It’s happened again. Previous New Year Comics here.
New Year Comic 2025
Tag: WEBCOMIC
Lonely Friends 10: Huh?
This is the last page of Lonely Friends! If you’ve enjoyed this comic and want to read the full thing (with 8 additional pages not available here!), you can buy a digital edition on Itch.io, or a physical edition on Etsy. Thanks for reading!
Transcript
1. [ESTHER and POLYHEDRON are doing closing duties at a cafe.]
POLYHEDRON: If he wasn’t so ominous he would be really cute.
2. [ESTHER and MAGDA seated on a trolley.]
ESTHER: But I don’t really go to poetry readings.
MAGDA: Yeah, cause you’re not toxic.
3. [KIM, ESTHER, and RATWITCH at a bar.]
KIM: I don’t want to just get into a pissing match, y’know?
ESTHER: I—
RATWITCH: But maybe it’s time to piss!
4. [ESTHER hiking.]
BONEHEAD [OS]: We could stop up there.
POLYHEDRON [OS]: My feet need a break.
5. BONEHEAD: My feet need a break.
POLYHEDRON: Esther, what do you think?
6. ESTHER: Huh?
Signed FB 6 April 2024.
Lonely Friends 9: Stage (/ˈstɑːʒ/)
If you enjoy this comic and want to read the full thing (with 8 additional pages not available here!), you can buy a digital edition on Itch.io, or a physical edition on Etsy. Thanks for reading!
Transcript
Page 1
1. [BONEHEAD and 8-BALL are on the porch of a rowhouse drinking beer.]
8-BALL: I am so ready to leave that fuckin place.
2. 8-BALL: I’ve got a stage – a um, a trial shift scheduled at Renegade next week,
3. 8-BALL: as soon as they say the word i’m walking.
4. BONEHEAD: Stodge?
5. 8-BALL: It’s like a trial shift. Working interview.
6. 8-BALL: And if Renegade doesn’t work out, I can ask Yvonne about spots at Zócalo.
BONEHEAD: Stahzh.
Page 2
1. 8-BALL: They loved me when I interviewed there a couple years ago.
2. 8-BALL: And they just started brunch service,
BONE: Stosh?
3. 8-BALL: so they probably need hands for that at least.
BONEHEAD: Stoh. Juh. Stohhh—
4. 8-BALL: Are you listening?
BONEHEAD: Stäwj. Yes. No.
5. BONEHEAD: Yeah, no. Sorry.
6. BONEHEAD: But fuck that place, you can work anywhere you want.
8-BALL: Amen.
[They clink their bottles together.]
Signed FB 10 July 2024.
Lonely Friends 8: Missing Out
If you enjoy this comic and want to read the full thing (with 8 additional pages not available here!), you can buy a digital edition on Itch.io, or a physical edition on Etsy. Thanks for reading!
Transcript
1. [8-BALL and RATWITCH are standing outside a rowhouse, each holding a mug. RATWITCH is standing, 8-BALL is seated on the stoop.]
8-BALL: So, what about you? How’s your love life going?
2. RATWITCH: You know, there are good—
3. RATWITCH [Placing their mug on a windowsill.] There are really kind, intelligent, deserving people out there.
4. RATWITCH: So many—thousands—who are missing out,
5. RATWITCH: On this! [They swing their leg up onto the stoop railing like a dancer stretching on a ballet barre. 8-BALL flinches in surprise.]
6. [8-BALL laughs.]
RATWITCH: [Still balancing one leg on the railing.] And it breaks my fuckin heart, y’know?
Signed FB 03/24/23.
Lonely Friends 7: Failed Writer
If you enjoy this comic and want to read the full thing (with 8 additional pages not available here!), you can buy a digital edition on Itch.io, or a physical edition on Etsy. Thanks for reading!
Transcript
1. MAGDA [extending her hand to an unseen person]: Magda—I’m a failed writer.
2. MAGDA [raising a finger in objection]: Yes—well—failed writer.
3. MAGDA [holding her hands apart]: Because there’s a difference!
4. MAGDA [daintily holding her hand to her collarbone]: Me? Failed Writer.
5. MAGDA [sitting on a couch with her feet pulled up onto the cushions, one knee hugged to her chest, her head cocked to one side]: You must be confused.
See I used to be a writer. Now, I’m a failed writer.
