The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal

NEWS ARCHIVE

Tuesday, March 27, 2012:
- Chapter 26 End and Chapter 27 Pages 1 and 2 are up.
- New fan art.

Friday, March 23, 2012:
- This Saturday I'll be hosting a Livestream drawing session beginning between 10:30 AM and 11:00 AM US Central Time (15:30~16:00 GMT). At 1:00 PM (18:00 GMT) we'll begin another live edition of the Weightless podcast.
Store news:
- Keychain charms have been sold out for a couple of days, but I will be ordering more from the manufacturer soon, including some updated designs!
- I'm currently in negotiations with a shirt manufacturing & printing service, and hope to offer TJ & Amal T-shirts by mid-summer. This Tumblr post has more details.
- Shipping methods and fees have changed for orders shipping to the CIS/former Russian states: orders now ship International Registered Mail, Priority, or Express Mail, depending on size. Hopefully this will help decrease delays in Customs.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012:
- Chapter 26 pages 10 and 11 are up, bringing this segment to a close. (Link goes to page 8 for context.)
- Notes updated.
- If you'd like a desktop-sized version of the Ch26p10 spread, here you go! 1600x1200 - 1920x1200

Tuesday, March 13, 2012:
- Chapter 26 pages 7, 8, and 9 are up.
- New fan art.
- Russian fan translation up to Chapter 26 Page 6.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012:
- Chapter 26 pages 5 and 6 are up.
- Keychain charms are on sale in the Store - the supply of chains and rings has run out, so if you just want the charms alone, you can get them for $5!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012:
- My mistake; admission to Staple! Austin is actually $10, not $5, per day, and $15 for the weekend.
- I've been trying to get the RSS feed to play nice with Google Reader, and it seems just changing addresses is the best option for now. Please update your subscription address to "feed://feeds.feedburner.com/tjandamal" - hopefully that should work... *crosses fingers*

Tuesday, February 28, 2012:
- Technical issues appear to be resolved! Chapter 26 pages 3 and 4 are now up. Sorry for the delay!
- This weekend (March 3 and 4), I'll be at Staple! The Austin Independent Comics Expo. Stop by and say hi! I'll be signing books and such. Admission to the Expo is only $10.

Saturday, February 25, 2012:
- I've been getting several messages every day asking why the RSS Feed hasn't updated since January 1. Actually, the RSS Feed has been updating just fine; the problem seems to be with Google Reader (the feed page also breaks in Google Chrome, for some reason). So while I'm glad the malfunction is not on my end, the downside is that there's nothing I can do to fix the problem at its root.

Friday, February 24, 2012:
- It's been a big week! February 22 was the first anniversary of the founding of the Russian-language TJ & Amal fan community - check out the link for a super cute video! Also, TJ & Amal got reviewed on ComicsAlliance.com!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012:
- Chapter 26 pages 1 and 2 are up.

Friday, February 17, 2012:
- Russian fan translation is up to date.
- Notes Page for Chapters 21-30 updated.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012:
- Chapter 25 pages 10 and 11 are up, bringing Chapter 25 to a close.

Friday, February 10, 2012:
- Russian fan translation is up to date.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012:
- Chapter 25 pages 8 and 9 are up.
- If you're interested in seeing these pages get drawn, I've got a couple of time-lapse videos on YouTube here (Chapter 25 Page 9, panel 1) and here (Chapter 25 Page 9, panels 2 and 3).

Wednesday, February 1, 2012:
- Link added to Gran Grimoire, a new webcomic by my lovely and fabulous friends Christina and Taneka. They've been working hard on it for a long time, and I'm really excited to see it launch!
- Also, I kept forgetting to mention: I'll be at Ushicon this weekend in Round Rock, Texas - sharing an Artist Alley table with my buddy Doug Smith. Come say hi if you're in the area! I'll be doing sketch commissions and selling books and prints and such.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012:
- Chapter 25 pages 6 and 7 (and part of 8) are up.

