jump

It never fails does it? Just when you think you're on top of things something happens to mess it all up. But it's a case of 'the best laid plans' I suppose... Once more I miss a deadline due to my idiocy! Despite picking up a few good habits after the computer crash of 2007 - such as backing up all my files to seperate drives, I still have much to learn it seems. After re-installing Photoshop this week I intelligently moved all my backed-up personal settings files into the programme so that I could have access to all my Quackers brushes, colour swatches, etc. Little did I realise that while I regularly back these files up, I hadn't actually saved them - and therfore updating them - from within Photoshop itself for a good long time. Which means I've lost all the brushes I use regularly and I'm left with very out of date ones. So I've had to painstakingly try to rebuild my brush collection from memory, and my colour swatches one-by-one from old strips. This lead to the delay in the latest episode being published to the site.
The moral of this story kiddies is that not only should you back up your important files, but you should make sure to update them once in a while as well!

Clowning Around

You know what? We have had great weather here this week. Considering this is the UK and it's not even April yet, hitting 15 degrees during the day seems like something of a small miracle. After all, even in the middle of summer we're lucky to get those kinds of temperatures, so I'm glad that I've actually managed to get out and enjoy some of it. Also, with daylight savings kicking in this weekend it means I know actually get to see some daylight even when I'm at work all day! It's no wonder I like this time of year :D
Oh yeah, and posting this comic means that I'm mostly caught up and just about back to updating as normal. Look out for the next episode around Thursday 31st!

Vibrocizing

And so here's the strip that was meant to air last Thursday. A little later than planned, but here nonetheless. Preparing a little Quackers-themed item for a friend's birthday this week (not to mention taking time out for my own birthday) meant that work on this strip was put on hold. Despite this setback I should be able to get this week's strip up by Saturday at the latest, and then things should be back to normal... At least as normal as they get around here.

Freeriding

Hi there folks. Yes, I know, there was a slip last week and I wasn't able to post a strip. But here is the comic that was supposed to go up, and I am hoping to have the next one (this week's actual strip) up before the end of the weekend. As I'm enjoying my first week off work in six months that should be a promise I can keep for once. Especially as I just need to ink and colour the thing!
As an interesting aside, this strip was the penultimate episode in the gym storyline when I originally planned it. But then I added a bazillion more strips to it and so it's ballooned into the colossal storyline you're currently suffering through. There's still plenty more gym-based shennanigans to go though for those of you able to keep up. I also promise that most of the ones to come are a little less well-worn and clichéd than the ones we've had so far.

Making It Look Easy

And so this week we have a strip idea contributed by Dave, previously known for helping out with ideas for the Adventures of Commander Witless. The idea came about some time ago while we were using the treadmill at the gym and happened to discuss his gecko character. I don't often use other people's ideas for the comic as it's hard to remain faithful to what they've imagined in their heads when drawing it out. After all, my psychic powers are limited. But there was something about this idea that made me want to draw it, and I do like a challenge. And challenging it was, but also strangely satisfying. And we now have yet another episode added to our gym storyline. So - at the risk of inflating his ego - I will humbly step aside and let any commendations (or condemnations) for this week's strip be directed to Dave. Thanks for letting me steal your ideas!

Starting Out Easy

Yes I know, this strip's joke is older than dirt. But you do have to keep in mind that I did write this one eons ago, way back in the murky and prehistoric days of 2006. It was a simpler time back then, when the summers were longer and warmer, television had something on other than unending reality shows and dinosaurs walked the Earth and presented intruiging factual news programmes on the wireless... Actually I may be misremembering a few things there, but one's memory struggles to remember so far back in time.

