drunkduck.com/roomiecomic
this site has moved, g-dawg.

I realize there are a lot of people who still come here for Roomies, so let me say that Blogger is stupid and dumb, and I hate reformatting everything to put it on here. I may go back and fix everything up (perhaps over my coming break) and redo everything so that roomies.tk is not such an eyesore, but in the meantime, check out www.drunkduck.com/roomiecomic where I have all the images up in full quality. And this week's comic is up there as well.
PEACE
~J. Newman
P.S. Did you guys know that Alex(girl) is not, in fact, a blonde? Hard to do for a black and white comic, I know, but guess what? She's not. What color IS her hair, then?

Here's the newest comic: you might want to click on it to see the whole thing. Also, I've moved everything over to www.drunkduck.com/roomiecomic as well, where the formatting is a little more easy.

Lot of in-joke type stuff in this comic, so I should say this to explain: the joke in panel 4 about "Tomibes: Mummy roommates" was a tribute to some guy/girl who has been posting parody comics of Roomies in the Wesleyan Argus. In these parodies, the author (under pseudonym) has basically recreated scenes nearly verbatim from existing Roomie comics, but replaced the art with "Wombies" or "Mit Roomneys" or something else that rhymes with "Roomies." If you are reading this, person, you made me laugh heartily each week, and I encourage you in your pursuit of comic-making. I have to admit, though, that I laughed even more heartily when I opened this week's Argus, and found that accompanying the strip you see in front of you was a little strip called "Tombies", where the characters were, in fact, mummies.

I think I can say I've got you pegged, Mr. "Guybrush Threepwood."

Would that count as a "pwned"?

Also, one last thing: something BIG is happening to the world of Roomies next week. Stay tuned.
~Joe

more blurriness both literal and figurative

Okay, this was relatively effective.

a new hope

Umm, anyone know how to get the full quality image up on Blogger? Email me at jrnewman@wesleyan.edu please.
J. Newman

wow, I don't update often

Here's the recap comic I posted the first week of the new semester. Just go ahead and enlarge it? I can't promise I'm keeping up with the updates, but here: let me upload all the ones I've done so far.
J. Newman

bonus comic- campus climate

Shot at 2007-07-30

Sorry the quality is crap. If you really want to be annoying, start boycotting MinuteMan Press for their lousy scanners.

I thought a lot about the whole "Annoying college thing" and figured it was something silly enough to do a comic on, 'specially since I haven't done a Roomies comic since I left school. I don't have a real opinion on it, one way or another. But I know I fit the bill as an obnoxious pretentious rich kid stereotype, so it's good to be aware of that.

Hope you can read it, and feel free to comment or drop me a line at jrnewman@wesleyan.edu to speak yer mind.

(Hopefully) Humbly,
~Joe

EDIT: Wow, the Gawker commentary folks are funny.

Hey, if anyone's interested, I started the "Superheroes" comic again, this time all online, over at www.drunkduck.com/superheroes (an online webcomic community) My brother helped convince me to set up an account. If you still want to submit a superhero idea, I can still use submissions- just email me at jrnewman@wesleyan.edu with your name. While I'd love to be doing more roomies, I understand that not too many people come to this site and I want to pick up right where I left off next semester.
Whoo-ahh!

Roomies #12: Good Night!

The file's too big for Blogger, so just click the image.
I buckled down and did computer lettering again for the last strip. Might as well! I also just looked back at the first few strips. Wow, I've progressed, I think.

So, yeah. Final comic. I thought about it, and honestly, I enjoyed the comic-drawing process too much to quit "Roomies" altogether. It's funny, looking back, as I was experimenting with all these different art styles, and it seems like every strip looked like completely different. Also, I feel like I haven't even really begun with the story. So...
I'll likely pick it up again next semester, exactly where I left off. Not sure what I'll do over the summer- maybe start another project? Maybe spend all my days working nine-to-five in manual labor? 'Bout a fifty-fifty there.

Anyway, I don't have much to say, other than thank you. If you're here, then it means you wanted to be here, and that's quite an honor for me. Next semester will have twice the humor, twice the drama, and twice the... um... art?

Oh, and right, I need a goofy link. How about... this? Or.... this?

I'm going to go wash my eyes out with soap. Have a great summer, uuuur'body.

~Joe

Comic #11: Awkward

I just want to say I truly wanted to go with hand-lettering here, but it just didn't look neat enough. But there's one thing I can always count on, even when the world seems bleak and unforgiving- the black-fill technique. Lovely. I feel like I've come a long way in this comic, art-wise at least.

Which brings me to the fact that there might only be a few comics left.

