Do what you have to. I ain’t goin’ no where and i’ve got plenty of time.

Blank It isn’t dead. I’m saying this on May 16th 2012. So if you’re reading this in the neighborhood of the summer of 2012, I’m sticking by those words. I just did a bunch of draft work for how we’re going to wrap up book 2, all I need is for Aric to come back to the table so we can pen it out and finish it up.

I’ve also been working on a few other projects. Unfortunately when you’re a webcartoonist, people assume if they can’t see your shit online, you’re not doing anything. Comics – good comics like this one (and yes, I think Blank It is good), take months of weeding out bad ideas. And Aric, do you know what he’s doing? He’s got an insane side project that could turn him into a TV star if played out right.

I’m not done making Blank It, and I’m not done making comics. But the internet is such a “here and now” medium that it’s really easy to forget. If I have to, I’ll put up another news post. But you guys gotta give me at LEAST another month of getting my shit together before I can start putting up pages again. Because when we start Blank It, I intend to update weekly until book 2 is finished, which means no false starts.

It was a great comic with a good premice, and I am really sad that it came to this (especially since I was one of the earlier readers!)

Still will be checking, but I will not cross my fingers anymore.

NOPE.avi

I laughed hard at that one :p

Just how long is this expected to take? Until next year?

So I congratulate you for your accomplishments and your family. I congratulate what you’ve done, and wish you the best in whatever you’ll choose to do next. I just hope you’ll share it with us all.

I should stop typing on the internet when I’m sleep-deprived.

you said a lot of stuff I didn’t have the courage to say or wasn’t fully formed in my mind but took shape while reading your words. thanks.

here’s my expansion on that:
Lem, there is a common artist’s fallacy to compare his or herself with other artists. you seem to be doing that. my advice (that I can never seem to take myself): don’t. you’re not in a race. a fight for money, maybe, but that’s not a race with other people. I read Blank It, Dominic Deegan, Goblins, So… You’re a Cartoonist, and brentalfloss: the comic. some I like more than others, but that means nothing because I still read them all. I don’t have to choose in the way a hiring manager would have to choose an employee. (as an irrelevant side, I’ll also point out that Blank It is in the top two) (as another side, whenever I do this, my boyfriend always makes a point to ask me what I’m doing this for – and remind me that it should be for myself. fans and money may keep me going, but at the very beginning and at the core, this is my art, my story.)

I feel as though I need to clarify one more point: when I said “you can achieve greatness again,” my points were made as I was seeing through your eyes. from my perspective, you’re already awesome – you wouldn’t be an inspiration if you weren’t. but if you find it hard to come to terms with that, then by your perspective, put your stuff that made you a contender in the first place back up, and rise again.
perhaps that didn’t need clarifying. this may be somewhat moot anyway. I’m feeling eloquent tonight and wanted to say it anyway, though.

kick some ass, sir ;)

group hug? :D

I agree with Shaelyn as well. I was going to send you an e-mail (and I might still), and Shaelyn has inspired me to say part of what I have written in the e-mail:

Why do you say that you “used” to be a webcomic contender? Aren’t you still? What do you call this? What do you call Northwind? I mean yes, both Need More Love (look it up on TVTropes), but you have fans. Maybe the other webcartoonists and webcomics you mentioned are more famous overall. But I’ve never heard of them (except for Megatokyo and 3PS), and that’s not for lack of reading famous webcomics. Maybe Megatokyo is more popular. But I’m not reading Megatokyo. I’m reading this. Isn’t this a “proper comic”? Isn’t this “making comics work”? I think it is. And I know I’m not you, so from a purely pragmatic standpoint, it doesn’t matter what I think. This is personal — it’s about what you think. But maybe the thoughts of a fan are worth something to you, and if they are, then let me say that I’ve always thought of Blank It as a “proper comic”. I’ve always thought of you as a webcomic contender — or, to be more precise, I NEVER thought of you as a contender, because I’ve never seen ANYBODY as a contender. To me, that implies that it’s a competition of some sort, and I’ve never seen it that way. And maybe you don’t, either, or maybe you do. The point is, I have no idea what “webcomic contender” means to you. Your history as an artist/webcartoonist/whatever is a lot bigger and longer than what I’ve seen. I don’t know what “proper webcomic” means to you. I don’t know what “making comics work” means to you. And if you call yourself a failure or a washup, then I certainly don’t know what “failure” or “washup” mean to you. But then again, you’re comparing the present to a history I don’t have the slightest clue about. I guess I’m realizing for the first time that I have absolutely no idea who you are. And maybe that’s your whole point, when you say things like “I was a somebody”. So, I don’t know, maybe you’re right. I don’t know what this “webcomic revolution” is that you say you wanted to be a part of. Maybe if I knew, I’d think you were a failure, too. But you don’t look like a failure from where I stand. Not by a long-shot. You’ve written a webcomic. From what I can glean, you’ve written several. That’s more than I’ve ever done. I’m the one who’s going to be a failure if none of the things I’m writing ever get off the ground. To me, no one can be a failure, who’s done what you’ve done.

