Aw, I’m surprised in you. :( How could you ever doubt Jeff Smith’s awesomeness? I saw Shazam at the library and picked it up immediately (…it helps that I work there so I practically live there) and then ended up buying 2 copies for 2 different people last Christmas/Chanukah. Fortunately my sister took the hint and made sure I got a copy too.

I actually recently recommended it as a family read to a frequent family at the library. :)

As for the plot direction, I have to say that I can’t think of anything particular I want to see. Everything you come up with is fun and I’m sure however you decide to go I’ll be happy. Keep up the good work, you guys. :)

*taps chin* Ananth.. you know. You pose a good question. Where could AG go in 2009? I’ve been a reader since the beginning and have watched AG grow as it has. Here’s a question or a possible direction suggestion; how about the looming question: “What happened to Frost after the big explosion in Japan (See Comic 303, Last Panel)?”

It’s just something I was thinking about… what do you think?

I agree with Zan that a look at Frost’s whereabouts would be interesting. If you’re looking for more of a light-hearted storyline, perhaps bringing Alice’s babysitting adventures with Ashley and her plot for revenge back would work.

anyone else notice the lack of boobies since hawk’s been gone?

yuko is a great artist, i’ll give her that. but the lack of boobs is so anti hawk.

god i feel so juvenile typing that…

AG has felt a little distracted lately and not going in any real direction.

Story lines and story arcs are awesome since they leave the reader wanting more.

Here are some quick thoughts:
- Frost’s next chapter for revenge, new scheme, etc.
- Eve becoming more independent, powerful, quirky, etc.
- Gina finishing college and taking on her next role in life, whether that includes descent into alcoholism, underground fighting circuit, cook, mobster, etc…
- New troubles for Jayce and Gina as their relationship grows.
- Hawk starting a new quest to define what he wants to do next.

So many things can spring from these topics, and you already have ideas. So, how about a major story focused around issue in Gina’s life?

I thought Naku was a cool character.

I would have to say the whole Frost revenge thing should be dealt with. Actually, maybe that is already happening with Hawks missing power suit… hmm…

Yuko’s freakin Amazing! She was definitely the best choice for doing fill-in comics!

I’ve also been a long time reader of applegeeks and have seen so many interesting things done with the story line. As far as what I would like to see in the future? Hmm that’s a tough one. I wouldn’t mind:

- More about Jayce and Alice’s relationship
- Maybe another little Gina arc?
- Hawk get a job…
- I agree with others in saying that the Frost revenge should be closed.
- I also agree with another comment that it would be nice to see Eve gain more independence.

Hope this helps! : )

I like the Frost come back idea. gives it the action edge you’ve been missing for a bit.

But also, one word/name: Josie.

OohOoh!! Yeah, like Saijoi said, I’d like to see more Josie too!

Also agree with everyone else on the Frost revenge thing, and Eve becoming her own person

Yuko Fillers-work for me

Story Stuff-I gotta echo several others, more Josie, Frost, and Eve. As a side note while reading megatokoyo, with ed and dom repping sega and sony, frost would have been funny to rep nintendo.

I want to see more of the comic book style crime fighting….I think it was Hawks best art!

I don’t really want to mess with whatever formula you have worked otu for your writing since it obviously works really well.

As for something I’d like to see though I’ve always wanted a nice little Eve/Gina arc. I’m not sure how it would work but the two of them are always fun and interesting together. Plus they’re personalitites play of one another really well.

I want to see something completely different.

Bring it more down to earth. Don’t bring the situations to the characters; let the situations build out of them. Have them pursue something, besides just Eve and her schooling. Delve more into the relationship of Hawk and Jayce, maybe give us some backstory.

Breathe a little life into it. Conflict, personality, inner drives, purpose, a little maturity, consistency, and location (bring them somewhere tangible).

Nothing’s happening, it’s just situation after situation. I can’t relate to it. I feel like it’s filler episodes one after another, and yet we don’t learn any more about these characters. It’s flat.

DO something. That’s what I want to see.

Personally Id like to see more of Josie and Little Ashley. We always got that “her mother is an alien” vibe but it never went anywhere.

Hmm… interesting opportunity.
Well, maybe some more serious stuff happening with Hawk and Eve as superheroes? Him (with his hawkarmor, and maybe other hawkstuffs, natch) and Eve vs. Frost’s revenge would be _very cool_. By far my favorite part of the AG storyline was Eve’s destruction of the Apple Store and the subsequent story line, through Japan, etc. So yeah, some stuff in the direction would be cool.

