Look kids! It’s a cameo appearance by Davis’ I. Y. S. (Imaginary Younger Self)

Actually, there are several Doctor X-es, but I was thinking of the one on the old SCTV show, in which Dave Thomas portrayed “Doctor X, the man with the X-ray eyes…”

Man, I loved that show…

When I first got a Facebook account, it took me months to figure out the… well, let’s just call it the “vibe” of social media. But I finally sorta/kinda figured it out, though Facebook keeps changing, usually in very annoying ways. But that vibe stays the same. (If you want to friend me on Facebook, you can find me at https://www.facebook.com/tony.reynolds1. I also have a page devoted to Ryan’s Dad.)

When I signed up for Twitter, I spent the first six months posting nothing and constantly thinking, “What the hell is this about?” I came very close the cancelling out my account completely. But listening to other comic creators, I came to realize that Twitter might work better as an account for this webcomic rather than personal. So I rebranded the account to @RyansDadComic (now @RyansDadAnalog). Strangely enough, as I made it more about the comic, it became stronger as a personal account. That’s the “vibe” I got from Twitter. (I have set up a separate Twitter account that I was going to use as my personal page, but so far, I haven’t touched it. If you’re interested in following a Twitter account that never posts anything, follow @LordNyneToys)

So now there’s Google+. I haven’t figured out the “vibe” for G+. And an additional problem here is that I now have two social media accounts that I have figured out. And making time for the other one just feels like… homework.

I’m not sure how long it’s been since I posted anything to G+, but I think it predates Thanksgiving. Will I give it another try? Will I cancel the account? I’m still thinking about it. If anyone has any thought on this, pro or con, give me some thoughts about it in the comments.

Thus we reach the end of “The Moat Trilogy.” This is the last episode of 2011. I hope you all have a Happy New Year. (And I hope I remember to change the copyright notice to 2012)

I ran into a little trouble with this one. For a while, my working procedure has been to sketch the strips in a sketchbook, then scan the pencils into Photoshop, convert the pencils into non-repro blue, print the lettering, panel border, and pencils onto Bristol board, and ink. A combo of old-fashioned and new.

But apparently my printer ran out of blue ink. All I could print out was panel borders and lettering. So I had to pencil the strip in directly onto the board at the last minute. It’s essentially the same, though I had to rush a little.

Just as a point of comparison, here are some of the original pencils. Enjoy and I’ll see you next year!

Of course, when I wrote this week’s episodes, there was no snow on the ground, no chance of a white Christmas. So I thought of this. So naturally, it snows the day before this strip runs. That’s the way it works sometimes.

Still, it’s a good example of how Rooster and Ryan react to a lack of snow in the winter. Enjoy!