Hey there,

My friends Gregory Weidman and Kenny Champman did a four-page guest episode which I am running this week and next to help me get caught up.  It seems like in both web comics I am working on a major apocalypse is taking place and those kinds of things are a lot of work to draw.  Anyway, I apologize for another break in “the Dogs”, but I need it!  Check out Greg and Kenny's comic the Ray Gun.

One of the coolest things I have ever seen is this Axe Cop cake made by an amazing Axe Cop fan/cake maker.  They had an Axe Cop themed party and went all out on this thing.  There are molded bad guy heads on this cake that are such minor bad guy characters I had to think for a second where they came from.  Really, really awesome.  And to make it all even more awesome, the robotic hands from in Axe Cop's face burst out of the cake holding a chocolate axe.  Here are a couple pics, but go to the site and check out the rest of the pics and the video they posted from the party,

Also, here is a short interview I did over at Crimson Monkey.

There you have it.  Be here next week for part two of “Mean Mr. Tree Face”.

Yep, so in reality March just started, but in the comic March just ended.  This was not planned it just happened.  Why is Axe Cop's birthday March 6th anyway?  Well… that's Malachai's birthday, and today is that day.  Malachai is now 8 years old.  Please feel free to leave him a birthday message here if you have enjoyed Axe Cop over the just over two years we've been doing it.  Happy birthday, I love you little brother!!

Also, I am going to be making these two pieces of art available on eBay today.  Probably in the evening around 7pm pacific time.  The auctions with their links will be poster at the Bearmageddon Auctions Page.

The second is the original middle panel from episode 130. 

Ethan

The bad guys appear to be winning in this story.  I love the opportunity to draw various sea creatures with cat legs and bat wings.  That simple alteration instantly creates some real apocalyptic hell beasts. 

Have you kept up with the Axe Cop Documentary?  Check them out on Facebook. Check out the Go to the website and check out the blog and pics.  They are putting together a very in depth story about the story of Axe Cop and they have been following us since our very first book signing.  It's going to be interesting to see where it goes.  I have shared this before, but below is a small clip with some of the earliest footage:

You are about to find out why this story was not just called “the Dogs” but “Axe Cop in: the Dogs”.  This whole time we have been fooling you.  The Dogs fail. 
You really think Axe Cop could just sleep for a month and nothing bad would happen?

If you get Comic Con's annual magazine, there is this awesome pucture of Malachai and me at Comic Con on our panel soaking up the glory:

That photo really does capture that panel well.  It was so memorable. 

That's all I have for now, thanks for stopping by!

Ethan

Hmmm what to say?  I could mention that the middle and last panels backgrounds were painted with real ink and brush if that is of any interest to you.  Other than that, I like this page because it shows that Malachai really loves the idea of setting traps.  Even though the cats have power that is much stronger, they are just excited to see the dogs walk into the traps they set up.  They take a lot of joy in their work.  I also have to say that Iggy and Willy have become the most pain-in-the-butt characters designs I think I have ever had to deal with besides maybe Wexter.   Hats off to Kailey for coloring them.  See you next week, same Axe time, same Axe channel.

Ethan

I think this is the first hand-inked Axe Cop page ever.  The middle panel and the large bottom panel were inked using sumi brushes and ink.  I had a lot of fun with them though I am a little rusty.  If anyone wants to jump on buying this art, email me your offer, otherwise I will probably put it up on eBay or have it at a con down the road.

Tauhid Bondia sent me this amazing Axe Cop fan piece.  Beauitful!

That's all I've got for now.  I totally forgot to mention that on January 29th we hit the 2-year mark for AxeCop.com being online.  Woohoo, two years down, here's to another.  Been too busy to make a big deal about which is a good thing right?

Ethan

…or should I say cats?  My favorite thing about Axe Cop is the explanations.  One reason Malachai is always ready to do whatever he wants when he tells a story is because he isn't threatened by having to explain something if he puts it in.  If he needs to explain it, easy.  Witch cloud, red diamonds, next question.

The other night, Jason Brubaker (creator of reMIND, a comic I recommend once on RecomMonday… remember those?!) had Doug TenNapel and me over to his home to do an in person interview.  It's the first time Doug and I have done a podcast together.  It was a lot of fun and I think one of thebest interviews I've ever been a part of.  We covered a lot of ground and went very in depth.  This is just part one!

Also, the cover I did for Ninja Turtles can now be seen!  Doing something Ninja Turtles-related has been a bucket list item for a long time.  I had a lot of fun revisiting the characters who had such a huge impact on me as a young artist.  Noah Maas (my colorist on Bearmageddon) did the coloring on it.   This cover will be a ariant cover on issue #9 of the new IDW series coming out in April.

I think that's all I've got to say for now.  Stay tuned over at Bearmageddon.  Things are heating up in the story and I will be unveiling a new feature on the site tomorrow where readers will be able to be part of the comic.

Ethan

Ah, another week off.  Thanks Tom!  Here is the second part of the guest episode starring Axe Cop and Super Charlotte.  I love this.  I think the moment Spider Mouth uses his power is my favorite.  Thanks again to Tom and his neice for this special guest episode.  It's truly classic.

As I mentioned last week, check out Tom's band Lich King and his awesome art!

We'll pick back up with the Dogs next week.  See you then!

Ethan

As I warned last week, this week and next week's updates will be this two part guest episode by Tom Martin and his neice, Charlotte.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.  To me Tom hits all it out of the park in multiple areas.  The timing, the art, the conveying of a story told by a child… he captures it.  I don't know why Tom isn't drawing comics full time, this stuff is excellent!

I just finished the first issue of the upcoming Axe Cop print miniseries this weekend.  I'm so much more excited about it now that this first issue is done.  I can't wait to release the cover. 

If you enjoyed Tom's work, please check out his other stuff.  On top of being an artist, he is in a thrash metal band called Lich King.

And that's that.  We'll find out what happens next in a week!  Thanks Tom!

Ethan

You didn't think these cats would go down that easy did you?  They have only begun to fight. 

You are probably wondering how they became mummies, and where those red glowing diamonds in their chests came from.  All that will be explained, but the next two weeks I am going to give this story a break and feature a two-part guest episode by a guy named Tom Martin who managed to make one of the funniest guest episodes I have ever seen, written by his 7 year old niece.  I need the break, because Christmas set me back quite a bit and I really need to focused on getting the first issue of the new Axe Cop print miniseries done so I can get another check on its way.  Usually I do a few pages of each comic I am working on, but for now I need to reach a certain amount of pages on this project as soon as possible then I can get back to normal.  You may be bummed, but trust me on this, this guest episode feels like the real thing, Tom and his niece pulled it off.

For those of you in Los Angeles, you may remember that we did an “Axeiversary” last year at the end of January at Melt Down comics.  We are going to do an event again this year, but I am moving it to the release of Axe Cop volume 3 because I don't have the time or funds to put together an event right now.  So stay tuned, if you live in southern California, we will have another event.  Last year's was a blast and I hope to have just as much fun this time around.

Munchkin Axe Cop seemed to be a huge hit over Christmas.  Steve Jackson says it has been one of the best selling Munchkin games.  My family played an impassioned game of Munchkin when I visited, and though we kept getting the rules all wrong, it was still fun.

So, I'll see you next week with the first of the two part guest episode, then we will get back to the Dogs.  Have an Axe-tastic week.

Ethan