Anthony Bourdain apparently wrote this for his show, but they decided against airing it.

In any case, I love stop-motion, and I love Krampus!

Hope you enjoy it too!

- Daniel

As you might imagine, we’re really into the ‘Ween. Dawna was the Bride of Frankenstein, the Goblin Boy was the Invisible Mummy (from our print) and I was his mummy lackey.

Here are some photos of what we were up to:

We’ve been blogging over at Steam Crow in case you’re interested.

How was your Ween?!

- Daniel

Zinc Cat

I’ve been busy-busy-busy working on a bunch of stuff, lately.

I know, I feel like a broken record here… but it’s pretty true.

Here’s a brief list of what I’ve been doing:

• I rebuilt SteamCrow.com from the ground up. Check it out!
• I rebuilt the Steam Crow Store. About 3 times the work of the above.
• I’ve been going from Doctor to Specialist to Specialist concerning my chronic Neuropathy. At least once a week. It’s still a drag.
• I’ve been working on making puppets! (You’ll like this, I think.)
• I’ve been working on the Monster Commute RPG. I brought in a fledgeling game designer to lend me a hand. It’s been going great, though there’s still more-more-more to go. It’s a huge project.
• I’ve been doing a bit of planning for some big things in 2012. Monster big things.
• I’ve been reading. Just finished The Kraken and Little Brother. Now onto the next book.
• We’ve been at a few shows. Tiki ones. They were fun. I dig the aesthetic as well as the music and the folks.
• I’ve been getting really excited about Halloween, once again. Started about 6 weeks ago.
• Been designing some plushies (4) that just need to be assembled. You’ll see those soonly.
• I’ve done a few illustration consignments in my spare-spare time.
• I’ve been stressing about some back taxes for the State of California, that I wasn’t aware of. STRESS.
• I hired a book keeper. Less stress (I hope.)
• I’ve been trying to get more sleep, which has often been good… or not working at all. (See “tax stress”, above.)
• And I’ve still been working 20 hrs per week.

A few of you kind folks have written me privately, to make sure that we’re alright.

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Please don’t be worried. We’re fine here.

We’ve had a VERY busy con season this year… as I’ve been moving to doing Steam Crow as my only full-time job, it’s been a challenging transition.

We’ve added seven new shows to an already busy Con schedule. So busy, that my comic buffer got thinner and thinner as the spring progressed. Worry built, and I was unable to do more than barely keep up.

Then, my ma got diagnosed with cancer, and we had to take an unexpected 9 day trip out of town to visit her, further making me behind… with everything including, but not limited to, the comic. (My ma seems to be okay for the moment.)

Once I got behind, I got pretty burnt out on making Monster Commute.

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I love the characters, I love the world. But mostly, I love the community of folks who read it.

But, I don’t love making the comic right now; I don’t miss working on it at all.

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The Grind…

• I don’t feel like it’s getting any better, after 700 (!) strips.
• I don’t think that doing 400 more with be any different than the last 400.
• I feel like I’ve maxed out my “cartoonist” skill, at least for now.
• My comic was never as good as I’d hoped to make it.

I really just did Monster Commute for fun. It’s not fun right now.

So instead of continuing to have restless night after restless night stressing about making Monster Commute, I’m giving it a break. I don’t know if I’m going to be doing more Monster Commute comics. I might… but I might not.

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Driving ahead

I’m working on some big projects that I’ve been unable to do for a while (rebuild our store, rebuild the Steam Crow site, make new stuff.)

I’m also spending a lot more energy trying to figure out how to make a better living with Steam Crow.

I’m getting back to some of my favorite things:

• Drawing new monsters
• Designing new characters
• Making monster puppets
• Thinking about Halloween

(Somehow I didn’t have time to do this when I was trying to crank out MC all the time.)

This is stuff I’ll be sharing with you in the near future, if you’re interested in seeing it.

I’m really sorry to disappoint, but hopefully some of this other stuff I’ve been working on will interest you.

Most of it will be launching on the new SteamCrow.com (coming in September) since I don’t want to clutter Monster Commute with lots of unrelated stuff.

So, there you have it. I don’t know much more to say on the subject, other than…

I miss you Patriots!

But I’m around:

I’m on Facebook.
I’m on Twitter.
I’m on GooglePlus.

- Daniel

PS. Some of you might be mad, sad, or bummed out about all of this. Know that I’ve felt this way myself, and now I’m trying to be positive about making some new stuff again.

