Shire! Shire! for December
Leave a commentDecember 5, 2015 by phicks2012
Over thirteen years ago, way back in 2002 when my monthly SCA Newsletter, The Equinox, was on deadline and I had space to fill, I shook the bushes (figuratively speaking) for someone to provide me with a short filler item or piece of artwork to fill that space. Regretably, no one could then be bullied into filling that need, so I had to come up with something myself.
It wasn’t the first time I’d had to come up with something to fill space in the newsletter, but this time there was only a half-page empty, so an article was pretty much out of the question. Instead, despite having no experience at it, I decided to try creating a one-time-only comic strip. I never guessed that this single comic panel — which wasn’t particularly impressive in my opinion — would ever lead to any others. However, the strip proved somehow to be a hit even with those who served — in their SCA personas — as humorous inspiration, and somehow it’s still going all these years later. Amazing.
The characters are based on real people, albeit as their SCA personas, but, as is usually the way with such things, their traits and idiocyncracies have naturally been exaggerated for the sake of humor. A few characters are mutations of pop culture movie monsters. A precious few others represent dear friends, also in persona, who have passed away — but who have remained in our hearts and who, I absolutely believe, would LOVE the fact that they are still being featured “in spirit”. I make an effort not to portray anyone lacking a sense of humor, and over time the cast of characters has changed — and will continue to change for as long as I continue producing the comics.
The Comics below were those published in the December Issue of The Equinox, and I hope you enjoy them!
