Happy Halloween 2017

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Halloween 2017 (Completed)

Good news, everyone! We have a group costume this year!

Since some of these holidays have begun to coincide with our regular posting schedule, I’ve decided to move any of these special comics to the blog. Don’t worry; there will still be the regular story comic today as well. It should be an interesting interjection to the main storyline we’ve been following to now, but I’m going to stop now before I say too much.

Anyway, without further ado (and I know you’ve just been dying to see it), here’s this year’s Halloween comic! It’s a group costume this year, with a Futurama theme! I’m an enormous Futurama fan, so this seemed to fit in quite nicely (Pete does have his Fry tendencies). Beyond that, I tried some different things with it, and I’m actually pretty happy with how it turned out.

Anyway, y’all have a safe and fun Halloween, however you choose to spend it, and thanks, as always, for reading and enjoying and sharing the comic. All of y’all ghouls and goblins out there are just awesome. I hope you all know that, because it’s 100% true.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Looking Back on a Year

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This year has been a remarkable experience. Every single step has been a learning experience in some way. I’ve grown as much as my characters have. All of us have come a long way. So, I think we’ll keep this train going, and see where it takes us. Sound good to y’all?

Good. Glad you’re still on board, because I really want to thank all of you for reading and sharing this comic. It means the world to me that you are all enjoying this story. I know, at times, it veers away from the retail/service industry world, but that world is made up of the people we follow. They lead their own lives separate from their work spaces. They have dreams, longings, interests. They count the hours until they can leave the store and go home to enjoy anything else. So, those stories belong in this comic just as much as anything else, in my opinion (not that anyone else actually has an opinion that this is bad or shouldn’t be in the comic; I just felt some clarity was a positive).

I decided to celebrate this today, since the comic began in late August of last year, but I wasn’t entirely sure when due to a change in website template from blog to comic. Good job, me…not. So often it has felt like one stumble forward, two steps back in making this comic. I’m still finding my legs, but there has been great progress, I think. I hope to stretch my legs a little more in Year 2 and take more risks in the art. Or I might chicken out, and stick with my comfort zone. I dunno. We’ll see what happens.

I want to say a special thank you to the girlfriend, without whose help all of this would’ve been impossible, as well as to my family and friends for their support. They are my rocks.

Anyway, thank you all so much for reading and for taking this journey with me. From all of us here at Observations in Retail, thank you, and let’s have an even better second year!

Jay Thomas, 1948-2017

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#33 Eddie Lebec, goalie, Boston Bruins, 1987-1989

A fact about me: I’m a HUGE Cheers fan. I’ve watched all eleven seasons a number of times, though I usually stick within the first five or six seasons if I’m wanting to toss something fun on in the background. Coach was the best. He had such great comedic timing, and he had a heart of gold. Woody was a good replacement; he was a similar character, but his age and backstory allowed for the writers to move that character in a different direction while keeping the feeling the same, even though you can never replace Coach.

Anyways, I always enjoyed Jay Thomas’s character, Eddie Lebec, a lot. He was a lovable goofball, despite the fact that he ended up two-timing Carla in the end. I always thought it would be fun to get a Lebec 33 Boston Bruins jersey (even though I’m a diehard Dallas Stars fan). It’d be such an obscure reference that when someone actually got it, it would be a delightful connection.

Mr. Thomas passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer, and I felt compelled to pen this little tribute to his Cheers character. The drink Pete orders is the drink that Eddie drinks before every game, which led to this great moment between Woody, Sam, and Eddie:

Sam: Woody, get that man a club soda, no ice, two lines, and a red straw.
Woody: Is that really what you want?
Eddie: Yes, sir.
Woody: How did you know that, Sam?
Sam: He ordered it yesterday.
Woody: Well, then, I’d better hurry.

I know he was ushered off the show under not-so-great circumstances, but Eddie Lebec will always live on as a sweet, fun character we can all love (even though he was a bit of a two-timing cheater, but that’s neither here nor there). Rest in peace, Mr. Thomas.

-The Retail Explorer