[Cubes]
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[SeaLeft Studios]

The History of Cubes
By Richard Hoover

1997 - 2001
In 1997 the first Cubes character, Hot Dog, emerged as a series of rough sketches drawn in the margins of various university notes. The character went through several minor design variations before the definitive drawing was pencilled.

Hot Dog was intended to be a parody of standard super hero conventions. Through the use of polysyllabic pretentious parlance and ponderously posed pictures, Hot Dog would combat crime and be a hero to the citizens of the city of Gray Lassie (a somewhat tortured anagram of Calgary, my own home city).

[Original Hot Dog Cast]
Original Hot Dog Cast (Left to Right): Hot Dog, Mole Sidekick, F. L. Ine, Mindy Minx

Back in those university days, several other characters emerged, including the crime boss F. L. Ine and the reporter/love interest Mindy Minx. Hot Dog was also originally going to have a small mole sidekick, but this character ultimately evolved into Hot Dog's main source of information Vinny the Snitch.

2002
For years these characters languished unused in the pages of old course notes. Then, towards the end of 2002, a prominent comic book publisher decided to take general submissions for a comic anthology. The comics needed to be originally formatted to fit in an 800x600 web browser and would later be formatted, bound, and published in hard copy.

[Vinny the Snitch and the Racoon Brothers]
Vinny the Snitch and the Racoon Brothers

The chance to have a comic published was alluring and so the first issue of Hot Dog, Canine Defender of the Innocent, was created. This issue introduced the previously developed characters Hot Dog, Vinny the Snitch, and F. L. Ine. The comic also added a new group of general lackey villains, the racoon brothers. As something that amused me personally, the only named one of the racoon brothers was a slightly deranged character called Plotor, which is part of the genus name for racoons. Although the comic wasn't chosen for publishing, it was still a fun experience to work on.

2003 - 2004
In late 2003, the next Hot Dog project started. The Hot Dog weekly strip was produced once a week, with new strips usually being posted on my cubicle wall on Mondays (though sometimes this slipped to later in the week). The goal with this new strip was to tell the origin story of Hot Dog. Here we learn that Hot Dog's alter ego is Frank Retruf, a slight twist on frankfurter (again another thing that amused me personally). We also got to meet Frank's friend Cedric, a new enemy Mister Mustard, and the previously created reporter Mindy Minx.

[Characters from the Hot Dog weekly strip]
Characters from the Hot Dog weekly strip (Left to Right): Frank Retruf, Cedric Dubois, Marvin Mallard, the evil Mister Mustard, the good Mister Mustard

The weekly Hot Dog strip was designed to follow the format of daily strips, just on an expanded time schedule. For every six black and white strips written, a seventh double-sized color strip, to represent the color Sunday installments of dailies, was also written. The storyline ran from 2003 to the end of 2004.

2005
It wasn't until 2005 that the Hot Dog strip came under the Cubes title, and the rest of the Cubes characters were created. Working in an office setting, as a computer software developer, I was exposed to many situations that I thought were inherrently funny. It was in September of 2005 that I decided to write a comic strip based on these office occurrences.

When I first sat down to develop the new strip, I wrote a fairly lengthy list of ideas for different gags. At the same time, I thought back over my years in the work force, thinking of different people I knew. Conglomerating various characteristics from different people, I developed the cast of what would become Cubes.

While sketching different characters and thinking of different ideas, it occurred to me that the new strip could be set in the same world as Hot Dog. From there it was an easy step to add Hot Dog's alter ego, Frank Retruf, to the cast. As an aside, it was indeed a conscience decision to add Frank and had nothing to do with any inability to draw different characters.

[The Cast of Cubes]
The Cast of Cubes (Left to Right): Stan the Office Ghost, Christie Holt, Ralph Black, Veronica Teyl, Karen Andinus, Max Tomson

With the characters and situations established, all that remained was the name for the strip. Since the stereotypical view of office work involves people in cubicles, I felt that should play some part in the title. Obviously the title "Cubes" came from a shortening of this word and seemed somehow fitting. The title also seemed to be a good umbrella title under which to keep all things in the Cubes world, including Hot Dog.

