Due to AC and work there will probably not be a comic this week.

At the airport waiting fot my flight to AC

I find it strange that so rarely do we read a story about heroes and have much mention about their families -- at least not unless the family is directly central to the story. If they are present, it's usually because at some point the death of a parent will play a role in the narrative or their conflict will be part of the story. Very rarely is it because of the support and love of the parent.

I know I'm a minority here, but some of my favorite Star Trek episodes often dealt with family in sometimes goofy ways. It was fun. It was good to know the characters had families.

I'd like to bring family into Space Pawdyssey on occasion. I'd like for the characters to call home or visit their family. I'd like for those relationships to play a role at some point. This story is very character driven so it should give me ample opportunity to do that here and there. We've briefly seen Connor's Dad. We'll meet Rowan's at some point. Eventually the goal is to meet family members for each character. Oddly enough, out of the cast, I can't think of any character whose parents weren't loving -- even if they themselves were absent. I may even do a bit of a flashback to show Toby's family.

I would love to get Felix's family involved at some point if only because it's huge. Of all of the characters, he has the biggest family. I have no idea why that is -- it's just how it came to be in my mind.

Hi folks,

Next Monday's comic will be released a day early -- Sunday!

It's a special nod to Father's Day!

Just a few more notes on the Space Pawdyssey world that I thought you guys might find interesting.

Religion is very much a part of this universe just like any other. Some of the characters have spiritual or religious leanings. Toby's faith has been hinted at a bit more than others.

Various worlds might be home to one or more different families of animals (canines, felines etc). There will be anthropomorphic birds, insects and fish as well.

Felines were generally never very well liked mainly because they were a fairly advanced race and arrogant about it to boot. They thought quite highly of themselves and made few friends as a result. That didn't bother them much -- they didn't think they needed them. This is one of the reasons many folks spurn cats. Canines dislike them from the war and many other races just think they got what was coming to them.

Not all genus/species within a family are considered equal. Felix (a fox) may be looked on differently than Rowan (a dog) or Connor (a wolf). Each would have different prejudices leveled against them.

As for the characters:

Felix comes from a large family of foxes. Most of his family live together. He has two younger twin siblings (a boy and a girl) and two older siblings -- a brother and sister. His dad works from home and his mother is a skilled engineer. His uncle also lives with his family.

Connor has one sister much older than him and both of his parents are still around and work in government. His sister is a successful attorney.

Lex's family is a bit more divided. His mother passed away. He has no siblings. His father abandoned them both to pursue life as a pirate.

Rowan's father is in prison for treason and remains married to her mother. She cares for both of her parents and has no other siblings.

Toby had a brother who was killed when his home planet was destroyed along with both of his parents.

Those are the "major" characters. Sarah will show up in the next story. I haven't quite finished her design yet but she is a former Ranger and Connor's previous first officer (despite having more experience than him) and in many ways his old mentor.

So racism was never meant to be this huge part of the comic. It just turned out that way I guess. Isolationism is what drives Murphy. Toby is a refugee. Rowan struggles with her own prejudice.

I hope it's not too heavy handed. I want this to be background material, based in part on real life. I don't want it to define every aspect of the comic. I want to show that even good characters can be flawed. I want characters that aren't defined by their minority groups or their struggles.

Honestly I'm pretty proud of my characters. I adore them all. Once this story is one I hope to spend a fair bit of time doing more "slice of life" comics with the characters just interacting and figuring out their lives.

So some history for those curious. This may or may not ever get explicitly stated in the comic so if anyone is wondering:

The Canine and Feline races were embroiled in a very lengthy war which dissolved into a cold war. When the Alliance was formed, it was formed primarily around the Canine worlds but the other members of the Alliance agreed they would not take part in any antagonism directed at Felines and instead would devote their energies to peace across the galaxy and across all races. The Canines still carried the bulk of the Alliance's military strength however.

A couple decades pass and the Alliance decides to extend an invitation to the Felines. Worried about what could happen if the Canines ever did turn on them, the Felines decide to enter discussions and begin the process of joining. During this time, their system is invaded by an outside force. As they are not yet official members of the Alliance, the Alliance is not bound to help them, creating a heated debate within the Alliance council. Eventually it is agreed that the Alliance should help. Not long after arrival, however, the Felidae system is overrun and their home world is unexpectedly destroyed.

Prior to the Alliance officially offering support, The Rangers had broken rank and gathered up resources to help with the evacuation of some of the Felidae colonies. Despite having gone against the Alliance's orders to do nothing until an official decision could be made, the Rangers were praised for their efforts in saving thousands of lives and were celebrated as a result. The Rangers became a marketing tool to sell the Alliance and it's values to the people and to other worlds.

So there you go.

I'm counting the days to my first Anthrocon! In fact, it's my first furry convention as well.

