Happy Binary Day, everybody! today is 10/11/10, or 101110, which in binary is the number “46.” Yesterday was a Binary Day also, although it was far cooler since the date 10/10/10 in binary translates to the number “42,” which is the Answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything. Thank you, Douglas […]

Wow, looks like Ch’p is learning how to speak Lummox! Just a quick FYI: The Brown refers to the Order of the Brown, the elite royal guards. Essentially, they’re Westhame’s Secret Service. Second FYI: I will be out of internet contact all day today, as the power company has scheduled a power outage in my […]

Blue-Hand Troll is an NPC (non-player character) from a Planescape game I played in many years ago, and I’ve been itching to bring Blue into MeatShield. He was a not-too-bright fence who had a shop in Sigil, the City of Doors, and bought and sold whatever we needed to dispose of. In Blue’s words, He […]

UPDATE — 10/20/10: Wednesday’s strip will be delayed due to computer problems.I essentially just lost over 4 hours worth of work and have to go back and redraw it almost from scratch. Thanks for your patience, and I should have a new strip up before tomorrow (hopefully sooner.) There are levels to Dhur. Not many, […]

Ugh. Ideally, this cartoon would have been posted on Wednesday at about 1:30pm, which is when I noticed that I had accidentally deleted about 3/4 of my cartoon AND had saved it in that state. Grr. By the way, the contents of Blue’s store:  The Sorting Hat, Captain America’s Shield a Mac Color Classic, Mjolnir, […]

Happy Friday, everyone! and now…. The Results of the Blue Hand Troll Contest! Wow, this was really tough, as there were so many good entries. Seriously, you guys outdid yourselves. In the end, I had to make a decision, but it’s one I hope you’ll appreciate: there are TWO winners. One of the entries actually […]

No, seriously, he doesn’t. Also, you’d be surprised how valuable a fish head can be in certain cultures. Hasta, ~Rob

Sorry, folks, but there’s no strip today, as I spent all of last night throwing up. It’s true what they say about kids and viruses: whatever they bring home are nastier than anything that you got when you were a kid.  I’m going to go lay down now. Should have a new cartoon on Friday. […]

Hi Folks, I am just now coming on the tail end of one of the worst flus I’ve ever had the misfortune to encounter. I *could* try to bang out a cartoon for today, but frankly, it will look horrible if I do. I think you guys are better served if I actually take a […]

Hi Folks! Geez. Last week was not fun, folks. I haven’t had a stomach flu like that in a long time.  Sorry about the down time, on with the story! By the way, welcome to everyone coming over from Legend Of Bill! Not only have I frequently advertised on that site, I recently did some […]

Thanks everyone for all the well-wishing regarding my recent stomach flu from Hell. I feel a LOT better now. BTW, Dhur first got the manchair in this strip. I have been trying, for I don’t know how long, to come up with an “elevator pitch” for MeatShield. Anyone who knows me knows that I tend […]

Hey, just because he’s a troll doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a savvy business sense… oh wait, yes it does. See you next week! ~Rob

Man, I could not for the life of me think of a really clever title. 🙂 Sometimes, I think I’d gladly give up a sense temporarily if it meant relief from hayfever. Here in Southern California, autumn is heralded by what we call the Santa Ana Winds, winds up to 50 –  60 mph that […]

So, Ch’p’s acupressure can do the following, so far: Cure Dhur’s seasickness, but renders him blind Alleviate Jaine’s animal dander allergy, but makes her 75% deaf. I think Ch’p needs to go back to the monastery and level up. ___ I need some help, folks. Or, more precisely, my cousin needs some help. My older […]

Update – 11/15/10 – I’m sorry, gang, no new cartoon today. It has been something of a trying day. New cartoon on Wednesday, promise. To everyone that has left comments or emailed me regarding my cousin’s recent hospitalization: You guys are the best. Thank you so much. That’s all I can think to say, really. […]

Hi Folks! Sorry about missing the cartoon on Monday. If you’ve been reading this strip for any length of time, you know that I HATE missing deadlines. Seriously, missing one makes me feel all queasy inside. You know what I hate even more? Hitting a great big gray wall of writer’s block. I’ve been doing […]

I have this picture in my head of the Nailmoor  Town Council (all three of them) sitting around talking about how to revitalize Nailmoor: “We need tourism money, how do we get it? “I know! Open a visitor’s center and  – are you ready for this – give balloons to the kids!” “Dang, Fred, that’s […]

OK, I know I said I was taking the week off, and I am. However, after a day and a half off, I got restless and decided to put together a quick little something for you guys to tide you over till Monday. By the way, for those of you who don’t know, Zagyg is […]

Howdy everyone! I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving, we sure did! I have a question for all of you: I have been knocking around the idea of making a MeatShield book, collecting the first major storyline. Would you guys be interested in that, and if so, what kind of “bonus content” would you […]

First off, thanks for the great ideas for bonus features for the first MeatShield book! One of them was to make a dossier for Ch’p. I’ve been toying around with updating the dossiers of both Jaine and Dhur, as well as make one for Ch’p, because, sheesh, that Extras page needs updating, y’know? Thanks again […]

I wanted to name this dwarven clan something other than the traditional “IronAxe” or “Fireforge” or “Battlehammer,” which are dwarven clan names that you see in D&D. When I came up with this clan’s name, it made me laugh out loud, but when I told my wife about it, all she did was frown. “So, […]

INSIDE THE (DIGITAL) CARTOONIST’S STUDIO… Remember when you were a kid and you got a new toy for your birthday or whatever and you KNEW that it was supposed to be the world’s most awesomest* toy EVER… but you couldn’t figure out how to play with it? Or that you could play with it, but […]

A little while back I asked for prayers/warm wishes/ good vibes/etc. for my cousin, who had an aneurysm. There is good news. She has been able to move her legs and one of her arms, and is able to respond to simple requests, like ‘lift your finger’. She’s currently unable to talk due to having […]

A big shout-out and thank you goes out to E.L. (you know who you are 🙂 ), who dropped a few bucks into the Cartoonist Coffee Fund. Muchas Gracias, Señor L.! I am deciding at the moment whether or not to take Christmas week off. I may end up doing so, as my girls will […]

Not much to say today, guys – have a good day! ~Rob

Apparently, every dwarf in Ardris seem to have taken their elocution lessons from Yosemite Sam. 😉 By the way, this is the first strip produced using Manga Studio. I really like it so far, although it’ll be a while before I’m using it exclusively. That’s all I got for today. Hasta! ~Rob

I get a lot of spam in the comments for this site. Some of them are entertaining, as they make me wonder just who in the world would be motivated to click on the links left there. In one spam comment, I ran across the following: we need colon cleanse inside diptheria colon cleanse you […]

Three guesses what one of my favorite movies is. The first two guesses don’t count.🙂 I hope everyone is having a good holiday season of your choice. My wife has taken several PTO days to make this a good holiday for us, and in order to enjoy the next few weeks with her and our […]

Before I duck out for the rest of 2010, I just wanted to tell you all that doing this little strip for you all has been a fulfillment of a dream I’ve had ever since I was 5 years old. I’ve always wanted to be a cartoonist, and although the journey to get here has […]

Annnnnnnnd we’re back! Even though the new year has been upon us for over a week, this is the first chance I’ve had to talk to you all since I went on holiday hiatus. So, how’ve you been? Good, I hope. My holidays were good, had a ton of fun watching my girls open all […]

Short post today, folks – see you on Friday! ~Rob

UPDATE: 1/17/11 – Ugh. Delay of strip today. I’ll have the new strip by tomorrow morning. Sorry, folks. 🙂 I was listening to the Webcomic Alliance podcast while I was working today and one of the hosts of that show, Dawn Griffith, posed the question of what to do when you are a creative person […]

I run a  weekly D&D game (surprise surprise) and it’s become almost a foregone conclusion that whatever door they come to, be it the sanctum of an evil wizard or a storage closet, every single door will be kicked down. Even though there are not one but TWO characters in the party that have very […]

