Today’s GCOAT is by the inestimable Kate Beaton! Kate has one of the most lively and fanciful comics around over at Hark! A Vagrant. She’s also recently been in the New Yorker and she posts delightful diary comics on her Twitter. Kate is all-round THE BEST.

Today’s Guest-Comic-On-A-Theme (GCOAT) is by Evan Dahm. Evan is the author of a number of very elaborate, incredibly immersive long-form graphic novels. One that’s complete and can be read in its entirety online is Rice Boy, and it’s great. Currently Evan’s working on Order of Tales, another story set in the same universe, and it’s in progress presently.

Today’s Guest-Comic-On-A-Theme comes from Christopher Hastings, author of The Adventures of Dr. McNinja. Chris is a fine fellow and I endorse his work highly! If you’re not familiar with Dr. McNinja, may I suggest the beginning of the current story? It is an entertaining yarn indeed.

Also remember that these people did this work with pens on photocopies that I handed them so all things considered I think they fared quite well.

Today kicks off a week of guest comics all based on the basic template of strip #629! That comic came about because I knew I would be traveling and I was unsure how much time I would have at the computer — so I took printouts of the empty template on my trip and finished the comic by hand. But I also enlisted some of my friends to make comics of their own based on the same template!

This strip is by Anthony Clark of Nedroid, one of the most charming and friendly comics on the ol’ interwob. I recommend taking a hearty peek at it!

Carly Monardo wraps up Guest Week here at the ol’ giggle-emporium. Carly is a classy and talented lady who painted this friendly Futurism poster for me! She is also having a sketch drive to help raise money for her wedding to the equally-classy Chris Hastings of Dr. McNinja (and similarly-animated guest comic) fame. What a great chance to get some wonderful original art for your home, office or solitary-confinement enclosure!

Thanks for filling in, Carly, and please lock up the site when you leave. Leave the keys in the toolshed behind the old Murder Hut. Regular comics return next week.