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theheroesofcrash.com No surprise, but this comic was a LOT of fun to draw. While I am trying to do more realistic anatomy, being able to show off my characters' more toony side is a lot of fun to draw, and lends itself to better comedy. At one point, I was going to have Belt Boy merely raise his hand in that last panel, but I decided to exaggerate it and have him stand dramatically on the desk. I think it's funnier, and it fits with BB's personality rather well. The backgrounds were a lot of fun as well. The last panel was originally going to be gold, but it looked too similar to the orange panel above it. I decided on blue to contrast with the previous two panels, and to suggest that Belt Boy's psyche got a bit of relief from not holding in his heroic ambitions (although that relief will no doubt be short-lived!). The first panel is a callback to Belt Boy's first meeting Enticia; she tried to seduce him with her powers, but Belt Boy was focused on getting to class on time, and everything was colored in grayscale save for the clock to emphasize his focus. This time around, Belt Boy is focusing on his own problems, which is why he's the only thing in color. And yes, that IS a Taz-Mania reference in the first panel.

What's this? More new characters? Well, this is a classroom. You didn't think Belt Boy, Cannon, and Titanium Maiden were the only three students in there, didja? You've seen Road Racer before - near the beginning of the Gym Nauseum storyline (on 2/28/12). Her design is partly based off of two famous speedsters; the Road Runner and Sonic the Hedgehog. Her color scheme mostly borrows from the former, and her ponytail is supposed to be like the plumage on the Road Runner's head. The jet plane-like fins on her pilot-like cap are inspired by Sonic's spikes, as is her running posture. The green strap and lenses to her goggles are inspired by Sonic's green eyes. Orange Ocelot is a character I've been thinking of adding for a while. Lots of superheroes have color-based names: Red Tornado, Blue Beetle, Green Lantern/Arrow... but nothing orange. I wanted to stick with alliteration, and my mind settled on "ocelot", because it's fun to say and not a commonly-known animal. Plus, I thought it might be a funny running gag if everyone mistakes him for a tiger or leopard or other feline.

http://theheroesofcrash.com Belt Boy's getting a little tired of getting grabbed by the arm and yanked off-panel... and Cannon's not even remotely tired of bragging about his victory against Jackknife. BTW, if you saw my Daily Drawing for Friday 9/23, you realized that I took a LOT longer drawing this than I meant to, as I had done most of the inking in a "sketch" layer. Drawing in the wrong layer is the bane of digital artists everywhere. Addressing this comic's title... I know I tend to make fun of Michael Bay, but I can't help but wonder if Zack Snyder's worse. Snyder's like what Bay would be if he tried to be serious. Say what you will about Bay's lack of talent, over-inflated ego, and terrible treatment of women (It's all true), but at least he gets that there's an element of silliness to the imaginary worlds of the Transformers and Ninja Turtles (not that he harnesses it effectively, but at least he acknowledges that it's there). Snyder, conversely, denounced She-Hulk and the Martian Manhunter as legit superheroes, calling She-Hulk essentially a trophy for the male power fantasy that is the Hulk (If he knew comics, he'd know that they're cousins, so... EW. NO.), and Martian Manhunter a stupid character (And yet he considers Aquaman to be fine). Plus, despite getting some elements of Batman V Superman, let's face facts: he got some elements very very wrong (I highly recommend watching the Nostalgia Critic review). This comic, thankfully, is silly and colorful and everything that Snyder is not. And I'm darn proud of it.

theheroesofcrash.com I'm finally back from my San Antonio trip! It was a lot of fun, but getting back on track after such a long vacation is not quite so easy, so I decided to do a filler, similar to the San Antonio postcards I did some years back. Among the sights I got to see on this trip was the San Antonio Zoo. Belt Boy's right; there ARE a lot of birds at this zoo (especially compared to Philly's zoo)... but it's also filled with Poké-stops! Don't worry, folks; I paid more attention to the real live critters inhabiting the zoo than the digital ones! By the way, did you get a chance to listen to The Playlist of C.R.A.S.H. while I was gone? In case you missed my last update, it's a collection of thirty songs, all related to your favorite HoC characters. You can search for it on Spotify, as I've put the playlist there. However, it's come to my attention that HoC fan Grayson Judd recreated this playlist on YouTube, so you can search for and watch The Playlist of C.R.A.S.H. there, too! Sweet!

