Who knew the art of manipulating corpses with dark energies could be so much fun?

Probably everyone who has ever tried it.

Our good friend Jonathan P Necromancer makes his return after almost exactly a year! Apparently he and Lil K are buds now. Considering the sort of company that kid keeps, it’s not terribly surprising.

In lieu of the usual blog post where I jabber on about some topic present in the comic for the day, allow me to include this introductory page from “The Necromancer’s Handbook: A Beginner’s Beginning to the End”, a book which I have just made up and whose introductory page I have written myself. Please enjoy:

“So you’ve decided to raise the dead, but you don’t know where to start? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Within the hallowed pages that follow are various rites and rituals to help you get started with the basics of reanimating and controlling spirits, corpses, and the occasional lesser demon. Keep in mind that it is always in the best interest of the practitioner to stay within his or her skill level lest the dark powers take control!

You may be asking yourself, what is the benefit of all the hard work, the clothing stains, and the very likely criminal record I will be acquiring through my initial foray into the world of necromantic activities. While this is, indeed, a Beginner’s guide, the practical applications of the knowledge contained within, dear reader, are innumerable. Reanimating and controlling dead rodents (chapters 1 through 7), for instance, may seem trivial to the untrained, but many of the greatest Necromancers throughout history have made their fortunes with tiny rodent circuses in which their new thralls performed incredible feats. ‘Yes, but what of the zombies? What of the hordes of spirits? When will my undead army be ready for world conquest?’ you ask. We must be able to shamble slowly before we can lurch quickly, practitioner!

Now, the most important part of preparing for our practice is to choose an ideal location for manipulating the dead. Is there an ample supply of corpses nearby or will there be soon? Are there rodents, bugs, or small reptiles in the area for our first attempts? Is there a large cemetery nearby or will there be due to plague, warfare, or your own uncontrollable bloodlust for later work? These are important questions as the necromancer must always be aware of how his surroundings relate to his art. Corpses are our lifeblood, so to speak!

Now that you’ve found a suitable location, it is important to cover some of the most basic tools used in grave-wizardry. Shovels, for instance, are of great importance. Never underestimate the power of a quality digging tool in both uncovering corpses and creating new ones, should the need arise! Ritual altars, cauldrons of varying sizes, and drawing tools are also necessary in the art of necromancy and can typically be found in your local black magick shop. If no shop is available in your area, selling one’s soul (if one has not already done so) may also be an option and a way to acquire some very ghoulishly crafted implements.

So we have our location, we have our corpses, and we have our implements. All is ready for the next great Necromancer to make his or her way into the world with the undead at their command! Prepare yourself, dear reader, for the incredible power, the horrific sights, and the rather unpleasant smell that you will have to get used to!

Please continue to the next chapter: My First Familiar: The Reanimated Mouse (page 3).”

They say death isn’t funny. It isn’t, unless you’re God.

I was talking to Liz the other day and we realized that there hadn’t been a strip yet about Lil K asking God about what lies after death. I found that strange, so we came up with a comic to remedy that situation.

There are some serious questions when it comes to death and dying, all of which seem to stem from the fact that life and consciousness are pretty sweet. They are so sweet, in fact, that we just don’t want to give them up. It’s a scary thing, the thought of losing them, so we wonder about what it means to pass away. Unfortunately, as a student of mythology and art, I haven’t got a lot of answers. Nobody really seems to.

My personal opinion has always been to try to let go of the negative, clingy feelings. I’ve lost family members, I’ve lost friends, but there’s no sense in focusing on the loss part of the equation. Instead, I try to think of all the awesome experiences I had dealing with those individuals. I make it a point to think of all the shitty experiences as well, because it’s not just the good that defines our relationships.

There’s no sense in sugar coating our memories.

It’s tough to take a less grief focused approach to death, especially when it’s the social norm to cry and moan and make other people miserable when you lose someone. I understand those feelings and I really do feel for people that suffer the loss of someone close. It’s not easy to get past that, but would the person you lost really want that for you? I find that hard to believe.

As for me, I hope people have a totally bitchin’ party when I’m gone. Hopefully not celebrating my demise, but rather, celebrating the life I lived.

Though I suppose they could celebrate my demise if I were hit by a flaming bus driven by Sasquatch playing Iron Maiden at maximum volume.

That would be awesome.

There are people in this world that can be incredibly depressing when they want to be. Depressing enough to bring down Death himself.

What are they even doing on that train? I wonder. It can’t be anything good.

It’s been a while since we last saw Death in the strip. He’s being considerably less menacing and he is (I’d like to believe) much better drawn. Being a comic about mythology and monsters (for the most part) we see all sorts of characters coming in and out of the strip. Its hard, sometimes, because a few are personal favourites (damnit, Odin and Satan!) but the jokes don’t always work out. I just have to write them as they come along. Maybe we’ll see some of those guys again soon.

In other news, the site is almost done. We now have a full archive up to browse at your leisure. I’m trying to figure out what to do with the sidebars now. I thought about project wonderful ads, but they’re so ugly. Quite the conundrum.