I visit Mr. Frump in the hospital, I see him most every day, And when I see Mr. Frump in his iron lung, This is what I hear him say, [deep breathing] – Eleanor Roosevelt
This is a drawing I did for the webcomic Titanox which you can see at http://titanox.blogspot.com/ It’s cool stuff, and worth checking out. This is the first guest art I’ve been asked to do for another webcomic, and it was really fun. Much like I thought it was really fun to see what other people would do with my characters, it’s really cool to put your own spin on someone else’s character.
This character was a blast to draw, as he is just this big massive beast, basically with a clothes iron for a head…oh, and he fights vampires and werewolves. Awesome! Like my vampire? It was a partial tribute too my favorite childhood cartoon, Count Duckula. Titanox is the comic of Alex Marzi, someone I met over the last month on Comicracy. ( BTW, go vote for us.)
I think he may be based out of Italy, which is pretty awesome when you think of how art and the internet are uniting people. You can soon look forward to seeing his version of the Lone Wolf, which I’m pretty anxious to see. Somewhat a sorce of inspiration for my take on the character was Rob Zombie’s The Haunted World of El Super Beasto. Not Familiar? (I’d be somewhat surprised if you were) Check out this trailer.
This past month overall has been very positive for the comics. Coincidence that it is when I adopt a new, more positive attitude? Could be. But shortly after declaring I was just going to draw and that I didn’t like the webcomic community I started reading a bunch of webcomics and connecting with the people behind them. Then I started banner exchanges, then the guest art, and now I’m receiving all that positive feedback I’ve been craving.
So good times. And so you know, I think maintaining a positive attitude for a prolonged period of time without being ignorant to all the troubles of the world is probably the hardest thing possible. Something I’ve tried before, but struggled with. I think I’m doing better than ever with it now though. I’m no ray of sunshine by any means, but I’m enjoying life more. I used to think you had to be pretty stupid or oblivious to be really happy most of the time in life, and I still kind of generally believe that to be true, but there is definitely some truth to being happy by just trying to keep a positive attitude.
In other positive news, I’ve been working more with Alex on Last Call, and it is going to be amazing! I’m really excited about it, and hope he can maintain momentum so he can finish writing it by the end of next month. It will be an opus like none other.
Tightrope walking much tripping on clovers , Dissolution yourself from your brothers, For all you pretty ones, ya hum along in oblivion, Afraid to be alone, Your all made up to be someone – Snooki
This is a fun one. I like the Lone Wolf leading this group of people around, who mostly think he is a fool. It’s funny to see him command these situations in such terrible ways while the others are forced to simply look on. I like that I worked in his blod intro in here as well. And of course I carry on our tradition of being the comic containing the most awkward silence and moments in history.
After I put this one up on SmackJeeves (where I double post all the comics) I got a nice fan comment telling me to keep up the good work and that they were adding it to their favorites list. Felt good to hear, as it’s always nice to know that completely independent strangers enjoy your work. I mean, it’s also nice to know your friends and family like it, but there is something even more inspiring about hearing it from someone you don’t know that doesn’t care about hurting your feelings.
It’s been a busy couple of days. I found 2 eggs in my Crested Gecko cage while cleaning this weekend, then put in a nest box, only to find 2 more eggs the next day! And those last 2 were definitely from my bright red girl, so those babies will not only be beautiful, but worth some big money! My family and I also adopted a rescue rabbit, almost completely out of the blue. So far it has been really fun, and I think she will end up being a great family pet for my son.
But I doubt you came here to read about my pets. Here’s some comic news. We’re less then 3 days away from winning the first place trophy at http://www.comicracy.com/ and I don’t see anyone stopping us! Not with that lead. I’m beginning work on my guest art for the comic TITANOX – The Iron Hero. Should take me a couple of days. In turn they will be doing some guest art for us a bit later.
Alex and I had a good meeting yesterday where we discussed Black Snow: Last Call. Alex committed to a deadline of April 28th, which I’m very happy to hear. We looked at what we had, tightened some up, and talked about what else we wanted to add. We came up with some really good ideas that will effect this and future graphic novels. We also came up with a number of new characters. I’m really excited to get the writing done and start drawing! I’ll tell you this much…it will be epic. It will be nice to alternate work on that and I’m Famous! as it will allow me to play with both ends of the drawing spectrum in many ways.
