Minions #51 - Frequent Flier

Visit:
THE MINION'S LAIR OF MERCHANDISE
Looking is free - at least until we can find a way to charge for it. We're evil, darn it!

I Can Make You Famous!
Well, for about 15 seconds anyway, which according to Andy Warhol, gives you a remaining lifetime quota of 14 minutes and 45 seconds to save for a rainy day. After all, why blow it all at once by, say, getting out of a limousine without any underwear? Make it last! Simply buy a Minions shirt from our Lair of Merchandise today, and send us a picture of you (or your child, or your dog, or your killer cyborg from the future) wearing it, and we'll post it here for your fellow Minions Lovers to enjoy. Or better yet, buy a shirt once a year, send us a new picture, and enjoy fame through (if not throughout) the next 60 years! Such a deal! (Disclaimer: We reserve the right to edit or exclude pictures in such bad taste that even we won't touch them, or that or unsuitable for family viewing. Not to say that we won't keep our own private gallery here at the lair, mind you. We're evil, darn it!)


Join the Minions reminder email list or the penguin gets it!*. It's free, it's easy, and you'll never miss a Minions at Work cartoon (or if you do, it won't be our fault!)

*Actually, the penguin always gets it, usually well before we do. He's got an IQ of 210 after all...

Notes from the Minion Master:
Still buried here at Minions Central. Our bathroom remodel, which was supposed to take place in two stages weeks apart all happened at once, as our tile guy had a hole open up in his schedule. Also, my first day of jury-duty Thursday (no, they didn't actually put me on a jury). So the bad news is a week of work-disaster for this privacy-craving ("...who dares enter the lair of Doctor Anti-social!") Overlord. Good news is, I still managed to come up with a new Minions at Work in the ta-da nick of time. (And you thought only the good-guys could manage that!)

Minions #50 - Great Expectations

Visit:
THE MINION'S LAIR OF MERCHANDISE
Looking is free - at least until we can find a way to charge for it. We're evil, darn it!

Join the Minions reminder email list or the penguin gets it!*. It's free, it's easy, and you'll never miss a Minions at Work cartoon (or if you do, it won't be our fault!)

*Actually, the penguin always gets it, usually well before we do. He's got an IQ of 210 after all...

Notes from the Minion Master:

As I said last week, nothing too special for Minions #50, but not too shabby either.

Note also the new picture of me in the sidebar, taken last weekend at Radcon, when I was in full-on Evil Overlord mode. Thanks to my friend, writer Rob Vagle for the photo, and Jay Lake for loan of the helmet. Note my wife Chris at left, and her bemused, long-suffering expression. She's been putting up with this for decades, folks...

We're still in both remodeling and deadline (Star Trek) hell at the moment, and I start jury duty in about a week, so no promises on what you'll get in coming weeks. But I'll come up with something. I always do.

- Steve, the horned one...

Minions #49 - Black Thumb

Visit:
THE MINION'S LAIR OF MERCHANDISE
Looking is free - at least until we can find a way to charge for it. We're evil, darn it!

Join the Minions reminder email list or the penguin gets it!*. It's free, it's easy, and you'll never miss a Minions at Work cartoon (or if you do, it won't be our fault!)

*Actually, the penguin always gets it, usually well before we do. He's got an IQ of 210 after all...

Notes from the Minion Master:
As I type this, we're finishing up our weekend at Radcon in Pasco, Washington. We had a good time visiting with fans and friends old and new, signing a few books, and modeling our new Minions at Work tee shirts. We're on our way home in a few hours, but it's a long drive, so I'm cutting the Minions loose a little early.

If you'll check the sidebar, you'll find a few fun changes.

First, a popular features on my newsgroup over on sff.net was my periodic postings of "good names for rock bands." I freely admit cribbing this idea from the wonderful novelist, writer, and humorist Dave Barry. After he started using the concept in his columns as a running joke, I couldn't help start noticing those odd combinations of words that come up in writing, conversation, or that I overhear in public places, that simply beg to be rock bands.

