Happy Valentine’s Day! Åke Rosenius, swedish cartoonist for the hilarious “Birger Barbarian” comic, brings us this fantastic Gypsy/General Foztik comic to show us what these two have been up to in the desert! Thanks, Åke, it was good to see Gypsy again (and you did her justice!) 
Be sure to thank him and check out Åke’s work!
And see H E R E in the archives of wonder for the tale of Gypsy and Foztik traveling in the desert!
Looks like this might be the beginning of something…
I just love seeing other people’s rendition of the LoB characters, especially the colors. I must say your colors are perfect and I just love how you’ve captured Gypsy and Foztik’s character here as well!
Forgot to mention, I LOVE that burning sky in panels 1 and 2!!!
This is just stunning. I L♥V it! Gypsy looks fantastic. The grudging respect between enemies is always a rich theme. Apart from where and how it shows up in various books and entertainment media here in the West, it’s particularly fundamental in Japanese literature and lore. One of the things that draws me so strongly toward anime and manga, as well as the Korean and Chinese versions.
I know these guest strips are not supposed to be canon … but, I think this one is, no matter how the Creator might feel about it.
I don’t believe this. I actually completely overlooked that apparent break in continuity.
Good JOB, Gypsy!
Hah! Berger Bararen is a hoot! Does it exist somewhere on its own dedicated website? The link provided is to a forum site. Rosenius definitely did justice to Gypsy and Foztik.
Adorable!!!!
And P.S. HAPPY VALENTINES DAY BILLIVERSE. Drinks on the house!
I agree with Don, the colours are wonderfully done. I really enjoy your take on Gypsy and General Foztik. This fits seamlessly into LoB continuity…Nice!
Oh and Happy Valentines Day as well
These two are perfect for each other! Is the birth of a magical, axe-wielding, gypsy half-orc in the future?
Saaaa-weet!
Very nice! One thing, though: Are guest artists allowed to fiddle with Mr. Reddick’s established storyline, or is that not much of a big deal to him? There wasn’t any indication of Gypsy and Foztik showing any grudging respect for each other…
David would have to approve any entries coming in, and as has been said, this situation flows naturally out of what David and Don have stated openly to date.
Really liked this one. Been a big fan of Mr Rosenius’ work ever since someone posted his SM “NuSenshi” image out on the Usenet lo those many years ago. His stuff has always made me laugh!
Wow. Thanks for the nice comments, everyone! Making this strip was a lot of fun. I didn’t know David would post it on Valentines, but in hindsight it seems like a good choice.
Glad you liked the colors, though it’s mostly a matter of putting unnecessary amounts of work into them… I get away with it in my own strip due to a pretty slow publication pace (LoB’s is four times higher).
@SAGG: I sent him a rough sketch for approval before I started, to make sure it wouldn’t conflict with any plans for the characters.
@OrlahEhontas: Wow, that image was a *long* time ago.
Okie-dokie, Mr. Rosenius! Thanks for responding!
You know, once you go green…
I love the way Rosenius draws. Everything about this strip is beautiful!
Well there’s a potentially unlikely cute couple…..
Oh, man, this Swede is very good. Pity that he does not seem to draw in English – pun intended, as I believe I could understand most of what he expressed, which was hilarious, of course.
I first though this guest strip was really great but Birger Barbarian is a great discovery too.
I love this! Åke Rosenius did a stellar job with the dialog and artwork! I’m gonna be honest, I completely overlooked the hand-bind thing. Extra kudos for pointing it out to people like me XD