6. [the same scene as the previous panel, but zoomed in now.]
MAGDA: Clear now?
Signed FB 19-12-21
Lonely Friends 6: Just Move In
If you enjoy this comic and want to read the full thing (with 8 additional pages not available here!), you can buy a digital edition on Itch.io, or a physical edition on Etsy. Thanks for reading!
Transcript
Page 1
1. [Exterior of the top floor of a rowhouse. One window is open, and a disembodied gloved hand sticks out, holding a lit cigarette.]
BLANCA [O.S., except their hand]: When are you two gonna just move in?
2. [8-BALL is bent over looking in the refrigerator.]
8-BALL: What, sick of me?
3. [BLANCA stands beside the windowsill.]
BLANCA: Yeah, cause we both know you’re the messy roommate.
8-BALL [O.S.] Ha.
4. BLANCA: No, but you’ve been dating for a while, and—
5. 8-BALL [holding two beer bottles, closing the refrigerator door behind them]: I’ll move in with him, but he’s gotta ask me.
6. 8-BALL [walking to BLANCA]: I’m not gonna live with someone who can’t even vocalize his desires.
Signed FB, 20.7.21
Page 2
1. [BLANCA takes a bottle in one hand and puts their cigarette in their mouth with the other.]
BLANCA: 8, that’s, c’mon.
2. BLANCA [accepting a bottle opener from 8, O.S.]: You know that’s ridiculous.
3. BLANCA [opening the bottle]: What if he’s thinking the same thing?
4. 8-BALL: Great! Then we can be immature together.
We’ve self-selected out of the decent people pool.
5. [Exterior. BLANCA and 8-BALL are framed by the window, 8-BALL standing over BLANCA’s shoulder.]
BLANCA: I guess.
8-BALL: Stasis is so comfortable.
6. 8-BALL [gesturing with their open bottle]: You know he only knows how to cook one thing?
It’s great!
Signed FB, 12.12.21
Lonely Friends 5: Magda Isn’t Coming Down
If you enjoy this comic and want to read the full thing (with 8 additional pages not available here!), you can buy a digital edition on Itch.io, or a physical edition on Etsy. Thanks for reading!
Transcript
1. [RATWITCH stands in front of a staircase.]
RATWITCH [holding up their hand, palm out]: Don’t talk to her, she’s busy being tragic.
2. [KIM stands in front of a table set with various dishes and tupperwares of food.]
KIM: Is she still in her room? I’d. I’d hoped to see her.
3. [close up on a messenger app. incoming text message.]
TEXT MESSAGE: Magda machine broke. Please proceed to the next available service window.
4. [8-BALL sits on the couch, arms folded tight across chest.]
8-BALL: Like she’s the only one with problems. Like ghosting all your friends isn’t— Because like—
5. [ESTHER stands outside holding a cup.]
ESTHER: I dragged myself across town, baked for the first time in months to have something to bring, and she can’t even walk downstairs into her own living room for …
6. [ESTHER crushes the cup in her hand. tears well in her eye.]
ESTHER: For like one minute? I miss—
Signed FB 4-7-21
Lonely Friends 4: Choke Pear
If you enjoy this comic and want to read the full thing (with 8 additional pages not available here!), you can buy a digital edition on Itch.io, or a physical edition on Etsy. Thanks for reading!
Transcript
1. TEXT: I want to gag.
[a skeleton sitting at a table with a drink.]
2. TEXT: You ever hear of this thing called a choke pear?
[POLYHEDRON doing push ups.]
3.TEXT: It’s a weird pseudo-historical device. Unclear if it was ever actually used for torture.
[a chokepear]
4. TEXT: It goes in your mouth.
[ESTHER stands in a grocery aisle.]
5. TEXT: I’m so hungry, and nothing in here could make me full.
[ROLLO person checks his mailbox.]
6. TEXT: I’m so hungry all the damn time.
[MAGDA sits, with her fist against the side of her head, at one end of a table. in the foreground, the skeleton hand with the drink from the first panel is visible.]
Signed FB 20-6-21
Lonely Friends 3: Like a Pack of Dogs
If you enjoy this comic and want to read the full thing (with 8 additional pages not available here!), you can buy a digital edition on Itch.io, or a physical edition on Etsy. Thanks for reading!
Transcript
1. [A person with a RATWITCH for a head stands on a balcony.]