I'm still not sure about whether or not to continue with Roomies next semester, but there is only one or two issues of the Argus left before we all go on summer vacation. So, what to do? Not sure. Maybe I'll end the year with a double-length comic, like I did for the end of Part 1...

In other news, my parents came to visit me at school this weekend to see the Jazz Orchestra concert I was performing in. I got to hang out with my little brother Saturday Night. We went to a party for a couple Wes students who got Bnei' Mitzvah'ed. Michelle, a friend of mine, set up this ridiculous party in the dining hall (of all places) that was designed to make us feel like we were thirteen again, with an inflatable obstacle course and a DJ pumping nineties music (Ace of Base, anyone?). By the end of the night, the place was packed beyond capacity. That's pretty ridiculous for a party that began with a DJ who was encouraging college students to play Coke/Pepsi.

Anyway, it couldn't have been a better party for my brother to go to, it being so clean and everything. Yay Wes! Yay Wes students' lovable sense of irony! Yay Michelle!

Also, because my little brother is also an Internet video connoisseur, he showed me a few videos: Mario Frustration (watch all three parts if you have the time) and The Keyboard Kid.

Also, check out this satanic worship, or the movie The Landlord.

UPDATE!!: Lastly, for anyone in the area- I'm performing in the final concert for Waiting in Line, a humorous a capella group that's virtually STD-free. The concert is this Thursday at 7:24 sharp, in the Nicholson Lounge. Rock!

~Joe

Comic #10: reactions

Hi everyone. Here is the comic! Hoo-ah.

So, I've been thinking a bit about stuff lately.
I have to say, even though I haven't been getting any feedback recently (other than "hurr hurr why haven't the Alex's met that's so ridiculous hurr"), I have to say I'm enjoying the creation of every strip I've done so far, sooo much more than when I was just creating gag strips in "superheroes." While I know it's overly optimistic to think that a weekly comic that isn't designed to be laugh-out funny will suddenly become widely read and appreciated, I'm still happy that I'm doing these strips every week, and I hope that however few of you are out there who enjoy "Roomies" are happy I'm doing it as well.
And if you are one of those few, those happy few, that band of brothers/sisters, then do me a favor and drop me a line or tell me on the street that you read my comic and you like it. I'd appreciate that, because I'm trying to decide whether to continue on with the "Roomies" story into next semester (and beyond?). I had originally planned for the strip to run every semester until I graduated, but that'd be kind of a waste of time if no one's interested.
Anyway, sorry for getting all whiny on everybody- I'm going to go back to doing what I like doing. Thanks for reading, everybody.

...And by the way, because no rant would be complete without a link- If you've got nothing better to do, read Nothing Better. It's another, much more professional take on the whole "roommates who don't get along" tale.

And.... I'm out.
~Joe

Comic #9: Climax

Woo! End of Part 1! Part 2 is going to be a lot more fun for everybody, especially me drawing it.

So, the update... right. I'm really sick right now and I don't want to list a whole lot of stuff for you's guys', but I should give you an update on that horrible miscreant Jason Bitterman. Being the crafty little weasel he is, last week he went to this site a few hours before deadline and made another vicious parody of last week's comic. I'll show it to you when I get a link to it....
Anyhoo, he got me good, and I can admit it, but what's worse, he made me take time out of my very frantic schedule to respond to him again. I wrote another one, just for him. Not as harsh (or should I say... bitter?) as Jason's comic, but I like it anyway. here it is.
Enjoy. See you next week. I'm going to go do a paper.
~Joe

Comic #8: Tension

Hey folks! Nice to see you guys! No, I wasn't wasting time these past weeks- as you can see, the site has a new layout and all'lat. I hope you guys like the new art style- I was hesitant about inking and shading in this more traditional style, but I think it works.
So- news? I went to New York this past weekend, and saw In the Heights. It's the show written by and starring a Wes grad, and I have to say it was pretty darn good. I met Lin-Manuel Miranda after the show and he told me to talk to him on MySpace. So... I went home and set up a MySpace profile just so I could contact him again. Hahaha, I'm a tool.

In other news: WAR.
Every good comic artist (especially webcomic artist) needs a nemesis, and it would appear that JASON BITTERMAN has stepped up, throwing down the gauntlet with a scathing and rampantly offensive attack comic. I must warn the general public- this comic displays a disturbing and highly inaccurate depiction of Girl Alex that will certainly give you nightmares.
Well, anyway, I had to respond, so I am running this comic now. Although it may require you have some background with Jason's previous work, I believe it more than enough to put the young whelp in his place. Next week, I expect that Jason will have gone back to his corner, never to be heard from again, silenced by the decapitating jab of my rapier wit. Or if not, I will strike the knave down a second time! Hu-hah! Quite.

