Friday, September 3 — 12:00 AM

Confession time. I actually didn’t mind Adam’s authorization so much while playing through Other M, but it sure is silly, especially given the infamous Varia Suit example. And getting to use your skills because of a sticky situation is less satisfying than seeing that mysterious Chozo orb and nabbing your prize first-hand. So maybe I did mind it! Say, that’s probably why I made this comic!

I’m working on 100%ing Other M at the moment and enjoyed it overall. I actually have no problem with the control scheme and many of the gameplay risks, but I was disappointed with the general linearity and near-total lack of music. I wouldn’t put it near the top of the Metroid hierarchy, but it’s darned entertaining and worth playing through, so I’m happy.

Store update! A short while ago, we mentioned that there’d be a bit of a delay for orders over the past couple weeks. The good news is that Chris is settled in and I’ll be sending him the boxes over the weekend so that he can ship everything out, so the delay won’t last much longer.

Artists! There are still three days left for the current Fan Art contest, and September’s contest has just begun as well!

-By Matthew

Tuesday, August 31 — 12:00 AM

Okay, so I was feeling a little silly here and decided to heck with it, I’m doing this! And I get the feeling that I’ll enjoy it more than anyone considering it’s an extra-involved buildup to a rather convoluted joke, haha. And it kinda requires knowledge of at least three different Nintendo series.

But yeah, I still had fun going all-out with this, drawing a pregnant brain, etc.

Speaking of Metroid-related things, Other M should be out today! I have an Other M comic all lined up, too, but I decided to hold off on it until Friday so that people have time to learn a bit about the game. In the meantime, have fun blasting through bugs with Samus.

-By Matthew

_____________________________________

Tuesday, August 31 — 1:00 PM

Hey, everyone. I’ve completed the trip to Colorado for this semester of school, and we should be resuming shipments for our store orders soon – that is, once we’ve got them shipped here from Louisiana. We’re also working on some new items, so keep yer’ eyes peeled.

I recently perused the archive of the webcomic Nicky510 and enjoyed it greatly. It’s written in a way that reminds me a lot of reading daily comics in the newspaper when I was a kid, fondly recalling great strips like Calvin and Hobbes or The Far Side. I kinda wish more comics were honestly endearing like this one.

Perhaps a less fond realization was of how the “funny” pages of the newspaper just don’t seem that funny to me anymore. Maybe I’ve just become more jaded and cynical with age… or, maybe 80% of newspaper comics are bankrupt of creativity and wit. It’s probably one or the other. Or both.

To be fair, I suppose when you make a new comic every day for thirty years, people expect some consistency out of your work, and it must become impossible to break out of the niche you’ve carved for yourself. As today’s comic might suggest, I think Brawl in the Family is glad to not have to worry too much about that.

Coincidentally, Nicky510 has been one of our regular advertisers. We only approve ads for quality sites that we think our readers will actually be interested in, so please give ‘em a look if the banner has something on it that seems appealing to you.

- Chris

Friday, August 27 — 12:00 AM

That’s the ugliest Weezing I’ve ever drawn.

-By Matthew

Tuesday, August 24 — 12:00 AM

Well, desserts aren’t always right. But they’re so sweet! Buck up though, Yoshi–at least you don’t have to foot that enormous bill from snacking up several helpings of General Tso’s Chicken and egg drop soup. Leave that to the plumbers with the coinage.

-By Matthew

Friday, August 20 — 12:00 AM

Two sympathetic villains in a row? Guess that’s what happens when I suddenly get the urge to reverse perspectives. Majora’s Mask definitely remains one of my favorite games of the past ten (or so) years, and it’s surprisingly deep and striking in its somewhat understated plot and cast.

Chris has now headed back to Colorado, taking our store supplies with him. While he’s finding a new place and getting settled, please allow a small delay for current store orders until further notice. Our sale is still going strong, though!

Occasionally, I get something really cool emailed to me that I have to share with everyone, so I have to share this spiffy work from a fan named Tom. In the spirit of Comic 257’s Kremlings playing Magic: The Gathering (and notably the mouseover text), Tom made this classy interpretation of DK’s Giant Punch…in Instant form!

Looks like that’ll discourage the sudden uprising of Kremling decks, eh? Thanks Tom!

-By Matthew

Tuesday, August 17 — 12:00 AM

Nintendo’s characters are fun–you can fill in the blanks yourself. I enjoyed drawing some of Andross’s possessions in the room and sneaking in little details here or there…he’s a pretty mysterious guy, isn’t he?

We’re also getting some cool contributions for this month’s BitF Fan Art Thread! Join in the fun if you wish!

-Matthew

Friday, August 13 — 12:00 AM

Hey, it’s Jody Summer! I’ve been playing a lot of F-Zero GX lately, so I’ve had helmet-wearing captains on the mind lately. Personally, I think Olimar could be quite a catch–he’s got command over an army of minions and looks like Billy (of Billy & Mandy) at 40.

For once, not much else to mention news-wise except that our sale is still going on!

-By Matthew

It’s sometimes difficult to predict how a comic will be received when I know the punchline but am unsure if others will interpret it the same way. I hope people don’t see this one as an “everyone hates Slippy” type of strip; I’m assuming most people are familiar with his “Fox, get this guy off me!” style of getting into trouble. And it’s always fun to follow up a large strip like last week’s with something relatively simple.

The ridiculously low prices during our store’s biggest sale ever have got us doing some weird things, which we have documented below.