2006 was also a time when ducks tended to look something like this:

...and less like this:

It's amazing what evolution can do in just a scant few years! In fact (in a desperate bid to get back on topic), this week's strip was written before Quackers as a webcomic had even gone live. I came up with the idea as I was still scratching out the code for the site (on papyrus and slate) and trying desperately to come up with something workable. It was long before Jason even became one of the main stars of the comic and so long ago Tom hadn't even made it into the cast line-up! But despite the age, there was something about the idea of this strip that stuck with me and I just knew that no matter what it was going to end up as part of the current gym storyline. If nothing else it was interesting to see how different Quackers has become when comparing it to the old concept sketches.

And before anyone asks, yes Jason's strained facial expressions and amusing exasperations are based almost entirely on the range of faces and noises I produce when exercising.

Raring To Go

With the culmination of this week's strip, we finally see our two protagonists actually enter a gym and get one step closer to a healthy lifestyle. Although it remains to be seen how long it will last... Only the next few week's worth of episodes can reveal that!
Despite Jason and Tom usually enjoying a somewhat sedate lifestyle, in contrast I have seen my life become more active over the last year. Aside from all the climbing I was doing I also joined a gym (although most of this storyline was created long before then), and this week I even had my first experience of snowboarding. It was an interesting experience, to be sure. One I'd recommend to anyone thinking about trying it out. But be warned, even on real snow a fall can and will hurt. Maybe not physically, but your pride will get severely bruised. Especially when the aforementioned fall occurs while travelling uphill on the drag-lift...

Pacing Yourself

Yes, yes, so the joke in the first panel is old and overdone (much like a lot of my cooking). But whenever you're doing jokes about exercise and gyms it's obligatory to slot the old Jim/gym gag in there somewhere. And at least you're lucky I didn't end the strip on that one. There's more to come from our fitness-minded duo next week, so remember to stop by!

New Year, Same Old Resolution

The holidays are over, the sales are almost depleted and things are progressively returning to normal. But there's still one thing left to do and that's come up with all kinds of well intentioned resolutions for the upcoming twelve months which we all know will go straight out of the window within several days. Several days if you're lucky. Obviously for someone like Jason even one day is a long time, but at least he's means well.
And speaking of things lasting a long time, week's strip is going to be the start of a whole new storyline. I first concieved of it a couple of years ago, and it's been kicking around all this time. However during that time what started as a small handful of scripts has somehow multiplied over the intervening years into something akin to a novel (much like this news post). Looking at the scripts I have lined up - and assuming I don't come up with more in the meantime - this bunch of strips is set to run for the next three months if I'm able to get out one a week. So sit back and get comfortable as this will be a long story! But worry not, many of these scripts are only loosely tied together by one theme/location, so I'm hoping it won't get too samey. Comments, as ever, are welcome. Simply email me your thoughts if you feel so inclined on this or any other matter. Or even be so bold as to join our Facebook fanpage and brazenly air your opinions to the Quackers community at large! Otherwise keep an eye on your RSS feeds for the next - as yet unscheduled - episode of Quackers.

Happy Holidays! 2010

I'd like to wish everyone who frequents our site a very happy and peaceful time over this holiday period, no matter what you might be celebrating. Happy holidays everyone! :)
Les Mellor.

A Poor Education

What's this? Two updates in one week?! Yes, it's true. It hardly makes up for all the time I've been away, but it's something. Also, I've been wanting to get this particular strip done for a long time, but felt it would be better when it coincided with a new Harry Potter film so it would at least seem relevant (the books having ended when I wrote the script). Little did I know that the latest movie installment would take so long to come out! But then typically for me I go and miss the release date by a few weeks anyway...

Earth's Last, Best Hope

So while I may not have been able to update the site very much, at least I have managed to get the Halloween story finished before the end of the year! I feel bad that I've let the comic slide so much, but things have been very hectic around here. But as we get past Christmas and things start to calm down I hope that I might be able to update things here a little more often. It may not be back to the original once a week updates, but I hope it'll be more than once a month!

