The Nutcracker: Merry Christmas from JGT!!

Ello, everyone! Genie here to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

This year, Jocey and I decided to use "The Nutcracker" as our theme for the annual JGT Christmas pic. We had a ton of fun learning about (and reading) the actual story and ultimately casting the characters.

So, from us to you, here is JGT in The Nutcracker!

The cast is:

Jocelyn as Drosselmeier
Taylor as Maria
Rudy Jr. as Fred
Harrison Morrison as the Nutcracker
Jag as the Mouse King
Genie as the Sugar Plum Fairy

Thanks again, Jocey, for helping me plan out the pic, and thank you all for all that you are :) Hope you have a wonderful holiday season, filled with magical moments and sweet memories.

Until then,

Genie and JGT

I'm not gone...

Ello, everyone! Genie here...

Well, the holiday season is coming and going, and I have not been able to finish the next page yet. That is mainly because of my work and my grad school applications. Fun stuff...

In actuality, I am truly loving my job and the grad school application process, not because of the stress, but because of the realizations that I have been making.

As I write my personal statements about my creative processes, I always mention JGT. Because, well, JGT trained me a lot when it comes to the craft of storytelling. I've grown a lot through JGT.

And though I have had to take longish breaks from it due to time constraints, I am grateful that it exists and that it is still on this wonderful website, waiting for me. And I am extra grateful for all of you who wait for me, too.

So, thank you so much for that.

The story will continue, most likely in January. There will be special holiday posts coming up soon courtesy of Jocey and me. And there will also be a special surprise post regarding Jocey later on, too!

I am very excited to share more of JGT's story with you guys. So, so excited.

Until then, please hang in there, for that is what I will be doing, too.

Genie

"In My Dreams" - Happy Birthday, Jag!

Ello...again! Genie here with another birthday animatic!

This time, on November 1, we celebrate everyone's favorite Squirrel Dude, Jag. Similar to Lila's, his animatic focuses more on Jag's 'origins', or rather, the struggle to remember his origins.

Because of his brainwashing, he is starting to really struggle with remembering his past. So, I thought the song "In My Dreams" from Anastasia: The New Musical fit that perfectly...

(Fun fact: The girl who sang this song also sang the song featured in Lila's video)

I hope you guys enjoy the song, the video, and a sneak peek of Jag's arc!

Until then, sweet dreams...

Genie

May the JGT Be With You...Happy Halloween!

Ello, everyone! Genie here with the annual Halloween JGT pic!

Really quick though, I wanted to say thank you guys for your patience regarding the comic pages. I am currently applying to grad schools so I am writing way more than drawing at the moment. But the story shall continue...just at a slower pace.

But, I mean, I can't miss the JGT holiday drawings...and this year's theme is pretty epic.

Jocey and I decided to make JGT dress up as characters from the Star Wars franchise!

Tada! We had a ton of fun casting the characters and exploring the various worlds of this franchise. The cast includes:
Jocey as Ahsoka
Rudy as Han Solo
Flitwick as Chewbacca
Taylor as Padme
Jag as Finn
Genie as Leia/General Organa
Lila as K-2SO
Harry as Chirrut
Sir Aldric as (older) Luke Skywalker
Master as Palpatine
and Ace as Kylo Ren

We hope you enjoy the picture, and more importantly, we hope that you all have a wonderful and safe Halloween!

Until then,

Genie and JGT

Happy Birthday, Lila!!!

Ello, everyone! Genie here with a special gift for our favorite bunny villain, Lila!

I might as well keep up the theme, so here is another birthday animatic!

This one features the song "Epilogue" from Carrie: The Musical. Because, you know, Halloween is coming up, Lila has built-up feels...I thought it fit.

And also, I wanted to have some fun and give you guys a sneak peek at her backstory...dun dun dun!

Anywho, hope you guys enjoy this dramatic take on the JGT animatics, and again, happy birthday, Lila!

Until then,

Genie

Eep! New Character!

Ello! Genie here, and so is Jag! .....Well, kind of XD

As you can probably tell, I am excited to introduce the JGT version of the Scarecrow. I've had to look back at my concept art (which I did 3 years ago), so that was fun and cringeworthy and fun. Maybe I'll make a few before/after posts regarding that...we'll see.

