TWISTER ACT...

by Erkuden Sakana, Company Secretary:

(The great Renegade deluge of 2008)

Company morale began to sink steadily in the days leading up to Renegade Brooklyn. The weekend weather forecast looked grim, and growing increasingly bleak as Saturdays drew nearer. Once again, one side of the Company vocally begrudged the other side's decision to partake in an outdoor event.

(photo by Becky Johnson)

Luckily the predicted two straight days of thunderstorms turned out to be little more than five torrential minutes this afternoon, followed by another brief moment of light sunshiny drizzle. Braced for much worse, the members made short work of battening down the hatches.

Once it became obvious that the rain would quickly pass and that the floating rumours of a tornado watch for the five boroughs began to appear exaggerated, tensions finally began to lift. Members were promptly dispatched to the Turkey's Nest -- a nearby establishment known for serving potent margaritas in large to-go cups -- to procure celebratory concoctions from the Company.

(photo of margarita travel cup courtesy of Marmie's Weblog)

* * *

In the evening the Company reunited at the new secret hideout after showering off what everyone had initially assumed to be suntans. It had been been discovered while packing up at the show that everything exposed to the MacCaren park air was now covered in a thin film of velvety bronze filth.


The Company sourly wiped park scum off its merchandise while conducting this weeks meeting.

* * *

Today's drawing session was inspired by the surprising number purportedly unacquainted yet mostly German-accented patrons who stopped by the Company's tent over the course of the weekend. They all enquired about the Company's now out of print comics.

(excerpt from "Time to Die" by the men and women of the Company)

Indeed, it's been a long time since the release of a Misanthrope Specialty Co. comic book. Improvising comics as a group gradually fell by the wayside over the past few years, for no reason in particular. This weekend's reminder stirred up enough nostalgia within the ranks to set the originally scheduled projects aside in favour of cooking up a new comic book.

(detail from "The Adventure of Quad Part 2" by the Misanthrope Specialty Co.)

The results of the evenings' doodling include a twelve-page sequel to The Adventure of Quad, the promising first chapter of a psychological eroto-thriller, dubbed Time To Die, and a hatful of other strips to be completed at next week's meeting.

* * *