I started a new job this week that’s been fun and exciting, but it’s also been keep me pretty busy as I get acquainted with everyone and everything. So getting a new comic strip this week was going to be a bit of a challenge. As a result, you get a colorized version of this sketchy comic strip from last year. Whoo!

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The other day I was sitting at a desk I’ve been working at as of late, when I noticed one of those Magic 8-Ball things. Only this one was yellow and had a smiley face on it. I figured it was some sort of positively-influenced brand of Magic 8-ball, so I thought this would be my chance to get a ridiculously positive response in regard to my fortunes.

I uttered my question quietly so that others in the office wouldn’t hear.

“Magic Smiley-faced 8-Ball…will I ever find love?”

I shook the ball and turned it over to reveal the long awaited answer I’ve been waiting for:

“Have you lost weight?”

…thanks a lot 8-Ball. That was a lot of help.

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Sharing is caring! If you like Raccoon Toons, and you want to help it move forward and be successful, consider sharing it with your friends! Just think of how much they will love you forever for introducing them to a wonderful world of cartoon raccoons?! You’ll become BFFs. They will praise your name forever. All because you had their best interests at heart, and you shared with them this website. Kudos to you, sir or madam. And kudos again.

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I’m super crazy busy and needed a little help this week. So today’s comic strip comes to us courtesy of Gabriel Reed. Gabriel is a long time Raccoon Toons reader and creator of his own comic strip: Vise Verca. Thanks again Gabriel for helping me out on short notice!

And now, as has become custom on guest comic days, you get a list of random things you may not have already known about Raccoon Toons.

1. The current storyline about making a movie was inspired by the fact that I just finished [finally] writing my own screenplay. I need to polish it up in the 2nd draft, but it is something I am proud of, and was on my mind which is why it’s made it into the comic strip.

2. Clips from this baseball cartoon that I made can be seen on the scoreboard of home games for the San Jose Giants, a professional minor league baseball team. That’s pretty flippin’ sweet if I do say so myself.

3. It’s summertime, which means the number of readers visiting the site is lower than it is during the rest of the year. But you’re reading this. And that makes you my favorite.

4. Once, many many years ago, I considered drawing Wendy with blond hair. I drew one picture, and immediately decided against it.

5. Advertising revenue has increased as of late. Go team.

6. I have some cool projects for the site that I’m hoping to start work on in the fall, once all the summer craziness is over. I’ll give you a hint. One of them involves both my animation and camera skills.

7. There are over 400 comic strips on this website. Good heavens, where did I ever find the time to make over 400 comic strips??

8. One day, Michael will pay the rent. Both literally and figuratively. Ok, maybe not literally…

9. Wendy doesn’t have whiskers because I thought it might look like facial hair and make her look less feminine.

10. I work 6 other jobs in addition to doing Raccoon Toons. That isn’t an exaggeration. I have 7 jobs. But Raccoon Toons is my favorite.

11. This list isn’t terribly exciting, but this post goes live in 10 min., so whatever. Thanks for stopping by. You’re aces.

The post Random List O Mania appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

I was once told that women like spontaneity. Only I don’t think that’s actually true. Sure, all you girls would just love it if some guy with great hair who you’d secretly been stalking on the internet walked up to you and said in his deep and masculine voice “hey, this is so sudden and spontaneous, but let’s go take a trip together to the far away island of Yap. Right now. Let’s leave. This instant.”

See you’d all LOVE that, and you’d brag to all your girlfriends, “oh my man is soooooo spontaneous. He’s the most spontaneous of all the men. You wish you were me.”

See but here’s the thing. That’s not being spontaneous. Because that guy with great hair and the deep and masculine voice got the idea to travel. Then he probably looked in to the costs, checked flight times, and weighed whether or not he could take the time off work. So I hate to burst your bubble ladies. But what you think was spontaneous wasn’t spontaneous at all. In fact, you keep using that word and I do not think it means what you think it means.

What you think you love and adore wasn’t spontaneity. It was surprise.

I mean think about it. You wouldn’t really want to travel to a distant [but awesome] far away land without any plan whatsoever. You want your man with the great hair and well chiseled abdomen to plan everything and just surprise you with everything you like (obviously he should just be able to magically KNOW these things). So you see, it isn’t really spontaneous at all. It’s just spontaneous to you, because you were unaware of this plan until a moment ago when this super-human-man with the great abs (who is also a doctor) surprised you with it while whispering sweet nothings into your ear.

