Rated AARGH!

[Mike Howland]

Merry Christmas! This one has been knocking about in my head for almost a year now; I can't tell you how relieved I am to finally be able to draw it. I really only remember like two scenes from that old crawling eye movie, but man, what a great idea! Y'know, relatively speaking. Not evolutionarily speaking.

Rated AARGH! #119 - X-Mas '08

And thank you Tati, bunny dildo's are indeed my favorite kind to draw!

[Anakin's Dad]

Merry Christmas, Mike! This one was fantastic.

[Jake]

Hahaha, awesome. Have a good one, Mike.

[Tati]

Awesome, really really great

[Mike Howland]

Thanks alot guys! I'm glad you liked the Christmas one, I really had been chuckling about it for almost a year before I got to draw it. Those big juicy eyes are just begging for a BB....


Rated AARGH! #121 - Work Ethic

[Tati]

Loved that one. The man is just trying to have some fun with his job. Nothing wrong with that.

[IggytheBorg]

Been meaning to post my adoration for the BB gun entry. That's comedy gold, right there. My eyepatch is of to you, sir!

[Tieman]

Jumping in to echo the Dead Alive tribute love. Huzzah for you, sir.

[Mike Howland]

Thanks! Who doesn't love Dead Alive? I mean zombies plus lawn mowers is a classic. And if you can combine them on the job? Who needs a dental or a 401(k)!? By the way Tieman, that is a fantastic XBL tag. You know that if ZappBrannigan 1-12 mysteriously disappear you get there power, right?

And on to the Twilight comic!

Rated AARGH! #122 - Twilight

And thank you Iggy, that carries a hell of a lot more weight than all this hat-doffing that seems to be all the rage. Eyepatches > Hats > Snuggies.

[Tati]

What are you getting in return of watching Twilight?

[Mike Howland]

Heh. My girl and I traded vampire movies. She went to see Let The Right One In With me, so I was obligated to go see Twilight with her. I spent much of the movie hoping the werewolves were gonna bust out and go on a rampage through the vampires. Sadly, no dice. The rest of the time was spent musing about how you could take two great things (Vampires & Werewolves) and make a boring movie out of them (Alien vs Predator)...

[IggytheBorg]

Mike: I just got my ticket to the NY Comicon over the weekend, which reminded me I've been meaning to ask: since your profile doesn't say where you're located geographically, I was wondering if you're in a place close enough that you'd be going to the Con, seeing as you might actually have a legitimate business reason to go there and promote the strip? Love to stop by & say hello if you are.

[Tati]

ahahaha loved the Baraka Obama!

[Mike Howland]

Thanks man! I've been playing a fair amount of MK vs DC and everytime I fight Baraka it's all I can think about...

Rated AARGH! #123 - Baraka Obama

I'm actually in Boston, Iggy, and I was thinking about heading down to the NY con, but I'm going to be flying back into Boston from San Diego that afternoon, and I'm not sure if I'm going to make it. Which leads me to the next subject of discussion - A month without Rated AARGH!

My girl and I are moving to San Diego at the end of February and things are getting pretty hectic around here. Add to that the fact we'll be driving (Route 66! Woo!) and I'm afraid that I just won't have time for comic creation for a while. So what it boils down to is that Rated AARGH will be on Hiatus for the month of February. Which won't be soooo bad, as it is the shortest month after all. But fret not, there is still one week of Rated AARGH! goodness left before The Nothing arrives!

Also, I'd like to mention this has nothing to do with the fact that the long-awaited Street Figther 4 comes out in February. It's just a happy coincidence.

[Tati]

That is sad news!
Congrats on the moving, and enjoy the route 66 trip. I'm sure you'll get a lot of ideas for the strip.

[Mike Howland]

Yeah, it will be a sad month, but I am psyched for San Diego! Sun and surf and sweet sweet burritos. And the drive is going to be awesome, I can't wait to see the biggest ball of twine and two-headed snakes and all that other good stuff that litters the way. I'll have to be careful not to take any shortcuts through backwoods locales though; we all know what happens once you try to take a shortcut...

[IggytheBorg]

Originally Posted by Mike Howland

Thanks man! I've been playing a fair amount of MK vs DC and everytime I fight Baraka it's all I can think about...

Rated AARGH! #123 - Baraka Obama

I'm actually in Boston, Iggy, and I was thinking about heading down to the NY con, but I'm going to be flying back into Boston from San Diego that afternoon, and I'm not sure if I'm going to make it. Which leads me to the next subject of discussion - A month without Rated AARGH!