Friday, January 27, 2012:
- New illustration up in the Gallery.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012:
- Chapter 25 pages 4 and 5 are up.
- New fan art.
- Link added to Look Straight Ahead, an online graphic novel about one teen boy's experience with mental illness. It's well-researched, powerful stuff. Still in progress.

Saturday, January 21, 2012:
- New fan art.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012:
- Chapter 25 pages 2, 3, and part of 4 are up.
- FAQ updated. Polish fan translation updated through Chapter 8.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012:
- The end page of Chapter 24 and first page of Chapter 25 are up.
- Notes & Credits page updated.
- Russian and French 2 translations updated.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012:
- Pages 6, 7, and 8 of Chapter 24 are up. (Link goes to beginning of Chapter 24 to recap.)
- Guest comics are now in their own section of the site. Navigation tweaked accordingly.

Sunday, January 1, 2012:
- Happy 2012! It's the first day of the new year, and time for the last guest comic - this one's by the fabulous Runcible, artist/author of the webcomic Morning to Moon.

Friday, December 30, 2011:
- New guest comic (slightly nsfw for casual nudity) by Alison Wilgus, artist/author of Chronin, coming soon from Slave Labor Graphics.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011:
- New guest comic by the fabulous Fauxbrains.
- Printer/postage problems temporarily patched; permanent solution pending. (Hello alliteration.) Also, a few keychains and books are back in stock.

Friday, December 23, 2011:
- New guest comic! Cami Woodruff of Doomsday, My Dear brings a cross-species translation of the end of Chapter 22.
- I checked in on the Kickstarter page today and noticed that 23 people who pledged for books still have not provided shipping information. If you have not yet received your book from the Kickstarter fund drive, please contact me!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011:
- Today's guest comic about magic rings comes to you courtesy of ThePinkTroll.

Sunday, December 18, 2011:
- "Ask TJ & Amal" #4 and #5 are up.
- If you live within the US and want to order anything from the store in time for Christmas, today is your last chance! No orders will ship between December 19 and December 27.

Friday, December 16, 2011:
- For today's guest comic, Kristina Stipetic of 14 Nights relays the totally true and accurate story of TJ's mysterious past. (Includes bonus Bulbasaur.)
- Four awesome new pieces of fan art!
- All store orders placed on or before December 14 ship this afternoon.

> Tuesday, December 13, 2011:
- Today's guest comic is a tribute to the city of St. Louis by the uber-talented Kory Bing, the artist behind the webcomic Skin Deep.
- Three new pieces of fan art!
- All store orders placed on or before December 7 have shipped.

Sunday, December 11, 2011:
- A while back, I opened a Tumblr account where people could ask TJ and Amal questions, which I would answer with doodles and sketches to post during this hiatus. The first few answers are up! (And the question box is still open!)

Friday, December 9, 2011:
- Today's guest comic is an adorable full-page color piece by Kate Ashwin, artist/author of Widdershins and Darken.
- More signed books now available in the Store.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011:
- Kicking off a month of guest comics with a lovely page by Hushicho Phoenix, artist/author of Incubus Tales.
- It's been three weeks since all the Kickstarter-preordered books shipped. If you pledged for a book during the Kickstarter drive and have not yet received your copy, please e-mail and let me know. Thanks!

Friday, December 2, 2011:
- Russian fan translation is up to date.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011:
- Chapter 24 pages 4 and 5 are up.
Taking a break for the rest of the year. The comic is going on hiatus so I can spend December drawing and rebuilding a backlog of pages. The story resumes Tuesday, January 3. In the meantime, I'll still be updating every few days with guest comics from some wonderful artists, plus a few little extras.
- Volume 1 books are now available in the Store!
Due to my workload, I've had to limit the number of signed & sketched books for a while. I'll be making those available in batches of 20 to 25 books at a time, each batch going up when I complete the previous one. The first 20 have already sold out, but there will be more signed & sketched books available later this week.
- Chapters 1 through 5 now available in Polish!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011:
- Chapter 24 pages 2 and 3 are up.
- I'll be signing & selling TJ & Amal Volume 1 on Saturday, December 17, from 1:00 to 4:00 PM at Austin Books And Comics. Hope to see you there!
- Books should be available for purchase through the web store within a few days. Still working on getting shipping set up.
- I just realized I hadn't linked Love Me Nice in the sidebar yet!

