Kiosk: life in neutral

"Civil War-ed"

2008-04-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

I hate doing this, but my life has gotten too busy to maintain any semblance of a schedule for the strip. It's unfair to the 4 or 5 of you that actually look forward to reading the exploits of the mall employees for me to keep having you guys checking back day after day. I hereby announce: "kiosk. life in neutral" is on a long hiatus. It's NOT over. It WILL be back in one way, shape, or form. I just have too much on my plate right now to update with any frequency.

I am currently working two full time, and one part time jobs. Add on top of that, the fact that I just started chemotherapy on Friday to hopefully take care of a tumor I've been living with for 15+ years (it's not cancer, but it sucks). Plus, I'd like to once again spend some kind of time with my wife before she hates me too much for taking all these projects on during this time.

Word will be out when we're back in business. I have a great PR guy who will make his voice heard when the strip is back up and running.

Thanks to everyone who has read, and looks forward to reading more.

-Geoff

One Year Later...

2008-02-19T11:29:00.000-08:00

Today marks the one year anniversary of Kiosk. Life in Neutral's debut on HM. I recently went back through the archives and have been very pleased with the progress I've made with the strip. It started with gag-a-days, and quickly morphed into what I wanted it to be, a story-arc centric comic. I hope everyone else has enjoyed the strip as much as I enjoy making it.

Remember, you can join the kiosk myspace at www.myspace.com/kioskwebcomic

Friend me!

Plus, check out the kiosk promotional trailer:

Thanks!!

-G

Merry (month after ) Christmas

2008-01-31T12:42:00.000-08:00

Alright! Jake finally wins in this one! Sure, he kind of schemed to get something he has been longing for, but I think he deserves it. Also, notice who's holding the mistletoe. I think Candy is beginning to see something in our favorite mall employee.

Well, now that Christmas has come and gone, it's time to do what all the stores do...focus on Valentine's Day! I'm currently writing a story involving dating and love lives, so this one's for the ladies...

I hope you all enjoyed the X-mas arc, and thank you again for reading.

Please drop by the forums and let me know how things are going, what you'd like to see, just say hi...whatever.

-G

Blatant Fart Joke

2008-01-16T04:27:00.000-08:00

Wow am I behind on this one, or what? Work has been super busy, as we're putting the polish on a 2 minute promotional clip for our boss to take with him to Las Vegas to shop around at the end of next week.

Making his debut in page 7 is Jake's hairless cat, Bendis. Our hero is in a tough spot, wanting to get the object of his desire something special for Christmas, and he's getting desperate. In the next few, we see just how low he goes to get his inspiration.

I'm really hoping to crank out the next 8 parts of this to finish it up, and get started on a Valentine's day arc in time for V-Day. I mapped out what I would like the next 6 months or so of strips to be, right through this year's Summer Spectacular, so maybe the next 8 months.

And, yes, that IS a blatant fart joke in panel 5.

Thanks for reading!

-G

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2007-11-23T10:42:00.000-08:00

Hello!! Welcome to the kiosk Christmas Special! I haven't sat down to put together a solid schedule for when this one will be out, but I'll do that this weekend, so you faithfuls can read along as soon as a new strip is up. This one is 15 parts, with a HUGE pay off in the end. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and not too many of you are out wrestling 65 year old grandmas for a 10 dollar DVD player/toaster oven.

Enjoy!

-G

Halloween Spooktacular by Sean Shea

2007-11-08T06:06:00.000-08:00

Hello all you faithful kiosk readers, and WELCOME to all you newbies! I know Sean did a whole hell of a lot pimping to get word out on his writing debut, so thank you all for checking out the strip. Sean came to me before October, and he asked if it was cool if he wrote a Halloween strip. Knowing what a good writer he is, I quickly said yes, and the result is the great 6 parter that you have just had the pleasure of reading.

Now, my plan is to collect the enormous Summer Special and the Halloween Spooktacular into a nice comic book sized "Kiosk. Life in Neutral's Indian Summer Sectacular 2007" PRINTED volume. PLEASE feels free to email and or PM me on the forums here to let me know if you want a copy, and I'll post the details as to when they'll be available over there on the HM forums as well.
I've had a ton of fun over the past few months working on the strip, but it's time to take a small break, so I can write a bunch of strips, and get ahead on it again. Thanks to everyone who hung in during all the delays, and thanks again to Sean for keeping the arc fully in the realm of the kiosk world. You'll definitely see more from him in the future!

Thanks guys, see you on Black Friday!!

-Geoff

kiosk Fighter II Alpha

2007-10-16T06:02:00.000-07:00

Yes, that bottom panel is supposed to be pixelated, in case some of you don't get the joke. Seems we're chugging right along now. 3 more parts/4 more pages until the end, how is this possible? Double page spread baby!! The next strip will be pages 18 and 19, then we wrap up in time for our now 6 parter for Halloween. Hope you guys are liking the current arc, I'm looking forward to the payoff, as I think it's pretty funny.

