Yep. I’m takin’ a Borderline Break.

My job recently got shifted to part-time, so I need to do some job hunting and find additional employment. And I really need to focus on that–really get my business together–before I devote my attention to the comic. I want to be able to give the comic the daily attention that it requires, and at this point I can’t justify that in light of my present employment situation. This didn’t really affect you, my various and sundry readers, until I ran out of backlogged comics.

But rest assured that once I get things straightened out, I’ll be back on top of this thing like a fiend. This story–this story about Jay, his friends, his job, his life–is worth telling, and I intend to tell it, even if it’s just to some fifty people on the internet. That is just the sort of thing I do.

If you’d like to be updated when I start making Borderline Comics again, please send an email to borderlineboy {at} gmail {dot} com. Thanks for your interest in the comic, everyone–I will get right back on it as soon as possible.

Update, 5/23/08: I removed the random sketch comics from the archive and gave them their own space on DrunkDuck. If at any time in the future I happen to have an idea for a comic that I can scribble out in like half an hour, I’ll post it up over there. But as for now, comics take a backseat to the quest for gainful employment.

All right. I had a backlog at one point, but this here Jesus comic is the last comic in it. Backlog’s exhausted. I do, however, have some non-Borderline-Boy-related comics, things I threw together whenever I had an idea and a moment to draw it. They’re mostly obscurish pop-culture parodies. But I have four of them, and that will last ’til the end of the week.

Enjoy the random comics, starting tomorrow. And by the way, thanks for all your voting, guys.

One last thing I wanted to mention. You’ve seen me link to the webcomic T-N-T; you’ve seen its lead character Trent make a cameo in my comic, and you’ve seen Jay make cameos in T-N-T; you’ve maybe even seen its creator posting comments on Borderline Boy comics as “speearr.” Well, T-N-T had its final comic this past Sunday. It’s a fine conclusion to a fine webcomic which, through daily persistence, has only gotten better since day one. So go on over and give it a proper goodbye, ‘kay? Go see the final comic.

Hats off to ya, speearr, and best of fortune to you in all your future endeavors.

Guess what, guys? I lost the Guest Artist Competition over at Beaver and Steve! I put a lot of effort into losing it. There are also a host of other entrants, so you can check them all out here. If you wish.

Today’s comic mentions the Switchfoot song “Stars.” In case you’re not familiar with it, but would like to be, here’s the official music video for it, and below are the lyrics.

“Stars”
by Switchfoot

Maybe I’ve been the problem
Maybe I’m the one to blame
But even when I turn it off and blame myself
The outcome feels the same

I’ve been thinking maybe I’ve been partly cloudy
Maybe I’m the chance of rain
And maybe I’m overcast
And maybe all my luck’s washed down the drain

I’ve been thinking ’bout everyone,
Everyone you look so lonely
But when I look at the stars
When I look at the stars
When I look at the stars, I see someone else
When I look at the stars
The stars, I feel like myself

Stars looking at a planet
Watching entropy and pain
And maybe to start to wonder
How the chaos in our lives could pass as sane

I’ve been thinking ’bout the meaning of resistance
Of a hope beyond my own
And suddenly the infinite and penitent
Begin to look like home

I’ve been thinking about everyone
Everyone you look so empty
But when I look at the stars
When I look at the stars
When I look at the stars, I see someone else
When I look at the stars
The stars, I feel like myself.
Yeah!

Everyone, Everyone feels so lonely
Everyone, yeah everyone feels so empty
When I look at the stars
When I look at the stars
When I look at the stars, I feel like myself
When I look at the stars
The stars, I see someone…

Greetings, all. Have you seen the Rudimentary Links Page yet? It is a handy resource for if you are bored on the internet. Eventually there will be a non-rudimentary links page, along with a non-rudimentary website. But at present, Chris is keeping extremely busy with the launch of his own business project, Shelfworthy, and so has little time to work on the new site. We are both very sorry for the delay, but it is tragically necessary. No ETA on the new site at present, but we do have an ETA on the Rudimentary Links Page. It is right now.

As far as the comic itself is concerned, we are getting into a new short storyline at Adam’s birthday party here. Remember that you can see Monday’s comic in advance, anytime this weekend, simply by casting a quick vote at Buzzcomix. This time I have actually remembered to make the preview comic available all weekend long.