Worthy Of Survival

Ooh, it's been a while, hasn't it? It seems that work has been rather more time-consuming than I thought it might be. Not only that but one of the Quackers storylines from early 2009 proved to be eerily prophetic when the boiler broke down, and just in time for it to snow and for the temperature to drop to it's lowest all year. My appreciation for irony has been stretched to it's limits, as you can imagine. The freezing temperatures, having to dress as though I'm on an Arctic expedition, and the lethargy that resulted really meant that I had no chance of working on the next Quackers episode.
But while it's taken a while, I've had a bit of time off work because of the snow, the boiler's been fixed, and I've had nowhere else to be. All this has resulted in finally getting to post the latest strip. I'm not sure when the next one will be available, but I shall attempt to make it soon, I promise. No really!

The Brains From Planet Troomaach!

OK, so Halloween has been and gone for a few days now, but our little Halloween story is still going. As easy as it would have been to just leave it with the two parts already posted I wasn't going to just end it when there's this and one other part to go! Besides, the Troomaach are just too much fun to draw. Time consuming and overly detailed (for what you get to see in the finished strip) but fun nonetheless. So, enjoy this strip and keep your eyes on our RSS feed for when the next episode appears. Oh, and a big welcome goes out to two new readers of ours, Matt and Mike. Hope you both enjoy comic! :)

Happy Halloween!

Due to my busy schedule I've not been able to get the remainder of the Halloween strips up in time for Halloween itself. Nonetheless that doesn't stop me from wishing you all a happy and safe Halloween and hoping that you all have/had a good time. Enjoy all the spooky fun!

The Day The Living Room Stood Still

And here we have the second episode in this year's Halloween Special. I hope to have the next episode up as soon as I can, but as per the previous blog post, that may not be in the next week. Please keep checking back after Thursday, or watch out for an announcement via the RSS feed for when the next part is posted.

Invasion From Beyond The Stars!

As is traditional at this time of year, things have been conspiring against Quackers and me getting anything posted on time. From excessive and quite frankly bizarre working hours, to PC exploding and yes, even getting new jobs, this comic has always had a rough time of it through the autumn period. As you can tell this year is no exception, although we did start things early this time with all the problems encountered over the last couple of months. Anyway, the first episode of the annual Quackers Halloween Spectacular is now up for you all to see. The next episode will arrive on Sunday all being well. The remainder of the episodes will be posted as and when they are ready, but be advised that my current schedule is pretty full and Quackers no longer has the priority it once had in my life. What this means is that while I fully intend to keep the comic alive, future updates will continue to be erratic as I will only post new strips as and when I can get them finished.
I would ask one favour of you all and that is to help spread the word about Quackers. Please tell anyone who you think might enjoy the comic all about us. If they like it, encourage them to tell others, too. Any increase in the readership would be welcome (seriously, we're dying here and have been for a very long time), and it will also mean that updates would become more regular as I'd have to prioritise for the increased audience. Not that I'm blackmailing you all, you understand... Let's just call it an "incentive". After all, anything that means more strips has to be a good thing, right? :)

Welcome Back

Welcome back indeed! I really do feel bad for the lack of updates around here for the last month, but I honestly wasn't up to the task after some of the things that have been going on. Things have been getting better somewhat lately, allowing me to produce this week's comic update. I am going to try and get back to regular weekly updates again, although it's not written in stone and there are still likely to be times in the upcoming weeks where there may be lapses.
As for the last month, I did originally plan to have it as our regular Pirate-Themed Month (as September 19th was International Talk Like A Pirate Day). Obviously this has been missed completely due to the downtime in productivity here, but I do have plans to complete the work I had planned (and even started). Over the next few weeks I'm going to try working on the pirate story in between all my other projects - art or otherwise - and eventually I shall post the full thing here as 'The Missing Month'. Therafter all the strips contained in this bumper issue shall be re-inserted into the archives in the dates they were originally meant to appear (and neatly clearing up my OCD issues about having them all out of order). This will take some time though, so don't expect anything just yet! But I shall keep you all updated on the progress of it as I go.

Prepare...