Monday, November 21, 2011:
- New fan art. Notes page updated.
- Imagine my surprise this weekend when I found not one but two French fan translations sitting in my Inbox! :o

Friday, November 18, 2011:
- Kickstarter-preordered Volume 1 books are at Lone Star Shipping and begin going out next week! Books will be available in the Store as soon as we get a postal scale and a postage printing system set up in our home office.
- Russian fan translation up to date. German fan translation up through Chapter 18.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011:
- Pages 245 and 246 are up. End note of Chapter 23, first page of Chapter 24. Not sure if this even counts as NSFW but I'll leave that sign lit up anyway.
- Fan art updated.
- Russian fan translation up to date. German fan translation up through Chapter 15.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011:
- Keychains are back in the store. If you're hoping to buy both keychains AND a book, I'd recommend waiting a little while till the books are available in order to save a few bucks on shipping.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011:
- Chapter 23 pages 11 and 12 are up, bringing Chapter 23 to a close. Somewhat NSFW.

Monday, November 7, 2011:
- German fan translation up to Chapter 13. Pagination error fixed in Russian fan translation.
- Volume 1 Books preordered via Kickstarter are packaged and begin shipping today.

We're gonna need a bigger boat.

Packages will be shipped in waves of 20 to 50 books at a time. Thanks, everyone, for your patience and your support! This wouldn't have been possible without you.
- Quick reminder: There won't be any new TJ & Amal story pages next month; I'll be taking December off to rebuild the buffer and finish another comic project. I will, however, be posting guest comics throughout the month! Some wonderful artists are already on board, and I'm excited to share these with you. Guest comics will probably start December 5.

Friday, November 4, 2011:
- Chapters 1-5 now available auf Deutsch! Thanks to Nils for the translation.
- Russian fan translation is fully up to date.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011:
- Chapter 23 pages 9 and 10 are up.
- Lots of new fan art!
- Volume 1 books have arrived from the printer!

(Sorry, Bobdog not available for purchase)

Copies pre-ordered through the Kickstarter pledge drive will ship first; that will probably take 2 or 3 weeks to complete. Once that's done, the book will be available in the TJ & Amal Store.
Also - if you preordered a copy of the book during the Kickstarter pledge drive and have not yet provided your address, please do so ASAP! I am still missing shipping info for about 40 people.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011:
- Chapter 23 pages 7 and 8 are up.
- Notes page updated.
- New fan art.
- Volume 1 books ship from the printer on Thursday! Hoping to receive them all next week and begin shipping preorders on the 10th or so.

Thursday, October 20, 2011:
- Notes page updated.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011:
- Chapter 23 pages 5 and 6 (and part of 7, for continuity's sake) are up.

Saturday, October 16, 2011:
- Two new pieces of fan art and one new commissioned piece.
- Keychains have been reordered from the manufacturer and should be available in the Store in about six weeks.

Friday, October 15, 2011:
- Clear vinyl stickers are back in stock in the Store.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011:
- Chapter 23 pages 3 and 4 are up a little early.
- Brief note: since the next twelve weeks are going to eat me alive, I'll be taking off the entire month of December to catch up on comic work. In the meantime, I'll be updating at least once every week with a guest comic.

Thursday, October 6, 2011:
- Some gorgeous new fan art.
- I've just received word from the printer that the Volume I books will ship on October 27, which means folks who pledged during the Kickstarter drive should start receiving their books in November, and books should be available via the Store in December.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011:
- Chapter 23 pages 1 and 2 are up.
- Notes page updated.