So you dear sweet ladies, the next time you want your man to be more spontaneous think long and hard about it. And then after you’ve imagined the two of you lost and alone without any plan or course of action whatsoever, tell him that you like surprises instead.

The post Be Spontaneous appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

Sometimes I can’t help but think about random things. The great questions of our day. Why DOES toast taste different than normal bread? Why do hot dogs come in packages of 10 and hot dog buns come in packages of 8? Why don’t we eat yellow snow?

The answers to such great and mysterious questions allude me in life. Perhaps the world may never know.

The post Toasty Bread appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

This week’s art comes from Mike Lugaresi a stellar cartoonist and a pretty cool guy. I especially like the “He-Man” version of Michael there. Good stuff Lugaresi. Check out his Mike Bookseller series, which I regularly enjoy reading. Quality work right there.

And now, as has become tradition here at raccoontoons.com, we present you with a random list of things you may not have already known about Raccoon Toons.

1. You can always tell when I’m insanely busy when I start posting guest art. This week is especially crazy for me. I feel like I’m working 4 or 5 full time jobs. And yet, I am not receiving the income of a guy working 4 or 5 full time jobs. What the heck. But hey, if you would like to see your Raccoon Toons art posted on the website, draw some guest art of your own and email it over to me. I like getting email from people who read my work. And I always try to respond, even if it takes me a really long time. When I get guest art I save it for future use during busy weeks like this. Maybe yours will get posted. It’s even more likely if you send me Fig Newtons too. Just sayin’.

2. One of the most common questions I get are from people who want to know how old the characters are supposed to be. I’m not really sure how to answer that. I mean, they’re raccoons. How do raccoons age?? How many raccoon years equate to one human year? See, now you’re asking me to think and do some math and that just isn’t going to happen.

3. The town my characters live in was initially called “Oak Town” which was taken from a seriously awesome screenplay that I wrote, which was based off of a true story, which took place near a school called “Oak.” But most people around here think of “Oakland, CA” when they hear “Oak Town.” So I’m thinking of changing it.

4. There’s a secret ending to this animated cartoon I made. You have to click around to find it. In it is a landlord character. He looks and sounds like one of my former landlords. I was not a fan. He totally burned me on my deposit. Oh, and he thinks I murdered his friend. Seriously. I’m not joking. But that’s an entirely different story.

5. A lot of my female readers tell me they really relate to Wendy. Apparently I write women well. I’m not sure what that says about me… I’m going to go eat some beef and watch ESPN.

6. As a freshman in high school I took Japanese. When our final project was due, I didn’t know a lick of Japanese. Seriously, the only thing I could say was:  毎日、 3時では、私は大規模な牛を食べる。 So I created a comic book featuring my characters as they analyzed the difference between American and Japanese cartoons. There wasn’t any Japanese in it. Totally got an “A.” That’s the power of Raccoon Toons people.

7. Next month my web site traffic will drop. Apparently all of you are less likely to visit during the warm summer months. You’ll be back though. You all get really bored in the fall.

8. I hadn’t intended to use Bunny as a reoccurring character after her initial appearance, but she’s a fun character and the story demanded it. Also, a lot of my male readers seemed to really like her for some reason…

9. Some of you have purchased Sell-out raffle tickets. I’ve noticed. We’re gonna get there. No worries.

10. I have some really cool short film and animation projects in pre-production. Stay tuned. They should be fun. Assuming I ever finish these other jobs.

11. These lists used to go up to twenty-nine, but it’s seriously hard to think of twenty-nine things after already doing a few of these. So I’m sticking with eleven. Our lists go up to eleven.

The post Random List of Things You Didn’t Know About Raccoon Toons appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

Creating this one was a walk down memory lane.

Now, I have a TOTALLY good reason for reusing panels this week. You see, there was this work thing…and then there was this other work thing…and then there was this baseball game, which was actually a doubleheader…and then…there was yet another work thing…well, you get the idea.

See?? Totally reasonable. If I was a rich and wealthy cartoonist whose adoring fans paid him for his creativity on a salary-like basis, then obviously we wouldn’t need to be reusing panels now would we? WOULD WE?!?