Also, the first time I saw this, I was rolling.

comic #7 Meet Wendy

Once again, click the comic for better quality and all that. Still working on getting that domain name...

So, anyway, how's your spring break going? Yeah? Good? Cool. Mine's allright. I'm not doing anything special, no... Yeah, just trying to work on a few side projects... yeah, here at home... with my family...oh, you're in Cancun? Oh, wow, I've always wanted to go to Cancun! That's so cool! ...You met Alec Baldwin? Really? Wow! ...He's really short in person? No way! I wish I could have gone to Cancun- that is so cool.

... Fucking Jerk.

So, anyway, my sister thought it was imperative for me to post these two videos. I agreed. I know everyone's seen the first one by now, but how about the second?


Lastly, I bought a new ipod today. Not because I wanted to. Because my old one broke. Apparently, both the battery died and the hard drive couldn't be accessed. I mean, come on! I thought that only happened to people who have, like, really bad days. "Oh, man, I failed my chem lab, my girlfriend left me, and on top of everything else, my IPOD BROKE!!" Anyway, mine just up and kicked it. First the little sad ipod icon, then silence.
Okay, let me say this: I loved that little plastic rectangle. I've had it for years. It's helped me through study sessions, and caused me to have more than one car accident. When I tried to have it repaired, the Apple folks said no dice- I'll have to upgrade.
"What is this malarkey?!" I said. "I'm a college student. I watch tv like it's my job. I don't need videos in my ipod- when would I ever need to watch a video?" Well, apparently, those are my only options. "Bah!" I said. "I will not pay $230 for a color screen, 10 extra gigs and a video feature I won't use! I will find an alternative!"
For any of you out in the market for an mp3 player, there are two viable alternatives to the ipod out there: The Toshiba Gigabeat S and the Creative Zen Vision:M. Aside from terrible names, these third-party mp3 players are just as good as the ipod, for around the same price (or lower if you are courageous enough to buy online). I also found a free program to instantly switch your itunes library over to windows media player, called MusicBridge. So, a different player was and is a completely legitimate option.
So...Why didn't I switch? I'm too much of a wuss to buy something that expensive online, and there's an apple store like, fifteen minutes from my house. But I plead to the general populace: don't assume ipod is the only player out there! The Apple store people are completely useless, and now that I have my new ipod, I'm not doing anything with it I couldn't do before. Yeah, it's slick, but if you put in the time and effort, you could find better stuff.

DON'T BE A TOOL OF THE DIGITAL MEDIA HEGEMONY!

UPDATE!! I know this is a long time after the fact, but I wanted to add something really important to this post about ipod death. This is a really important page about how a person in the same position I was in might save their ipod from the dead. I was skeptical about it working, but then my friend's ipod broke in the exact same way mine did. I was all like, "hah! Now you have to go through all the shit I did!" but then I relented, and fixed his ipod immediately with a good, swift smack to the back of the case. His works fine now, and I'm just a little bitter that he's now $230 richer than me because Apple won't fix a problem that could be solved in less than a minute. Now, I understand that it's kind of weird tech support to give over the phone:
"Sir, now I want you to smash your ipod firmly against a table. This will reset the hard drive and fix your problem completely so you don't have to give us more of your money." But still, Apple. I TRUSTED YOU, YOU JACKASSES! I'll bring my ipod to listen to tunes during our rally. We'll watch Pirates of the Carribean on my 2.5-inch screen.

Anyway, that's all for this week. I'm considering changing art methods for the coming comics- we'll see who notices.

~Joe

comic #6: More Dramatic Irony

(Just click on the image if it's cut off...)

Hey, folks. It's spring break at Wesleyan University now, but you know... I still update. If this comic looks different to you, it's because I made it slightly differently. Only took an hour and a half to edit, but it's a little looser. Let me know which method strikes your fancy. I always welcome feedback.

Speaking of which, I looked into buying a legitimate domain name for this site, and wow is it silly. The guy who owns "roomies.com" is asking, like, 3600 dollars for it or something. I'm considering "roomiesonline.com" which might be easy enough. Gotta go through GoDaddy.com first, though. Who knew this stuff cost money?? I'd buy it right now, except I don't like to make payments online at 2:44AM.

UPDATE!! Hoooooly crap, guys. "Congratulations. You have been selected to win 2 free ipod nanos." Did you know you were so lucky? Me neither! I clicked right away, and now I pay for my college education in recycled bottles. Seriously, I may buy that domain name just so I never have to hear that awful sound ever again in my life.