The new Cubes comic strip was different from Hot Dog in several respects. First of all, instead of being a continuing story, the Cubes strips are a series of standalone gags. The humor in the strips is based very much on real life situations that have been twisted just slightly. This subtler approach is in contrast to the more over the top nature of the Hot Dog adventures and seems to appeal to a broader range of people.

The second major difference between the Hot Dog and Cubes comic strips was the release schedule. In 2003/2004, Hot Dog released on a weekly schedule. Working on the strip in my spare time meant I could only do about one a week. When I started working on the Cubes comic strip, it was with the intention of persuing other Cubes projects as well. However, doing a strip every week didn't afford enough time for these other projects. Thus the Cubes comic strip is released twice a month on the first and third Wednesdays.

With the Cubes comic strip receiving positive reviews from friends and family and the Christmas season looming, the end of 2005 seemed the perfect time to introduce the first series of Cubes postcards. Eight cards were created in total, featuring the various Cubes characters in different Christmas scenarios. As an interesting note, the character Ralph Black, head of SeaLeft Software, was featured in the Christmas cards even though he had not been introduced in the comic strip to that point.

2006
Back when the first Hot Dog comic was being developed, I had actually written two scripts. In early February the second script was resurrected to develop the second issue of Hot Dog. This issue was to introduce the new enemy the Scrambler as well as another ally of Hot Dog, chief detective Bogun, who previously appeared briefly in the last panel of the first Hot Dog comic.

[Chief Detective Bogun and the Scrambler]
Chief Detective Bogun and the Scrambler

At the same time that work started on the new comic, a friend from work came down quite ill. To help lift her spirits I created four new "Get Well Soon" postcards, the first of which I sent to her.

Between working on the regular Cubes strips, the postcards, and the new Hot Dog comic I decided I needed a break from the regular pencilling/scanning/inking process used for all drawn Cubes projects. Work on the second Hot Dog comic was suspended in early March as a new project began.

Development on the computer game "Quack V: Omelette of Doom" started in March. The original idea was that Quack V would be a game you'd be playing if you lived inside the Cubes world. In order to tie the game in more with the rest of the Cubes projects, both the Scrambler and detective Bogun from the second Hot Dog comic were used as characters.

Quack V consumed most of the Cubes project time during the year, except for the regular Cubes strip and a few new postcards that became the "Happy Birthday" card set for 2006. Work on the game was finished in early December and the game was made available as a free download online about a week later.

With the computer game finished I wanted to return to the second issue of Hot Dog. A big push saw the issue completed over a period of two weeks, which left just enough time before Christmas to prepare a set of six new "Merry Christmas" Christmas postcards. This last set of postcards finished off the Cubes work for 2006.

2007
As 2007 dawned, I took the opportunity to review all of the Cubes projects to date. Between the different comics, strips, postcards, and the Quack V game there was a lot of accumulated material. It seemed the ideal time to make it all available online.

It took far longer to organize everything for display on a website. The needed preparations took the better part of the year. Finally, in September CubesComic.com went live, collecting all of the Cubes stuff in one place for the first time.

The time and effort needed for the website meant that there weren't any other big Cubes projects for 2007. However, it was still possible to squeeze in another set of six "Merry Christmas" postcards as well as a couple new "Happy Birthday" postcards.

On the Cubes semimonthly front, new character Honey Klim was introduced into the staff of SeaLeft Software as the third year of the strip began its run. Honey was brought in to help manage a large contract but, when introduced, seemed to be more hindrance than help. Honey was part of a storyline in Cubes that stretched to the end of the third year of the strip in 2008. This marked the first conscious attempt to run an on-going story.

[Honey Klim]
Honey Klim

2008
The big, big news early on in 2008 was the January release of Koala Smith. Koala Smith and the Apple of Elppa was a new comic with new characters set in the Cubes world. The comic was introduced by a few other Cubes characters where it was revealed that Koala Smith was an action-adventure TV series.