Thursday, September 29, 2011:
- After multiple rounds of revision and correction, Volume I is off to press at last! If you made a $5 Kickstarter pledge for the PDF, check your email for a download link.
- Comic page navigation bug has been fixed!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011:
- There's a bug in ComicCMS that is causing the newest pages to load out of order. I've submitted a bug report and will try and fix this as soon as possible. In the meantime, Pages 230-232 are up, bringing Chapter 22 to a close.
- If you have ordered prints or buttons and have not yet received a notice that your order has shipped, please check the e-mail address affiliated with your Paypal account! I need word on a few outstanding orders before they can ship.
- New prints in the Store. Again, all profits till the end of September go to the Central Texas Red Cross.
- FAQ updated.

Friday, September 23, 2011:
- Links added to the webcomics 14 Nights and String Theory .

Thursday, September 22, 2011:
- Links added to the webcomics The Man Who Hates Fun and Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011:
- Two new pics up in the Gallery.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011:
- Chapter 22 page 7 (and part of page 8) is up.

Thursday, September 15, 2011:
- For the rest of September, all profits from Store sales will go to the Red Cross of Central Texas.
- Due to a serious illness in the family, I will be out of town for a while this coming week. Because of this, the update for Tuesday, September 20 will be slightly late, and will only be one page. Updates will resume as normal Tuesday, September 27.
- Last round of Volume I proofs have been returned to the printer. I expect the print process to begin sometime late next week or early the week after.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011:
- Chapter 22 pages 5 and 6 are up.
- New fan art.
- Russian fan translation up to Chapter 22 page 4.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011:
- Chapter 22 pages 3 and 4 are up.
- New fan art.

Friday, September 2, 2011:
- Links added to webcomics Skin Deep and Daddy Long Legs.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011:
- New illustration & doodle in Extras.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011:
- Chapter 22 pages 1 and 2 are up.
- New fan art.

Friday, August 26, 2011:
- Goofy side comic up in the Gallery.
- Notes page updated. Some minor code tinkering here and there.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011:
- Pages 220 and 221 are up, bringing Chapter 21 to a close. (Link begins on page 219, for context.)
- Volume I books have been proofed and sent back to the printer for a final pass. Hoping to have them available for purchase in October.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011:
- Chapter 21 pages 9 and 10 are up. (Link starts at Chapter 21 page 8.)
Apologies for the truncated update; this past week, all the time I normally devote to comic work has been spent dealing with file transfer issues with the printer. Said issues have been resolved as of Saturday, so things will be back to 2 pages a week next Tuesday.
- Russian fan translation is up to date.
- New fan art!
- Store news: New prints are in stock. All orders placed between July 30 and August 14 have shipped. Unfortunately, due to a recent rise in postage costs for rigid/padded flat packages, I've had to raise shipping prices for overseas print orders (not including Canada). Shipping prices for small items like buttons have not changed.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011:
- Pages 7 and 8 of Chapter 21 are up.
- Sample comics made for Dallas Webcomics Expo are in the Store. More new prints on the way!
- Volume 1 is at the printer! I should be receiving a hard copy proof soon.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011:
- Pages 5 and 6 are of Chapter 21 are up.
- All Store orders placed between July 12 and July 30 have shipped.

Friday, July 29, 2011:
- New color illustrations and sketches on the Gallery page, including the cover art for Volume 1, which goes off to the printer this weekend!
- Russian translation is up to date.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011:
- Chapter 21 pages 3 and 4 are up. Please read starting from page 2, as I've tacked the first part of page 3 onto the end of it to help this sequence flow better.
- Notes page updated.

Monday, July 25, 2011:
- New fan art.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011:
- Chapter 21 pages 1 and 2 are up.
- Third notes page added for Chapters 21-30.
- Links added to webcomics Distillum, Go Fish, and The Super-Gay Adventures of Ross Boston.
- Book news: Thanks so much to everyone who pledged during the Kickstarter fund drive! Volume I (Chapters 1-13) should be sent to the printer around the end of the month. I'm still tweaking the cover illustration and collecting names for the Acknowledgments, but everything else is ready to go. The book will be printed at standard comic size, with perfect binding, interior pages print offset in black on 100% post-consumer recycled paper, and a glossy full color cover.
Books will be available in the Store after all the Kickstarter-preordered copies have shipped.

