Well, it’s over. After 504 pages of Chuck’s Devils and its Mini-Devils spin-off, there will be no more. Including prep time, I dedicated the past seven years to the comic. That’s about 15% of my life spent creating characters, writing dialogue, and devising storylines.

And I have nothing to show for it. No job, no money, no discernible fan base. I can’t say I’m surprised. There have been several other endeavors that I’ve spent years working toward only to have them completely fall apart.

Graphic Design

I graduated with only an associate's degree from a community college in 1999, yet I managed to get a job building websites from a local Internet service company. They went bankrupt two years later, but I got lucky when Bravenet Web Services found my online portfolio. They hired me to make art for their web tools, a position that lasted five and a half years.

I thought I would find another job in the graphic design field, but I went without full-time employment for over four years. Had I known the drought would last that long, I might have gone back to college. Instead, I swallowed my pride and went to work stocking groceries for Walmart. Today, tuition is way more expensive, and it’s much easier for people to create websites or AI-generated images. I’ve come to terms with the fact that a career in graphic design is no longer possible for me.

Smilies

In 2001, tiny emoticons called smilies were popular on forums. I decided to try making a few of my own, and they ended up becoming pretty popular. I was receiving requests from fans, so I kept making more. I signed a few licensing agreements and received some donations, but nothing substantial.

Over time, I had amassed over two thousand smilies. After twenty years, I ran out of ideas for new icons. At the same time, emoji emerged as a more popular, easier to use version of emoticons. I haven’t made any new smilies since 2021, and rarely dabble in pixel art anymore.

Domino Toppling

My brother and I used to set up domino courses with various stunts in the 90s. I put some of our old VHS videos on my website which were discovered by the producers of Penn & Teller: BS. They flew us to Las Vegas to spell out the name of their show in dominoes. When we got back, we decided to make our own dominoes in case we got any more paid gigs. They came in handy when the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center in Vermont invited us to put on exhibitions for five years.

Eventually, my brother had obligations that prevented him from taking time away from work, and I took the aforementioned Walmart job. Despite one of our YouTube videos somehow getting over 28 million views, traffic died off quickly and monetization was disabled. I tried to revitalize the channel by making smaller domino courses, but viewership was minimal. Besides, my knees, back, and butt are too broken down to set them up nowadays.

And the Rest

There are even more activities I’ve attempted and abandoned. I took piano lessons for two years until I got bored and stopped practicing. I played three games of Little League before I accepted the fact that I don’t have an athletic bone in my body. And I quit on my quest to score half a million points on NES Tetris.

I turned 47 not too long ago. As I approach half a century in this world, I realize I’ve spent most of it making things intended to entertain others. My website has many more examples of hats I’ve worn that have earned me zilch: Artist, illustrator, animator, game maker, writer, and now comic creator. It’s like a big monument to futility.

I have no one to blame but myself. If I had focused on getting really good at one discipline instead of being mediocre at a bunch of different stuff, my life would be much more bearable today. I suspect I’ve got some kind of disorder that explains my inability to focus, but I can’t afford to get tested, much less treatment. So I just do the best I can; unfortunately, “my best” totally sucks.

Trying to Stay Positive

So, is there anything I can be happy about? I suppose the fact that I actually finished Chuck’s Devils is something to be proud of. As you’ve seen, I’ve given up on many endeavors for many reasons. There were a couple of times when I went months without touching the comic, but I eventually returned and completed the story. The Mini-Devils reuniting with their taller twins confirms that everyone is living happily ever after and wraps everything up in a nice little bow.

Also, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank anyone who has ever read the comic. I’m not sure how you found it, since I’ve done such a horrible job promoting it. If you’re one of the handful of people who knows Chuck’s Devils even exists, I hope you got some kind of enjoyment out of it.

What’s Next?

I’ve always liked playing room escape games, and would like to design my own. I pretty much already have for Episode 40 of Chuck’s Devils, and I even escaped from a real one for my 40th birthday. Solving puzzles gives me a sense of accomplishment I don’t get in my day job. I don’t work at Walmart anymore, although I still stock groceries, and have been for the past thirteen years.

Of course, the popularity of the room escape genre seems to have vanished at the same time Flash did, so who knows what I’ll do. Now that the comic no longer takes up any of my time, I’ll be working more hours at the store, so whatever my next project is will take a while. There’s only one thing I know for sure: No matter what I try, it will end in failure.

Goodbye, Candace, Yu-Ri, and Lily. For the past seven years, you were the closest I’ve come to having friends. Helping you resolve your troubles and reach a brighter future was my sole mission in life. If only I could do the same for me.

