Peter and Company

Delay Notice: Life Happens

Jon Ponikvar — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:00:17 +0000

Hiya folks,

I just wanted to let everyone know that there’s going to be a short delay in getting the next page completed and posted. Due to financial strain and my recurring battle with Crohn’s, I’ve made the extremely tough decision to drop my studies in SCAD’s graduate program. Whitney and I will be moving back home to Virginia — incidentally enough, to rent and possibly buy the same house that I draw as Peter’s home — within the next couple weeks. As such, I’ve already begun the final cleaning/packing process, and am completely unable to either produce the comics or the accompanying Ustream videos every Sunday evening. This has been a VERY hard decision built up over the past couple weeks, which is why it’s been rather quiet around the site lately.

I apologize for the fact that it’s been so quiet, but rest assured more pages are definitely coming. I anticipate being completely settled in by the end of March/first week of April, so the next Ustream show will take place on ~~Sunday, April 4th~~ Saturday, April 3rd, with the comic being posted upon completion on the 5th. During the break I’ll continue to update the Animation Project page with new character voice samples as the actors send them in and will make a note on this post as new info is posted. Whitney and I will be adding our own to the collection later this week when we get some free time to record them.

If you’d like to chat it up in the meantime, I’ll still regularly be on AIM (PeterAndCompany) and Yahoo (MusicManJP) through my laptop up until such time that the internet gets turned off. I’ll also be on XBox Live/PSN (on both: Fragnabulator) whenever time allows me to get some gaming in. Once I get settled back home, I’ll be updating regularly again as well as broadcasting the production of each page live through my Ustream feed. It’ll be SO nice to finally be out of school after eight years and have my own work become my primary focus again. I’m psyched about getting the Animation project and the Chronicles of Ademar kicked into production now that I’ll finally have the time to do so.

Thanks so much for reading, guys. See you all again soon!

-Jonathan P.

Comic #144: Discount Central

Jon Ponikvar — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:00:03 +0000

Once I had my shop set up on the sidewalk, the one person who bought more flowers than anyone else from me was the real-life “Chelsea.” She would buy at least one flower — usually multiples, in fact — each and every day once I moved the bench to the front yard. I doubt she was being threatened by my older siblings to do so, but at the time I still had to wonder what had triggered her fascination with my sculptures. Our epic feud was put on hold so she could buy a rose and a few lilies. Go figure.

Also, yes, the bandage on Chelsea’s face is indeed directly related to the previous story. Hooray for continuity!

In other news: I finally put together the official page for the Peter & Company Animation Project. Included on the page are complete details regarding the format and goal for the project (which has changed — also note the absence of the Flipnote Hatena index on the sidebar), as well as a complete listing of all character voices that have been cast so far and those who are still available for auditions. Check it out by clicking on the icon below, or just click here.

Lastly, yet another update was posted to the Chronicles of Ademar blog, this time revolving around costume design. Be sure to give it a look, and feel free to start getting excited: the first issue of Ademar is coming sooner than you might think.

Edit 2-23-2010: I updated the Animation page with the first character voice sample. I will be offering recordings of each individual character to give an idea of how they will sound in the final product. Give them a listen as they are posted and share your thoughts in the comments!

Comic #143: Setting Up Shop

Jon Ponikvar — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 04:00:25 +0000

This was essentially my money-making plan as a kid: set up an old picnic bench in the front yard, lay out the clay produce, and wait for the cash to start rolling in. I spent a good several days during the summer just sitting in my front yard, waiting for my neighbors to walk by and buy something. At the end of the day, I’d head inside and put the day’s spoils (usually a handful of change) into a robot bank on my shelf.

As for whether or not I ever earned enough to get a game, well… that will be revealed a few more pages down the road.

I drew this page from scratch on a live broadcast through my Ustream channel. I plan on doing this every Sunday night at 6 pm EST, so bookmark that page if you’d like to help me out with some live feedback on the comic.

Also: Peter & Company on Facebook!

Comic #142: Economic Modeling Clay

Jon Ponikvar — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:00:25 +0000

I’d like to mention that everything that happens in this story arc is entirely true. When I was 11 years old, I really did come up with the idea to sell clay flowers to make some quick cash off my unsuspecting neighbors. The results of this venture will be revealed as the pages progress, but this is one of the perfect examples of my youthful eccentricity; I really don’t have to embellish this story at all to make it more interesting or funny. It’s simply crazy enough on its own.

In other P&C-related news, I’m announcing here that I have decided to produce a weekly broadcast show using the Ustream service, and would like to formally invite/welcome anyone and everyone to the live feed. I’ll be starting it up every Sunday evening at 6 pm Eastern time, using the stream to create that week’s Peter & Company update completely from scratch — from pencils to inks. My average production time for a single page is anywhere between 3 and 6 hours, depending on the amount of detail I decide to put in, so each week’s demo will last roughly up to the update time for the site (midnight).

