I’m so excited we have reached this page… though I am also terrified that we are finally here. I have so much crazy stuff to draw from this point on, my hand is going to kill me. The colorists, Noah, Johnathan and Matthew will probably also kill me too.
This is it. What I like to (so cleverly) refer to as the “bearier” has been broken. I know, it’s just running out into the street, but it’s here. It’s on. It’s ALIVE!
Congratulations to all of you who have been reading up to this point. You now can tell your friends you were reading Bearmageddon back before it had living bears in it. You were reading it before it was Bearmageddon. You are O.G., early adoptin’ BearMofos!
Onto other topics, huge thanks to everyone who has ordered commissions. I just checked my total and I can definitely get that new computer now! Oh man I can’t wait!! I said I would do up to 100 of these. Well, I have exactly half that ordered now, so there are 50 slots left. Sale ends when I sell another 50 or November 25th arrives… then I will really have my work cut out for me.
Also, the Washington Post has an open call for best Web Comic nominations. Please let them know that this and Axe Cop are obviously the two best web comics on the net, regardless of the truth. All you have to do is email comicriffs@washpost.com. Easy!
What else? Well, I don’t have a big long epic blog for you today… here anyway. I have told a lot of you about Save the Cat by the late, great Blake Snyder. It is the book that helped me write the story you are reading right now. Well, SaveTheCat.com has invited me to write a guest blog, and I wrote one about Blake, his book, and Bearmageddon. I think it turned out pretty good. They say it will post at 7am Friday morning, so by the time this blog posts it should be up at their home page. Please check it out, and while you are there think about ordering the book… or all of them… if you are a struggling writer as I am.
Alright… onward! See you next page.
Ethan
Discussion (58) ¬
Ahh….BEAR!!!
Who else thinks it would be hilarious if Andrea got eaten by a bear?
ME!
You know, there are more important things than not dying, but not dying is not a bad default setting. Kind of preserves the species and all, you know?
Is the next page going to relate back to your “I hit a puma” Story?
Time fer sum bears! Now this is what we’ve all been waiting for right 😉
Who are they even shouting at now, they sure won’t get any response out of the trees.
the trees. Trees have souls don’t you know that?
This reminds me of an old Jack Handey quote, “If trees could scream, would we be so quick to cut them down? Probably, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.”
I’d like to see a picture of Nigel as the Lorax!
BEAR! Get in the… Oh, f*ck.
Sent comicriffs@washpost.com my Favorite Webcomics of 2011: Ratfist by Doug TenNapel, and (wait for it…) Bearmageddon by Ethan Nicolle…
Big fan of Bearmageddon… and had it not been for the epic Ratfist (that character is SO much fun to draw), I’d have never known about Joel and his epic soon to be happenin’ fight against Da-Bears!
I shall name this bear … Ditka.
thanks dude!!
Still waiting for the tentacles.
all in good time. The normal bear is the storm trooper of the bear world.
Oh my god It really is on now!
I can’t BEAR the suspense any longer!
Finally, some BARE ACTION …. I mean, Bear…yes, Bear…. Action
If Nigel doesn’t cough that key up, this is gonna be one hella short graphic novel. Though it would still live up to its name.
this would make an awesome videogame
I agree so hard.
It’d be like Dino Crisis, but with bears. I would rock that SO hard, survival horror is awesome.
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
It may just be a normal bear, as the tag claims, but I can virtually smell the mutations around the corner. Bring on the Bearadactyls, Octobears, and Teddy, who I’m assuming is the charismatic leader.
Rarely do you see an artist who can capture such pathos in only a stare.
haha thanks
Nominated both Axe Cop and Bearmageddon but also put a word in for Perry Bible Fellowship… sorry.
PBF is awesome. Has he made anything new lately?
You know the weird thing is he doesn’t date them so I’m not sure. But I hadn’t looked in a long time so several were new to me.
