Artist's Commentary
Why do they expect us to 'repeat' when we use shampoo?

It's their evil marketing department trying to get us to buy more and more shampoo is what it is! ;)

This was a simple, but fun episode for me. A nice short one too... I've had a lot of extra long episodes in the archive. (more to come too). I wrote this one a few weeks ago...and decided to use it to 'get back into the comic routine', while trying to finish the much longer previous episode.

I came up with the name of the shampoo while putting the comic speech balloons together. I had drawn some simple apple shapes on the label, and the name came to me. "Dapper Apple" Sounds like a product anyways.

This episode was an excuse to make fun of the fact the characters don't really wear clothes. Newt's comment about the bow-tie... had me laughing. It's much like the old question about Donald Duck wearing only a shirt and hat... no pants... and yet, he wears a towel around his waist, when he gets out of the shower. Ah, cartoon nudity... it's best left unexplained.

I hope you've enjoyed this episode! Look for new episodes soon! Lots more have been written, so I'll be adding more and more in the near future!

If you like what you've seen, Pass a link on to your friends!...it's is always appreciated! Take a moment to subscribe to this website's RSS FEED for instant notification when each comic is online!.. or Follow me on TWITTER!

If you've just discovered this comic, take some time to enjoy all the episodes in the ARCHIVE. Keep coming back and see what else can happen, when Two Roommates take on the Universe!

All the best,

Mike Hogue - August 10th / 2011

Artist's Commentary
Newt and John are Back!.. with more episodes to come!

If you're a follower of this comic over the years, then you've likely noticed some long gaps between updates... but, that doesn't mean I've given up on the series! I'm always writing new episodes. This episode I wrote last year, with the plans that it would be the next new comic after the "Paper Air Pains" multi-story completed. Well, I'm staying true to my word... just much later than expected.

This episode is based on an old childhood drawing game my friend told me about... She used to play this trick on us at work. It can be any scribble, or a drawing of anything... but you can always turn it into a "BEE" by adding wings, stripes and a stinger.

I took that idea and ran with it. I had so many different "out-take" drawings... maybe I'll post some in here, or on my Blog later. Some were really fun... drawings of John in peril, but they didn't keep with the 'simplistic' style of the game. I also liked the idea of Newt drawing a magnifying glass over his original drawing just to mess with John... it took the original game in a new direction.

The most complicated drawing was the Hermit-Crab / Bee... I have about 30 different rejected drawings just trying to get one that looked like both creatures. The trick was making the Bee's smile go to the edges of his face, and his wings all connecting at the same spot to become the crabs legs. The antennae become little 'feeler claws'...etc. Anyways, I think it works well enough in the final design. I've always liked these kind of "optical Illusions".

I drew all of the "doodles" on my iPad, using Sketchbook Pro... then I worked them into the Flash scenes, and placed them on the individual pages. If you look from scene to scene, I kept the continuity of stack the blank pages near John, and the doodle pages near Newt, as the story progresses.

I hope you've enjoyed this episode! Look for another brand new (already finished!) episode next week! Lots more have been written, so I'll be adding more and more in the near future!

If you like what you've seen, Pass a link on to your friends!...it's is always appreciated! Take a moment to subscribe to this website's RSS FEED for instant notification when each comic is online!.. or Follow me on TWITTER!

If you've just discovered this comic, take some time to enjoy all the episodes in the ARCHIVE. Keep coming back and see what else can happen, when Two Roommates take on the Universe!

All the best,

Mike Hogue - August 4th / 2011

Artist's Commentary

If you're just joining this story,
CLICK HERE to start reading "Paper Air Pains" Part ONE!
At last!... Bringin' Newt and John Home!

Ok, I admit, I didn't expect to just leave Newt and John on the other side of the world, trying to hitch-hike their way home for the last few months... but better late than never, I'm finishing this very long story that I started in an over-sized Paper Airplane, way back in April of 2010. I'm happy to tell you I'll soon be posting new comics with new ideas and new shorter multi-episodes coming soon!!!

Some of you may have thought that I vanished or gave up on the series. Life, Work and lack of energy simply got in the way. This last episode was particularly long and took a lot of planning to keep within 3 pages, and custom designs for newt's food, and hat. I used to see those "Damn Seagulls" baseball hats at flea markets all the time... I figured a Rice-Hat version would be a fun novelty to sell in China... (as a bonus detail, the white tag even says "Hat" in Chinese!)

