Every once in a while, I love to poke fun at car companies.

You remember, of course, the long-running Chrysler jokes ’round these parts….

…but do you recall this little gem? About Subarus?

That darn Subaru cartoon generated more hate mail than pratically anything I’ve ever done. It was hilarious. For most of the week, guys (…they were all guys) kept e-mailing me specs and stats about how rad their Subaru was, and how not-at-all-dorky it looked….desperately trying to reassure me that their car was, in fact, really, really awesome.

Of course, by posting about it again, I’m sure I just invited 9,000 new e-mails that point out the amazing breaking capabilities on the new Subaru WRX…but it’s worth it. I still love that cartoon.

If you were a scientist, loading a present-day Voyager 1 or 2 with video clips to represent the human race…what clips would you use?

I would use this little gem. It is, perhaps, the magnum opus of the human race.

From your recent e-mails, I’ve figured out that there are some new/old readers who don’t know how to navigate through the Sheldon strip archives. So! A quick primer!

The blue arrows — located directly below the comic — work much like a VCR/DVD/Music player. If you wish to go to the previous day’s toon, hit the < button. If you wish to go all the way back to the first toon, hit the << button. To go forward a day… >; to jump to today’s strip… >>.

To navigate to a specific date in the archives, just click the blue “Archives” button…also right below the strip.

And (most fun of all), if you want to jump around the archives at random, click the blue “Random Strip” button. (Try this a few times. Seriously. It’s fun.)

Have a minute to spare for some extra awesomeness? Take the Sheldon Audio Tour. It’s pretty fun, and shows you the better nooks ‘n crannies of the site.

Just for fun, I thought I’d share with you the top five cities in the world, in terms of Sheldon readers:

1.) London

2.) Seattle

3.) Los Angeles

4.) Chicago

5.) San Fran

I was kinda fascinated to see that London produces more readers than NYC, LA, SF, or Chicago…and that Seattle is number two! Who would’ve guessed?!

And for those wondering…

City #236?

Yep, it’s Walla Walla, Washington.

Ha! I’m a ma-roon! I uploaded the print-ready TIF file rather than the web-ready GIF file for Saturday’s toonage. My apologies for that. It should be all better now on the site.

And for those followin’ along with our Saturday-Serial Storyline, here are the previous installments: 1, 2, 3, 4.

There’s another awesome animated Sheldon toon up, courtesy of the talented Sheldon reader Derek Pedersen. I dig this one even more than the first — the music is a great touch.

Inspired by Flaco’s linguistic abilities, Sheldonistas Rory and Sherry have named their new pet Zebra Finch “Squee”.

Which is pretty awesome-sauce.

Here’s a picture of the little guy:

I’m happy to announce a $25-off sale price for original Sheldon art purchased at San Diego Comic-Con.

Sure, you can still buy your original art online at the Sheldon Store, but if you come by Blank Label Comics’ booth #1330 ( PDF of map) at San Diego Comic-Con, you can pick up that same art…for 25 fewer smackers. That’s a pretty sizable number of smackers!

But! To make sure that the original art you desire is at the convention, drop me an e-mail and let me know which of your favorites to bring!

(Note: this sale price is only good at San Diego Comic-Con.)

Spring-boarding off my post about The Artist Bureaucrat, my friend and fellow cartoonist Jorge Cham sent me a link to an excellent TED talk by innovation specialist Charles Leadbetter.

Take a few minutes to watch it, it’s an excellent presentation.

***

Follow-up thought to the follow-up thought: people have got to stop sending me TED talks. It’s like I’m back in High School, watching all the attractive kids go to the cool party — and I’m not allowed to attend.

Only now….um….hold on…this metaphor may not work….the attractive kids are huuuuge nerds…and, um…the cool party is, um, TED.

I’m getting pretty excited about the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con. There’ll be con-exclusive Sheldon t-shirts and buttons (announcements soon!), a double-wide booth for myself and my Blank Label Comics cohorts (booth #1330), aaaand, if The Fates are smiling — the new book may arrive on time!

For those planning on coming to the ‘con and dropping by booth #1330, check this out:

Webcomicon 2007

For the first time ever, Webcomics have unified their presence at Comic Con International. “WebComiCon,” the heart of the webcomics action in San Diego, will be found in the middle of Aisle 1300, where some of the top names in webcomics — Abismo/Nerve Bomb, Blank Label Comics, Dayfree Press, Dumbrella, Keenspot, Penny Arcade, PvP, Rooster Teeth and Studio Foglio — will be assembled. With a combined readership best counted in millions, this will be a gathering to remember. Located in a prime location in Aisle 1300, WebComiCon is a short walk away from DC and Sideshow Collectibles — and just around the corner from the Small Press Pavilion. Download our handy map (PDF) and print it out to guide you along your way. This centralized location is tailor-made for fans of webcomics who want to see many of their favorite creators in one area. Expect to see all your favorite artists joining up for group sketches, sketch mashups, practical jokes, and a sense of excitement that only comes once a year at the biggest webcomics meetup in the world. Other webcomics creators can be found in Artist Alley and Small Press, making WebComicCon the center of the ultimate webcomics gathering in the world. Watch Fleen.com for an updated map of all of the webcomics creators in attendance.