• The News Askew talkbacks are once again open for registration, and better than ever. Please note: As a result of this being a newly
  written system, ALL users have been removed. So you’ll need to re-register. Sorry, we could not import your old user accounts. Other than that, you’re
  good to go and welcome to comment on all of the latest stories posted here at News Askew. The new system eliminates the issues with the old one such as
  double posting, and especially that horrible delay that occurred when waiting for a message to post. We think you’ll be very pleased with TalkBacks now,
  and urge everyone to give them a try. Let’s get you talking!

NOTE: The talkbacks are in a very early stage of development. So, we don’t have a “forgot my password” feature implemented at this time. So we URGE you,
please, WRITE DOWN YOUR PASSWORD. Save it somewhere near your computer. Do it NOW!

Please also note that the News Askew Forums and TalkBacks are two different areas. We recommend that you create a username identical to your Forum
username (if you have one) just to keep it simple. This is not mandatory, though. The systems are not connected by a database, so you can have a
different name in the talkbacks if you’d prefer. Having one does NOT automatically give you the other, though. You gotta register both places.

You’ll find a registration button at the top and bottom of any talkback page. Just click that, supply your info, WRITE DOWN THE PASSWORD YOU CHOOSE, and
you’re good to go. Best of all, logging in once should keep you logged in on that computer via a cookie, so you won’t even need to enter your username and
password with every post you make.

We worked hard to implement this system as part of the new design, so we hope you enjoy it. If you have any issues, let us know. Of course, if you LIKE
it, we’d love to hear that, too. Enjoy.

• The News Askew Forums have registered over 900 users in under 3 days! Now that the new site’s here, we’re
  ready to take the keys and unlock the doors. Before you go hog wild and start with the posting, PLEASE read the Rules &
  Regulations, which will always reside in the top post of the top forum. We don’t ask for much, and hope to run a very
  loose, fun place where you can feel comfortable to hang, speak your mind, ask questions, and become a part of the News
  Askew community.

The forums will also be used as gathering areas for special events, such as Stash Bashes, Vulgarthons, and the like. They’re
the perfect place to get in touch with other fans and then connect in person when you’re preparing to attend. We’ll let
you know when those special features become available. Special areas will open and close as needed for View Askew functions.

Over 900 of you have ID’s, so now it’s YOUR turn! Let’s see what you have to say. Click over to the News Askew Forums and get typing…

• We’re proud to announce the newest member of our team here at News Askew, our resident artist, Matt Sullivan. Matt’s a young comic artist looking to break into the comic book biz, and we’re very happy to have him on baord. His concept for the characters you’ll see around the site takes the best elements of fantasy and reality, to create a look for the characters of the Askewniverse unlike any we’ve seen before. But don’t read about it. Let’s show you!

By now, you’ve probably noticed our spiffy new logo in the upper left corner, which we love. Here’s more. First up, a fun new piece of Jay & Bob on the News Askew Archives page. If you’ve never been there before, that’s your gateway to all of the news dating back to the dawn of this site. It’s fun to look back and read that stuff.

And, best of all, given that this site basically started with just a few Drinking Games and nothing more, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do something special with Drinks Askew. So, we chatted with Matt and came up with an idea for a new splash page to enter the games that we think you’ll all really dig. So be sure to take a look at that one today.

We’re hoping that this gig is just a stop on the road to huge success for the guy. Look forward to more of Matt’s artwork all over the place as we continue to expand and enhance the site. We’ll try to let you know as it’s added, so you don’t miss any of the new creations.

To see more of Matt’s work, visit FlyOnFire.com. If you like Matt’s stuff, or want to chat with him about doing some work on a book for you, drop him a line! Get a hold of him while you still can, as we’re expecting he’ll be a very popular guy soon.

• Welcome, one and all, to the new face of News Askew. It’s been almost 7 years since this site was created, and to celebrate that upcoming milestone, we’ve been working behind the scenes tirelessly for almost an entire year, evaluating the site, what worked, what didn’t, what we wanted to change, and the like. The result: A new face, a new community, and a brand new News Askew. We’ve tried to take the elements that were well-like with the site and work it into an even more efficient, friendly design.

Some features have been in the planning stages for quite some time, and a couple of the bigger ones involve a new sense of interactivity. We’re hoping to make News Askew not only a place to come read the news, but a place to discuss it as well. Thus, a better, faster talkback system. And a new forum. And more on the way. Let’s take a look at what’s up and running, as we speak:

• Entire news database completely converted into new, faster software.
• Brand new TalkBack system.
• New artwork designed by Matt Sullivan.
• Grand Opening of News Askew Forums, powered by phpBB.
• Flash Ad Console (no more top of site clutter!).
• Automatic RSS Headline syndication.

And here’s what’s in the works:

• Improved, high speed news archive search engine.
• Live, 24/7 chat area featuring scheduled, moderated chats with VIP guests.
• More new Sullivan artwork!
• And whatever else we can think up…

From past experience, we know that some of you will love this new design, and some of you will hate it. By nature, some of us fear change. All we can advise you is to please stick with it, and give it a chance. Of course, if there are any huge bugs preventing you from reading the site now, we’d like to know. We have tested the site in all the popular browsers at various screen resolutions, and believe that it’ll work out of the box for the majority of you. However, if there’s a problem with something, feel free to let us know.

Speed: As we work the bugs out and your browsers get all of our new graphics cached, expect slower loadtimes than you’re used to. This will speed up over the next few days. The site will also experience some heavy traffic as folks try out the new features, too. So we want you to expect some slight lag, as that’s what normally happens during a big change like this.

Alright, we’ve got a lot more to announce with the new design, so let’s get down to some details…Neeeext!

• Well, if you’ve made it over here to this talkback, we’re hoping by now you’ve looked at your calendar and put 2 and 2 together. So, did you enjoy this year’s April 1 site. If you’re new since last year, we hope we confused you. And even if you’re not, hopefully we got ya anyway.

Miss out on any of our past April 1 sites? Here’s some looks back:

News Askew’s 2003 April 1 Site

News Askew’s 2002 April 1 Site (No joke that year, or WAS that the joke!??!)

News Askew’s 2001 April 1 Site

News Askew’s 2000 April 1 Site

News Askew’s 1999 April 1 Site

Now, a few words since you made it this far. First off, we realize talkback registration has been closed for a while. FYI: It’s opened back up tonight on the OLD SYSTEM. So, if you’d like to post something or even register as a last hurrah, feel free. However, note that any account that you set up today, will ONLY last today. Friday, it’s a whole new ballgame. But we thought it’d be fun to let everyone have one last crack at posting in the talkbacks in the old system if they wanted to. Enjoy.

Now, next on the slate: To celebrate the opening of Jersey Girl, we’ve having the biggest week here in News Askew history. We’re also hoping to be the first site to have 3 different front page designs in 3 days (that’s gotta be a record). Yep, you guessed it: On Friday, we’ll be back with a NEW design to stay, a new talkback system, and the News Askew Forum will unlock and officially open for posts. And, of course, we’ll have all your regular News Askew stories, and lots more surprises.

Special thanks today to Matt Sullivan for matching up the art in the April Fools recreation. More on Matt tomorrow when we unveil some of his work, as he’s the new official resident artist here at News Askew. Matt’s created a new character style for the Askewniverse and we can’t wait to show it to you.

So, in the meantime, have fun poking around the April 1 site, and we look forward to having you back here again as we unveil the new look of NEWS ASKEW on FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 2004! Happy April Fool’s Day!