"The Yakas & The Wakas Christmas Special" - 12/25/2004

Christmas Special Introduction

The Christmas special comic was by far the biggest project that I had ever worked on involving The Yakas & The Wakas. Overall, I think it took me about a week or two to finish it...which includes the art, the concept of it, and everything else. One aspect of the Christmas special that I definitely wanted was the inclusion of all four characters in the series. The funny thing about the Christmas special is that the story itself is actually pretty darn good...at least in my opinion. For a comic series known for not making any sense and being very off the wall, the Christmas special managed to be quite a change of pace. My main inspiration for the storyline of the comic was old Christmas specials from TV, such as the Garfield one. I wanted things to go wrong for the characters, yet I wanted everything to be all right and back to normal by the end of it. However, I did manage to put a little twist on the so called "happy endings" of Christmas specials, which involved Stick-Man receiving a gunshot wound to the leg.

Also, the Christmas special has the honor of being the Y&W comic with the most references to outside material. These references include:

1) The star on top of the tree, which is the star that I created and used in my Yoshi Stadium spoof of the Mario Party franchise.

2) Waka's monologue, which, as Yaka states, was taken from the movie "Braveheart."

3) The fight with Slobber, which uses the battle menu from the "Dragon Quest" video game series, hence the line, "A slime draws near."

And that's about it for the Christmas special!

COMING TOMORROW: "The Yakas & The Wakas Christmas Special" in all of its original glory!

"The Non-Human Torch" - 07/17/2005

What a way to end the Y&W series, right? Then again, this proved to be only the end of Volume 1, as I would start the comic back up again years later! Anyway, I should probably talk about the comic itself. Well then, it's quite obvious that the comic was inspired by the Fantastic Four movie, which had just come out when I made this comic. Every time Johnny Storm would become The Human Torch he'd yell, "Flame on!" Unfortunately for Yaka, he's the one who catches on fire when Waka yells it. The logic behind it doesn't make much sense at all...but hey, it's still funny. Two things to note about this comic are that A) the fire on Yaka's head is the same exact fire that I used in the comic "Lest We Forget" and B) it's the only comic in the series to feature any semblance of a swear word (i.e. hell).

"Mouse Problem" - 07/09/2005

It's kind of odd that a lot of Y&W comics are inspired by real events in my life. "Mouse Problem," as the title suggests, was inspired by the fact that my actual house had a mouse problem of its own. However, we simply used some peanut butter and mouse traps, not a fully-rigged load of C4 explosive. Either way would have worked really, because as flawed as Waka's logic is, he's actually right. If there's no house, then there's no mouse. Unfortunately, no house also equals living in a cardboard box in a back alley...

"Pieces of Brain" - 07/03/2005

"Pieces of Brain" was the first comic I created after taking a short break from the series (almost two months). The comic was created just in time for Independence Day, so I decided to go the celebratory route and involve the traditional July 4th fireworks. However, this was The Yakas & The Wakas, so someone was bound to get hurt. In this case, it was Waka who got the top of his head blown off due to not adhering to proper fireworks precautions. It makes me wonder how much more stupid he might have gotten after having chunks of his brain blown off and onto the floor and wall. Then again, I'm not even sure how he lived through it...

"Star Wars RoXXorz" - 05/15/2005

I made this comic the weekend before Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith was released in theaters. So, to somewhat honor the final Star Wars film, I decided I'd do a comic involving Yaka and Waka dressed up as Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader. The main idea of it was taken from a clip in the trailer for the film, when the Emperor tells the newly "born" Darth Vader to "rise." However, Waka is pretty stupid, so of course the scene didn't go the way Yaka wanted it to...

"Try New Things" - 05/08/2005

At the time I made this comic, I had been looking into new programs that I could use to make the Y&W comics at least look a bit more 3D. Although I did find one, it ended up being a bit too complex for me to even want to use. However, before trashing the program, I decided that I'd at least use it for one comic in the series. Knowing that a 3-panel comic was too short to explain why they looked different, yet also knowing that a 9-panel comic was a bit too involved, the first 6-panel Y&W comic was born. Though not that special of a comic in terms of humor, it at least let the viewers (and me) know what the Y&W universe would look like in partial 3D.

