Victoria Royals

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Sunday night was the Oscars, but since I've only seen part of one Oscar-nominated film this year (I never finished Zootopia), we went to a junior league hockey game with some friends instead. Emma had never been to a Canadian hockey game before, so I was determined to make it as memorable as possible, and that included snatching any freebies away from meddling kids. 

If you're in Victoria, I hope you have marked your calendar for March 19th because I'll be appearing at the Victoria Comic Book Expo at Comfort Inn & Suites. Come by and check out some new mini comics!

Dirty Laundry

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Exciting News: If you live in Victoria, BC, you can buy my comic "Three Crushes: Tales of Middle School Heartbreak" at Legends Comics and Books (633 Johnson Street) or Curious Comics (631 Johnson Street). 

"Three Crushes" is also available online at Payhip.com. 

And if you like reading webcomics on mobile apps, you can find Smith vs Smith on Tapastic and Comic Chameleon. Please subscribe to Smith vs Smith in the Tapas or Webcomics app!

This week's comic originally appeared in the Camosun College Nexus Newspaper. 

Cats at Night

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Lots of exciting news this week! First of all, my mini comic, "Three Crushes: Tales of Middle School Heartbreak" is now on sale at Legends Comics & Books in Victoria, BC. If you're in the city, head to 633 Johnson Street to pick up your copy today! Legends is a great store and they are so amazing to support local indie creators.

Last week, on February 1st, I took the Hourly Comic Day challenge and created a comic for every hour I was awake. If you follow Smith vs Smith on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, you could have followed along live, but if not, I've collected the whole day here. Even if you saw the comics as they were released, it might be fun to read through the day from start to finish!

This week's comic was originally published in the January 18th issue of the Camosun Nexus student paper. Not only is Smith vs Smith appearing in the Nexus, you can also see Smith vs Smith in the Fernwood Village Vibe and the University of Victoria Martlet. THREE newspapers in Victoria, BC!

In 2017, I'm trying to push myself to do something different with each comic. I wanted to try a different page layout. This "inset" layout was inspired by an assignment I completed for the online Kadenze Comics: Art in Relationships course. Below is the original layout:

And here you can see the page I created for Kadenze: 

Can you tell who was the model for Deedee?

Look out for more panel experimentations in the future. If you want to see some of the work produced by other Kadenze comic students, check out the Sci Fi anthology we put together. 

By the Book

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Emma and I are taking two classes at the Vancouver Island School of Art this semester (Drawing II and Principles and Elements of Design). Both classes are going well so far. I've been posting some of the assignments on Instagram.

This week's comic originally appeared in the UVic Martlet, where Smith vs Smith was originally published in 2008. See the first every published Smith vs Smith comic below:

Since this first Smith vs Smith ran in the Martlet back in 2008, Andrew and Ash have gotten married and are actually expecting their first kid this summer (I'm gonna be an uncle!).

Tomorrow is Hourly Comics Day, where myself and other cartoonists attempt to draw a comic for every hour we are awake. Make sure you're following along on Instagram and Twitter!

Matt's Best Friend

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The cats used to just ignore us after returning from vacations , but Thor has gotten really needy since we moved to Canada. This isn't the first time I've written about our family's toilet habits. 

This comic originally appeared in Camosun College's Nexus Newspaper's January 4th issue.

If you're in Victoria, BC, keep an eye out for issues of the Nexus to see Smith vs Smith comics several weeks earlier than they appear online! 

And if you're an University of Victoria student, keep an eye out this Thursday for Smith vs Smith in the UVic Martlet! 9 years ago (holy crap!), Smith vs Smith first appeared in the Martlet and I'm so excited to be back! 2017 is already shaping up to be an exciting year for Smith vs Smith and I can't wait to share more good news as it happens. Stay tuned! 

Happy

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While in Scotland for our Christmas break, Emma and I attended the wedding of a family friend. I bought a kilt for the occasion. 

