Dekpa and Her Aggressive Friends

There's a new, special nine page chapter of my webcomic, Dekpa and Deborah, online to-day. Usually the chapters are just eight pages. Why is this one longer? I miscounted the pages when I was writing the script. Oops. But lucky you.

Happy Birthday to Emperor Go-Komyo (後光明天皇) of Japan; Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Harold Lloyd; Lionel Hampton; Betty Lou Gerson; Tito Puente; George Takei; Peter S. Beagle; Ryan O'Neal; Veronica Cartwright; Luther Vandross; Crispin Glover; and Andy Serkis.

Deborah Talks

There's a new chapter of my web comic, Dekpa and Deborah, online. It's a Deborah heavy chapter. Enjoy.

Happy Birthday Mary Shelley, Evelyn De Morgan, Joan Blondell, Fred MacMurray, Peggy Lipton, Frank Conniff, and Jessica Henwick.

Dekpa and Deborah Attract Admirers

Happy Easter, everyone. Your present is a new chapter of my webcomic, Dekpa and Deborah. I guess you could say the comic, like Christ, has risen from the dead this day. Enjoy.

Happy Birthday to the 17th century playwright John Ford ("'Tis Pity She's a Whore"), William Holden, Olivia Hussey, Roddy Piper, and Sean Bean.

And to-morrow, April 18, is the birthday of Miklos Rozsa, who composed this appropriate song:

Dekpa Finally Goes to Work

It must be a blue moon because there's a new chapter of Dekpa and Deborah to-day, my rarely updated webcomic, the first chapter since September. I hope I can do better than one chapter a year now that I'm more or less settled in Japan. But even if I only do one chapter a decade, I will finish this comic.

To-day's chapter title, "To Guard or to Strike with Edge or Point", comes from John Milton's pamphlet Of Education. I'm proud to say I work at schools now that do teach kyudo and kendo, Japanese forms of archery and fencing, respectively.

Twitter Sonnet #1436

Canary wings support a little flight.
The only ring improves the khaki dress.
A cloud of tea obscures the heavy light.
The weighty game's assumed to copy chess.
A heavy eye contributes weight to see.
Across the sand, a desert builds a line.
Across the water, drops construct a sea.
A heavy rain distributes light to shine.
With divvied pipes, the raiders claim the street.
Required dogs protect the watchful kid.
In cows and moles we find requested meat.
The bucket's full and breaks its flimsy lid.
Repeated songs enhance the pixel game.
Authentic days adopt another name.

Deborah Looks for Work and Dekpa Remembers Plunder

There's a new chapter of my infrequently updated web comic, Dekpa and Deborah, online to-day. Deborah brings matters between herself and her family to a conclusion, of sorts, and frets about it. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to Frank Morgan, Marilyn Monroe, Jonathan Pryce, and, of course, Robert Newton.

Twitter Sonnet #1241

The floating ground was light as packing thoughts.
Surroundings blank as boards contain a drop.
The world resolved from bleeding polka dots.
A helmet changed a store into a shop.
Confusing voices peer betwixt the tie.
To juggle hands the daggers sweetly wait.
A billion fingers spoilt all the pie.
At two the pawn'll stumble home to mate.
Apportioned sand remained exceeding dry.
Tamale boxes hum a flick'ring tune.
Repeated thoughts encourage cats to try.
In ev'ry whisker lives a jelly moon.
The blessed and less assured no less at loss.
The snow supports assorted feet across.

Milton, Milton, and Milton v Milton and Milton

Those interested in canon court matters may be pleased to find my infrequently updated webcomic, Dekpa and Deborah, has its first new chapter since September. Over five months! I'm determined to get the next chapter out much quicker. This one was delayed by a lot of time spent writing a research paper. This particular chapter, and the one before it, required some research though I did most of it in early 2018 and 2017. The two latest chapters of Dekpa and Deborah deal with the true circumstances following John Milton's death, when his brother, Christopher, who was a Royalist and therefore ideologically John's opponent, and Betty Milton, John's wife when he died, filed a nuncupative will--that is, a will spoken rather than written. Since John was blind, he was obliged to do all his writing this way.

There was a bitter and, as some biographers and commentators consider it, embarrassing dispute between Milton's daughters and the team of Christopher and Betty regarding the veracity of this will. The court documents remain in existence and its one of the few direct pieces of information about John Milton's family that didn't come from John himself. So it's a valuable item for me since John's daughter, Deborah, is one of the main characters of my comic. Of all the characters in this new chapter only Dekpa is my invention and presents my interpretation of the events, what I think may have happened in the world outside those documents. So let me take you back to December, 1674 . . .

Twitter Sonnet #1213

An olive rolled between the cobble stones.
A giant's steps were marked in crimson shade.
The strongest house's timbers cracked as bones.
The morning's breath in fog begins to fade.
A diver shaped the air with freezing hands.
As clouds begin to slow they change to damp.
A thirsty story's told in sifting sands.
The message came but late to warn the camp.
Umbrellas gather late to wash the sun.
In careful carried vessels water drips.
In silhouette the crow was like a nun.
Her higher rank was told in godly pips.
Between the words a plantly human grows.
As flower closed apace they changed to toes.

The Milton Sisters, Together Again

There's a new chapter of my infrequently updated webcomic, Dekpa and Deborah, online. We finally meet Mary Milton, Deborah's sister, and Dekpa's English is improved. Happy Labour Day.

Also, Happy Birthday to Kitty Carlisle and Alan Ladd.

Deborah Milton by the Thames

Happy Father's Day, everyone. There's a new chapter of my infrequently updated web comic, Dekpa and Deborah, online. In this chapter, Deborah's father is very much on her mind. Enjoy.

Also, Happy Birthday to Setsuko Hara and M.C. Escher.

Deborah Milton's Supper with Prince Rupert

Happy U.S. Mother's Day, everyone, especially to mothers. To-day also brings a new chapter of my infrequently updated web comic, Dekpa and Deborah. Watch as Deborah tries not to embarrass herself at supper with some very important people in one of the biggest palaces in the world a few decades before it mostly burned down. Which adds some challenge to drawing its interiors, let me tell you. Special thanks to my friend Ada for translating some dialogue to German for me.

Twitter Sonnet #1113

Imposter brands condition houses mute.
A turning wheel presents a faded prize.
A tea deprived of hue has ill repute.
A cake success upsets the winning pies.
A passing cap removes a bottle doubt.
Containing ships and punch the glass redeems.
A single stone defined a spinning route.
The searching clouds would rain success in teams.
A world progressed within an hour's time.
A fancy's brand of chips traversed the thought.
Rebuilding beads begat a spirit climb.
Computers built the deep and cosy cot.
A slice of ill reputed cake arose.
A seal at tea a fish would fain propose.

Dekpa Remembers Dahomey and John Milton

A new chapter of my infrequently updated web comic, Dekpa and Deborah, is now online. Inspiration for this chapter came from literary critic William Empson's 1961 book on Paradise Lost called Milton's God. This bit:

" . . . the poem is not good in spite of but especially because of its moral confusions, which ought to be clear in your mind when feeling its power. I think it horrible and wonderful; I regard it as like Aztec or Benin sculpture, or to come nearer home the novels of Kafka, and am rather suspicious of any critic who claims not to feel anything so obvious."

I came across this while I was reading about both Milton and West African Vodun for my comic. It was a slightly weird coincidence to come across something about Benin sculpture in a book about Milton.

Enjoy.