You may have noticed a few changes to johnkeating.biz. I've removed Breaking the Ice from the site to give it a home of it's own at breakingtheice.johnkeating.biz. I wanted to keep the strip separate from my acting and comedy site.
I like the new site as I don't have to do any off site hosting of the comics...the database is all hosted on my site so you can click around the archives or even better...add the RSS feed to your newsreader to be updated on all the new strips and announcements.
Now, if someone wants to know what's going on with me acting-wise and isn't interested in the web comic, there's this site. If someone else could care less about my acting and comedy career and just wants to read the "funnies" then they have the Breaking the Ice site.
I'm sure there are some people who don't care about either of those (shocking I know!) and to those people, I say...the monkey porn post is located here.
As a standup comic, I always get the question "did that really happen to you?" A lot of times, it's all total BS and no, it didn't...or at least not as funny as I try to make it sound.
Breaking the Ice has hit the big 5-0 and this is pretty much where the collected comic book will end. This ties up the whole kidney stone thing and I'll move on from there. Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment here on the site!
EDIT: Oh and I almost forgot...you can actually rate each comic if you like by clicking on the star rating. So go ahead, as my friend Mystic Tan likes to say, sit there and quietly judge.
I'm only a week away from hittin' 50 and I was going to wait until then to announce this...but I'm kind of excited and want to do it now.
Breaking the Ice is going to be published by Hopper Comics as a 24 page, full color "one shot" collecting all 50 strips. It will be sold at comic retailers as well as on Amazon.com. This is pretty cool news as I will have an actual comic book that I created in stores. I'm hoping it will be completed by San Diego Comic Con this summer as I can't imagine how excited I would be to attend as "Industry". The publisher is as excited as I am and he's been interested in the strip since the very beginning. I wanted to wait until I had enough strips to do something cool with and here it is.
There will be more new upcoming but I figured this was exciting enough to reveal now. I'm working on cover designs for the book so if you have any suggestions on what you'd like to see, let me know. I'm always open to suggestions!
In that same regard, I was thinking of doing some t-shirts but I wanted something interesting from the strip...if there's something from the strip that jumps out to you and says "that would be a cool t-shirt" lemme know that too. If I use your design, I'll give ya a free one :)
I'm back! My father passed away about two weeks ago and I had to go back to Boston for the services and to help take care of things. Needless to say, it didn't leave me in a great mood to create funny web comics :)
Breaking the Ice is back now. This strip isn't super funny, admittedly, but it does re-introduce one of my favorite characters and makes him a regular player in the strip. It's funny how you create a character as a one off and then totally fall in love with it.
New strip is up and with it, a new character is introduced. I've been wanting to create a character that was a pro wrestler because I though the visual of someone walking around with that mask on all the time was a good one. Not to mention, I had written a screenplay about a pro wrestler called 60 Minute Broadway that was being adapted into a comic at one time. I may end up trying to do that myself at some point or just use some story points and gags from there with this new character. Either way, I'm moving the story along, introducing a new character and getting a chance to use one of my favorite jokes. All in one strip! What the hell more do you want from me, people?!?!
Sorry for not having a strip up last week. I got really sick around Wednesday with the flu and it knocked me on my butt. Here's the one that should have been last Wednesday's and I hope to have a new one up THIS Wednesday as well.
Here it is...the early edition. I actually got booked in a movie I have to shoot all day tomorrow (yay me!) so I wasn't going to be able to get the strip done on my normal day, so here it is...a day early. Can you stand the excitement?!?
This one pretty much explains itself. This was an actual conversation I had with my doc. The puncline comes from when a buddy of mine told me the story about Matthew mcconaughey got busted by the cops. He was naked, high and playing the bongos for a male friend of his sitting on the couch. My response:
With Mick back in the warm and loving arms of Mego-Conglomocorp, it's time to go get a physical. Sadly, this is really my family medical history. Apparently, I don't have much time left so get to know me while it lasts! :)
Also, this is the one year anniversary of Breaking the Ice! Have some cake or something! :)
This was an idea I had for a spec commercial around the time the Lord of the Rings movies were out. It originally would have been for a TV with the bully dude watching people line up for a fantasy movie in costume. Then the same people in line are watching a game on TV and see said bully dude. Hilarity ensues.
Anyway, here's the comic strip version of that idea. Just in time for the "Big Game".
Did you know that you can't use the words "Super Bowl" in any kind of advertising. You can't say "buy a big screen TV just in time for the Super Bowl!" You have to say "big game". See you learned something today!
I'm really excited to see Cloverfield and to celebrate that, as well as accommodating those people that wanted just one more strip featuring "the suit", I present this week's edition of Breaking the Ice!
#30 is up! Just a little denouement, if you will, to wrap up the whole "stuck in the suit" storyline. No worries though, after all that Ari is definitely sticking around!
I'm going to try to sneak in at least a one panel strip next week for Christmas but in case I don't, I just want to take this time to wish everyone who stops by Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year. Thanks for reading!!
Here is the moment you've all (well the 7 people who read my strip!) have been waiting for. It's the big reveal of Arianna.
Might not be the funniest strip I've done but I think it's a great character moment. You decide! And sign up for the mailing list or check out the archives if it behooves you. I just like using the word behoove.
I just finished Strip #28 and I have to say it's one of my favorite ones yet. It also guest stars a few of my friends (and my girlfriend) in a very special cameo. There's also a callback to an earlier strip but it's nothing you'll miss out on if you haven't read it. I hope you enjoy it!
As always you can sign up for the mailing list by clicking here or visit the archive by clicking the link above the strip.