Looking most forward to meeting friends and friends of friends. I've met so many wonderful people over the last year. It's hard to believe the number of connections I've made. My experience at MAGFest was one I'll treasure for some time and I'm hoping this will be similar. We're even planning a little Canada Day party on the 1st.

I've done a fair bit of travel this year. MAGFest. Anthrocon. MFF in November. I've been collecting Aeroplan points for some time so this has all been relatively inexpensive. I do wish I had more vacation time though (and more money) as there are some friends I'd love to visit.

So, who here is going to AC?

Someone asked me if I would try doing a comic dub of Space Pawdyssey. I had thought about trying some voices for these guys but I don't think I have the best voice for dubbing and I haven't put nearly as much thought as I'd like into figuring out what these guys even sound like (nor could I pull off the full cast if I wanted to). But it was an interesting question that got me thinking.

What do you guys think the Space Pawdyssey cast sound like?

For some reason I have Fredryk Phox's version of Fox McLeod stuck in my head for Lex -- just a bit of a more angry version of that voice. I picture Felix as having a higher pitch too but a much softer voice overall.

I also wonder what kind of accent (if any) I'd give Toby. When I think about his culture, I think of a blend of eastern influences but I'm not sure on the language.

Thoughts?

Man, this is taking a while to get to the end! Between vacations and how the story is panning out (it's taking a few more pages than originally planned to get through the end) it will probably be closer to the fall/year end before this is all done. I guess that's not a bad thing but I'm very eager to get Space Pawdyssey printed and I'm not doing that until the first story is finished.

Poor Rowan just seems to get the short end of the stick in terms of her character. She's got some of the more glaring flaws and I struggle with her a bit more than the others. I do have some big plans for her and her insecurity with Toby ties into some of that larger plan. She'll become more and more central to the story as it goes along especially once her father, Victor, gets introduced. Eventually I would like to tackle a big story with him but I don't know how that will pan out in terms of time but we'll see. I just LOVE how Victor has panned out and I'm eager to show him off to you guys. He encompasses a lot of what I consider to be the "ideal villain". You'll also meet Sarah after this story -- Connor's former second in command and his mentor. She's older, upbeat, full of life and joy and speaks her mind. She's what you'd get if you stuck a hearty Newfoundlander in space. She'll be joining the crew as well!

I do know that once this story is done I'll be taking a bit of time working on an interlude and reworking some things for the next big story. I really want to rework the art -- find new looks for each character, tweak them, and design some proper reference materials now that I have the hang of it.

At the end of the day I'm proud of this work. I'm proud of the 79 pages of story I've done. I'm proud of my characters and the growth of my art. I have a TON of room for improvement and so little time to work on the comic but I'm so very glad I decided to just do it.

So what do you guys think so far? What would you like to see more of? What would you like to see happen with these guys?

Next comic will be May 19th

Rowan's Dad is a character that will be introduced soon -- likely during this story's epilogue. He has been incarcerated for crimes against the Alliance. The exact details will come out later one and are pretty spoiler-y so I'm not discussing that. Let's just say he and Murphy have similar views -- but Rowan's father takes them to the extreme.

His introduction at this point will be brief and used to touch on some of Rowan's internal struggles and to help flesh her character out even further. He's the purest "villain" in the cast to date without question. I have a story I'd like to do with him but it will be on the back burner for a bit as I want to focus on smaller character driven stories after the first big one is done before getting into anything more grand.

What makes me want to do more with him though is that I wrote him as a loving father. I adore this idea -- that Rowans' father is this loving and caring parent that would do anything for his child. He put everything on the line for something he *believes* to be a better world for his child to grow up in. His worldview however is terrible one and his actions are downright irredeemable. Still, he loves his daughter dearly and she loves him.

And there's Rowan's internal conflict. At one point in time she may have even shared his views. Not now though, and less and less as the story progresses.

I just really like the idea of someone who does terrible horrible things and who has what many would consider to be horrible beliefs but yet have these little specs of humanity. Of course he doesn't consider himself evil -- he just feels he is doing what's right for the sake of the galaxy and he will do anything it takes to do what has to be done even if that means making sacrifices along the way. Murder and betrayal are not out of the question if it serves a greater purpose.

#78 is on time!

The band is basically together now and will be working to save the Ambassador (and Connor). Of course, there will still be some issues for them to work out. They want to help each other to stop a common foe (Lex wants to stop the bad guys so they won't go after him and Toby and Felix and Rowan want to stop them from hurting Connor and the ambassador) but that doesn't mean they'll get along.

Space Pawdyssey #77 may be delayed.

I'm on break starting Thursday and will not be able to get much drawing done for a week and a half. Space Pawdyssey will be back though as soon as things settle down and on it's return Toby will join up with Lex, Rowan and Felix and the four will set out on their mission to stop the bad guys.

