It’s been over two and a half months since my last update.  I don’t have an excuse for that.

A quick behind-the-scenes note about this page: the black cat and the “reverse jinx” are (like a lot of things in this comic, believe it or not) loosely based on real events.  I was greeted by an unfamiliar black cat in the parking lot of my new apartment, in the middle of a terrible day, and I was cheered by the unprovoked affection he showed for me.  I also found my luck to be much improved for the rest of the day, contradicting the old superstition about black cats, and I started to think of it as a reverse jinx.  When I told my new roommate about it, she told me that the cat suffers from “kitty AIDS” and also a collapsed lung.  Which was a bit of a downer, obviously.

I bore you with this story only to explain the mangled appearance of the cat in the comic.  There isn’t a cat-eating monster on the loose or anything like that.  I was just contrasting Max’s romantic world view with the harsh realities of life.

I see the real black cat almost every day now (probably because I give him treats every time I see him) and he’s mostly doing okay.  He’s missing a bunch of teeth, though.

I’m sorry I haven’t added any new pages for the past couple weeks.  I’m starting a new story and wanted to be sure of where I’m going with it.

As for the content of this page, it’s a flashback to the years Max spent travelling with his adoptive father, Old Max.  I started doing stories about Max’s past for comics that wouldn’t appear on the website, including a giveaway minicomic and a contribution to a convention anthology.  Having two separate storylines seemed to confuse people more than I thought it would, and I’m doubtless confusing things further by continuing the print storyline as part of the webcomic.

You don’t have to have read the two preceding stories, but if you want to read them, that can be easily accomplished.  Just send me an email at homegrownalien(at)gmail(dot)com with a request for the free minicomic (which is still free) and I’ll mail you one.  Then go to the SPACE website and download a free PDF copy of the 2012 anthology.  You can also buy a hard copy from them, if you’re feeling generous.

If all that sounds like too much trouble, the short version of the story is this: the dog’s name is Skip, and his previous owner was eaten by a yeti.

I’d like to say a big, sincere “thank you” to everyone I met in Columbus, Ohio last weekend for making SPACE such a good experience for me.  You guys were great.

I’m driving to Ohio today for the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo.  If you’re going to SPACE, be sure to stop by my table and get a comic from me.

I should probably mention that I’ll be at the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo (SPACE) this Saturday and Sunday.  Of course, if you found this comic by following a link from the exhibitors page on the SPACE website, you already know that.  If you’re trying to decide which tables to visit, keep in mind that mine will have a free comic.

Homegrown Alien is back!  Maybe I should explain the big gap, but it’s kind of depressing and I don’t want to dwell on it.  The important thing is that the site is working and I think I’ve drawn enough material to stick to my update schedule, barring any unforeseen problems.

The new update schedule is Wednesday and Friday, so the next strip will be up in a couple days.  Thanks for reading.