theheroesofcrash.com As I've grown as a writer, I've been worried about making Belt Boy (and his relationship with Titanium Maiden) seem too perfect, like a Mary Sue. Perfect is not funny. It's boring. Trying to be perfect - and failing - is funny and relateable, and in case you haven't guessed, that's the concept behind this storyline. Belt Boy always means well, but one thing I learned from looking back on my high school days is that even well-meaning people can be obnoxious, especially when they're teenagers who are still learning more complex social and moral rules. Belt Boy has a problem that I had in high school (and that, to some degree, I still deal with), and that's being oblivious. While not the worst character flaw to have, it can make some people feel offended, ignored, or unimportant when you don't pay attention to them or prioritize other things over them. Conflict arises in stories where one character's wants/needs conflict with another's; in this instance, Belt Boy has let his obsession over being perfect take priority over TM and Cannon's wanting to be heard. As Belt Boy's always a do-gooder and being heard is a basic emotional need, these issues seem totally within character for Belt Boy and TM (I hate it when a cartoon character randomly develops a character flaw for one episode just so they can awkwardly cram a moral in there).

theheroesofcrash.com I've been working really hard at trying to improve my comic's art and writing, whether it's been working on anatomy, perspective, punchlines, or character development. However, today's strip reminded me that sometimes, you need to throw some of those things out the window. If you haven't read today's comic, please do so before continuing with this commentary. You finished reading it? Good. This strip, in many ways, does not make sense. Take panel #2: I agonized over this panel SO MUCH, trying to get the perspective just right. I drew and redrew it. At one point, the table was in the panel. However, when I couldn't get it to look right, I decided to go with Disney's concept of "the plausible impossible" - little tricks that break the laws of physics, but seem fine to the viewer (such as the fact that Mickey's ears only change angles - never appear flat - when his head is viewed from the side, or how Jiminy Cricket shrinks - unnoticed by the viewing audience - throughout a scene in Pinnocchio in order to fit inside a padlock). The table in panel #2 should be visible from this angle, but it's not. But the image makes sense to the viewer anyway. Sometimes aesthetics trump realism. Second, why is Klawroc asking such esoteric questions? The answer is simply, "Who cares?". Clearly, all these random subjects must have been covered in a previous class, but what goat webs and lasers have to do with one another is anyone's guess. But I hope you enjoyed some random science trivia! Also, I totally ignored my new model sheets for Cannon in this strip, and I think he looks better this way. I may need to update those model sheets.

theheroesofcrash.com If you saw my 6/21 Daily Drawing, you probably know all about HiveMind. If not (or if you need a refresher), here's some info on her: The world is a diverse place, but if you read superhero comics, you might not think that. The comic pages are dominated by white guys, and that's a poor reflection on how the real world is. My comic suffers from the same problem, and I'm looking to add diversity to my comic. With this (and many other ideas I've had floating around) in mind, I created HiveMind - a superheroine who's telepathically linked to a swarm of alien bees. She has Vitiligo - the same skin condition that Michael Jackson had, and that model Winnie Marlow has (HiveMind was inspired by the latter) - in which the skin becomes lighter in blotches, most obviously around the eyes, nose, mouth, and hands. The blotches on her face resemble a stripe - meant to suggest that she has embraced her appearance and sees it as a thing of beauty; the "bee stripes" on her dress are an extention of her appearance, rather than a distraction. In my initial design, the stripe pattern continued down her arms, but I changed that; I want real people to look at HiveMind and say, "She looks like me!", and that couldn't happen if I took too many liberties with her design. By the way, if you can't read the title of Belt Boy's blue book, it's "Writing the Perfect Extra-Credit Essay".