Either way, the comic’s still awesome and so is the filler art :D.

I still love the comic and everything, but everything that has been going on since the Japan trip seems to feel a little like filler. I’m glad we got to dive back into light hearted territory again, but it’s been a while and I would really like Frost to show up again. I’d also like a bit of focus on Gina and why she has dreams about falling…How exactly does Gina feel about Hawk, anyway?

MOAR SQUIRREL!

Thank you, has a nice day.

I’m sure I don’t fit your “profile” reader, as I am female,40ish and use a PC but I spent Christmas vacation reading all the strips. Funny is Funny I don’t care who ya’ are. I enjoyed the humor bits. Squirrel. Hawk aways reading the situation wrong. The hell kid.
I’m not going to agree with the Frost’s revenge crowd. It was Hawks revenge playing out..and Ninja’s are always cool. IF it was the real world then if Frost knows about Hawk then so will Frost’s competition. You would have miles of material just tapping in to Hawk’s paranoia and the potential of Homeland Security being interested in him and or his work. Eve would be the prefect solution to so many of HS “problems”
I’m glad to help you out but really you’ve done just fine.

Showing off Eve’s destructive powers would be nice. Points on Jayce’s and Alice’s relationship. Mac going on a rampage and eve stopping him would be to cool, or even a romance for Eve. Hawk needs more cool inventions. More Squirrel!

Maybe if someone found out about Eve being a robot, like that guy from college who was interested in her. I’d like to see someone outside of her inner circle discover her secret.

As for Gina, honestly, I don’t really like her too much. I don’t hate her at all, but don’t think she is as interesting as the other characters. I do find it odd how she ended up living with them, though. (possible ties to Frost? An informant?)

There was a nice storyline surrounding Jayce’s father, but what about Alice’s family? I’m sure it may not be as interesting as Jayce’s, but it could be fun to know.

Also, I liked Josie.

Maybe homeland security catching onto Hawk’s inventions?

And I agree with everyone else: Frost’s Revenge sounds nice.

MAYBE: Josie comes in as homeland security tries to take Hawk’s inventions (especially Eve) as part of Frost’s revenge and everyone has to protect them and this time Alice’s family plays a role?

Not that I expect you to use that, but something like that would be pretty sweet.

Thanks Ananth and keep up the sweet writing!

The squirrel is always fun, it deserves an arc.

Ashley, somehow saving the world

How about EVE bumping into the Bunnisher? (If there isn’t some sort of ban on Naku appearing in AG…) Maybe EVE as a crimefighter decides to change an IT firm’s computers to macs? And in doing so… causes the wrath of the sys admin.
(What superhero comic doesn’t have two hero’s duking it out).

Hey guys! I’m not responding to most individual comments because it would probably be too misleading or revealing as to what’s getting my gears turning, but suffice it to say I am reading, and you’re all being very very helpful! Please, keep ‘em coming! :D

You know, it would be interesting to see Eve find a new friend, especially if that robot was an android, and Hawk got jealous? I mean, Hawk DID create her to be his “girlfriend”, but lately he’s begun to look at her more paternally, at least as far as I can tell. He could be so worried for her, he just takes things too far, like always!

Being this far down on the list I don’t know if this’ll get read and I always feel bad giving suggestions to writers and creators since it is in fact YOUR work not mine. But you did ask, so I’ll oblige.

In going with the Frost theme people have suggested — Frost was Hawk’s best friend and yet there still no (to my knowledge) explanation for why he suddenly left and turned on them. I’d like to see a more calm, sit-down-and-figure-it-out story arc or finale with Frost and Hawk to find out what happened. Why did Frost suddenly turn on Hawk? Why is he a bad guy when he was Hawks best friend? Maybe that’s been covered and I just missed it (I didn’t become a regular reader till around issue 200 and haven’t read the archives in over a year).

Other things I’d like to see are more info on Gina — her background, her relationships, etc. The little arc when she left after the Exodus chapter was very well done but only wet our whistles — it didn’t really give any information or satisfaction.

I’m presuming Josie is out for good, so I won’t ask about her, although I really liked her and Hawk together.

Eve is of course entertaining in her own right but doesn’t quite feel… I don’t know, real? Granted it’s all a comic and Hawk being an inventor is fantastical enough, but focusing on Eve as a main character for even more arcs seems too generic, and you (Ananth) and Hawk have always been good at keeping things original. I’d hate to see Applegeeks fall into the “android trying to understand humanity” sci-fi archetype.

