Artist's Commentary

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Have Newt and John really Jumped the Shark?
Heck No!.. Episode # 21 is here at last!
Where has the time gone?! In my mind, the Newt and John series has never ended, but I know many of you have given up on the comic after the updates stopped. I have been writing more stories over the past year, and working on several comics off and on while working full time and enjoying life.... but either way, it's been over a year since the last episode of Newt and John!.

So I thought what better idea for this "Teaser" comic than to poke fun at the term Jump the Shark... which usually refers to when a series has hit a point where fans feel the characters or stories are nearing an end.

The Term "Jump the Shark" specifically refers to an episode of the TV series "Happy Days", when Fonzie has to prove he's cool to a bunch of hot-shot water-skiers, by making a jump over a shark on water-skis. Here's the original clip from YouTube:

I actually remember watching this episode as a kid, when it first aired on television! It was a strange story line, but they made sure Fonzie remained cool... and that's all that really mattered! To keep with the theme, I decided to show Newt wearing Fonzie's Leather Jacket and Yellow life preserver just like in the original episode of Happy Days!

John's speedboat, "Olivia"... was something I designed using Google "Sketchup" 3D software, but the final images are flash designs. I wanted to show many angles of the boat to keep the layout interesting. I like working this way for complex designs... You'll see more 3D vehicle and character designs in future updates.

You will also notice most updates in future comics, will have fewer actual comic panels. They will still be a full page, but much like this "Jump the Shark" comic, I'll be simplifying the layout. Previous episodes had 11-16 panels per page... which became too much artwork to create in my spare time each week. Which lead to less frequent updates. My hope is by simplifying the layout, and continuing some stories over several episodes, I'll be able to update more often. Subscribe to this website's RSS FEED for instant notification when each comic is online!

Thanks to my family, friends and fans of Newt and John for supporting my work on this series. If you've just discovered this comic, take some time to enjoy all the episodes in the ARCHIVE. Come back soon to see what else can happen, when Two Roommates take on the Universe!

All the best,

Mike Hogue - March 17 / 2010