I have completed making the high resolution versions of all comics from #3381 to the present. Readers with high-res (retina) screens can now see all those comics in glorious high definition pixels!

I'm in the process of updating older comic files to high resolution images. These load automatically for people with high resolution displays (which includes high-res desktop monitors, retina iPads, iPhones, and the like). Today I converted a batch of 130 comics, from 3901 to 4030, so every comic from 3901 to the latest one should now all have nice new graphics for high-res readers. Over the next week or so I'll extend this back as far as I can, which is comic 3381 (the first comic I made at high resolution, anticipating future printing in a book collection).

I was warned about this, but it's now come to pass. Make That Thing/Topatoco, the excellent people who printed and shipped the two Irregular Webcomic! books: Burning Down the Alehouse (the Fantasy book) and Prepare for the Wurst (the Cliffhangers book), have started charging creators a quarterly fee for warehousing of additional copies that remain to be sold. That's fine - it's their space being occupied. But I don't want to lose money on this! The best way to reduce my imminent financial losses is for people to buy the books and clear that warehouse space.

If you enjoy my comics, or you want to introduce a new reader in a friendly, non-demanding, non-"check out this website with 4000 comics on it!" way, please think about purchasing a copy or two! Thanks!

I'm getting over my illness (mentioned in the previous news item) and have written a batch of new comics. I hope to photograph them on Thursday and assemble them over the weekend, so that there will be new comics next week without interruption.

Advance warning: I have been sick since returning from Portugal on 25 May. Too sick to make comics. The current buffer of new comics will last until Friday 7 June. If I don't recover by then I may be unable to make new comics in time for the update on Monday 10 June. I'll keep you informed. Thank you for your good wishes - it's nothing too serious, a respiratory/gastro infection. Hopefully I'll be fine in time to make new comics.

My webhost is performing routine database server maintenance between 23:00 Tue 28 May and 03:00 Wed 29 May UTC. Parts of this website (the forums and search function) will be unavailable for some of this time.

I am travelling to Portugal from 11 May to 25 May. Comics should update as usual. See you when I get home!

As part of my new Jobless-let's-make-more-stuff state, I'm launching a new science blog site: 100 Proofs that the Earth is a Globe.

This is an idea I've long had for a book. But I don't have a publisher in my pocket, so I'm launching this site to generate some buzz. As stated in the site's About page: This is not primarily an attempt to debunk Flat Earth theory. It's just a way of organising a bunch of surprisingly diverse science essays with a common theme. The challenge I've set myself is to see if I can come up with 100 different scientific observations or experiments that we can do that show the Earth is much more likely to be spherical than flat.

Can I do it? Let's see!

Hi everyone - I have such big news that I've reinstated the old huge news box for visibility. (Took me a few hours of coding...)

1. My employer has informed me that my job is being declared redundant. My last day of paid employment is 4 March. I'm looking at this as an opportunity rather than a setback. My plan is to take about 6 months off work, and spend the equivalent of full-time working hours doing creative things - making comics, writing, photography, making videos, etc. - and ramping up my efforts to market them and try to make a living income off them. If after 6 months I feel comfortable that I can make enough from my creative work, then I will continue - if not, then it'll be time to look for another job.

As part of this effort, I've already moved Irregular Webcomic! from 4-a-week to a slightly more "full time" schedule of new comics on Monday-Friday. Coming soon there will be announcements of new projects that I'll be ramping up over the next few weeks. Importantly, if this is to continue, I'll be looking for your support. I'll be pushing Patreon as a way to support me, producing merchandise for sale, and may also consider some other things like Google Ads.

2. One thing you can do right now is consider buying a book! The Cliffhangers book Prepare for the Wurst has been delivered to Kickstarter backers, and everyone else can now buy a copy on TopatoCo! You can also buy the Fantasy book Burning Down the Alehouse, or both books together for a nifty discount.

3. In other news, I'm already starting to dedicate a bit more time to maintenance tasks that I've been meaning to do for ages. Today I've re-exported a bunch of the old podcasts at higher bit rate, and hence better audio quality. See the podcast page for details.

I'm excited about this new phase of Irregular Webcomic! and related projects, and I hope you follow me along for the ride!

Effective this week, new comics will appear every weekday (Monday-Friday), and reruns will appear only on weekends (Saturday, Sunday).

The puppy hiatus has ended! New comics are now being published 4 times a week again (xMTxTFx) with reruns on the other three days.

I'm making a second batch of buffered comics. So I'm happy to announce the puppy hiatus will end a month earlier than previously announced! New strips will start again on Monday 3 December.

Good news, everyone! I've made the first batch of new comics since starting puppy hiatus. I'll buffer up some more, and may restart new comics before the previously announced 1 January.

Want to see a real LEGO Jane Goodall set? Check out and vote for this LEGO IDEAS set, and the write-up at Women You Should Know.

I am travelling overseas from Friday 28 September to Monday 8 October. Comics should update automatically as usual. If something does go wrong, I won't be able to fix it until I get home.

Prepare for the Wurst Kickstarter rewards are being delivered! Once backers have their copies, leftovers from the print run will be available to buy. More details to come.

I am away on vacation to Tanzania from 29 June to 11 July. Comics should update automatically as usual while I'm away, but if something goes wrong I won't be able to fix it until I return home.

I am travelling on business from Saturday 16 June to Saturday 23 June. Comics should update automatically as normal, but if anything goes wrong I won't be able to fix it until I get home.

NEW COMIC HIATUS FOR 2018: To give me time to raise my new puppy, I am not making new IWC comics for the remainder of 2018. See forum announcement for details.

Remember the spontaneous art challenge from #3874? So far myself and 7 readers have taken up the challenge! Check the comic for photos, and have a go at it yourself!