Jayce and Alice could be interesting because I don’t think they’ve ever really been explored. (Again, I may be wrong — I should probably reread the archives during my downtime at work to see if any of these things are already done.)

I’m actually enjoying the few comics Yuko’s done — it’s interesting to see people who know another side of Gina. I guess she’s kind of a favorite of mine so that might be why I’m pushing for her to be flushed out more. Although that’s always risky… I wanted Boba Fett to be flushed out more, too, then Lucas decided to flush him out and down the toilet with Episode II…

I really enjoyed the dark Eve arc, it brought serious tones and major character development to the comic. Not that I want the whole comic to be darker, but it was a nice break from the usual and it really had me on the edge of my seat. Or maybe I just like Eve, I dunno. The other commentators all had great ideas, I’d love to see any of them implemented. But my vote is more Eve, she’s a great character.

Hawk’s lost suit could have been claimed by Frost and now Hawk & Co. needs to build a new suit to stop the newfound chaos with the crazy tricycle girl.

I think I think I would like to see a little dark. I enjoy bright stuff well enough, but I always find myself wondering how characters would react when the feces hits the fan. Crisis always shows you another side of people, I would like to see that.
Truth be told, I doubt that it’ll happen. Which, to me, is a shame because i believe you guys could do a very nice job with it.

Just my two cents.

Plot ideas, eh?

I’m gonna have to join the rest of the group when I say that we need more Frost. Also, please do progress on the idea of old Mac with the power suit. Plus, maybe another Ashley arc with some more detail on her mother.

As cool as it would be to have some dramatic overlying arcs, I personally think it would be nice to have something more down-to-earth, but in a way that shows more insight into the characters and their personalities. Sure, we already know all the characters, but how well? That’s why I particularly enjoyed Gina’s arc about going back to college and thus. Perhaps some real interaction between the characters? I suppose that’s one reason why I enjoy the comic Questionable Content so much.

But of course, seeing what happened to Frost would also be a nice way to close up some gaps in the story.

Not much spotlight has been given to Alice, Hawk has EVE and his b00bies; Gina her “family(what little we have seen) and Jace his dad and choices to go where he wanted. Along those same lines does Hawk even have any family? Granted it has been a while since I read the archives…

What is that makes Alice as mature as she is, and was there something underlying in her reaction to Hawk putting an override into EVE?

But mostly kudos to you guys, thanks for the great comic and may this year be even better than the last.

A Frost/Hawk battle would be a fantastic idea. It would go great with Hawk’s super hero persona.

Maybe he creates his own android that is a Dynamic Analytical Windows Neurobot, a ‘learning’ android that gathers information using Windows Vista. He calls her…D.A.W.N.!!! Get it? Dawn and Eve?
No good?

It goes without saying I am a huge fan of this comic and wood like to thank you both for the incredible amount of work you both put into it. As I was trying to come up with the anagram for Dawn, I thought this was appropriate.
Damn, Another Webcomic Nerd

wood = would, because I don’t look at what I type

Maybe something along the lines of revisiting Frost and Jayce’s Dad and all that

I’ve always viewed Jayce as a good representation of yourself. Having seen how everything’s evolved from day the early days, only good can be expected from your work Ananth. Granted, I think Wilder’s Way would be a great source to revisit for future material, even if only in a dream type scenario of one of the characters.

My first idea was “eve’s first date,” but you already stopped that back when she was trying out school, so here’s what I thought of next:
I just sorta skipped down, so I don’t know if this has been said yet, but how’s this? In running with ‘Eve gets more independent,’ why not have her discover these new cool social networking sites…. that are actually dating sites! She could inadvertently set up a bunch of dates, and then go on all of them, one by one, expanding her experiences. :)

Also, doing something with the old computer that Hawk dug up (his name escapes me).

If there is any direction I would like the comic to steer towards it would be one where Hawk goes face to face against Frost again. Who with me on this!

Haha it looks like a pretty big movement for Hawk vs. Frost.

Anyway I hate to comment again but I have to say that I’ve not been too interested in the Gina plotlines, and I’m not really sure why. Sure she’s a conflicted girl who’s rough-around-the-edges, but why do I care about her?

Oh and Old Mac with the power-suit would be nice to see again.

Regardless, it’s your work and you can do whatever you want with it. I’m sure any spark these comments started will develop into an awesome story idea for you =)

One I didn’t see a comment on, I would like to see more background on Jayce and his dad. The subject has been flirted with on and off through the series, but never fully exposed. We do know a lot more about him than we did, but still so much area left to see and hear. Why he is so against him, the front for all his father’s activities, etc.

