Fried Chicken and Sushi 271 Real Japanese Men wear Pink?

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I think men wearing pink is a lot more common recently but when I was living in Japan, it was shocking to me how comfortable it was for men to do there.  It took some time for me to get used to the fact that colors have different meanings and associations in Japan.  As Americans, we assume everyone feels the same way when they see a color.  Living in Japan taught me that the color pink is for everybody.  Even so, I'm still not manly enough to wear it.  What do you think?

Fried Chicken and Sushi 270 Buying Clothes in Japan

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I can't believe it took me this long to draw a comic about buying clothes in Japan.  That's one of my biggest frustrations!  I actually like some of the clothing styles for men there but they just don't fit!  Just like Karl, I would end up buying a t-shirt and maybe pants that have an elastic waiste band.  Do you have any clothing stories from your time in Japan?  You can share them in the comments or even in the FORUMS.

Fried Chicken and Sushi 269 Chibi Karl's Sweet Dream

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I remember feeling like this my first Halloween in Japan.  My dream that someone would bring back American sweets, that were actually sweet, never came true on Halloween.  This was a fun strip to draw because I used Chibi Karl.  Not sure why, but it worked well for the subject matter.  Hope you enjoyed reading it and Happy Halloween where ever you are!

Fried Chicken and Sushi 268 Tattle tale gets paddled on his tale

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Throwin' out another plug for my 200 page comic YOUNGBLOODS!  Give it a buy HERE!  Ryan should have known not to try and tattle tale on J and Beverly with no real proof.  Let's hope he learned his lesson.  Of course, the boss is now aware that his employees might be dating so he could start paying more attention.  J better be careful and not get cocky!

Fried Chicken and Sushi 266 The office spy knows all!

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Another plug to check out my graphic novel YOUNGBLOODS here!  Vampire gangs in the city, action adventure and pretty good art from yours truly.  Check it out!  Ryan needs to back down don't you think?  I guess he would have something to gain from telling on J and Beverly but is it worth it?  He doesn't even know if they're really dating or not!  J is acting confident but I have a feeling he's worried about the boss finding out.  We shall see...

Fried Chicken and Sushi 265 Having fun as friends?

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Dropping another reminder to buy my graphic novel YOUNGBLOODS HERE!  I had a lot of fun selling and signing copies of Youngbloods at the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco this past weekend.  Thanks to those of you that dropped by my table!  I love APE and look forward to doing it again next year! 

As far as J and Beverly are concerned, I don't know what they're doing?  There's obviously an attraction between the two of them.  We know J recently broke up with his girlfriend but Beverly hasn't said anything about a boyfriend.  Of course, dating a co-worker also has its challenges.  Hang in there to see what they figure out!

Fried Chicken and Sushi 264 Working too hard for the Halloween Party?

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Is J working a little too hard?  I think the stress of wanting to go to Japan and trying to "date" Beverly is getting to J.  He's not the killing type so I'm sure he's only bluffing but it shows how serious he can get.  Don't mess with ninjas!  There can be only one! ;)  If you like my ramblings, please follow me on TWITTER.

Fried Chicken and Sushi 261 TRUE STORY- Battle of the Bed Roach!

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This one really happened and any of my long time friends reading this are probably sick of hearing about it.  I really did wake up one morning and a roach was sitting on my comforter staring at me.  As soon as I realized what it was, the roach ran off and I slammed the doors shut to hunt him down.  It took a couple of tries but I pounded him to death!  As you all know by now, I absolutely hate roaches in Japan.  They fly into your window and think they can hang out in your house or walk all over your bed!  I've never had a roach get that close to me before and I couldn't believe that it was waiting for me to wake up.  Creepy! 

Fried Chicken and Sushi 260 Should that dream become reality?

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Looks like Tanuki is wrong on that one!  I'm pretty sure there are plenty of people out there that love reading a comic about a black guy living in Japan.  Let's hope, after that joke, it will stay that way!  Did you notice that Tanuki's wearing a robe?  More clothes?  I'm having fun with it.  A Tanuki upgrade. ;)  Shout out time!  If you like vampire adventure you need to read my YOUNGBLOODS graphic novel HERE.  Thanks to all of you friends and fans that have bought it and enjoyed reading it!