No, no, and no. There will be no more episodes of Chuck's Devils. But if by some miracle the series became a popular TV show, how might it continue? I've given it some thought and came up with a rough format for additional seasons. Before I get to those, some changes would have to be made to the original ending.

Part Four

Chris, the beleaguered security guard from the Devils' first mission, wouldn't be one of the wedding crashers. More on him later.

After returning from their honeymoon, Chuck presents the Devils with another offer. They insist their thieving days are over, but he assures them it's something different.

Part Five

Chuck and Destiny want the Devils to pretend they're still thieves, but secretly working for the police. In other words, double agents, much like Rose.

While busting bad guys, they repeatedly cross paths with a crime family with a neglected young girl (possibly named Annemarie). After her parents go to jail, Yu-Ri and Lily adopt her to give her a better life.

Part Six

Things seem to go going well for the Devils. Candace and Tyler get married, and Yu-Ri and Lily and adjusting to parenthood. The only problem is Annemarie accepts Lily as her mother, but not Yu-Ri.

Then the Devils' home catches fire, and Yu-Ri rescues the child. After a talk from Aunt Candace about how she lost both of her parents when she was Annemarie's age, she embraces both of her moms.

Part Seven

Their house burning down was no accident, as more misfortune befalls the Devils. In one case, Lily is ambushed, and her ponytail is cut off. They're shocked to find out they've been stalked by Chris.

After the Devils stole the vase from the museum, Chris was fired and his life fell apart. They offer to help him fix his problems, but he is dead set on revenge. Fortunately, Destiny saves them in the nick of time.

The experience rattles the Devils and they decide to end their arrangement. They want to focus on being parents to Annemarie and Candace's expectant child. Their absence is ably filled by Shirley Holmes, who joins the LAPD's junior detective program.

The Devils leave their lives and crime and crime-fighting behind, but don't return to modeling. They team up to open a Korean / Soul Food fusion restaurant. Yu-Ri cooks in the kitchen, Lily manages the staff, and Candace handles promotion.

Almost Done

Like I said, none of what I've just outlined will happen, at least not in comic form. What is coming are the final episodes of Chuck's Mini-Devils. The next one arrives on March 3rd, then St. Patrick's Day, April Fools' Day, and an eight-part finale starting on Easter.

There's just a couple of months left to go, after which I'll share my thoughts about the entire Chuck's Devils journey.

As 2024 comes to an end, people tend to reflect on what they’ve done over the past year. In my case, it’s the same thing I’ve been doing for the last six years: Chuck’s Devils.

It feels weird now that it’s finally over… although in a way, it isn’t. The spin-off comic, Chuck’s Mini-Devils, is still in progress. For Easter 2025, both casts will meet again and wrap the two series up in a nice little bow.

Before that happens, I thought it’d be fun to go over three episode ideas that didn’t make the cut, and explain the reasons why.

Lost Episode 1: Totally Devils!

I thought it was pretty obvious that Chuck’s Devils was a loose parody of Charlie’s Angels. Then again, I’m in my mid-40s, so younger generations may not be familiar with the source material. This became clear when this comment was left on my series trailer, referencing a different TV series starring three female characters.

Would an episode where Candace, Yu-Ri, and Lily meet Sam, Clover, and Alex work? Maybe, but I didn’t know enough about Totally Spies! to write it. Basically, one of the Devils’ heists would have been disrupted by the Spies. Not wanting to fight a group of teenagers, the stalemate would have been resolved with everyone eating pizza or going shopping or whatever.

Lost Episode 2: Catnapping

In each of the first three parts of the story, the Devils kidnap someone: a young woman, a baby girl, and a crude dude. Part four focused mostly on the characters ending their life of crime and achieving a happy ending, so there wasn’t room for another captive. If there was, it would have been an old woman’s pet cat.

The kitty acted cute and cuddly around Candace and Lily, but was a real menace when only Yu-Ri was present. They wouldn’t believe her until they walked in on a battle that would rival Laurie Strode versus Michael Myers in Halloween H20. The Devils finally corral the cat and return it while covered in scratch marks.

Lost Episode 3: Beach Bums

I’ve groused about Chuck’s Devils not gaining many readers, which again is all my fault. If no one knows I exist, they certainly wouldn’t know my comic does either. The easiest way to increase viewership would have been to depict the cast naked. Those lewd artists make lots of money on Patreon, after all.

Chuck would have sent the Devils to the beach to take candid photos of a female celebrity. Unbeknownst to them, she’s on a nude beach. They’d undress in changing tents and use their hair and other items to hide the sensitive areas. When they finally reach the target, they realize she’s not the least bit shy, meaning any pictures would be worthless.