After taking this photograph, Matthew became confused at the absence of liquid in his coffee mug, and he took out his anger on the hapless Dededoll. Fortunately, they soon patched up their differences.

Is Chris’s large head as flat as a table? Maybe.

Also, don’t forget that August 18th is the last day to order from our store to get unique hand-drawn art on your box! Some of it is kind of weird, though…

-Matthew and Chris

Thursday, August 5 — 3:00 AM

“Great mother o’ Spain,” indeed–this 101-panel goliath surely took some major effort to bring out, and I’m just about ready to feel the soft embrace of a pillow upon my face. But first, a few announcements…

First off, the comic. This started when I considered that BitF could really use more strong female characters, and it eventually got me thinking that Nintendo itself doesn’t really have that many strong females. I mean yeah, Samus can kick some butt and Daisy’s quite spunky, but when it comes to their games, the females are often damsels in distress, people to be saved. But then there’re the Paper Mario games, titles that showcase Peach in a much more cunning, clever, and entertaining light, and one that I sort of wish the platformers would continue. What DOES Peach think about while captive? Does she try to escape? Does she see Mario as her only hope for survival?

I knew I wanted to cover this, but for whatever crazy reason, I didn’t want to split it up into four or five parts as usual. I just thought it’d be cool to have readers visit the site and be hit with a comparatively large comic, all on a single page, detailing Peach’s great escape. And I’m really happy with the way it came out, if I say so myself.

Onto other news: our July BitF Fan Art contest winners have now been decided! Keep an eye on the Fanworks page for the update, and for our new contest (which will be posted tomorrow). Congrats and thanks to all who participated last month!

On the news of our STORE, we are having another sale! Yes, similar to the Grand Opening Sale, the purpose of this one is to help clear some of the merchandise out before Chris leaves here and handles the store stuff from his own home base in Colorado. So it’s a good time to buy, and it’ll leave us with more space! Also, the mugs have finally arrived, and everyone that ordered one will be getting their package next week for sure. Since all our merchandise is here, future orders should also be quite a bit quicker as well.

Get your oxen or Yoshis or whatever ready…the forums are having a fun Summer event next week called The BitF Trail! Join one of four teams to attempt to survive the harsh conditions of the US and be the first to reach the end safely. If you’d like to sign up, check out the link, and good luck!

That’s all for now. Hope you don’t mind the massive loading this comic has caused. Updates will resume on Tuesday.

-By Matthew

_______________________________________

Thursday, August 5 — 9:47 PM

Finally, our mugs are in stock!

The mug (and everything else) is on sale, so now’s a good time to pick one up for all your beverage-consuming needs. And remember, order before August 18th to get Matthew’s exclusive hand-drawn art on your box!

-Chris

Tuesday, July 27 — 12:00 AM

I originally debated making this a storyline, but I like the three parts together just to give it a unique feel, and each part is quite simple and inconsequential (hence the style). Hope you enjoyed Kirby’s little story this week!

So here’s the deal–I’m going to be out of town this week. I’m working hard on a major comic (the one I’ve hinted about recently), but it just wasn’t quite finished today, so we decided to go with the Kirby vignette. The large amount of time spent making upcoming comic could have something to do with the fact that it’s ridiculously long. So this week, this will be my only comic – you can expect the next one after I get back next week. Sorry to slow down updates for a bit, but like I said, next week’s strip is quite large and has taken some time (it’s not a musical comic but it still requires a lot of work).

-By Matthew

____________________________________

Tuesday, July 27 — 2:30 PM

Great news, everyone! We’ve now got 2X-Large Shirts on sale in our Online Store! You can also view specific sizing information here. We’ll have some photographs of the shirts coming soon, too. To celebrate the new sizes, we’re even offering a discount on the shirts at this time, so go check ‘em out!

- Chris

____________________________________

Friday, July 30 — 4:10 PM

Hey, everyone. Matthew will be back next week – be sure to check in on Tuesday – er, I mean Thursday (Matthew won’t be back till Tuesday evening, and there is still work to do on the comic) for a very special comic update!

Some store news, here. We’ll be posting some photos of the shirts tonight. Also, I felt it was worth reiterating that for a limited time, all orders come with Matthew’s hand-drawn sharpie art on every package! This offer expires 08/18/10, so order your personalized box today! You can even request a specific drawing on the package by emailing us at orders (at) brawlinthefamily (dot) com – just include the name that was on the order and your request.

Finally, our July Art Contest is wrapping up soon! If you’ve got a submission, be sure to post it by tomorrow night. We’ll announce the winners next week!

See you on Tuesday Thursday!

- Chris

___________________________________

August 02, 2010 – 9:58 PM

One more bit of news, here: we’ve decided to have another sale in our online store! Why, you ask? Well, since we received all of our merchandise and boxes and stuff, we’ve got so many things in this apartment that it’s made the living situation a bit… cramped. For example, if you came over to our place and wanted a drink, you might have to settle for something cardboard flavored:

And don’t even ask Matthew about the sacrifices he’s made in finding places to store boxes! Why, he actually sleeps like this every night:

So, please: buy some stuff at our store so that Matthew can sleep on the mattress of his bed again. The boxes give him night terrors and make him talk like Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords (not joking).

Also, check out the Official Store Thread on our forums for first-hand reports and feedback from fans about the items they’ve received, and please post your own!

There are some ridiculously cute stories in that thread.

- Chris