Three Years
Speaking of being in it for the paycheck, there are now happle tea buttons and high quality prints available in the store! How exciting!
Blog Post Proper:
Happy three year anniversary, Happle Tea! Now it’s just time to sit back and collect those fat paychecks! Yeah!
Okay, so technically the site is three years old in June, but the comic formerly known as Sacrilicious finished its metamorphosis from grubby caterpillar into slightly less grubby caterpillar in April, around the time of Anime Boston, three years ago. What’s Sacrilicious, you ask? Well let’s fill you in on some of the history of the comic!
Several years back, I had been trying to come up with a fun and interesting premise for a web comic with a friend of mine, a fellow by the name of Dustin. We had hit on this idea of irreverent comics, mostly about religion and politics, featuring cute chibi versions of ourselves called Sacrilicious. Like many comics, it did the goofy character paired with the more straight laced one and the two would get into ridiculous situations that would have no continuity whatsover. Unfortunately, Dustin and I never really got many comics done and it became clear after a short time that it wasn’t really meant to be. We stopped working on it and the idea slipped away.
A year or so after that, I started doing something similar with much less effort put into the artwork. You can see my first solo effort at a Sacrilicious comic here on the site: the very first strip where Lil K talks to God. The whole idea was that Lil K was supposed to be my inner child and God was this ridiculous version of the man upstairs that no true believer would ever like or identify with. I wanted to do something goofy and fun and not really worry about offending people. After a few strips, it became difficult to write on my own and I enlisted the help of my good friend Vic Balbian. Together, we wrote some truly weird comics (the one about pierogies was the first we did together, if I’m not mistaken) and things were good for a little while. It took us a lot of time to write strips, we had a lot of scheduling conflicts, and overall, the tone of the comic wasn’t entirely working for me. We eventually ceased to write together and the comic, once again, fell by the wayside.
It wasn’t until a few months before Anime Boston three years ago that I started writing comics about Lil K on my own again. I did a weird strip about him wanting to get coffee and finding a Sasquatch in the kitchen that I brought with me to the convention and received many positive responses from people there. I realized that I’d accidentally stumbled upon something that worked for an audience and for myself. People didn’t want to read strips that were intentionally offensive or mean, they didn’t want a character that they couldn’t really identify with and that had no personality whatsoever. They wanted Sasquatches.
I’d had more fun drawing the early Happle Tea comics (some of which aren’t up on the site because they aren’t very good) than I’d had drawing anything else in my entire life. Writing by myself was extremely hard work but I felt like everything had more personality that way. With the help of some friends, I managed to get the first version of the site up and I settled into writing and drawing two strips every week from then on. Happle Tea was finally on its way.
Nowadays, I look back and I’m really happy with the progress I’ve made. I’ve had a lot of support from friends and readers. The comic is still growing and changing, just like me. I’ve always worked hard at creating the strips, even when they may not look it. I appreciate the time everyone takes to stop by and read the comic and the blog and I want to make that time worthwhile. I feel like I go into every strip with the same spirit I did three years ago, but with more consideration for the art and writing than I had back then. I hope you feel that way too.
Thanks for making it a wonderful three years, everyone. <3 Special thanks to William, Coestar, and Matt for all helping me so much in the early years and thanks to Liz for helping me to write strips when I'm having a tough time every week! You guys are awesome!
Congratulations! Here’s to thirty more years, I mean, uh, yeah! =p
i wanted to say something but in the end i didnt said anything,
happle tea is still the same, well… everything but the art, it became better. i also like how the aesir and their palls appear more and more.
keep happle tea going scortt!
As my first and only experience writing for webcomics, this was an absolute blast. While I don’t really have the chops to put up two of these a week, the strips that we did together were a ton of fun to make. I’m glad to see the strip become such a big and special thing. Keep at it, buddy! It’s been your hard work and dedication that made this strip and kept it alive and awesome for all these years.
-Vic
Congrats, on the three years of awesome,inspiring, and thoughtful comics and blog posts! Keep up the great work….
*Now if I could pick just one strip… I might have to get a signed print….*
Anyways, congratulations, and good luck to you!