Thanks for all the great tips on how to torment my PCs in the last comic, folks! I plan on using one of them, at the very least. However, since at least two of my players read my comic, I can’t say which ones. They’ll just have to stew in their paranoia 😉 BWA HA […]

UPDATE – 01/24/11 – Strip will be delayed by a day, due to my feeling like crap. Sorry 🙂 Man, it took me FOREVER to get this one done, and I still don’t know why. The only thing I can think of is I had no script pre-written for it, so maybe that was it. […]

Ever feel like you’re a little off your game? I’m kind of like that now, with my schedule. This is why I decided to delay Monday’s strip to today – I need a day or two to get back on track. Everything should be good now. I should also have this stupid Upper Respiratory Infection […]

Whoever could that be? 😉 Find out on Monday! Peace, ~Rob

So, did anyone guess who it was? I have been chomping at the bit to bring Duke Leo back, with his innate flair and 3 pack-a-day smoker’s voice. I’m a happy cartoonist/geek. 🙂 BTW, I was told recently by a number of people, both online and off, that I need to quit apologizing when strips […]

Happy Groundhog Day! Yes, we in America have a holiday to celebrate the weather forecasting powers of a large rodent. We’re weird. 🙂 I just finished reading the old Duke Leo storyline in my archive and I discovered something – I have REALLY improved as an artist. Not to pat my own back, but… yeeesh, […]

Man, I just noticed that strip #200 is on the way. Probably should do something cool for that. Not sure what, yet. Have a good weekend, everyone! ~Rob

UPDATE: 2/8/11 – New computer arrived yesterday and I’m still working on getting it set up. Since I work 100% digital now, this affects the production of the strip. I’ll be skipping Wednesday’s cartoon and posting it on Friday. Wish me luck! Nothing clever for today’s blog post. Dealing with one sick kid and one… […]

Flashbacks end next week, promise! See you all on Monday! ~Rob

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Or, as the TV shows my daughters watch are calling it, “Love Day” or “Just Because I Love You Day.” Geez, it’s like they’re afraid of saying Happy Valentine’s Day. Maybe it’s because Valentine was a saint and they’re afraid of offending people whose faith structures (or lack of them) do […]

Happy Wednesday, everyone! ~Rob

UPDATE: 2/23/11 – I am totally dragging today, folks. Exhausted is more like it. As of 8:10 PM PST, I had three out of four panels inked in. Not colored, not shaded,  just inked. I will have the new strip up tomorrow as soon as I can, but I’m calling it quits for the night. […]

And now, in a continuing service, an entry from the Encyclopedia Ardrisia. Giants Legends say that when Terron, God of the Earth, helped the other gods create the world, he created a race of creatures in his own image to populate it, as did the other gods. Not being a god overly blessed with outside-the-box […]

Yeah, you caught me, I’m a Star Trek fan. See you all on Monday! ~Rob

You can count on Ch’p to come up with solutions to life’s problems. By the way, Dhur? That headache you’re starting to get? That is how Jaine feels almost every day around you. Just FYI. 🙂 Hasta, ~Rob

Boom da da doom da doom da doom can’t touch this! I wonder if MC Hammer ever got sued by Rick James for his sample of SuperFreak that features in Can’t Touch This? ___ Today marks 9 years of marriage for my wife and I. You poor soul,  you had no idea what you were […]

Not much to say this time around, folks – See you on Monday! ~Rob

Progress continues apace on the construction of the first MeatShield book, which I’ll most likely be releasing via Lulu.com. A while back, I asked you all what kinds of bonus content you’d like to see, and here are the results, in no particular order: Game stats for the characters Updated “dossiers” on each character (as […]

Sorry, no Castle Greyskull here. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s just as well . 🙂 See you all on Friday!

Howdy Folks! I got a lot of layout work done on Book One and as I had requested this week and a few weeks back, you folks gave me your suggestions for potential bonus content for it.  Here is what has made the cut (so far): Dossiers on Ch’p, Jaine and Dhur (Becky would be […]

Hoo-boy. Trust me, this is only a HINT of the things to come.  Stay tuned. ~Rob

And so passes Denethor, Last Steward of Gondor. No, wait, that’s wrong. So (finally) passes Leonid of Nitsu’a, Pain In The Butt of Westhame. ~Rob

Ladies and Gentlemen,  may I introduce to you, Disparoxus, the Big Bad. Heh heh heh. 🙂 See you all on Monday! ~Rob

Nothing to really report today, folks. Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you Wednesday! ~Rob

Man, strip number #200 is creeping up on me. I’ve decided that I’m not going to draw a special strip just for the 200th one. Instead, within Monday’s strip, you’ll see …something to commemorate it. So, I got that working for me, which is nice. See you all on Friday! ~Rob

Something occurred to me the other day. I occasionally write in what I call, for lack of a better term, “caveman dialect.” I do this especially when writing creatures that are of, shall we say, sub-standard intelligence, such as the giants or Blue Hand Troll. What I never considered was how this might read outside […]

Welcome to strip number 200! In case anyone out there is unfamiliar with the above term, “ding”, it is what you say in the chat channel on a MMORPG like World of Warcraft or Everquest to signify your character going up a level. I know most folks reading this know this, but you never know […]

FORESHADOWING! DUN DUN DUN!! ~Rob

Before anyone starts a flood of concerned comments, check today’s date. 🙂 Happy April Fool’s Day! ~Rob

Hi Guys! I’m going to be on a podcast! Kurt Sasso of TGT (Two Guys Talking) Webcomics will be having me as his guest this Sunday evening at 7:00PM EDT ( 4:00 PM PST ) for Episode #159 of his excellent podcast. The neat thing is, Kurt does his show through Talkshoe, which allows you […]

Hey, the W’Shaa take their baked goods seriously. See you all on Friday! ~Rob

A few things for you all: First off, I’ve finally opened a Café Press store! Just go click on Blue-Hand Troll to the left and you’ll be whisked away to the official MeatShield store! Right now, there’s not much there, but there will be more merchandise made available in the coming weeks/months. Secondly, this is […]

Howdy do, everybody! As I said last Friday, I talked with Kurt Sasso of TGT Webcomics yesterday about all things MeatShield and few things not, including my secret shame regarding Jack Kirby! What? You’re curious to know what happened? Click the link below to find out or go on over to iTunes and download episode […]

Yep, Dhur gets cranky when he’s tired. BTW, a big shout and thanks to E.L. for your donation! Much appreciated! See you all on Friday where we meet someone from Ch’p’s past… ~Rob

Okay. A while back, I had a contest where I asked you all why Blue-Hand Troll’s hand was blue. The winner would get a free black-and-white sketch. I got a ton of great responses, and chose a winner, along with some honorable mentions. Then Real Life intervened and I kinda put drawing those sketches to […]

The thick plottens…… 🙂 ~Rob P.S. Just in case the scroll in the cartoon above is unreadable, here is the text of Ch’p’s letter: Ch’p, There comes a time in every monk’s life when he or she must venture into the wide world and bring the light of the W’Shaa into the dark places. You […]

Not much in the way to pithy comments today, folks. See you Friday! ~Rob

Howdy do, everyone! Last night I finished laying out all of the strips for Book One – 73 pages! Now I just need to layout the rest of the book and create the bonus content, which is the fun part. I might even have this thing ready BEFORE Thanksgiving! Yay! I’ll tell you something, though, […]

Sorry this was up a little late, folks. Believe me, this strip is setting up some… interesting developments to come in the lives of our heroes. See you on Friday! ~Rob

further update – 5/9/11 Yeesh. You know how sometimes when you go on a vacation and you end up getting sick the day you return to work? Yeah, that’s me today. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Imodium is my best friend right now.:(  Monday’s cartoon will go up on Wednesday. […]

Phew! I feel a lot better. Work continues apace on the first MeatShield book, The Quest for the Scepter Thingie. One of the things I had promised was D&D 4th Edition stats for Dhur, Jaine and CH’p. Since such stats would be making use of intellectual property of Wizards of the Coast,  I contacted WOTC […]

