I have been working on the final pages for the Axe Cop book all weekend and just turned them in at 5am this morning.  I was so relieved I almost forgot to post today's page:

You can consider this finale week.  Thursday will be the last episode, then I'll take a bit of a break, then we'll start posting intermittent new Ask Axe Cop episodes and start a new story.  I was thinking it might be kind of fun to do a special “fill in the gaps” series where I take the top ten biggest questions Axe Cop fans have about plot holes in Axe Cop, and I can go over them with Malachai and fill them in.  If you have ideas for plot holes you would like to see filled (like, when did Axe Cop really get his axe?) let me know.

Ethan

And, as promised…

That's right.  The Baby Family this whole time was on a hunting trip to eat these three creatures so that they could gain these exotic powers of launching explosive eggs, cars and telephones out of their butts to help Axe Cop in the final battle.  I know it was a lot to lead up to, but it's all about the journey right?  At least Baby Man can do more than just fly when he farts now.  He can really mess some people up now!

Well, next week is the big ending.  3 more pages I believe!  Then… break time for a while.  Have an awesome weekend and I'll see you here Monday at the Ultimate BATTLE!

Ethan

Yes, Malacha went there…

Poop jokes!  It's the staple of every young man's developing sense of humor, and it's really a Nicolle family tradition.  I mean.. read just about any of my other works (Chumble Spuzz, Jesus, Sumo Poop) and you will see it “runs” in the family.  Of course, you can accuse ME of being juvenille, and it is.  But by saying that you are only saying poop is only funny to five year olds… which is exactly what Axe Cop is all about.  So rather then get all uppity today, how about you remember when you first discovered poop jokes and laugh with my brother.

On another note, I don't know that our parents know Malachai came up with this story, when he told it to me he sort of whispered it.  He knew he was being gross but he was having so much fun he couldn't stop.  What are big brothers for if now to allow their little brother to engage in poo jokes?  Telling him it's gross and inappropriate is his mom's job. 

In other news… last night's podcast fell apart .  John was not there so we were already out of whack.  James was having technical difficulties.  I was pretty preoccupied with the deadline I am trying to make… and then in the middle of the podcast, James realized he didn't push the record button.  So the 30ish people who runed in live got a private broadcast.  We'll give it another go next Wednesday!  See you tomorrow… we have a jillion doody's to defeat!

Ethan

How do you defeat a Baby Head Squid with a plunger?  Better read today's page to find out…

In other news, Chris Hastings and I decided to team up on this image inspired by his awesome “LET'S GO” Moment in the Axe Cop / McNinja cross over and make it into a tshirt!

Another team up, like the print we released, I drew Axe Cop and the monster truck, then Chris drew McNinja and added the color and design elements.  It's like wearing a high five between Chris and I.

Tonight at 7:30 pacific, I THINK we will be doing the CHOP cast.  You can tune in if you would like… usually I try to interact in the chat room before the show. 

My last bit of info is something I have been sort of putting off, and it's not the greatest news, but it's not bad news.  The news is that once this chapter ends I will be taking a break for a while.  I won't actually be taking a break, but I will not be posting material for at least a week or two… then after that updates will be probably only once or twice a week while I dive into the real work of drawing the exclusive Dark Horse series.  So yes, I will be working on Axe Cop, it just won't all be going up online for free.  There will still be free stuff going up, and once I have finished the miniseries we may try to dive into another big online story arch, but for the time being, the web comics will slow down so that the Axe Cop miniseries can get made.  I know some of you will have a tough time not getting your Axe Cop fix five days a week.. .but I think that you will enjoy the delayed gratification of getting 3 monthly 22 page issues of full color Axe Cop in the most epic story yet.  Plus, paper comics is where my heart is at and I want to go back to it for a spell.  Not to mention Dark Horse pays a little better.  The Nicolle brothers've gotta eat!  (insert fat mockery here) .

So that's the news.  Also, while I really want to do some more Ask Axe Cops, right now my focus is getting this chapter done so that I can ship all the files off for the trade paperback.  So it will be all story for at least the rest of this week, but don't worry, Ask Axe Cop will be back soon.  See you tomorrow!

Ethan

As crunch time continues (and as my sweats get crunchier from sitting here and working around the clock), here is today's page…

Back to the grind!!

Ethan

Your new page is here, the Ultimate Battle is upon us:

This week is my big deadline to get all the comic pages down for the Axe Cop web collection.  It collects everything to the end of the Ultimate Battle, so I really need to finish drawing that thing.

I would also like to take a moment to mention Scott Pilgrim VS. the World.  Apparentlyt it bombed, and it didn't deserve it, because it was a truly brillinat, hilarious and super fun movie.  I encourage those who have not seen it to go see it, if you have seen it, go again.  I have to admit, I really want Edgar Wright to succeed for a couple of reasons… for one this movie is awesome, and he is possibly my favorite comedic director alive today… and also because I really want him to direct the Axe Cop movie.  There I said it!  And no, there is no Axe Cop movie even optioned right now, but hypothetically speaking, if you watch Scott Pilgrim I think you'll see that Wright could do amazng justice to the Axey-verse.  There's a lot of great directors out there to be sure, I was just inspired when I came out of Scott Pilgrim.

lastly, if you have not seen the new Axe Cop Motion Comic, you should!!  It turned out so awesome, the guys who work on these deserve tons of praise for the work they do. 

Alright!  Back to work!!

-Ethan

Instead of a new page today you get a new motion comic!  This is Axe Cop episode 3.  It's the story Malachai and I were working on in the video I put online last Christmas.  If you have not seen that yet, you should watch it first:

I've been out of town since Friday to go to a friend's wedding up in Oregon.  I'll be visiting the boss (Malachai) for a couple days (in fact when you read this I will be with him and the family).  The pages are set to update each day this week,  but I won't be updating the blog with each page update.  Kind of pointless anyway.  If I have somethhing interesting to blog about I'll do it, but otherwise, just click that big picture up there where the most recent update is clearly shown.  I'll be back just in time for my Mindshare appearance on Thursday.

Ethan

Baby Man and Baby Daddy, the Egg fight continues…

Not much else to say today!  So… See ya tomorrow!

Ethan

It's been quite a while since I posted the last Ask Axe Cop episode… and the last couple have been mash ups.  Finally, we're back to a good old fashioned Ask Axe Cop episode about what the best job is:

I laughed all night long at this episode.  I think that the Bat Warthog is the most terrifying animal someone could imagine.  If you are one of the people who bought my Sketchbook volume 2 you will see a couple of bat warthog sketches in there from my time with Malachai recently.  I asked him to go through some animal books I brought him and come up with cool combinations of animals.  The only combination he came up with was the Bat Warthog.  He was convinced he had found the most awesome animal combo and had no need to look any further.  If you have not ordered my Sketch Book you should.  It will only be available for a little while longer online and I'll draw a sketch in it for you. 

Other than that, be sure to read yesterday's blog if you missed it to see new merch in the store, including an Axe Cop and Dr. McNinja print, and if you live in the L.A. area you can come see me next Thursday.  That's all for now!

Ethan