The new comic introduced the titular character Koala Smith, played by actor Sid Davidson, and Koala's bookish partner Doc, played by Gareth Flect. Dodging deadly traps and escaping ever increasing perils, the two search the world for lost treasure and artifacts. If hazardous undertakings have a name, it must be Koala Smith.

[Koala Smith (Sid Davidson) and Doc (Gareth Flect)]
Koala Smith (Sid Davidson) and Doc (Gareth Flect)

Koala Smith was the first comic to benefit from having the website. This provided a place where small banner advertisements could be displayed in the weeks leading up to the comic's release.

Also advertised for before its release was the third issue of Hot Dog, Canine Defender of the Innocent. Released in February just before Valentine's day, issue 3 introduced the new villain Heat Wave, a diminutive penguin thief. Storywise, though, the main focus of the comic was on the proper introduction of reporter Mindy Minx to both Hot Dog and his alter ego Frank Retruf, laying the foundation for the inevitable love triangle to come.

[Heat Wave]
Heat Wave

Hot Dog issue 3 also attempted to draw the different parts of the Cubes world together a bit more firmly. Guest apperances were made by characters from the semimonthly Cubes strip, the first two issues of Hot Dog, the Hot Dog weekly strip, the new Koala Smith comic, and even a few new characters not yet introduced in any other project.

As year 3 of the Cubes semimonthly strip drew to a close in September, the year also saw the release of its third full comic issue. Cubes issue 1 wrapped up the ongoing mystery of Honey Klim and saw her departure from the strip as a regularly recurring character. Have the SeaLeft Software staff really seen the end of her? Only time will tell.

In October CubesComic.com bowed to the pressure of "iMania" with new downloadable iPhone and iPod Touch background images. These one-off images showcase different characters in the Cubes universe. Some fit within the day-to-day Cubes world while others are more fanciful. New backgrounds released on the second Wednesday of every month, between the regular Cubes comic strip installments.

2009
As year 4 of the Cubes semimonthly strip continued over into 2009, several shakeups were introduced for the characters. In a mini story arc running in January and February, Ralph Black announced his semi-retirement. This opened the door for Veronica Teyl to become the new general manager of SeaLeft Software in addition to her marketing duties. Both of these moves were intended to provide new opportunities to better utilize these characters, who did not appear as regularly in earlier years of the comic strip.

[Hope Calers]
Hope Calers

In June, the Cubes office was again turned on its ear with the introduction of new character Hope Calers. The new technical writer/software trainer was added due to increasing requests for just such a character. Hope's character was carefully formulated so as to help bring out new aspects of the existing characters in the comic. Unlike Honey Klim from a year previous, Hope was always envisioned as becoming a permanent addition to the regular cast.

The next full length comic was added to the website at the end of September. Cubes Issue 2: Road Trip saw most of the Cubes cast taken out of their regular office setting and sent on vacation to the city of Los Mula. At 19 pages, this comic was easily the longest to date.

2010
Throughout year 5 of the Cubes semimonthly strip, Veronica Teyl found herself becoming more and more overwhelmed and exhausted from her new general manager duties. At the same time, a mysterious rat, dressed in ye olde pirate clothes, began searching for her.

During this period, the oldest plot thread that had been going on through the Cubes semimonthly series was finally resolved. Christie Holt finally graduated from the University of Gray Lassie. This thread tracked back to year 1 of Cubes where it was revealed that Christie was a co-op student while attending university.

[Christie's University of Gray Lassie Friends]
Christie's University of Gray Lassie Friends

As an interesting side note to Christie's graduation, her convocating classmates can be seen alongside Christie in one the strips. The designs for these classmates had been worked up previously in preparation for a potential story centred around university life.

At the conclusion of year 5, the next full-length Cubes comic, issue 3, took up the story. The rat was revealed to be one Captain Anton Neil, a former singing sensation turned recruiter. The Captain took Veronica away from the SeaLeft Software offices for a singing career.

Veronica's departue left a hole in the management structure at SeaLeft Software. While the rest of the staff did their best to carry on, there was a growing uncertainty among them that carried into year 6 of the semimonthly series.