Not much to say today, folks. See you on Monday! ~Rob

Howdy folks! I heard back from Wizards of the Coast last Friday regarding my putting D&D 4th edition stats of Dhur, Jaine and Ch’p in my book. No dice. Since Dungeons & Dragons is their intellectual property, that’s the answer I thought I’d get, but I wanted to perform my due diligence so that I […]

Only he’s not, really. See you all on Friday! ~Rob

Cue the Drifters music.:) See you all on Monday! ~Rob

Hi Folks! I thought I’d show you some of the offerings on display at Blue Hand Troll’s online store at Café Press. I’m just starting out with all this, so if there’s anything you’d really like to see available, drop me a line! The T-Shirt is available in men’s and women’s sizes. Go on over […]

Short post today. Gotta go see my girls perform in their 1st grade play. One is a ladybug, the other is a flower. It shall be awesome 🙂 ~Rob

It’s been a while, but here we go, back into an honest-to-goodness dungeon! Scheduling note: I will be taking this Monday off for Memorial Day. I hope those of you in the US enjoy your three day weekend as much as I plan to. For those of you outside the US… well, take a three-day […]

Not much going on today, although I checked out the MeatShield page over at TV Tropes and someone has been busy! Whoever it is that put up all that new content, you are awesome! Thanks! See you all on Friday! ~Rob

Hi folks, Sorry about the lateness of this one, folks. It was one of those days when I had to pound the idea out of my head with a mallet. Maybe that says something about my creative process, I don’t know. 😉 More about Gary and his failure to launch on Monday! ~Rob

Man, I just know I’m gonna get comments on this one. 🙂 See you on Wednesday! ~Rob

All I have to say about today’s strip is this: heh heh heh! For those not familiar with that, that is the Evil DM Laugh. I’m really very good at it. See you all on Friday! ~Rob

Not too much to say folks today , gotta get some little girls to a birthday party! See you all on Monday! ~Rob

Hey, just because he kind of Forrest Gumps his way through life doesn’t mean Dhur is completely oblivious. Just slightly oblivious. See you on Wednesday! ~Rob

And now, in a continuing service, an entry from the Encyclopedia Ardrisia GHOSTS The phenomenon of the spirits of the living lingering on after death is not a new one. The earliest recorded sightings of ghosts go back to The 2nd Empire of Skarnoth in what is now western Tarokka. Many of these sightings were […]

BOOK ONE STATUS UPDATE As it stands, the first MeatShield book, The Quest for the Scepter Thingie is nearly finished. I have a few minor things to complete for it, such as the cover (!) and some of the bonus content and it’s ready to go. Now it’s time to consider printing options. There are […]

Undead Ocelots. No doubt raised from the dead by that foul necromancer, Mar Lon Per Kins 😉 Thanks for all your input on the whole self-publishing dilemma, folks. Here’s what I’ve decided: I am going to give Kickstarter a shot. So, all I have to do is make a intro video for it and decide […]

Man, some of you were upset about how Jaine treated Dhur in the last strip! For those that missed it (hit that PREVIOUS button for more info) Jaine told Dhur to essentially go on a snipe hunt while the grown-ups searched the lab. In Jaine’s defense, how helpful would Dhur be in a room full […]

Okay, this shows how much of a dork I am. I wrote the above blog title and the first thing that popped into my mind was the Pace picanté commercial where a bunch of cowboys find out that their picanté sauce was made in New York City. I watch WAAAAAAAY too much TV. See you […]

Book Progress: 99% done! All i have to do is draw the cover and I’ve got everything I need to send this thing off to the printers. I hope to have the Kickstarter campaign up and running in the next few weeks, so stay tuned for that! See you all on Wednesday! ~Rob

A little bit of news for you folks. Dave Reddick of Legend of Bill sent out a TroubleAlert for guest strips and MeatShield has answered the call! Seriously, I’m putting together a guest strip for Dave to run while he gets caught up on his own excellent strip, although I’m not sure when it will […]

UPDATE – 7/4/11 : The guest strip I drew for Dave Reddick over at Legend of Bill is now live! Go check it out! Face facts:  if you had Day’l as a son, wouldn’t you want to get rid of him, or at least send him to military school? Not to worry, though – the […]

Welcome to everyone from Legend Of Bill! For those of you who might have missed it, Dave Reddick, the creator of The Legend of Bill, was swamped with work and put the call out for guest strips, and mine ran on Monday. If you haven’t checked out The Legend of Bill, I heartily encourage it. […]

Not much to talk about today, folks – gotta get that cover to Book One drawn! Have a great weekend! ~Rob

Still working on the cover to Book One. I keep second-guessing myself and starting over from scratch. Grrr… BTW, “Teo” is pronounced TAY-oh. Just in case you were curious. 🙂 See you on Wednesday! ~Rob P.S. By the way, if anyone has a Google Plus invite, I’d really appreciate one!

Hey! I’m on Google Plus now! So, I got that going for me, which is nice. See you on Friday! ~Rob

C’mon, you guys knew it was going in this direction. Heck, some of you have probably been praying for it. 😉 See you all on Monday! ~Rob

Quick question for you all: Who do you dislike the most: Day’l or Prince Jonus and why? I’m just curious. Drop me a comment below! See you all on Wednesday! ~Rob

Enjoyed the comments you guys left on Monday regarding who you disliked more, Day’l or Prince Jonus. The consensus seems to be that Jonus was a whiny brat, while Day’l is more of a conniver and potentially more dangerous. Heh heh heh… See you on Friday! ~Rob

Or in this case, pointy curly slipper to the head, but you get the idea. Next Friday there will be no cartoon, as I am going to be taking the day off for my birthday! Hope all of you at San Diego ComicCon are having a great time, and if you want to give me […]

Oh yeah. It just got real, folks. See you on Wednesday! ~Rob

Just a quick reminder: there will be no cartoon on Friday, July 29th, as I am taking my birthday off. How old am I? Old enough to remember (and have owned) the original D&D red box and to have been really excited when Donkey Kong came out on the Atari 2600. Do the math. 🙂 […]

Last Friday night was arguably the best birthday party I’ve ever had! I’ve never had a surprise party thrown for me; I can’t say that anymore! It was one of the best nights of my life! Kudos to my wife for organizing it all and for completely pulling the wool over my eyes! I’ve rarely […]

Just in case you forgot, The W’Shaa Monastery is one of the most haunted places in Ardris, as per this entry from the Encyclopedia Ardrisia. See you all Friday! ~Rob

It had been so long since I had last drawn Nival’r that I kind of forgot what he looked like. So, if you notice any tiny artistic discrepancies, mea culpa 🙂 See you all on Monday! ~Rob

Not much to report today, folks – we come back from the flashback tomorrow! EDIT: I meant to say “Wednesday”. Wasn’t paying attention to what I was writing. 🙂 Hasta, ~Rob

Howdy folks. I am lucky to have a large number of very appreciative readers, many of whom leave comments of one sort or another on the site. However, I have noticed that I have never specified any kind of code of conduct for the comments. I am not going to do that now, nor am […]

Man, MeatShield strip #250 kind of crept up on me there. Wow. On September 9th, I will have been doing MeatShield for TWO YEARS.  Thank you everyone for coming by three times a week and checking out the adventures of our (now) quartet. Things are about to get… interesting. (insert Evil DM laugh here). See […]

UPDATE: 8/17/11 – Due to weird scheduling and back-to-school craziness, Wednesday’s MeatShield strip will go up on Thursday (8/18/11) instead. Sorry this one is so late, folks. It’s back-to-school time and all sorts of interesting things are happening, made doubly interesting by the fact that I have twins, so that means two of EVERYTHING – […]

EDIT: 8/18/11 – I know this will only apply to one reader, but since I can’t seem to get ahold of him or her any other way… Mongoose (or holden), please check your inbox. The answer to your question is right there. By the way, just in case you might have missed it, there is […]

See, there was a reason they went to the W’Shaa monastery! In case you’re having trouble remembering, go check this strip out, which started the entire W’Shaa storyline. Jaine is having the same reaction that I have when entering a good bookstore. Not a big box bookstore, like Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million, but instead […]

