Random Coyote Productions

BOHICA Blues Downrange!

This is about the point where two things started to happen in my Iraq War comics: I began committing specific names to specific character images (although I think ranks were sill a free-for-all), and I also began splitting my comics into two distinct streams of comic format: one comic would be the "gag-a-day" format, in which there is no real story or character or ongoing plot-- just a humorous situation that stood alone. Gary Larsen's "The Far Side" is an excellent example.

The other format w...

Sneak Peeks: Thursday, 29 March

A sneak peek, in which we apparently have something to do with... cavemen. 

Oodles O' Doodles!

Another cache of mental meanderings. Above, a very happy sheep.

What if Stephen King had misspelled, and we ended up with "Pet Seminary"? 

"West Dogpatch Militia" guy, for no particular reason. 

Sneak Peek: Comics in Production

A short "sneak peek" --what does this screen capture from the (in)famous "Information Awareness & Cybersecurity" online class have to do with upcoming episodes? Well, the character from the online course, known throughout many military and civilian agency circles, is "Tina", and we will see her in Thursday's BOHICA Blues... so stay tuned!

Oodles O' Doodles!

I haven't done any Doodles for awhile! It's been a busy, busy month... but I loaded some more weird and random doodles from my collection of notepads. Can you believe my regular job and the Army both just hand out blank notepads for us? It's like giving a child $100 dollars and an unsupervised visit to the candy store.

At the top I Made a stereotypical World War One pilot; here we have a World War One...

Fan Art: "Star Wars: Rebuilding of Empires" (part 4)

Characters and vehicles have been designed, but I've also used existing ideas that were re-purposed. The machine above is an AT-ACA, or All-Terrain Armored Tactical Assault transporter, with a Scout Walker head placed on the older AT-TE body, and a few extra air-defense guns and smoke dischargers mounted. 

One of my favorite re-purposed characters is Tavion Axmis, who was a Sith Apprentice and a ...

Fan Art: "Star Wars: Rebuilding of Empires" (part 3)

There are, of course, Jedi in the "Rebuilding of Empires" universe. These Jedi are growing up in a universe where there was no Jedi Temple or unified Jedi Order. Each new government built their own Jedi Order that conformed to the goals and intents of their respective governments. Above is Rayce Tambo, Jedi Master and wife of former Queen Noora Raidaa.

Another pic of Rayce.

2018-03-13 14:21:00 +0000 UTC View Post

Fan Art: "Star Wars: Rebuilding of Empires" (part 2)

The story has been going on for over ten years, and over time I have written in expansions of the government and multiple elections and changes of government. Above is a recent "Queen of Naboo", Ranya Saviya, who is also Queen of the Sovereign Alliance government I made up. One thing I have done is write in how the election of multiple young leaders, almost exclusively young women (in an eternal quest to re-capture the magic of Padme Amidala). These young women have been changed by their time wi...

Fan Art: "Star Wars: Rebuilding of Empires" (Part 1)

This isn't so much just "Fan Art" about someone else's creation as it is fan art in support of an ongoing story that I am an active participant in.

There is a website called "Spacebattles.com" and it is devoted to a lot of science-fiction talk, but one page is devoted to collaborative stories. Basically, participants establish a government, some characters, and then write stories in a shared Star Wars setting. We frequently collaborate on over-arcing plots, sometimes providing "bad guys" and o...

Operation Greeting Card: Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Have a St. Patrick's Day greeting card, for all your greening, snake-free fun this weekend!

Future Projects: Richard Scarry Project

I'm slowly working on a project to convert some of the characters from the "Miltoons" veteran's comics site on Facebook and turn them into Richard Scarry-type characters for an upcoming banner. Work is proceeding at a glacial pace, but so far I have Joe Rock above, as a floppy-eared dog in the hatch of an M113, and below I have Pete Barlow's "G.I. Low" redrawn as a raccoon in the Richard Scarry style.

The eventual banner will be a sort of military version of "Busytown" from one of Richard Scar...

E.O.D. P.S.A's.

EOD is Explosives & Ordinance Disposal; PSA is Public Service Announcement. When I had been in Iraq for a bit, and my comics became more well known, I was approached by a senior NCO from one of the Explosives & Ordnance Disposal teams in our area. 

The idea was to do a series of  "PSA" posters, encouraging people not to pick up U.X.O.s, or Un-Exploded Ordnance-- sometimes referred to as "dud rounds". There were a lot of problems with people picking up unexploded munitions to ...

Oodles O' Doodles!

I've mentioned "Drink & Draw" in the past; here are a few more samples from those fun times. Basically, a bunch of local area artists get together once a month and we do silly art projects on the spot. This time, I share projects that were little more than "something with a dinosaur theme", as well as "inappropriate children's toys".

Also, below, is the one and only time I designed a tattoo for so...

Doodles: Art Assignments

Ever take an art class in school? Seriously, your "homework" is "Go out and draw stuff". They want to see you fill a sketchbook with as much as possible. Hell, I was going to do that *anyway*, right!? Now I can get credit for it! Anyhow, these are how I "filled my sketchbook" at different points in college. 

The first one is of a Postal worker being parachuted into Iraq-- this would have been in 1996. Saddam Hussein still reigned in Iraq at the time, and U.S. society was coming off a wave...