Thanks for reading!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

2007-10-03T03:19:00.000-07:00

Hello out there faithful reader(s). I know things have been sporadic at best lately (I was on time the past week and a half), but things are still dangling at our apartment. I finally have internet again, which was like pulling teeth from Comcast, and I ended up redoing the whole set up myself anyway. This weekend might allow me to get some strips in the bag. There's only 6 more parts to the arcade story, and the pay off at the end will satisfy the long time fans (can you believe I've been doing this since February?).

After we're done with this one, and it WILL be done before the week of Halloween, we're gonna get into a 5 parter for Devil's Night. I've got a ghost writer (pun completely intended) for the story, and hopefully he's getting those scripts to me by the end of the week...right? When that's done, there may be another short hiatus, as I'm reworking a few things, and the style may change up a bit. I'm thinking of going to a one-a-week schedule for a while, as at the very least, you'll see a huge improvement in my backgrounds. My job at Inventionland has been great for inspiration, and I've even cranked out a few animations of our favorite Mall employees. Which will also be a reason for the break, I really want to crank out a 3 minute short of the kiosk gang.

Thanks to everyone for sticking it out, the rest of this year should prove to be very interesting.

-G

TWO WEEKS!

2007-08-20T17:06:00.000-07:00

Holy crap is that a new strip!? Yep, but don't expect a follow up till next monday. I'm slipping into a once a week schedule for right now while things are still hectic. Bottom line is, the new job is exciting as hell, and awesome, and I work in Inventionland!

Try not to be too jealous.

Thanks again for hanging in there!! I'll update more next week.

New Strip This Week...Promise

2007-08-06T05:29:00.000-07:00

Ugh...moving is crap! There WILL be a new page up sometime this week. I've officially entered my "Lame Duck" period at work, where there is nothing to work on, so I may take the opportunity to do one or two during the day. Sketches are done, just need to ink and paint, then assemble. We'll be joining Stevie and Chuck in their quest to acquire the briefcase. Thanks for hangin in there.

-G

Here we go again...

2007-08-01T19:17:00.000-07:00

My apologies again, but the comic will be a day or two late. I recently accepted a new job in Pittsburgh, and we're scrambling to get things packed and ready to move, so the next few weeks are going to be rough. There may be delays, as internet access will be spotty until things are settled. I appreciate your patience during this time, and for hanging with me. The story is still in full gear right now, and the next strip will feature Chuck and Stevie attempting to acquire the mysterious briefcase that will help Jake take on all comers in the tournament.

Thanks for understanding guys!

-Geoff

You Will Vote for #9

2007-07-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello faithful readers! It's Wednesday, and a little more is revealed...

It appears as though there is a little more to our old friend than originally thought, hmmm?

Friday finds us with a look at the very place our heroes are trying to save.

Added note:

I designed a t-shirt for pixelstrips.com. Now, voting has begun and runs through the first week of August. If you could take a few minutes and go to

http://www.thecomicforums.com/forum2//index.php?showtopic=114596

You need to register an account, but it's free and fairly painless. Then, vote for #9. That's mine. #9

Thanks for any help you guys offer.

9

9

9

number 9

VOTE!!

Shazam!

2007-07-16T05:35:00.000-07:00

We're back! So I think that we'll be having a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule for this week. I'm glad you guys were so understanding, hopefully I can get ahead a little bit this week, and something like that won't have to happen again.

The wife and I went and saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix yesterday. As this is my favorite book of the series, I was looking forward to this one. My biggest problem (other than how Gambon plays Dumbledore) is that this felt like a montage film, where the scenes just popped from one to the next, with little to no transition between them. The last quarter of the movie was great, though. It's not better than Goblet of Fire, but it's better than the first 3.

Alright, back to the grind today.

Lameness

2007-07-11T20:36:00.000-07:00

Hey faithful readers...I'm sorry to say, but there won't be another new comic this week. Hopefully I'll make up for it next week with 3 for the week. Personal stuff got in the way this week, and I have zero time to work on the strip. We have two games that I'm assigned to at work that are both getting into the final stages at work, and we're swamped with crap to do, and I have a "test" to finish for an animation job that looks out of this world, so that takes precedence. Like I said, next week I should be able to post 3, but in the mean time, check out all the other great strips here on Humorous Maximus, and re-read the strip from monday, cause it's fun!

Thanks for being understanding, things happen....

-G

More than Meets the Eye

2007-07-08T18:42:00.000-07:00

Howdy! Here we are in week 3 of the summer spectacular. Back in the present day, Mason learns the truth behind the mall's most infamous video gamer. Jake "The ASS" Beckett, arcade menace, and all time high scorer. I found it funny that arcade companies wised up and no longer allow you to enter ASS as your initials.