Now I'm moving the feature here where more people will see it. I try to make note of them, and record them for posterity. I'll update the list now and then whenever new names drop out of the ether.

You also note that the quotes from Number One and Number 2 have been changed. I'll try to change them now and then to keep things fresh and provide you with a new source of amusement, so keep watching.

- Steve, Minion Master

Minions #48 - Old story: Boy meets girl...

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THE MINION'S LAIR OF MERCHANDISE
Looking is free - at least until we can find a way to charge for it. We're evil, darn it!

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About this week's comic: Well, I almost chickened out on this one. Not only is the punch-line pretty edgy, but of the three previewers I showed it to, two thought it was very funny, and the third thought my Minion was a guy, throwing a whole unintended spin on things. Not that I might not go there if that was the point of a good joke, but it wasn't...

I put it aside to consider pulling it or doing a reshoot. I also ran it past my homies on the "Minions Reminder List," and when the was overwhelmingly positive, I just posted it with a title that I hope clarifies all -- uh -- dangling gender issues. Just to be triple-clear, this Minion 67, our new female Minion. Really.

Anyway, it seems appropriate that I held this little romance back closer to Valentine's day anyway. Hope you like it. Hope you're still speaking to me. I do value all your opinions, so if you think things are funny, not funny, offensive, edgy, too edgy, not edgy enough, let me know. This isn't a democracy by any means, but I do listen and value your opinions.

And remember, as always, this is a parody, and all celebrity action figures are impersonated. No super-heroes were harmed in the shooting of this cartoon. (Whoops, I said "shoot" again!)

Next weekend Chris and I will be at the Radcon science fiction/gaming convention in Pasco, Washington, signing books, participating in panel programming, and generally trying to seduce some new folks to join us in the Minion way. The panel for next week is all but done, so barring technical difficulties on the road it should appear Monday (or perhaps even a little earlier).

One thing that does have me concerned, is that Blogger's little housekeeping robots flagged my other two blogs, Multiplex of the Mind (devoted to writing and other serious stuff) and One-Sixth (my hobby blog mainly aimed at fellow collectors of 1/6th action figures, rather than the general public) as "spam blogs." They locked the blogs so that I couldn't add new posts.

This shouldn't be a major point of concern. Somehow something about my blogs was tagged by the robots for the "no-fly" list. But supposedly all I needed to do was email them (done) and a real human would drop by to verify my non-blog status and allow me to post again. But this could take four business days. It hasn't happened here, but I can't say for sure that it won't. If we did get flagged, in theory we shouldn't be off-line more than the afore-mentioned four working days.

Minions #47 - Back to the Future

(Stay tuned following our usual reminders for some additional important information about today's cartoon.)



Announcing (for those who didn't catch it already) our new URL! You'll now find your weekly Minions fix at www.MinionsAtWork.com! The old addresses will continue to be forwarded, but the new address is easier to remember so you can more easily check Minions at Work on the go, or pass it to your friends.

Visit:
THE MINION'S LAIR OF MERCHANDISE
Looking is free - at least until we can find a way to charge for it. We're evil, darn it!

Join the Minions reminder email list. It's free, it's easy, and you'll never miss a Minions at Work cartoon (or if you do, it won't be our fault!)

About this week's comic:

Have a feeling of deja vu? Don't be alarmed. It's a common feeling for time-travelers.

Actually, this is a fill-in comic, as the one I'd had planned to post this week was held back for further scrutiny. Yeah, I knew I was pushing the "bad-taste" meter on this one, but one person I showed it to interpreted it in an unexpected way that was not intended, and which took it into way more controversial territory. So I have to figure out if I should just release it, scrap it, or put it out with a disclaimer to make sure nobody gets the wrong idea. I'm leaning towards the latter (and that's probably what I'll do), but I wanted at least a few more days to mull it over, and maybe run it past another pair of eyes or two. So I pulled this one out of the drawer instead.

