Clattertron

Foxes & Boxes Comics and Blogging by Daniel J. Hogan.
  • New Readers
  • Patreon
  • Archive
  • Blog
  • Shop
    • Society6
  • Blog Archive
  • RSS
  • About
    • Appearances
    • Support
  • Contact

Newsletter

About Me

daniel j hogan photo

I’m a cartoonist who lives in Lansing, Michigan. Visit my shop to buy original art and more. Follow me on Instagram, @danieljhoganart.

My Books


Check out my fantasy-humor novel, The Magic of Eyri.
magic of eyri book by daniel j hogan
Amazon :: Lulu :: Ebook
Amazon Author Profile
clattertron blog

Awkward Search Results

by Daniel J. Hogan on September 2, 2015 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Blog, Humor

[dc]O[/dc]ne of the joys of running a website is reading the search engine results which led a visitor to you. It is often a source of much hilarity, because someone can search for something in no way related to your website, yet end up there anyway.

Case in point, this little gem from the other day.

search engine results

Uh. No.

I don’t even know where to start. I enjoy SpongeBob SquarePants cartoons as much as the next person, but not in that way.¹

I’m sure my website disappointed this visitor on several fronts. Sorry friend, but thanks for visiting!

–

¹ Obligatory “More like SpongeBob NoPants!” joke.

└ Tags: animation, humor, internet, media, pop culture, technology

Clattertron Updates: About and Support

by Daniel J. Hogan on September 1, 2015 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Blog, News

[dc]L[/dc]ast week, I updated clattertron.com in a couple of ways: I changed the About page and created a Support page.

What’s It All About?

First, I updated the About page, which was on my To Do list for months. Maybe even the past year.¹

guilt trip ghost comics

Guilt Trip Ghost’s About page image.

The big change for the About page was updating the cast section (such as it is). When I started Clattertron, I didn’t really have much of a cast, so I didn’t feature much in the way of a traditional cast page.

This changed over the past few years as No Filter Fox (and friends) became regulars. Since I’m working in color now, it also made sense to feature color images of my regular characters.

The good thing about working digitally with vector art means, I have a bunch of images I can re-size, without loss of quality, for just such a situation. I went to my finished comic files, did a bit of copy and pasting, and BOOM—new images for the cast section.

Now the About page includes HB, Guy, and Tickles, all regulars who never graced the page before.

Fan Support

Next, I added a Support page, which features two lists with many ways fans can support Clattertron and myself.

The first list has all the monetary support options, such as buying something through my Society6 and Etsy shops, or using my Amazon Affiliate link to shop.

Fans can also send me something from my Amazon Wishlist or make a one time donation via PayPal.


Daniel J. Hogan's Amazon Wishlist

The second list says how to support Clattertron without spending money, like following me on Twitter, Facebook, or signing up for my weekly newsletter.

The other big way to help, without any cost, is sharing links to my comics and blog posts. Sharing links is the best way to share the Clattertron love and help me get new readers.

While uploading the unaltered² image file of one of my comics to Facebook (or any other site) works, it is best to also link to the comic’s page or only use a link.

Why use a link?

  • A link shows people where the comic came from (the source), which is perhaps the best reason. Too many people post things on Facebook without crediting or linking to the original artist (I’m looking at you, radio station pages).
  • Someone can follow the link back to clattertron.com and read more comics, which helps me make more off ads.
  • There are links to buy my merchandise and original art on clattertron.com.

Helping me grow my readership is a great way to support Clattertron, and it doesn’t cost you any money. I’m always looking for new stuff to read, so share the stuff you like with others. I try to share stuff I like as much as I can.

For example, sci-fi fans should give Drive by Dave Kellett a read. It’s a long form comic with a great story and fun characters.

What’s Next?

On most Support pages for other comics (and websites) I see links to a Patreon account. Now, I don’t have a Patreon account. Yet. I’m thinking about starting one, but I need to figure out what exactly I want to offer supporters (I have ideas though).

–

¹ As the ancient proverb goes, “The best time to plant the tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.”

² Cropping out/erasing someone’s name, URL, and other information and posting it to another website is bad. Don’t ever do it. I wrote about this in a recent newsletter.

