Hey everybody! Today's strip is the one we created with audience participation at KrakenCon! Thanks for everybody who came. Your regularly scheduled post follows.

I have immense respect for Shakespeare. Being familiar his works (and I'm not, for the moment, #teachingthecontroversy around whether or not he actually wrote them) seems to be used across the English-speaking world as a sign that someone cares deeply about writing and literature. We make a comic about birds in space, loosely based on Star Trek, and it continually amuses me how Shakespeare keeps coming up in the Star Trek universe. It was his birthday this past week, and it got me thinking about the lasting impact his works are still having. I'm also a huge fan of Christopher Moore's work, and his Shakespeare-inspired works Fool and The Serpent of Venice have made me laugh more than any book I can remember.

Thinking about Shakespeare makes me think about sources of inspiration, and how I think the wisdom of the ancients make be wrong. Inspiration has often been said to come in the form of a Muse, a divine woman sent to inspire men to acts of greatness. (If that's not chauvinist...) I think inspiration is more like a cat. You can try to force it to play with you, but the best moments are when it comes to you in its own time. This is, coincidentally, often the most inopportune time. Cat owners and creative people will know what I mean.

Hey! It's Friday! That means its time for the Webcomic o' the Week! Since I don't have any good Shakespearean comics lined up, I'm going to pick one from our apparently limitless supply of Western-themed comics. This week, we think you should go read Next Town Over. In the sub-genre of Steampunk that I'm possibly making up called Western Steampunk, Next Town Over is one of my favorite works. The comic uses its gorgeous art to tell a story filled with elemental magic, undead engineers, and fantastic machines. Plus the striking panoramas and cowboy antics that mark a great Western. Normally, trying to shove so many elements into a story makes telling the story difficult or awkward, but Next Town Over has built a world large enough to handle it. The plot so far is full of hatred, betrayal, and pursuit of revenge, and it is delicious. Go read it, and enjoy your weekend in the steam-powered West. 

Thanks,

Philip