Comic Art

Giving Up

Webcomic Art

This comic was the season finale for season three, and holds the distinction of the only Running on Empty comic to feature all three main characters together. A very clear ending, even if those two words weren’t in the bottom right corner.

Picture It

Webcomic Art

It became clear to me when season three began that each of the characters would have to have a lucid identifier, since everyone would be seen in silhouette. Jake was the most obvious, with his affinity for smoking and fighting. All it took to recognize Jake was a cigarette butt and a bandage.

Love is Weakness

Webcomic Art

Mr. Dark, the eternally mysterious antagonist of Running on Empty, is pictured here in his natural environment, brooding in some dark room, looking at the world with bitter eyes.

Ragfist: Going Hilt Deep

Webcomic Art

This was the debut appearance of Ragfist, a character who serves to parody vigilante superheroes in the most obscene ways. Consider yourself lucky that you can’t see what he’s telling his young ward.

I Don't Have a Drinking Problem

Webcomic Art

Here’s a very nice self-portrait, complete with my drink of choice and drunk bubbles.

Your Truest Reflection

Webcomic Art

I created this comic to emphasize the differences between Jake and myself, and to create a dramatic standoff between two characters that are so fundamentally similar.

I'll Keep That In Mind

Webcomic Art

I set this comic up as the ultimate comeback to any overly pretentious or incredibly inept observation. This became one of those perfect moments for my fictitious counterpart, where you really get a clear picture of the kind of guy he is.

Who is Mr. Dark? (Remix)

Webcomic Art

This is a reiteration of a previous comic I did (see below), featuring the enigmatic Mr. Dark as a gatekeeper of sorts. The color motif is meant to reflect the Fixed LP by Nine Inch Nails.

The Wretched

Webcomic Art

Speaking of Nine Inch Nails, this image is inspired by the song of the same name, and serves to capture the mental state of a man who is rejected by his peers.

Munching Box

Webcomic Art

This is a serene scene that features a rare interaction between Jane and myself. Naturally, Jane is the necessary female character that serves to keep the boys in check. …Although, she doesn’t have a speaking part in this comic. Whoops.

Scrapper

Webcomic Art

This is what happens when I listen to Mötley Crüe: Kick-ass visuals with no specific script in mind. I figured that I always talk about Jake being a scrapper, so I might as well show it.

Chamber

Webcomic Art

If you hadn’t noticed, Mr. Dark is a villain. Imagining the kind of stuff he does in his free time is what brought this piece to life. Creepy? Absolutely.

Technical Support

Webcomic Art

The idea of Jake being on the other end of a tech support phone call just amused the hell out of me. Here’s a guy who knows nothing about computers, and his advice is more like a doctor telling you to put a cream on it. Notice the nod to Fight Club on his collar.

The Jake Alberts Show

Webcomic Art

Some of my favorite visuals come from me imagining how Running on Empty would look in a theatrical trailer. Jake smiling sadistically at a studio audience just flickered through my head. Imagine the kind of offensive things he’d put into a TV show.

Jake's Fun Facts

Webcomic Art

The concept here is that the joke is written in graffiti on the wall behind Jake. I also just liked the idea of Jake doing his deepest thinking while taking a piss.

The Need for Speed

Webcomic Art

Do you feel the need? Devin Manning sure as hell does. I took the idea of his reflective aviator glasses to the next level with this piece, capturing the rush you get when you multiply the speed limit by two. Or three.

The Good Soldier

Webcomic Art

This piece was partially inspired by Year Zero, picturing a man who is trained to reject his humanity. As you might guess, the script was painfully morbid.

In the Process of Killing Myself

Webcomic Art

You don’t even need the words to get this punch line. This particular comic really typifies the general attitude of the Running on Empty series. Here’s what one fan said:

“Absolutely LOVE the webcomic! ...The adventures of Jake and the others do a perfect job at keeping the ‘fuck it’-attitude up. Keep up the good work!”

What Kind of a Man Are You?

Webcomic Art

I’ve always thought that you can really tell a lot about a character by how they react to a gun to the face. Of course Jake would laugh. What kind of a man smiles in the face of death? Someone who’s been praying for it.

We Can't All Be Hot Bitches

Webcomic Art

Here’s a nice shot I created of Jake talking to the audience. Naturally, he’s complaining about hot bitches.

External Combustion Engine

Webcomic Art

This piece turned out a little differently than how I originally pictured it, but I’m still satisfied with the result. The great thing about dealing in vector graphics is the flexibility of the artwork. For the debris, I just had to take apart the vectorized Chevy Chevelle that I had created for a previous comic.

Blood Vessel

Webcomic Art

This is a concept I had envisioned a very long time ago, but only recently had the ability to create it. Here, a man’s blood vessels burst out of his skin and connect him with the massive chamber that surrounds him. Naturally, the script offered a symbolic analogy to this image.

It Ends Tonight

Webcomic Art

There’s something very dramatic to me about a torrential downpour. Running on Empty has several plot twists woven into it (all my stories do), and I created this piece as a means to reveal at least one of those twists. Just imagine Dan whispering some earth-shattering secret. Very schway.

I Hate

Webcomic Art

I originally wanted this piece to be a very dark photograph of myself, but I could get it to look quite right. I did, however, trace over my eyes, and translate those directly into Illustrator. Can you tell?

Taking Flight

Webcomic Art

This is one of my favorite pieces from season three: Devin jumping a classic car in a Memphis Raines-type escape. In comics, the common method to represent a speeding car is to show it flying through the air. By my thinking, the higher the car, the faster it has to be traveling. Looks like Devin must be closing in on 200 MPH.