Speaking of Time Travel
No, you did not miss Minions at Work #46. I realized after posting last week's cartoon (#45) that I'd screwed up the numbering. There were two posts previously made as #42 (I was probably confused by the "bonus" posting of #43) so I'm skipping a number to bring things back into order.

So, you did not miss #46. There is no #46! Or rather, #45 was #46. Confused? That's part of our plan! We're evil, darn it!

- Steve, Master of Evil plans, if not numbers.

WWW.MINIONSATWORK.COM!

I've just bought the Minions their own domain. That means our new official address is "www.MinionsAtWork.com." You shouldn't notice any changes (we're still being hosted by Blogger), and the old address will be forwarded, so all your old links will continue to work just fine. The only difference is that our new address will be easier to remember. Now you can more easily check Minions at Work no matter where you are, home, the road, work, the library, whatever you happen to be near a computer, and it's that much easier to share Minions with your friends.

Shortly, I'll likely be updating the Cafe Press designs to include the new URL as well.

Minions #45 - Uncivil Disobedience

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Notes from the Hall of Injustice
This is the most Minions you've ever seen at once. It's not all the minions. I think I have two more on standby, but pretty much every established Minion is here.

The "Hall of Justice" is a nod to the watered-down 70s cartoon version of "The Justice League of America" called "Superfriends" The Hall of Justice was their headquarters. Of course "Hall of Justice" is also the name in many localities for the courthouse or police headquarters, but our intention is more in the super-hero direction this time.

This is also the first ever Minions cartoon without a caption. It just didn't seem to need it, especially if you pay close attention to those signs.


And just to be clear, they guy on the bus bench isn't intended to be Richard Marchinko. It's another guest appearance by my "mini-me." I've really got to put some more gray in his beard one of these days.

Still Looking for Links
There's a new "Thanks for the Link" feature that we'd like to point out. We need to get out word about "Minions at Work" to the world a large. If you have a blog or web page, we'd really appreciate a link, either in a post, or on your permanent favorite links list. Tell us about it, and we'll link your blog or page back to our "Thanks for the Link" section. We'll keep the latest ten or twenty on the list, depending on how much response we get.

Minions #44 - Off the Beam

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THE MINION'S LAIR OF MERCHANDISE
Looking is free - at least until we can find a way to charge for it. We're evil, darn it!

Join the Minions reminder email list. It's free, it's easy, and you'll never miss a Minions at Work cartoon (or if you do, it won't be our fault!)

Our New Look (and a call for links)

As you can see, we're making lots of cosmetic changes here. We've added direct links to buy my books, we have links for the Minions store, and there's a new "Thanks for the Link" feature that we'd like to point out. We need to get out word about "Minions at Work" to the world a large. If you have a blog or web page, we'd really appreciate a link, either in a post, or on your permanent favorite links list. Tell us about it, and we'll link your blog or page back to our "Thanks for the Link" section. We'll keep the latest ten or twenty on the list, depending on how much response we get.

About Those Shirts

We ordered some samples from our new Cafe Press shop and they came in this week. I got an "Exploding Silo" tee for myself, a "Evil Nature" ringer tee for Chris, and a toddler "Evil Nature" tee that is a hit with everybody we've showed it to. Chris and I will be modeling our tees at Radcon, and the toddler tee will be mailed off to a very special young model. Hopefully I'll have pictures to share here pretty soon.

So far, I've very pleased with the quality of the merchandise and the level of service. Things were sent promptly, communication was excellent, and we got a UPS tracking number to follow our package across country. Plus, the shirts look great. I really should include the URL here in the design though, so I'll be making changes down the road. Hey, these early-design shirts could turn out to be valuable collectors items (yeah, right), so get them while they last.

Personal appearance update:

Chris and I are (weather permitting) scheduled to appear at the Radcon Gaming and Science Fiction convention, Feb. 16-18 in Pasco, Washington. Many other cool people there, including science fiction legend Larry Niven, authors (and definitely cool people) John Dalmas and Jay Lake, and science fiction artist Bill Warren (I've got several of his pieces in my personal collection).