Love the comic, been reading for a long while. even converted to mac not too long ago *strokes iMac*

-SPC Anthony Snow
U.S. Army, Wiesbaden, Germany

I’d be interested in seeing the relationship between Hawk and Eve more defined.. Sometimes he’s more friendly with her, sometimes more parental – although in Japan it seemed that Eve was dissapointed that she wasn’t more of a girlfriend to him.. Not that I’d like this comic to turn all anime-mushy, but it would be interesting to watch them come to terms with what they really mean to each other..
(Just my .02)

Eve’s serious fight scenes beginning in the Apple store were just amazing. It shows that you can take the story in new directions from just being light and humorous. And when we saw the epic APPLEGEEKS: 2.0 I was expecting more of that, but it sort-of fizzled out with everything returning to “normal,” and staying that way.

I would love to see more of that action style, in terms of art and writing. I would like to see Eve mature faster than a human child would, or perhaps she could have moments of extreme maturity, and at other times revert back to the innocent, adorable child-like state we see now, like when she sees a picture of a dinosaur!

“Do dinosaurs eat robots?!” lol.

RECAP:
*More action
*Eve matures/Eve has spontaneous moments of extreme maturity
*Eve has more kickass fight scenes

Thank you!! <3

Hawk needs to be a bit more hightech. LG is working on a cellphone/video watch! ..I know james bond already did it but Hawk would not let LG trump him on that sort of device!

I dunno if this has been said, but maybe a background story for ashley mother? I mean, we pretty mush have ashley covered, so she could just act as comic relief, not as a big part of the story.

I would prefer not to go into relationship territory; it seems to always result in the comic losing its original vision. Just don’t dig up any previous villains that the comic would be better off without (like a certain Buckley has done).

What ever happened to the “Got Root?” hat?

i would like to see the guy from comic 456 – Relationship to meet Eve soon and have some sort of story around that

i agree with a second evil android and the frost ideas. maybe take it further and have frost working for Microsoft and build the android for them. or have like hawk’s crime fighting interrupt a microsoft ninja hit squad sacking a apple store. (replaceing ipods with zunes!!!!) as a way to reveal eve to them. and a like secret council of microsoft execs hire frost. to build an android thinking eve is an apple’s new trump card. could end the arc in a mass produced vs eve fight. just some ideas have been following the comic for years and what ever direction you choose to go ill continue to read.

Starting out…Love the story, the art and Yuko’s doing great job.
I’m really not into super-heroics as a main theme, I prefer the “skirmishes as a result” theme better such as the Tokyo incident. The problems come to their door instead of looking for them.
Alice’s past would be interesting. Her ability to handle the situation with Ashley hints at some kind of special experience and I don’t think Ashley would pass up on the possible power that the trinket’s on her mom’s mantle may give her. As a whole I think adventure’s are the way to go, with Hawk’s tech and Jayce’s connections, you have the freedom to go any direction you want, from anything like “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, fighting on the surface of the moon, or “Bond” type espionage. (Gina in a cocktail dress would be interesting.) On the more serious side is Eve’s emotional development, Hawks maturity, and Alice’s past.
That’s enough out of me. Thanks for the read.

Eeeeh…plots are actually okay. I mean, I’d like to hear more about Gina, and maybe see Frost come back somehow, but otherwise things are okay writing-wise.

I think the only thing I’d like to see happen is Hawk the artist to kinda return to messing with different styles, the dynamism of some of the comics of years previous (or, if I’m fabulously wrong on that, do that). The current style is good, but what made the older comics special was that he was constantly moving around with his art, and that made it intriguing. Slipping into a groove may not be a bad thing, but I like to be reminded that he can still mess with concept.

That’s all I have to say, really. ^^

Little late to the party, but random filler ideas (since, what little plotlines that aren’t resolved have pretty much all been answered).

+ Hawk hasn’t attacked Steve Jobs in awhile.
+ Gina, early on in her character, was noted to perform at comedy clubs. Never saw any actual performances in-comic though.

For me, I’d really like to see:

+ Back Story: I’ve read from the beginning but there’s no real explination how Hawk and Jayce met.
+ Crime Fighting: But awesome crime fighting. I don’t mind gags in crime fighting but it’d be cool if there was something with depth there as well.
+ Hawk the Inventor: I’d like to see Hawk build something else, modify/rebuild his power suit.
+ Josie: WHY DID THEY BREAK UP!?!?! NOOOOOOOOOO!