Indefinite hiatus

I have some troubling news for those of you who visit the website on a regular basis. I am afraid that the comic is going to be on hiatus for the foreseeable future. While this is something that I really, truly hate to do, it is unavoidable at this moment in time as my life has taken a very nasty turn this week and things have happened that need my immediate attention above everything else, especially my hobbies (of which this is one).
The troubles that have arisen are not related to the comic at all, and so won't stop production of it at a later date. However, for this week, and possibly a few weeks to come, I simply won't have the time or ability to complete any new strips.
I will, of course, attempt to keep you all informed of how things are going whenever I can, and I really hope this won't be a long lasting thing. Once this problem is out of the way I would also hope that I can make up for hiatus by posting extra comics, but this is far, far from certain right now, and more wishful thinking at this point.

I would like to thank all those of you who have stuck with the comic this far for their support. I do hope that I will continue to have your support in the future and that this downtime does not cause you to lose faith in the comic. Please have patience and we will be back before too long, all being well.
In the meantime, keep checking the site or watching for updates to the RSS feed where any new information will appear. Hang in there, and I hope to be back with you all again soon.

The Economic Choice

Really sorry for the super late update, folks. Really am going to have to work on not getting delayed like that... No matter, here is this week's RPG episode. And for those of you who are wondering, he's a camel. But his long neck and hump are generally obscured in all the shots. That's something I'll have to work on for the next episode!

Exclamation Mark

So here we are, a little late, but all the better for it. The extra time I've spent on this week's comic has allowed me to put a lot of effort into the backgrounds and crowds, which I hope shows. It's provided a little bit of needed practice as I'm looking to produce a some more detailed backgrounds in some of the upcoming strips, something for you all to look forward to.
I'm hoping there won't be the same delays with next week's comic. My schedule's not going to be as busy as the last couple of weeks, so everything should be updated on time. But I do have a specific idea in my mind about how I want it to look, so if my perfectionism kicks in that could slow me down a little! Anyway, enjoy this week's offering and I'll see you all next week for the continuation of our story.

Delayage

Despit not posting anything to the news page in the last few weeks, I'm afraid things aren't any different to the last one I had to post last month. Unfortunately delays have crept up on the comic again meaning that this week's strip won't be posted today. This is in part due to life being mean and not giving me enough time to work on the comic earlier in teh week. But besides that, the original idea for this week's strip expanded beyond what I had originally planned, and while making it better, it's also increased the workload. Personally I feel it's something of a good thing as the strip is better for the extra content, and I didn't want to drop the quality of the finished inking/colouring which is why I decided not to rush production just to get it out on time. A lot of the work is done (or shall be completed tonight), which means that it should be up here on the site sometime tomorrow. I'm hoping before 12pm (BST), but we all know better than to expect things to run smoothly so I shall just promise to have it finished before the end of the day :)

The Great Moose Hunt

A delayed posting this week, for which I apologise. Things with this week's strip started ok, but then an art-block kicked in and nothing I did looked right. This, along with a busy week lead to me finishing the comic late. However, I am quite happy with the way things turned out overall, so the extra time seemed to have helped at least a little. I hope you all think so to (it should distract you all from the lateness of the post long enough for me to make my escape!).

Garden Pests

It's been a very busy week so far, especially with the weekend being taken up volunteering at the IFSC Bouldering World Cup finals. Nevertheless, it's been a good week and all the better for being able to get the latest strip completed on the right day! (although a little later than usual). So, I hope you all enjoy this edition of Quackers which follows straight on from last week's episode, and I'll see you again for the conclusion coming up next week!

Overgrowth

And here we begin the story that was postponed a few weeks ago due to Quackers reaching it's 300th edition.
I had fun with this one. As it was such a short comic I was able to spend more time working on the backgrounds and overall appearance, something that I don't get the chance to do all too often. Part of the fun came from adding in all the little details in the last panel. I'm still surprised at how much of it is still visible after resizing the image for the website (always a good thing). Personally I think my favourite bit of the whole thing was spontaneously coming up with the parrot during the inking stage. While it won't become (yet another) pet of Jason and Tom, it may well pop up later in the year in a strip a little more piratey in nature...

