This is my personal blog! Here I talk about many things pop culture, including (but not limited to) comics, webcomics, movies, TV, and music! And of course, I'll talk about Callous Comics!
To join a discussion, just click on the title of the blog post that interests you then you'll be directed to that post's page where comments and replies to that entry reside.
If you've somehow ended up here while looking for the Callous comic strip, just click on the "Home" link above!
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Sunday, September 18, 2011,
In :
Callous
Storylines, it seems, are never finished, they escape! Featuring the "On Lighter Dreams" Special Edition! You may have noticed that the "On Lighter Dreams" storyline recently ended a bit abruptly. Unfortunately, time and daily energy demands are not on the side of Callous Comics recently, and I had to decrease my comic output per week from seven to three (and then two towards the end of September 2011). I did not want to do this while in mid-storyline, so I heavily edited the latter...
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Sunday, July 17, 2011,
In :
Callous
Last Saturday, July 16, 2011, Baguio City held its first ever Comic Convention (at least to my knowledge) and Callous Comics and I were more than happy to participate! The whole event was spearheaded by Gerald "Majic" Asbucan, a local Cordilleran artist who recently made waves in the Filipino independent comic scene with his work on Big Fat Ben. He has hopes of reinvigorating the interest in comic books in pretty much the whole mountain province and several artists, myself included, ...
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Sunday, May 15, 2011,
In :
Callous
On August 7, 2011, it will be fifteen years since the publishing of the first Callous comic strip! The series has had a long and wonderful history yet, truly, it's all just beginning!
Nevertheless, fifteen years is a significant milestone and I'd like all of you to join Callous Comics in celebrating it! Here are what I have planned:
Open for Guest Art / Comics
One of the features of the Callous Comics website is the Guest Art / Comics page. I've been extremely blessed to receive great contrib... Continue reading ...
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Tuesday, February 8, 2011,
In :
Callous
Callous Comics and I were featured in Episode 149 of the Two Guys Talking Webcomics podcast hosted by Kurt Sasso. This episode also featured guest co-host Liz Staley of the mecha comic Adrastus! You can listen to the podcast either on the episode's page on the TGT Webcomics website, through the show's page on Talkshoe, or by subscribing to the series on iTunes. It was a grand old time as usual on TGT! Give the episode a listen and check out the rest of the podcast's episodes and disc... Continue reading ...
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Monday, November 29, 2010,
In :
Callous
The great Rommel Estanislao, Philippine indie comic star and brilliant sculptor, was gracious enough to make this fantastic Cal Duck pendant for me! Isn't it AWESOME?! Thanks Sir Omeng!
Before you ask me if I'm planning to mass produce these... not just yet. I don't feel that there's enough demand to invest in such an endeavor yet. But I may commission him to do full bodied figures of Rianne and Cal one day (when I can afford him).
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Tuesday, September 7, 2010,
In :
Callous
I was faced with the task of redesigning Muscovy Duck after the events of The Land of the Guardians. Will I bring his old spikey hair back or keep his DBZ-style 'do? In the end, I supposed it would have been more feasible to have his last-seen features intact, including the clawed feet. I did, however, give him his flowered Guardian Duck T-shirt back. He's still in his green robe, only it is open and sans belt. I'm currently writing his return in a new storyline which includes bringing b... Continue reading ...
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Monday, May 10, 2010,
In :
Callous
I'll be the first to admit that considering the content of my comic series, Callous is not exactly the perfect name for it! The title has little to no relation to the comic series itself! Nevertheless, I stuck with it. Truth is, much like naming your dog something silly like, "Cat", over time it does become endearing.
In July of 1996, I was a fresh face in my university's student newspaper. I submitted my first comic strip as a new artist in the staff. That comic strip didn't make it to pr... Continue reading ...
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Wednesday, May 5, 2010,
In :
Callous
When I was interviewed for a national newspaper regarding Callous I was asked if I considered my work as a cartoonist as a form of stress-relief. I didn't really know it then, since I felt relatively "stress-free", but since I enjoyed what I was doing I figured it helped.
Oh, how little I knew.
Now after only A DAY of not drawing comics I feel the full weight of what I do on my day job and I can hardly believe I managed to get by during years of putting cartooning on hold when I was starting o... Continue reading ...
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Sunday, May 2, 2010,
In :
Callous
I'm in a bit of a bind when it comes to Callous for the month of May 2010 until June 11, 2010. During this time I'll be undergoing a portion of my specialization training in a different hospital from where I usually work in. Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to work on the comic strip while rotating there so I've reluctantly decided to reduce my comic output to one a week. These will be the Sunday comics.
I realize that this comes in pretty short notice (I've been trying to figure ou... Continue reading ...
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Saturday, April 17, 2010,
In :
Callous
Callous took a somewhat darker turn this week, but it was all in good fun! The Chronicles of Chaturanga story arc came into being one day while watching a fellow physician play online chess.
Online chess had been a running gag in Callous for quite some time. It had always been a real pain for Rianne because she could never seem to win a match.