Thursday, July 14, 2011:
- Russian translation is up to date.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011:
- Pages 208 and 209 are up, bringing Chapter 20 to a close.
- Notes page updated.
- Link added to Mystery Babylon.

Friday, July 8, 2011:
- The Kickstarter pledge drive for printing TJ & Amal Volume 1 ends in one week! The project is completely funded, but if you want a chance to snag a book before they become available in the Store (and without paying for shipping!), you can do so by pledging at the $15 level.
- All Store orders placed between June 27 and July 5 have shipped.
- More exciting webcomic news: One of my art idols and all-around badass Jayd Aït-Kaci (of Sfeer Theory fame) has teamed up with writer Christina Strain to make The Fox Sister, which launched this morning!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011:
- Chapter 20 pages 7 and 8 are up.

Friday, July 1, 2011:
- Fan art updated.

Thursday, June 30, 2011:
- "Grace Under Pressure" prints and a handful of stickers back in stock in the Store.
- I just got hit with an unexpected load of car repairs, so I've put some original panel art for sale on eBay:
Chapter 4, Page 8, Panel 5
Chapter 16, Page 7, Panel 3
Chapter 19, Page 12, Panel 2

Tuesday, June 28, 2011:
- Chapter 20 pages 5 and 6 are up.
- Notes page updated.

>Friday, June 24, 2011:
- Notes page updated.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011:
- Chapter 20 pages 3 and 4 are up.

Saturday, June 18, 2011:
- More original panel art for auction..
- I'll be working on the Volume I cover illustration this weekend, and will be livestreaming some portions of the process. If you'd like to join me, please tune in here. I'll announce streaming times on Tumblr and Twitter . (Most likely will be Sunday morning or evening.)

Thursday, June 16, 2011:
- A reminder: on August 6, we'll be at STRIPcon, The Dallas Webcomics Expo.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011:
- Chapter 20 pages 1 and 2 are up.
- Notes updated.

Friday, June 10, 2011:
- New easter egg.

Thursday, June 9, 2011:
- Whoa! TJ & Amal featured on Kickstarter's front page!
- Lots of gorgeous new fan art!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011:
- Chapter 19 pages 13, 14, and 15 are up.
- Some original panel art for sale on eBay.
- Portuguese translation updated through Chapter 11.
- Link added to Modus Operandi.
- One of my favorite webcomics has finally come to an end - if you haven't read Bobwhite, you're missing out. Artist/author Magnolia Porter has just launched a brand new comic, Monster Pulse. I'm looking forward to watching this one unfold.
- All Store orders placed between May 9 and June 6 ship this afternoon.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011:
- The TJ & Amal Volume 1 Kickstarter Project launched late last night!
Long story short, it's a pledge drive to raise the funds necessary to get Chapters 1-13 made into an offset-print, high quality, finely bound book. Please take a look! Even if you can't donate, there's a silly video to watch.
- Apologies again for the delay in shipping keychains and buttons. The padded mailers never shipped from the supplier, so I have canceled that order and have reordered similar mailers from a different company. They should arrive early next week, and keychains and buttons will ship shortly after.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011:
- Chapter 19 pages 11 and 12 are up.
- Fan Art updated. Russian and Portuguese translations updated.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011:
- Chapter 19 pages 9 and 10 are up. (link goes to Ch19p8 for context.)
- Fan art updated.
- Apologies again for the delay in mailing out Store orders; the rigid/padded mailers I ordered have been unusually slow in shipping.

Friday, May 20, 2011:
- Fan art updated with two submissions and one commission.
- Russian translation updated.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011:
- Chapter 19 pages 7 and 8 are up.
- Note: There will be about a 1-week delay in shipping store orders placed after May 9; I ran out of packaging material and ordered more last Wednesday. Subsequent orders will ship as soon as they can be packed.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011:
- Chapter 19 pages 5 and 6 are up.

