The End Of An Error

To make the obvious comment, I am sure that I am not the only one entirely in awe of your sweet ninja-esque storytelling skills.

It's a ride that I decided was worth signing up for a premium membership about halfway through back in October, and I fail entirely to regret that now even more than ever (in other words, woo!).

Do you think we'll ever see Infinite Typewriters the paperback?

It's been great fun! 2006 is the year I'll finally go (super-)premium.

Nice wrap-up. Funny thing, I got the C-64 reference and that might be an indicator I'm getting old.

SAVE "Danix",8

Excuse me while I de-lurk...

I just wanted to congratulate you on this story line. It's been a wild ride, and fun the whole way through. I look forward to the continuing evolution of the characters.

Great storyline! Cannot wait for more myself. I hope we get to see something of Mendel soon... I've been hoping for him to make a sudden appearance ever since Fineas entered the scene.

Right on. This rules, you rule, there is much ruleage; of this, I think we can all agree.

Now, let's march bravely forward. I'm stoked. How 'bout y'all?

Lead on, Sir. I think most of us are here for the Long Haul, let's see how many conscripts we can Shanghi along the way.

Viva La Goats!

Whenever anyone asks me about my favorite webcomics, I cite Goats as one of the very few must-reads on the internet. You're a marvellous writer and artist and I've been more impressed than ever at both aspects of your work over the last year. Great work, and I'm looking forward to more.

I bow before your god-like mad skillz, and hereby swear to buy much from the Goats store.

Honestly, it's a cool story, but is it really that massive of a change for Goats? I mean c'mon, you've been teleporting pudding and dealing with evil twins and extra dimensions for years now. I think this is what Goats was always about.. maybe it just wasn't always obvious.

In Response to Lonely Goatherd (#31378):

The worst part is that Jon might not be writing fiction [reuters.com] some day.

In Response to Lonely Goatherd (#31378):

Honestly, it's a cool story, but is it really that massive of a change for Goats? I mean c'mon, you've been teleporting pudding and dealing with evil twins and extra dimensions for years now. I think this is what Goats was always about.. maybe it just wasn't always obvious.

It may be more of a change from my persepctive than from yours. While those elements were always present, they weren't used in a coherent way to push forward a single overarching plot over a long period of time. There's also been quite a bit of messing around with the fundamental nature of many of the characters and how they relate to each other.

Before, the point of Goats was to tell funny jokes using stories. Now, it's to tell a fun story using jokes. I know it doesn't sound much different, but it has completely altered the approach I take to writing the strip.

I wanted to chime and say that I also enjoyed the story and the cool artwork (were there many doubel strips before?).

However, having storylines that span so long is pretty challenging for a daily comic (online or off). I mean, how many of us actually remember everything that happened? So yeah, this would be a good time to think of releasing a softcover mini-book of Infinite Typewriters :)

In Response to Rusdude (#31382):

Great storyline. I've followed it from the very beginning, and was happy to see where it all went. Is it wrong of me to have enjoyed the bits with Jon and Philip trapped in the bar the most?

In Response to jon (#31381):

There's also been quite a bit of messing around with the fundamental nature of many of the characters and how they relate to each other.

Well, you've split the nonhumans into three groups, each of which consists of a dominant personality and one or two sidekicks. The relationships between the groups are clear enough (and probably not too important in the short term). In terms of intragroup dynamics, the relationship between Fineas and Diablo is the most interesting because Fineas actually listens to Diablo [1]. One can guess how future interactions between Toothgnip and Bob & Neal might evolve [2]. Carl and Roger seem to be popular minor characters, and I can't really guess how things will go between them and Oliver.

I think what worried me when you started all this was a fear that you were simply going to plug characters into D&D-alignment-type categories: Toothgnip as Lawful Evil, Oliver as Chaotic Evil, etc. But I think you managed to avoid that rather artfully. Fineas is much more complicated than his self-effacing claims [3] would indicate. Oliver, the very essence of nihilism, has evolved into a character whose motivations are somewhat understandable [4]. And maybe this is idiosyncratic, but I find myself even sympathizing with Toothgnip, perhaps in the same way that I sympathize with anyone addicted to daemonic power.

In re the humans, you actually allowed your alter ego have an epiphany of sorts [5], but you had the good sense to deconstruct it quite promptly [6]. Phillip doesn't seem to have changed much, but that is fitting. Even when he takes an active part in whatever the currently storyline is, he is still the eye of the storm. A red eye with a cloudy cornea and an eyelash stuck in it. I hope Megan and Lauren, particularly the latter, get a chance to develop a bit too in the coming year.

Infinite Typewriters was quite the roller coaster. Thank you for letting us ride it.

[1] 11 Jan 06 [goats.com]
[2] 29 Dec 05 [goats.com]
[3] 28 July 05 [goats.com]
[4] 26 Sep 05 [goats.com]
[5] 25 Aug 05 [goats.com]
[6] 29 Aug 05 [goats.com]

In Response to mkinyon (#31384):

In re the humans, you actually allowed your alter ego have an epiphany of sorts [5], but you had the good sense to deconstruct it quite promptly [6]. Phillip doesn't seem to have changed much, but that is fitting.

There was too much already going on to fully deal with Phillip and Jon within the storyline, but we're getting right back into it next week. I don't know how much they're going to change, but there's some fun stuff planned for them.

I hope Megan and Lauren, particularly the latter, get a chance to develop a bit too in the coming year.

As much as I hate to say it, I don't know how much you'll be seeing of them in the near future. So, like, don't wait up too late.

In Response to jon (#31385):

... I don't know how much you'll be seeing of them in the near future.

Well, the upside is that I can use them in TCPs without fear of getting something right.

So, like, don't wait up too late.

I never do [goats.com].

Any hints on when Worlds of Peril will converge with the main Goats strip?

Yow. This has come a long way from "Blerg. Eat kitty." [goats.com] I like it.

In Response to Lonely Goatherd (#31368):

I got the C-64 reference and that might be an indicator I'm getting old.

First, I thought that was a silly notion.

Then I remembered that I'm closer to 30 than I am to 20.

Now I'm sad.

Nice work, Jon. I've been reading Goats for (at least) 5 years. Here's to another 7, and more.

In Response to android (#31402):

Then I remembered that I'm closer to 30 than I am to 20.

Youngster.

How long have they been in the Pub Stub?

Because Jon's grown an awful lot of facial hair, compared to Philip...

Of course, that could be Jon's super power... Growing facial hair extremely quickly in stub dimensions...

In Response to mithras_angel (#31405):

The facial hair discrepancy is actually a slight on Phillip's manhood, not a super power of Jon's.

And I think they've been in the Pub Stub for at least 1,000 years by now.

In Response to mithras_angel (#31405):

Scripts dealing with facial hair and time have already been written for next week. Answers coming soon!

In Response to mithras_angel (#31405):

Obviously, Jon has more facial hair because he is Jewish. It is a well-known fact that they are God's "chosen people" and so must have a great amount of facial hair. It is common sense.

But seriously, the Swedes are not famous for their bushy beards.

In Response to android (#31402):

I'm 24. Still, most of my (current) friends don't remember or never heard about the Commodores. :( (Maybe them being younger has something to do?)

Nice storyline. I just checked in recently, previously I had only seen the "Republicans for Voldemort" strip, until last month that I decided to check out right from that point up to the current storyline (Infinite typewriters). Nice references to past events, too!

Wonder what will happen to the characters who haven't traveled (Megan, Lauren, Jerrell and others). BTW, interesting fact that Jerrell actually says something other than "die die die fornicate 666" [goats.com] over here! :D (though this is before Infinite Typewriters).