Fried Chicken and Sushi 259 Working...so...hard!

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I'm very thankful for the positive reviews of my vampire adventure graphic novel, Tales of Tritoria:  YOUNGBLOODS, on my amazon.com page.  If you haven't bought your copy yet, please check it out HERE!  Beverly is gradually getting to know J so I think we can let her off the hook for that ridiculous question.  Is going to Japan really that important?  Come on, Beverly!  Hopefully, J will have more time to spend with her as time goes on so she'll learn more about what makes him tick. 

Fried Chicken and Sushi 258 Tanuki comes back...again!

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Tanuki needs to make up his mind.  Is he back or is he out?  It looks to me like he's found a reason to stay this time.  Let's just hope Karl can deal with him without going insane!  Did you notice Tanuki is wearing clothes?  Karl was talking about his victory at the sports festival so I thought it would be fun to put Tanuki in spandex workout gear.  They might be a little too tight though...

Fried Chicken and Sushi 257 Sports Festival Gleamin'!

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Before you go any further, you must read the review of my graphic novel HERE!  Pick up a copy and let me know what you think!  Today's full color comic was a lot of fun to draw and really happened.  My school's principal really did run as fast as he could but when he passed me that baton, I took off!  The students were really excited but I remember the principal trying to act like he wasn't upset by my speed and popularity.  He just said to me, "You...very fast runner!  Very fast!" while looking at the ground and walking away from me as he said it.  I might not do a lot of things well but I can run! ;)

Fried Chicken and Sushi 256 We need diversity in Japanese cheese

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Shout out to my graphic novel, YOUNGBLOODS!  BUY IT HERE and help support this comic!  Speaking of this comic, Karl just can't seem to get over the lack of cheese in Japan.  I'm sure there are many reasons why cheese isn't popular there but Karl just has to see it as a lack of diversity.  Let's hope somebody gives him some clues where to buy a variety of cheese.  Thanks for your suggestions!

Fried Chicken and Sushi 255 The cheese of the cheese name

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I think Karl is stretching things a bit with that joke.  Looks like J thought so too.  Anyway, I guess some jokes are just to good to resist!  Aaaaaand, if you think I'm blaming my comic strip characters for the bad jokes I come up with, then you are correct!  Feel free to talk about me in the COMMENTS and FORUMS. ;)

Fried Chicken and Sushi 254 Where's the Cheese?

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I was pretty upset when I moved to Japan and discovered only one kind of "cheese" in the grocery store.  The white cheese was in a big brick and shredded or even in white cheese slices.  No other types or styles.  As a cheese lover, it was hard for me to get over the fact that Japanese people weren't demanding more cheese in their grocery stores! 

Fried Chicken and Sushi 253 The Black Samurai Returns

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Remember, if you like my comic book art style, read my 200 page graphic novel HERE!  It was fun drawing The Black Samurai again but without hair and in traditional Japanese clothing.  This is how I originally created him so now I feel like we can really get into his adventures.  What will happen if he follows the strange spirit?  Will he be able to free Tanuki?  I hope you're enjoying these comics.  Thanks for reading!

Fried Chicken and Sushi 252 What English do Japanese students really learn?

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First, the shameless plug.  PLEASE BUY MY GRAPHIC NOVEL HERE!  A horror adventure written and illustrated by me!  Yay!  You'll be helping to support this comic and me at the same time!  Thank you!

Next, today's comic.  This one really happened!  In fact the latest one took place this summer while I was visiting Japan.  Any of you that follow me on Twitter probably heard about it!  I was walking down the street and a group of boys shouted out "F$%k you!" to me and then laughed.  Part of me wanted to walk over to them and start shouting at them in English.  The other part of me knew that these boys lived in the same town that I'm staying in with my wife and her family.  So, I chose to just keep walking and pretend like I didn't hear them.  Not as satisfying but I think it was a better choice.