As I was updating the Sheldon Store software today, getting it ready for “Nerds On Parade” goin’ on sale next week, I noticed that there are only 20 Artist Editions left for “Pugs: God’s Little Weirdos”. As you guys know, when an Artist Edition sells out, they sell out for good. So if you were thinking of gettin’ one for you or as a gift, this is your head’s up that we’re almost at ‘last call’!

[Edited to add: #300 is a very special Artist Edition, by the way. I spent a good long while on that one, and it came out very cool. Whoever orders the last one gets it!]

Congrats to “Empty_W” (his/her forum name) for their winning caption!

Reading through the 1,000+ entries was incredibly fun — but was filled with enough great ones that it made it very difficult to pick just one overall.

I hope everyone enjoyed reading the captions as much as I did. Based on the huge number of entries and votes cast, I think it’s something we’ll try again someday.

A huge thank you to everyone who submitted — you all deserve the official “Sheldon High-Five For Extraordinary Valor Among Exceptional Awesomeness”.

Good news! It took hundreds of folks asking for it, but we finally did it: Posters are now in the Sheldon Store! Yep, two high-quality posters printed on matte photo paper (they’re essentially big, gorgeous photographs) are now in the Sheldon Store!

The first is a full-color reproduction of the “Krazy Kat”-homage strip: “Dilly Duck”. The Original Art for this one was snapped up within 10 minutes of it going up on the site…and hundreds of Sheldonistas subsequently have e-mailed asking for a print. So here it is!

The other poster is a long-time classic ’round these parts: The Artist’s Decision tree. Previously, it was sold exclusively at conventions — you couldn’t get it online. But blam! Online it is!

Both posters are 12″ x 18″ and crisply printed on matte photo paper. They’ll both be available through Christmas in the store — and after that, we’ll see. I genuinely don’t know if we’ll keep ’em in stock on not: It largely depends on how tricky they are to ship out in bulk. (The mailing tubes take up a *lot* of space when you have a few hundred laying around.) But between now and Christmas, we’ll definitely keep them in stock.

Also! For folks that love both posters, there’s a cheaper two-pack that’ll save you $5 on shipping and price. So check out the gettin’s over at the gettin’ store!

The final Caption Contest winner will be revealed in Wednesday’s strip, so keep an eye out for that!

THANK YOU to the 3,300+ people who voted as of Friday’s poll deadline. It was fun to see that much feedback. Although, I gotta say, you guys were no help at all. 🙂

I was kinda hoping one would rise to the top, and make my job as final judge and arbiter easier. But unlike what happened in the tagline contest…here, even the big “vote-getters” only ended up with about 10% of the tally. So no clear winner among your hearts and minds. But I’m glad to see most everyone enjoyed it, in any case. It’s fun to see the different angles and permutations of joke-making.

The invites and planning for 2009 appearances have started coming in, so I thought I’d share some of the Sheldon-related events for the coming year.

Katsucon has invited myself and the other Halfpixel cartoonists out for their Virginia show on Feb. 13-15. I’ve never done a “manga”-themed show before, so I’m really curious to see how it’s gonna go.

Emerald City Comicon, one of my favorite shows in all of North America, has invited the Halfpixel cartoonists back up to their (increasingly) big show, April 4-5 in Seattle. Please make plans to come if you’re in travel distance — it’s a great, great show.

Finally, I’ve gotten word that San Diego Comic-Con has assigned Halfpixel an infinitely better booth locale for that massive, massive show. Apparently we’re right across from Peanuts — which would make my 9-year old self pretty excited. My current self, too, truth be told.

Finally, I should mention that my wife and I have been invited down to perform at the South Beach Comedy Festival in Florida, Jan. 21-24. This isn’t Sheldon-related (though I’d love you to come out and see the show) — but I’m mentioning it early as I’d love to arrange a book-signing or a Sheldonista-focused coffee meet-up while I’m there. E-mail or post below with any suggestions to that end! Thanks!