Monday, May 9, 2011:
- Fan Art updated.
- Russian fan translation updated to current pages.
- Three pieces of original panel art are up for auction on eBay:
- Chapter 6 page 8 panel 6.
- Chapter 15 page 12 panel 3.
- Chapter 15 page 15 panel 7.

Thursday, May 5, 2011:
- Keychains are available again in the Store. The current stock is on black acrylic.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011:
- Chapter 19 pages 3 and 4 (and part of 5, for context) are up.
- Notes updated.
- Fan Art updated.
- Things are coming together for the Kickstarter fund drive. All I have left to do is edit the video.
- Next week's update will be a little short and/or late; going back into the hospital this weekend. Nothing serious, but I'll be out of commission for a few days. Updates will resume normally after that.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011:
- Fan translations: Portuguese now up to Chapter 8; Russian to Chapter 18.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011:
- Chapter 19 begins with pages 185 and 186.
- Notes updated.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011:
- Chapter 18 pages 8, 9, and 10 are up, bringing this segment to a close. Probably NSFW.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011:
- Chapter 18 pages 6 and 7 are up. Might be NSFW-ish for butts, I guess.
- Notes updated.

Monday, April 4, 2011:
- Chapter 18 pages 4 and 5 are up a little early. NSFW for un-sexy nudity.
- Fan art and Notes pages updated.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011:
- Chapter 18 page 3 is up.
- Russian and Portuguese fan translations updated.
- Fan art page updated.
- Music page updated.
- Some panel art from this week's page up for sale on eBay.
- Some exciting news! I submitted a proposal to Kickstarter for funding the first print run of the official TJ & Amal Volume I book, and it was approved last week! I'm still ironing out the details -- pledge rewards packages, promo video, still gathering bids from print houses -- but hope to start the fund drive in early May.

Friday, March 25, 2011:
- Prints restocked in the Store.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011:
- Chapter 17 pages 1 and 2 are up.
- New fan art.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011:
- Chapter 17 is up in its entirety - it's a short one.
- Portuguese fan translation added, courtesy of Gobetti.
- I'm sad to say that we will not be at Comicpalooza this year. No books to sell, not enough time to print new ones.

Thursday, March 10, 2011:
- New fan art.
- About/FAQ updated and tidied up a bit.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011:
- Chapter 16 pages 7-9 are up. Not terribly NSFW, but I'm leaving the "Mature Readers" light on just in case.
- New fan art.
- Some more panel art is up for sale on eBay.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011:
- Reminder: we'll be at Table 57 at STAPLE! The Austin Independent Media Expo next weekend (March 5 and 6). Hope to see you there!
- Chapter 16 pages 5 and 6 are up. NSFW-ish.
- New fan art.

Friday, February 25, 2011:
More fan translations have been popping up! There are Portuguese and Spanish translations going up on Tumblr -- I'll link those soon -- and I've also been asked about Dutch and Finnish translations. There's also an additional Russian translation and a Russian fan community over here.
All these translations are done by volunteers on their own time - I'm really amazed by everybody's dedication and enthusiasm! Thank you so much!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011:
- Many thanks to Chekhovs_Owl for translating the comic to Russian!.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010:
I am sad to say the comic is going on a short hiatus and updates will be scaled back for a while after that.
I was hit by a car while biking on Thursday, December 2. The damage to my leg is more extensive than originally thought, and I have to go in ~~to be outfitted with a bionic knee~~ for major surgery this week. I'll be out of commission for a while and will have to keep the number of pages per update scaled down during the ~~cyborgization process~~ recovery period in weeks to come. Bone-mend and Rehab drain massive amounts of HP and MP so I have to go to the inn super early each day.
Assuming all goes well, the next update will be on Tuesday, December 28. I look forward to putting those pages up.
Thank you so much for your support, encouragement, and patience. Have a safe and happy holiday, everyone.