Add the link to your bookmarks and be sure to visit it once I begin broadcasting each week. I’ll also be updating my Facebook and Twitter pages as soon as I boot it up, so you can use that as your reminder if you follow me on either of those services.

Ustream: Jonathan Ponikvar’s Inking Room
My Twitter Feed (also shown in the right-hand bar if you’d just like to monitor it here on the site)

The stream includes audio and there’s even a chat room included on the page, for those of you who would like to talk to me and offer up distractions while I’m attempting to get work done, hehe. I’ll also use the show to broadcast my project work for the Chronicles of Ademar, but that won’t be regularly scheduled like the P&C pages. You’ll have to follow my Twitter/Facebook to get notified when I decide to boot it up for Ademar.

I hope to see you there! The online streams are so much fun to do, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Don’t forget, Peter & Company is now on Facebook!

Comic #141: Resounding Wisdom

Jon Ponikvar — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 04:00:31 +0000

As much practice as Persephoni has had with her new Elite abilities so far, her track record with actually keeping Chelsea safe is sorely lacking. This whole situation makes you wonder just to what extent her powers reach, though; if she’s able to take the form of Peter to save Ezzy’s life, just what else is she capable of doing?

I’m really enjoying the increased speed of producing these solid black lineart pages. The next story that I’m putting on the table is actually entirely based on a true story, so stay tuned for that next week.

Don’t forget: Peter and Company is on Facebook, and I’ve also begun updating the Chronicles of Ademar blog regularly as well.

Comic #140: A Long Time Coming

Jon Ponikvar — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:00:50 +0000

Chelsea certainly had this coming for awhile. After everything she’s done to Peter over the years, it’s ironic that Ezzy is the one to pay it back. As for whether or not the two girls will still be friends after this episode: I wonder if Chelsea will even remember what happened after a knock like that!

Actually, Chelsea will probably have more respect for Ezzy after this point rather than hold it against her. Either that or she’ll just have to watch what she says about Peter when Ezzy’s around. Regardless, things will likely be different around the neighborhood, particularly for Peter’s side of things.

Another color page thanks to a full donation from a generous reader. Good timing, too; I thought this page in particular needed to be in color simply because it’s such a big turning point for the characters.

I’m resuming updates on my Chronicles of Ademar concept blog starting today. All this quarter I will continue updating Peter & Company, but will be spending most of my main focus on Ademar — specifically, finishing the character designs for the few remaining main characters and starting the first pages. I couldn’t be more excited to see it finally coming together after all this time.

Don’t forget, Peter & Company is now on Facebook, too!

Comic #139: When the Bough Breaks…

Jon Ponikvar — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 04:00:04 +0000

There certainly is a logical explanation for Peter’s teleportation here.

I think…

Anywho, Happy New Year, everyone! Next week’s page is going to be posted in full color thanks to a generous donation. I didn’t get to color this particular page simply due to my having to drive 10 hours from DC to Savannah (classes kick in for me tomorrow), and didn’t realize the donation was there until it was time to post. It’s actually a good thing, considering what happens on the next page really SHOULD be in color……

Hey, look! It’s Peter & Company on Facebook! (I’ll be linking this for awhile, until I make a button for it).

Comic #138: Higher Ground

Jon Ponikvar — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 04:00:17 +0000

Another glimpse into Chelsea’s newly-revealed obsession with Peter. Kinda makes you wonder how long she’s been watching him like this.

An interesting little bit is the cliche “binocular view” effect used up there. In reality looking through a binocular actually looks like a single circle — because of how your eyes focus through both sides at once and merge into one solid view — so I always wondered where the idea came from of having two connected circles in silhouette representing it. It’s just another one of those things that makes no real logical sense but is widely accepted as the norm for storytelling purposes, I suppose.

Don’t forget: Peter & Company is now on Facebook!

Comic #137: Planning Ahead

Jon Ponikvar — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 04:00:14 +0000

The pieces of extra wood behind my dad’s shed back home were actually the planks that he would use to build the sukkah on the back porch each year. I always thought I could get away with sneaking one or two pieces for a project like this, but never had the courage to actually try it. Knowing my dad he likely kept a mental inventory of the pieces and would know when one of them went missing. Over time they got pretty discolored and started to rot a bit, which happened roughly around the time we stopped celebrating sukkot. Unfortunately they were too far gone for me to use for the fort at that point, so my plans never went through for a rebuilding like I’d always hoped.

Just a reminder to all Facebook users, Peter and Company has its own page now. You can add yourself as a fan to receive updates and other project information in your main news feed!

Comic #136: Sister Stealth Ops

Jon Ponikvar — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:00:20 +0000

Honestly, it shouldn’t be surprising that Chelsea stowed away on this mission. Along with her “Peter Spykit.” Complete with branded binoculars.

Maybe a bit disturbing, but not surprising.

In other news, if you’re a Facebook user, be sure to check out the new Peter and Company page. Add yourself as a fan and you can receive all the updates and announcements for the comic (and related projects) in your news feed!