It’s been a wonderful Christmas for me and for my family. Half a world away, however, tsunamis have claimed the lives 9,500 or more of my fellow human beings.

The BBC News coverage seems to be the most elucidating, since it’s got a map for those of us who don’t know our southeast Asian geography. I’m not posting this so you can go rubberneck, though.

It’s possible that your local church, Red Cross, or Salvation Army chapter will be collecting donations for the half million newly homeless. These people were poor to begin with (at least by our materialistic Western standards), and many of the survivors have seen everything they own swept out to sea. If you have the opportunity to donate to them, please be generous.

–Howard

(EDIT: yes, yes, I know. The death-toll continues to climb. It’ll climb further, too, once Famine and Pestilence get down off their horses and into the mix.)

Open Letter, Saturday, December 25, 2004

This Christmas is my first as a full-time cartoonist. Celebrating the birth of the Savior is quieter and more worshipful when I’ve got so much to personally be thankful for. Sure, it’s going to be a lean year gift-wise, but we’ve got food, clothing, and family to share it with. Wise men of any generation would be hard pressed to ask for more.

(Whiny, ungrateful children are another matter, but I don’t think we have any of those.)

I hope this holy day finds you well, wherever your path leads and whatever your faith founds. Peace on Earth, goodwill to mankind.

–Howard

Single-panel Opinion piece is one click away!

I made a breakthrough in coloring on Friday. Mostly it amounted to a simple set of steps that I could repeat over and over to do the rich coloring Jean Elmore used to do for me (and which I miss quite a bit.) I’m not using that process on Schlock Mercenary yet, because it’s too time-consuming, but as I refine it and improve my technique, you can bet we’ll see some neat new coloring in the Sunday strips.

So… what does it look like?