Nevertheless, I'm so pumped for this bundle of scenes, and I hope you are, too!

Until then,

Genie

JGT Episode 10: OZ ~ PAGE 41

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Killer Quest: Happy Birthday, Taylor!!!

Ello, everyone! Genie here with the third and final JGT Birthday Cycle video! 

Here's to you, Taylor! To celebrate your birthday, Jocey and I boarded and drew another JGT animatic using a song from The Lightning Thief musical...

The song is called "Killer Quest," and, fitting enough, it's about the main trio going on an epic journey to ultimately save the day! Sounds a bit familiar, right?

In this last Lightning Thief video, we wanted to make sure we included the rest of the JGT crew. As a little bonus, Jocey drew an awesome picture of Lila in the role she played in the "Lost!" animatic. Such a cute mysterious hooded figure, don't you think?

The cast for "Killer Quest" includes Jag as Luke, Rudy as Clarisse, Sir Aldric as Chiron, Flitwick as a tiny and fabulous cameo, Genie as Annabeth, Jocey as Percy, and last but not least, Taylor as Grover. 

We made Taylor Grover for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that when Taylor saw the musical live in New York, she met and really connected with George Salazar, the actor who played Grover. When she told me this, I got all the feels. The second reason is that Grover is a totally loyal friend, whose bravery always shines through no matter how scared he is. And that reminded me of our birthday girl :)

So, Taylor, may you have a wonderful, wonderful birthday. I hope you enjoy the video, and may all your birthday wishes come true!

Genie, Jocey, and JGT

WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

Ello! Genie here! With a page that didn't take a month to create!

It's a miracle!!

Haha, laughing-at-myself aside, I'm just really excited about this part of the story. A lot of new things start popping up.

Anywho, I hope you enjoy the page! Onto the next...

Until then,

Genie

PS: If you recognize the Ozian rainbow-like character that Jocey is portraying in this page, I applaud you ;)

JGT Episode 10: OZ ~ PAGE 40

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New Scene, New Character!

Ello, everyone! Genie here to announce that we have reached a new scene in the story! Huzzah! And we have a new character! Double huzzah!

Thank you all so much again for your patience with the pages. Things are getting very busy on my end, but I'm trying my best to get the pages up so the story can unfold at a decent pace, haha.

I hope you enjoy this one, and I hope you're prepared to meet the (kind of--sort of--maybe) most evil character in Oz!

Until then,

Genie

JGT Episode 10: OZ ~ PAGE 39

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Lost in the Woods: HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY GENIE!

Allo everyone'

Jocey here, continuing the birthday prophecy cycle!

This time around, on August 21, it is the lovely creator of JGT birthday Genie!

Continuing with the theme of the Lightning Thief Musical, here is a pretty sweet video that I helped board:

This song is called Lost in the Woods, and now that you've watched and listened to the last part of it, do yourself a favor and listen to the whole thing. This song is so catchy and funny and it's so much fun to act to! While we were boarding it over a Skype call we both made funny dramatic faces at each other. The three main parts of Annabeth, Percy and Grover have gone to Harry, Genie and Jocey, mostly cause Grover feels pretty bad about losing their food (Jocey), Annabeth made a list of their adversaries (Harry), and Percy is in charge (Genie).

Continuing with this fun theme I wanna wish Genie the happiest birthday! Thank you for sharing all your stories with me, it means the world to me knowing that you've shared your drafts and your WIPs with me because I know that you'll make it! I'll always be your biggest fan! Thank you for always supporting me too, you have no idea how much it means to me! I hope you enjoy your special day, and thank you for allowing me to help with the animation of this birthday short!

Jocey and JGT

P.S. Fun fact: That hooded figure is supposed to be Lila

Hap, Hap, Happy Birthday, Morrison Brothers!

Ello, everyone! Genie here with another birthday post!

Since I'm doing animatics for the JGT Birthday Prophecy, I thought I'd practice some more with the Morrison brothers' birthday.

So, here's a very, very short animatic...

The song is "Waving Through a Window" from Dear Evan Hansen, by the way. I don't know, I just really liked that particular verse; it reminded me of Harry and Ace. And honestly, all four lines of the verse can pertain to either brother. So...yay, feels!