Operation "Greeting Card"

Happy Valentine's Day! If you forgot... we didn't!

My Fan Art for Others: "Doodling Around"

"Doodling Around" is another fun webcomic out there; this one is done by a crew in Ecuador and features twin girls and their friends that want to become famous by making comics. The art has a wonderful style I really enjoy, and the characters are known for some pretty amazing and awe-inspiring hairstyles. Obviously I had to have some fun with that.  http://www.doodlingcomic.com/

Doodles!

Time for some more doodles. I keep finding pages and pages of these things! Not only do I spend... um, you know, "valuable" time in meetings making these doodles, but apparently I keep them, too. Above, you can probably guess I was in a Land Navigation class. I think the lesson was not to become so fixated on your map that you ignore the terrain around you. 

Who needs kids when you have troops!?&...

Future Projects: "Operation Greeting Card"

One thing I have wanted to bring to the world of BOHICA Blues for a long time has been BOHICA-themed greeting cards. I have two that are mostly done: a Valentine's Day card and a St. Patrick's Day Card. The Valentine card is in the process of being colored but I can share the St. Patrick's day card in its line-art form. 

The wording for this card will be: "Happy Saint Patrick's Day-- Green That Night; Green the Next Morning!"

I'm also working on a end-of-the-year Holiday themed card...

Doodles

More foolish nonsense from the world of bored mandatory classes and over-long meetings!

Yes, by all means, surprise (scare the hell out of) your family with sudden, surprise fire drills for family safety. 

Ohhhh, boy, soon the Girl Scout Cookie Offensive will begin! I can't wait!

2018-01-17 13:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post

My Fan Art for Others: "Selkie"

There are other great webcomics out there. One I like is "Selkie", at selkiecomic.com (http://selkiecomic.com/). It is a story of love, life, and fishies; it also features an orphan little girl adopted from a secretive underwater kingdom located in the bottom of the Great Lakes. I did them some fan art, featured above, so check it out when you have a chance. 

Oodles O' Doodles!

A briefing-- guess what it was about? Yup-- drinking and consent, and the kinds of troubles troops get into when they start the drinking and stumble into that "consent-free zone".

I'm always thinking about new things to bring to the table for my Military Working Dog characters. Butter was in a harrowing experience, so I wonder what his therapy might look like..?

2018-01-09 13:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post

TopWebComics Booster Art

TopWebComics is a webcomics ranking website that encourages readers to "vote" each month to propel their favorite webcomics to prominence. Any webcomic that makes it to their "Top 100 page" is considered to be pretty well-known, since they have literally thousands of webcomics in their voting pool. Fans of various webcomics are able to log in once a day to vote for their favorite. 

Obviously, webcomics with a lot of fans (ie, they are already well known) have an advantage. It relies on lo...

Patreon Recruitment & Sneak Peek

New updates to the Patreon page introduction; some new recruiting posters are being made, and.... a sneak peek! This will become public 5 days from now.

Have a Happy New Year!

MANDATORY BRIEFS!

A couple weekends ago, my Guard unit had.... the Annual MANDATORY BRIEFS! That means our yearly finger-wagging lectures about all kinds of stuff. We get annual briefings on Fraternization, changes to uniform wear, updates on personnel policies, sexual harassment, personal soldier safety, and so forth. Enjoy my "notes" as a Happy Generic Winter Holiday/Merry Christmas/Cheerful HannuKwanzSolsticeMas to all!

2017-12-25 17:44:46 +0000 UTC View Post

Character Profile: Who Is... CIA Agent Kelly G. Brannon?

2017-12-20 12:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post

Doodles o' Gear, Political Cartoons, & Preview

I tend to draw a lot of gear -- military equipment -- when I am supposed to be paying attention in class. Sometimes I try to create a historical vehicle, and sometimes I just create new stuff out of collected elements. Here is a sort of battleship that might spring from a mid- to late-1940's mindset.

A British World War One "Handley Page" bomber inspired idea. I'm always fascinated by the t...

Fraternization class!

My doodled "notes" from our Fraternization class. Basically, "don't come to Drill Weekend looking for your soulmate".

Keep up with your medical needs and schedule appointments as soon as they can be made-- that's the lesson here. 

Some of this stuff will undoubtedly be refined into "real" comics, eventually-- I like to say each Drill Weekend I get a month's worth of material. But this is wh...

BOHICA Blues interview, 2005

Here's an old interview of me while I was in Iraq and posting the original BOHICA Blues comics "live" at our Camp Victory North Brigade chow hall. 

Eventually I will start to post the original BOHICA Blues comics here, once a week, for Patreon subscribers!

"Environmental Awareness" class

My "Notes" during military classes taken during Weekend Drill. It always looks like I'm furiously taking notes, but I'm usually doodling. In a way, my doodles do reflect a sort of note taking; in this case we were being reminded to always tie things down in the backs of vehicles so that stuff doesn't fall out. 

Sometimes my "notes" are more direct: reminding me to refer to certain regu...

Who Is the Good Idea Fairy..?

The GIF explained! All the Army's "Good Ideas" have come together to create her. She'd be lovely to look at in low light or silhouette until you get closer and see the damn *skull*; just like a lot of "good ideas" that might seem reasonable from afar but once you know the details.... ugh!