I’ve been meaning to write a review of Zach Weiner’s webcomic collection Save Yourself, Mammal! ever since I got it a couple of weeks ago, but seriously, if you’re a fan of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal then just go and buy the book, OK?

And if you’re not, buy one anyway. His comics are really funny. Bonus: it includes a snarky "choose your own adventure" series of tiny cartoons.

And hey – I’m saying all this even though there is not a single, solitary instance in the book of his using one of his cartoons featuring a beloved red-bearded balding astronomer. Not one. And yet, somehow, the comics manage to be awesome.

Full disclosure: I was going to give this book a positive review even before Zach offered to draw my new Twitter avatar, which is me as a baby, because the way he draws babies always makes me laugh. The shirt he gave me in the picture though was totally a bribe.

Have you bought the book yet? C’mon, folks. This post isn’t going to pander itself.

And now for something completely different:

[Click to see the whole comic.]

I’d assume that’s me, except I don’t wear cargo shorts. But he has perfectly captured my eyebrows.

I’m guest hosting for Kiki on "Dr. Kiki’s Science Hour" today, interviewing Zach Weiner of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal! If I have everything coded correctly, then from 4:00 to 5:00 Pacific time today you’ll be able to watch the streaming video live below:

[VIDEO REMOVED BECAUSE IT WAS AUTOPLAYING. And besides, the interview as days ago now.]

If you see nothing above this line, then a) I did it incorrectly (but it works for me), 2) something’s wrong on your end, γ) try clicking here for the stream at TWit TV (where there is also a chat room), or ∞) the interview is over. But it’ll be archived on Kiki’s website and I’ll link to it when it does.

My pal Zach Weiner is a good guy. Smart, funny, talented — and he draws Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, my favorite web comic bar none. And it’s that last bit which has elevated him into my exclusive pantheon of personal heroes. Let me tell you this tale (and you can read Zach’s version too).

On Thursday, he posted this cartoon:

Pretty funny, and like most of his stuff, also kinda true. What it isn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, is an endorsement of "traditional" modes of insemination, or an indictment of the homosexual lifestyle.

But that’s how the National Organization of Marriage interpreted it. This is a group that believes marriage should be between a man and a woman, and you can imagine how I feel about that. To give you an idea of how low this organization goes, I’ll remind you of this truly vile and despicable ad they put together a couple of years ago against gay marriage.

Yeah. So this group decided somehow that Zach’s cartoon supported their cause, and they used it on their site. Thing is, they hotlinked it: instead of grabbing the image and uploading it to their server, they linked it straight from Zach’s server. So whenever someone went to the NOM site, Zach’s server had to send the image. Hotlinking is a big net no-no; it puts the burden on the other person’s server (that they pay for, as well as for bandwidth, the amount of data sent), and is considered at the very least to be rude.

But from that group, which espouses hatred and inequality, it was far more than merely rude to Zach.

[UPDATE: My mistake: Zach doesn't mind hotlinking his comics, so the above is incorrect. It was just, and justifiably, the intolerance and bigotry of NOM that prompted Zach's following actions!]

So he decided to play a prank. (more…)

I see the web comic Tree Lobsters is learning a lesson from Zach Weiner: unfettered pandering will get you mentioned on my blog:

Of course Tree Lobsters didn’t draw me torturing my kid, or sending childish drawings to the Pentagon, so it has that going for it.

Sir Zachary Weiner,
His head now much leaner,
His ginger tresses ethereal,
No longer float in his Saturday morning breakfast cereal.

As always, Zach Weiner is correct in his Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal comic; astronomy is the most romantic science. But then, it has to be when he includes me in the strip.

At least, I assume that’s me. It looks like me, it looks the way he’s drawn me before, and he’s met my wife, who has blond hair as does the woman to whom the astronomer in the strip is relaying the permutations of his love.

Plus I got quite a few tweets and emails saying it was me, too. So yeah, I’m going with it. And I’ll add, Zach, I love you more than there are stars in a cup.

Oh yeah: the comic is probably NSFW. That’s usually the way to bet with SMBC.