Apart from the events going on in the semimonthly series, a new postcard section was created for the Cbues website. This time up, a new postcard was added for "It's a Baby!".

Late in 2010, in mid December, work began on a new Cubes computer game, the first since the release of Quack V in 2006. But that's a tale for another year.

2011
Continuing from work started in 2010, the Cubes world was expanded again by another computer game that also revisited the characters of Koala Smith and Doc. The Corridor of Consternation released in late January and put players in the shoes of Koala Smith as he avoided ancient traps within a long lost tomb. The game came complete with an exclusive Koala Smith comic interwoven into it. The pages of the comic set up each level of the game.

Hot on the release of the new Koala Smith game, the previous game in the Cubes canon, Quack V, was revisited. An updated version of Quack V was released that squashed a number of bugs and provided a few minor graphical and gameplay imporvements from the first version released five years earlier.

Meanwhile, in the ongoing Cubes semimonthly series, to fill the management void left by Ralph and Veronica's depatures, the character Honey Klim returned to the strip as a regular cast member.

[Veronica's Singing Transformation]
Veronica's Singing Transformation

Following Honey's return, several ongoing story threads continued going on. The main cast kept tabs on Veronica, watching her go from thin to not-so-thin in a manner similar Elvis Presley. Karen grew more concerned about her relationship with actor Gareth Flect. Max continued his dabbling in a writing career.

As year 6 of Cubes wound down in the summer, the fourth full length Cubes comic book was released: Cabin Fever. With Veronica recently returned to SeaLeft Software, the whole gang headed off to Ralph's lakeside cottage for a much needed break. Through bad travel directions, swamp monster attacks, and coffee overdoses, Gareth prosposed to Karen who accepted after some soul-searching.

Year 7 of the Cubes semimonthly strip then picked up the story. The comic took a shift towards the more lighthearted as the nuptials of Karen and Gareth began to be planned and showed hope for the future.

During 2011 the postcards available for Cubes expanded into new territories. New postcards were created both for housewarming events and for weddings.

2012
The big thread running through year 7 of the Cubes semimonthly strip was obviously the preparations underway for the impending marriage of Karen Andinus and Gareth Flect. That's not to say that was the only important event during the year.

The most controversial event was the apparent killing of the entire main cast of Cubes. This took place over a multi-part story arc. The story generated the greatest feedback of any Cubes material ever.

[Karen and Gareth's Parents (Left to Right): Charlene Brevis-Andinus, Douglas Andinus, Wendy Flect, and Victor Flect]
Karen and Gareth's Parents (Left to Right): Charlene Brevis-Andinus, Douglas Andinus, Wendy Flect, and Victor Flect

Nearly five years after the accidental beginning of the relationship between Karen and Gareth, the two finally tied the knot in the fifth full-length issue of Cubes. Due to the necessities of a wedding, this issue introduced the parents of both Karen and Gareth.

[Snake, Wattle, and Wool]
Snake, Wattle, and Wool

The wedding also provided an opportunity to finally, properly introduce the Cubes rock band Snake, Wattle, and Wool. The band characters can be seen, individually or together, in various stories going as far back as Hot Dog issue 3.

As one story thread ends another begins. While Karen and Gareth were going off into their happily ever after, Max found himself embroiled in controversy. Through a series of unfortunate incidents, both Christie Holt and Hope Calers thought themselves to be Max's date at the wedding. Max, meanwhile, had made other arrangements. The future looks awkward for the fedora sporting cat.

[Sly Filcher]
Sly Filcher

As year 7 of the Cubes semimonthly comic gave way to year 8, the whole Cubes world was put into upheaval as the economic bubble burst. This precipitated the addition of the new character Sly Filcher into the SeaLeft Software offices. Sly's job was to reduce costs and increase revenues and he immediately started looking sharply at what everyone else on staff was doing.

The world of the Cubes continues to grow and evolve to this day. I have ideas for a good number of different projects yet to tackle and the future looks bright indeed.

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Copyright © 2003-2024 by Richard Hoover. All rights reserved. No reproduction without permission.