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TIME.com's Techland has a full preview of our MDHP short up!

further cat adventures

Ohhh man we are so close to getting this cat! Yuko used our buddy L's method of rough cat-petting to give the cat a test run. We went to the shelter on Thursday and met a bunch of cats. One of them was super friendly, and I have a soft spot for black cats because they're often glossed over either because 1. people are superstitious or 2. because the shelter is full of them, they're seen as generic - a self-fulfilling prophecy. Anyway! This cat came in the day before with 5 other adults and 11 kittens - 17 cats total! They were dropped in front of the shelter by a mystery van. As such, she doesn't have a name, but her collar said "5108-E" and so that's what we're calling her (EDIT: Ack, for now! I was in such a rush, I didn't reread the post ... don't worry, she'll get a real name!). We'll post pictures some time!

A couple of things to talk about! First of all, you remember the end of November last year, when Yuko and I were scrambling to work on a project and our update schedule got a little slowed down? Here's a full preview of it at TIME.com's Techland blog - it's called Callie Eats Feathers.

It's 8 pages long and we hope you enjoy it! We slaved and sweated over it for 2 weeks. A higher res version will go up on Dark Horse's Myspace Presents site some time in February (later this week?!).

Second, this only really applies to folks who advertise with us, but Project Wonderful is doing geotagging, which means that the ad that appears is different depending on where you live (Regions are: America, Canada, Europe, everywhere else). You can bid on these slots separately now, and the Canada/Europe/Elsewhere ads are a steal.

There will be another original up in the store later tonight, but I can't get to it just yet. Sorry!

Alrighty, I gotta get back to work - you all have a great week! See you Thursday.

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Comments

This episode is almost as much fun as actually playing with a cat!

...almost...!

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Truer words were never spoken! There are few things as fun as playing with a cat. :)

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Seriously? I dream of owning a cat like that. So nice and cuddleable! Most cats and me do not get along, but that one is so dreamy~

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You have obviously infiltrated my life and am making a comic about my cat, post surgery and post craziness. The cat I wrote my story about a few comics back is also a black cat and doesn't mind me doing any of this stuff to him XD He also enjoys me knocking him over and rolling around with him.

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Dear God, this is my roomate's dog to the letter, except she's too big to be held.

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Makes me think of my cat. you could scratch his belly, pet him, hold him upside down, etc. for hours on end, and hed never get tired of it. If you pet him for less than 10 min he gives you the dirtiest look ever lol （＾ｖ＾）

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Oh, the kitty is so sweet!

And holy crap, that comic is amazing!!! There's more, right?I really, really love the pacing, and of course the art. :)

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Thanks so much! Not sure if there's more ... if there's more to the story without forcing it, then certainly.

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I have a black cat (who just turned 15, believe it or not)! When I first got him, he was absolutely psychotic. I couldn't go anywhere in the house without him attacking me (see: sinking teeth into leg on multiple occasions). When he turned about five or so, he just randomly decided to become super cuddly and quit biting. Now he'll just scream at me until I pick him up and hold him; he wraps his paws around my neck and I swear I feel like I'm carrying a big furry baby around all the time.

Kitties are silly sometimes.

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You could call it K, in honor of the poor fictional cat of this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=JP&hl=ja&v=FsydQoANC8M

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This was actually Yuko's first idea for a name, since we originally were told the cat was a boy.

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Well technically, it's Key, for CMYK's "K." (because we are nerds.) But it might not be a good name for a cat-- a "ki" sound is common in language and it be too confusing to learn its name.

AWH, what a sweet song! Thank you for linking it!

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It's beautiful. The writing, too. I love how weird it is, but how well the weird is set up. And I have to say, ending it with the Maw was a very good touch, like hearing the theme song in the third part of a trilogy...

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I'm so glad the story reads as structurally sound. Cramming everything into 8 pages was a challenge, especially since it was based on an old short story that was much longer.

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I.Love.It.

Really, Callie Eats Feathers left me with that ethereal tingly feeling and the hair on the back of my neck standing up. Love it, connected with it eerily, devoured it with my eyes. I am thoroughly impressed. I don't know how much that means from some goober on the internet, LOL, but had to say it.

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It means everything, thank you! Glad to hear folks are enjoying it.

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That was really cool. Creepy as hell, but awesome. That last panel with Callie.... Geez.

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Yuko actually researched newborn chicks for reference - doesn't that just make it creepier? ;)

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Oh man, I can totally see that.

Now that I think of it, it reminds of that one crazy bird that's pretty much the only bird left with claws on it's wings... the Hoatzin.

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Holy weirdness. That was the creepiest thing I have ever read and I love it! Are there going to be more? I want to know what's up with that bird..

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Maybe? Hopefully! We'll see ... ! Glad you liked it!

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*Stands up and loudly applauds*

That was truly an awesome comic, very reminiscent for me of Uzumaki by Junji Ito a horror manga that involves lots of obsessive behaviors resulting in strange transformations.

Artwork as always fantastic especially Callie transforming in the last panel and I enjoyed the appearance of the Maw right at the end, gives it a real tie in to other work that you have done.

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Awh, thank you! I'm super pleased with how the transformation came out, I looked at a lot of photos of baby birds during that time. XD

Uzumaki! I've been wanting to read that! I think Ananth might've read some of it. We really should get it.

Hee hee, I was so giddy we could tie maws into the story, you have no idea. Although now everyone's freaked out by them, hahaha.

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Your description of Ito's stuff is the best I've seen - I'll remember it. I read some of Uzumaki, but I've read all of Gyo and the short story about people walking through the people-shaped holes in the mountain. Truly creepy stuff.