Only To Be Expected

It's not an accurate representation of what happened this week, but this week's episode is a fair generalisation of the fun I've had. Now I like summer. The warm weather, the sunshine, blue skies, and longer days... At least I enjoy the three days or so of it that we get here in the UK. So far for every clear, warm day we've had five or more cloudy/rainy days following it. But my hopes were inevitably high when it seemed we'd get at least a couple of nice days together. But we all know that's a rookie mistake, and true to form I ended up with an ear infection right at the time the good weather shows up and I miss half of it feeling rotten in bed. So this strip was a little homage to that.
It has been a bit of a week for dimwittedness though. I believe that I've been running on autopilot and at least half IQ for the last few days. I've been making mistakes that could quite happily sit alongside some of the things posted to #LFMF. But ever the optimist (those of you who know me can stop sniggering) I've come away from these mishaps with ideas for a new comic series. There's no telling when this series might show up, or in what format. I haven't even decided whether the Quackers team will appear in it yet. But the idea is a good start at least, right?

Three-Hundred

It's a special occassion here at Quackers as we reach a milestone in the history of the comic: our three-hundredth strip. We think that it's something worth celebrating considering the inauspicious beginnings of the comic and the numerous technical problems it's had during it's run (note to self: be sure to back everything up again once I'm done).
There have been many changes over the years, too. From behind the scenes moves and shake-ups, to the overall quality of the strips, to making Jason and Tom the stars of the show. Indeed, dropping the update schedule down to one strip per week - while a little disheartening at the time I made the decision - has proved to be worthwhile when you look at the drastic improvements to the art, writing (no matter what Tom thinks) and size of each strip. Just try going back over the comic from the beginning to see what I mean.
However, through it all Quackers has only maintained a modest readership. True we have a loyal and devoted following, but it's still very small. So, while I'm confident that Quackers will be running for many more years, and even though we have plenty of stories to work through, I would like to ask one small favour of you, our readers. If you're a fan of our comic, please mention it to others who might also enjoy it, and encourage them to do the same. It may not seem like much, but it would be nice to be able to reach a wider audience, and after all, the comic is there to be read! So please, spread the word, and help us indoctrinate welcome more people into the world of Quackers!

The Last Place You Look

Alright, so despite what I said last week, we haven't actually started a new story yet, although we have moved back to contemporary times. Before I got a chance to draw up the strip I had planned I realised that next week marks something of a special event for Quackers. So instead of interrupting a new storyline, I decided to post a one-off strip for this week. I won't go into what the special event is just yet, but next week Jason will be making a special announcement all about it.

Old-Fashioned Family Entertainment

Well, that's the end of the Role Playing story for the moment. Do not fret, though as the inept gang of adventurers will return very soon. Over the next few weeks we'll be running a contemporary story or two, before getting right back into the RPG (assuming I have the scripts sorted out how I want at that time).
Work on this week's comic was enjoyable, although not as fun to do as the last one (that will take some beating). Coming up with the smiley "Entertainment Co-ordinator" was certainly fun, although as I've not drawn the whole RPG group properly for a couple of weeks it proved a bit of a challenge getting them all to look right! Drawing all those miscellaneous expressions was a bit of a laugh though. But I think I'm going to have to get a bit of practice in before starting the next round of RPG strips as there's going to be a lot going on with plenty of people involved... Something for you all to think about and look forward to! ;D
Oh, and as for Jason's parting comment, yes, I'm well aware that weevils wouldn't have dandruff. We all know they're far too fastidious with their hair-care regimens to ever develop that condition!

Be sure to check in next week when we find that summer's finally arriving and it's time to start thinking about spending some time out in the garden...