And it’s just about time for another weekend, y’all. Happy weekending, and I’ll see you Monday.

(P.S. : Have you checked out Jay’s blog?)

Well, just like he promised earlier in the week, Jay updated his blog again. He’s got a list of the top ten worst reasons to fast . A little more funny for you guys to start your weekend off.

And surprise! Erin’s back for a phone conversation with Jay in today’s strip. Remember, Monday’s comic is available as a vote incentive if you don’t want to wait all weekend to see what Erin’s got to say.

Have a good weekend, y’all. I am really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning.

Jay updated his blog. There’s some stuff over there about how technology is unnatural, and I think he’s afraid that some guy in Chicago will sneeze on him? From the past? You’d better go check it out for yourself, it’s pretty crazy.

Don’t go looking on Joystiq for the article Lucas refers to. It doesn’t exist. However, those seeking further information may find the following links useful.
Nintendo’s Censorship Policy
Zophar’s Domain examines the “religious controversy” over Wisdom Tree
RetroNintendo provides an interview with a Wisdom Tree employee

A friend of mine commented on Jay’s remark in the second panel. If they were legally making unlicensed Nintendo games, wouldn’t they be, by definition, not sticking it to the man? This is a question worth addressing, so if you’re interested in finding out what exactly Jay means by that, then read on.

While the games Wisdom Tree created may have technically been legal, it wasn’t as if Nintendo was pleased about this sort of thing. I’m sure you’re familiar with the measures Nintendo took to maintain tight control on the content of video games for the NES: assiduous quality/content screening, the lockout chip, the official Nintendo Seal of Quality, and so forth. Wisdom Tree got around this by legally reverse-engineering the NES system and building a way around the lockout chip into their games themselves [1].

You can bet Nintendo wasn’t happy about this. After all, for the North American releases of their games, they edited out not only violent and bloody content, but also religious references such as crosses. The impression I get from the research I’ve done on the subject is that Nintendo was trying to avoid religious controversy in their games entirely–maintain secular neutrality. An out-and-out religious game wouldn’t have gone over with them too well.

The consequences for breaking Nintendo’s censorship standards? First, if the game was developed illegally, Nintendo could sue. We’ve already been over how Wisdom Tree circumvented that. Second, the company would basically refuse to distribute to retailers who sold unlicensed games. How Wisdom Tree got around that threat is an interesting story. In essence, they courted the attention of Christian bookstores and retailers, who weren’t likely to carry video games in the first place. They put together promotional videotapes of gameplay and provided bookstores with cardboard displays. The marketing was very shrewd, entirely legal, yet frustrated Nintendo’s efforts to control religious content in their games.

So now you see how Wisdom Tree really was “sticking it to the man!” It’s really quite clever what they did from a legal and marketing perspective. It’s just a shame none of that innovation carried over to their gameplay.

No comic today. I’m pretty busy, I still haven’t finished that independent cartooning project I talked about, work is stressing me out, and I need to take a breather. Perhaps Good Friday might have been a more spiritually appropriate day to take off, but it is a little late for that now. Today I am chilling out and reaping the benefits of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Now I know you came here to get your comic fix, so allow me to link you to some other good comics. T-N-T is one of my favorite new comics, and it updates every single day as if it were a newspaper strip. Color on Sundays! Seriously impressive! Also, Nobody Scores continues to be awesome. Be forewarned, though, that Nobody Scores contains use of the F-word and other such expletives. You will probably only enjoy it if you are not offended by coarse language, or perhaps if you are offended by coarse language but really enjoy being offended. Whatever floats your boat, guys.

Hey there. As you read this, I am in North Carolina for the wedding of two of my friends this weekend. That’s the power of automated posting mechanisms and getting a comic for Friday done ahead of time. Feel the power.

More news: I recently picked up a freelance cartooning project! I’m doing some cartoons for a friend of my employer. And what with the prospect of a paid cartooning task–plus the fact that I really need to set aside some time to get my taxes done and stuff–I’m going to be taking next week off. Expect a new comic on Monday, March 10th.

Also, website-making Chris is extremely busy himself, so work on the new site continues as he has opportunities. One of these days things will look better around here.

Hmm, here’s an idea. Let me tide you over with some vote incentive sketches.