Shoot your mouth if you know where you’re aiming, Don’t forget to pick up what you sow, Talking trash to the garbage around you – George Washington
We got our first piece of guest art! Check it out.
Black Snow and the Lone Wolf as drawn by Lloyd Cheatham Jr.
You can check out his comic B.O.D. Brawl Or Die at http://www.drunkduck.com/BOD_Brawl_or_Die/ I really like seeing how Lloyd interpreted the characters here. He drew this really quickly by the way. Talented guy. The man certainly knows how to draw muscles.
Obviously this is a much more classic, traditional comic book style of drawing, which is really fun to see vs. my more cartoony look. The Black Snow is not as different as the Lone Wolf, who looks pretty intense here! I really wanted to see how other artists would handle his hair, and this is a pretty cool way to do it. Someone recently commented that the Lone Wolf reminded them of Freakazoid, and I think that is probably due mostly to the hair. Maybe the silly personality. I took it as a compliment, since I enjoyed that cartoon when it originally aired, though it’s probably been well over a decade since I’ve seen or thought about the show.
It’s cool to see the characters looking more realistic. I was pretty blown away when I first saw it. Definitely not what I was expecting.
Recently I wrote a post about why I hated being a webcomic, and part of that was that I didn’t like the community. Well, I’ve started to involve myself more in it, and it’s not that bad. There are some decent comics out there and some cool people. I’ve spent the last month being very involved in a contest on Comicracy, and it’s been a pleasant experience. Aside from doing well in the contest (we are in the lead by a considerable margin at this point) it’s been really cool to connect more with some other webcomic makers. Giving each other feedback, doing banner exchanges, seeing other people’s work, and finding guest artists has all been really cool.
Maybe it’s part of being more positive overall, like I discussed a few posts back, but I’ve got more of an overall appreciation for the webcomic community. I suppose it’s the attitude you bring that determines what you get out of something, at least that seems to be the case to me lately. We’ve been getting more involvement from others and attention than ever, and it feels good. You can look forward to at least 3 more guest artists in the near future, a review of I’m Famous! from ArtPatient.com and possibly some more collaboration between us and Lloyd. Oh yeah, you’ll see me do some guest art for a comic next week as well.
Oh, it’s a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it – President Obama
This is a topic I’ve addressed before in various ways, but one that bears repeating, as much for you to understand it as it is for me to remind myself. Why do I come home after a long days work, sometimes after finishing a side job, in an attempt to support my family in these dark times, pay half attention to the shows I watch with my wife and take time away from playing with my son so I can sit down at my computer to draw cartoons? Why have I been doing Black Snow for coming up on 10 years now?
Because I’m an insane selfish masochist? Maybe. Hopefully it’s more than that. To truly understand why we have to travel way back to the days of my youth (I’m 27 by the way). Some of my fondest early childhood memories were reading comic strips with my grandpa. He read them to me before I knew how to read…and well after. We read comics in the paper, which seemed a lot less terrible back then, but maybe it’s because I was easier to please.
But what I really liked was when we read Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side in compilation books. Those were the kings of the comics. I should mention now that I had been drawing since before I could remember. I drew a lot. Mostly monsters and my toys. Eventually this transfered to drawing Calvin and Hobbes. Then at some point my family got cable! (told you I was old) Instead of PBS and Saturday morning cartoons I now had access to this amazing channel…for kids, Nickelodeon. Yes you spoiled youngsters with your 80 kids channels, I was born into a time when no such thing existed.
Oh, and I loved it. I loved watching reruns of the old cartoons like Looney Tunes and Yogi Bear, but I really enjoyed the so called Nicktoons like Ren and Stimpy, Rocko’s Modern Life and the Rugrats. I also enjoyed others like Count Duckula and some show about Koalas (I think there were two at one point).
To make it short and simple, I LOVED CARTOONS. I decided then that I wanted to be a cartoonist. I would draw all my favorite characters and occasionally come up with my own. One thing I found especially intriguing about cartoons and comic strips was the fact that I loved them, but had really no idea who was really behind them. I liked that you could entertain somewhat anonymously. Despite any perceived bravado or arrogance, I’m actually a very shy person.