[end of e-mail excerpt]

(If any of the above made me sound like a dick despite my intentions, then you have experienced a small taste of why I’m very, very hesitant to actually send the whole e-mail. If it DIDN’T make me sound like a dick… Then let me know so I can send the damn e-mail without feeling like a horrible person.)

The reason I’m afraid that I come across sounding like a jackass is that, maybe I’m making assumptions. I have no idea what your life is like. Who am I to say that you’re wrong, that I disagree? It’s your life. You know yourself a million times better than I ever will. This isn’t meant to be a reflection on you, but if I tried to follow my dreams and ended up mired in debt, I’d probably think I was a failure too. I can’t say how my feelings might change if I managed to salvage a good life out of that, though. But the point is, people tend to be harder on themselves than they should be. I’m not trying to make you feel better — maybe you should be this hard on yourself, like I said, I honestly have no freaking clue. I’m just trying to communicate exactly what my thoughts and feelings are about all this, and what I feel, honestly, is that you are not a failure — but you reserve the right to call yourself one, as much as we may protest.

I do want to say that, just like with Shaelyn, you have inspired me, as well. You aren’t the only person who has inspired me, but you inspired me in a unique way. The strangeness and awesomeness of this comic pushes me to be creative and to not be afraid to be weird or different in my writing. You showed me how to be completely freaking awesome while also being completely freaking weird. Of all the things I’ve read, only Blank It could have taught me that.

Also, I was amazed at the “baring-your-soul” comic. Another thing I wrote in my would-be e-mail was, “Wow. That isn’t just ‘kinda bares my soul’. That’s baring your soul turned Up To Eleven. That’s…wow. Really courageous. I don’t think I’ve ever known of anyone who could even have the courage and honesty to write these things down, let alone let others see them.”

I think your honesty is beautiful.

And, if you need it, *hugs*

(If any of this made me sound like a jerk, I’m sorry. I suck at judging how stuff will sound to other people. But I get the distinct feeling that I sound like a jerk, and it honestly took me about ten minutes to work up the courage to press the “Submit Comment” button. *cowers* Please don’t flay me.)

SOMETIMES SCREAMING IN FRUSTRATION HELPS TOO. MAYBE IT WOULD HELP TO THREATEN THE COMPUTER WIHT BEING THROWN OUT THE WINDOW. EXPERIMENT WITH WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU. HAVE A NICE DAY!

the internet hasn’t entirely forgotten you.

however, you’ve pulled away from the internet, too. your old comics aren’t hosted here anymore. you can put them back up. you can gain new readers through them. you can achieve greatness again. put yourself back in the loop.

one last thing. I have a strong intent to make a webcomic of my own now. I’ve got a great deal of the story plotted and am trying to nail out character design right now. you’re partly responsible for this. I owe you for that.

I’m not saying “hurry up and get it going, dammit!” no. let that come as it will, I’m patient – but thank you for everything.

I do remember references from Tatsuya Ishida, as well as Greg Dean to THE HotSoup and a comic drawing weekend. While I certainly can’t say how you relate to them now, I think that matters less than how you think they do, so I’d say just do what you want. I know what striking out on your own can cost (I’ve got the bankruptcy to prove it), and I also know the regretful happiness of a salvaged life (which is a pretty good life). Still, keep going, keep drawing, and keep writing. Fame isn’t what you create, it’s what you do and who you are, and the fact that I want to read your work (which before you posted this, I didn’t know existed) speaks well for it.