We’ve been selling them for a few years, and it’s time to take them off of the market. But, before we do, we figured that we’d let you have a last go with them.

So, if you want em, get them while you can!

They retire on August 30th!

- Daniel

I’ve also been going to the Doctors on a regular basis. Basically labs for blood work, my Doctor, an arthritis Doctor, and today, a neurologist. It’s been fairly uneventful, and I don’t feel like I’m much closer to what’s causing my foot pain. It’s frustrating, but I’m not so sure what else to do right now. Just waiting for more test results, I guess, and debating what new pain pill to take. (Something that I’ve been trying to avoid… more pills.)

I’ve missed you guys, and I’ve missed blogging too. The trouble is that I don’t have much new to report. Every day, we just try to get more SDCC stuff done… it’s rather the same to talk about. I’d rather tell you something interesting. (Like that I might have spent a week on SkyLab!)

I have been spouting off some more nonsense on Twitter, Facebook, and the new Google+ from time to time. Feel free to follow me in any of those places, if you want.

I’ll be back here before long.

- Daniel

It was 118 here the other day.

It’s sort of offensively hot, but nothing that you can complain about if you choose to live in Arizona. I guess that I chose to be here, so there you go.

But dang, it’s warm.

I’ve been working on some new stuff like this Monster Beach Party movie poster. It’s just a print of an imaginary movie that I wish was made in 1964 or 1964. A beach romantic monster comedy, maybe. I dunno. It’s over in our store now if you happen to want a copy.

I don’t draw girls all that often, so they’re always a big challenge for me. But, I like how this one came out, and I should probably make a few more here before too long. She started out as a mermaid, but looked way better as a wo-man.

That foam took me about forever to draw. In fact, the whole thing probably took me 3 times longer than anything else I’ve illustrated in a long while. I was sick, travelling, and then finally focused.

You know how I had the flu here a week back? Dawna had the flu this last week, and was in bed for a few days there. Now that I think about it, the Goblin had flu too in the midst of all that… so each of us had our turn with the crud. It was a doosey.

Anyway, that’s your update for today, Patriots. I’m working on variations for our San Diego Comic-con display, if my head is screwed on right.

And, happy 4th of July to my ‘Merica friends!

- Daniel

I’ll admit… it’s a little true.

I’m not burnt on Beastio, Monstru, Chad, or Kip. I love those guys, I love the place called “Monstru.”

I’m not burnt on making art. I’ve got some new stuff that I’ve been working on.

I’m not burnt by you Patriots. You guys are why I made the thing in the first place. (And for me.)

I’m not sick anymore, and I’m starting to get my energy back, a little bit every day.

But I am a little charred on making new comics right now.

Travel, the Convention Season, and getting sickly has made all kinds of things fall apart, and made things tougher to keep up with. And yeah, Monster Commute is one of those things.

Every time I sit down to make another comic, I get frustrated, tired, and well… energy depleted. A creative brown-out. Burnt. Toasted. Crispy.

It sucks my energy to even think about it…

I’ve completed about 711 strips now. I’ve been wondering what to do with the comic. Wondering how to re-invent it. Knowing that it could be a lot better…

…Wondering if it will be dramatically better in 700 more strips… or just more of the same.

• I could start hand-drawing it, but that won’t help my writing so much. (Though it would help my drawing a lot.) I don’t have time to spend like that currently.
• I could bring in a writing partner… but that’s pretty complicated. (How to share revenue when we can’t afford to do it?)
• I could stop doing it.
• I could take a break, and make comics when I feel like it.
• I could explore Monstru in an entirely new way, in a new medium.

Anyway that’s what I’m thinking about these days.

I’m not looking for you to provide me with the answers… I just wanted to let you know what’s going on. I’ve always been an open-book with you Patriots, so I might as well tell you how I’ve been feeling.

Here’s the not-so-funny thing; I know exactly how I got burnt out.

It’s super simple:

I got behind.

- Daniel

Been very busy of late.

Prepping hard for the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con, which is our longest and biggest show of the year. If you’re not ready for this one, it eats you up!

We’ve been doing inventory of various things, as we’ve gotten this far into the con season and then forgotten to order some critical supply (like print bags or backer boards or business cards.) Wait too long, and you can’t get the stuff. I think we’ve got everything in order now.

Did a couple of interviews over the last few days, while also meeting with folks about what we might do with them this fall here locally.

I’ve got art due in 2 art shows which we’ll be talking about soon. So, that stuff is due really quicklike. (Bio, photo, and art!)