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My cat was just as laid-back as that: loved belly-rubs and being carried like a baby. He would drape around the back of my neck until he got too big for that.

It's a keeper!

Als, CallieEats Feathers looks awesome. Great job!

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I read the preview of "Callie Eats Feathers" a couple of days ago and was really impressed. Great work on both the story and art.

I like that it takes place in a darker corner of the JWverse, without the cuteness that kept the Death and basilisk comics from being truly chilling. Of course, the adorably dark (adoradark? adarkable?) tone of the main comic's shorts has its own eerie charm. Interesting to see things from a different angle, though.

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I'm glad it still feels like it fits into the microcosm of JW! That's great.

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That cat wins so hard. Do not let her get away!

Mellow kitteh is love.

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Omg, that kitty cat is the epitome of adorable. I want to hug her!

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I honestly think cats like being pet roughly. I have two cats, one doesn't really purr unless there is food, and if you pet her roughly. Or as my sister and I call it "Pretty kitty" (think of a 'special' child petting a cat).
My other cat...you can kick that cat and sit on him and he starts purring. It's really odd. And he's a dead sleeper....Really. Freaked me out for five minutes thinking he was dead on my bed until I picked him up to go show him and he looked at me and starting purring before going back to sleep.

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To be honest, calling a cat "E(Eeeeeeee)!" is not a bad name. It is going to get that a lot.

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A cat adopted my family (just appeared on our porch) recently that was also strangely not catlike. Not only did it not get angry when you treated it like a dog, it also completely refused to use it's claws for anything when near people (couldn't even coax it to put it's claws out at all, so I thought it was declawed for some time). So rare (and nice) to get a clawed cat that won't use it's claws to climb you and won't use it's claws to try and grab on to something (meaning your lap) if you try and move it.

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That's great! So sweet!

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You just depicted my big black cat. I can do anything to him. His favorite thing is related to the belly rub, but I grab his hang belly and lightly tug on him. He starts purring like a fiend! He also loves my two dogs. He raised them. Used to protect him from the other (evil) cat who belonged to my ex.

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Oh hahaha, how cute!
One of our cats (of our freakin' 8 cats D:) is the same. You're lucky to get a cat like this! Another one looks excactly like your cat (I've seen the photo) and he's a psycho, biting and scratching everything that moves.

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Reminded me of this: http://mistersaxon.deviantart.com/art/Static-129335079 okay it's shameless self-promotion but I only mention it because it seemed . . resonant. I'll be keeping a better eye on the crows that blacken the trees round here, flapping through the windy sky like rags and cawing, cawing.

Oooh! I scared myself! :Þ

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I love you guys and all.....but the page where the Techland blod is that you have linked for the preview has many popups. Popup windows and ads are the devil. :(

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Not our website!

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dude i love doing the cup face and rub cheeks thing to cats. makes their faces mushed and adorable but sadly it is not for all cats.

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Maaan, that cat is friendlier than my Pouncy Baby! (That's the nickname I have for my cat, Pouncer) He would never let anyone hold him on his back. Sure he loves to be held, but only the right way. Congrats on the new kitty kitty! She must be absolutely adorable! Though I should warn you she might try to sleep on your face like my cat does!

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The one thing I can think of to be wary with the cat, she could be in heat and that's why she's so friendly.

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That's some good insight, thank you! I've been trying to think of "worst case scenario" reasons the cat might've been so friendly in fear that her personality will change drastically once we bring her home.

I guess we'll have to see! :/

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It should be noted that I am especially wary of personality changes because Gonta was super chill and friendly when we got him initially-- but then we realized it was because he'd just gotten fixed and was on painkillers at the time. Now he is the most useless cat. >:(

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My mom and I have had a few cats that were usually skiddish, but when they were in heat, they were want our attention all of the time. Instead of having to push the button on their back that causes their butt to stick up in the air, it was like the button was permanently jammed.

After they were in heat, they went back to normal. We've also had mostly female cats, we had one or two male cats out of like the eight or so cats we've had in our lifetime.

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i have 2 cats, both from the same litter. when you put one on her back, she immediately goes to sleep like its an off switch or something. she also purrs when the vet picks her up, which my vet thinks is weird. the other, well he just panics if you put him on his back. he also squirms around if you pick him up. he does play fetch though. i've had them since they were 3-4 weeks old and i had to bottle feed them so i'm not sure why they ended up so different.

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So this kitty not only looks like nero but is just like him. I am so gonna grab her and force lovings upon her XD

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I'd like to know why you passed on the other cat.

Bite too much?

Your home wasn't to the shelter's liking?

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There were a bunch of reasons - predominantly, we needed a cat that wouldn't get freaked out when we have guests over. I don't care if we got a cat that bit US, but biting/scratching strangers gets touchy. (also John is a little intimidated by cats.) Additionally, I'm pretty certain that the girl fostering her wanted to adopt her. The cat wasn't in any danger, and had a pretty comfortable life. :)

We've been doing a fair amount of searching -- some friends of ours offered a sweet stray that they've been fostering, but she was TERRIFIED of loud noises and strangers, and she would've been miserable in our apartment.

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Wow, now thats a relaxed cat, my black cat, sophie, absolutely hates being picked up, she wont even tolerate being petted for too long, but yammy, my black and white cat is the most adorable loving thing ever, it woke me up this morning by licking my nose and purring as loudly as possible

also the new comic is SO AWESOME! i love it and you managed to get the maw into it!

Keep up the most excellent work :3

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That cat is soooo sweet! But it's going to turn out to be a psychopath. Also the title made me lol hard.

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