It should be great fun based on our experience last year. If you're in the northwest, I encourage you to drop by and say hi.

Update

We're now running on Blogger 2. I've had to update the template that controls how things look, so I've made a few changes. I've added links to the sidebar for the Lair of Merchandise, and so you can purchase some of our recent books from other on-line vendors. I've also added some now graphics over there.

Please let me know if you have comments, complaints, or if you notice any glitches in the translation.

Thanks,

- Steve, Format Overlord

Minions #42 - Briefing, Plus Bonus #43!

Be sure to check the end of the post for a special bonus Minions at Work, in honor of the new season of 24. (Which is, of course, 42 backwards.)



Visit:
THE MINION'S LAIR OF MERCHANDISE
Looking is free - at least until we can find a way to charge for it. We're evil, darn it!

Join the Minions reminder email list. It's free, it's easy, and you'll never miss a Minions at Work cartoon (or if you do, it won't be our fault!)


Bonus Minons!



(Okay, I'll confess here, that I've never actually watched 24, though it comes highly recommended. In fact, I still have the season one boxed set in shrink wrap, waiting for a seriously dead week (I've been warned not to start it unless I'm ready to finish it, soonest...)

A better link for the Cafe Press shop

When I tried looking at Minions at Work from my laptop in an effort to order some of my own shirts (two for Chris and I to wear to an upcoming science fiction convention, and one to send to the granddaughter) I couldn't see the banners with the links! Seems something (probably Norton) was blocking them as banner ads. So here's another try. Link to the shop here.

And here's the plain text link, that ANYBODY should be able to cut and paste into their browser.

I'm going to be updating the Template that controls the appearance of Minions at Work in the next day or so. It may cause some minor glitches in the short term, but it will allow me to use new Blogger tools which make changing things (like adding a link to the shop into the sidebar) much easier. So if you check in and things look funny, don't panic. Post a comment (preferably to this post) to let me know what's happening and I'll get it fixed.

Thanks!

-Steve, Evil Overlord of Templates

Minions #42 - Out There

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Notes from the Minion Master:

Remember, if your shirt is not red, you will live forever. Okay, maybe not forever, but at least you won't get all the salt sucked out of your body by a rubber monster before the first commercial.

By now, you must be asking yourself, "oh, wise Minion Master, where can I possibly find a shirt that is not red?" Funny you should ask...


Introducing (in case you didn't already read our mid-week post announcing it) the brand new, long-in-the-works-but-not-released-until-now Minions at Work Lair of Merchandise! Because nobody demanded it, we've set up a Cafe Press shop with a whole range of Minions goodies, from hats and tee-shirts, to office accessories, to a Minions teddy-bear. Pretty much nothing is beneath us if it will make us a buck or two. (And that's about all it will make us, but every little bit help offset the ongoing expense of bringing you Minions at Work every week. Of course, you could also just buy a pile of our books. I wouldn't complain.) Maybe my favorite item: A "Walking the dinosaur" dog tee-shirt, based on Minions #17.

The designs are still in flux, so we appreciate your ideas and comments.

To start shopping, just click on the logo below...

All our shirts are guaranteed not to be red. We make no promises though, if you wear one of our Minions shirts and start calling yourself "Number 13." That's your call.

And what if you're the kind of lazy, cheap, no-good mooch who just reads Minions at Work every week and does nothing at all to support it, not even inflicting it upon their friends? Well, actually we're kinda good with that. It is, after all, evil, and that's where we're coming from...

- Steve, Minion Master

Buy Minions Gear!

Now, just too-late for Christmas, the brand new, long-in-the-works-but-not-released-until-now Minions at Work Lair of Merchandise! Because nobody demanded it, we've set up a Cafe Press shop with a whole range of Minions goodies, from hats and tee-shirts, to office accessories, to a Minions teddy-bear. Pretty much nothing is beneath us if it will make us a buck or two (and that's about all it will make us). Though sorry, no "Weapons of Moderate Destruction" are currently offered. Maybe my favorite item: A "Walking the dinosaur" dog tee-shirt, based on Minions #17.