Something I realized in this episode... is Newt's Camera has become almost a character in itself. I originally had to included it in the early episodes of this story, simply so he'd have it for the "Top Gun" movie moment in Episode 31... so I said he brought it for sight-seeing. Then he lost his camera in Episode 35, when they escape the airplane... only to have it show up again in Episode 38 to (conveniently) provide a new light-source as they fall through the bottomless pit. So, here in the last episode of the story, the camera became a form of 'currency' that Newt could use to get a bite to eat.

I've also had to keep constant continuity in this final episode, Newt's 'eating' had to be consistent from shot to shot. Making sure the food disappeared, and the fortune cookies were removed as he ate them one by one. 'Misfortune Cookie' was a heavy episode... I finally just focused on these 19 panels over the last 2 days to get it done. I also renamed this episode to tie in to the content, but it is continued from the previous part of the story, "Bottomless Pitiful - Part 5".

So glad to be finished... Here it is just past 3am, and it's all done and ready to share... which is the best part of making Newt and John!

I hope you've enjoyed this on-going story!...as long as it took to get to the end, I design each episode so it stands on it's own, and has enough entertainment in each page. So if you like what you've seen, Pass a link on to your friends!...it's is always appreciated! Take a moment to subscribe to this website's RSS FEED for instant notification when each comic is online!.. or Follow me on TWITTER!

If you've just discovered this comic, take some time to enjoy all the episodes in the ARCHIVE. Come back each MONDAY to see what else can happen, when Two Roommates take on the Universe!

All the best,

Mike Hogue - February 22nd / 2011

Artist's Commentary

If you're just joining this story,
CLICK HERE to start reading "Paper Air Pains" Part ONE!
Bottoms-up!

As a weekly reader of this comic, it may have felt like a long time to get here, but when the pages are in a book layout, it's really a short amount of reading time from the point Newt and John enter the 'bottomless pit' to the point the fall out (or up!) the other side. The challenge has been keeping it interesting, creating light-sources, and reminding new readers the characters are actually falling in every panel, since I didn't want to show them motion-blurred for every shot.

So, now they're in China! This was an easy idea to write, but not so easy to create. I tried different styles to the background, including an Asian Watercolour technique... but it really seemed like it needed to be a little more realistic... but not too realistic. I kept the colour scheme of the watercolour style though, pale blues and greens, mixing in a hazy-mist effect for depth... together I feel they create a very familiar look of the Orient.

These flash-files became really RAM-intensive though... sometimes shutting flash down completely. I was saving often to get any progress. For the background, I used many layers of flash designs, ipad designs (sketchbook pro), photoshop designs, and a base reference soft-focus photo to create the depth and perspective of this shot in the mountains near the Great Wall of China. It was all at a high resolution, so it made every shot really slow to work with in Flash.

In panel 13, I created a "rack-focus" effect by exporting an image of John, turning him soft-focus in photoshop, and bringing him back into the scene as a transparent PNG image file.... then placing the PNG over the only "in-focus" image of the background, to direct the readers focus on the Great Wall in the distance. Personally, I like how after that shot, Newt so quickly puts down one of the 'Great Wonders of the World", showing no interest, just because he's hungry.

I had some fun with this section of the story. When I wrote this originally, I had considered leaving the story with them Hitch-hiking at the end, but I wrote some more fun dialogue that rounded out the journey... so this story is not over yet!... and for you true Newt and John Fans, I have some more fun single-episode stories to share in the future... so please keep checking back!


I hope you've been enjoying this on-going story!... Passing a link on to your friends is always appreciated! Take a moment to subscribe to this website's RSS FEED for instant notification when each comic is online!.. or Follow me on TWITTER!

If you've just discovered this comic, take some time to enjoy all the episodes in the ARCHIVE. Come back each MONDAY to see what else can happen, when Two Roommates take on the Universe!

All the best,

Mike Hogue - October 8th / 2010

Artist's Commentary

If you're just joining this story,
CLICK HERE to start reading "Paper Air Pains" Part ONE!
R.I.P "GLOWIE" - 2010... We hardly knew Ye.

Ok, just like the previous episode, this one was not a part of my original story... but I liked the idea of mis-directing the reader to thinking Newt and John were finally at the end of their journey... only to reveal the "light at the end of the tunnel" was actually a new creature. It also gave the reader a much-needed break from looking at the boring eyeballs against black background. I intentionally based all light sources in those panels using "Glowie" as a center-point. You'll also notice I put bright highlights on Newt and John's pupils... which I've never used before. In this case it really added something, and gave a sense of closeness to the light source.