Order Up

OK, that was seriously the most fun I've ever had drawing a Quackers strip! This week's episode has to be my favourite of any that I've done before. I'm not sure if it's simply if I'm just really happy with the way the characters turned out (which I am), or if it's just the length of time that it's taken to get this one made and I'm just excited to have finally done it. Probably both, to be honest. You see, I've had the script for this written out for around three years - almost since the role playing storyline first began. My initial aim was to have this Star-Uruks appear near the end of the story. Of course that was back when the story was only going to run for a couple of months at most. Since then the story's grown much larger and that ending is a long way off at the moment! Because of that I've been looking for a place to wedge this episode in and as you can see, this week was that time. In fact last week's episode was made just so that I could wedge this one in! Shameless? Undoubtedly. Do I care? Not in the slightest, as I'm ecstatic to have finally been able to make the strip I've been waiting to do all this time.
So, I've finished the strip that's been aching to be drawn for years, now what? Well, next week we will be carrying on with the role playing game story. However it will be the last one for a few more weeks as I'll then be going back to some classic Quackers strips I have planned (it can't all be geekery and silly hats, you know). I do plan to get back to the role playing game sometime soon though as there's plenty more story to get through in the city before the gang can move on! Does this mean we'll get to see the return of Zoltan and some of the other characters we've met lately sometime in the future? I'm not too sure at the moment, but if I can think up any decent scripts where they can appear you can be sure I'll use them.

In Times Of Great Need...

I have to say that despite the amount of extra time it's taking to draw these latest RPG strips (not to mention the extra hard work it's taking), I'm actually quite enjoying drawing them. I think it has something to do with all the Elizabethan style housing that seems to be prevelant in this particular city the gang has reached that I'm finding so enjoyable. I've always liked the wood-beam striped visage to buildings of that period, as well as the haphazard look of some of the buildings who's upper floors stick out further than the lower ones. It seems to be a look that fits in well with the Quackers universe, and my own haphazard way of drawing it! But despite the fun of drawing all these scenes, I will be glad to get back to some strips which aren't as background intensive!
This week's strip introduces one of the more important aspects of any role-playing game... Where to get coffee. Even an all-powerful mage needs a pick-me-up first thing in the morning. The store featured in this strip has been seen in one of the previous episodes, way, waaaaaay back toward the beginning of the whole thing before the gang even left the first city. It was just a fleating glance of the green logo on a sign in the background, mostly obscured, but it was there. I've been planning to introduce this coffee shop for a while, and finally saw my chance this week! Next week we get to see the interior of one of these mystical, wonderous places!
And for those of you who don't know, the store's name is a reference to Lord of the Rings. To those of you who got the reference, congratulations! You're probably as bigger geek as I am. Well done!

Ooh, and as an addendum, lots of new photos have been added to my flickr and Deviant Art accounts. There is a larger selection on flickr, but the best of the bunch can be found on DA. Please take a look, and feel free to comment on any that you like =D

Red Carpet Treatment

And so here we begin a new round of craziness, fresh from hiatus and back with the gang and their role playing game! And we also have the appearance of two new characters, something of a rarity around here these days. I'll leave the introductions for the strip where you can see them for yourself. And while they will only be with us for the one episode so far, I am considering bringing them back in some form later. Mostly just because I had fun coming up with and drawing them, and I'm reluctant to let go. Next week the gang make the most of their time in the city...

Run, Chief, Run!

So, here it is, the completed Master Chief picture that I've been working on. Took me somewhat longer to finish than I thought it might, but at least the background now matches up to the rest of the image. I had fun drawing this one. I should really let myself get carried away more often if this is the result!
So, now that's done with, on with the Quackers role playing game concept art!