Yeah. So think about THAT.

The post Reusing Panels appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

Once upon a time, I got a random text message from someone named Alex. Alex was inviting me to go out with him to the Garlic Festival. There was really only one problem with that: I didn’t know Alex, and he was somehow under the impression that my name was Sheila. Ok, that’s two problems. But you see my point…er…points.

While the Garlic Festival truly sounded like a delightful event worth attending, I wasn’t Sheila, so I imagine Alex would have been greatly disappointed had I showed up in her place. Oh poor Alex… In my mind I envisioned a lovesick young man eager and desperate to ask out the beautiful and captivating Sheila. Surely he spent days or even weeks mustering up the courage to ask the woman of his dreams to the local Garlic Festival. What if he spent the rest of his life wondering why Sheila never responded to his message?! What if they were meant to be together forever?! And now because a simple miss-dial… nothing more than a slip of the finger…their eternal love might never come to fruition!! Their futures, and the futures of countless untold generations all hung in the balance!! The VERY FABRIC OF TIME could hinge upon Alex knowing whether or not he successfully asked Sheila to the Garlic Festival!! Whoa. This is heavy.

And so I did what any good upstanding romantic would do, and I responded to Alex’s message to let him know that he must have the wrong number. Alex sent his apologies in return. I told him not to worry, and wished him the very best of luck with his Sheila. He thanked me, informed me he had accidentally dialed the number wrong, and then wished me a great weekend. That Alex is such a polite young man. Sheila sure is a lucky girl.

For the next several days I wondered how things went with Sheila. What did she say?! Did she accept his invitation? Did they enjoy themselves at the Garlic Festival? Did she bat her eyelashes and laugh at his nervous attempts at humor? Did he tell her she looked pretty and casually try to hold her hand? I have to admit, I was a little concerned about their first kiss, it being a Garlic Festival and all… But that Alex is no fool. He’d been planning this for weeks. I’m sure he came prepared with some breath mints or something.

In my mind I already have them engaged. Alex asked Sheila’s dad for permission of course, but he’s such a gentleman there was never any cause for concern. They’re going to have a nice country wedding out in the valley, not far from where they had their first date almost a year ago. They’re so grateful I let Alex know he had the wrong number that they’ll probably hire me to shoot their wedding. It’s going to be a truly beautiful wedding video. They asked me because they wanted someone who really understands them and their deep and abiding love. They’re such a cute couple. I think I’ll wear one of my orange ties…the one with the nice floral pattern.

Oh gosh…I really need to get out more.

I never did find out what happened to Alex and Sheila. I didn’t want to be the weird creepy guy who texts back several weeks later to hear how things are going with the random girl I also don’t know. Obviously it’s far less creepy to draw a comic strip and write a blog entry about it instead. Far less creepy. But wherever you are Alex, I hope you got through to Sheila. I hope she said yes. I hope your date to the Garlic Festival was truly magical. And I hope your future is bright. Wherever you are Alex, I’m rooting for you.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Update  4/12/12

I was actually able to find Alex’s old phone number and decided I’d go ahead and text the strip to him. I received this response:

“Hi Matt. That was a truly comical tale that you wrote. The Garlic Festival was a good time, however, Sheila is my friend, and also married, but not to me. I’m a female too, and not a lad. Alas, we shall never lead the life that you hoped for us. I forwarded the cartoon to her, and she enjoyed it as well.”

I must confess I found this news to be deeply troubling. Sheila married!?! Alex a WOMAN?!?! My life might never be the same. But don’t worry Alex. I’m still rooting for you. There’s other fish in the sea.

The post Alex and Sheila appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

I am not in town. And in case you missed it, I updated 5 days a week last month. That was pretty flippin’ awesome of me. I’m not in town this week to do a comic strip, so you get this: an informative list of things that maybe you didn’t know about Raccoon Toons.

1. This is the second time I have done a list of this sort. The first list of 29 interesting things was done last June and can be read here.

2. Raccoon Toons readers cover a large range of demographics, but the largest portion seem to be between the ages of 25-35. I find that interesting because I’m always trying hard to keep everything appropriate for all ages.