The designs are still in flux, so we appreciate your ideas and comments.

To start shopping, just click on the logo below...

Minions #41 - Don't Look Now

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Join the Minions reminder email list. It's free, it's easy, and you'll never miss a Minions at Work cartoon (or if you do, it won't be our fault!

Notes from the Minion Master:
Happy New Year to all of you out in Minion-land.

A big Minion-welcome to Doctor Coldblood, the first of our Evil Overlords to make an on-screen appearance. Coldblood's evil plan is to use his artificial volcanic lair to spew greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, thus creating a greenhouse effect that will heat the Earth back to what he considers dinosaur-friendly temperatures. Of course, his volcano is still years from completion, and Doctor Coldblood doesn't get out much. He's going to be so cheesed off when he finally reads a newspaper or turns on the Discovery Channel.

We'll be seeing more of him, and some of the other Evil Overlords, as time goes on.

-Steve, Minion Master

Minions #40 - Seasonal Work

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Happy holidays to you folks, whatever flavor you may chose to celebrate (even if it's only "Annual Go to an Uncrowded Movie Day"), and our best Minions wishes to you and yours.

Well, come heck or high-water, we managed to pull our special Christmas Minions at Work off. Yet another storm is blowing through, and the lights have been flickering, but if I can just send this post before the pow

CLICK

Minions #39 - Dancing in the Dark

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A Status Report from the Lair:

This could have easily been the week without Minions. While things have been quiet with the Gulf-coast's hurricane season, the global-warming demons seem to have moved over to the Pacific, where we're seeing our worst storms in over a decade. Last week, Minions Studios was lashed by 90+ MPH winds, cut from civilization by closed roads, and plunged into darkness and cold for seemingly endless days.

Well, the lights are back on here at the Lair, but just barely, and I wouldn't call things "back to abnormal" by a long-shot. We've got power, but many of our friends and neighbors don't. (One friend still has four 40 foot trees down across his driveway, and all his utility lines, plus his vehicle is trapped behind those trees. Of course, the trees could have landed ON his truck, or his house, so it could be worse.)

Obviously, Minions hasn't been foremost on my mind, the technology on which the Lair depends has mostly been down, and the inventory was looking pretty thin. But sitting here, trapped in the cold and the dark, you learn things. You learn to hang in there. You learn to make do with whatever resources you have. And there, in the black, sometimes inspiration will strike.

So here you go. Back from the black, Minions-style.

Next week (major acts-of-God aside) come back for a special Holiday Minions.

See you then.

- Steve, Minion-Master and Under-the-Weather-Overlord.

Cat got your email? You may be a WINNAH!

As promised, I'm happy to announce the winner for the brand new ALIAS novel signed by the author (and also my wife) Christina F. York. Sorry I didn't do this sooner, but there were technical issues extracting the list of names for me to work out. And then there was the matter of how to randomly pick just the right slip of paper. For help with this, I called on our Cat Sydney, named after ALIAS super-spy Sydney Bristow, and adopted just after Chris finished the book. Take it away Sydney!



And so, the winner is:

(cue the drum-roll Minion...)

WILDWOLFCAJUN!

Congratulations, my friend. If you haven't already answered my private email, please send me a mailing address, and we'll get that book right out to you!

Thanks to everyone who participated, and members of our weekly reminder list can look forward to other drawings down the road.

Minions #38 - Interstate Irony

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Join the Minions reminder email list. (I'll be announcing the winner of the drawing for the signed ALIAS book shortly. Sign up now for future prize drawings!

Today's Panel: Okay, once more to the interstate. I know, I know, but this is probably my favorite of the series...

Given the weather here on the Oregon coast, and heavy book deadlines, this is probably the last outdoors Minions shoot you'll see until spring. Too bad, because I've got one all lined up that requires a nice day on the beach.

