10/5/26:
We don't have ALL these sets. I pulled a bunch of these promo photos from LEGO's promotional materials. Some of them have become absurdly valuable over the years, too!

(Leaving this nws post up for a little bit longer!)
Hey everybody, I'm happy to announce that my novel is now officially published and available!


If you've enjoyed our various webcomics, I hope you'll consider buying this book. It's the product of an awful lot of late nights and years of plotting, character work, and world-building. I'm really proud of it, and, as you might notice... it's only book 1!

This tale is for fans of fantasy, westerns, sci-fi, steampunk, and just plain old adventure. With a hint of romance, too! And if you know the comics, you've got a good idea of the kind of stories I like to tell: epic tales, with a bit of drama, and a dash (and sometimes more than a dash) of humor thrown in.

If you like it, please give me a review! Margins are quite tight on book sales. But mostly, I just want as many people to read and enjoy it as possible. (If you DON'T like it.. well, you don't HAVE to give a review. Really! ;)

Click on the big graphic above for more information, bonus content, and a free link to the first chapter.
Or use this direct Amazon link!

Transcript
Panel 1:
Tim Taylor: To be completely frank... it's not easy for us to be serious.
    Not since TRACK took control.
Commander Dale Zurkett: And that's why we need to talk.
    So we can figure out its weaknesses.
Tim: Weaknesses?
Lieutenant Commander Natashia Staratt: How to kill it. That is what you want, right?
Tim: Yes, but... is that even possible? TRACK is... everywhere. Watching. Listening.
Dale: We're Starfleet. Solving impossible problems is what we do.
Natashia: The Commander's statement may be somewhat hyperbolic, but it is not wrong.
    Perhaps if you could simply tell us the story of how it took control. Start at the beginning.

Panel 3:
Chandler: Well... in the beginning, there was a lot of fire and lava. And then Kalada (that's the name of our planet) cooled...
Dale: We're being serious for five minutes. Remember?
Chandler: Right, sorry. Well, I suppose you could say it all began with the transmissions.
Dale: The transmissions from our planet?
Chandler: I guess so. Never thought we'd actually meet you!

Panel 4:
Chandler: There were hundreds of them. Or probably more like thousands.
    It was fascinating. Proof of life on other worlds! But more than that... it made us curious. We had to understand.
    Problem was... we didn't know your languages. So we set our computers to the task. But there were no frames of reference. And no living beings to consult.
    We needed something more powerful. Something that could sample everything we fed it. And use that to interpret it.
Dale: TRACK.
Rachel: Actually, no. Our first system was a language modeler. We called it MODELER.
Dale: Oh. But did it work?
Rachel: Yes. We were finally able to watch the shows. They swept over our whole world! Kaladan entertainment vanished overnight. Replaced with Earth shows.
Dale: So then it took over?
Rachel. No. But it set the stage.

Panel 5:
Rachel: We got lazy. People started asking MODELER to do everything for them. At least... everything a computer could do without thumbs.
    And then another catalyst: We ran out of your shows.
    You stopped broadcasting them. I don't know... maybe your tech changed?
Dale: We mostly stopped our airwave broadcasts in favor of internet streaming.
Tim: Internet streaming?
Monica: Perhaps they can explain that later.
    But I remember the next part. Some tech genius had the bright idea to have MODELER watch the shows and attempt to make more of them.
    The new stuff wasn't really new. More like... rearranged? But we ate it up anyway.

Panel 6:
Monica: That only worked for so long, though. So the geniuses started giving the system more power, capabilities.
     That new system latched onto one thing in particular... laugh tracks.
    I guess that somehow it decided that laughter, no matter whether it was real or forced, made people happy.
     That's why we called it TRACK. And at first... it did its job.
    It seemed like we'd entered a golden era of binge watching!

Panel 7:
Monica: But that's when we made the fatal mistake.