2. RATWITCH: Sometimes, I want to come at these jobs like a pack of dogs.
3. RATWITCH: I fantasize about applying to every one of these low-to-no-paying jobs.
Jobs for asshole companies—jobs I don’t even want.
4. RATWITCH: Going to the interviews, then getting an offer, and turning it down.
“Sorry, I won’t work for a company who so openly disrespects me in their job posting.”
5. RATWITCH: As if I’d even GET an offer!
6. RATWITCH: As if I’d even get an INTERVIEW!
7. RATWITCH: Shit.
Signed FB 8/23/2020
Lonely Friends 2: This Can’t Sustain
If you enjoy this comic and want to read the full thing (with 8 additional pages not available here!), you can buy a digital edition on Itch.io, or a physical edition on Etsy. Thanks for reading!
Transcript
1. [Two people, one whose body is invisible, BLANCA, and one whose body is entirely a glossy black, 8-BALL, are in a living room. 8-BALL stands, pouring wine into BLANCA’S mug.]
BLANCA: This can’t sustain.
2. 8-BALL: What, our drinking?
The pandemic that’s driving us to it?
3. 8-BALL [pouring wine into their own mug]: The whole-ass state that’s on fire, and refuses to do controlled burns?
4. 8-BALL: The hotter and hotter years that will eventually render even controlled burns useless?
5. 8-BALL: The whole wretched capitalist system and the stupid moribund world it’s given us?
BLANCA: No.
6. BLANCA: Me being single. I need to get laid, dude.
Signed FB 9/30/2020
Lonely Friends 1: Stupid Parenthetical
If you enjoy this comic and want to read the full thing (with 8 additional pages not available here!), you can buy a digital edition on Itch.io, or a physical edition on Etsy. Thanks for reading!
Transcript
1. [ESTHER stands at the corner of an intersection, beside a bus stop sign.]
TEXT: I went out to the Wissahickon (alone.)
2. [ESTHER is riding the bus.]
TEXT: Packed a couple of the brownies I baked yesterday (for only me to eat.)
3. [ESTHER stands beside the Wissahickon creek at the trailhead by the bus stop. A large viaduct bridge breaks through the trees in the background.]
4. [ESTHER walks along the trail in a heavily wooded area]
TEXT: Maybe I’ll go to that bar on Poplar tonight (alone.)
5. [ESTHER stops beside a sign where the trail splits in two directions.]
TEXT: That stupid parenthetical plagues me.
6. [ESTHER from only the shoulders up, leaning forward.]
TEXT: I can’t do anything nice for myself without the reminder that I’m doing it (alone.)
Signed FB 27-7-21
New Comic Zine!
Oh wow it has been a while! I have been hard at work writing short stories and then hard at work editing my novel and so have not had much time to write any book reviews or other posts, but I have managed to finish this collection of new comics!
Lonely Friends is a collection of comics about being lonely and having friends, sometimes at the same time. About half of these comics I’ve shared on this site in the past, the other half are brand new! You can get a digital copy on itch.io, or order a physical copy on my Etsy. Or if you’re in Philly I can give you one in person at the Philly Comics Expo—I’m not tabling there, but I will be visiting and will have some copies of the zine with me.
The pages I’ve shared on this blog have been kind of scattered throughout various posts, so I’m going to re-post those in order over the next couple months so that it’s easy to find them and click through—along with three more pages I haven’t shared before.
Also in the name of things being easier to find, I have a webpage for my comics now. Basically it’s just Lonely Friends, the new year comics, and Last Year Comic Chronicle right now, but I do want to dedicate more time to making comics going forward, so I’ll add to it as I do so.
Now, some unrelated stuff. Since it’s been so long, here’s a few highlights of what I’ve been up to over the past several months:
A video compiled from various bike rides throughout a year, from summer 2023 to spring 2024
A map for the novel which I’m sloooooowly editing right now
An online lecture series which I loved on the history of Industrial Design, focused on the ways that new materials and technologies shaped design/design process.
Okay next few posts will be pages of the comic, but the next regular post after that will be for spooktober!! Read my previous spooktober posts here! 🎃
New Year Comic 2024
New year, new New Year Comic. I started doing these at the start of the decade and will continue doing them till the end of the decade. You can read the first four here. If they seem oblique that’s cause they are. See you again next year :).