Emma gave me a lot of really amazing Christmas presents, but my favorites are the amazing Ban Dai S H Figuarts full posable drawing figures for comic book artists. With my background in film, I'm always disappointed that my comics aren't more cinematic, but I'm hoping that these figures open up a whole new realm of possibilities! Check out the original poses below: 

Panel 1: Matt and Emma are getting ready for a wedding. Matt is wearing a kilt. Emma is in a dress. 

Emma: What should we write on the card?

Matt: What about: "We hope you're as happy as we are?"

Emma: That's not very nice!

I'm very excited to use these little guys in the future! 

Stress

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Emma and I had a great Christmas in Scotland with her family, but 2017 is going to be an exciting year for Smith vs Smith comics and I couldn't wait to get back to work! For starters, Smith vs Smith is going to published in three papers in the next few weeks! 

This comic is a spiritual sequel to "Stressed," a comic I created way back in 2009, when I was finishing a teaching job in Malaysia and didn't know what was next. (I ended up teaching English in Hong Kong and will be compiling the comic strips from that time into a mini comic soon). See the original comic below. I'm hoping you can see an improvement in my art over the last 8 years...!

The original "Stressed" in all its Comic Sans glory. 

Kuwaiti Cats in Canadian Snow

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I attended the University of Victoria from 2005 to 2008 (fun fact: Smith vs Smith was originally published for the first time in UVic's Martlet). In all my years in Victoria, it only snowed one time (and everyone lost their minds). I've recently spent four years in Kuwait, where it hardly even rained. So it was a HUGE deal for me and the cats that it snowed last week in Victoria (Emma was mostly annoyed by the ice on the car). We've seen how vocal Neo can be, but Thor never meows so this was a big deal. 

This comic was inspired by the following photograph:

The cartoonist Elaine M. Will was a huge help with this week's comic. She told me how she achieved the snow in her graphic novel Look Straight Ahead. 

shared with elaine m will's permission

shared with elaine m will's permission

Look Straight Ahead and Elaine's other book, Dust Ship Glory are both great reads and both available from Cuckoo's Nest Press. Give them a read! 

Emma and I are heading back to Scotland in a week for Christmas with her family. I'm working hard to finish some comics for various anthologies as well as trying to get ahead on Smith vs Smith strips so I can relax over the winter break. Lots to do! 

Pavlovian

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Today's comic originally appeared in the Camosun College Student Paper the Nexus. Check out Deadpool reading Smith vs Smith: 

Cartoonist Joan Steacy, my life drawing teaching, brings in cosplayers as our models.

It's been a lot of fun (and super helpful) learning to draw in a more realistic way. Hopefully the practice shows in Smith vs Smith, even though the comics are more stylized. You can check out more of my cosplay life drawing if you follow @smithvssmithcomics on Instagram. 

Fresh

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Have you heard about the mini comic I created for Movember? The mini comic features 30 cartoon moustaches and all proceeds for the mini comic will go to the Movember Foundation, the global charity focused on men's health. Please consider donating (you get a comic!) and telling your friends about it. Here is an example of the moustachy goodness you'll be getting: 

Burt Reynolds Moustache

This week's comic was a challenge in several ways. I'm not sure if it shows, but since starting Comic School, I've been trying to work on my figure drawing and draw better hands (check out Smith vs Smith Comics on Instagram to see more examples of my life drawing). I also forced myself to use the Pentel Brush Pen for this entire comic, something I've been avoiding because it's new and scary and different and weird and takes longer and requires a deft hand. I prefer to grind into my paper with tough markers, but I'm glad I took the chance and stuck to the brush pen for this comic. 

The other challenge was how to depict smell. I drew Emma smelling something before, but for some reason the nose twitch wasn't working this time.

