Author notes

School of bad choices, part 1

Jake Richmond

on Aug. 11, 2023

Back!

After several weeks away I'm finding getting back to the comic is kind of hard. I didn't expect that. Its not that I'm not excited to be back, but its hard to get back on the horse again, so to speak. I've never experienced that before. Of course, this was the longest break I've ever taken in 12 years on the comic. I think part of the issue is that I'm trying something new with the art. In the past I've always printed out 4 blank panels on a 8.5 x 11 sheet and drawn the comic on that. That's a pretty small image space for each panel. Starting with this strip I've decided to double the image space for each panel, giving me a MUCH larger space to draw in (I'm printing 2 panels on each sheet instead of 4). This lets me do stuff like more comfortably put 3 or 5 characters in a panel. IDK if you can tell the difference at all, but it is a big difference for me, and it will allow me to fit in more detail, more characters and more dynamic drawings in the future. Of course, it also takes a lot longer to fill each panel. But that's fine. Anyway, I'm hoping to be back in the swing of things next week so you can see more of this school's horrible decision making in progress.

This strip introduces real life reader Ashley Grenstone as Principal Grenstone. Ashley is also the creator of the Mermaid Assassin named Red who showed up a few years ago! We'll see more of our new principal and Red more in the future. We've met Vice Principal Kohli, Ms. Booth and Mr. Jenkins (based on real life reader Gethin Jenkins) before, of course. The other teachers here all appeared briefly in the 24 Hour Comic The Night Before Christmas and are based on people I worked with when I was still teaching.