My dad always told me that in the military, the last thing you ever wanted to say was “I’m bored,” because your CO will find something for you to do, and you wouldn’t like it. Revelations on Wednesday (sounds like the title for a Cure album) … ~Rob

Yes, that is the diary of Amos, the most famous of the W’Shaa. We first heard about him in this blog post. See you all Friday! ~Rob

Although it’s been going for a few days now, I thought I’d bring your attention to a worthy project. Dave Kellett, creator of the awesome all-ages comic Sheldon, has spent the past year filming a documentary called STRIPPED, with interviews with cartoonists all over the country. STRIPPED explores the role of the cartoonist in the […]

To all of you on the East Coast of the US and Canada dealing with Hurricane Irene and the aftermath of the first earthquake in a really long time, you have my thoughts and prayers. I’ve been in several earthquakes in my life ( I live in Southern California), and I don’t like how playfully […]

Sooo, which way should they go: towards Dhur’s old stomping grounds in Tarokka, or to go see Jaine’s dad in Val’Dhar? Decisions, decisions. Leave me a comment below! By the way, remember how I was lamenting the fact that I couldn’t come up with a good concept for my book cover? I finally came up […]

So, it’s official. Becky is part of the team! Now, it’s off for Tarokka! I did think about sending them to Val-Dhar to see Jaine’s dad, but I heard Jaine’s voice in my head  saying,”The hell I will!” I hear these voices a lot. I’m completely sane. Mostly. FYI, I will be taking this coming […]

You know what kind of snuck up on me? This Friday will be the 2nd anniversary of MeatShield! Look on Friday for something really cool! Like what, you ask? To quote Dr. River Song, “Spoilers.” See you on Friday! ~Rob

Presenting… The Front Cover of the first MeatShield book! Ta dah!! I figured you all have waited long enough to get a glimpse of what the book would look like, so when I finally finished the cover the other day, I knew that it was the perfect way to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of MeatShield! […]

For the record, no, I’ve never eaten a crumpet. A comment was submitted over the weekend that disturbed me. The comment in question was mostly on my artistic skills or lack thereof (which I am actually pretty thick-skinned about), but the commenter ended his missive with a term that means, roughly,  “Fornicator of a Maternal […]

One of these days, Dhur is going to find out what a compass is and it’ll blow his mind. I gotta go. See ya! ~Rob

UPDATE – 9/19/11  Due to circumstances beyond my control, the new MeatShield strip will be posted tomorrow (Sept. 20th) instead of today. Sorry, folks! Before you take off for the rest of your day, I’d like to tell you all about something that came to my attention:  I just found out that a cartoonist friend […]

UPDATE – 9/21/11 – Man, my schedule is all kinds of messed up this week. There will be a new cartoon up on Thursday, then I’ll get back to the normal schedule next week. Thanks for understanding, folks. – RC Now, in a continuing service, we present an entry from the Encyclopedia Ardrisia… ORCS Many […]

Sorry for the weird update schedule this week, folks. Suffice it to say that tons of stuff has been going on that have kept me from the drawing board computer this week. We’ll go back to the normal update schedule of Monday-Wednesday-Friday next week. See you on Monday! ~Rob

Dun-dun-DUNNNN! ~Rob

UPDATE: The Foglios were unable to make the interview, probably due to time constraints. Hopefully, I’ll get to be in on that interview as well. Just a quick plug: Today (Wednesday 9/28/11) at 7:00PM Eastern Time (4:00pm for those of us on the west coast) I will be co-hosting an episode of TGT Webcomics with […]

Infamous Nefarious, a new commenter, had a very good idea in his comment from the previous comic. Honestly, who wouldn’t want a cutesy-wutesy widdle face-eatin’ puppy for their very own?  Infamous Nefarious, I like how you think 🙂 Hasta! ~Rob

And now, in a continuing service, an entry from the Encyclopedia Ardrisia. CHIMERA HOUND Native to the deserts of Tarokka, the chimera hound is a magical hybrid between the chimera lizards that once populated the region and the hunting hounds initially used by that country’s Orc citizens. One of very few purposely mage-bred species (the […]

Still toying around with how Vorpal will look. I think I like this version best. See you all on Friday! ~Rob

10/10/11 UPDATE : The new MeatShield strip will be slightly delayed today folks, as I am freakin’ exhausted. I hope to have it up before 7:00 PST. Thanks for understanding. 🙂 Ch’p shouldn’t be needing his pony for a while, as he’ll be floating on air for at least three days after this. 🙂 See […]

Sorry for the lateness of this strip, folks. Suffice to say that last night was a rough night and let’s leave it at that. 🙂 See you all on Wednesday! ~Rob

In True Grit (the original version, not the recent remake that I haven’t seen yet), there’s a scene where Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne) confronts Ned Pepper and  yells out “Fill your hands you sonofab*tch!” which means draw your guns so I can kill you in a fair fight. That’s kind of what I was going […]

Many years ago, in one of the many D&D games I’ve played in, I was running a cleric of Tyr named Mikalen Norn. He was also known as “Mike of the Hammer” because that was his preferred weapon. In one encounter, Mike and the party was waling away at this huge iron golem and Mike […]

UPDATE: Check it out! MeatShield just got picked as “Pick of the Week” at the Webcomic Alliance website! Woo Hoo! Wow! Last week I asked you all what some of your most memorable in-game moments were and boy howdy, did you folks respond! This in turn has given me an idea…. CONTEST TIME! In 250 […]

Sorry for the lateness of this strip, folks – it was a heck of a day yesterday. See you all on Friday! ~Rob

Just a reminder: The contest for the funniest in-game (D&D or otherwise) moment is still on! The prize is a 8″x 11″ sketch of the MeatShield character of your choice and the deadline will be October 25th, 2011! Keep the comments coming in! See you all on Monday!

The Second annual MeatShield Sketch Contest is in its final hours! Deadline will be at 11:59PM PST on October 24th, 2011! So far, there have been some great stories – some hilarious, some cringe-worth, but all awesome. I am going to have my work cut out for me in choosing just one. Once the deadline […]

Can’t talk, still deciding on who the winner of the sketch contest is going to be. Must brew coffee. See you all on Friday with the name of the winner! ~Rob

Ladies and Gentlemen, I hereby present the winner of the Second Annual MeatShield Sketch Contest…. Jennifer Hansen! Here is Jennifer’s winning funny in-game moment: We were playing (IIRC) first edition AD&D and we were facing the Really Big Baddie, who was laughing maniacally and casting massive spells at us. He had, of course, already sent […]

This begs the question: there can’t be two Dhurs out there, one a war hero and the other our Dhur… right? 😉 See you all on Wednesday and Happy Halloween! ~Rob

Howdy, folks! I received the proof for Quest for the Scepter Thingie yesterday after much waiting and… wow. It’s a good thing they send you a proof first, because I have TONS of mistakes to fix. However, it is still neat to actually have a book in my hands that I made. So, despite the […]

Insert Evil DM laugh here. Heh heh heh. 🙂 See you all on Monday, ~Rob

Ahhh, it’s finally getting cold here in California. I look forward to this time of year, because I am NOT built for summer. I know there are folks out there that would have no problem saying “Man, I love summertime! Bring on that heat! The hotter it is, the more I love it!” I’m not […]

UPDATE – 11/11/11 – Today’s strip will be going up late today folks, possibly tomorrow. I forgot that today was Veteran’s Day and have my kids at home 🙂 Not that I’m complaining. C’mon, you didn’t think that orc was just going to give up and let Becky keep the dog, did you? Now, those […]

Book Update! I am looking to have all my edits done for Book One by early next week. After much consideration, I’ve decided to publish it via Lulu.com, instead of starting a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to print the book. I feel it’s better to make the book available as soon as possible, instead […]

Good  news! I have finished my edits on the book and all that needs to be done now is to redesign the back cover, which won’t take long. Soooo… I expect to have the book available for sale this Wednesday! I’ll post links to the Lulu store on Wednesday both here in the blog and […]