"The Passion of the Monkeys" - 05/01/2005

There's probably some sort of rule in all media that suggests against insulting your fans, but then again, I've never been one to follow the rules. Although, technically Waka is the one insulting you, not me. With that said, I don't even recall why I made this comic. Chances are it was inspired by some sort of insult one of my friends said, but considering it's been over four years since I made this, you probabaly shouldn't quote me on that. In my opinion, it's definitely not one of the better Y&W comics, but it succeeds very well in not making any sense at all...so at least it's par for the course.

"The Harvest" - 04/24/2005

What was I thinking when I made this one? Wow...honestly, I have no clue what the crap the inspiration for this one was. I don't even think there *was* a thought process behind this. It's as if all of my brain cells went on vacation, but they accidentally left a few behind. Then those brain cells that were left behind thought it was a great idea to make a Y&W comic about harvesting human souls. Then again, the comic isn't *that* bad...so at least those few brain cells aren't total failures. Way to go brain...way to go...

"Analyze the Situation" - 04/17/2005

As I mentioned way back near the beginning of this retrospective, the next time we would see an overgrown Waka he'd look a lot different. Not only was this overgrown Waka pitch black, but he also had five hamsters dancing on the top of his head. In terms of what I was thinking when I made this comic...well, I don't think I was thinking. Part of it was most likely laziness (hence the overgrown Waka), but there was at least some thought put into the comic, since I feel that Yaka's "thought bubble" text is quite funny and well done. Overall, "Analyze the Situation" is definitely one of my *personal* favorites in the series, so at least it gets that honor.

"Supreme Overlord" - 04/10/2005

After multiple weeks of constantly missing the Sunday deadline of the comics, I decided to address the issue by having Yaka and Waka visit "me" at my "office." Much to their surprise, their creator was actually a monkey! But I wasn't just any monkey...I was in fact the "evil monkey" from Family Guy that lives in Chris's closet. Stealing images and characters from other places had become a definitive trend of the Y&W series by this time, due mostly to the fact that I can't draw worth a crap, but also because it was simply easier to steal complex images than it was to draw my own. Either way, the jokes are all still the same, and that's what matters.

"The Flood" - 04/03/2005

Primarily, "The Flood" was inspired by the fact that my hometown had flooded the weekend that this comic came out. On a secondary level, it was inspired by the constant use of the phrase "your mom" by my friends and I...but mostly by me. I felt that something serious like a flood and a "your mom" joke would blend perfectly together within a Y&W comic...and I was right. The irony of the situation is that Yaka and Waka are brothers, so Waka is technically dissing his own mother. Then again, he's most likely too stupid to even realize that...

"Freakin' Bunny" - 03/27/2005

I have no clue what to say about this comic...I really don't. I mean, obviously it's the Easter one, but I don't think there was really any inspiration for it...nor do I think that there was any thought process behind it. In that regard, it could sorta be considered the quintessential Y&W comic. Perhaps it's for that reason that a certain friend of mine considers it to be the greatest Y&W comic of all time. I never really agreed with him, but after analyzing the comic a little bit more, I can definitely see where he's coming from...

"Super-Sized" - 03/20/2005

I love this comic. It's so simple, yet so effective at generating humor. Like a few other comics in the series, a lot of the humor comes from the look on Yaka's face. However, I think most of the laughs simply come from the fact that Waka's hat really is way too big. In fact, it's so big that it even crowds into the first panel of the comic and covers up a portion of the Y&W logo! It's comics like this one that make me proud of my decision to start making 3-panel comics as well as 9-panel ones. It truly is one of the best.

"Beware the Intarweb" - 03/13/2005

Hmm... I'm not quite sure what to say about this one. I don't recall being directly inspired by anything, so the idea for this comic just might have been an original one. The thing I particularly like about this comic is how accurate the comparison between poop and the Internet really is. It's definitely one of the better comics in the series, both in terms of quality and content. Other than that, there isn't much else to say about it.

"Random - Volume 2" - 03/06/2005

...and in fact, the mooses did come walking. Well, one moose at least. As was the case with "Random - Volume 1," this comic was inspired by the "random quote generator" I had found online. However, in this comic, I decided to wrap up the events which had occurred within Volume 1. I wasn't really sure how exactly to go about explaining why everyone was speaking gibberish, so I went with the simple choice of telling the viewers that they shouldn't do drugs, nor should they ever trust mooses (because drugs and mooses are directly linked to speaking in gibberish!)*. It's also important to note that, other than the first two Y&W comics, "Random - Volumes 1 & 2" are the only two comics that are connected with each other.

