Posting Announcement

Readers and visitors: I have some exciting news!
This past weekend I started up a new webcomic, titled "Strapped To The Mast". But don't one worry: Uly's Comics is going nowhere! I started this new strip for comics relating to a more personal side of my life, as not to change the mood or freedom of topics I've come to enjoy here.
A summary of Strapped To The Mast is: a true-to-life strip about my experiences as transgendered and my own coming transition.
Obviously this will be a very different kind of strip than Uly's Comics: even so, I hope it will be given the same support and equal chance in being a rewarding strip. Here's to new beginnings: skal!

New webcomic's URL is: www.strappedtothemast.blogspot.com

Trislangual

I love international television.

Isn't It Romantic?

My stepfather has this saying for all sorts of weather: "Isn't it romantic?"
In all panels: father and stepfather.

Snugglepus

Commissioned by my old friend, Jamie.

Cooking With Snape

Commissioned by my old friend, Alisha.

Happy Birthday, Willow!

Birthday wishes for my BFF! Willow in Halo armor. Kill, pussycat, kill!

WHOO-HOO! 2000+!

For this dedication, I spent a grueling hour on MS Paint. Nothing but the best!

Protractor Addict

I have hit rock-bottom. Heart and stomach throb with vengeance. Temples gorge with aggravation, anguish, bruising my face with their fury. Why, I ask fate, why has this happened to me? The first I laid eyes on that transparent protractor, it seemed so harmless, so friendly. Blue smiles and a helping hand. Never did I think it would be my crutch! Now, after months of straight-edge binges, my occasional comfort has been taken away from me: and I finally realize just how reliant I am. It was always close at hand, simply a walk to my office away, for the easiest of illustrations to the most meticulous kind. That protractor was my fix for cravings of straight lines. It never failed me, always brought me peace of mind. I soon became complacent. I thought the magic my protractor made would never disappear. Nothing has prepared me for this day, this intervention, that I would lose my tool for perfection. My desk was emptied, the drawers overturned. Even my folders have been ransacked. But alas! It remains missing and my mind is torn in two. I have truly hit rock-bottom.

That is, until I buy a new one. Apologies for lack of comic, as I had planned, for today: without my protractor a decent strip is hard to make! I hope this melodramatic monologue and doodle of terrible composition makes up for it. -Uly

Tea For Two

Commissioned by my friend, Jamie, and too entertaining to not put on Uly's Comics.

Vermin With A Vengeance

  

Today my windows got replaced. The workers broke our old windows out of the wall and carried them off while a gaping hole brought a whole new meaning to the words "do you feel a draft in here?". Sure enough, soon as the workers did, bugs discovered the entry to Bug Narnia: my kitchen.

Happy Birthday, Jamie!

Shout-out to Jamie, one of my best and oldest friends, whose birthday is today and who now lives miles away in the big city. Good luck with school, senpai, and don't forget your friends back at home! Especially this ol' cloister!

Monochrospastic

Title of today's comic is an unholy matrimony of the words "monochromatic" and "spastic". All my favorite outfits (pictured above) are one color: and that color is always black.
I do have an entire closet and dresser full of colorful, "upbeat" clothing, but as hard as I try to wear them all I always gravitate back to black.  (Cue Winehouse, AC/DC.)
I should mention I love minimalism.

The Creative Process

Writing is easy as opening a vein. That being said, I'm convinced us writers are all some level of masochist.

Feel ALL The Things!

Appreciative nod towards the maker of "Hyperbole and A Half", whose blog I wasted more hours on than I should, for inspiring today's comic's title.
On another note, many appearances in this one! Let's get started.
Second panel, clockwise from 12: friends Nick, Kyle, and Mike.
Fourth panel, left to right: friend Jacob, bff Willow.
Sixth panel: sister Amanda.
Hope I captured everyone! Especially you, Nick, Mike and Jacob. Your guys' facial hair was a pain.

Leave A Message At The Tone

Don't give me that TL;DR look. That's right, internetz, I know your lingo. 
Anyhow, this comic was inspired by a conversation my father and I had over my strange telephone habits, namely my paranoid ones. So I got to thinking what my voice mail might be, had I a cell phone.
Appearances in order:
First panel: old friend, Jamie.
Second panel: old friend, Eric.
Third panel, from left to right: my father and his best friend, bossman.