3. While we’re on the subject of readers, I’ve discovered that Raccoon Toons has 3 different groups of readers: Readers who come just for the comic strips, readers who come just for the blog writings, and readers who come for both. (The last group is my favorite. Shhhh….don’t tell the other groups. They’ll take it the wrong way.)

4. I have a constant battle with myself over how personal I want this website to become. I also have a constant battle with myself over how many Red Vines I can eat in one sitting, but that’s a different matter entirely.

5. As I’ve stated before, when comic strips update, they always update at 12:29am California time. It always makes me feel bad when I see people looking on the website for the new update at 12:26am, and I want to yell at them to wait just a few more minutes. I’m looking at you, Ohio.

6. Some of my readers are lazy. They only come to the site when the updates hit the Twitter or Facebook feeds, which I don’t usually update until at least 10:30am because that’s when those feeds are at their peak internet traffic. Want the updates immediately? Check the site at 12:29am, or subscribe to the emails or RSS feed.

7. I do have a Google+ account, that also publishes my comic strips. For those who are so inclined.

8. Speaking of social media, did you know you can also follow the site through Blogger? Yup. Just add the URL (http://www.raccoontoons.com/comics) to your Blogger feed or import it from Google Reader.

9. In the past year or so I redesigned the raccoons somewhat, trying hard to focus on the simple reoccurring shapes. The result was a younger, more vibrant set of characters, which I’m very happy with.

10. For the most part, I keep all my comic strips and storylines to myself before running them on the site. But I do have a couple of close confidants that I occasionally get feedback from before I run them.

11. Michael started wearing an orange shirt a while back because I felt the strip needed more color and contrast between characters. I felt orange fit his personality best.

12. I’m a pretty private person. As a result, the people who regularly read my work, probably know me best.

13. Nothing excites me more than when someone discovers I am the author of the comic strip and then they tell me how they’ve been reading my work. In a local town where my cartoons are printed in the paper, it happens every so often and that’s a thrill for me.

14. Each comic strip is drawn in blue pencil, then inked in black ink, then scanned, colored, and lettered in Photoshop. Someday when I have a few extra thousand dollars lying around, I’d love to skip the paper and scanning and use one of these bad boys.

15. One of the most challenging things I have to work with is the height difference between Matt and the raccoons.

16. I have stacks and stacks of the original comic strips inked onto bristol board paper, and I have no idea what to do with them, except stack them in my closet.

17. I used to never do color strips because they took too much time. Now I’ve gotten pretty fast at coloring and I won’t do strips without it because they look so much more alive.

18. “Useless Fruit Smashing Day” was created by my little brother, and is a day to remember my father and his life.

19. January has been selected a few times to update comics strips more than once a week, because I can typically draw a lot of them over the holiday vacations prior.

20. My roommates sometimes ask if anything they do will ever end up in a comic strip. I told them that it seems unlikely to happen until one of us moves out, at which point it becomes very likely.

21. Sometimes I think I can multitask and draw or ink cartoons while watching television. I can’t.

22. The past year or two I have been trying to further develop the characters and personalities of my cartoons more. I’m pleased with the progress that has been made. I am especially proud of the character Wendy has become. When I first started with her she really didn’t have much of a personality. Now she’s probably the strongest and most complex character of them all. I wonder if that is why my reader demographics as of late lean slightly more to females.

23. I find that I can often find traces of myself in any character that appears in my comic strip.

24. Matt is always reading a newspaper, even though no one reads newspapers anymore. It’s probably because he’s old, or maybe I’m just a little old fashioned that way.

25. I’m very pleased with how much the site has grown in number of readers. But sometimes I grow impatient and I wish it would grow faster. Grow faster dang-it!

26. It’s harder to come up with twenty-nine things than one would think.

27. Most of the random extra human characters that appear in various comic strips, are often based off of the physical appearances of people I actually know, although I rarely ever tell them of that fact.

28. San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson once appeared in one of my comic strips. I’m not going to link to it. You’ll just have to find him yourself. Pretend it’s a game of “Where’s Waldo?”

29. I’d do this anyway, even if no one was reading it. But it sure is nice to see the stats grow from the hundreds to the thousands and to read comments and get emails from people who do enjoy reading my work. Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for reading me.

The post Another 29 Things You Didn’t Know About Raccoon Toons appeared first on Raccoon Toons.