"Glowie" was created in "Sketchbook Pro" on my iPad. A simple soft brush effect. I tried different styles til I found a look I liked. I added the black eyeballs, white pupils and mouth in flash. I had some fun with the design of the 'sparklies' when Glowie disintegrates... (Poor little guy...) the effect was made in Sketchbook Pro, exported with a transparent background and placed into the scene... then I adjusted the light-source so it seemed the light was fading, and moving up out of scene. (They are falling afterall.)

Well, if you've been a devoted reader since the beginning of this story (I'd like to think there might be a couple of you out there)... you'll be happy to know there are only a couple episodes left in this on-going story. Yay! I must admit, it's been great to feel like I've accomplished what I set out to do with this story, and the end is now in sight. But do not fear! I have many more places I want to take our two Heroes! So if you aren't already...BECOME a devoted fan! Read all the episodes in the Archive, and come back to read Newt and John each week!

I hope you're enjoying this on-going story!... Passing a link on to your friends is always appreciated! Look for new "Newt and John" comics every MONDAY! Take a moment to subscribe to this website's RSS FEED for instant notification when each comic is online!.. or Follow me on TWITTER!

If you've just discovered this comic, take some time to enjoy all the episodes in the ARCHIVE. Come back each MONDAY to see what else can happen, when Two Roommates take on the Universe!

All the best,

Mike Hogue - Sept 27th / 2010

Artist's Commentary

If you're just joining this story,
CLICK HERE to start reading "Paper Air Pains" Part ONE!
Finally after 39 episodes, I get an easy one!

The one thing I've been looking forward to with this story, is the point when the bottomless pit becomes so dark that you only see their eyes and mouth. Why?, well, from day one I've stayed firm on my commitment to keeping the quality of the artwork in Newt and John the same level it was in the first episodes. This often means many many hours if not a full day on one panel, like I had with the 'Eyeball Creature' in the last episode. So, as time per-panel goes... this episode became a much needed 'easy one' for me... as our heroes fall and argue in total darkness.

The episode wasn't part of my original script... other than the first panel where Newt comments on how long they've been falling. But that is what got me to thinking... ok, now that i've got them falling through the earth... how long would that actually take to get to the other side? So, i looked up the diameter of the earth. (because I played sports after school with the other kids. lol). Which is 7926 Miles wide at the equator, and divided it by their 'terminal velocity' rate of 122 mph... ( thank you, Mythbusters! ) But, math is not very exciting to read, so I added a bit of a debate with Newt's comments in every other panel. Newt's question about football started off as a question asking "Alight then, What teams did Wayne Gretzky play for?"... which I liked, but I felt a football reference was more general. John's answer remained the same for both questions though. By switching it to football, I liked that it gave me a couple more opportunities to reference it later. My favourite being the word "Quarterback?" that is mixed in with John's chalkboard thoughts in the 2nd last panel... as though he's so stressed, and can't shake newt's original question from his thoughts while trying to work out the math... and indicating he doesn't have a clue what a quarterback is.

Well, there's a lot of information about an episode that might as well be called "Math and Eyeballs" (so I put that in the title)... but fret not!...another 'double-episode' will be online this coming Monday!.. with more eyeballs, and some cool artwork to look at!

I hope you're enjoying this on-going story!... Passing a link on to your friends is always appreciated! Look for new "Newt and John" comics every MONDAY! Take a moment to subscribe to this website's RSS FEED for instant notification when each comic is online!.. or Follow me on TWITTER!

If you've just discovered this comic, take some time to enjoy all the episodes in the ARCHIVE. Come back each MONDAY to see what else can happen, when Two Roommates take on the Universe!

All the best,

Mike Hogue - Sept 20th / 2010

Artist's Commentary

If you're just joining this story,
CLICK HERE to start reading "Paper Air Pains" Part ONE!
EGAD!.. What was that thing?!?

This was a fun, and challenging episode, as far as the art goes. I wanted to show a gradual transition into darkness as they fall further away from the entrance to the 'bottomless pit'... which also... (thankfully!)... leads to the next episode (coming soon!) where I am granted a little break from elaborate artwork while Newt and John fall in absolute darkness.