We went and saw Transformers on Thursday, and all I can say is "Wow." That movie delivered big time. The action was unbelievable, the comedy was funny and kept it grounded, and the robots were awesome. When I first saw the designs last year, I was highly disappointed, but after seeing them on screen, man do they make a whole lot more sense than those box-like toys I used to play with. I'm looking forward to the sequel...and, oh yes, there WILL be a sequel.

Hope everyone is having a good week, see you on Thursday, where our boys hit a snag in their plan.

Flashback!

2007-07-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

Ah, 1996...Jake had some great hair as a teenager. I had some fun redesigning our heroes for their younger versions. I may revisit the past for more of teenage Jake and Rex...

There is some truth behind the events of today's strip. Another conversation that actually happened, which is probably why only one other person will think this is absolutely hilarious. When I was in college, two of my room mates were in the living room playing Soul Caliber on the Dreamcast (that should put the time in perspective), and one of them uttered the phrase "Watching my parents die in front of my eyes would be easier than this game." Which shocked the other, and after a good long silence, he almost whispered for him to take it back. I still think it's one of the funniest things I have ever heard. Incidentally, 2 days later, Soul Caliber had been mastered and was no longer that hard.

Monday, a bargain will be struck, and Thursday, expect to see our trio of gamers hit a roadblock in their quest to keep the Arcade open.

Hope everyone had a great 4th, I will be working my butt off for the next couple weeks to ensure our games get done on time...again, the life of a video game artist...

Those Bastards...

2007-06-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

Page 1!!! Page 1!!! Hopefully you guys are excited as I am. The boys from Sorrow Hopes are in for a doozy. Some people may be wondering, "Geoff, what can I expect from this summer spectacular?" Good question. The answer is, a new character (Mason, seen above), a secret from Jake and Rex's past, does Bob really have Jedi powers?, an all out "street fight", and a special ending that I think fits so nicely into the Kiosk world.

Enjoy page one, and stick with me, this one is awesome!

Summer Spectacular!

2007-06-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

It's here! The mega event of the summer, spanning 8 weeks, or however long it takes for me to complete! "Infinity Arcade" will be the first in annual epic events from the gang at Kiosk. I'm super excited to do this. I did up this first cover, an homage to Marvel's big company wide cross-over event entitled Infinity Gauntlet. I remember having the poster for IG over my bed for years, and the image just ha stuck with me ever since. I hope you guys enjoy the summer event!

Polls are closed, and it's official. The outline stays gone. It seems most people, along with myself, like the strip without. Thank for all the input!

I'll post more this week, promise!

An Experiment in Fandom

2007-06-18T18:55:00.000-07:00

Ok boys and girls, it's poll time. I'm debating something my fellow webcartoonist, Brock Heasley suggested to me (go read Superfogeys) in the forums. I used to put a thick outline around my characters, a la nicktoons and older cartoon network shows. A while back, I took the line away, I don't remember why. So I'm going to put it in the hands of you, my adoring fans. I am going to post today's strip, both ways. First, with the outline, second, without. You can compare back and forth by viewing the monday and the tuesday strips. Then, simply comment right here in the blog, or register in the forums, and put you vote in there. This is your chance to help design the strip!! Exciting, isn't it?

Thanks for caring.

Thursday Ramblings

2007-06-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

Hello faithful Kiosk viewer, yes all one of you! I hope you're enjoying the strip lately, as I'm filling out the cast. For a while now, I had been looking to add a more fantastical character to the realm of Kiosk, and when I was sketching around a few weeks ago, Lou came across my paper. Yes, he is Lucifer, a.k.a. The Devil, and yes he tries to bargain for people's souls. He just isn't very good at it. I think there are two more characters that will come into play in the next couple months, and then we'll have our cast.

On the home front, I just got an awesome new laptop, and people have already noticed that the colors in the strip are popping a lot more. My desktop's monitor is super dark, so the colors looked very washed out in the first 30 or so strips. All of this is fixed now, woohoo!

Monday I will be speaking to a few classes of elementary students about what it is I do for a living. I'm pretty excited about it, nervous a bit, but more excited I think. I know that when I was in fourth grade, if some guy came into my class and told me he made video games for his job, it would blow my mind. Hopefully I can get that reaction out of at least one or two kids. Takes me back to the days when my friend, Tom (Rex) and I would color graph paper just like the old pixelated Nintendo style stuff, it was awesome.

Make sure to let me know what you like or don't like, or want to see more of in the strip, either here in the comments, or in the awesome new forums!

-Geoff

Bloggings!

2007-06-08T15:52:00.000-07:00

Hello Kiosk readers! I can't tell you how excited I am to have a blog here for the strip. Hopefully this weekend I'll get to filling out the archives so all the strips will be back here for your viewing pleasure. Also, we have a forum! Go to the HM main page, click the box that says forum, and scroll on down to see the Kiosk forums. Feel free to post stuff you like about the strip, what you don't like, discuss storylines, characters, etc. I hope you enjoy!

Kiosk is Back!

2007-06-06T17:17:00.001-07:00

yeah!!!