Fried Chicken and Sushi 165 and 166

/

Ok.  So, I dropped the ball this week with the comic strip commentaries.  Sorry about that!  Karl was feeling guilty about staring down the ladies in the Women Only car but I think Miki understands.  Thanks for all of your comments on that one.  They made me feel less like a fool for jumping on one of those train cars without noticing. 

J and Ryan seem to be enjoying their common bond of video game obsession.  Of course, you know that they say once your addictions start interfering with your day to day work, it's a real problem!  Let's hope they get it together!  Oh, and thanks to all of you who read the interview I did here with examiner.com.  Hope I get more of those! 

Check out my new interview!

/

Hi fans!  Mark Turner from the Oakland area examiner.com interviewed me about Fried Chicken and Sushi, my creative process and the future of the comics industry.  Check it here!  I think it turned out pretty well.  I actually sound like I know what I'm talking about.  Please give it a read! Thank you Mark!

http://www.examiner.com/comic-books-in-oakland/interview-with-webcomic-fried-chicken-and-sushi-creator-khalid-birdsong

Fried Chicken and Sushi 164 Staring down the Ladies

/

I remember getting on my first "Women Only" train car in Japan.  I wasn't staring at them but I did notice that there were only women.  There was a sign I missed, that said Women Only, in Japanese and English, so I felt kind of silly to have walked on like it was any other one.  There have been times, when I'm in a rush, that I've hopped onto one of these train cars without noticing.  I'm never sure if I should just stay there and look foolish or get up and move to the regular train car.  What would you do? 

Check out a review of Fried Chicken and Sushi by Mark Turner here:

http://www.examiner.com/comic-books-in-oakland/webcomic-fried-chicken-and-sushi-two-great-tastes-bring-a-truly-enjoyable-read-review

Fried Chicken and Sushi 163 Wet Hands Can get Gross!

/

Hachiro can make rather interesting observations at times.  Let's hope Karl doesn't "Go Naked" to public restrooms in the future but with this comic, you never know!  Please check out my friend David Wilborn's comic Urban Jungle today.  Our very own Tanuki shows up as an intern in the animal office!  Check it here

http://www.urbanjunglecomic.com/?p=2028

Fried Chicken and Sushi 161 So Sick of Staring!

/

I remember really getting sick of people staring at me in Japan!  Yes, I actually would stare back at people, especially children, that would stare at me.  One time I gave a little boy on the train a pretty evil look (I wasn't having the best day) and he moved away from me and hid behind his mom.  Didn't cry though.  I remember thinking, "Well, that's what you get for staring at me!"  It's hard to be sympathetic when you're treated like a freak in a side show.  Anywho, more "staring back" adventures are yet to come!

Fried Chicken and Sushi 159 Olivia's Training Secret

/

Olivia never sleeps?  Oh, I'm sure none of you out there would lose sleep over video game playin'.  Yeah, right!  It makes me wonder how late this video game party will go?  I guess as long as Ryan's watching, his cousins can stay up as late as they want.  Looks like J is having fun.  I'm sure he didn't expect to!

Alternative Press Expo (APE) convention wrap up!

/

I had a great time at the APE convention in San Francisco.  Those of you following me on Twitter and Facebook saw more pics and updates while it was going on.  I was representing Fried Chicken and Sushi in a small way by giving away postcards to attract some new fans.  It was fun selling my mini comic The Adventures of Caffeine Baby!  I've been getting positive feedback on it from some of you out there that bought it.  Thanks!  Me and my friend, Dale Wilson, of http://dwapproductions.com/magnificentcreatures/ shared a table with cartoonist Nat Lee of http://fakinglifecomic.com/ and we had a lot of fun!  We even had our friends from http://carpechaos.com/ at the table next to us!  Check those guys, and their cool comics! 