They try to change back into their bathing suits, but find that the shrewd starlet has snatched them. The Devils are forced to leave the tents, exposing their backsides and leaving them completely em-bare-assed. I never had the nerve to strip Candace, Yu-Ri, and Lily of their dignity. However, the idea was used when animals stole the Mini-Devils’ bikini tops.

So there you have it. Three episodes that were left on the cutting room floor, which was probably for the best. More new minisodes of Chuck’s Mini-Devils are coming in 2025. I hope you’ll like them. Happy New Year! :)

Chuck's Devils may have ended, but the Mini-Devils will stick around for a few more months. In their latest episode, they overindulge on their Thanksgiving dinner. New minisodes won't be released on a regular schedule, but will arrive about every two weeks or so until Easter 2025. I hope you're looking forward to them.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want to thank everyone who has been reading my comics. It may be a small audience (the finale only has 17 views, and a couple of them are probably mine), but knowing at least a few of you got some enjoyment out of it makes all the time and effort worth it.

I have only myself to blame for the limited exposure of Chuck's Devils. I have virtually no social media presence, and I can't expect people to read the comic if they don't even know it exists. So I hopped aboard the Bluesky bandwagon to keep folks updated on what I'm working on. You can follow me there if you're interested.

I know I need to communicate with other artists, too. But complimenting their work which is so much better than mine has always been intimidating. This shyness dates back nearly thirty years, when I was the quietest student in my high school yearbook, as well as the shortest. Hmm, I wonder if those two “honors” are connected somehow...

I know what I should do today. I should tell myself that was a long time ago. Things change. I can be more outgoing. The best revenge would be to move on and build a better future for myself. Maybe that can be my New Year's resolution. Until then, thank you for checking out the comic. You may not realize it, but it means a lot to me.

After six years, 48 episodes, and 432 pages, Chuck's Devils is complete. The comic comes to an end with Episode 48: The Honeymooners.

The newlyweds travel to Yu-Ri's homeland, where they finally consummate their marriage. Back in L.A., Chuck has a change of heart, and Tyler has a question for Candace. At long last, with their troubles behind them, the Devils can live happily ever after.

I hope you've enjoyed following the story of Candace, Yu-Ri, and Lily. Their tiny twins, the Mini-Devils, will stick around for a few more months before wrapping up in April 2025. Stay tuned!

The penultimate chapter of Chuck's Devils, Episode 47: Walk Into the Light, is here! The Devils fend off the uninvited guests, but Candace loses her shades in the melee. Unwilling to admit defeat, Jae gains the upper hand and threatens Lily's life. Thankfully, the bride is saved in the nick of time by a surprise visitor.

Meanwhile, the Mini-Devils origin story is showing how they became best friends. It's quite different than their big sisters.

Chuck's Devils comes to an end on October 25th, six years after it started. I hope you'll like the finale! :)

When I started making Chuck’s Devils, I thought I could complete each episode in a month, and be done with the entire comic after four years. Well, it ended up taking an extra two. What happened?

There are simple reasons, such as writer’s block. Condensing a long story into tiny word balloons that still makes sense wasn’t always easy. Also, some episodes required more background scenery, extra characters, and complex poses that were tricky to figure out.

Then there are the mental blocks. I’ve always had trouble focusing on one task for an extended period of time. My website reflects this with many different things I’ve done over the years: smilies, domino toppling, graphic design, games, animation, comics, and more.

If I stuck with one of those and got really good at it, I’d probably have a thriving career right now. But I don’t, which haunts me while I’m toiling away at my real day job. I can’t afford the testing to find out if I’m technically experiencing depression, but it damn sure feels like it.

With no treatment, these funks can put me in a bad state for a while. The worst was the time I started packing up my stuff so my family could clean out my apartment quickly after I was gone. But after three days, and with too much junk left to box up, and got exhausted and gave up.

Strangely, I think the struggles the Devils were going through also had an effect on me. I knew things would eventually work out for Candace, Lily, and Yu-Ri, but I shared in their suffering a little bit.

With all of that working against me, it seemed like I’d never finish my comic. I felt like a marathon runner: sweaty, tired, and in pain after ten miles… then realizing I had another sixteen left to go.

But I came up with an idea. What if I made a one page comic instead of 432? A comic with simple artwork that I could finish in a day, not weeks. And the characters would be adorable and fun, without any drama…

And so, the Mini-Devils were born. The non-canon spin-off allowed me to put the characters in silly situations that I couldn’t do with their tall twin sisters, like finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow or playing football in their own unique fashion.

Another unexpected benefit was expanding on Candace’s relationship with Tyler. The main comic was structured around Yu-Ri and Lily’s evolving love story, and the other couple didn’t get as much attention. Even though they’re not the originals, I like to think they’d both behave in a similar way.