I'm putting together a mailing list to update readers when a new episode of Breaking the Ice is posted. If you're not on the list and would like to be, please click the link below and I'll add you! Breaking the Ice Mailing List
New strip up continuing the story of poor Mick not being able to see the girl he's crushing on...oh yeah, she's stuck inside that stupid suit so it's not all fun and games for her, either.
As always, I invite you to check out the archive (now at two pages!!) if you've missed any strips and please, tell a friend if you're enjoying the strip. The more the merrier!
Sorry for not having a strip last week. It was a little crazy around the Breaking the Ice home office. This week's is up so please check it out and leave a comment if you feel inclined to do so! Also, check out the archives if you've missed any strips.
It's the first ever Halloween edition of Breaking the Ice. Since it's only a one panel strip this week the formatting of the site might be a little wonky. So please click here to see the strip if it's not displaying properly above.
I finally got a chance to sit down and finish strip #21. It continues the "layoff" storyline and even introduces a new character named Hal Pozner. He's the manager of Milo Monkeyshines House O' Fun.
I'm heading out on a cruise this Sunday and I had been on such a roll getting weekly strips out that I didn't want to stop now. So I created a new one tonight that will be an early post for next week's strip.
Check it out!! There's even a callback...I like to throw my longtime readers a bone :) If the strip doesn't make any sense you can check out this one that it's calling back to.
The layoff storyline continues in Breaking the Ice. Also, this is the first strip that is completely digital. I used my Wacom tablet entirely to create this week's strip. I'm still getting used to it and will probably still sketch and ink by hand...but it's a nice option to have.
I changed the site layout a little bit to have the latest comic strip prominent and up front when you log on. You can click on that strip and that will take you to the Breaking the Ice archives at Comicspace.
That way, the most recent strip is always available and you can read past ones that you might have missed.
Here's this week's offering. I'm really feeling in the groove with the drawings and characters. I'm working on introducing a few more characters in the coming weeks...maybe even a *gasp* girl.
As always, feel free to check out past strips here!
My buddy Jeff Schuetze has started his own webcomic JEFBOT over at his site. You may remember Jeff as the artist on the now defunct comic adaptation of my script 60 Minute Broadway.
Jeff is a great artist and, apparently, a very funny writer as well judging from the two strips he's posted. Check it out!!
New strip up! This one doesn't make much sense unless you've read #13 as well. If you haven't read #13 or any of the other strips, I feel sorry for you...truly sorry.
I'm experimenting with different "shots" as well. Closeups and such.
UPDATE: I retouched the inks and colors for this strip and it looks MUCH better. Now I can breathe again.
For those of you who check the web over the weekend, here's an early jump on tomorrow's strip. For those who don't...well, you'll get to it when you get to it.
If you've missed any strips, please check out the archive at Comicspace!
P.S. I also redid the very first strip to make Stevie's appearance line up with how I'm drawing him now.
First off I just want to say thank you to everyone for all of the thoughtful and beautiful emails of condolences regarding the passing of my grandfather. I'm heading back to Boston tonight on the redeye for the services and I'll be back home for about a week. So once again, thank you very much and all of your thoughts are greatly appreciated.
As I head back home across the country, I leave you with the fifth strip in the series. If I can get my hands on some Bristol board, an inking pen and a scanner when I'm back home I'll post #6 at the end of the week or beginning of next. If not, then it will most likely go up the following Friday as I already know what I want to do with it.
You can find the entire archive at Comicspace by clicking the logo on the left.
I eventually plan to have a seperate site for the comic strip and when I officially launch (i.e. have enough to have a 6-10 strip archive) I'll run these already posted strips one a day and then on the last unveil the latest.
I'm going to try to update weekly, so we'll see how it goes. As always, comments are much appreciated!!
It's been something I've been wanting to do for a long time and I finally got off my butt and did it.
I'm starting my own web comic.
Ever since I was little, I was fascinated with comics. While most of my friends were immersed in comic books, I always gravitated towards comic strips. I would buy collected editions of The Far Side, Bloom County, B.C., Beetle Bailey and of course, my well known love of all things Popeye. There was just something about the simple, 3-4 panel "gag a day" style storytelling in comic strips that really captured my imagination.
After attending the San Diego Comic-Con in '04 and sitting in on a panel discussion on creating web comics, I got inspired. I used to draw all the time as a child and in recent years haven't picked up a pen or pencil other than to sign a check to pay my bills. I batted a few ideas around and then came upon a combination of two. A "workplace" style strip set in a Customer Service call/computer center and a screenplay I wrote a few years ago entitled Breaking the Ice.
Ice is about a stand-up comic who feels he has to sell out and become edgy in order to make an impact in show business. I really love the characters in that script and if nothing ever comes of it, they will at least find new life her in the strip.
The above is merely a test to see how this would look and come out. I'm going to try to get a backlog of about 5 or 6 before I really start posting them in earnest. HUGE thanks to my close friend Jeff Schuetze as he was instrumental in showing me Photoshop techniques to give the flat inks some life. Jeff is the artist on 60 Minute Broadway and will be launching a new website with his own webcomic in the coming month. So please visit him and check his out...you won't be disappointed.
For me, this is just going to be a fun hobby. If I can pick up some readers along the way and people start to dig the strip then all the better. You can click on the image above to see the full sized "beta strip". I'm really happy with how it came out and I'm looking forward to really getting going on it.
I took a break from the regular storyline for this one. I'm really excited about Indy 4 this weekend so here is my little tribute.
I finally got a chance to sit down and finish strip #21. It continues the "layoff" storyline and even introduces a new character named Hal Pozner. He's the manager of Milo Monkeyshines House O' Fun.