Lastly, I want to promise everyone that yes, one day, this strip will actually be funny. Just takes a while. Stick with me 'till then. You can tell your friends you liked "roomies" before it was cool. Okay? Cool. Gimmie five.

Have a great break, and check back here from time to time for some kind of additional content that I'm thinking of adding! Wachow!

comic #4: "She didn't spit in my face or ANYTHING!"

So, yeah, getting this comic done today was time-consuming. Tricky stuff.

Two bits of news: First, I was shown this video the other day, and, well, I knew I had to pass it on. These sitcoms are slightly before my time, but, I mean, who can resist? The Fonz is just TOO COOL- he can jump the generation gap just like he can jump sharks, believe me.

Also, I learned that you can't please all the people all the time. My personal favorite is the one about super smash bros. Melee. Ouch.
Now...Why would I post something like this? Well, I suppose it's partly because I'm being a masochist, but also because I want to put it out there so people can stop taking it so damn seriously.
(For any non-wes readers out there: this is an excerpt from a website set up by Wesleyan University students called WesConfess, where they can write anonymous comments about themselves or others that the world has access to. Think of it as the "Burn Book" from "Mean Girls" and every crush list you've had throughout high school, amplified (because of the internet) to a global scale.)
When I first made discoveries like this fine one (and I've always been shocked to find that I even had the social visibility to appear on one of these things, let alone a devoted thread), I was totally confused and frustrated.* There were some positive comments, some nonsensical words, and a few gender-less entities that declared I was both "hott" and "disgusting," not to mention a few choice words that would shock my grandmother. I told a few friends that it upset me, and they went to bat for me, defending me in the public sphere (and that's why I love you guys!). But then, I just stopped looking. Until this morning.
Today, I realized that this stuff is hilarious. It is. The stuff they put on there about me and the people I know is quite entertaining. And I decided that this stuff was funny enough that I wanted to show it to all of you.

So, in short: if you, or anyone you know, has been burned by this school-wide gossip column, take a second with that person/yourself and explain to them/yourself that WesConfess and the ACB are, quite simply, jokes. Still not convinced? Watch and laugh as the Wes online community is thrown into a tizzy when someone uploads a picture of tubgirl. (It's since been removed, don't worry.)

*By the way, I'm posting that song again. It's that awesome.

comic #3: Meet Ian

Well, here's a new wrinkle.


Thanks to Wesleying for pimping the site. I had to do something special now, so I uploaded this week's comic a few days early! Hot Damn!

I may even do that from now on... You know, give you an incentive to come here during the week. Who knows when I'll update? It'll forever be a mystery! I mean...considering it's me, here, it'll probably be a couple seconds before the newspaper deadline, but hey- I can dream, right?

In other news, somebody has already told me that the name "roomies" is already the name of a) at least three online comics, b) a script, and c) a movie directed by Oliver Robbins in the category of "adult" films.

The internet is a confusing and frustrating place. (Thanks, Gabe!)

UPDATE: I'm trying to think of some exclusive, web-based content for this site- anyone have any suggestions? Drop me a line, or make a comment. Bio page? YouTube porn? Pictures of Ed Moran? What will it be? Let me know!

comic #2: Dramatic Irony

Still working out the computer details here. The "To Be Continued" got a little cut off, there, didn't it? Well, you all know it's going to be continued. Anyway, sorry about the pop-up banner. I sold my soul for this website, you know.

Check out the earlier posts for... other comics!

comic #1: Meet Alex

Welcome to the first page of "Roomies!"

So, I'm still working on the logistics of getting the comics to look good in this online format, as well as the ins and outs of this website. I'd love to have some sort of discussion board- if someone knows how to do that, email me at jrnewman@wesleyan.edu and I'll be your best friend. I'm also thinking about whether or not to update the website with new comics before they're printed in the Argus. My first guess is probably "no", because I don't want to give my online readers preference over my print readers/don't want to have to update more than once a week.
(I have a life, you know.)

Anyway, a bunch of friends of mine have already asked me if this comic is autobiographical, and my answer to them is:
"Hmmm, is it?"
No, it's not really autobiographical, but it is inspired by true events and people I know. So... yes and no?

So there's my rant. (Hahah! I can have a rantspace now!) Enjoy the comic, and the other, newer one, and see you next week.
~Joe

Roomies intro

Roomies.tk- This is a website my brother created as an archives for the ultra-popular comic "Roomies!" in the Wesleyan University Argus. Peruse at your leisure. When I learn how to use a computer, this will be useful.