So for this commentary, I'll try something a little different. I'll break down the 3 main "photograph scenes" and tell you how each one was made.

In Panel #5 the "Tyrannosaurus Rex" Skeleton Shot, I found a good reference design of T-rex bones, and vectorized it. Then I turned it into a flash-symbol, which allowed me to set a medium colour tone for one layer, then 2 duplicate layers with 'reveal masks' to show a lighter highlight layer, and a darker shadow layer. Then I took it a step further, and used the basic shapes of the skeleton as another mask, to show a subtle texture with a low 'alpha' setting... to add just enough age and decay to the bones. The light from the camera is created using gradients from light to 0% transparency. I used several gradients on top of each other to give the illusion of cast lighting in the tunnel, behind John, and a light-source from the camera's flash. For extra effect, I masked off a shadow layer on Newt so it looks like the light source is in front of him.

In Panel #8, the "UFO Accident", I first built a basic ufo model design in Google's "Sketchup" program... the same program I built the design of John's Paper Airplane from this story. Once I had the 3D model built, I exported 2D images of it at random angles. I chose 2 different angles and imported them into Flash... turning them vector, and using the outlines on layers, and the solid fills as masks, to import the nice shiny-metal-to-rust texture on both spaceships. The aliens were hand drawn with a "Wacom" tablet. Then I duplicated the drawings into masks, and chose only a highlight layer that would indicate the light direction from the camera. Just as before, a few gradients add to this illusion of light.

The final 'snapshot'... in panel #9, is a really strange creation. I first designed this creature in "Sketchbook Pro" on my "iPad". All of the tentacles, furry bits, blue glowing bits, mouth and teeth were created in this program. I then exported it as a 6 layer photoshop file, opened it in "Photoshop" to delete the white Background, and save it as a PNG file with a clear background. I then brought it into "Flash", to add to the scene. I duplicated this creature at 100% light blue, and shifted it just a little bit, to add a sort of 'glow' on the tentacles. I also created all the 'eyeballs' in flash, and focused them on John's position. I created random 'skull' shapes in flash and placed them around the scene, adding a duplicate layer and mask to add light-source highlights to the skulls. The final touch again, was making gradients that illuminated the scene, and made it look like the light-source is Newt's Camera. This image took about a day and a half, of constant work... but I really like how it turned out. I had a pretty good mental image of what it would look like, but I like the final result more than I had imagined.

Well, there's the detailed commentary for each of those key scenes. I'm going to keep this episode online for 2 mondays. So Look for another 'double-episode' 2 mondays from now on September 20th!

I hope you're enjoying this on-going story!... Passing a link on to your friends is always appreciated! Look for new "Newt and John" comics every MONDAY! Take a moment to subscribe to this website's RSS FEED for instant notification when each comic is online!.. or Follow me on TWITTER!

If you've just discovered this comic, take some time to enjoy all the episodes in the ARCHIVE. Come back each MONDAY to see what else can happen, when Two Roommates take on the Universe!

All the best,

Mike Hogue - Sept 8th / 2010

Artist's Commentary

If you're just joining this story,
CLICK HERE to start reading "Paper Air Pains" Part ONE!
The Title has Changed but our Story Continues!

I decided to change the name of this on-going story, as "Paper Air Pains" no longer applied. I'm planning to change the name again soon (when it's appropriate) to finish off the story. So I guess I'll have made a Trilogy when the story comes to an end.

I've had the idea for using a bottomless pit in this comic for several years... and I liked how I could use it to save Newt and John from certain death... but also the gags I can do with it. I've written this story to the end, with some good dialogue and sight-gags coming up... so I hope you'll come back each week and check it out!

This episode also marks the first use of some artwork I created using my new iPad and the "Sketchbook Pro" app. I've used the iPad to write the scripts using "Pages", and to get some extra artwork done during my commute that I can add to my Flash scenes later. The farm in the first panel was created with a variety of techniques... the sky was matted in to match the sky background I used in the previous episodes, the farm was tinted to match, the foreground sign was created on my iPad, as was the layers of grass and weeds. Then all were adjusted, and turned into vector art and symbols with Flash to create the final image with rain and light mist effects. The 2nd panel "upshot" was created in Sketchbook Pro as well... then I dropped in the characters, sky background and rain effects.

I hope you're enjoying this on-going story!... Passing a link on to your friends is always appreciated! Look for new "Newt and John" comics every MONDAY! Take a moment to subscribe to this website's RSS FEED for instant notification when each comic is online!.. or Follow me on TWITTER!