So I kept drawing like that until middle school. What happened at my terrible middle school? People made fun of how bad my drawings were and some obviously had more talent than me (or so it seemed at the time). My parents had just gone through a terrible divorce that saw me kicked out of my mom’s house and basically the end of our relationship, so I was quite depressed. Having some jerks say my ninja sucked was quite a blow to my already low self esteem (I drew something similar to a foot soldier from the 80s Ninja Turtle cartoon while everyone else was drawing anime). Anime in the general seemed to be really on the rise then, I didn’t get it. I thought it was crap. So I kind of quit drawing. I’d doodle in my notebook when bored in class, which was fairly often (I was too smart for that school, finishing with a 4.0 and not really trying). One good thing that came out of the school was I took a video class my last semester and found I had a real flair for it, even making a couple animated shorts. So then I decided that was what I wanted to do.
So I went to high school, eventually took some video related classes senior year and loved it. One video I made was about super heroes, which I became interested in. Alex and I had talked a year prior about making a comic book (which he was really into, and I never really spent any time reading). We decided to give it a shot and Black Snow issue one was born. I did also take a couple drawing classes in high school, and it became clear I was one of the best in the class, so I had some confidence that I could do this comic book thing.
I went on to Junior College, took one drawing class and got my general ed done so I could move on to real college and take film. Why did I focus on film instead of drawing? I really loved it and thought I could do well with it. I had already displayed talent for it and loved watching movies. Somehow it seemed like a more practical career choose than drawing. I never said I was a well planned out guy. If I could go back and change my focus to art and drawing would I? Maybe. But I went to film school, continued to draw Black Snow when I had a chance, and graduated. I kept drawing it after, and learned a lot (in school and in practice) about how to make a cool website for it and promote it online.
So, to make a long story longer, I’ve been drawing almost all my life, and it’s always been a passion. I’ve been trying to master comics for almost years now, and I really don’t see myself ever stopping. One part is that it makes me happy to do it. My wife says it’s my therapy. That may be true. I do get to act out emotions through the characters. Probably another big aspect of it is that I learned to really like comic books, so that made me more interested in getting better. Perhaps the largest aspect is that I get to work on it with my best friend. It’s something we’ve gotten to share for nearly a decade. If I was working on it with someone I didn’t know or like, I probably would have quit by now.
But at this point I don’t see myself ever quitting. I want to get better. I want to entertain. I want to draw. It’s a passion, perhaps even an obsession. Maybe someday after I’ve achieved real success with it and feel like I’ve nothing left to do I’ll quit…but honestly, I don’t think anyone really thinks that will ever happen.
I’ll never seen any side of heaven, I’ll walk for miles through a blazin’ hell, It doesn’t matter what you think I’m supposed to be, ’Cause I myself know all too well, I’ll open your eyes and make you see, I’m the king of my world, I’ll break down the walls around you down - John Wilkes Booth
From Shannen Doherty to George Clooney? Makes sense to me. Just imagine George Clooney and the Lone Wolf running around Hollywood together causing mischief. That is something I’d like to see! What to say about this particular comic? 94, we’re almost hitting 100! Amazing. The wall completely obstructing this house is much like what I experienced when I went to O.J. Simpson’s home during the 90′s. Those stars/murderers sure like their privacy.
Truly crazy people never really know that they’re crazy. That’s part of what makes them crazy, and I think that’s funny. Crazy people do often think other people are insane, which is even funnier, whether that person is actually crazy or not.
Some good things are going on for us in the webcomic community right now. For one, we are absolutely dominating on Comicracy and have completely turned that silly little site upside down. They never knew what hit them. We’re also doing pretty well on ComicHovel, even though they unfairly and inexplicably took away most of our votes and made us start over. Screw those guys.
We’re also participating in some banner exchanges with some pretty cool webcomics and making some nice connections. In that same vein, we’ve already got two artists lined up to do some guest art for us in the near future. It should be really cool, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what they do with our characters. I’ve been asked to do a guest art piece myself, which should be very interesting. I won’t reveal which comic it is until I’m done, but look for it sometime next week.
I did some work on the website, added some new pages and changed a few things, so you should play around on there if you get a chance. Don’t know exactly what’s going on with Urban Image Magazine these days. Sent them my comics for next month, texted my man Daddy Rich and didn’t hear anything back. Maybe it’s nothing, as there’s bound to be communication issues when you’re working with a man in jail. I’ve got a really cool idea for a Black Snow video, somewhat based on the recaps seen before the TV show Supernatural. If I get some spare time I’d really like to work on that.
Of course I’m still waiting on Alex to finish writing and tightening some things up so I can start drawing Black Snow: Last Call.