Was that a JourneyQuest reference, or am I just hallucinating as per usual…? Anyway – BEARS! Awesome! 😀
When dude talked on his phone, I got a real Flute Cop vibe from him for a moment.
And then right after i hit send I notice the dang thing is tagged “Flute Cop” so.. yeah.
haha
Well, Flute Cop should be okay, he’s dealt with a bear before.
I don’t know about all those tree huggers though.
This ain’t the first live bear. The first page was.
The bear on the first page wasn’t exactly “live”…
the only live bear so far that could count was “Teddy” on page three. But that was a flashback, so I don’t count it.
I’ve been here since page 3 and never commented, but today is a special day I feel. In a way, it is a pay-off. We’ve all stuck along for the endearing characters and attention to scene setting and now here begins what the banner promises!
It’s so worth it, and by the end the build up from reading it at this pace, with the setting up a scenario we can really get into as readers will really make this comic, I’m sure.
Loving this! BEARS! 😀
Also learned that Flute Cop is a Ford fan.
Yeah! You know, I’ve always wanted to be a bear horror comic hipster. I just never knew it until now. Thank you for helping me realize my true calling.
Also the build-up in this comic is perfect. I’ve probably said that before, but it can’t be said enough.
I find it hard not to count the “I desire honey” bear to be the first live bear of the comic because he was just so awesome. He is currently my all time favorite bear.
I laughed when in the 4th panel I saw Burton in the back just smocking pot and not caring what happens. My guess is that when he first sees an octobear he’ll say something like “I’m not getting stoned ever again!” and the he gets eaten or something lol.
So… the normal bears are stormtroopers… Cool. I guess Teddy is Vader with his helmet and electronic voice.
That was a great tribute article on Blake.
Ethan, it would be great to see a post about how you bettered yourself as a writer as well as an artist and storyteller. Your articles and posts are always in-depth, concise, well-edited, and coherent to the topic at hand. What did it take for you to be able to write this way?
Yeah, agreed, great post on Blake and his books!
thanks! I feel like my writing, at least as far as story telling goes, is still a big work in progress. This comic is really my first attempt at telling a “real” story since my first graphic novel, the Weevil. Chumble Spuzz was more about the gags then the story, though it was practice. As for how I write just in answers to questions and blogs… I just like writing and it writing in a conversational way is something that has always come pretty natural to me. I always liked free-writing assignments in school.
I officially can’t wait to see Nigel get eaten.
It looks like Joel is learning something many of us have long known.
Hippies suck.
haha I know they seem so nice at first.
not going to lie, as much as i appreciated the character set up, i’m getting a bit bored of the characters (mainly because i came to bearmageddon to see octobears and velocibears and whatnot)
All the better to watch them die. I agree with Dylan – the faster Nigel is dispatched (with an expression composed of equal parts confusion, disillusion, and an insight realized far too late that 1) this whole nature red in tooth and claw thing is much more REAL than I was prepared for and 2) wow, I really am something of a total jackass.)
I think you’ll be happy with the upcoming pages.
Yes! I’ve been reading this since page 4 (got here from Axe Cop) and I’ve been looking forward to this point.
“Aw man. Normal bears.” (Bad Guy Earth reference)
Your bears all look great.
So is this a bear attack or just a fake-out regular bear that’ll get killed in a hit-and-run by someone who shouldn’t have had his cell phone out while driving? Either way, I’m looking forward to the next page.
Quick, Flute Cop. Use your unicorn horn!
I read this faithfully from the very first page, and a bottom right panel is all we get? WTF?!? (*just kiddin*)
Oh snaps, I didn’t realize that was Flute Cop until I read the comments. Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Flute Cop I didn’t realize at first.
Enjoying the stew out of this comic, Ethan! Bring on the bears!
I didn’t even know it had stew in it, but I’m glad you are enjoying it 🙂
Such an awesome Act One and now we come to it I can’t wait for more!!!