Two Years... and 100 strips later...

When I started Dribble for Kids, or D4K for short, I never expected us to surpass comic number 50, let alone reach 100. I guess I didn't see my art being that good to continue, but, I had fun doing it. And with that fun, and thanks to the suggestion of my best friend Nate, (known to some of you D4K-readers as Kidsplinter...) I took some free-time and drew a comic, which soon evolved (and when I mean soon, I mean as in, very slowly...) into the basic three or "basic trio" of characters as you know them today. Nick, the loveable manchild (is there any better way to really discribe him?), Nate, the straight guy to Nick's antics, and the woman of the trio, Ashley. If you asked me back then, in the first ten strips or so, my "claim to fame" for D4K was the Road Rage joke, and the fact that the only big storyline is Nick likes Ashley. Soon, more as gags and comments on my friend, Drew's message boards and website, Drew was then added into the mix, adding a sarcastic brand of humor, that really snowballed what D4K soon became. The final "straw that broke the camel's back" in terms of the evolution of D4K, was a character I created in 6th or 7th grade, named Charlie the Dog. A rip of Mother Goose & Grimm's "Grimmy", Charlie was a character I debated adding in, but... I tried it out. And from there... the comic began to take form.

No longer was Nick just the loveable manchild. He was actually a pretty smart guy when he applied himself. Nate wasn't just the straight man anymore. His cynical views became very obvious, and despite being more of a pessimistic person, he was a very good and loyal friend. Ashley still hovered back and forth, trying to qualm whatever beef Nate had with Nick over lord knows what. Drew for some reason couldn't take the sweater off, Nate found he had a brother, Jimmy, who he tries to get fired but only gives himself the pink slip in the process, and I could go on and on. Dribble For Kids has grown tremendously, so much, that there are characters I didn't even mention that have played huge parts. So where does that leave us today? Two Years... and 100 Comic Strips Later... and yet...

Here we are.

While I know the 100th comic isn't really a comic per se, I loved the image too much to discard it as a voting image. And it really shows the direct progress of D4K over the last two years and 100 strips. I've had this under my belt for WAY too long(two months or so?), and yet, I'm still giddy about this image. When I drew it, I realized that while drawing Penny, Jimmy, and anyone else is.... nice I suppose, I also knew that, the characters that had shaped D4K during this process upto comic 100 was really the five principle characters, Nick, Nate, Drew, Ashley & Charlie.

And so... with the 100th comic strip, comes a bit of odd news. Usually when you hit a milestone (again, this depends on what you may yourself, refer, to as a milestone) you keep going. Me on the other hand, as I have mentioned before, I am taking a sebactical from Dribble For Kids for a few weeks or so. While really I am not completely taking time off, (I am actually using the time to get 3 pages ahead of everything, that way I am a page or so ahead every week) I will be posting some cool voting image stuff, that way you can really scope out SOMETHING for visiting the site. Which leads me to the new voting image! From the vaults of D4K, I thought I'd throw out a groovy image I did for Matt & Justin over at www.rwwr.com or, Reasons Why We Rule for those who don't know the title. ;-) If you check out the website and it's design, you might "get" the first panel's joke or so. But I digress. Check it out by voting at BuzzComix.net!!

But wait, what about the Prolouge Pages 1 and 3? Well, have no fret. You can see the the 3 pages via the links below, which will be up for a bit until page 1 of issue 3 begins, as it leads up to The Lord of the Sweaters!

I mentioned on the update for comic 99, I would do a contest, well, I decided that here on out, every paycheck I get, 25 bucks is going to a "contest" fund, which will procure DVDs, posters and other cool stuff, some D4K swag, others cool cartoon shows like Futurama, Simpsons, or Samauri Jack, etc, just so I can give them away!! Trust me, the grande prize pack will kick so much ass, you'll even be surprised. But no frets to the runner ups cos the prize packs for you guys will rock too!! ;-)

With everything that had to be said, said... I now leave you all with some parting words till 3 weeks or so. To my un-official writing staff who, while help me shape the comic strip, yet are never really in the same room together, Nate, Jimmy, and to Drew, Ashley and anyone else... thanks for being my muses and being good and dear friends, and supporting the comic, same goes to my mom and dad who also, while at times not verbally admit they read the comic, continue to let me use their pc and garble it's memory up with my comic strips. For Mikey, putting up with my comic when it at times and for a long period didn't have ANYTHING to do with the TMNT yet, he still let me host the updates on your site.... To all you reading this right now... I thank you as well. I wouldn't be anywhere without anyone reading it, supporting it, (even hating it) and commenting on it.

And last but not least... A big thank you to Nick, Nate, Ashley, Drew, Charlie and the rest of the D4K gang... thanks for being interesting enough in my mind to keep this comic going!! Until issue 3 and the Lord of the Sweaters gets a'goin....... ENJOY!

The Lord of the Sweaters Prolouge Pages 1 - 2 - 3 - Comic Strip 99 - Comic Strip 100