Minions #37 - Just Another Day at the Lair

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Join the Minions reminder email list. Just one more week to enter our free drawing for an author-signed copy of a brand new ALIAS novel. At that time, all list members (must be set to "individual email" delivery) will be eligible for drawing to win a signed copy of my wife's upcoming ALIAS (based on the cult TV series) novel, A TOUCH OF DEATH. Sign up today!

News Item: Happy Feet leads the North American box office for the third week in a row. Ironically, the Minions penguin (he has a name, but I'll keep it to myself for the moment, in case there's a joke in the reveal somewhere) has been in the works for months, and this photo was shot and scheduled for this weekend long ago, with no thought of a certain then-obscure animated penguin movie.

Minions #36 - Accessories Not Included

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Join the Minions reminder email list. In two weeks, all list members (must be set to "individual email" delivery) will be eligible for drawing to win a signed copy of my wife's upcoming ALIAS (based on the cult TV series) novel, A TOUCH OF DEATH. Sign up today!

Minions #35 - Automation

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I'm traveling again this week, so I'm cutting this loose a day early (while the internet access is good).

Minions #34 - E Ticket Ride

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What, you don't know what an E ticket ride is? Okay, I admit, if you're even a little younger than I am, it's possible you don't. Well, I'm not going to tell you, but I will clue you that it has something to do with Disneyland and the early days of Disneyworld. This is the kind of vital question that Google was invented for. Go look it up your own darned self!

Don't miss out on another exciting mystery like this one! Join our weekly Reminder Minions Reminder Deja Vu Reminder list. No chic-chat. No spam (well, I plug our books once in a while, but only as part of your weekly update, so no extra messages in your in-box). Just a tap in the shoulder and a quick round up on what's happening with the Minions this week. It's free, it's easy, and it will improve your sex-life.

Okay, that last part is probably not true. The evil voices in my head told me to type it. I blame repeated use of the Concussion Beam.

But join anyway:
Click this if you want to live...
Damn those voices! Damn! Damn!

Minions #33 - Busted!

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No, I didn't screw up and post the same cartoon twice. I came up with this shot for one caption, and then came up with two more even better! So this won't be the last time you get deja vu all over again. And heck, I just love how this one turned out so much, I can't see it enough. Hopefully you will indulge me...

Speaking of the reminder list, JOIN!:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MinionsAtWork/

Minions #32 - This guy walks into a bar...

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Posting (slightly early)remotely today from the Space Center at Huntsville, Alabama. Chris and I have done drive-by book-signings at Dothan, Montgomery, as well as here in Huntsville. Headed back west to Oregon tomorrow. If all goes well, I'll be back at Minions Studios Monday evening.

Note, I'm traveling for about two weeks with limited internet access, so if things fall a little off schedule, forgive me. The cartoons for the next few weeks are lined up and ready to go, but I have to get to the internet to set them free! This could disrupt the reminder list as well. What access I do have, getting the cartoons posted gets priority over everything else.

Speaking of the reminder list, JOIN!:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MinionsAtWork/

Minions #31 - Unsafe at any speed

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Note, I'm traveling for about two weeks with limited internet access, so if things fall a little off schedule, forgive me. The cartoons for the next few weeks are lined up and ready to go, but I have to get to the internet to set them free! This could disrupt the reminder list as well. What access I do have, getting the cartoons posted gets priority over everything else.

Speaking of the reminder list, JOIN!:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MinionsAtWork/

Minions #30 - Listen to your friends

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Please! Share Minions at Work with your friends, family, enemies, and perfect strangers on the street! Heck, even if they're imperfect. You know, like one eye is just a little bit higher than the other.

And a different color.

And on the back of their head.

Don't miss out on any Minions fun! Join the Mighty Minion Mulching Society by signing up for our weekly email reminder list. To join, visit:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MinionsAtWork/

Get that guy with the funny eye to sign up too.