5/21/16 - Birthday Fanart Contest Winner: Autumnotopia! Well, folks, my birthday has come and gone, and with it, the contest deadline. And now we have our winner! Autumnotopia has created this beautiful picture of Cannon, initially intended to be part of a triptych - a three-part picture. While she was only able to submit one section of the triptych before the deadline, it still looks amazing all by itself (And I'm certain Cannon agrees!). I hope that she's able to follow this up with parts 2 and 3 at some point...! Thanks again for your submission, Autumnotopia! :-)

It's hard to believe it, but this is the tenth anniversary of The Heroes of C.R.A.S.H. (Well, technically, it turned ten sometime in January or February, but I'm not sure what day my site actually went online, so I just celebrate it alongside my birthday. But I digress.)! It's been an amazing ten years. While I may not have made any money or gained the notoriety of many of my peers, I can say that it's been fun challenging my brain's creativity lobe to come up with loveable characters, cool stories, and funny jokes on a regular basis. As you can see from my filler, my art and characters have evolved quite a bit in that time. Who knows how they will look ten years from now...? Here's to finding out! I want to thank everyone who's supported me during this time: my family (especially my Mom, whom I got my artistic genes from), my girlfriend Melissa, my friends (Including my computer-fixer Chris and my #1 commenter Gill, who also inspired Cannon and Sugar Rush respectively), all the cool comic artists I've met and chatted with over the years (There's way too many to list - go see my Links page and read their amazing work!), the folks at the 910CMX forums for hosting my own forum (and subsequently helping me to start growing a readership!), many of my teachers (Particularly my patient Junior High and High School art teachers, Mrs. Eichelberger and Pam Grumbach... as well as one IMpatient 5th grade teacher who told me I was too creative. I not only showed her wrong, but I based Battle-Axe Beatrix on her. Heh heh heh...!), and the many cartoonists who inspired me (Once again, too many to list, but I do want to give extra kudos to Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Tom Warburton, Butch Hartman, Chuck Jones, Charles Schulz, and Walt Disney). And of course, I couldn't have done it without Belt Boy, Cannon, and Titanium Maiden. Thanks for everything, guys! :-) Anyway, if you want to help me celebrate my comic's tenth anniversary AND my birthday, then you should enter my fan art contest or my fan avatar contest by May 19th! You don't have much time left, so do it A-S-A-Now! Oh, and to all my friends who follow me on social media, here's some bonus factoids about today's tribute: - In case it's not obvious, my characters on the left are drawn in a style meant to emulate that which I used when I first started the comic. Back then I drew with a mouse! I was going to use a mouse once again, but Manga Studio lacks the auto-smoothing capabilities of Flash, so I still used a stylus - Retro Belt Boy lacks a "mullet" in the back, TM's got different eyes, shoes, hair, and abs, and Cannon's got stripes on his shoes. And of course, they have thick, sloppy outlines and diamond-shaped muscles. - I wasn't sure how to fit Cannon in with Belt Boy and TM on the sides of the big number 10 without blocking them, and I wasn't sure how excited he'd get over this milestone... so I just had him sitting in front of the lettering and reading comics obnoxiously. - Cannon's having a greater interest in his comic books than the world around him is largely inspired by Jason Grey from the webcomic The Wotch. Cannon's comic cover resemble's Jason's shirt, which was also used as the logo of the 910CMX forums, which hosts my forum, of course!) - The background is gray, just like in the first HoC desktop and the 5th anniversary picture, albeit with a different gradient look to it. - I still want more fan art, folks! Okay, that may not qualify as a "bonus factoid", but it's still true. Send me your entries!