Transcript
1. TEXT: I dunno man.
[FRANCIS sitting up in bed.]
2. [FRANCIS pulling on pants over long underwear.]
3. [FRANCIS unlocking bike from the porch railing of a house.]
4. TEXT: I’ve hardly paid attention to climate change these past few years.
[FRANCIS biking along the Schuylkill.]
5. [The Ridge Ave trailhead to the Wissahickon. Two figures wave to each other.]
6. [FRANCIS and MAX walking on a hiking trail.]
7. TEXT: Next year we’ll be halfway through the decade.
[Two figures walking across Jody Pinto’s Fingerspan Bridge]
8. TEXT: Check back with me then.
[FRANCIS walks on a path between two rocks. The path ahead winds.]
Signed FB 10 January 2024.
Two Irish TV Shows I’ve Watched Recently
This is kind of a strange one! Before I get into it, here are a couple quick updates:
You may be excited to know that I have started writing a novel, and it is going well! I have not worked on the first draft of a novel since 2020, when I wrote the second half of a novel that I started in 2015—which was the last time I started writing a brand new novel. So this is my first time starting a brand new novel since 2015!!! Needless to say, I am killing it, best thing I’ve ever written, guaranteed career-making title, etc. etc. I won’t be posting updates about it very often, because that’s tedious, but here is a teeny tiny sneak peak at the opening paragraphs. You will see nothing else of it until it is finished.
As for some writing which you’ll be able to read a little sooner, though: in May I will be publishing “Is Magic School Still Worth It?” as a zine! It is a very good short story about trying to put a price tag on our nobler aspirations, i.e. magic. And higher ed. The zine will be available for free, just like “Cartographer” was. Drop me a line at FrancisRBass [at] gmail [dot] com if you want one! I will be making more noise about this as release date gets closer, so no rush.
Okay, onto the post! These are two Irish TV shows I watched on youtube recently. I don’t normally write about TV shows, and I’m not doing so now because I have anything tremendously insightful to say about them. But these shows are pretty damn terrific, and I expect you would never hear about them (unless you’re Irish) if not for this post, so you’re welcome.
Also there’s a new 1-page comic at the end :^)
Hands was a documentary TV series, composed of 30-minute episodes, released between 1978 and 1989. There were 37 episodes in total, each covering a different artisan craft still being practiced in Ireland at the time of recording. The episodes will usually focus on one craftsperson, or a family business, but sometimes they take a broader survey of several practitioners.
I’d describe the tone as generally nostalgic and patriotic, in a way that is charming rather than obnoxious. The show is warm and mild, and mostly just wants to celebrate the crafts that it spotlights.
Each episode has a different narrator, and many of them bring character and liveliness to their episodes, animatedly recalling scenes from their own childhood when things like horse carts and shoemakers were more common.
The strength of this show is combining that warm, human delivery with a clear and thorough depiction of the various crafts. The process of weaving a rug, or repairing a leather book, or constructing a currach, is shown from start to finish, with good, steady shots of the handiwork. It is immensely satisfying seeing raw materials slowly become a finished good in this way. The work is slow, but bit by bit the embroidery, or the harp, or the hurl, becomes whole, and you got to see it every step of the way.
Read More »New Year Comic 2023
Starting in 2020, I’ve been making a one-page comic at the start of each new year. I’ve only ever posted them on Twitter, but since I’m putting more focus on this website now, you can count on seeing them here every new year. I’m also including the previous 3 comics so you can see those—they do all reference each other.
Also sorry the first one is very scratchy, they do get better.
2020
Transcript
Date: 1 January 2020
1. [Francis asleep in bed.]
2. [Francis wakes up, sitting straight up].
FRANCIS: Ah!
3. FRANCIS [Pointing]: New decade! Let’s go!
4. FRANCIS [Getting out of bed]: The 20’s! We’re gonna halt climate change!
5. FRANCIS [Putting on pants]: 10 years from now we’ll be STAGGERED by the progress made!
6. [FRANCIS, fully dressed, looks out of a window, leaning against it. We view this from outside. Clouds and other buildings reflected on the window.]
FRANCIS: A long future for a young and vigorous human race!
2021
Comics from (mostly) this year!
This year, I actually drew quite a few pages of comics, but you probably didn’t see them because I only posted them on Twitter. I may collect them into a little PDF or something once I’ve done more, but for now you can read them all here. Merry Christmas!
