Robot Monster!

Bask in its incomprehensible glory!  Bask, I say! 

Okay, so there are probably a few of you who have no idea what this thing is.  The short answer is:  no one really knows.  The long answer is:  this is Ro-Man, the titular character of the film Robot Monster.  This film is one of the most mind-breakingly bad movies of all time.  The "plot" is as follows:

Family goes on a picnic to the local gravel pit.  Family runs into wannabe scientists.  Obnoxious, trigger-happy little boy gets knocked out.  Then there are dinosaurs.  Then they're gone.  Apes in diving helmets attack and kill off humanity with some kind of death-ray.  Family and scientists survive because they have an antibiotic against the death-ray.  Because a death-ray is just like any disease.  Ape in diving helmet is unable to find the survivors, so it has to search for them on foot.  Ape lives in a cave, despite having "superior" technology.  And there are bubbles.  Girl falls in love with a guy who can never keep his shirt on, while neglecting to give him the boot to the head he so desperately needs.  Girl and stupid guy get married.  Girl and stupid guy go to frolic in front of the ape's cave for their honeymoon.  Predictably, ape kills stupid guy and abducts girl.  Ape falls in love with girl and has an emotional breakdown.  Ape overseers get sick of it all and nuke the whole planet.  More gratuitous dinosaurs.  Obnoxious little boy wakes up.  Everything was a dream.  Family is happy.  Then ape walks out of the cave three times in a row.
The end!

So why on earth did I design a movie poster for it?  Well, my illustration professor assigned us to create movie posters for one of our projects.  I drew some rough sketches of posters for various movies, and included a couple for Robot Monster as a joke.  Guess which sketch my teacher approved.

Fortunately, I found the result amusing enough that I figured that it would be okay to post it here.  Fortunate because I spent so much time this week on this and projects for other classes that I wasn't able to work on a real comic.  But everyone's okay with that, right? 

Story time over.  Back to work now. 

Sucker

Chupacabras (a.k.a. "goat-suckers") are monsters of widely varying physical description originating from Puerto Rico (though the alien-bug-thing seems to be the earliest variation, so that's what I went with).  I was actually kind of surprised that the stories have only been around since 1995, given how much material I've seen on them.  In any case, I decided that a beastie that is supposed to drain livestock dry would be perfect for a vampire farmer.

Right then.  Done explaining the joke now. 

Sleep is a Ritual

...a ritual in which I should really take part in one of these days.

As a general reminder to those of you who have roommates, or an apartment next door separated by a wall that's about as effective at muffling noise as a sheet of cellophane:  stalking around in black robes, rattling chains, chanting in long-dead languages, or performing arcane rituals at dark A.M. which may or may not involve sacrificing whatever that thing is that has been in the back of the fridge since last year is highly inconsiderate to the feelings and sleeping habits of those around you.  Please refrain from doing so. 

...Unless said ritual means the difference between success and utter failure on your final exam, in which case we all understand. 

But still, do it as quietly as you can. 

AfterMath

Thanks to my school's weird schedule, we're busy having midterms while everyone else is getting out for summer vacation.  But no matter when the tests are, the reactions to an overabundance of Murphy's Law is always about the same.
Better pack some aspirin.