The Glass Urchin is an autobiographical comic about love, life, and being lost in the modern world. Sometimes humorous, sometimes serious, The Glass Urchin delves into the life of family, friends, work of a wistful and and wanderlust-filled city girl. It’s all true events, thoughts, and experiences I’ve had, except shorter, chubbier, and more spiky. I play games and make toys for a living, but I’d rather be making comics. Who knows where this ride will take us, but let’s try to have some fun while we’re here, alright? Questions, comments, and encouragement can be directed to auilix at gmail.
The Glass Urchin is a proud member of Nerd Comics, and is hosted by the wonderful Bree!

Characters
FAQ
About the Artist
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Characters – Some recurring characters of The Glass Urchin

Our spiky protagonist, Ami is a hedgehog of many talents… Or so she thinks. Recently unemployed, this time by choice, she quit making toys so she could apply to graduate school abroad to find her true callings. She’s also recently single and enjoying every minute of it! She loves traveling, reading, drawing, playing video games, and eating. Don’t call her a porcupine.
See Ami’s love of delish cream.

Bree’s a Yorkie in more ways than one. Current writer/artist/main character of Sex, Drugs, and June Cleaver, she’s also the forerunner for Nerdcomics. She’s just gotten into graduate school and is mostly occupied with created art for the web. On her off time, she enjoys burlesque shows, drinks, and good romps in the sack. She leads a healthy life, having not yet been eaten by an escalator (don’t worry, she’s got a close eye on them!).
See Bree’s room.

Everyone loves Shivi! An irresistibly short chick with a cute butt, Shivi has traveled long and far with Ami into territories unknown. Somehow they survived the experience and long to travel again together. She can make anyone smile and her secret superpower is being able to detect anyone’s nipples, no matter how many layers they are wearing. Her one and only cereal is Cocoa Pebbles.
See Shivi’s lack of American pop culture knowledge.

Mom is not your ordinary mom – she knows that technology exists, and isn’t afraid to use it! Well, maybe a little but that doesn’t hold her back from using Facebook, mainly to destroy others in the Scrabble online game, Scrabulous Wordscraper Lexulous! She enjoys independent movies, chocolate, and the liberal agenda. She also is the mama of two little annoying kitties who pop into the strip from time to time.
See Mom’s Christmas story.

Mel spends most of her time with me pretending she doesn’t give two craps about anything Ami does. I kid. But she is awfully good at being an aloof/suave/generally fashionable little sister half of the time, and the other half being a crazy obsessive Disney-movie-watching “which would you rather?” playing kid. You can’t tell her and Ami apart? She’s got eyelashes to the max and cute curled ears.
See Mel’s wisdom teeth problem.

Dad is one of those riddle-wrapped-in-an-enigma kinds of people. Par example- he was born and raised in gay Paris, and yet is a die hard Republican who boycotts French wine. His favorite holiday is April Fool’s Day, and has been playing pranks on people ever since he was a young lad in the French Army. He enjoys security, traveling, and Anne Coulter books.
See Dad’s Army pranks.

YHM. It stands for “Youth Hostel Mae” (lit. “in front of the Youth Hostel”), which is the bus stop in front of our dorm when we lived in Japan. A hive mind of sorts, although the boys of YHM are split throughout the world, I’m sure they’re all thinking the same thoughts at any given time. Loyal to the end, these guys enjoy whatever obsession is currently at hand, wherever they may be. Core members of YHM include Dylan, Harrison, Stuart, and Bryan; Keir, and Tim haven’t yet shown their faces on GU. Shivi and Ami are the “outer senshi” types of that group.
See Dylan’s God Mode.

Ami’s ex-boyfriend and previously a main character in the story until page 215. Hailing from the unknown territories of the Midwest, Mike is as white as the freshly fallen snow of his homeland. He likes mustaches, 80s music, unhealthy amounts of drinking, and profuse napping. He can also beat certain 8-bit games with one hand. Mike considers himself not part of the dork subculture, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Engineering.
See Mike’s weakness.

Omar was roommates with Mike when Ami was roommates with Shivi… Was previously going out with Shivi during The New Brunswick Saga, but they have long since broken up. Omar likes teasing people, flirting with girls, and the Boston Red Sox.
See Omar’s Policy.
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Frequently Asked Questions – Have questions/comments/milkshakes? You can e-mail me at auilix (at!) gmail (dot!) com! If you have milkshakes for me, seriously. E-mail me.

Q: Are these comics true?
A: All are real or based on real-life experiences. Some (like video game related ones) are quite obviously not (as in, no I don’t actually roll katamari balls full of toys to get my job done). The ones where you’d ask “did this really happen?” I’d say are true.

Q: No way!
A: Yes way.

Q: What about the places, are they real?
A: For the most part, they are real. I live in Jersey City, NJ and I work in New York, NY, so they are often featured in the comics (or if I travel somewhere too). I especially love to feature my little town (JC), because it has a relaxed. friendly, exciting and new attitude that is lacking in the city. So you might see a bit of the PATH here or some local bars there.

Q: So is it with an “I”? Or is it with a “Y”???
A: Either or! Legally, yes, it does have a “Y”. But my friends have been using “I” for a while. Here I’ll use “Ami” to denote the character in the comic, and “Amy” to denote me, myself, and I, the creator of the comic.

Q: Whoa hey. Aren’t you one and the same?
A: Well yes we are. But still I feel odd saying “Hey wanna draw a me-fanart?” So I distance myself from my character a bit, although everything happens to me in the same way. Also, I’m more human-shaped than Ami is.

Q: What does “Glass Urchin” mean?
A: Really people, whatever you want it to mean!
Huh? Don’t like that for an answer? Fine!
“Urchin” is actually an old English term for hedgehog, the creature upon which this webcomic is based (sorta). Hedgehogs are a prickly bunch and hard to easily get to know – I have a hedgehog pet in real life and I can attest to that. But they’re all soft tummies and teeny clumsy paws underneath, and I find I can kind of relate to them well. “Glass” meaning that hedgehogs (and me too) are more bark than bite. I think a lot of my friends have gotten used to it, but I’m a bit rough sometimes but I’m just the same underneath as everyone else.
…
Or something.

Q: What’s the New Brunswick Saga?
A: A series of long-story comics that tell the tale of my senior year of college at Rutgers University. It’s about love, life and … hey I’ve heard this before somewhere.

Q: Where else can I find information/articles about you/The Glass Urchin?
A: You can hear an interview with me by 515 Radio here: http://515comics.com/515radio/episodes/Episode24.mp3 . You can read an article about a local book fair I did here. There’s a neat review by Hexaditidom here. I’ll post more stuff as I find it!

Q: I love it! Where can I buy the book?
A: Please support me and buy a copy here! You can also check out some other great NERD Comics apparel and cool items.

Q: How else can I contact you?
A: Please feel free to contact me on my e-mail (auilix (at!) gmail (dot!) com) if you have further questions/would like to interview me/give me fanart/use my comics somewhere else/make me milkshakes.

About the Artist – To find out more about the artist, please check out my art portfolio site, Auilix.com!

Wallpaper – For your desktop enjoyment. These come in 1024×768 and 1280×800.

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Banners – Please do link back to me at The Glass Urchin if you enjoy my stuff! Here are some banners to use, or feel free to make your own!