I hope you guys enjoy this short yet (bitter)sweet birthday vid! Happy Birthday, Raccoon Dudes!

Until then,

Genie

Put You in Your Place: Happy Birthday, Jocey!!!

Ello, everyone!

Genie here with the beginning of the JGT BIRTHDAY PROPHECY CYCLE!

As you may know, JGT's actual birthdays are 21 days apart...a perfect pattern for a prophecy, which, ironically, is what the comic is about.

So, each year, we have a certain theme going on for the birthday cycle, and this year's theme is....

The Lightning Thief (The Percy Jackson Musical)!

The three of us LOVE Percy Jackson, and we all love the new musical that recently debuted, so I thought it'd be fun to celebrate both the musical and our comic and, well, us!

Since Jocey's birthday is first, I asked her to give me her favorite lyrics from the musical.

And....then I experimented a bit and made a JGT animatic video!

And, and....here it is!

The song is called "Put You in Your Place", and it's sung by Clarisse, a daughter of Ares, and Percy. In this case, it's sung by Jocey and Ace...because I think they fit the parts and I think they need more screen time together. They're both pretty epic.

So, Jocey, happy, happy birthday! Thanks for letting me share all my crazy schemes with you, and for trusting me with all of YOUR crazy schemes as well! Please continue to shoot for all the stars in the sky, and I'll be rooting for you...from the ground because you know how I am with heights XD I hope you enjoy the animatic and your special day!

Genie and JGT!

Psst...

Long time no comic, huh?

I have been drawing and writing a lot, though.

But the main reason why I'm writing this post...

...is because there's a super awesome day coming up.

You may know what it is.

And I have something ready for it.

Stay tuned on the night of July 30th.

Until then,

Genie

Ready to Go...

Ello, everyone! Genie here with Page 38!

(And huzzah, Page 39 is already on the way!)

Thank you guys again so much for your patience. Balancing all these creative projects is fun yet somewhat challenging, but no matter what, it's exciting to see all the stories come to life, especially this one.

Here's to the journey down the yellow brick road...ish!

Until then,

Genie

JGT Episode 10: OZ ~ PAGE 38

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Happy 5-Year Anniversary, JGT Website!

"Hey guys! This is Genie, co founder and author/artist of JGT comics! Three to four years ago, I thought it would be cool to create an epic, prophecy-driven story about my two best friends, Jocelyn and Taylor, and me..." - Genie on May 27, 2012

"That's how it started, a one page picture that would make me smile. Then it transformed into the comic i know and love. This is also one of my dreams, to see the comic hit the internet..." - Jocey on May 27, 2012

Five years ago, Jocey and I published JGT on the internet as a webcomic. We were beginners at many things: artists, website designers, bloggers, writers. Heck, we're still learning how to do all that jazz. None of that is easy, after all.

But one of the most important things I think we learned was this: setting out on any kind of adventure is going to be a grand time.

And this website sure has been a grand time.

So, in honor of the 5-year JGT Website Anniversary, here's a celebratory new poster for the series!

Through this website, JGT has been given so much color and life, and I am so, so thankful for that. 

Thank you, Jocey, for the ambitious suggestion of turning JGT into a webcomic, and thank you all for joining us in this adventure. 

Let's continue, shall we?

Until then,

Genie

Quick Little Update: A Special Something

Ello, everyone! Genie here!

Apologies for the wait; I recently had an out-of-town trip, so that's mainly why the page is late. But it's coming, I swear! :)

And....there's another thing coming as well. Something special for a certain...anniversary.

Hint hint.

Until then,

Genie

A Costume Change 3 Years in the Making!

Ello, everyone!

Genie here with Page 37! And Genie's Dorothy dress! Finally!

As you may know, the Dorothy dress was one of the first things I designed while planning JGT in OZ. So to finally have it debut is pretty exciting.

It's a pretty simple dress, but then again, most Dorothy dresses across mediums are simple. It's the girl in the dress that makes the ensemble extraordinary, after all ;)

Well, back to drawing...and writing...and reading...oh my!

Until then,

Genie

JGT Episode 10: OZ ~ PAGE 37

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Getting Somewhere...