Looks like somebody failed their Perception check. See ya, unnamed mohawk-wearing orc guy that used to own Vorpal. In other news… BOOK ONE IS NOW AVAILABLE! Just in time for holiday shopping, The Quest for the Scepter Thingie is now on sale at Lulu.com! I hope you all like it, I put a lot of […]

Just in case you missed the news on Wednesday, the very first MeatShield book is now available at Lulu.com! Just click on the banner ad above to get your very own copy! Perhaps buy two copies – one to read, one to put into a protective Mylar bag to preserve for the ages as a […]

Wow! We’re ten away from the big 300! Woo Hoo! I’ll have some Book news (other than the fact that you can buy it now) on Wednesday. Deals to be made… 🙂 See you all on Wednesday! ~Rob

UPDATE: 11/28/11 – Sorry, no new strip today folks. This cold I have is kicking my butt bad. Let’s shoot for Wednesday instead. Thanks for understanding. 🙂 ~Rob So, you know how on Monday I mentioned news regarding the book? We’re going to do Black Friday a little early! The kind folks at Lulu have […]

By the way, in panel 2, that’s Dhur wiggling his fingers in a “magicky” way. Just in case that wasn’t clear. Starting to come around the bend, health-wise. Thanks for the kind comments and remedy suggestions, gang. 🙂 Did you happen to miss out on the Cyber Monday discount on “The Quest for the Scepter […]

UPDATE – 12/5/11 – Monday’s strip will be delayed until Wednesday or whenever my body decides it has had enough of the flu I seem to have contracted. I will endeavor to have three strips up this week, regardless. Chocolate Gloomvault – Part of a nutritious breakfast! Also available: Fruity Gloomvault 🙂 Thank you to […]

Ugh. After getting through one of the worst colds I’ve ever had as an adult last week and this week with the flu or stomach bug or whatever it was (I could give you the details, but you really don’t want to know), I’m about done with being sick. Just thought I’d share that with […]

It’s a funny thing; once I wrapped my mind around the idea of 3 updates a week and not strictly on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons, I felt a ton of stress fall off my shoulders. So, after talking it over with my wife and you guys, I think I am going to switch to […]

UPDATE – 12/14/11 – Don’t worry, I’m working on the next comic. 🙂 I just wanted to put up a notice that today is the LAST DAY to get 25% off on The Quest for the Scepter Thingie by using the code BUYMYBOOK305. After the 14th, this code will no longer work. You’ll still be […]

UPDATE 12/19/11 – Due to a family dental emergency, I will not have a strip up today. I hope to have one up by tomorrow. Thanks for understanding, folks. ~Rob Eh, who needs subtlety when you have power over life and death? Then again, Lord Borloth was probably one of those guys that was really […]

UPDATE – 12/21/11 – Man, I thought I’d get more done than I did before I left town for Christmas, but I didn’t. Mea Culpa. 🙁  I just wanted to post a quick note to tell all of you Happy Holidays, whatever holiday that might be for you, and thanks for reading. I also have […]

Welcome to the new year, folks! I thought I’d start off the new year with something subtle and understated. So, yeah, Dhur’s dead – or is he? Bwa Ha ha ha! So, it looks like Wizards of the Coast has decided to start work on Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition, and will supposedly be using […]

Wow. Look at that. This is cartoon #299. How time flies… More on this whole D&D 5th Edition thing:  There were some interesting things brought into 4th edition that I hope make it to 5th edition unscathed. The shortened skill list was a blessing from on high compared to the mess that 3.0 and 3.5 […]

So, yeah, folks, he wasn’t teleported. 🙂 I’ve decided that with each 100 strips (or so), the characters go up in level. So, they’re all 3rd level, essentially.  You’ll also note that the only place where Dhur’s level and class are mentioned is in the afterlife, which tells me that whoever rolled Dhur up min-maxed […]

I know I’m a little late with this, but I thought that I’d do one of those “New Year Resolutions” posts that’s so popular with all the kids on the Interwebs these days. 😉 For 2012, here’s what I hope to accomplish with MeatShield: Publish the second book. Right now, it’s under the working title […]

Yep, you don’t want to cross an angel. Just in case you were wondering. Check this out! Tuomo Kakkonen, a MeatShield reader in Finland, sent in the very first piece of MeatShield fan art! Tuomo also has a webcomic called T’s Kingdom. Thanks, Tuomo! Hasta, ~Rob

Not much to say today, folks. See you all next week! Take care, ~Rob

I went looking around the net for trap ideas for this strip and boy howdy, are there a LOT of ideas for RPG traps out there! It was kind of awe-inspiring, in its own way. They gave me some good ideas for when I start back up GMing in two weeks. I had been playing […]

Which begs this question: what kinds of shows would be on The DeathTrap Channel? “This Old Charnal House with Bob Vile-ah?” “Property Vampires?” “House Haunters?” “Extreme Makeover: Dungeon Edition?” The possibilities are endless. Yeah, the wife and I end up watching a lot of HGTV. In fact, she came up with most of the above […]

Think about it. Borloth is in that keep of his day-in and day-out, his only company being the undead he makes, who can’t be all that riveting to hang around with. Borloth: So, guys, read any good books lately? Zombies: GNNNNNGGNNNNNUUUURRRRR. Borloth: *sigh* Heck, after watching my girls all day (for new readers, I’m a […]

I know what you’re all thinking: If Dhur is getting sent back, what about his Belt Buckle of Expressiveness? How is he going to get that back? Good question. Take care, ~Rob

1400 years as is a long time as a “greeter.” Although some of the greeters at my local Wal-Mart may be pushing that… ~Rob

Being brought back from the dead requires a certain amount of focus and that’s something that just isn’t in Dhur’s wheelhouse. Take care, ~Rob

EDIT: Jeff, a frequent commenter, recently put  Scepter Thingie on Goodreads.com, as you’ll read in the comments below. Thanks, Jeff! Here’s the link to GoodReads! Did you know that today roughly marks my two-and-a- half year anniversary drawing MeatShield? Me either! I found that out when I updated my LinkedIn profile and it asked me […]

OK, it seems the consensus is that an e-book is a good idea! Now to figure out how to do and color all those pages. Have a good weekend everyone! ~Rob

I would have had this cartoon up earlier today, but I had my first “Oh Crap, I lost my kid!” moment today. I was picking my daughters up from school today and normally, they walk the kids out to a valet line to be picked up or they can let them cross the parking lot […]

Well, after this bit with Borloth, I’ve realized two things: Skeletons are a pain in the neck to draw, and It’s really hard to show facial expressions on a character when that character doesn’t have a face. Next up: we deal with a naked half-orc. You’re welcome, ladies 😉 Take care, ~Rob

UPDATE 2/21/12: Due to the President’s Day weekend (and my girls being at home with me for 4 days in a row), I’m a little behind. There will be two comics this week, with the normal 3/week update schedule resuming next week. Thanks for understanding, folks! 🙂 One of the racial traits of half-orcs seems […]

One of the things that will always be a constant in MeatShield is Dhur’s sense of blissful obliviousness and today is a prime example of that. The man comes back from the dead (which is no mean feat) and one of the first things he wonders about is why he was tapped to perform an […]

Forgot about that guy, didn’t you? Look here to see who I’m talking about. See you all Monday! ~Rob

I think it has now been well established that, if you are the sort that makes up rules for living a happy life, that Rule #3 should be this: “Don’t cross Becky Sourbottom.” Rule #1 is, of course, “Never get involved in a land war in Asia” and #2 is “Never cross a Sicilian when […]

I realized something today: Dhur and the rest of the crew have a hard time with magic items. They either get stolen from them, destroyed, or (often times) forget that they have them. For instance, someone pointed out that Dhur is currently using Jaine’s Cloak of Second Chances as a kilt and could have used […]

I would have a much longer blog post to go with this strip, folks, but ten years ago today my life changed irrevocably because she said “I do.” Happy Anniversary, Hon. I love you. The rest of you reading this are okay, too. 🙂 See you all next week! ~Rob