Sneaky Holiday Update

Sorry folks, but the comic is still on hiatus for the week, so I will be sticking to May 6th for the next update. However I thought it would be nice to post something here this week to help ease the wait, so here is a little something I started work on yesterday: Da Chief. While it's been nice to take a whole week away from doing any artwork (and is something I sorely needed), it's been equally nice to get back into it. That picture started out as just a little scribbly sketch I scanned into the computer a while back. I was simply going to use it to warm up a bit by inking and colouring it, but before I knew it I'd fleshed it out, rendered far more colour and detail into it than planned and then realised it was 4.30 in the morning. It really is amazing what a little time away can do for your enthusiasm. All that's left to do now is tidy up a few little bits on the Chief, work on the background some more and then it'll be finished. Once that's done I'll post the completed (and full sized) picture here and to my Deviant Art account. After that it'll be back to working on the next installment of Quackers for next week, so expect to see some concept art soon!

Smooth Running

And so this week sees the end of the dishwasher experiments, brought to you by Jason-Tech, the technology you can trust (to not work right).
As a result of some of the things going on over the last couple of weeks - not to mention the multiple updates I've made here since the interruptions in our service got cleared up - I've come to realise that I'm pretty overdue for a break. What I'd hoped to do was to get ahead of myself and produce enough strips to be able to keep posting while I took a week off. But despite starting off that way, things have gone inevitably awry, and that is now no longer possible. So what that now means is that next week Quackers shall be on hiatus and the next comic update will be on 6th May.
In the meantime I shall be taking it somewhat easy, planning upcoming strips and storylines, and sorting out some things in my life that I really need to work on. I shall be looking to post some sketches and possibly some concept art up here during the hiatus, so keep checking the rss feed and the blog for updates. Also don't forget there's the Quackers Facebook Fanclub where more sketches and random art can be seen. When we return properly in a couple of weeks it will be with the start of a new chapter in the Quackers role playing game as the gang find themselves in a new city! So, now might be a good time to go back into the archives and read through some of the previous entries (here, here, and here) to refresh yourselves on the story :D

Downtime, Absumparioartis, and the Drama Llama

Well, it never rains, but it pours, doesn't it? For those of you checking the site last week you will have probably deserned that we were experiencing a bout of downtime. As you're reading this you will have realised that things are working again. I really do have to thank André once again for getting things up and running again. Being the guy who handles the hosting and server side of things he's a great help (as well as being the one encouraging me to keep making more comics!). Many thanks to you, André!
Despite the downtime to the site, there would not have been an update last week anyway. At least not a satisfactory one. You see I have also been suffering from a nasty case of Absumparioartis (AKA: Artist's Block). This horrible, horrible affliction meant that the strip due for last week quickly turned into a complete shambles soon after starting it. The script died before my eyes, the drawings I created with were not fit to be called scribbles, and the whole thing was a mess from start to finish. As it happened, the downtime did allow me to work through my debilitating affliction until I could rework, redraw and finally put together the latest strip. That comic can be seen here. I have decided to keep the original air-date of the 8th on that strip as I'm intending to get this week's strip up in the next couple of days. A slight delay this time to allow this strip to be seen by most readers, and to allow me to get this week's actual strip completed. Once that's done I should be caught up for now and be back on track for next week (albeit pretty frazzled).

As well as all the problems going on around here concerning the Quackers comic, there has also been more than the usual amount of trouble in my life. It seems that it can only point to one thing... There must be a Drama Llama on the loose! Now I know that some of you may be aware of the term 'drama llama' as referring to a certain type of person on internet forums, etc. But that is not what we mean by that here. In this case a Drama Llama (or the more potent and troublesome 'melodrama llama') is more of an elusive, supernatural beast, stalking the land and causing drama and strife wherever it can and to whoever it can. They are generally elusive and hard to spot. By the time you realise one has influenced your life it's usually too late! I'm hoping the one who's been pestering me has finally decided to go home for a bit (after all, he must be damned tired from all the stuff he's been doing here!). But don't let that mean you should drop your guard! For as much as we all like llamas - and especially their close cousins the alpacas - around here, you never know when one might be a drama llama in disguise, just waiting to cause mischief!