I feel like it was a good con but not as busy as last year.  Next year I will be back because I just love all of the independent and off the wall comics I can find there!  It's also fun to see artists that I only get a chance to talk to, in person, there every year.  If you want more pics and FC&S fun you should follow me on Twitter and Facebook at the top of the page!  Thanks guys!

Fried Chicken and Sushi 158 Ryan's Video Game Party?

/

Let's not feel too bad for Ryan here.  He seems very happy with his current situation.  The one I feel sorry for is J.  I guess Ryan thinks of him as a real friend.  Maybe that's why Ryan is always coming over to J's desk and bugging him.  You gotta love Ryan's cousins though!  I'm not sure that they understand how important they are to him. 

Fried Chicken and Sushi 157 Video Games at Ryan's?

/

I'm sure this is hurting J but the challenge has been set!  How could he back down from a chance to play his favorite video game and whup Ryan's tail at it at the same time?!  We'll have to see about the skills of Ryan's friends when J shows up ready to show them how it's done.  Oh yeah, if you haven't listened to the review of FC&S on the Deconstructing Comics Podcast hurry over here http://deconstructingcomics.com/?p=1389 and give it a listen!  Thanks!

Fried Chicken and Sushi comic review. Take a listen!

/

The awesome guys over at the Deconstructing Comics podcast critiqued my webcomic here http://deconstructingcomics.com/?p=1389  I was a bit nervous because both of the hosts, Tim and Mulele are Americans that have been living in Japan for many years.  They had good things to say and made some great points!  I think they really get what Fried Chicken and Sushi is all about.  Give the podcast a listen and see if you agree! 

FCS156 I really want that video game!

/

It's great to see that J is seriously saving up for his trip to Japan.  I hope he can keep it up with all of the temptation out there!  Looks like Ryan finally has one up on J! 

If you took the time to check out the pictures below from my visit back to Shimamoto, thank you!  I'm glad I could take you into the reality of Fried Chicken and Sushi.

Back to Shimamoto! (Pictures Below)

/

This past summer I decided to take a quick trip up to the town I lived in while teaching English in Japan.  Yep, it has the same name as Karl's town, Shimamoto cho.  It felt good to go back after six years and I didn't tell anyone I was going so I could walk around relatively unnoticed.  However, I think a few people were a little shocked to see a big black man strolling around their town taking pictures.  Check out some of the photos below. I've been trying to re-create some of these locations in the comic.  Enjoy!

 

Here we are at Minase station off of the Hankyu railway line. 


Hey, you can look up my nose!  The building behind me is where I used to live.  Right under the number 2.

I walked past #1 Junior High School where I used to work.  Pretty much all Junior High Schools in Japan look like this.

Here's the long road up to #2 Junior High School.  The bus would take me up this way if I was too tired to ride a bike.  The smaller white building on the left is where the Board of Education office is.

I was trying to remember this map outside of the train station when I drew the strip about taking the bus up to school.  I think I got it right...somewhat.

Let's take it back to when I was teaching there!  I remember it well, walking around while the students take an English quiz.  Makin' 'em nervous! 

FCS155 The Black Samurai Takes a Slice

/

Looks like the Black Samurai finally gets a chance to use his sword!  Thanks, Tanuki!  I don't think the Oni will be very happy after this though.  At first, I wasn't sure about using the Principal Glossy Gleam typhoon joke at the end.  You would need to have read the previous comic with PGG talking about how he loses his gleam during typhoons.  I was afraid that if someone came here for the first time, they really wouldn't get the joke.  Oh well, I did it anyway because I think it fits perfectly!  Hopefully, all you new readers will go back in the archive and learn more.

FCS151 The Blendi Typhoon

/

Ok. This one really happened.  I remember the principal enjoyed having me visit his office for English conversation practice.  His favorite drink was the iced coffee BLENDY (yes, I changed the spelling a bit) and I continued to drink it even though I'm sensitive to caffeine.  There was a lot of smiling and awkward laughing going on every time I visited his office!  He didn't have quite the glow of Glossy Gleam though...