Like it sez, season four is currently on hold, mainly because I don’t have enough hours in the day to create new comics. I’m just that busy. Of course, I still write comics every day. It’s just a little time consuming to get the art down.

So in the meantime, explore the site, check out some old comics, smoke a butt, and lie down for a while. And if you really miss me, send me a message, and tell me how much you want to see more of ROE.

I’ll fill this in later. Here’s some filler:

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You don’t really have to give a shit about socially acceptable music when yer toolin’ down the highway, singin’ along to the Spice Girls or what. But the second you get a passenger, yer heart starts racing every time the track advances to the next. Sure, I enjoy the hell out of Miley’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” but try explaining that to my brother’s hard-nosed friend, when the song comes up on the back-end of a Metallica beat. This is the same asshole who wouldn’t let me in his car because I was wearing a scarf on a cold winter night.

So yeah, always be mindful of what you can and can’t play in the company of others. Here’s an overview:

Top 5 Unacceptable Artists

1. Cher
2. Madonna
3. Britney Spears (and boy bands of her era)
4. Miley Cyrus (and other Disney singers)
5. Michael Bolton

Top 5 Acceptable Artists

1. Sublime
2. Eminem
3. Led Zeppelin
4. Pearl Jam
5. Aerosmith

Top 5 Unacceptable Genres

1. Disco
2. Easy Listening
3. Classical/Orchestral
4. Musical
5. Country (borderline in most cases)

Top 5 Acceptable Genres

1. Rock (and subgenres)
2. Hip Hop
3. Reggae
4. Metal
5. Electronic (rock-based electronic is safest)

Keep in mind that personal preference can be whatever you want; this isn’t a judgment call here. You just need to consider yer audience.

I had a lot of fun creating this one. I had the pose sketched out, but I had no idea that it would turn into something this hellish. As per usual, my best work comes out of those quiet moments of despair.

Logging on to Facebook always makes for a depressing read. Seeing all those faces enjoying life… going to parties and traveling the world. And then there’s the damn friend count, an arbitrary measure of how many people love us. Reminds me of a time in school when a kid came up to me and asked if I would be his friend. I said “sure,” and he happily walked off. Never saw him again. I later caught wind that a few kids were trying to see who could make more “friends” in a single day. Kinda the real-life equivalent to the Facebook thing.

But just for the hell of it, I took a look at how many friends each of my Facebook friends had. Most of them were in the three digit range. The youngest were in the thousands. I dunno what game their playing. “Yeah, I have 1,500 friends. That means 1,500 people would let me crash at their place. I never spend a night alone. MY WEEKENDS ARE BOOKED SOLID!” Yeah, well. I’m just gonna diddle myself and go to bed early. How about that?

Maybe I’m reading too much into it. After all, more online friends could just mean you spend a crap load of time online. I always have to specify “Facebook friends” from actual friends. Facebook friends are just ghosts. A name and picture. Probably someone I knew once that I’ll never see again. To me, it’s a short list of all the people under 30 I’ve ever had a meaningful conversation with. If that.

So yeah, the fewer the better. Because the people you can really count on seem to measure in the single digits. At least, that’s what’s true for me.

Welcome to season four. You didn’t think I’d bring it back, did you?

Well, I gotta tell ya, it was a lot harder than I remember to create one of these damn things. I was pouring over page after page of bad jokes, trying to find something I could be happy with. And as I noted at the end of last season, my jokes are so horribly graphic that I can’t publish them in good conscience. …Not that I won’t. But I’d like to build up to them first. So here I am, starting in with the clean stuff. The wholesome stuff that’s safe to show yer mom.

So it’s been a little over a year since this comic went on break. My life’s been all over the place, from the depths of despair to the highs of everyday misery. No, that’s not fair. I’ve had a little bit of happiness come my way. Putting together this new site was a huge accomplishment for me, and I’m very satisfied with how it all came together. And today’s comic makes full use of the expanded size offered by the new format. I’m also making an effort to utilize Photoshop more frequently, since that’s what my day job has made me an expert at. What will that mean? Probably a crap load of lens flares. Hh.

Take it slow. Take it easy. See you next time.

Welcome, or welcome back, to Running on Empty. In the past few months, I’ve redesigned and reformatted the site, making it easier on the eye, and a little more inviting for the small audience that this comic has. So what’s new? Well, the comic itself is slightly larger, and in the upcoming season, it will be dedicated mainly to comedy. The entire supporting cast is out, and the boys are in.

What else? Extras, including wallpapers and avatars. Links to the best sites around. Commenting. Sharing. Hell, I even threw in a random button at the bottom of each comic, just for you.

So there it is. A new site. A new season. I’ll see you when it starts.

This comic actually marks the first time all three main characters have interacted with each other. Although, I did find a comic from season two that featured all three of the guys, but I never published it. The punchline was too morbid. ‘S funny… as in-yer-face as this comic is, the jokes you see are actually the least offensive ones. Did you know that Jake was originally intended to be a murdering rapist? Crazy shit.

So this is the end of season three. The art was better, the format larger, and the writing… I dunno. As I said, 90% of my scripts are too graphic to publish. I might have to use a pen name to publish this shit, because I just might be destroying my own.

So thanks for reading. My personal website (see below) is being overhauled, and will feature many of the comics from season three without dialogue, including some you haven’t seen. Soon after, I’ll be redesigning this site, make it easier for me to update, and allow a little more user interaction. This’ll all go down in as little as two months, or as much as two years. Who knows? I’m gonna stay liquid.

See you next time. Hope you enjoyed it.

Love,
Daniel

I wuz on vacation last week. Today, Jake offers up a response to Mr. Dark’s previous observation, throwing a humorous spin on a morbid theme. Thank god.

In other news, Destructive Fiction just got a major facelift last week, with one hell of a homepage. Daniel Beadle.com is next, with a new design, and the coding is under way. That should be up this fall. And, of course, Running on Empty will be getting an overhaul as well. I’m guessing a hiatus is dead ahead while the site goes in for repairs.

I had no intention of creating a comic tonight, but I couldn’t help myself. Pissed off, feeling waves of anger wash over me. I can either pound booze and numb myself like Jake, or create something that expresses that moroseness.

It’s always been interesting to me how I react to seeing a happy couple. When I was younger, I saw hope. That evolved into jealousy, anger, resentment, hate… But ever since 2005, I feel almost nothing when I see people in love. Almost nothing, because I’ve started to feel amused. It warms that place that my heart used to be to know that nothing good ever lasts. Love is temporary. Pain is forever.

Fuck it all. I need a drink.