Feel free to peruse the archives. The storylines page contains links to all the major events of the series.

The most popular stories are by far: The Techno-Zombie-Opera (Twitter Saga), and The Fitness Column, so those are great places to start.

Feel free to contact me using the Contact Form, or send me an email at hankinstien (at) gmail.com. I love hearing from you!

For questions about the return of Dorm Dorks, please take a look at the SAQ (seldomly asked questions).

Thank you to everyone who has taken their time to read and enjoy the comic. I had a blast making it, and can’t wait to return to the world of comics, if and when I’m able to do so. Thank you!

I’m always one to overplay the drama. But man, looking at that older comic is embarrassing. I’ve really changed the art style and even character designs over the years. And I think we can all say that a good thing.

Be sure to come back Friday for the finale!

After the end of this week, “Dorm Dorks” will be going on a hiatus.This Friday (April 2nd) will be the last comic for a while.

I’m sorry to say it, but the time has come. I want to express the biggest “thank-you” ever to everyone who’s been reading the strip, everyone who took the time to email me, or talk to me at a convention, or pick up a book, or otherwise give me encouragement. I’ve had an incredible time making this strip, and every single reader out there has made it more than worth it.

I sketched out the first Dorm Dorks strip about five years ago, and since then have made over 500 strips, and I’ve grown leaps and bounds as an artist and writer. I’ve learned a lot from the strip, and it’s the readers that made it possible. So, seriously, thank you!

We still have two strips left, so be sure to come back Wednesday and Friday this week for the final installments!

Until then, I’ve prepared a list of Seldomly Asked Questions, so, by all means, take a look at the S.A.Q.:

What? You’re Quitting? Why?
I’m not hanging up the drawing pen just yet. I’ll be putting more time and energy into my Caricature business (www.24HourCaricatures.com). There are a number of things going on in my personal life, big directional changes, and maintaining the strip is simply no longer viable. For now, I need to pursue a more reliable revenue stream, so by all means, if you want to see more of my work, head on over to www.24HourCaricatures.com and support me that way. Building up that business will help me be able to start making a strip again, eventually, which would be great.

Does that mean you’ll be coming back to Dorm Dorks?
Possibly. I don’t want to put any promises out there, but I would like to return to the strip some day. Comics are my first love, and I’d love to make more. I’ve come to really love these characters, too, and I’d always like to see what they’re up to. On the other hand, I’ve got plans for other strips that I was never able to produce before, so maybe some of those would be able to see the light of day. I’ve got tons of characters and stories that I’m already in love with in my head, that no one else has seen yet. I’d love to have other people fall in love with them, too.

Are there going to be any more Dorm Dorks print collections?
I would love to make a book that collects everything that wasn’t in the first book, which would be about 400 strips or so, but honestly I don’t think there is enough of a market for it. Just crunching the numbers, it doesn’t seem likely that I could recoup the cost of printing them up. But, if there was enough of a swell of interest, maybe we could get that going.

Is the website going away?
Nope. All the strips will still be here for you to read through at any time. And do keep checking back every once in a while, or subscribe to the RSS feed. If and when I am able to return to comics, this is the place I would announce it! Also, you can watch for further announcements on my Twitter feed.

How can I protest this?
I can still be reached via this Contact Form, or just send me an email at: hankinstien (at) gmail.com. I still want to hear from you, so send me a message anytime!

Again, big thanks to everyone! And come back the rest of this week for the last few installments!

I don’t quite understand why it gets such a bad rap among some people. I guess some of it’s more vocal fans are kinda creepy, and that can be dissuading. But really, it’s just a fun game, and I think encourages good problem solving and social skills. And seriously, if you play Warcraft, you can’t make fun of people who play D&D… That’s like a Trekkie making fun of a Star Wars fanatic.

Atleast we can all make fun of Babylon 5 fans.

“Let’s just say I had a troubled past…”

I realized I’d forgotten to add the previous storyline “The Fitness Column,” to the sidebar, and the storylines page. So I added it now, it’s a good time to go back and read it all at once.

I still haven’t figured out if my stories make more, or less sense when you read them in one sitting, as compared to waiting for each separate strip. Good luck.

March 6th, if you’re in or around the Austin area, be sure to come pay me a visit, along with a ton of other fantastic artists and creators. This is always one of the best shows of the year, a favorite for fans and creators alike. For more info, go to www.staple-austin.org

See ya there!

Most of my friends use twitter on a casual basis, including myself (plug: here’s my twitter feed) but I do have a few friends that claim to hate it. It seems like for a lot of people, having a strong opinion about social media is important, so the act of hating it, simply because it’s so widespread, is a way of… I don’t know, showing inner strength, or something. It’s also easy to write off social media as a symbol of decadent American consumerism, or a growing sense of entitlement, or a misplaced notion of extreme narcissism. While there’s a case for all of that (I personally think such arguments are overblown, but thats just me) I found this video particularly fascinating:

Now, the end of the video gives a link to the source for all their statistics. I didn’t go through and try to verify them all, but if these numbers are true, then… holy cow. Also, I don’t know how much these numbers are being adjusted for things like spam bots, and the like. Even with all that factored in, this is pretty interesting stuff. Although I think it’s less about “social media” and more about the internet in general. I think social media is one of many important by-products that the internet brings along with it. The idea of being permanently connected to vast sources of user-driven content gives us a change in how society works — social media is but one aspect of that, and I think there will be more such consequences of the internet that haven’t yet shown themselves.

I obviously find this kind of stuff fascinating, but I’m interested to hear what you guys think.

I didn’t notice this until after posting the strip, but I intended the two hooded guys to be facing each other, the guy on the right has his back to us… but depending on how you look at it, he could be facing us, because of how I drew the shadows. Obviously I meant this as an intentional optical illusion to challenge and entertain your mind, and it’s totally intentional. I’m just that good.

Since then, I’ve heard Thelonius has passed on, but there is a new Albino Squirrel gracing the campus. I’ve also heard stories of lots of different albino squirrels running around various campuses around the country, granting good luck to test-takers everywhere, and I believe the society exists in several chapters on many campuses.

This storyline is dedicated to Thelonius, rest in peace buddy! And thanks for the A in economics!