I didn’t plan on adding Rose because her personality was the exact opposite of what the Mini-Devils were all about. But reworking her as a harmless prankster who gets her comeuppance at the end added a mild antagonist that fits into the mini-verse pretty well.

Drawing these chibi cuties cuddling and kissing each other helped raise my spirits, and actually completing something, even if it was just a short story, motivated me to work on the larger tale. I don’t think I would have finished Chuck’s Devils without the Mini-Devils lightening my mood.

If you’re overwhelmed by a large project, a fun diversion may alleviate some pressure for you, too. Also, breaking it up into smaller segments could be beneficial as well. Taking my comic one episode, one page, or even one panel at a time helped me.

Going back to my marathon analogy, as long as you keep putting one foot in front of the other, you’ll reach the finish line. It may take a lot longer than the professionals, but you can do it.

And while I’m on the subject of the Mini-Devils, it occurred to me that I haven’t explained how they met. We know how the tall trio became best friends, but not their small siblings. To correct this, I came up with an origin story that will begin soon. I hope you’ll enjoy it. :)

In a complete coincidence, Episode 46 of both Chuck's Devils and Chuck's Mini-Devils debut on the same day! Of course, Mini-Devils comics are just one page, so it's not too impressive...

First up, Episode 46: Wedding Crashers! Jae interrupts the wedding, and he isn't alone. He has brought along all of the enemies the Devils have made seeking revenge. Fortunately, the Devils have plenty of allies on their side who come to their rescue and help them save the ceremony.

Then in Chuck's Mini-Devils: Candy Kisses, Candace is caught in the act and guilt is written all over Tyler's face. I could probably come up with flimsy excuses to show both couples kissing forever, but I've tried to be more creative lately. And yet, Kiss and Tell has been more popular than most minisodes lately. Perhaps I need to be lazier...

My last retrospective talked about the good (and bad) ideas I came up with while I was developing Chuck's Devils. Next, I'll talk about what helped me keep going when it felt like I'd never finish the comic. 46 down, two to go...

Chuck’s Devils… How did I come up with that title for my comic? All I remember is that one day I randomly realized that the opposite of Charlie’s Angels would be Chuck’s Devils.

To this day I’ve never watched an episode of the show or any of the movies. All I know is it stars three beautiful crime-fighting women directed by the unseen Charlie.

I took the title and main elements from the series and parodied them without straying too far from what made the original work. So far, so good. That was almost where the decent ideas ended.

In the comic, Yu-Ri served as the second-in-command behind Chuck, but can you believe Lily was originally in that role? That’s because she was the only one who would’ve spoken normally. Candace communicated solely in catchphrases (“Solid”, “Right on”, “Dy-no-mite!”), and Yu-Ri only recited southern slang (“Butter my biscuit”, “Madder than a wet hen”).

The concept of the Devils trying and failing to steal things remained constant, but each attempt would have ended with them somehow losing their clothes, perhaps even naked. I probably would have gotten more viewers if I went down that route, but several questions entered my mind that changed everything…

Why are these women stealing? What made them decide to become thieves? How was Chuck able to persuade them?

Hmm… they would probably have some kind of past trauma that would leave them susceptible to Chuck’s influence. As social misfits, they may not have friends or family who could guide them down the right path. They’d only have each other to lean on.

That's when I decided to treat Candace, Yu-Ri, and Lily more respectfully. If the Devils were going to grow and improve themselves, they all had to speak like normal people. Expanding their vocabularies also helped eliminate stereotypes and make them better three-dimensional characters.

Instead of a bunch of botched crimes that could be read in any order, a four part story was constructed spanning 48 sequential episodes. This had a bonus side effect of the comic more closely resembling the format of the TV series it's based on.

Some of my original dumb ideas still crept into the final comic. The Devils end up in their undies a few times, and Yu-Ri says “y'all” every now and then. But I’m glad I chose to make the characters more relatable. Even as their creator, it made me want to see them overcome their problems and reach a happy ending.

Episode 45: Dearly Beloved is here! Yu-Ri and Lily's wedding day has arrived, and their maid of honor Candace has pulled out all the stops to make it special. The former Devils welcome the friends they've made, but a few unexpected guests threaten to disrupt the ceremony.

The Chuck's Devils four-part finale has begun. Meanwhile, the Mini-Devils just concluded their own miniseries at the beach. Now they're engaging in a little role playing as they play Mazes & Monsters!

I hope you've been enjoying the behind-the-scenes posts about Chuck's Devils. I've shared the original model sheets, and explained why I made the comic in the first place. Next, I'll get into my original ideas for the series, and the moment that inspired me to make major changes.