Before I did my Daily Drawings, I would upload and announce my Saturday morning comic late Friday night. Now I wait until after midnight to make it official. I know to some of you it may seem dumb, but given how late at night some of my Friday Daily Drawings are, and the fact that I resolved to upload new pictures DAILY - be it my comic or my sketches or whatever - posting both in the same night seemed like a bit of a cop-out. Anyway, I fell asleep last night, so instead of a midnight post, you get a wee-small-hours-of-the-morning post. Hopefully, none of you are awake by the time I've posted this; I don't want anyone to think I skipped an update! Anyway, Gelatin BOY talks with Belt BOY here, hence the title of today's comic. I'm not sure if they'll change their names to Gelatin Man and Belt Man when they get older; it admittedly doesn't have the same ring (And let's face it, "Barnacle Man" never stuck on SpongeBob...). Gelatin Boy may be altering his shape in panel 2, but I assure you, his gelatinous form does not grant him super-shape-shifting powers. His appearance in this panel owes as much to him being a toony character as it does to him being made of gelatin. He can't stretch or morph himself at will to a significant (or at least not a helpful) degree with one exception: he can reform himself if something squashes him. GB's powers are pretty much defensive (although he sees them as pretty much useless). Also, PLEASE ENTER MY FAN ART CONTEST! TIME’S ALMOST UP AND I WANT MORE ENTRIES

For the record, Sugar Rush actually DID try to eat Gelatin Boy once. However, as he is part gelatin and part boy, he tastes like a mix of orange flavoring and sweat. Not appetizing at all. The title of today's comic references an old interactive "Clickamajig" from Nickelodeon's website, back in the day (not sure if it's still around), in which you got to click on treats to give to adorable costumed children. Giving them caramels was always appreciated, but if you gave them black licorice, their eyes would grow large, and they'd sprout fangs or horns as they said - in demonic-sounding voices, I might add - "I don't like black licorice!" The title for this comic is also for my best bud, Chris. He knows why. Hee hee...! Anyway, have you entered my contest yet? You've got less than 3 weeks left!

Cannon respects Belt Boy... but his definition of "respect" still allows for a few practical jokes like this. And getting free food is the most practical application of practical jokes in his book! By the way, I'm reminding you that there's LESS THAN A MONTH LEFT in my fan art contest! I'm also reminding you that if you're not so great at art, that there's an avatar contest to see who makes the best avatar using a video game or online character generator (Like Miis, Sims, etc.). Remember, you must enter by or before my birthday on May 19th! Check out the rules on my main page and get to it!

It's that time of year again! Well, almost. This is the last scheduled update of March, so I'm uploading my annual April Fools' filler kinda early. For those of you who aren't familiar with HoC's annual tradition, Cannon pranks someone from a different webcomic each year for April Fools'. This year, he's pranking Carol and Reggie from the webcomic Between Failures. His prank is based on something that actually happened while I was working at a retail store; some dope pulled the store's fire alarm (which had been placed above a toy shelf), thinking that it was a child's toy. No harm was done, and we called the fire department to let them know it was a false alarm. Still, I couldn't help but glare at that moron as he asked his girlfriend to take a picture of him next to the fire alarm to commemorate his great moment of supreme idiocy. Anyway, Between Failures is a great webcomic about the people who work at a Megatainment book store - their lives, their relationships, their dorky conversations, and their experiences working in retail. Fans have compared it to the movie Clerks, although the comic's creator, Jackie Wohlenhaus, likens it more to Empire Records. If you liked either of those, you'll probably enjoy this comic. And if you haven't seen either of those movies, you might want to rent them... but not before reading Between Failures. If you don't mind a comic with some swearing, sexual situations, semi-nudity, and one instance of extreme violence against a shelving unit, you can check it out at betweenfailures.com and give it a read! Let 'em know Josh sent you, and while you're at it, wish Jackie a happy 10th anniversary to his comic! :-) Speaking of webcomics celebrating their 10th anniversary, don't forget that my comic is also turning 10 this year! And for a webcomic, the 10th year is the Fan Art Anniversary (Although, to be fair, my comic celebrates the Fan Art Anniversary every year!). Be sure to enter my contest if you haven't yet...!