Welcome to the first strip in my webcomic series "Nerd By Northwest"!
This is the very first NBNW strip that I drew back in early 2016, at a time and a job where I could feel my creativity and soul withering away. Back then I was stuck spending my work days in a high security environment and in an office with no windows, no personal electronics allowed, no internet, and work tasks that were more often than not dull and routine. The only distractions were BS'ing with fellow coworkers (one of the few positive aspects of the job), an FM radio which only received a few stations well (and not any really good ones), and a handful of streaming cable news stations available through the intranet in our offices (it being election season at the time I learned to hate Fox News and CNN even more than I already did). So without my podcasts, internet, and no real entertainment to kill the time during the slow workdays, I brought in paper and pencils and just started drawing. By the time I left the corporate world in late summer of 2016, I found myself with a handful of roughly drawn strips and a bunch of ideas for more.
Click on the image to see the full-size comic!
As for the strip itself, it's simply poking fun at the "image" that Alaska and Alaskans tend have in popular media and all the reality shows. The unimpressive reality is that at least half of Alaskans live in the cities and are often almost as pampered and soft as any other American. Perhaps we're a little more resilient when dealing with harsh weather, but otherwise more Alaskans than not are just as attached to our mobile phones and internet as anyone else. Anyway, I thought it was a great way to introduce the setting and the main characters.
If you liked what you've seen, please vote and/or comment! And come back tomorrow to see my webcomic for this Halloween!
Want to see the other Nerd By Northwest webcomics? Use the convenient links below!