Multipurpose Cleaner

This week's strip kicks off a new storyline that will be running over the next month. Tom's cooking prowess (or significant lack thereof) takes a backseat to some of Jason's more 'inventive' tendancies in the upcoming weeks...
Oh, and Dani... If you find that the strip this week mimics events in your life as the previous two have, then I think it's safe to say we've gone past simple coincidence and that either Life has a warped sense of humour (highly likely), or that you are actually living with Jason the duck (unlikely, but scary if true)! O.o

Comic delayage

Slight delay to the posting of the comic this week which means that it won't be posted today. Assuming there are no major problems I should have it up by the end of tomorrow. Sorry to you all for the delay, but this is just one of those times when life got in the way!

Well, first things first I suppose, this week's strip is now available for viewing, in which Jason engages in a quest to locate a very elusive treasure.
Some of you may have noticed there are some changes to this page (at last). I've been trying various layouts offline for the last few weeks to incorporate all the things I wanted and I think this is finally the one. There are still some tweaks to be added. Some new graphics, etc, but the layout will remain this way from now on. I have also made updates to the Welcome page, adding some new links and a little extra info to some of the bios. The next step will be to try to update the other pages on the site; work which has already started, but isn't going nearly as well. Despite trying to give a new look to the archive page I just can't get a stable build working. What seems to work for one thing really doesn't for the rest of the layout, which is becoming maddening! I'm sure I'll get it sorted out eventually, but it does mean that the final reveal of those updates won't be happening for a little while yet. For now there are plenty of other pages to work on!

Other good news in the last week was Valve's announcement about the future release of Portal 2, the sequel to one of my favourite games. A game that I still play quite regularly even now, so I have to say I'm really looking forward to this. And with the announcement that it will be a full length game and not the short (but increadibly sweet) experience of the first iteration I have even more to get excited about! The hard part now being avoiding all the spoilers until the game ships.

As some of you may have noticed, Quackers had some downtime in the last week. This was due to accidentally letting the registration on the domain expire, cutting off access to the site. Well, as you can see just from being able to read this, things are back up and running again. At this point I really need to take a moment to thank my friend André who has been sorting out that side of the site since it's inception. If not for you and this site I wouldn't have been keeping this whole art thing going as long as I have!

Would you look at that, another update on time! Hope I've not just jinxed things for next week by saying that...
For those of you who have eagle eyes you may have noticed a new button above this post. Yes, that's right, Quackers is now on Twitter. I'm mostly just trying it out for now and using it to let people know what's going on around here and when I may have posted something arty somewhere. I'll probably find I have more uses for it (and more frivolous tweets on it) as time goes on though :)

Anyway, over the last week I've become unhappy with the way the site looks. It's had the same layout for a few years now and I'm thinking it's time for a nice shiny update to happen. Unfortunately, as I've rediscovered over the last few days it's harder than it looks to impliment change, so any updates will probably be less than shiny and more a case of patching up the rusty bits. I have a smattering of HTML knowledge, but I'm pretty limited to what I can alter here. My webdesign knowledge is also woefully out of date. Peer beneath the simple, but functional exterior and you see a site held up with bits of string, sticky-tape, chewing gum and a lot of hope! (on second thoughts, don't look, it's too horrific!)
Despite my limitations I have started trying out a few layout changes. So far I've come up with a couple of things I like, but nothing radically different. I know it'd be easier - and preferable - to use an 'off the peg' design program so that I can impliment php code and do lots of cool new things. But most of those programs require having access to the server Quackers resides in, and that's something I'm lacking.
The point of all this blathering is that sometime over the next few weeks you may see some layout changes happen as a result. I'd appreciate being alerted to any hiccups or bugs that are apparent on various people's browsers (I only have a couple I can test the site on). But hopefully things should work OK.

This site, including all accompanying images and text, is copyright © 2005-2012 Les Mellor. All right reserved.