So here we are at the end of 2005... I guess I was done with it at this point! Not that there's much I could do about it if I wasn't. But while I'm thinking of it, there are three new voting bonus pictures (Here, here, and here) up today on the subject of the New Year!

None of them deal with the subject of New Year's resolutions, so if you were looking for that, check out this strip over at Zoology by Nathan Birch!

There's an alternate version of today's strip up as a voting bonus today, where the interview process and outcome are a little different.

The DVD I mentioned having to return the other day has been replaced with a copy that my DVD player likes - it's a copy of "The Claws of Axos," one of my all-time favorite Dr. Who stories, in which an organic spaceship (complete with psychedelic interior) arrives to drain the Earth of all life and energy, and it's up to the 3rd Doctor, UNIT, and maybe the Master to stop it.

The DVD is a big improvement over the VHS release, where the 2nd and 3rd episodes had been converted from the UK's PAL video standard to US NTSC in the 70s, converted back to PAL when the original copies were gone, and converted back to NTSC again for the video release. They've still gone through that process for the DVD release, but this time the NTSC back to PAL part involved a new "Reverse Standards Conversion" process used by the Dr. Who Restoration Team. They're still not perfect (especially in the exterior scenes that were originally on film instead of video), but they're a lot better than they were before. And the DVD's got some fun bonus features, including some studio footage with deleted scenes and the opening title sequence with the story's original name, "The Vampire From Space." (Just as well they changed that...)

This might seem like an unusual Station V3 newsbox/blog post, since I'm not talking about the comic (which I hope you're enjoying!) or the Dr. Who story being talked about most right now (the recent "Christmas Invasion," which I haven't seen yet), but maybe that makes a nice change? :)

The second part of my Web Comic Secret Santa gift to Deer Me is done and online now - a guest strip, with a guest strip in it!

In today's new bonus strip, one of the Rumormongers is planning to take one of his presents back to the store to return it.

I'll also be going back to the store today - hopefully with less of a problem than he'll run into! (But I'm hoping to exchange, not return - I've got a shirt that doesn't quite fit and a DVD that doesn't quite want to play.)

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

Enjoyable December 25th!

I've been making a few minor changes to the site, including the storyline dropdown that now appears on the main page and the archive calendar page, and changing a few things to better integrate some of the blogger.com features (such as comments, and the atom.xml file) with the site. I'll probably be making a few more changes - if you can think of anything, let me know!

Also, there are a few new seasonal sketches up as voting bonuses today - Oblivious Morty in Snow, the Chef's attempt at Holiday #11 Cookies, and the Rumormongers' attempt at a Holiday #11 Tree!

I was assigned Sheryl Schopfer's Deer Me for this year's Web Comic Secret Santa - while I don't have the guest strip I'm working on done yet, I did send her one little piece of guest art, which she has up now on her guest art page!

In today's strip, the guys on the V3 search mission are leaving the planet they've been stuck on... but in the alternate version of the story, where Linton didn't win the security simulation tournament, things didn't quite work out that way. The conclusion* is up as today's new bonus strip!

* at least for 10 years or so...

It's Web Comic Secret Santa time again, and I've received a great nine-panel strip from Eddie 'Eddache' Bowley of Edd Egg, in which the Rumormongers discuss not only some rumors about the station, but also their place in the grand scheme of things in the V3 universe!

I last updated the bonus archive about a month ago... I just added 17 more past voting bonuses (strips, sketches, photos, etc.), so if you've missed any, take a look! Everything's there now except the current three.

Happy Beethoven's Birthday!

(Today's Classic Peanuts rerun doesn't seem to have remembered that, strangely enough...)

I've set up a Frappr group for Station V3, so if you want to see where other Station V3 readers are, or add yourself to the map, you can do that here!

Last month my sister gave me a stuffed Ulcer (H. pylori) microbe (one of these guys) - it looks a lot like Ebb eating spaghetti.

On that note, today's bonuses are a sketch of Ebb and Neap at dinner, a photo comparison of Ebb with the ulcer microbe, and if you don't like the Ebb=Ulcer idea, a photo of Ebb as a Christmas ornament. :)

Also, I finally put up a new Ebb's Children strip the other day!

Rob Hamm of Blue Crash Kit, a daily comic about three furry superheroes (in an alternate reality based on "Firefly" in the current storyline), put out a call for guest strips while the artist, Shannon Henry, is in the hospital - I sent them one, which is up today. Get well soon, Shannon!

Since I use blogger.com for the Station V3 "news" entries here, Station V3 gets tracked by some sites as a blog. It must seem like a strange sort of blog... Most of the time I'm just talking about this comic strip I draw, how there's new voting bonuses for it, and that sort of thing, with an occasional sci-fi TV, 60s rock, or holiday greeting message for variety!

Anyway...

The alternate story where Linton loses the simulation tournament continues with some new voting bonuses today - an alternate version of yesterday's strip, an alternate version of today's strip, and an extra panel that answers a question you might have after seeing the two alternate strips. Thanks for voting!

I've made several banners for Station V3, but only one link button, and that was in 2003... I figured it was time for a few new ones!



So if you want to put up a link to Station V3 somewhere, you can download one of these to use. :)

Two new bonuses today, by request... An alternate version of this week's events in V3. If Linton hadn't won the tournament, today's strip would look something like this, and the simulation would have looked a bit like this!

Here it is, December already! It's been an interesting year for Station V3, both in the comic (where the station's still missing!) and for the site, which moved off ComicGenesis in September. According to the site logs, people are still reading, which is good - I'm glad people like to read the strips I put online every day, so thanks for reading! Also, last month V3 hit the top 40 on Webcomics List and buzzComix, and near the top 50 on TopWebcomics. The NaNoWriMo thing didn't go too far, but it's not a total loss! (More on that at some point...) And there are over 200 V3 strip transcriptions up on Oh No Robot.

To get things started with the voting for this month, here's a bonus strip (by request) in which Floyd helps the computer keep its circuits warm. (In an interesting coincidence, I heard "Fire" by Crazy World of Arthur Brown on the radio as I was drawing this one...) Also, Linton in a very unusual security simulation, and a bad translation of today's strip. (The fourth panel comes out unchanged, but the third panel is interesting... and I like "escaping case" for "escape pod!") Thanks for voting!