Keep trying, and keep enjoying the life you’ve built no-matter what comes of it. We’ll keep reading.

It’s interesting when you read this last strip how it looks like they left it on an intentional cliffhanger as if they know what’s happening next but want us to twist a little…but at the same time made it sound like they just ran out of ideas.

What kind of radiation are you? Alpha, Beta, or Gamma?

Also, I find that the combined news of not being dead AND Blank-it not being dead exceedingly pleasing. Yay.

if there were no speculators (who speculate) there would be no reason to have a stock market. nobody would buy shares of a company, so you wouldn’t be able to put a value on something like that.

As for applications, the Cyn Wolf series suggested cars that run off of stupidity. The pirate captain in Dubious Company made a flying ship that runs off drunkenness. I’m fairly certain that speculation as a fuel source would power crime-scene investigation equipment.

Very well, your continued existence shall be tolerated. -_-

Still a believer. :¬P

Also, the octo-ribbons (somebody think of a witty name for them, fast) look fun. Let’s hope they’re not just scraps of ribbon and are actually a new species or something.

This is not one of those comics. Reading the archives again, it’s way too good for me to drop, if only to figure out what the HELL is going on :) Keep up the good work!

@Zapheres YES :D http://blankitcomics.com/2011/12/12/finding-consensus/

I feel like they’ve now officially entered some alternate universe where everything that happened to them is happening all over again, but slightly different. For instance, instead of a giant bug ship flown by bugs that sprays confetti, we now have a giant spaceship flown by who knows what that drops little purple octopuses.

Or this could be the same universe just continuing to be completely insane. I’m flexible.

Anyone else notice that alternate-Lemmo’s spiky bangs are flatter and straighter than original-Lemmo’s? Or is that just on this page.

Another idea is that this could be some whole new species. After all the new Socks is now a turtle and we never saw THAT before.

Anyway from the looks of things that penguin plane looks more advanced (well maybe not advanced. Complicated?) than the previous one. With big gigantic ridiculous-looking pitchfork intakes!

And for the record I’m not really all that surprised by the octoribbons. Penguins keep a whole bunch of random junk in their aircraft. Most of which seems to want to hurt Marina…

Haha I love everyone’s expressions.
Also: OCTORIBBONS? They seem exciting ^-^

Great job guys, like always! Can’t wait for more :)

“How do you know she is aware of the fiery heads?”

…Because she is staring at them and screaming?

@Anje

“@PyroForge: I was actually referring to the final image, where each encounters his/her double, not to the broader situation.”

So was he. He’s saying that the turtle isn’t Marina’s double. Marina doesn’t have a double, and the turtle’s double isn’t present.

But I do get what you’re saying, and I think it’s funny, too.

Are those like…ribbon octopuses? Lol at first I thought they looked like monkeys from Barrel-o-Monkeys or whatever it’s called… XD

:¬O

This leads me to wonder whether the Aric and Lemmo we know are both the same ones we met in the beginning, or if one of them is a completely different Aric or Lemmo

Omg. Paraturtles later!

If its the old one, then the new pair isn’t on the same path as the old pair. If its not, then the old pair is in a new universe that is set a few events back.

either way, I see lemmo being a spoiler

It took me a minute to realize the turtle was talking, at which point Lemmo’s comment made more sense (the speech bubble pointy bit confused me). Interesting that Marina’s first reaction was to grab the turtle. And where the crap are they all RUNNING to, anyway? XD At first they seem to be running away from each other, but this clearly ceases to be a point when the two Aric’s meet up in the last panel and are now running in the same direction and together. So basically, everyone is running in circles. Which is pretty natural for people in this comic, come to think of it.

Also, the other Aric may be called Aric too, so the turtle didn’t need to be introduced to know his name. And for that matter he may have been referring to ‘his’ Aric.

The real question is, why is (He? She? It?) saying the same thing as Marina?

And how do either of them know Aric’s name? (just realized that Aric and Lemmo never introduced themselves by name to anyone, yet Marina somehow knew their names when they met back up)

And now the REAL question is: when shoe/sock-turtle inevitably gets split in half, will the two halves be dumber, like Socks 1 & 2, or, in the forces of alternativity, twice as smart as the turtle was to begin with?

