Sadness and Laughter (Patreon)

Dear Patrons,

I'm sorry the PBF 20th Anniversary Collaboration Celebration has slowed to a trickle. The death of my sister in March has required me to take care of her orphaned daughter just about full time. We're very busy making things, but unfortunately we don't make many PBF comics. 

Seeing my niece's amazing creativity on a daily basis, I am reminded of my sister's own creativity. 

I would like to publicly remember just how often my sister would suggest a crucial element to a PBF comic as I was working on it; the flies above the donkey in "The Last Unicorns", the bent nails in "Mrs. Hammer", the kid looking back at the end of "The Jubilee" (see my avatar), etc. 

The "Lord Gloom" comic also comes directly from a ritual that she and I shared (making each other laugh when we were down). I did the stomach thing on a couple occasions at least.

My sister had a wild subconscious that would often disrupt her sleep and give her strange dreams. She once had a dream that a group of people surrounding her partook in a chant directed at her:

Weeaboo! Weeaboo!

Life is a book and you are a page. 

I thought this was such a marvelous word to have come up with subconsciously, I made an effort to insert it into a comic in 2003. It is now a word that sees fairly wide use. I caught her son using the word the other day, and had the strange experience of informing him that she coined it. 

My cousin has been helping a lot on weekends with the kids, and may be of more assistance in the future! For now, I am just pleased that school is back in session! I'm *hoping* to finish up my collab with Nick Seluk (of Heart and Brain) for next week. Needless to say, it has been a huge comfort having you guys in my corner during all this. Thank you. Truly. 

Nick G

ps- Here's a movie my niece and I made, based on one of our books. We filmed it with some friends this past winter.