└ Tags: business, comic creating, internet, social media, support

Munchkin Deluxe

by Daniel J. Hogan on August 26, 2015 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Blog, Humor

[dc]F[/dc]riends invited Stephanie and I over for a game night last week. Yes, we do have those. Friends, I mean. And game nights, too.

We played the zany fantasy card game Munchkin (by Steve Jackson Games) which boils down role-playing games to its essence: kill monsters and get treasure.

munckin deluxe game

Munchkin Deluxe by Steve Jackson Games. Image via Amazon.

There isn’t much role-playing exactly, although you do get to pick races and classes (ex: an elf thief). No, it is all about leveling up, getting better weapons, and killing more monsters than your pals.

I actually own the original version of Munchkin, and its pirate themed spin-off, Munchkin Booty (which always gets a chuckle when guests see it on the shelf).

Our friends own Munchkin Deluxe, which I highly recommend. The new included game board helps keep track of everyone’s levels (you win if you get to level 10), and kept the different card piles organized. Keeping an eye on every player’s level with my version was often difficult.

Prior to playing, we watched the Tabletop episode about Munchkin (recommended viewing for first time players, although they leave out a couple of things, like maximum hand size).

[video link]

I like Munchkin, but it is overwhelming for newbies, like Stephanie on the night in question.

Plus, a lot of the game is luck and hoping your pals don’t screw you over (a major part of the game). This can turn off some more serious gamers who like thinking 13 turns ahead and what not.

Not me though. I enjoy Munchkin’s insanity. It’s a fun, casual game, and there’s great cartoony illustrations by John Kovalic and the cards are hilarious.

Stephanie eventually got the hang of Munchkin near the end. I was about to level up, and get closer to winning, and it hinged on Stephanie helping me—or not.

“Are you going to play a card or not?” I asked.

“Yes, but I haven’t decided if I want to help you or hurt you,” she said.

“Well, which is it?”

“It depends. How much treasure will you give me?” she said, looking at me over the top of her cards.

“One?” I offered.

“All of them,” she said.

“Two?”

“All of them. Or I hurt you.”

I sighed. “You’re the Suge Knight of Munchkin.”

└ Tags: autobio, board games, fantasy, geek stuff, steph

Now Reading: Guns, Germs, and Steel

by Daniel J. Hogan on August 25, 2015 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Blog, News

[dc]I[/dc] began reading Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies by Jared Diamond last week. It’s a history book which looks at why some societies managed to conquer others, and not the other way around and how geography influenced a civilization’s growth.

guns germs and steel cover

Guns, Germs, and Steel. Image via Amazon.

I learned about the book via author N. K. Jemisin’s (The Fifth Season) Worldbuilding 101 presentation, which author Jim C. Hines (Fable: Blood of Heroes), mentioned on Twitter.

Been referencing @nkjemisin‘s presentation on worldbuilding while outlining a brand new fantasy novel. http://t.co/QPOrKjfjWr

— Jim C. Hines (@jimchines) August 18, 2015


Jemisin’s presentation breaks down a lot of great information and ideas when it comes to worldbuilding for a fantasy setting, and Guns, Germs, and Steel was one of her recommended readings for research.

I love history, and I’m enjoying Guns, Germs, and Steel so far. It’s a lot of information to take in, but recommended for fans of history or any non-fiction. I’m not worldbuilding for anything right now, but it never hurts to learn something new, as it could help me tweak the world of the book I am currently writing (I’m about 26k words in so far, so not even half-way done yet).

There’s one side effect of reading Guns, Germs, and Steel: now I really want to play Civilization III or V again.

└ Tags: books, social media, Writing
  • Page 41 of 136
  • « First
  • «
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • »
  • Last »

Latest Comic

new daniel j hogan comics on patreon
New Comics on Patreon!
© 2011 - 2020 Daniel J. Hogan. All rights reserved. | Patreon | Home | Contact | Privacy | Affiliate Disclaimers | RSS
Powered by WordPress with ComicPress | Clattertron title and face logo designed by Steve Jencks

Archives

Blog Archive
Comic Archive