So you're probably wondering why today's comic looks slightly different. Please excuse my rudeness for not providing a little forewarning, but I'm taking a little break from the comic and you guys get to benefit from a few weeks of guest strips!

Basically the situation is this: Cami and I will be traveling to Texas to visit relatives on Wednesday and coming back next Monday. Be jealous because I will be attending a NASCAR race! (note playful sarcasm). As a partial effort to cover my absence and a partial effort just to give me a long overdue break, I solicited my friends in the web comics community for guest strips!

I was overwhelmed with the support I have received!

Today's guest comic comes from Michael Lalonde. That's the creator of Orneryboy to you and me. You should really reward his kindness by visiting his site. Michael updates every Monday, so there's actually a fresh comic waiting for you there now! Of course, it probably won't make much sense as it is slightly out of context. It's part of a bigger storyline that started here. You should definitely read the whole thing. It's quite hilarious and one of my favorite Orneryboy arcs.

Michael is a busy guy, so he's had to scale back his work on Orneryboy. I'll be the first to step up and say "I don't care." As long as I get a weekly fix, I'm good. Michael is too strong a talent to let slip from view. So be sure to tell him that you appreciate his work. Here's to hoping he will continue his work on Orneryboy for a long time to come!

Incidentally, today's strip marks Michael's 150th comic. He plays it down, but it's a big deal. His artwork and storylines have been some of the most consistent in web comics. I'm lucky to have him as a college!

Can you tell I'm a fan?

Anyway… about my absence. Like I said, I will be gone Wednesday through next Monday. So you can at least expect to see me trolling around the THorum for a little while. And who knows? You might even be able to e-mail me and I'll respond.

Guest strips will run all this week and all next week with a regular Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. I'm giving myself a little buffer before and after my vacation not only to catch up from the real-world stuff I will miss while I am away, but to also take my comic-making time and convert it into site-redesign time.

Yes, I know I've been threatening a site redesign for a long time. But I've finally settled on a look I love. Don't worry. It's not that drastic a change up front. What it will revolutionize, however is how the site operates behind the scenes. My hope is that this effort will make the site easier to update in the future. It is my goal to unveil this new look when I return to making comics full time. It is also my goal to reopen the store with a bunch of great new merchandise as well as some old-favorites that have been missing for far too long!

In other words, if you've been aching to get your hands on a Spoiler t-shirt (which has been off the market since - geeze? - December?) you may soon get your change to make a pre-order!

As I said, I hope to have these new changes instituted when the guest strips conclude!

In the meantime, please visit Orneryboy and also please continue to vote for Theater Hopper. I will be drawing incentive sketches of my collaborators creations as the guest strips run. So that means you get to see my take on Orneryboy by clicking this little link. Have at it!

Again, many thanks to everyone who is helping me this week and next!