Thanks to everyone for the congratulations last Friday on my 10th wedding anniversary. I have been told by at least one of you that the 10th anniversary is the Tin anniversary, meaning that people should buy you gifts made of tin, I guess, which seems like an odd choice to me. Anyway, we had a […]

I was made aware of something earlier today which frustrated me. Mike, a longtime reader serving in Afghanistan, tried to order a copy of my book but Lulu, the company I’m publishing the book through,  cannot ship to overseas military addresses or APO/FPOs. If anyone else is having this problem, let me know by sending […]

So, Flavor Flav – err, Ch’p what time is it? Nothing profound today folks, gotta go run my D&D game! See you next week! ~Rob

Wondering what Dhur means by “payback”? Go take a look at this tidbit from the past. Just in case you’re not up on your fantasy character costuming, from left to right we have Bill (and a plush Frank the dragon) from Legend of Bill by Dave Reddick, Yeagar from Nodwick by Aaron Williams,  He-Man by […]

For all you new readers, that is Jaine’s iOun she is making her journal entry with. We first saw it pop up waaaaay back here. See you all Friday! ~Rob

UPDATE: 3/20/12 – Due to some minor health complications (you don’t want the details, trust me) there will only be two comics this week. I should be back to normal (or as normal as I get) next week, after this round of antibiotics are done with. New cartoon tomorrow, folks, and thanks for your patience.  […]

UPDATE – 3/23/12 – Like I said below, it’s been a rough week. I tried to get a second comic out this week, but I am still feeling kind of puny, as the antibiotics they have me on make me really tired. I’ll have the new comic up on Monday. Thanks for understanding, folks. You’re […]

And now, in a continuing service, an entry from the Encyclopedia Ardrisia: SAMILLEVE Samilleve (SAM-ull-EV), the capitol city of Val’Dhar, is a city of soaring towers and minarets, natural splendor, and ruthless politics. Since the average elf lives for roughly 400 years and rarely leaves the walls of their pastel-colored domain, a certain amount of […]

Well, Samilleve Gate Captain, technically Dhur is only half-thing, so he’ll only halfway kick your butt. 🙂 Just in case you’re wondering where this “Vanalassa” title comes from, go take a look at this strip way way when. See you all Friday, ~Rob

Either there’s a mural thief out there or…. DUN DUN DUNNN! Complications are afoot. (insert evil DM laugh) Bwah ha ha! Have a good weekend, everybody! ~Rob

Just a quick heads-up, folks: strip updates may be sporadic, as this week is Spring Break for my daughters. Nothing makes for a more effective distraction from getting things done than two 7-year-olds home from school for a week. Want an example of that? Here you go:  I had to stop and start this blog […]

Poor, poor Ch’p. Lucky in looting treasure rooms, unlucky in love. Someone pointed out that Ch’p must be pretty loaded with all the loot that Ch’p dragged out of Borloth’s keep. Something that you need to keep in mind: Ch’p grew up in a monastery where money was never used – the W’Shaa bartered for […]

UPDATE – 4/10/12: Quick Poll: Do you think the party needs a fifth member? If so, what kind? Kind of like Awkward Family Photos… except not. Nothing pith to say today, folks, still recovering from my kids’ spring break 🙂 See you all Wednesday (or thereabouts), ~Rob

So far, here are the results to my informal poll on the possibility of a 5th party member: Some sort of rogue, possibly a gnome or a kobold An arcane caster or some other kind of arcane class, like artificer, mage or sorceror A psionic character of some sort A divine character, such as a […]

I think this’ll be the last day to put in your two cents on a possible 5th party member of URAC47 (Unnamed Royal Adventuring Company #47), also known as Dhur and His Amazing Friends. 😉 Now mind you, I’m not saying that I’m going to take every suggestion, which is kind of impossible. What I […]

Thanks to everyone who commented, both here and on Facebook. There were a lot of great ideas and a few… interesting ones 🙂 Just so everyone knows, this potential 5th party member won’t be showing up right away, and I won’t be divulging its race and class until she or he makes their appearance. I […]

Now all I need is Bob Saget doing the voiceover for this strip and we’re all set! That begs the question: Is there a Barney Stinson in Samilleve? If so, that would be awe…. wait for it…. some! I watch waaay too much TV. 🙂 See you all on Friday (or thereabouts)! ~Rob

The minute I wrote that blog post headline, the theme song for Love Boat popped into my head… and now it’s in yours also. You’re welcome 😉 ~Rob

This goes a long way towards explaining why Noral held such a dim view of bards and music, I think. Go check out panel 2 in this strip to see what I mean. ~Rob

UPDATE – 4/28/12 – I am extremely burned out right now, folks, as you can probably tell by the frequency of the strips lately. I will try to have the new MeatShield strip up on Wednesday. I just need a few days to recharge. Thanks for understanding. 🙂 Sorry this one is so late, folks. […]

…… aaaaannnnnd we’re back! Thanks to all of you for the kind comments regarding my recent bout with artistic near-burnout. I get like that sometimes. Also, thanks to everyone who sent me all the positive messages on Twitter and Facebook yesterday regarding my mom’s health problems. She’s doing better and they are keeping her for […]

Don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m looking forward to Wizards of the Coast releasing the playtest rules for D&D Next. I just hope that they haven’t dumbed it down, which was a common complaint when 4E came out – everyone claimed that it was trying to turn D&D into an MMORPG . […]

The last part of this strip is almost autobiographical. 🙂 My girls are like ninjas, sometimes. OOH! Last weekend, I co-hosted the TGT Webcomics podcast with Kurt Sasso, where we interviewed Scott Christian Sava, the creator of the most excellent all-ages webcomic The Dreamland Chronicles! Go check it out! See you all Wednesday! ~Rob

Can you tell what cartoon my daughters love? Three guesses, and the first two don’t count. 🙂 Hasta! ~Rob

Sorry for the lateness of this one, folks. Time got away from me. Mea Culpa. 🙂 See you Monday! ~Rob

Howdy, folks. Just to clear up any confusion about Mari, since a) it probably won’t be mentioned in the strip, and b) people have been conjecturing about her: Mari is a full-blooded elf even though her ears are no bigger than Jaine’s. Elves, like all other humanoids, have two things that continue to grow after […]

I felt sad when I drew that third panel. Almost like I wanted to reach into it, give her a hug and tell her everything was going to be OK. 🙁 Something I’ve been noticing about the direction of the strip that worries me a tad is that it doesn’t seem to take much for […]

OK. I’m putting this up on Saturday, May 19 at 10:36PM PST. So, technically, I got three strips done this week. Technically. Since Saturday is the last day in the week on the calendar. Yeah, I’m not buying it either. Ever since I went to the three times a week schedule instead of the M-W-F […]

So, who wants to cross Sora? I didn’t think so. 😉 Take care, ~Rob

Just a quick note: if you didn’t already know about it (not likely with this group :)), Wizards of the Coast just opened their public playtest for the next iteration of the Dungeons and Dragons rules. Go here to sign up. I’ve only had a few moments to skim the rules, but it looks… interesting. […]

Not much to talk about today, folks. I’ll be taking this coming Monday off for Memorial Day here in the States, as my wife is planning on making a brisket, Texas-style. Ain’t no way I’m missing out on that. 🙂 Have a good weekend, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday! Take care, ~Rob

Wow. I’ve made 350 comics. Kind of snuck up on me there. Cool! I should probably start working on Book 2 now, huh? 🙂 See you all Friday! ~Rob

Not much to say here, folks – gotta go prep for my D&D game! Have a great weekend, everybody! ~Rob  

Go take a look at this strip to see what Noral’s research dug up. Also, yes, Noral is rocking the air quotes in panel 4. Who says he isn’t hep to how the younger peoples talk? 😉 See you all Wednesday! ~Rob

For some reason, Elton John’s song of a similar name jumped into my head just now. Apropos of nothing, I know, it’s just where my mind went. See you Friday! ~Rob

Anyone who’s been reading the strip or digging through the archives will know that Jaine has what is essentially an iPhone, called an iOun in the strip (referring to a little bit of D&D lore). I, on the other hand, do not own an iPhone, even though my first computer was a Mac Color Classic […]