Do you remember, last week, when I mentioned that it was my English buddy Jon who introduced me to Doctor Who? He e-mailed me the other day to remind me that I actually asked, when he was first explaining the show: “…So, there’s been all these Dr. Whos, right? Do they elect a new one, or what?”

(Fantastic. I must’ve sounded so, so lame.)

Also! Jon let me know that his band Burningpilot has a new album out of indie-disco synth-rock, titled “Cold Caller”. The last time I was in England, Jon was in the studio working on it, so I’m excited to see it hitting iPods everywhere.

Here are some reviews of it:

“The newcomers are burning bright on the dancefloor with this Talking Heads-meets-Franz indie disco blaster” – NME Magazine

“Two songs in and you’re thinking: this, with its art-rock music, Mark E Smith vocals and William Orbit synthy sounds, is the future of indie-disco” – The Independent

“First-rate synth rock” – The Big Issue

“Burningpilot favour a metallic, Eighties rush of sound, throwing out echoes of The Fall, The Stranglers and general post punk desolation and fizzing synths. The band do a sterling job of setting out their stall, showcasing all that’s good about Burningpilot on these ten tracks that justify the rush for their previous sold out singles. 8/10” – Clash Magazine

If you’re interested in checking out their sound, you can head over to iTunes or Play.com. (My favorite tracks are “Accelerate”, “Moving Models”, and “Case History”.)

Sheldonistas! It’s time to vote!

After well over 1,000 entries, I’ve narrowed down my favorite 15 captions. But before I pick the final winner, it’s time to hear *your* picks! So vote below, and let’s see which caption(s) offered up the biggest laugh.

Here’s the good news: Sheldon readers are funny, funny people. From the 1,000+ entries, there were a heckuva lot that made me laugh out loud. I was able to narrow down my favorite 50-70…but getting down to these final 15 was really, really hard. So your feedback, below, is especially welcome before I choose the winner — ’cause there are a lot of good ones in the mix.

A huge thank you to everyone who participated: I hope you guys had as much fun as it seemed. I think we’ll do this once a year or so — lots of people got very excited for it. And I really enjoyed reading through ’em! So thank you again!

Now go vote! We’ll keep the tallying open until midnight on the 21st.

My wife is helping to raise money for ovarian cancer research and treatments, and I wanted to mention it here in hopes that there are some Sheldonistas willing to donate.

Even small amounts, bundled up together from many people, can make a great impact. Thank you!

Allow me to crank up the mega-hyperbole machine for a minute to announce THE GREATEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN. Or, if you won’t allow me that, allow me to announce the next Sheldon Collection… Nerds on Parade!

This will be the fifth Sheldon collection, after “Pure Ducky Goodness;” “The Good, The Bad & The Pugly;” “62% More Awesome” and “A Blizzard of Lizards”.

If you’d like to see a larger version of the front cover, click HERE. My talented buddy Katherine did the heavy-lifting on the cover, and I couldn’t be happier with how it came out. I can’t wait for you guys to have your copies

Look for it in the first week of December, in the Sheldon Store!

Much like Sheldon, I used to make fun of “Doctor Who” all the time. When I lived in Canterbury, my English friend Jon (…link to his music, there) was always pitching me on the show, saying I’d love it, and that it was great, etc., etc. But I could never get past the super-weak-sauce special effects.

But the “new” shows, starting a few years back, have been wonderful. It really has been some of the best sci-fi I’ve ever seen. In fact, my wife and I have elevated the episode “Blink” to one of our all-time favorites… in any genre. And now that the writer of that episode, Steven Moffat, is scheduled to take over the reins on Doctor Who for the fifth series…the whole show is going to keep getting better and better. Trust me: Moffat is a genius. So if you’re not into the show yet, now is a great time to jump in.

Flashback: I still remember walking through the out-of-the-way town of Scarborough, and Jon was trying to explain to me what the TARDIS was, and I could see him getting so, so frustrated that I couldn’t grasp it. And now I love it, I absolutely love the whole show. So Jon, thank you! You were right! Despite the continuing lameness of the Daleks, the show is wonderful!