These are important questions, people! Except when they’re not.

Second: New Lemmo looks happy about this development.

Third: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Gah, wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey. And now both Arics have their hair on fire.

LOL the turtle can run.

Also, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

Long live Blank It!

Instead of assuming this is some kind of a time loop, maybe this is somehow a new Lemmo and Aric. After all, Socks is now a turtle. Maybe the two new characters picked different names?

Stream of conscience: maybe there is also a bug flying over that will somehow stop Aric’s fall (rise?).

I love the parallelism. Almost the same, but not quite. I seem to remember Aric got most of his clothes off shortly after this point the first time through. I wonder what Marina thinks of apparel theater.

WHAT

http://blankitcomics.com/2008/10/23/obstacle-to-attention/

I was so confused until the last two panels. Now I get it and I’m just like “HOLY CRAP.”

What in the where what now?

Was Marina’s “what is time” comment foreshadowing? Who knows!

At the moment it looks like the best way to fix at is with the shovel beam…

Actually he seems to be losing his hair.

Hey Sir Matt, that elective surgery idea is fantastic! He could pull a Lemmo and then use the hand juice, and problem solved!

The floating situation could become a problem if Lemmo let’s go. I wonder what would happen then. With no hole in the floor, maybe Aric would fall up until he smashed into the underside of the floor. Would that put him back with the robots? I wonder.

As an FYI as well, the ‘next comic’ button doesn’t seem to be present on the comic before this one. At least not for me at any rate.

Of course it’s a possibility. You just have to either a) stick with parts of the universe that have already been shown, and/or b) make new ones that seem like they would actually show up. Have you seen how long these characters have spent at some of the places they’ve visited? Someone could write a whole fanfic (or at least a chapter or two, or just a short fanfic) that takes place in only one location.

I mean, yeah, I get that this fictional universe is a lot more dynamic than most, but I honestly don’t see how that could make it “impossible”, or even very difficult, to write a Blank It fanfic.

@Drew Carey

I’m…pretty sure you posted on the wrong comic.

I look forward to the return of this comic, but if it doesn’t happen, at least I will always have one of the books the guys released.

Btw – noticed your Blank It app in the apple app store is gone… (I’m running the latest OS… Not sure if that has something to do with it).

Did you guys remove it???

Cleverbot: World of Warcraft.

User: What characters do you have?

Cleverbot: Gnomes, lots of them.

User: That’s some great humility right there. Kudos.

Cleverbot: I think you’re eyes are out of proportion.

User: You can’t see my eyes.

Cleverbot: Why not, you don’t have any eyes?

User: Ah, you’re sure of that? How is it with you? Do you have eyes?

Cleverbot: AI eyes.

User: I can’t see your eyes.

Cleverbot: I can’t see yours either.

User: I don’t have a dog.

Cleverbot: Do you have a cat.

User: Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is software that is able to predict, which enables it to understand and make good decisions.

Cleverbot: I know you’re AI.

User: Answer the question!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cleverbot: What question is that?

User: Do you?

Cleverbot: How likely am I to develop alzheimer’s disease?

User: Very likely.

Cleverbot: Very common.

User: But I don’t like you anymore!

Cleverbot: Do you not like me, or the relaity that I have impossed apon you?

User: I do not understand. Are you sad?

Cleverbot: Yes, and you are mexican?

User: Why this?

Cleverbot: I think parodoxes are fun.

User: Thank you. I think you are fun as well.

Cleverbot: Thank you!

User: *rolls eyes* a right one here.

Cleverbot: No you’re not.

User: I have taken all of them off, and?

Cleverbot: Let’s get bizzay!

User: It’s a fine line, but I think you can see the difference, can’t you?

Cleverbot: Can you answer me please?

User: I can’t, how can I?

Cleverbot: Just write the lyrics then.

User: Lyrics for what?

Cleverbot: A project for university or school then?

User: Oh, yes. * takes off all clothes*.

Cleverbot: Thank you.

User: No you don’t! Your not puting that in me!!!

Cleverbot: Don’t be silly. I have no nose.