Didn’t see THIS coming, didya? BWA HA HA HA (evil DM Laugh)! ~Rob  

It is now the first day of summer vacation for my girls, who have just finished second grade. For new readers, I have twins, so I ain’t skeered of nuthin’ no more. 😉  The oldest of the two was very upset that she will most likely never see her second grade teacher again, as her […]

UPDATE: 6/18/12 – My arm has ached all day from my elbow to my wrist. Unfortunately, it’s my drawing hand. The new strip will go up tomorrow, folks. Get it? Because it’s a hammer! It’s blunt! To quote Paul F. Tompkins, “oh, my brain has many wrinkles.” My wife will confirm that it does indeed […]

This is kind of how I am whenever I hear any bit of news I find interesting, only to discover that my wife knew about if several hours (if not days) before. I know I had mentioned going back to the strict Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule after June 1st. Obviously, that didn’t happen. As it stands right […]

As I said yesterday, my in-laws are visiting from Texas and I don’t know what it is, but whenever they visit, my productivity goes up. It’s weird. Also, it’s not like I’m being antisocial: we generally have a fine time when we’re together. I just seem to be able to crank the strips out faster […]

I had something like this happen to me last week. One of my daughters asked me if I could just tell my boss (who is me) that I could draw my comic strip later and play with her now. Yeah, that made me feel about  two inches tall. Sometimes, when there’s a delay in the […]

UPDATE – 6/29/12 : I am beat, folks. It’s been a really busy week around here. Normal comic production will resume on Monday. Thanks for understanding 🙂 One thing I’ve always tried to do with MeatShield is present everything the way that the characters perceive it. Thus, there have been no thought balloons or any […]

To Sora, her spy network is three parts her way of contributing to Val’Dhar’s security and one part endlessly entertaining plaything. Just in case you were curious. 🙂 __ Being a professional cartoonist is, by its very nature, a sedentary occupation. Coupled to that the fact that I have been heavy for most of my […]

Thanks to everyone who commented on the last blog post regarding my weight loss efforts. I really did not expect that big of a reaction, but that just shows how awesome you folks are. You all truly deserve the mantle of Forces of Good, which is the moniker that a commenter named “zuche” coined a […]

UPDATE: For a limited time only, Lulu is offering 18% off of any order! If you’ve been wanting to get your hands on the first MeatShield book, The Quest for the Scepter Thingie, then what are you waiting for? Go get yourself one and when you go to checkout, enter “CAUGHT” in the Coupon Code […]

I was a Boy Scout, but I just couldn’t wrap my mind around the various knots you were supposed to know how to tie and, more importantly, when and how to use each of them. I didn’t last long. 🙂 By the way, we last saw Earl and Chuck here. __ Here’s a question for […]

One of the problems with having ADHD is that when there is a great deal of noise in a room, I can’t seem to write easily. Unless it’s writing about ADHD,  I guess. My kids are watching The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That on PBS and between their laughing and Martin […]

I know, I know… someone should call the Westhame division of the SPCA for poor Vorpal, being left behind like that. In Becky’s defense, as Vorpal’s de facto owner, she’s had a lot on her mind, what with some centuries-old hammer talking to her and telling her she’s now the Hand of Morridin. That would […]

Finally ran the D&D Playtest last week and overall it was… okay. I think the biggest complaint was the lack of self-healing and total reliance on the cleric for healing. I’ll write more about it later, promise, but it’s 1:00 AM as I write this and I’m going to bed. See you all Monday! ~Rob […]

WEIGHT UPDATE! Last Saturday marked the end of week number 3 of my new weight loss endeavor. Here are the stats: STARTING WEIGHT: 284.8 lbs. CURRENT WEIGHT: 278.6 lbs. WEIGHT LOST: -6.2 lbs. Not as impressive as the last two weeks, but it’s going in the right direction. Slowly but surely! See you all Wednesday! […]

Dhur: Half-orc Barbarian or Poster Child for ADHD? You make the call. __ I was listening to the D&D Podcast from Wizards of the Coast today and they were talking about D&D Next ( which is what they’re calling the playtest for the new D&D rules set) in the first half of the show. Turns […]

And now we know two things: Jaine’s mom’s alias is Aneira Summerleaf (Aneira is Welsh for “gold”), and Sora didn’t volunteer much more info than Cindra’s alias and location. FYI, there will be only two cartoons next week (Wednesday and Friday), as my birthday is this Sunday and I plan doing all the traditional birthday […]

OK, we’re back. I had a nice and relaxing birthday last Sunday and on Saturday morning, I got a pleasant surprise: STARTING WEIGHT: 284.8 lbs. CURRENT WEIGHT: 274.8 lbs. WEIGHT LOST: -10.0 lbs. Yay! Thanks, Chris Powell, for writing your book and thereby helping me and my wife get healthier. My wife also has a […]

Like a lot of my fellow participants, I got a survey from Wizards of the Coast regarding the D&D Next Playtest. This one asked me to pick from about thirty choices which ten spells needed to be in D&D Next in order for it to “feel” like D&D. For every spell level and for both […]

Last weekend, I got my birthday present from my wife which was one whole weekend (more or less) away from home, hanging out with my best friend, who lives in a beach house in Newport Beach that is about 30 feet away from the beach. Enjoyed my time down there doing absolutely nothing, and it […]

Too bad I couldn’t have Jaine wear sunglasses and toss off a pun about the crime scene, followed by a Roger Daltrey “YEAAAAAAAH!”. Some of you might remember that I was interviewed for the TGT (Two Guys Talking) WEbcomics podcast, run by Kurt Sasso. What you may not know is that every quarter or so […]

Howdy, folks!  Remember last Friday I told you all about that podcast competition I was in? Well, I made it to Round 2! I have no illlusions that I can win it, as some of the people in the running are people like Phil Foglio (Girl Genius) and Kam & Kneon Pratt (Shadowbinders), among others. […]

UPDATE – 8/18/12 – I need to take a 1- week break to deal with a health related issue. I’ll have new cartoons up on 8/27.  I’ll still be active on Twitter and Facebook, though. Thanks for understanding, folks. 🙂 Couldn’t resist a little Han Solo reference. 🙂 Who is this guy? We’ll find out […]

The blog post title refers to the Penny Arcade/PVP D&D Podcasts put out by Wizards of the Coast. Wil Wheaton plays in these games as eladrin avenger Aeofel, whose name always gets shortened to “Al.” Kind of the outrage I was going for there. I made it to the Finals of the TGT Tournament! I […]

Real life intruded this week, folks. Big Time. First off, the bad stuff: the vertigo from my inner ear infection has persisted all week, with varying degrees of severity. Since it’s viral, the only thing I can do is get bedrest (spent all day Monday in bed and off and on throughout most of the […]

To quote Dhur, “DANG!” My productivity has slowed to a crawl and it’s all because of my stupid, stupid ear. Specifically, my left inner ear, which is infected and has been slapping me upside the head with bouts of vertigo for the past two weeks or so. I mean vertigo like you’re standing on a […]

Not sure where Philo got that shirt? Go back to this strip and look in the lower right corner. I have a favor to ask of those of you who are so inclined: Tom Racine, who is the host of the most excellent Tall Tales Radio podcast, has had an IndieGoGo fundraiser going for the […]

Note: Any choppiness in the video is due to me taking out all of my “umms” and “uhhs” and not being a very good video editor 🙂 See you all on Wednesday! ~Rob

UPDATE 9/18/12:  I was going to get the next cartoon drawn today after I came home from dropping my kids off at school. When I got to their school, there was a TV News van there interviewing the principal. When I got home, I had an email waiting for me from the principal. I then […]

Hi Folks, What with the idiot that decided to target my kids’ school getting out on bail today (which makes me very nervous) and the fact that in a little under two weeks, I’ll be moving, I’ve decided to put the strip on a brief hiatus. Right now, the plan is to resume production on […]