... I sense another journey, and it's about to start very soon ;)

So excited to be making comic pages again! Even though the updates are a bit slower, the story is still being told, and that alone makes me happy.

Hope you're enjoying it so far, too!

Until then,

Genie

JGT Episode 10: OZ ~ PAGE 36

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Page 35!

Ello, everyone! Genie here with Page 35!

I'm slowly but surely finding a good balance between work and novel and grad school research and comic...so that's a relief! Gotta keep those creative juices flowin', right?

I hope you all enjoy the page! About to get started on the next one...

Until then, keep up with all of your creative projects! I'm looking forward to seeing all of them, too ;)

Genie

JGT Episode 10: OZ ~ PAGE 35

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Learning from Rudy...

Ello, everyone! Nope, no April Fools joke here! It's officially Rudy Jr.'s birthday!

Huzzah!

For this year, I decided to draw a very simple sketch...

I haven't drawn Rudy in a while, so getting to draw this one felt pretty wonderful.

As a creator of a story, I have involuntarily woven parts of me into my characters, and I know that Rudy Jr. is a prime example of that.

Our childhoods are very, very similar, and the emotions he hides behind his bravery have been and are very much my own.

As I explored Rudy's character throughout the years, I not only understood that we were similar, but I also learned from him, which sounds kind of silly, doesn't it?

It's true for me, though. I learn from my characters. I learn through my characters. And through Rudy, I've learned how to remain brave and not let anything make me feel small.

And I hope that, as his arc progresses, he continues to embody this.

So, happy birthday, Rudy Jr.! Hope the day is great for him, and for all of you, too!

Until then,

Genie

Long...Time?

Ello, everyone! Genie here....FINALLY.

Yeah, this past hiatus has been going on for an uncomfortably long time. I didn't necessarily enjoy taking a break from drawing, but I knew that I had to in order to start my writing projects.

But now, I'm trying to manage my time better, and because of that, JGT in OZ is officially back!

Even though it took a while, I hope you all enjoy the page. And thank you for being so patient. It feels so good and right to have JGT be part of my schedule again, and I'm excited to see more of this story come to life.

Here's to more time for more stories!

Until then,

Genie

JGT Episode 10: OZ ~ PAGE 34

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Count Down...

...the hours!

That's right, a new page is coming in a few hours ;)

Ello, everyone!

We're back ;)

Stay tuned...

Balance and Love...

Ello, everyone! Genie here. Long time no...blog?

The next JGT page is coming...it just got pushed aside for a bit. And not in a bad way, more or less, but still, it feels weird to be slower and slower at JGT updates.

The main reason why I haven't been drawing comics as much is that...I've been doing a LOT of reading and writing, which I also love dearly.

And...I have a bit of good news! I've recently finished the first draft of my first middle grade novel :) I have mentioned it before on this site (NaNoWriMo, anyone?). I still have to dedicate many more hours of edits and rewrites, and I'm preparing myself for that. For right now, though, I am just so happy that it's alive, in some form, because I've been wanting to tell this story for a long time.

But even though I'm working on other creative projects, I want you all to know that I am NOT giving up on JGT. The updates may just come in at a slower pace. I still feel bad about that, but I will try my best to balance all my projects out, so that I can make each one the right way: with love.

And, for you guys, here is a visual of how I'm currently feeling about all this XD

So, I'm still drawing. I'm still writing. I feel like I need to do both in order to feel like myself. And I will continue to do so.

And if any of you are going through this balancing conflict as well, please know that you are not alone, that you have the power to create whatever your heart desires, and that I believe in you and the love you put into your own stories :)

Here's to us and our loves!

Until then,

Genie

A Wonderful Present

Ello, everyone! Genie here...with a cold.

Yeah, not fun. The next comic page is in progress, though, so no worries!

Also, thank you, Jocey, for your awesome New Year's Eve picture! You captured the characters perfectly, and I loved how nostalgic it was, too ;)

Speaking of wonderful pictures, here's one done by my brother, Marco! It was his Christmas present to me...

That's my family and me in the back row. And that's my JGT family everywhere else! It's so epic; I love it so much. Thanks a bunch, bro!!

I hope you are all doing well! And may the beginning of your year also be filled with love and creativity!

Until then,

Genie