Ball-Cupping

Webcomic Art

I’ve always had a fondness for taking something classy and dropping it down a few notches. Lewd conversation? Offensive remarks? It’s the least I can do.

Why Dan is a Pessimist

Webcomic Art

An old photo of construction workers taking a lunch break while building the Empire State Building inspired this piece. My characters had consistently hung out at the Milford Skatepark in season two, so I thought a change of scenery was nice.

Hybrid Cars Are Gay

Webcomic Art

This father-son joke was my reflection on driving a Prius rental, and how emasculated it made me feel. Turns out the artwork would make a great Toyota ad. Go figure.

Strip Clubbing

Webcomic Art

This piece is a nod to Sin City, with the reversed silhouettes. I’m very satisfied with how naturally this came together.

The Hell You Created

Webcomic Art

I created this one on impulse, thinking of someone trying to escape Hell. The trailer from Dark City inspired the green sky. Great movie.

Why D-Man Steals Cars

Webcomic Art

One of the few pieces created mostly in Photoshop. Here, I created all the flare effects from scratch. Not bad.

Romantic and Creepy

Webcomic Art

Why show the characters when you can look at their shadows? This was me just playing around with new ways to represent old concepts.

End of the Line

Webcomic Art

I was rummaging through a bunch of old sketches and found an old thumbnail of a man confronted by an Apache helicopter. I scrapped it, because I didn’t have the patience to draw an entire helicopter. But now, with Photoshop and Illustrator at my fingertips, I said “I can create this in five minutes.” And I did.

Remember When Life Didn't Suck?

Webcomic Art

Here’s Jake and Devin reflecting on life as the year comes to a close. This piece began as an exercise to create realistic grass. I would later use that same artwork to create Jake’s stubble.

Who is Mr. Dark?

Webcomic Art

Mr. Dark, doing his dramatic pose at the end of the world. This is certainly the kind of imagery that would look good in a theatrical trailer. Check out the remix above.

I also created a high-res print of this piece, which is available through DeviantArt.

Believe in Angels

Webcomic Art

A nice dramatic entrance for the Guardian character. I used a Photoshop brush for the glow, but everything else is vector. The pose for the figure was adapted from one of my previous works, found here.

Dating Advice

Webcomic Art

How did the characters wind up overlooking some desert canyon? I dunno. I just thought it looked cool.

You Know My Name

Webcomic Art

This is actually a picture of myself, but with the top half of the head out of frame, it might as well be Mr. Dark. Oh well.

Trevor: Life is a Gift

Webcomic Art

Trevor is the one character done in a completely different style than everyone else. Just my attempt at making a more conventional webcomic character. This turned out to be his only appearance in season three.

God is God

Webcomic Art

Initially, I was going to create a creepy image of Mr. Dark looking at the audience from a distance, but the image changed into this. The character with the cane was slated to appear in season two, but his scene was cut. Who is he? I call him Mr. Light.

I Give You a Choice

Webcomic Art

This was based on an original drawing I had done years previous, seen here. The gun is a Mark XIX Desert Eagle.

Where Do Babies Come From?

Webcomic Art

The first of the father-son jokes, this piece actually set the style of the entire third season. In fact, I created this as a prototype, to see how I could use silhouettes to tell a story.

Jake's Take on Miley Cyrus

Webcomic Art

I posted this strip on Miley’s sixteenth birthday, with Jake offering his very succinct analysis of the young Disney star. Fans ate it up.

The Mindless Clutter In My Path

Webcomic Art

The opening of a Creed song called “Bullets” inspired this piece. One of the few benefits of the seasons is that they offer a dramatic representation of human experiences, from death and despair to hope and rebirth.

Why Didn't Jake Take Over?

Webcomic Art

This piece helped advance the plot forward, offering up an explanation for the lost time between seasons two and three. This initially had several panels, but I ditched that idea for the sake of space. As a result, I stopped doing multi-panel strips all together.

Dark Truths

Webcomic Art

An angled shot of Mr. Dark, whispering something typically morose.

Inhuman

Webcomic Art

I created this one night as a test: Could I silhouette someone on a black background? The real victory here was the red glow of the cigarette tip. …Really made this more dramatic and mysterious than I thought it could be.

Long Forgotten

Webcomic Art

A nice shot of the UMass campus, this piece serves to separate past from present. The comic began at UMass, but had now grown beyond it.

What Weighs On You?

Webcomic Art

I created this as yet another experiment in the new format. I figured I could feature a character thinking, and just fill in the script later. In this case, I never did.

Running on Empty Season Three

Webcomic Art

In anticipation of Running on Empty’s third season, I posted three different teasers on the site’s main page. Each teaser featured one of the three core characters with a tag line that related to their personality.

For Jake, I established the easily recognizable motif of the ubiquitous cigarette and bandages that were evidence of his rowdy lifestyle. The tagline was suitably lewd.

Running on Empty Season Three

Webcomic Art

Here’s Devin Manning AKA D-Man’s teaser ad, where his ever-present sunglasses and long hair identify him immediately. Naturally, his tagline related to cars.

Running on Empty Season Three

Webcomic Art

Finally, Dan (AKA me) is featured, looking contemplative and mildly morose. Before I decided to make Mr. Dark such a big player in the series, I had intended to make my character identifiable by his suit to symbolize that he had recently landed a day job. Thankfully, my hairstyle is just as easily recognizable.