The Return(?) Strip
Well, well, well… where can I start?
It has been thirteen and a half months since I last created a comic. Thirteen and a half months since I realized a heavy art run on Aikida and pushing the ill-fated Mail Order Bride too hard was rapidly becoming too much to handle. I politely bowed out, as I have done before, but never for such a length of time. Many times during the one year plus span I honestly figured that was that, and comics were a thing of my past. Besides, where could I go?
But… some things just get in your blood. And while my relative talent for this medium may be debatable, amongst my other talents, this seems to be what I do best. This is a culture I am comfortable in and have made progress within at times.
I missed making comics, and, I missed these characters.
One year away had afforded me some freedoms, though. As the internet goes, one year makes you a ghost. Aikida is pretty much forgotten, and finally I can do the relaunch I wanted to do so many years ago. As much as I enjoyed doing the fantasy take on the characters, at this point and time, this is the treatment they (and I) need. So in almost every way, this is a new comic series. The characters are pretty much the same, but the situation is fresh, and I can use some elements I never go to use before, but wanted to. (Like Pepper)
I’ve been away from all of this for a long time now. I have no idea what is going on in the world of webcomics, so I hope you will afford me some time to slide back in. As for the site, obviously this isn’t stellar work, but it is work in progress. Expect slow changes over the coming week(s) as I figure these templates out and remember what I need to add. Also, the quality of art and writing should improve, as well.
But that’s it, for the time being. Less diatribe for now, more comics. It’s her, all over again. Hopefully I’ve learned my lessons.
See you Wednesday. Go Wings.
(How totally proper is it that the first line of the series is Aikida swearing? Perfect.)
May 26th, 2008 at 12:34 am
Welcome back, bro.
May 26th, 2008 at 1:13 am
Holy crap.
One; Congrads, your Wings beat the Pens like redheaded stepchildren.
Two; Woohoo!
Three; Do you care if I still call you Fenris?
May 26th, 2008 at 1:25 am
welcome back :)! finally! jupiiii! greetings from slovakia ;)..
May 26th, 2008 at 4:18 am
Holy carp! You’ve returned?!?! This is AWESOME! I was all set to remove aikida.net from my list of “mostly dead webcomics” as I hated seeing some registrar’s parking page. I check it one last time and you’ve come back to us. How the heck is that for perfect timing?
May 26th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Talk ’bout luck. I just decided check Aikida for the hell of it. And lo and behold and whatever shite more…. you are back.
Welcome back, I guess. Let’s see if this keeps alive. I wish you luck and patience.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Excellent! Welcome back. I’ve been waiting quite a while for this.
May 26th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Heck yeah! This was an awesome week for webcomics coming back, but seeing Aikida again just plain tops it all!
May 26th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Man, I’ve been reading aikida since the first webcomic back in the day, I kept checking Aikida.net to see if it was back up though I kept getting a pc parts website for awhile.. Weird, but glad to see you back. I love the style of your charectors.
May 26th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
I got linked here from Bigger Than Cheeses, but I remember seeing this comic back when it was on its last legs!
Maybe I can get in on the ground floor this time ;)
May 26th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Yay! Aikida is back! YAY!
May 26th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Welcome back man :) It’s been a while since I checked out #btc or #aikida, but I’m really glad to see you active and working on stuff. It’s especially good to see Aikida back. Take care dude.
May 26th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Holy Shit! I remember reading this comic 2 years ago. I’m so glad Aikida is back!
May 26th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Whoa. Talk about coincidence. The day I feel like checking the old Aikida comics again is the day you reboot the site.
May 26th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Awesome, never figured you’d be back after all that time, like someone else mentioned I learned of your return from Bigger Than Cheeses. Hope the old comics find their way up at some point, even if you’re going for a more realistic approach.
