Imy the Comic

While I really am doing really well with my arm, I can have minor setbacks here and there which have slowed me down in “Imy: Vol. 2.0″ book progress. Since I need to be done with this book next week-ish, I have to take today off of “Imy” and use my limited arm-energy on the book only.

In the meantime, I have a question for you guys: Do you have a favorite “Imy” strip? There’s over 300 int eh archive so I’m sure there’s many you don’t remember. But I’d like to know what your favs are and why!

What to know my favorite? It’s difficult to say. I have many, and I don’t think I have a very specific favorite. But I can tell you two of my Top 5:

#156 – Fireball
#275 – Lunch

So what’s yours?

It’s been about 2 weeks since I last updated you guys on my recovery. So I thought I’d give you a progress report…

My arm truly IS getting better. It’s just very slow, like I’ve said several times. But there is a noticeable difference in its strength and usability. I have stretches that I’m doing every day, I’ve had several deep tissue massages with more to come, and I’ve been mostly good at being aware of which arm I’m using for what so that I don’t make any stupid mistakes to set me back. So there haven’t really been any setbacks, which is good. Just a slow progression towards full recovery. I never knew before now how long a shoulder/arm injury/strain could take to heal. I’ve learned the hard way

Fortunately, I’ve been feeling good enough to be able to be somewhat productive. Unfortunately this does not yet mean drawing. But it does mean some other projects I have needed to work on. One of which being the new “Imy” Volume! Most of that is just a lot of mouse work which I can use my left hand for, so it’s felt good to be able to do that.

The other thing is another project that I am a part of and will notify you guys about shortly. I’m sure many of you will be interested in it!

So I still can’t say anything for sure about the return of Imy. But it IS getting closer. I am SO EAGER to get back to it! And, ince again, thank you guys SO MUCH for your support and understanding through this You don’t know what it means to me!

It’s been 2 weeks since I posted the latest “Imy,” but it feels like a year. Here’s a rundown on how my healing is going.

First of all, I’ve had 2 setbacks. One was last week when I thought, stupidly, that vacuuming the apartment would be a good idea. “I can do it all with my left hand!” Yeah, right. I find vacuuming to be so painfully dull that I always tune out while I do it, meaning I go on autopilot and switch to my right hand. So my healing arm and shoulder was once again strained. I made an emergency appointment for a massage the next morning, which left me sore but helped.

Then I spent 3 very cool days in Berlin, where I was really starting to feel MUCH better. I remember telling the friends I was visiting that I thought I was back in shape for drawing. Somewhere on the trip back home I strained myself again. Woke up yesterday feeling strained again, though not as bad as before. Went for a massage yesterday afternoon. It was GREAT. She was pretty brutal with me and I am so bruised up on my right arm that I am happy it was cold enough today to wear a hoodie. Otherwise those bruises on my arm that were clearly made by fingers would get odd looks.

So… what’s my status?

Not sure at the moment. As it is, I THINK that the strain feels MUCH better. It’s hard to tell under the soreness of all the bruising. But I’m typing without much issue, so that’s a good sign. I’ve also spent a lot of time and and a LOT of money getting myself ergonomically situated so that I can, from now on, work in the best way I can, including one of those rubber stretching bands to do minor exercises with 3 times a day to keep my arm in shape. I also plan on more massages to work out the crap the latest masseuse found in my right forearm because of ALL THE DRAWING.

Also, my ice pack and my microwavable wheat pillow have become my best friends.

So I’m working on both healing and prevention of further problems in the future.

In the mean time I still can’t be sure when the next “Imy” strip is coming. I am really HOPING BEYOND HOPE that I can get one done for this coming Monday. But I still have to take it easy and not push myself. So I will keep you posted.

Also, when I do come back with “Imy,” I may make the decision to do it once a week for a VERY short time. The reason for this being that I have a backlog of work (some of it “Imy” related, like the next “Imy” book that will premiere at NYCC 2011) building up while I heal (including the next “Imy” book) that has deadlines. Therefore there is the chance that I may have to sacrifice “Imy” once a week for ONLY a few weeks while I do that, so that I don’t push myself back into injury again. But, those are jut a couple of things that once they are done, nothing else will take away from comic time.

I appreciate all of your patience and tolerance with this. I want, more than anything, for things to be normal again. but the most important thing is that I heal up properly so I can do my best to avoid future problems.

And I’ll do that while I run in circles screaming I WANNA DRAW I WANNA DRAW I WANNA DRAW!!!!

So, I’m not sure exactly what I did. But I think it’s a combination of the extensive work I’ve been doing on the computer plus bad judgement in weight lifting (all I want to do is tone up my arms and build a little strength, but when you start with almost negative in arm strength, you really need to start with the absolute lowest weights possible. I know that now.)

Anyway, I’ve killed my right shoulder and arm. For the past two days I’ve been home, and I have another day to go (holiday weekend), and I have not been able to do one iota of work. I’ve been spending a lot of time on the couch with a heated wheat pillow draped over my shoulder, arm and back. It’s annoying because I have several projects I’m working on (including “Imy”) and I’m dying to get at them. Sadly, I’ve made the decision that I need to submit to healing this week. Hopefully (please please please please PLEASE) I’ll be back in commission by next weekend.

So, for this week, no comic. I want to… I really really WANT to. But my body is saying NO. And it’s the boss of me. :-/