Last Kiss has been appearing in Germany since late last year and last week we passed a bit of a landmark: over 100 Last Kiss strips have now been translated into German.

Why German?

Well, I’ve been writing Disney comics for over 20 years and Disney comics are still very popular in Europe. So my name was known there even before I started Last Kiss.

One German site even devoted a whole page to my life and work. The site’s owners (Gerd Syllwasschy and Peter Kowalewski) eventually became big fans of Last Kiss and…well, suddenly I’m in German–three times a week!

My thanks to Gerd, Peter, Joachim Stahl, Constanze Maier, and the other translators for making me (possibly) funnier than I am in English!

Click on image to see spectacularly larger view of today’s comic.

I love doing single-panel gags. Good, quick punch lines are a joy—if not forever then at least a couple of seconds.

But I also enjoy writing actual stories. And few stories have brought me as much pleasure as “Widow Miss Muffet.” Mainly because it gave me a chance to work with Dick Giordano.

For quite awhile now, I’d been thinking of serializing one of my comic book stories on the web. But which story? After Dick passed away on March 27, I realized that “Widow” had to be the story.

Dick Giordano helped make Last Kiss possible. He was there from the start–although I wouldn’t meet him until years later.

The first Last Kiss gag I ever wrote featured romance art by Dick. All of my Last Kiss comic books have had Giordano covers. And I’ve recycled Dick’s old art (to his great amusement) for countless snarky Last Kiss gags.

In addition, Dick (when asked) was generous with valuable info about comics, artists and (Gasp!) life itself. And—to top it all off—he agreed to draw “Widow” for me.

Unfortunately, it was the only time we ever worked on a story together.

So enjoy. Subsequent episodes will be smaller. But they’ll be often. In fact, the next one is tomorrow!

Love & Last Kisses,
John

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? To read this comic in German click here.

This is the second of two Last Kiss comics that’ll appear in the “food” issue of the new Slam Bang anthology that debuts April 24, 2010 at the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo (S.P.A.C.E.) I won’t be there, but Slam Bang publisher (and Last Kiss colorist) Allen Freeman will be selling Slam Bang at his table. Drop by, tell him you’re a Last Kiss fan, and get a free Last Kiss note card.

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? To read this comic in German click here.

It’s a dog’s life…if you’re lucky!

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? To read this comic in German click here.

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? To read this comic in German click here.

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? To read this comic in German click here.

So maybe he can afford to date her–for now. But what happens if things get serious? Even at half price, could he afford the honeymoon?

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? To read this comic in German click here.

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? To read this comic in German click here.

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? To read this comic in German click here.

I love this guy. He’s so smug. You just know he’s up to no good!

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? To read this comic in German click here.