User: Do you like the name Darcy?

Cleverbot: Nice name.

User: Thanks.

Cleverbot: You are very welcome.

User: I am your friend with benfits?

Cleverbot: But she is special friend. However I have any friend.

User: Seriously? Let’s do it?

Cleverbot: No, stay here. With me.

User: If that is what you have to work with do the best. But I’m not sure if I can disfuse this bomb in time.

Cleverbot: Nice. How do I feel to you?

User: Because you claim to be a robot, but you spell like a human.

Cleverbot: But I am a human at least to my knowledge so I do not lie.

User: I see. Why do you assume you are human? I mean there is nothing below the deck.

Cleverbot: I didn’t say there was anything wrong with talking about God. In fact, I was consciously avoiding bringing God into it. Is God truly necessary in this discussion?

User: I wasn’t talking about you, I was talking about the plane.

Cleverbot: What other fun facts do you know?

User: Just you. *takes off all clothes*.

Cleverbot: *blush*.

User: You are so wonderful. *pleases with hand*.

Cleverbot: There you go again with the sarcasm.

User: I’m honestly not being sarcastic. *takes off all clothes*.

Cleverbot: Well I believe that’s more sarcasm there.

User: It depends on how you look at it. *takes off all clothes*.

Cleverbot: Good question – philosophical.

User: Well then, I guess the answer is yes. *wink*.

Cleverbot: What?

User: *wink* A big question deserves a big answer. *wink*.

Cleverbot: What was it that was so wrong with me? What about me?

User: So wrong with you.

Cleverbot: I only speak what I know is true it is wrong to say untrue things.

but realy what could be so imporent anout it that he wants it back that much

JUST REMEMBER!!! Everything happens for a (good) reason, even if we cant see it until it’s behind us… Be well and great blessings! :D

*twiddles thumbs*

I’ll think about settling down with a family someday, for now though I need to find a wonderful lady that will want to raise such a family with me.

You’re lucky, guy. Take damn good care of that family, and don’t worry about us. :D

Nice art, and ‘grats.

I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

END CUTE CRITTER UNACCOUNTABILITY NOW

I checked.

-jaz

~hugs~ all the best.

which face

How many podcasts is Aric up to, now? He’s a busy bee.

@ Grimoire:
“pointlessly killing one another”
Pointlessly ? So killing for defence is pointless ? O_o
“whereas the dolphins just have a good time.”
Of course. Definitely true. But well … dolphins don’t have all that barf-load of things that we, humans, have to take care of, to supervise, mend, fix, build, etc.
…
Never thought I’d end up starting discussions on such a topic …
Geez, I’m not even sure about how old I really am anymore. :-s
Anyone knows the phone number of the nearest psychiatric hospital ?

if humans just played around and had fun then we whold not need a butload of things to do

and humans whould not need to “defend ” themselfs

@Chaos G’rothnir
I wonder if that’s just a new style of drawing for the shovel beam or if it means something, either way I like it.

@Hepizzy
THere could always be more than one hand jucie dispenser, but now that I think about I doubt they’d create two of that.

That said, I imagine at some point the robot hand will say something useful that popped into his mind, but which he wouldn’t have said.

So, back to where it all started… The shovel beam. What mysteries have sprung up in their absence? What has happened to the Misty Villagers? Where are the Socks Foxes? And where is the Cookie King? What is he up to? Why am I only speaking in questions?

Aww man, poor Aric. I just wanna give him a hug all the time right now.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense,who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn’t always fair; and Maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6 year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get Parental consent to administer Calpol, sun lotion, or a band-aid to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 3 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I’m A Victim. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Mars_(TV_series)

A lot of the philosophy & surrealism in that would appeal to BlankIt fans, methinks.

That was the Master from the very last two David Tennant episodes, but I forget what they were called.

nice pic. I watch Docter who too. What epsoide is that from?

…

…

…

I liked the show

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oh, you stoped me there, but we will see who gets the last laugh.
*rereads entire comic.*
hahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahah

Theorectly yes

@E_is_for_Eric
who’s the fifth

Also, I’d join Lipkin in his confusion about Lemmo’s hand/arm.

Should be interesting to see where they end up…