Sega Epic

If anyone's having trouble seeing this comic, here's its Picasa link: you can zoom for clearer detail there.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/s8VrTBXyHUjtck_2eKocbA?feat=directlink

Did I mention I cut my hair? Get used to those spikes.
Alright. There's a few things I must, for my own entertainment and hopefully everyone else's, point out. Small details in a few panels that only the scrupulous would find.
In the publishing panel, the book held up reads: "YOTP by Ulysses." Title in acronym: referencing the book I'm currently working on. The sticker is to read: "Best new author by N.Y.T.". Not that I know if they even do this. It's a fantasy time sequence, anyhow. A writer can dream!
In the pregnancy panel, the T-shirt is to read: "Please do not caffeinate this woman". Also, the man holding me back is 90's-era Michael Jackson. Milking this fantasy thing.
In the "2061" panel, the coffee cup is to read: "Not for minors." Insert vodka joke here.
In the candy wrappers box panel, two of the wrappers are to read: "Milka" and "Kinder". If Austrian chocolate isn't love, I don't know what is. Also, I do in fact collect foreign candy wrappers and fortune cookie slips. There's equal the amount of truth as there is fantasy in this epic! Oh, wait. Please don't call A&E Hoarders on me. Those fortunes have a use, I swear! I want to make a funky lampshade! And the candy wrappers are so I can find them again!
Now that I think of it, looking at how I imagine myself fifty years from now: god help my children.

Patience, My Pretties.

Alright. So technically it's Wednesday, but to me it's still Tuesday. I haven't gone to sleep yet so it makes sense to me. Anyhow, that comic I promised is on the scanner now. This moment. Scanning. My excuse is that I started drawing it at seven and had no idea it would become near four pages of carpal-tunnel-inducing mayhem. But now it's finished, and within the next half hour, I will be proud to present the "Sega Epic".
Carry on.

And Here... We... Go.

Hectic summer aside, I feel it's been too long since posting new and regular comics to this hole-in-the-wall blog. And believe me when I say I feel terrible for leaving you all hanging! So apologies and cut to chase. My schedule is slowing, wedding season is dying down, and my window of free time is starting to open wide. This means comics are officially back on track! By tomorrow I'll post a new comic to kick off the end of this dreadful hiatus. And hopefully, the blog will be back to its regular schedule in no time. 
Thanks for all the patience and support, not to mention all the visits during the hiatus! Cheers! 
Tomorrow we party like rock persons. 
Or at least I will. With coffee and my cat instead of vodka and groupies.
-Uly

Connect to me on Twitter! That is, if you like listening to the overcaffeinated ramble.

Need. Stronger. Brew.

I may not have time to sit down and do comics every day right now, but I do have time to bust out a 'tweet' here and there. So by the pretense that I'm humorous (and I do hope I am, otherwise I have no clue why you all give your time to visit this blog. It must be the colors. I like blue and orange, too.) or you like reading a caffeinated cloister's musings, bop on over to Twitterland or whatever you kids call it and search @UlyHarp.

I promise I won't bite! After all, that would require some amount of acrobatics. I'm pretty sure I can't reach all the way from my desk to yours. That is, unless your desk is right next to mine. Then no promises there.
If you do happen to come my Twitter profile's way, drop me a hello and let me know you're a visitor of Uly's Comics! I'd love to connect with this blog's readers. On second thought, if I rally the troops...
The pestering people do for a new comic could multiply. Oh dear.
Time for a bunker.

Thank you many time over, everyone, for willingly wasting your time on my little hole-in-the-wall comics blog, and for visiting even when updates are slow. I say it all the time, I know, but let me say it again. I appreciate every visit! Get used to hearing it: because it's true. Thank you. And I hope to get back to regular comics soon. I really do miss having ink on my hands, and routinely shutting the scanner on my hand. Seriously. It just feels right.
Yours truly (and highly caffeinated), Uly.

Didn't You Know?

LGBT/etc. Pridefest is coming up in my area, and so I thought I'd do a little tribute for my friends and family across the rainbow. I'd have liked to put more terms on the rainbow, but as one can see, I was a little pressed for space... so I did the first to come to mind.
Terms, from left-to-right: Gay; Bisexual; Lesbian; Asexual; Queer; Demisexual; Pansexual; Straight; Cisgender; Androgynous; Bigender; Transgender; Neutrios; Two-Spirit; Omnisexual; Agender; Genderqueer; Questioning.
And yes, 'straight' and 'cisgender' belong on the spectrum: they're orientations and genders, too.
Oh, and did I mention I'm chopping off all my hair? Cartoon Uly gets a makeover.