Wow, a lot of feedback on the Toby and Connor comic.

- Yes, they know each other.
- No, you didn't miss anything.
- Toby has shown admiration towards Connor similar to Felix but the source of the admiration is different.

The next comic will touch on this more.

Sorry if this comic confused anyone. :)

I've really enjoyed playing up Toby's feelings towards Connor. He's such a fun character to mess around with. Connor is sentimental, and that's been fun too (and the reason for the hug).

We'll be back to poor Felix and Rowan here shortly (and, of course, Lex).

A bit of world building info:

In Space Pawdyssey, Dogs and cats don't get along. The two races have a history. Canine's have come out on top in many ways and have been accustomed to dictating galactic politics. That's why Toby's catching flack over being a cat. It's also why some Canine's aren't keen on Alliance expansionism. It ends up putting more strain on their resources as one of the strongest Alliance members and reduces their voice. They feel the Alliance benefits them less and less and instead their resources are used to help other weaker races with little in return. This will be explained in the comic.

Rowan mentioned earlier that her father had some ideas too. Her father tried to undermine the alliance and acted against the cats (relatively new Alliance members at the time) and did some pretty horrible things. Connor arrested him. Catch is, Rowan loved her father and he loved her. She knows his ideas were wrong. This is also why she maintains a pretty cool attitude towards Connor. The hero of the Alliance who arrested her father should be some big great thing. Instead, Connor falls considerably short of her expectations. Again, this will come up in the comic.

Just a reminder, I do have a Patreon account for anyone interested!

https://www.patreon.com/spacepawdyssey

You typically get comics first on Patreon as they are published there immediately after I complete them. You can also find all kinds of wonderful type-o's and errors before they get corrected!

I'm also still hoping the first story arc will be done before the end of the summer. At that point, I'm considering printing the issues as a trade paperback (using Ka-Blam). Is that something folks would be interested in? Unfortunately, Ka-Blam is in the US and I'm in Canada. They are still the cheapest print company I've found but the border hops and exchange rates don't make things any cheaper. Still, the price should be under the $20 range before shipping for a 90 page full color, full sized trade.

No comic today (Mar 30/31) but I should have one next Tuesday!

There will not be a Space Pawdyssey comic on Thursday and likely not until April 4t as I am taking a (much needed at this point) vacation.

There may be a chance I get one in sooner depending on how things go and what I end up doing with my vacation time but for the time being I'm putting out an Out of Office message.

The current chapter will end next week at #65 after which I will probably be taking some vacation time while I host some company.

#66 will bridge this chapter and the final chapter. It should start out with a few Toby comics to revisit the cool cat for a bit before heading back to see how Felix and crew are coping with the fallout of recent events. Then we get to see how things go from bad to worse for all parties involved.

The full first major arc will end around the June/July timeframe if all goes well. This is near the 1 year anniversary of Space Pawdyssey. I'll be looking to get it published as a single trade and I'll likely be offering up orders by the end of the year for anyone interested. Once the first story arc is finished, I'll likely take another quick break to do some design work. I'm considering some redesigns to character appearances. It's something I've been doing frequently already but I'll be making a few more tweaks before the next arc starts. I realize my art has been inconsistent, but Space Pawdyssey is my playground for learning new things and with that comes new ways of drawing my characters and improving my art. I don't have any huge changes planned, just playing with a few details.

I'm designing a new costume for Toby to wear here in the final chapter of the current arc. He'll be out exploring Nexus on a hover and I thought it would be fun to stick him in some cool motorcycle gear. Thinking about going for something Akira inspired with a catnip leaf on the back instead of a pill and likely colored in very 80's pastels (I've come to enjoy the idea of dressing Toby in 80's inspired colors while sticking to 90's grunge for Lex). The motorbike (or I guess hoverbike in this case) will be a plot element later on.

I love putting these guys in different outfits. They are distinct enough that i don't need to rely on clothing for folks to know who is who. If nothing else, it will be nice after this story arc is done to finally be able to draw Rowan and Felix in different outfits. Connor has already been shown in a number of variations of Alliance outfits (formal, the outfit he wore before leaving and the standard uniform worn by the ship's crew) but it will be nice to get him into some casuals too. They'll also be getting new uniforms.

I’ve been enjoying the responses to Space Pawdyssey #61. Felix dips his toes into heroism – in being the person he wants to be.

Of course we all know that nothing goes as planned and that will definitely be the case here. You’ll have to read more later this week to find out exactly how things go sideways for our protagonist.

My long term goal though is to have Felix grow as the hero. I want him to slowly turn into the person he truly wishes he were or more specifically I want him to turn in to a *real* hero – with both the strength and burdens involved. The end of the story is going to be loaded with Felix tidbits to chew on and I can’t wait to share them.