My girl and I are moving to San Diego at the end of February and things are getting pretty hectic around here. Add to that the fact we'll be driving (Route 66! Woo!) and I'm afraid that I just won't have time for comic creation for a while. So what it boils down to is that Rated AARGH will be on Hiatus for the month of February. Which won't be soooo bad, as it is the shortest month after all. But fret not, there is still one week of Rated AARGH! goodness left before The Nothing arrives!

Also, I'd like to mention this has nothing to do with the fact that the long-awaited Street Figther 4 comes out in February. It's just a happy coincidence.

A) I SWEAR to you that I had the thought - for the first time, oddly enough - yesterday that "Hey, his name kinda sounds like that Mortal Kombat guy with the swords." Fair to middlin' minds think alike, I guess.

B) Sorry you may not be able to make the Con. Would have been nice to meet you in person, and to see you get some exposure for the strip. But fear not, as I hear they have a small time comic themed thing every year or so in San Diego. Perhaps exposure there can get you big time enough that someone else will PAY for you to fly into the next NY Con.

C) As for a MONTH without Rated AaaRrrrrrghhh!:

[Eyes goggling wide in shock, jaw hanging open in disbelief]

N-no. No!

D) I've always wanted to drive the length of US 1 up & down the East Coast, from Maine to Key West, and Route 66, too. Enjoy that, you lucky bastard. I imagine you'll get some great stuff for the strip. If you are connected at hotels & such, the occasional update or photo would be a welcome bone thrown to the jealous masses.

I hope the move bodes well for you in all your future endeavors. Edited to add: I'm STILL wearing my Rated AaaRrrghh T shirt to the Con.

[Mike Howland]

Hahaha! So it's true what they say about fair-to-middlin' minds! I always wondered about that...

Yeah, I'm bummed I can't make it to the con, that would have been cool. I'll look into this supposed comic get-together they have in San Diego, though. It does sound vaguely familiar now that you mention it...

The trip is going to be awesome, I am psyched! As I will be driving a giant truck, I may even look for a tiny little man in a crappy red car to terrorise and mayhap even run off the road. And even if I don't, such incredible sights as the largest ball of twine or various two-headed snakes await me! I'm sure the trip will provide plenty of content for RA for a long time to come. Speaking of which; Here is the last RA for a month! Enjoy!

Rated AARGH! #124 - Spectacular

[Tati]

Spectacular indeed.
I made the same kind of giggly face when i saw them!

[IggytheBorg]

Just curious: anyone else missing Mike as much as I am right about now? Corner just ain't the same without him and his little funnybook stories.

[Tati]

I'm jonesing for a new Aargh!.

[IggytheBorg]

Sayyyyy. . . it's March, ain't it? And Mike ain't back yet. . .

Jesus. I hope the nuclear hillbillies didn't get him.

[Anakin's Dad]

Ok, who's in charge of the search party? Tati? Iggy?

[Tati]

We can all go together. Alex, BRING HIM BACK.

[IggytheBorg]

First, let me aplologize to Tati, because I know he saw this thread lit up in green and got all excited because he thought maybe Mike was back. Sadly, that is not the case.

But I was reminded of the genius that was "Rated AARGH!" yesterday morning, while watching Phineas & Ferb with my son. They actually used the word "defenestrate", a word I learned the meaning of - as I'm sure many of you did, too - in these very pages. By sheer coincidence, I was wearing my "Rated AARGH!" T-shirt at the time. I got all nostalgic and misty, & started to long for the strip's return.

I figure Mike & wife must have finished driving cross country by now. Hell, they probably could have walked across the country by now. So why haven't the strips resumed?

I choose to believe it's not because Mike just hasn't gotten around to writing any more. I suppose it's possible that with all the recent revamps, he's having trouble accessing things, and turned to Alex for help. But since Alex is (by his own admission) notorious for not timely returning PM's and e-mails, Mike may have a whole pile of strips just waiting to be posted, taking up space in his hard drive, but he's in admin limbo and unable to get them to us.

But I think a more likely scenario is that on his trip across the US, which he promised would be fraught with side trips to interesting & unusual attractions that would provide fodder for the strip, he met with some kind of horrible - but fitting - end. Like maybe he was ambushed by a clan of inbred cannibals in the West Virginia wilderness, or nuclear mutants in the Nevada desert. Or maybe Sasquatch caught up with him in the forests of the Northwest, none too pleased about the toilet paper clinging jokes. I mean really: can you think of any other Corner Creature that would be more likely to meet his end in such a poetically justified fashion? And I'd be willing to bet that if you asked him, Mike would list a death like that in his top 5 (although I'm also pretty sure a night with the life draining succubus from "Rated AARGH!" would be ahead of it on the list of preferred ways to go).

So please join me in mourning our departed colleague, and the passing of his brilliantly demented comic from this mortal coil. Godspeed, Mike, wherever you are.

[Peter Judson]

I iss this comic too. *sniff* Come back!