Also been working on a couple new Tiki Shows (Tiki Oasis and Zog’s Tiki Party), which we’ll be exhibiting at. The deal here is that we need to make some new art for these shows, which is fun (but a lot of work.)

Been booking more events for this Fall. Events are how we pay the bills (aside from your generous online orders) so we’ve got to keep these flowing.

To top it all off, it’s been exceptionally hot here in Phoenix. I know, it comes with the territory… but it still feels REALLY FREAKIN HOT. They’re talking about 116-118 here this Saturday.

Anyway, busy, busy.

If I can pull it off, we’ll have another update on Friday, Patriots!

- Daniel

And yeah, if you wanted a “I Lovecraft You” t-shirt, you can still order them NOW! (Waiting to hear back from the printer.)

Wow, hey look… we’re back.

It’s been a very busy month of travel, lemme tell you. I just returned from Tucson (it’s Sunday night) and I finally got to work on this strip.

I rewrote this damn thing for about an hour, feeling more like Horst than ever.

Nothing kills my productivity like messing with my routine. Maybe I rely too much on it, I don’t know.

I do know that travelling about and working from the wee laptop, it’s tough to get work done. I’m usually with other people who are watching TV, or chatting, or chatting with me. It’s just not the way that I usually work or get stuff done.

I’m pretty much a loner (only child like Horst there) and need to concentrate on what I’m doing.

If I’m just drawing, I can usually do that just fine. But running  Steam Crow means that I get to spend a little bit of time drawing, and a bunch more writing emails, answering questions, and managing stuff like that.

Anyway, I need to get better at it, as I’m finding myself needing to get work done in situations and settings outside of my hot little plastic dungeon.

You ever feel funky?

- Daniel

Next Comics: Wednesday and Friday

Pre-order now to get some freebies including buttons, a new Steam Crow sticker, and other odds and ends. (We’ll treat you right.)

We didn’t want to do another t-shirt, but folks really seem to love our “I Lovecraft You” miniprint, so we’re doing it again!

This distressed little Cthulhu is super-cute, and limited edition (like pretty much everything else that we do.) He “Lovecrafts you” before he sucks out your insane little brain. Oh well, at least he cares.

All pre-orders ship with lots of goodies… a matching button, new Steam Crow sticker, and other kooky stuff that we’ve got hidden around here. If you know us, we treat you right.

Details, details!

• This is a pre-order; t-shirts will ship the week of July 15th. (Maybe sooner.)
• Order the t-shirt size that you want now to get what you want up to 3XL.
• Pre-orders will end Sunday June 26th at midnight.
• These won’t show up at many of our shows; ordering online is the way to get them.
• Pre-orders will come with some extra goodies!
• Makes a great gift. Yep. If you’re not down with the “Cthulhu Lovin” then spread the love.

Pre-order now, Patriot! (Before Cthulhu gets your sanity!)

- Daniel

I saw this image over at John Struan’s entertaining blog SuperPunch, and it really rang true to the CrowBot mentality:

Apparently it’s Fort Dix, New Jersey.

Mr. Struan found it here.

- Daniel

We took a big walk around the pine forest behind my parent’s farm, where I grew up.

It was great showing the Goblin Boy and Dawna some of the places where I spent so much of my teen years. In 25 years it’s all changed quite a bit… old growth fallen… new growth taking it’s place.

They had a lot of snow this winter, and summer is a bit late in these parts this year. It’s not even hit 80 degrees here yet; nearly a record. The grasses are in full growth, and it’s all really green instead of the yellow that they quickly fade to.

We trooped up and down trails that used to be quite visible; now  they’re faded back so far that we could barely find them at all. Fallen pine were all about the place, as if a trolla had crashed through them just a few months before.

We managed to find my old fort; a hunter’s little walled outcropping hidden beneath a fir tree. The boy was really excited about this and managed to crawl inside and look around. That was pretty cool.

By them my feet were really hurting (damn dirty neuropathy) and we made our way back to the farm.

It was pretty great to wander back here where I spent so much time  so many years before.

But now I’m all sneezy.

- Daniel

Hey there, Patriots!

We won’t be shipping anything from the Steam Crow store until after June 21st.

That means that if you order now, you’re going to wait a little while.

Do we want/need/love your orders? Dang YES we do! But we just won’t be shipping until after June 21st.

Sorry about any difficulties… we’ll ship FAST after that, alrighy?

- the CrowBot Management!