Some things people noticed as well:

- Rowan is really dismissive of Connor, despite his rank, calling him a “clod”.

Yup, Rowan has been dismissive of him since the alcohol incident.

- Really? “Clod”?

Yeah, I know it’s been used a lot in Steven Universe by Peridot but it was the best term I could find that was dismissive but not harsh.

- Where did Felix get the gun?

He got it from Connor, had it stolen by Lex, and got it back when he fell on Lex. At no point has he been able to return it to Connor so he still had it on him in the office.

Lex will show up again soon, as will Toby so if you miss them don’t worry, they’ll be back soon. From this point out there will be a LOT of Felix though with the other characters all getting their own moments here and there. Except Connor. Connor kinda gets the short end of the stick.

You'll also get more interaction between Lex and Toby and the rest of the crew. Oddly enough, Lex will get along with everyone (except Connor). Toby WON'T (except Connor).

Whelp, apparently posting my comic to Reddit after it's done is spamming. So yeah, suspended. Again. This time for 7 days.

I think I'm done with it. I think I'm just going to have to move on.

This week kicks off a series of comics that will put Felix in the spotlight. A series of events will kick off with Felix at the center making some pretty pivotal observations. We'll see him for his potential -- more Felix succeeding because of his wits and not simply because of dumb luck.

We'll soon catch up with Toby as well and he'll get a couple of interesting comics that will touch on his history and how it relates to Connor.

Comic 57 took me a bit to do. It has more panels than most comics and a bit more text. I keep forgetting that there's nothing stopping me from using 4 rows of panels in a comic instead of three.

I took me far too long to get my head wrapped around Rowan's personality but I finally think I've nailed it down. She's finally solidified in my mind and I really like how she's turned out (at least, the Rowan up in my head). I can't wait to get more of her onto the comics page.

In short, she's a no-nonsense kind of person when it comes to her job and getting that job done. She's always been all about her career and that will continue to come up. She's tough as nails when she has to be. She's sympathetic towards Felix to an extent and you'll see that extend to other characters as well (yes, that will include Lex down the road, but they will be at each other's throats for a good while).

Rowan and Lex were always meant to be very antagonistic towards each other. They are both stubborn and easily agitated.

There's more to the Rowan and Connor dynamic too that hasn't come into play. Hopefully I'll have an opportunity to spotlight more of it, but ideally Rowan should come off as fairly dismissive of Connor for personal reasons which came up briefly a while ago. (Connor was the one who arrested Rowan's father for treason)

I tend to come back to Lex and Toby a lot because they are the only characters with a solid pre-existing relationship. I keep thinking that Lex feels indebted to Toby. He feels like Toby was his first real friend and that Toby saved him from a lonely life on the streets. As a result, he does everything in his power to help Toby out (See the Lex and Toby Inktober story I did).

The thing is, Lex has done as much if not more for Toby. He helped him get on his feet and get out of the refugee camp. Lex supported Toby after he lost his family and during a time he felt most alone (even among his people).

So they have a long history of deep gratitude for each other's companionship. Of course they also genuinely enjoy each other's company. They are as close as you can get to being a couple despite not being in a sexual relationship. The idea for them was actually based on an article about two straight men who ended up a couple.

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-1499.....st-friend.html

So long story short, they genuinely love each other. It's not a love based on sexual attraction and yet it's more than just a familial love. It's an idea I thought would be interesting to explore.

Then there's the Toby / Connor thing which could throw everything out of whack. Toby is attracted to Connor -- both physically and out of admiration for what Connor has done for his people and for the image Connor has portrayed of himself. They have also both met previously although briefly and this will come up again soon. So how would Lex react when the person he cares for (and, though he would never say it, a person he loves) falls for someone else and threatens the relationship they've had.

Well, he'll react just as well as you'd expect.

So excited to be in the final act of Space Pawdyssey! (Well, of the first story anyway)

The discovery of Lex will kick off a number of events that will snowball into something bigger and get the whole team working together. Going to try to keep the humor up but there will be a lot more action and drama.

It's really going to push my drawing skills to pull this off, but it should be a good exercise if nothing else!

I really wish I could put out a page of Space Pawdyssey a day. I'd love to get it out there faster. I have so many stories I'd love to tell about these guys -- so much of their backstory I want to explore. I have the first story pretty much solidified and there's a small story afterwards that will bring the characters together permanently.

There's one story though that I really want to do after those are done. It's a story about "Family Day". A holiday in the Space Pawdyssey universe celebrating family. I thought it would be a fun bit of story to run through to explore a bit more of each character's family. It's not something you see often. Characters very seldom speak of their family in any other media unless it's a plot point. I thought it could be fun to explore the subject a bit. We are often who we are today because of the influence of our family. It would be neat to explore that -- if only briefly.