I had a similar problem a few months ago with drawing a slow action when I had Emma creep backwards up the stairs. Once again, I sought help. I turned to my fellow students from the Comics: Art in Relationships Kadenze course (who recently put out a FREE Sci Fi anthology featuring a Smith vs Smith comic) and some classmates from the Camosun College Comics & Graphic Novels Program.  Having their feedback has been extremely helpful over the last few months. 

Cheez Pleezers

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This comic concludes a story arc that began over a month ago with Hungry. Eagle-eye readers may have noticed the aspect ratio of the comic changing a bit. We have the tall and skinny First Day and Eye Lashes and we have the short and fat, almost square aspect ratio for Vegetarian Lasagna and Catchoo. This is because at Comics School we have been making pages at the correct size for common comic books. However, I've also been publishing Smith vs Smith in the Camosun College Newspaper, the Nexus, which has been asking for almost square comics. Today's page was created over a month ago, but chronologically, it comes at the end, so it is still tall and skinny even though it follows a long run of short square comics. From here on out, expect consistency. 
I don't know if you're following @SmithvsSmithComics on Instagram, but if you aren't, you're missing out on my month length Movember cartoon moustache drawings. 

The Movember Foundation is the only global charity focused solely on men's health, so this Movember I got on board. I drew 30 cartoon moustaches and created a mini comic. All proceeds will go to the Movember Foundation. Find out more on my Movember Fundraising Page. 

Dinner & a Movie

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Make sure you check out the amazing Comic Chameleon App where you can now read every published Smith vs Smith comic! So cool being featured on the app with some of my webcomic heroes like the Perry Bible Fellowship, Nedroid and Nhoj. 

This is the second time I've played around with shadows. It's an old gag I remember from Mad Magazine by Sergio Aragonés. 

I try to avoid serialization in the webcomic, especially with Smith vs Smith being published every other week in the Camosun College Nexus paper (if you're in Victoria, grab your copy tomorrow to get an extra does of Smith vs Smith this week!), but this week's comic is undeniably a direct sequel to last week's Vegan Lasagna. This really continues a storyline that started a few weeks ago with Hungry. This storyline will wrap up next week with a comic I actually drew weeks ago, but I keep adding more pages before the finale. 

This week's comic was originally created for my upcoming graphic novel, You're Stuck With Me Now, but I didn't have an organic place for it. See the original below: 

 

 

Vegan Lasagna

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This comic continues an accidental storyline about eating which began a few weeks ago with Hungry. Or did it begin with my bad breath a week before that with Sigh? Or did it begin a week before THAT when Emma made me breakfast in First Day? You should probably read them all and make your own mind up. While you're at it, why not take a stroll down memory lane and read ALL 63 Smith vs Smith comics? Did you know this is the 63rd Smith vs Smith comic posted? Go read them all and double check my numbers!

And if you want to read Smith vs Smith from the start, why not read Smith vs Smith on the Comics Chameleon App? Comics Chameleon is an app that shares over 100 of the best webcomics on the web and from now on, Smith vs Smith will have a home on the app! It's never been easier to read Smith vs Smith on the toilet!

This week's comic was originally published in the Camosun College's Nexus Student Paper.  

Two comics & graphic novels students enjoying smith vs smith in the nexus newspaper.

For those who are interested in the process of Smith vs Smith comics, I am sharing the original pencils below so you can see how they compare to the finished comic. 

I tried this comic two years ago and originally saw it as a page in my upcoming graphic novel, You're Stuck With Me Now. Here is the original, unpublished version:

Catchoo

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I never thought I'd have a cat, let alone two cats. Mostly they are adorable, but sometimes they can be... less than adorable. Since September, I've been in Camosun's Comics and Graphic Novels program and so far we've done all our comics with pen and paper. To shake things up, I decided to draw a comic totally digitally for the first time in a while. Let me know if you have a preference between digital or analogue comics in the comments section! 
If you know a cat person who would enjoy this week's comic, please share Smith vs Smith with them!

Have a great week, 

Matt Smith!