Joelanta - The End

Well, we've pretty much run through the Joelanta material, so that's the end of the bonus stuff for now. Tom sent me the attached imaged as-is, and I thought it was a fitting end-cap to the series.

Thanks again to Tom for coming up with the idea, kitbashing the Minions, and taking the shots. Also thanks out to Buddy Finethy and the fine folks at Joelanta for allowing Tom to do his thing, and to Mike Gardner whose wonderful zombie diorama was the backdrop for many of these cartoons. Also additional thanks to Tom, who sent me the two Minions he created to add to my regular Minions crew. Thanks, Tom!

Bonus Joelanta Minions #9 - Security Leak

Click on image for full-sized version.

Bonus Joelanta Minions #8 - Secret sauce

Click on image for full-sized version.

(Note from Steve 10/14/06: I just spotted the typo in this. Siigh. I'll fix it at some point. Just not right now.)

Bonus Joelanta Minions #7

Click on image for full-sized version.

As promised, I hope to squeeze a few more out of the photos Tom sent, but life has been busy this week.

Not my most tasteful joke ever. Not to pick on Koreans or Korean food. In some respects, it could have been almost any kind of ethnic or regional food, but I'm especially suspicious of a cuisine that includes rotten cabbage. Okay, I also wonder about people who soak perfectly good fish or corn in lye, or eat snails, or boil peanuts. (Okay, maybe you should be suspicious of people who boil peanuts, but I'm from Alabama and I love the darned things.) Of all the possible choices, Korean just sounded funny. Plus, it's newsworthy.

Minions #29 - Misdirection

Click Image for full-sized version.

We should be able to manage a few more bonus Joelanta Minions panels this week, so keep checking back. Thanks again to Tom Brooks for coming up with this idea and executing the shots.

Remember (well, the whole point is, what if you don't remember) that you can sign up for our Minions reminder and newsletter email list. You'll get a reminder each week as we post new Minions, plus news and other bonus goodies. Visit here to join. It's free and easy.

Bonus Joelanta Minions #6

Click Image for full-sized version.

Bonus Joelanta Minions #5

Click on image for full-sized version.

Bonus Joelanta Minions #4

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Bonus Joelanta Minions #3

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This is the first of a series of panels shot in an amazing multi-room zombie diorama constructed by Mike Gardner. Mike was nice enough to allow Tom to actually place his Minions inside the diorama and shoot them there.

Mike and friends are apparently working to turn all this stuff into an epic photo-story called "The Final Outcome." You can find more information here (and see how Mike actually got one of his zombies signed by George Romero himself!).

Watch for more of Mike's amazing diorama through the rest of the week. You ain't seen nothing yet!

And a reminder, join the legions (well, several) folks who have already signed up for the Minions reminder and secret-handshake mailing list. Sign up here.

Bonus Joelanta Minions #2

Our Joelanta specials continue. Scroll down for this week's regular Minions at Work cartoon.

According to Tom, this tank appeared at the table of Toy Chest and Collectables. No information on who made it, or if this is a one-off custom or something that had for sale. Perhaps someone out there has additional information.

Tomorrow: those zombies I've been promising! Really!

As a reminder, we've just created our new Minions reminder and newsletter mailing list. Sign up and get email reminders when new cartoons appear. Members will also get access to exclusive Minions features you won't find anywhere else, and I'm planning some drawings down the line with the chance to win prizes. So sign up today. Join here!

Bonus Joelanta Minions #1

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If you're looking for our regular Monday Minons cartoon, scroll on down. It's there. But as promised, this is the first of our bonus Minions toons created by me using photos from Minons uberfan, Tom Brooks, taken at the Joelanta GI Joe show in Atlanta, Georgia last weekend. We'll be posting a new bonus panel every day this week, and maybe beyond, depending on how long the pictures, jokes, and my time hold out.

According to Tom, the happy fellow in the picture (no, NOT Minon No. 1A!), is Buddy Finethy, Joelanta's organizer, who was kind enough to allow Tom to shoot around the show.

