I'm sure most folks will want to talk about The Vinn's encyclopedia entry, but I also wanted to throw this out there: I've been updating my personal timeline for the Drive universe, and thought it might be fun to share it with you. There might be a few things, below, that haven't come up in the strip yet! I can't recall.

Speaking of which: If you spot anything you think I have *wrong* on this timeline, or any key dates I've missed, do let me know!

1870 First Veetan ships begin venturing into space
1980 Renegade pre-Maker's ship has catastrophic accident
2081 Veetan ship comes into contact with a Continuum ship
2258 Conrado finds the Continuum ship
2273 First human contact with Veetans
2291 First human contact with Tesskans/Fillipods. There are skirmishes in and around Tesskil, but it mostly ends there for the Empire... as it will take Tesskans 80 years to get to Earth.
2331 First human contact with The Vinn
2332-2334 Human-Vinn War
2350 "The Rebellion" begins in the Outer Colonies
2365 The Tres Primos begin the campaign against the Empire
2379 The first Tesskan near-light-drive ships begin entering human space
2380-2383 Human-Tesskan War
2384 First Imperial contact with the Continuum
2384 Machito re-christened as a military scout ship
2386 Taneel takes command of the battle cruiser Sevillana
2392-2398 Nosh stuck in Moscow for six years
2398 Nosh joins Captain Taneel's crew
2400 Fernando joins Captain Taneel's crew
2401 Emperor Manuel Jose Cruz murdered. Nosh taken into custody. Captain Taneel relieved of command of Sevillana. Skitter wakes up in prison.

And with the introduction of The Vinn, the final piece of the story appears. More on them next week! Same Bat Time! Same Bat Channel!

Howard Tayler of Schlock Mercenary informs me that the Hugo Award nominations are now open, and that Drive is eligible.

Specifically, Drive's 2011 story-arc "The Tesskan Revolt" is eligible in the Best Graphic Story category. It starts here and ends ends here.

(You're eligible to nominate things if you were a member at the 2011 WorldCon in Reno, or if you pre-purchase a membership for 2012 WorldCon in Chicago before January 31st. And you have until March 11th to do so.)

...Something curious floating through space.

Be it a fish-stick, perhaps? Be it a *salted* fish-stick?

Enquiring minds want to know.

The first Drive Podcast is up, answering your questions about the strip!

Over the Christmas break, I'm going to do the long-promised podcast answering any of your questions about DRIVE (..the strip, the cast, that universe...anything along those lines). Aaaaand, even cooler, I want to incorporate your questions as spoken by you.

Here's a Google voicemail number where you can leave your question: (310) 909-7057 (country code is USA: 1, if you need it). And don't worry: No one will "pick up" when you call...it's just a voicemail box.

When you call, just leave your name, maybe where you're from...and a short, punchy question that can be used on the podcast. Thanks! This'll be fun.

EDITED TO ADD: THE FIRST PODCAST IS UP: The firstDrive Podcast is up, answering your questions about the strip!

Looks like *someone's* comin' out of retirement...

Two things you need to know:

1.) I'll be at the Long Beach Comic-Con all this weekend, at booth #515, with all the Sheldon books, Drive books, posters, and even Arthur sculptures for sale! PLUS I'm giving out free sketches and gen-u-ine, lasting friendship.

2.) I'm also giving a talk on Saturday at 3PM in room 103-B. It'll be a great one for fans of Sheldon and Drive: I'll be taking any questions you like on the strips, the characters, how they're made, and more. And I'll be giving some sneak-peak info into our upcoming documentary on comic strips: STRIPPED. Please come by! The more of you that are there, the better the talk will be.

So! Recap! Long Beach Comic-Con! Booth 515! Talk on Saturday at 3 in room 103-B!

See you guys then!

This week, Tesskans bring a new wrinkle to the "mash the keyboard" technique....