Note: The first two are actually from 2020. I’ve also not included the “Bread Bible” comics, because I’ll probably put those in a separate post when I’ve completed them. You can read those on Twitter here if you want to see the story so far.
Like a Pack of Dogs
New Publication: Last Year Comic Chronicle
Good news for anyone who read L.Y.C.C. while it was coming out: you can now buy it in its entirety, bundled together in one PDF! This new downloadable version of the comic contains all of L.Y.C.C.—everything that’s been published on this site, and which will still be free to read forever—in addition to some new, unpublished material. First, there’s the proto-comic, a six-week proof of concept I did during spring semester of sophomore year, when I was first getting into autobio comics. Then there’s Last Summer, a short series of black and white autobio comics I made over this summer, as well as a few pages from my sketchbook. Finally, there’s a quick step-by-step description of my process for making the L.Y.C.C. comics.
So if you want a more convenient way to read the comic, if you want to monetarily support the comic and the creation of more things like it, if you want to read some brand new Francis Bass scribbles, go buy it! It’s available at Gumroad and Itch.io for $5, or more if you’re feeling generous.
(Also if you want to see some more Francis Bass scribbles for free, you can follow me on Twitter, where I’m drawing a different animal for each day of Inktober.)
Last Year Comic Chronicle 34: Afterword
This is the last one! More info on what’s next for the blog below!
Want a more convenient way to read this comic? Want to monetarily support this comic and more things like it? Want to read some brand new, previously unpublished Francis Bass scribbles? Great! You can buy a downloadable, PDF version of L.Y.C.C. at Gumroad or Itch.io. In addition to all of L.Y.C.C., this book includes “Last Summer,” a shorter series of comics made over the summer following my graduation, as well as older proof-of-concept comics and a quick step-by-step description of my process for creating L.Y.C.C.
Transcript
This is the last Last Year Comic Chronicle comic. I really can’t outdo the thematic weight of L.Y.C.C. 32 and 33 here, so I won’t try. I have no big concluding revelation for you.
All I can say is, first, I think L.Y.C.C. has been successful. Everything important from this past year of my life, from college in general, has made it in here somehow. Wait.
Okay there, now its all in here.
And second, thank you for reading! This is the most transparently personal work I’ve ever published, and I’ve cherished all the support and enthusiasm you’ve shown me.
So let the last words of the Last Year Comic Chronicle be, yay!, thanks!, and The End.
Blog housekeeping: Whew! That was a lot, huh! I may end up releasing an ebook version of LYCC with some extra stuff, or this may be its final form. Regardless, what’s online now will always be available for free, and I will hopefully do more sequential art stuff sometime in the future. That could mean a year from now, or five, but it’s definitely something I’ve enjoyed, so yeah. This isn’t the last of my comicking! I may also post sort of doodley little one-off autobio comics and drawings on twitter from time to time? so maybe follow me there? And in case you missed it, I posted the proto-version of LYCC up there a couple months ago, so you can check that out if you want a little more autobio comic content right now.
As for the blog itself, it will be on hiatus for the next couple months, and will return August 2nd with the project we’ve all been waiting for: the second half of The War of Paraguay! A heads up, finishing TWOP is the last major series I have planned for this blog, after which weekly updates will stop and new posts will only show up sporadically for the indefinite future. So yeah, that’s what’s coming down the pipeline. Thanks again for reading, and stay tuned for some 19th century Rio de la Plata war and diplomacy content!
Last Year Comic Chronicle 33: AAAAA 2
Last Year Comic Chronicle 32: AAAAA
Want a more convenient way to read this comic? Want to monetarily support this comic and more things like it? Want to read some brand new, previously unpublished Francis Bass scribbles? Great! You can buy a downloadable, PDF version of L.Y.C.C. at Gumroad or Itch.io. In addition to all of L.Y.C.C., this book includes “Last Summer,” a shorter series of comics made over the summer following my graduation, as well as older proof-of-concept comics and a quick step-by-step description of my process for creating L.Y.C.C.
Transcript
LISA: Well, with that said. This is the last class.
LISA: I know it feels like, it feels like the first class was just days ago, doesn’t it?
LISA: It has been wonderful …
LISA: … to go. Go see New Play Festival shows, and I will see you all at the reading!
Francis Bass 