#7 Harry

#6 Kirk

COMMENTARY:
You know those people who get on email for the first time in months and send you all those forwards, as if you haven't seen them ten times? Even worse: they send you the same forward they sent you a few months ago! I think Hamlet would be that kind of person.

This comic was written in honor of Lady Jane Scarlett's International Pirates For Picard Day. (By the way, Pickles doesn't claim to speak for all pirates, but he is definitely a Captain Janeway kind of guy.)

It's probably just my imagination, but I swear Pickles's expression changes in the last panel.

#5 Girlfriend

COMMENTARY:
I spent almost an hour trying to get the panels to line up straight. I hate being web-incontinent. I suppose it's kind of cool in a staggered look, but trust me: this will drive me crazy for days until I figure out how to do it right. I won't change it, though. Let it stand as a testament to my idiocy. (Update: right now it looks fine in Explorer and fragged in Firefox. I give up)

I put the archives down at the bottom. They don't look exactly the way I want it to, but at least there's only one comic per page now. That's how other web comics do it.

As for content, this is a pretty cheap mother joke, but one I'm confident Pickles would make. The real question will be when/if Hamlet's mother actually shows up. Drama!

#4 Glamourization

COMMENTARY:
My first six panel, in honor of the PIRATES movie, which as of this writing (6/7), I have still yet to see. I totally agree with Pickles about PRETTY WOMAN, although one wonders if the danger is quite so high when it comes to pirating.

I read this to my sister and she fell out laughing at "agenda-driven glamourization." I guess that is a pretty funny line.

Why the bay, the spelling of "glamourization" is not my choice, but because both Pickles and Hamlet are British. I would never spell a word that stupidly. (Canada: I'm looking in your direction...)

#3 Names

COMMENTARY:
Here we find out our pirate's name for the first time, which I actually knew the moment I saw him. There's just something about "Pickles the Pirate" that cracks me up. Looking back on this several days later I wish I could have had more of an "oomph" with the reveal in the end, but since I'm still learning I guess I'm reasonably happy.

#2 Salvation

COMMENTARY:
I was a little worried about the whole virgin joke, but both my mom and kaida thought it was funny, so if you didn't, blame them.

This is the first time we see an aspect to the pirate's personality, that being intellectual curiosity. I like the juxtaposition of a philosophical pirate. Argh!

#1 Communication

COMMENTARY:
I can't believe I finally got this up. I've been thinking about the idea for almost two years, but could never find an artist to get what I wanted. My plan was to have six panels showing pirates dressed up in Shakespeare garb in Iconic Shakespeare scenes (like the Romeo and Juliet Balcony Scene). Each day the dialogue would change but the pictures would stay the same. (This is not a new model, as I was inspired by Dinosaur Comics and others, but I do think the Pirates doing Shakespeare was new.

Anyway, Kaida finally convinced me to quit waiting for an artist and go ahead and get SOMETHING up and worry about finding an artist later. So, I did!

Note: the final line comes from how when you read Shakespeare they put the stage directions (like deaths) in the liner notes. Obviously when you watch it they are more dramatic, but most kids grow up READING Shakespeare instead of WATCHING it as intended, so they grew up seeing it in brackets. ALWAYS cracks me up.