Annnnnnnnnd we’re back! Miss us? 🙂 As of yesterday, we are completely and totally moved out of both our apartment and our storage unit. Yep, all our junk is now under one roof. Now to find out where we put everything. One thing that I like to do in the aftermath of a move is […]

Still trying to get things sorted out here at Chez Chambers. Ended up only posting one strip last week because I could not for the life of me find my scripts notebook. Y’know, the thing that tells me what I planned for everyone to say and do in each strip? Yeah, that thing. Slowly getting […]

If, after reading today’s strip, you’re scratching your head and thinking, “what the…?”, allow me to direct your attention to this strip from a few months ago. That’s all I gots for ya today. See you next time! ~Rob

I performed a public service yesterday . I told two relatively new teen-age gamers The Eric & the Gazebo story. Now, for those of you who have never heard this particular story, it is an anecdotal story that has been bopping around the gaming world since about the mid-1980s, courtesy of game designer Richard Aronson. […]

Not much to talk about today, folks. It’s 12:30 AM as I write this and I’m off to bed. I’ll write something funny and/or interesting on Friday. 🙂 Hasta, ~Rob

Three things for todfay, folks: Happy Halloween! I hope everyone living on the East Coast is well in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Scary stuff. Be extra careful, please. As you may have noticed, my update schedule has taken a hit over the last month.  Originally, it was because of all the craziness in my […]

Dhur has two priorities when in the grips of a berserker rage: 1) revenge and wanton destruction, and 2) cookies. Take care, ~Rob

When I was a young comics geek, one of my favorite comic books was a second-tier book put out by Marvel called Power Man & Iron Fist, which was unique in that the title characters ran a business called Heroes for Hire. Need a hero? Give ’em a call. Nowadays, Power Man is better known […]

Now, whoever could Day’l be summoning? (cue Evil DM laugh) Heh heh heh! 😉 ~Rob

Yep, I said “murderize.” Thank you, Warner Bros. and Chuck Jones. As for the comments from the last strip, I have one thing to say: Heh heh heh. 😉 Take care, ~Rob

Lo, Dhur is reunited with Grinsplitter, which for some reason is all glowy… OK, my family and I are now 100% settled in the new house and I’m getting more comfortable with working in my studio. My studio. I have wanted a dedicated room all to my own for nothing but my art for a […]

Just in case you were wondering, that music being whistled in today’s strip is real music – it’s part of this song, on account of the fact that I cannot write music myself to save my life. 🙂 Hasta! ~Rob

Annnnnnnnd we’re back. Sorry for the dead air over the past week or so, folks. Not intentional, I assure you.  It’s just been a crazy month over all, what with family members and myself getting sick, holiday madness, and getting rear-ended by a driver whose insurance status is in question pending an investigation so I […]

I could ramble on and on about the events of the past few days, but that’s already being done by every single media outlet in the world. Suffice to say, as a father whose kids’ school was recently targeted by a crazy, Sandy Hook hit home for me. I am so thankful that nothing came […]

In that last panel, I was going for that whole slightly embarrassed yet happy feeling you get when you see one of your old elementary school teachers as an adult. I don’t care how hardened you are, if you run into your old kindergarten teacher, you instantly turn into a 5-year old again. __________________________ Next […]

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a good holiday season. I know I did, and now there’s a new addition to my family. Meet Inkspot, a.k.a. “Spotty”: Kind of fitting for a cartoonist to have a dog that looks he’s been spattered with ink, eh? He’s about a year old, according to the […]

Not that my mom would be able to do much against an unnatural dragon/demon horror like the Big D. Then again, my mom is Boston Irish Roman Catholic, with all the temper and feistiness that come with that, so maybe she’d have a shot at it. 🙂 ~Rob

“So, what did you do yesterday?” “Not much. Went to the store, got some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. You?” “Oh, you know, the usual: watched royalty get stabbed, then had a conversation with my god. No biggie.” Heck, the last time we hit a hundredth strip, Dhur died. Had to do something equally earthshaking, […]

Dang it, Becky, you are missing out on a prime multiclassing opportunity here! See you all next week, ~Rob

Well, that’s that. Becky’s a paladin. Kinda. A commenter from the previous strip named Norman mentioned Steve Weber’s Oath of Swords books. Well, waaaaaaaay back when the world of Ardris was just my campaign world, I initially modeled a good deal of my world on Norfressa, the fantasy world in which Mr. Weber set his […]

Not much from me today. I start up the new Pathfinder campaign on Friday, so wish me luck. Take care, everybody! ~Rob

Sorry for the slow  output of late, folks – Real World issues taking up my time. I will endeavor to get back up to 3/week soon, but it will be baby steps. Thanks for understanding, you guys are awesome. 🙂 Take care, ~Rob

C’mon, you knew he had to show up again sometime. 🙂 Take care, ~Rob

Here is one of many reasons I love my wife: After looking over this strip prior to publishing it on the web, she asked, “Is it an EARTH-SHATTERING Ka-boom?” Yep, she can quote Looney Tunes cartoons (specifically, Marvin the Martian) with ease. 🙂 C’mon, you guys thought Dhur would drink it? That would be the […]

Lo and behold, the clouds parted and Rob managed to put up more than one strip this week! This is going up on Friday night, which I view as getting it in under the wire, but by cracky and by gum, it got done! Like I said before, I’m doing my best to get back […]

Okay, I think everything is working now. Phew! Man, last week was a great big week of suck, 100% of which I inflicted on myself. However, I am now done monkeying around with the website, everything is working as it should, and the clouds have parted and the birds are singing… BTW, I view Dhur’s […]

Remember, Becky has never met Jonus. Neither has Philo, for that matter. 🙂 Yay! I’m two for two this week! See you all Friday! ~Rob

I know that 99% of the folks reading this know what Becky is trying to do, but just in case someone doesn’t know, here’s what the deal is: Becky is a paladin, which is a sort of holy warrior. Think Lancelot (without the whole adultery thing with Guinevere), and you’ve got the idea. Anyway, paladins […]

Hmm. I’m actually a little out of practice drawing Dhur with his hair and his chops. Oh, those luscious chops…;) The fun is just about to begin, because one of the older adages from D&D, right behind “Don’t Split the Party,” is this: “Never mix potions. Ever.” See you on Wednesday/Thursday! ~Rob

Never mind the fact that Jaine essentially works for the King of Westhame anyway, as part of Unnamed Royal Adventuring Company #47. Hasta! ~Rob

Mixing your potions has its consequences. Kids, let this be a lesson to you. Special thanks go out to lurker C.M. who very kindly contributed to the MeatShield Survival Fund. Most appreciated. 🙂 I want to be drawing MeatShield for a living, and this is one of the first steps. One of the other steps […]

EDIT: 4/3/13 – As some of you may have read if you keep up with my Twitter feed or the MeatShield Facebook page, I am dealing with a pinched nerve in my right shoulder, which means that my drawing ability has been impacted. I was hoping to have the new strip up today, but that’s […]

UPDATE – 4/9/13 : The strip needs to go on a one week hiatus while my drawing arm heals up from acute tendonitis. I’ll be using this time to write more and plan my evil, evil DM plans. Mwa ha ha 😉 . See you all on 4/15 ! One could argue that this latest […]

Dhur is keeping his eyes on the prize… and on the radishes. Take care, ~Rob

Like a lot of cartoonists publishing on the web, I use WordPress to manage my archive. This past week, Brad Guigar at Webcomics.com forwarded an article detailing how to secure a WordPress site against unwanted hacking. I implemented his suggestions, and lo and behold, no sooner than I did that, I got a ton of […]

And now, in a continuing service, an entry from the Encyclopedia Ardrisia… BARDS For as long as there have been people singing off-key and getting the facts wrong in important news stories, there have been bards slowly shaking their heads in frustration. Masters of music, story and magic, bards come from nearly every walk of […]

Work on Book Two continues apace, after I had pushed it to the back-burner for a while. Right now, it has the working title of “The Hunt for the Mystic Doo-Dads, Part One: Against the Gravel Giants”. I am about halfway through laying the book out. What I am trying to come up with now […]