*There is no scientific proof that mooses cause speaking in gibberish. However, the same can't be said for drugs...so just stick with Pixie Sticks and Mountain Dew, kiddies!

"Random - Volume 1" - 02/27/2005

Oddly enough, just after honoring the randomness of the Y&W comics, I ended up making Volumes 1 & 2 of "Random." The backstory behind these two (loosely) connected comics is that while searching the Intarweb, I stumbled across a "random quote generator" that spouted out non-sensical quotations with the click of my mouse. Quite amused by this contraption I had found, I decided to dedicate an entire comic to having Yaka and Waka say nothing but the stupid quotations that it gave me. Little did I know that the last quote it would give me would be "mooses come walking." With an ending quote like that, I just couldn't end the randomness without another comic...

"Lest We Forget" - 02/20/2005

In honor of President's Day, I decided to make a Y&W comic that featured one of the characters (in this case, Waka) dressed up as Abraham Lincoln. For the comic itself, I made Waka deliver a speech that honored the random humor tradition that was created by the Y&W comics. Unfortunately for the viewers, this honor involved being forced to see a picture of Waka's butt. Also, in an homage to Lincoln, the actual text of Waka's speech (albeit drastically altered) is taken directly from the Emancipation Proclamation (zomg history lesson!).

"Pointless Holiday" - 02/13/2005

For the Valentine's Day comic, I thought it would be fitting to have someone getting shot with arrows. Considering that Waka is the more irresponsible one, I figured it should be him shooting arrows at Yaka. Though we can't be sure, one could only assume that poor Yaka has to go through this type of torture from Waka every year...which explains why he would hate Valentine's Day and consider it a "pointless holiday."

"Free Tacos" - 02/07/2005

Apparently Yaka and Waka were right, because not only do I not remember who won the Super Bowl that year, but I don't even remember which teams played! Unfortunately for the history of this comic, I also don't remember why I decided on free tacos. All I know is that the Super Bowl had recently happened and that I wanted to mention it in a comic. I don't even regularly go to Taco Bell, or anything like that, so I'm really at a loss as to why a coupon for ten free tacos became the punchline of this comic...

"I Hate Commercials" - 01/23/2005

Does anyone else out there remember that stupid, yet insanely catchy commercial for Pepto-Bismol? You know, the one where they sing about all the problems that the product helps to soothe? Well, if not, then you can just look at this comic to jog your memory. There wasn't really any inspiration for this comic other than that commercial, so I don't really know what else to tell you.

"Excuses" - 01/16/2005

I have to be honest here, this is by far my least favorite comic of the entire series. The main problem with it is that you really need to know the story behind it to understand it, and the real problem lies with the reader being unable to find that backstory within the series itself. However, the backstory is a pretty simple one. Resident Evil 4 and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap had just been released and therefore I was uninterested in making a new comic and more interested in playing those two games. So, to reference those two games, I made both Yaka and Waka resemble characters from the games. In Waka's case, he has a gun and Leon's hair (RE4), and Yaka has the hat and sword used by Link (Minish Cap).

"Last Week" - 01/09/2005

As far as I know, the basic idea for this comic came from my friend Cody Hubbard and myself constantly using the phrase "the same thing happened to me last week" whenever something ridiculous happened in a movie. So basically, I just made up an insane story for Yaka to tell that would give Waka the opportunity to use the phrase. As for what inspired the story that Yaka tells, I think there were stories on the news at the time about a guy who was trapped on a mountain. I'm pretty sure he wasn't rescued by wolves though...although that would've been pretty sweet.

"Worst...Comic...Ever..." - 01/02/2005

What's this? A comic not made by me? That's right, this comic was made by an online friend of mine who goes by the name "Bumpty." Anyway, the basic story behind this comic is that, as the comic itself even says, I had stayed up all night playing Mario Party games for my New Year's party and therefore was very uninterested in making a comic for the day. So, after quickly talking with Bumpty online, I was able to convince him to make this comic. The comic is also wider and contains more panels than the traditional Y&W comic.

NOTE: *Technically* the Y&W Christmas Special 2004 came before this comic, but I figured I'd skip over it and, appropriately enough, post it on Christmas 2009 instead! :D