My Treat To You.

Let me take to the time to apologize for lack of comics lately. I've been very busy, and honestly, going through some rough personal patches. With school out and graduation parties every week, I haven't had much time to sit down and whip up comics like I'm used to. Summer's also in swing, which means wedding season. And because I do work for a DJ/Mobile entertainment company, that means weekends manning music or photo-booths for events. As far as those rough personal patches go, be assured that they're working themselves out.
I hate to be a downer, but I'm not sure when my schedule will clear up. Thank you for all your visits even though there haven't been regular updates. You guys give me so much support.
I may not have a comic now, but I can do this much: here are some illustrations and random bits of work from my archives. Enjoy, and thank you for all your patience. -Uly

Have a great day/night, everyone. New comic soon. Fingers crossed.

Two Hours on Memebase

Well, there goes my Saturday.

Insecure Knight

They do look snazzy, though.

Driving Me Nuts!

Completely sarcastic. I'd rather hobnob with civilization than be devoid of it.
But I do miss cranking out comics! Speaking of which, comic coming soon. I swear.

Guest spot: Cooking With Eric

Guest strip from my friend Eric!

Hands

I Am Wimp, Hear Me Whine

And thus marks my hobble back to hermit-hood.
First-panel cameo: my friend, Eric.

Oblivious

I was baffled to find that coffee cup on the shampoo shelf after I toweled off.

Anyways, after a busy weekend, I'm glad to get back to posting! I was feeling a little rusty after not having done a strip for three days.

Turning 50? Who, me?

Yes, you, father.
No comic for Friday, because I was busy whipping up this spiffy cake! Happy birthday, Baldie!
And now I shall excuse myself; there's frosting in my hair that needs washing.

Stranger With a Clipboard

No salesman or girl scout shall pass.

Thanks for the ONE THOUSAND!

One thousand. One thousand! That's a special number! In fact, a huge number! I can't even wrap my head around the fact that people have visited this hole-in-the-wall comic blog over one thousand times. It's simply astonishing, and even more so, simply humbling.
There's no way I could ever give enough thanks to everyone, from one-time visitors to regular traffic, for taking the time out of your days to see my comics. I know, I know, I do these "thank-yous" a lot. But I'm serious each time: I appreciate every single visit. The best way I can think to pay back the favor is to keep comics coming, fresh off the scanner: and that's exactly what I plan to do. So hang your metaphorical coat, kick back, and stay a while! Uly's Comics is here to stay.
So thank you again, for all the support you all give. It's a treat to make these comics for everyone: I hope they brighten your days, just like you all brighten mine.
Have an amazing day, everyone!

My Gamer Life

Hardcore gamer friends: feel free to disown me.

Tag-Team

Both my parents have vacation this week. Resistance is now futile.

Mint Lifesavers

My hate for all that is tiny, plastic tabs is immeasurable.
Cameo appearances by friends Haley and Kacie!

Illogical!

This has absolutely no reason behind it other than I felt like it.

Happy Medium

I still don't understand what he doesn't like about disco. I mean, who doesn't like disco?

Persistence

Persistent is my middle name.

Apologies for Repeat Postings

As some of you might notice, I've reposted a few comics from the past couple of days. I apologize for this; I know it's confusing. These posts were first taken down by Blogger during their shut-down for maintenance a while back, and when Blogger was up and running again, they returned but with one problem... all of the tags were "smooshed" together into one, big tag. I tried to fix that, but for some reason I couldn't. So I had to delete and repost for the sake of organized archives.
Have a great day everyone, and thanks for sticking through this little reposting conundrum!

Coffee Bitch

It pleases me that I can make both a Batman and Watchmen reference in one, fell strip.

My Cat, In A Nutshell.

Tyrant, is he.
My cat isn't often mentioned in comics, but I should more often:
I got him as a kitten from farm, and we had to remove one eye (it was infected). He's a spoiled momma's boy and quite the duplicitous creature. All I can say is that his name suits him perfectly: Hannibal, a charmer in public but a fiend in private!
He chose that name. It was between that and Caligula; I wrote the two on slips of paper and set them next to him. He played with the "Hannibal" slip.
And the rest is history!

Honest Momma

I love how honest my mother is. It's part of her charm!
Additional appearances: my sister Amanda. Cameo: my one-eyed cat, Hannibal.
Extra kudos to Amanda for requesting this strip!