Stay tuned, as Tom found us some fantastic stuff. Okay, one word to tease you with: Zombies!
Be there!

Minions in your mailbox!

By popular request, I've created a mailing list to provide weekly reminders about the latest Minions at Work cartoon, sent directly to your email box. Members of this announce-only list will also get exclusive commentary, the chance to win free books and other prizes, and more. To sign up, go here.

Minions #28 - Pick Up Line

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Be sure to check the previous post for some exciting news and some bonus Minions content, with more to come throughout the week! That's right, keep checking back for some extra-special guest Minion cartoons. No waiting till Monday this week! (Though we'll be back Monday anyhow.)

Remember, just click the booby-trapped envelope icon below (no, it's harmless -- really -- probably --) to send this week's Minions at Work cartoon to a friend! Or an enemy! We really don't care!

Minions Fan Art (and bonus Minions for you!)

From the beginning my philosophy has been that "Minions at Work" is a cartoon site that happens to use action figures, not an action-figure site that happens to have cartoons. In other words, my goal is to make this entertaining for anyone with a bit of pop-culture awareness, not just people who (like me) collect action figures. But given the unusual nature of our format, it's hard not to have things blur sometimes. For example:

Tom Brooks, who I know from my action figure discussion lists, sent me the attached cartoon and a suggestion. As you can see, Tom had followed my basic "recipe" and kitbashed (that's hobby-talk for combining existing parts to create something new) his own set of Minions characters. Let's just call them No. 1A and Number 13A. Tom was headed to "Joelanta" this weekend. Joelanta is one of the country's premiere shows for GI Joe and 1/6th action figure collectors, held in Atlanta, Georgia, and he wondered how I'd feel if he shot some photos of his Minions at Joelanta, in essence, providing some "on location" reports.

After some discussion about how we'd go about it and his getting an okay from the Joelanta organizers, I gave Tom the okay. We decided that he'd shoot some interesting shots, then send them to me for editing and captions. I wasn't sure what to expect, and I figured if the geek content was too high for the general audience here at Minions at Work,, I could post them on my hobby blog (pure action-figure geek content, visit at your own risk) One Sixth.

But as it happens, what I've gotten from Tom so far is really good stuff, and I think we can do some jokes suitable for general audiences. So come back here all this week for a series of special "Guest Minion" panels from Joelanta.

And as a preview, as a thanks to the Joelanta folks for their cooperation, I did a special Joelanta tribute Minions cartoon for them. You can find it on the Joelanta blog here.

So buck-up, Minions fans. In addition to your regularly scheduled Minions, you're going to get a whole bunch of bonus content this week! Thanks to Tom, Joelanta, and all the nice folks there who helped Tom get his shots (to be named later).

#27 - Minion Lore

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Share the Minions at Work link with a friend right now! Come on! You know it's the EVIL thing to do! Click the envelope icon below and just type in their email-address. Do it! Don't make us let loose the dinosaurs!

And Now, a Special Message from minion Number Two


(Note: The opinions expressed by Minion Number Two are his own, and do not reflect those of the staff, management, cast, crew, or anybody else remotely connected with Minions at Work.)



Hey! Can't you see I'm off the freakin' clock here!

But yeah, before you start your complainin', we freakin' know that the "All I need is a tall ship" line comes from the poem "Sea Fever" not "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner." Did you know it until you Googled it, you wussie? Probably not. I'll bet you thought it was from Star Trek! What a loser!

Anyway, this is "The Rhyme of the Ancient minion," not "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner." Can't you freakin' read?

I bet you've never even met the Ancient Minion, have you, freakin' moron? Now, get out of my face-mask. Geeze.

Minions #26 - Till the "Cows" come home

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Minions #25 - Two Minions Walk into a Bar

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Goofy jump-suits. They just seem to go with the job.

Note that we've added the little envelope icon to the bottom of each post. Clicking on these makes it easier to email your favorite "Minions at Work" cartoon to a friend. Try it now!