I don’t know about anybody else who frequents your site, but I myself follow quite a few comics. The only one that’s stood up against the tests of time and plot-line stagnation is this wonderful piece of work you have going on right here. I absolutely love reading about the lore behind the strips that you write about in the blog, and even without reading it the strips themselves give a very good “summary” of the hilarity that can happen in ancient mythology.
I’m glad someone with your talent can feel rewarded by bringing the masses (and me!) such wonderful entertainment. 😀 Thank you for all the work!
~Kit
I’m so happy that you found a formula that worked for you – Happle Tea is one of my favourite webcomics because it mixes knowledge, humour and fantastic visuals. What more could you want from a comic 🙂 Keep it up!
I found my way to this comic a only a few months ago and clicked with it instantly, what with being a mythology nerd and artist. I’ve gone through all of the strip and have enjoyed every bit of it. The blogs are always a good read. The style is interesting through it’s evolution. I either laugh, learn, or think when I read a new strip. Usually at least 2 of the 3, and I’m happy with it.
Keep up the great work!
Dr. Zeus is the punchline. Congratulations!
This is as good a time as any to say “thank you!” This comic brightens my day, and your blog posts are clever and educational as well. Thanks and keep up the good work!
Congrats man! It’s not easy to stick to something for 3 years.
whoa. that wizard hat K. you lookin so fly. i’d cosplay that shit.
Thanks for doing this comic. As a person who’s both religious and into mythology (some would say that’s redundant) I love this strip. It shows sides of the stories that I never thought about, and keeps me from taking myself too seriously, all without being offensive. Then there are times when it is quite touching and profound. The fact that the strip is not linear helps preserve its timelessness, so as long as you can keep finding your way back to the well, the strip will be great.
If I remember correctly, the first Happle Tea I read was this one: http://www.happletea.com/2009/11/20/old-is-the-new-new/
I immediately read through the archives and started following it regularly. It quickly ranked among my favorite webcomics, and it’s still my favorite to this day. So thanks for all the laughs, Scott! I’ve loved watching your comic grow over the years.
more Sasquatches!!
YOU GET A NEW SASQUATCH, AND YOU GET A NEW SASQUATCH, AND YOU GET A NEW SASQUATCH!
EVERYBODY GETS A NEW SASQUATCH!!!!
LONG LIVE HAPPLE TEA!!
It’s an incredible website. The funny thing is that I love the blog posts just as much as the comics. They’re so informative and interesting, I can’t help but look forward to them as well XD It’s like getting two doses of enjoyment: the humor side and the educational side 😀
So what I got from all that is all your readers identify with Sasquatch.
I’m okay with this.
I love that you’re drawing God as a kitty again. <3
Congrats man! It’s been great so far!
Love it. I remember a while back your art changed a little and I kinda missed it. But who cares about me. I learned to like your slightly altered style, obviously, as I check here very often. Don’t ever stop these!
“They wanted Sasquatches.” <– This. This is true.
Congratulations on three years! I've enjoyed reading, though I've personally only been here for about two years. Out of about 120 comics that I read regularly, this is the only one where I actually bother to read the blog posts. They're as entertaining as the comic, and very informative. Usually.
Congratulations! 🙂
I don’t remember anymore when I first started reading your comic… probably two years ago? Maybe less, but more than a year? And I still enjoy it so much. Thank you for all your hard work!
Wow, three years. The only thing I’ve done for three straight years was have a terrible relationship in high school. Congratulations!
I’ve been around since the pierogies strip (at least, it’s the first one I remember), and it’s been a lot of fun seeing this comic evolve. It truly is one of my favourites. I think it’s interesting that you started out trying to make something irreverent and possibly even offensive, but you settled into a routine that’s much more fascinated in character and often even respectful.
This comic is one of the few that is always funny and often informative. I love your blog posts about mythology as much as I love the funny-pages type comic itself, and I hope I get to stick around for three more years.
Thank you so much!
proud of u
But for real bro, you’re comics are great and are still great. Keep it up!!!!!!!
Do you keep a day job and do this in your spare time? 3 years is quite a feat. Congratulations.