If you've just discovered this comic, take some time to enjoy all the episodes in the ARCHIVE. Come back each MONDAY to see what else can happen, when Two Roommates take on the Universe!

All the best,

Mike Hogue - August 30th / 2010

Artist's Commentary

If you're just joining this story,
CLICK HERE to start reading from Part ONE!
What would you think about in your last moments?...

I wrote this episode a couple months ago, with only the images in my head of the two of them falling and either having a slap-fight, or wrestling. The posing was tricky, as it's easy to overlap these two, and make it so you can see their expression, or it wouldn't feel like they're struggling with each other. In the 9th panel (4 from the end), I like how Newt looks like he's setting John up for the ultimate World Wrestling Federation "PILEDRIVER" move.

Even though I wrote this a couple months ago, I originally thought I'd show a closeup on the "weather girl's" rear end in that cute business skirt... but I liked the idea of letting you, the reader, imagine it based on the dialogue. I just wish I thought of that sooner. Truth is, I sat and stared at that 'weather girl' speech balloon for 3 hours on Sunday night.

There were so many plays on words and double-entendres... only to keep it as a simple visual of her bending over in that 'business skirt'. lol. I originally had plays on "warm front" "High pressure system"... etc... and found it just wasn't' working. I also preferred her to sound like some dumb intern on camera, trying to use her "pointer-thingy" on the weather map.

Also, the last 3 panels didn't have dialogue in the original script... but I wanted more of a joke, than just images of peril.... I had a few options as well, even considered having Newt and John hold up a "Yikes!" sign in the 2nd last panel... which is of course what lead me to think of the "coyote" line. I would've prefered to say "Wile E. Coyote", but he is trademarked... and I knew people would know who I was talking about the way I worded it.

So, our Roommates are seconds away from impact... all hope is lost... will they surive? Come back and see in the next exciting episode! The Story will continue with a new Title so don't think you're missing anything when you see the title change!


I hope you're enjoying this on-going story!... Passing a link on to your friends is always appreciated! Look for new "Newt and John" comics every MONDAY! Take a moment to subscribe to this website's RSS FEED for instant notification when each comic is online!.. or Follow me on TWITTER!

If you've just discovered this comic, take some time to enjoy all the episodes in the ARCHIVE. Come back each MONDAY to see what else can happen, when Two Roommates take on the Universe!

All the best,

Mike Hogue - August 23rd / 2010

Artist's Commentary

If you're just joining this story,
CLICK HERE to start reading from Part ONE!
A TRIPLE-SIZED COMIC SHOWDOWN!!!

This 3-page episode took a lot longer than expected to finish. I originally granted myself the equivalent 3 weeks to do it... but it is summer time which tends to mean visiting family and taking some weekend trips more... The comic had to be put on hold. But fear not true believers! Newt and John continue!

This episode finally rounds out the chase, and makes good use of the giant Olive! You'll possibly recognize the familiar wording of dialogue in panel 4... as what Princess Leia says to Han Solo in The Empire Strikes Back just before they enter the asteroid field... I threw that in for the novelty of it. This episode also allowed me to finally use my favorite "Onomatopoeia" (words used to describe sounds)... in the pimento-popping Panel #11.... POIT!... I've just always thought it was a funny sounding-word, and makes a good popping sound.

So, everything has rounded out nicely in this story... Newt and John have eluded the evil military fighters and taking a scenic tour all the way to the Giant Olive on a Toothpick... Newt has even complimented John, and John feels appreciated for his efforts... all is right with the world... or did you notice the "to be continued" at the end... hmmm.

So, here's the deal. It took me a long time to get this episode finished, and to get it "just right"... so I'm going to hold it on the main page for the next 2 weeks...to buy some time to make the next episode... to be continued 2 Mondays from now with episode 35! So, stay tuned and come back for the next episode!

I hope you're enjoying this on-going story!... Passing a link on to your friends is always appreciated! Look for new "Newt and John" comics every MONDAY! Take a moment to subscribe to this website's RSS FEED for instant notification when each comic is online!.. or Follow me on TWITTER!

If you've just discovered this comic, take some time to enjoy all the episodes in the ARCHIVE. Come back each MONDAY to see what else can happen, when Two Roommates take on the Universe!

All the best,

Mike Hogue - August 2nd / 2010