May 26th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
You canceled Aikida right before I deployed, and now I get back and find out you’re restarting it all over again. Fuckin’ A, dawg.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Woot! Nice work Josh! I’ll be adding this to favorites.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Whoa, talk about timing, just did a random search of past sites i used to visit and you decided to come back same day, welcome back.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:28 am
Joshy, good stuff, cant wait for more
May 27th, 2008 at 1:14 am
Welcome back! I’ve been checking the old site for ages now and only just though to check the main site! Timing or what!
May 27th, 2008 at 1:59 am
ooommg, it’s Aikida! I’m so excited I can scarcely contain myself! You have no idea how happy I am, this has like made my day. All the incarnations of Aikida have been like by favorite webcomics ever, and lately I’ve been lamenting the fact that I didn’t save any of them to my hard drive. I’d given up hope of ever seeing anything again! But it’s back! :D :D :D
May 27th, 2008 at 5:28 am
Good to see you return to the fold, Josh.
E-mail me and we’ll see if we can’t get you hooked up with Boxcar again, if you’re interested?
May 27th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Yay! I would periodically check the site to see if you started up again, and my last check was two weeks ago. Fortunately BTC linked you though, so I won’t have missed anything.
May 27th, 2008 at 8:59 am
f**king hell
This was a suprise, honestly? never saw it coming.
Still, look forward to seeing what you do here, and if you stop halfway through a story for the BILLIONTH time, then i think we’re owed money, yep, hard cash Mr Meinzer.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Holy shit! I randomly checked this link, expecting it to be dead, and I find out it’s back! I missed Aikida! Welcome back! Go Wings!
May 27th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
YES, YES, YES! I loved the original characters, before the fantasty relaunch, so much I saved over 100 of the comics before the archive went down. Can’t wait to see how Aikida is gonna react to Wade this time. Is Cassandra coming back? ARGH, can’t wait!
“Do we settle this like men?”
“No, we settle this like 10 year old boys! You’re going down, biyioyiyoitch!”
“Oh wait until I get some Squirtle all up in this motherfucker!”
May 27th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
I’ll be d…. I knew there must be a reason why I’ve kept checking this site a couple of times a week for all this time. I never cared for the hardcore sports stuff, so I just opened and closed the site, but lo and behold… Patience has its merits. :) Welcome back!
May 27th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
ZOMG Fenris, I lost your E… long time, long time, my friend… we gotta get back in touch again…
May 27th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Holy crap this is the greatest birthday present ever.
May 27th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Ha, I didn’t notice the mailbox number the first time. I felt clever when I did.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Holy crap Fenris! Welcome back, I’ve missed your stuff :)
May 28th, 2008 at 1:11 am
funny how this comic pays out dudes who perve on tits….. but thats the only reason anyone reads this anyway!
May 28th, 2008 at 6:24 am
\o/
Glee!
May 28th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Ho-ly-shit.
WB Fen, we missed you. I still have your old xfire logon from WAAAAAAY back when.
Weird thing is, I still had this bookmark for akida and was wondering if there was any way to get to the old archives. THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THAT.
Seriously though. Welcome back bro.
May 29th, 2008 at 2:19 am
OMG! It’s back! Have to tell my friends right away! Is there any chance there’ll be a “classic” Aikida/ Pepperwood archive?
May 29th, 2008 at 5:49 am
Wow, great looking comic, was linked here from Theater Hopper. I was wondering, is there an archive of older stuff up somewhere? I usually like to read the old stuff when finding a new comic, so I know what it’s all about.
May 29th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Welcome back! Maybe now we can get Pepperwood archives to look at also? :D
May 30th, 2008 at 12:10 am
welcome back, and welcome home. i have missed aikida.
June 22nd, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Awesome, welcome back. I didn’t forget you. Do what you like, you crazy genius.
July 1st, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Welcome Back! It’s great to see you online again!
July 7th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
What everyone else said! :)
October 19th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
so happy your back! :)
October 24th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
God damn, it’s about time! Thought you’d never be back.