Personally, there's nothing in the world that tires my mind more than a game of chess. I find it absolutely exhausting! So I gave it up early. But t... Continue reading ...
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Thursday, April 8, 2010,
In :
Callous
The April 8, 2010 Callous comic strip, "New Kicks", was actually penciled several days prior to the actual publishing. The strip was delayed because I didn't feel the original story was appropriate for the series. Sure it may have been funnier but it ended up with Rianne having a really sad look on her face which was heartbreaking to look at!
I never really paid as much attention before to maintaining an overall theme to the series until this strip. Drawing Callous is a joy and I wanted tha... Continue reading ...
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Friday, March 26, 2010,
In :
Callous
I'm fairly new to the online comic scene. Although there have been Callous comic strips online since 1997 (Angelfire, Geocities, and Tripod were among the previous hosts), I hardly ever explored other comics in the internet at that time. Furthermore, it seems that online comics, or webcomics, have only truly flourished in the last few years or so with internet access and reasonable bandwidth becoming more accessible to the everyday person around the world. Paperless (digital) content is qu... Continue reading ...
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Monday, March 15, 2010,
In :
Callous
From the start of this week-long break, Callous will be open for guest comics for display on the website! Even when the series kicks off again on March 22, I'm willing to showcase these comics alongside my own. If you're interested, read on!
Guest material is not restricted to comic strips! You may submit artwork depicting characters or situations from the Callous comic strip and/or anything inspired by the series.
Only G-rated material will be accepted for display on the website. PG-rated ar... Continue reading ...
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Sunday, February 28, 2010,
In :
Callous
I've said before that a lot of my comics are based on personal experiences. Sad to say, the above strips are no exception. Sure, I've put some humor into it and a lot of patients are gracious enough to not make a big deal out of it but I have encountered some who long for that one-on-one with their doctor.
I was still a medical student at the time when I encountered a similar situation. We were on rounds with a notoriously impersonal physician who walks into a patient's room, discusses his ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Tuesday, February 23, 2010,
In :
Callous
Introducing a new character in the Callous gang, Ree Saint John! Ree is an admitted kleptomaniac though an honest one. She often returns what she swipes almost immediately after the act. Otherwise she is a budding artist!
Ree debuts in the Callous comic strip on February 24, 2010!
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Sunday, January 31, 2010,
In :
Callous
Callous will be taking a break from February 1 - 7, 2010. I'll be busy with several things pertaining to my day job, particularly certain aspects of my participation in the upcoming annual convention of my specialty's local society.
During this time, you can follow my Callous and comic-related updates through Twitter! Just follow @callouscomics!
If you're interested in my day job, you can follow my personal and medicine-related tweets through @cazsanjuan!
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Wednesday, January 20, 2010,
In :
Callous
The Chanceborough News reports Callous-related news, announcements, and events!
The January 2010 music video is up in the fan page on Facebook! This month features another fun song from Dan Zanes and Friends, "Go Down Emmanuel Road"!
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Monday, January 11, 2010,
In :
Callous
Talk about things I never thought I'd talk about on a blog... First things first... I've been asked before why the main protagonist of Callous is a girl (considering I am a guy). My usual response is, why not? Does it make a difference whether my main character is male or female? The point is Rianne may be female but really, it doesn't matter. She has the same problems, thinks the same way, and goes through life's struggles like any other person, medically-trained or not.
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Wednesday, January 6, 2010,
In :
Callous
For those of you eagle-eyed enough to notice, you may have observed a very gradual change in several characters' (Rianne in particular) hairstyles. Rianne originally had a hairstyle with "waves" from the part over her forehead which eventually formed an oval that framed her face. This looked fine in black and white but when I decided to publish Callous in color I ran into some unexpected problems. Doing a daily comic strip in my spare time means I need to do my colors quickly and easily so I... Continue reading ...
Posted by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD on Monday, January 4, 2010,
In :
Callous
Yeah, I have several other blogs, but in this one I will talk about the art, writing, and overall production of the Callous comic strip series and online comics in general. For now I'll be working on the basic infrastructure of this blog's site then I'll start writing more uninteresting stuff.
Caz is a practicing licensed physician, professional voice actor/talent, writer, and cartoonist. He has been working on the Callous comic strip since 1996, winning several of The LaSallian's Silver Quill awards for his work. He has written several published short stories.
He currently lives in the Philippines with his wife and two children.
Welcome to the Callous Blog!
Talk about things I never thought I'd talk about on a blog...
Yeah, I have several other blogs, but in this one I will talk about the art, writing, and overall production of the Callous comic strip series and online comics in general. For now I'll be working on the basic infrastructure of this blog's site then I'll start writing more uninteresting stuff.
Caz is a practicing licensed physician, professional voice actor/talent, writer, and cartoonist. He has been working on the Callous comic strip since 1996, winning several of The LaSallian's Silver Quill awards for his work. He has written several published short stories.
He currently lives in the Philippines with his wife and two children.
