The Gag Rag

Maternity Ward

2012-02-23T21:15:00.000-08:00

2012-02-16T20:02:00.000-08:00

A little scattered this week. Finished my Funny Aminals story...Bryan just finished the cover...here's it a day or two ago... Everything's looking good! Now if we just get some contributions..we may have a book!

I hope it's okay for me to post this picture...but I just have to.

Found THIS! on the interweb !! It's a girl reading/eating my comic. I'm guilty of saying things are my favorite ever, or 'the best thing ever' too much. But this actually is my favorite thing ever.

Also, the site is called,Hic & Hoc Publications and it reviews/posts reviews of like 4 mini comics a day, and everything on there I wanna read. "Transcendental joke books," is also the best name for whatever it is that that is (I do think I know what he means).

Okay!

Oh Babies

2012-02-10T22:39:00.000-08:00

to be continued...next week?

s'more

2012-02-01T21:40:00.000-08:00

Couple things: A short while back I got a very nice review on the Inkstuds blog. It made me all happy inside for like 3 days.

Also the great Chuck Forsman, who makes comics I wish I made, flattered my vain, sensitive soul with a mention on the Atomic books blog...
see Chuck's other five picks here.

See ya next week!

American Stronghold anthology submission, Part 1

2012-01-26T23:45:00.000-08:00

To be continued through March..

All of the Americans are working on their stories now...the anthology is tentatively subtitled Front Porch America, or Devil's Playground, or some combination of the two. Or maybe something else completely. Think YOU have American Stronghold Spirit? Write in YOUR suggestion!

2012-01-20T16:31:00.001-08:00

Babyque...

New stuff next week

2012-01-12T14:34:00.001-08:00

Didn't want to miss my little weekly blog deadline, but I'm breaking in a new story and nothing's gone to inks. I've gotta get this reel in the can. Meantime, I've got stuff I've not posted from The Gag Rag...speaking of which, Optical Sloth posted a review. I always send my comics to Kevin, and he always reviews them right away, and actually reads the whole thing. Which is so great. Especially considering all the stuff he gets year in and year out... Optical Sloth

Watch the Last Explorer as He Battles Giant Ground Bears; Thousands of Wolves!

2012-01-03T20:49:00.001-08:00

Ending

2011-12-29T13:11:00.001-08:00

Part 2

2011-12-18T19:21:00.001-08:00

funny aminals 3, bcgaf

2011-12-06T17:01:00.000-08:00

There's a snippet from what I'm working on for Funny Aminals 3, although it may have wash or tone or something.

Over the weekend I drove to Brooklyn to go to the Brooklyn Comics and Graphic Arts Festival. What fun! Got to see some good friends, and meet some people I only knew from the internet. Aaron Cockle and Megan let me stay at their new place, conveniently located mere blocks away from the venue. Delightful company, friendly cat, coffee in the morning, beer in the evening, in short, perfect hosts! We got some waffles in the morning from a place called Waffle Wolf. They're doing some crazy things with waffles. Mine had very fresh spinach, tomato, pickled cabbage, and feta. Just think about that for a second.

I know, right?

Sam n' Dan 2

2011-11-19T15:37:00.000-08:00

2011-11-13T19:14:00.000-08:00

Hey, 14 million viewers. Here's a short one from The Gag Rag, which goes to press tomorrow. We're all very excited.

2011-11-10T23:16:00.000-08:00

Brush!

2011-11-03T00:17:00.001-07:00

final cover

2011-10-24T15:20:00.001-07:00

Comic for seven days

2011-10-21T01:59:00.000-07:00

TCOB. TGIF. TTYL.

2011-10-17T22:18:00.001-07:00

All blogs updated..

2011-09-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

I'm gearing up to start cartooning again. I finished watching Mad Men, Louie, Lost, Ice Road Truckers, Kitchen Nightmares, and Ramsey's Best Kitchen on Netflix. I'm going to finish reading Love in the Time of Cholera this time. I'm getting into new music. The Pixies (who knew??), Elvis Costello, Jason Webley, more Pretenders, more Mountain Goats, Emmylou Harris, Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr. I'll probably try some rap and hardcore. I'm going to need a lot of music. My friend Will was playing a band called Confusatron at work today...it sounds like someone trying to make music to confuse robots. Thus the name I guess. It was pretty awesome.

First thing I do when I move I'm going to buy a basketball and start exercising. I'm meditating again. I'm trying to open up again. Talking shit out every chance I get. Working through bad habits. All this with the mind to really cartoon again, and for the rest of my life.

I'm a cartoonist. It chose me. I feel awful when I'm not doing it. I'm moving to be around people who are doing it, to get a job that allows me to do, to do it. I'm going to give it my best shot again. I've known plenty of people who've stopped doing it, my dad first and foremost. And the older I get - 29 now - the more I see how easy it would be...like how dying in the cold would be easy. You'd just get all comfortable and drift off. But, I've got too much energy...I know now it's gotta go toward something that makes me happy. So I'm gonna do it. But really do it this time. I'm buying a full length mirror, building a picture morgue, making an actual website, applying for grants, going to all the conventions.

And I'm reading a lot of cartoony inspiration pieces. Here's a couple quotes and links that have really been inspiring me this last month or so..

"Do it your way. And if you are ever in the position to exclude others, try not to. Encouraging people is like the greatest feeling in the world. It gets rid of all that selfish shit that just ends up hurting everyone. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm a bitter old asshole but I feel like I fight it at every turn."Dylan Williams

"You could do far worse than to build a lifetime of friendships with the people you meet in comics. Far, far worse. I'm not sure you could do much better. As much as I'm made uncomfortable by a vision of comics that lacks the comics themselves, a way of approaching the professional and artistic communities that could without blinking substitute designer baskets or arcade games or action figures for the comics medium, I understand the appeal of wanting to stay around smart, curious, kind and mostly forgiving people for as long as possible, even if one's passion for the art form fades."Tom Spurgeon

I'm going to finish these projects first: The Gag Rag, Pockmarked Apocalypse 2, Funny Aminals 3 with Bryan Stone, an American Stronghold Anthology with Kubby Bear, Dane Martin and Jeremiah Piersol, I'm going to post Sam n' Dan 2 (which is finished) on here, and I'm going to start posting short cartoons on youtube, the first is called On The Line, and I'm going to finish The Roy Disney story for Dane's anthology.

I even started drawing with a brush in my sketchbook...first time ever drawing with one. It's like a lot easier and it looks a lot better. Once again, who knew??

Things are good. They're going to be even better.

Funny Aminals 3

2011-08-31T12:50:00.000-07:00

Funny Aminals 3 will be out for Mocca 2012...

Logo design

2011-08-30T14:48:00.000-07:00

I recently designed a logo for someone. This was my 1st time doing that and I learned a lot.

My friend opened up a Burritos and Wraps place with his wife, Diane...here's their website if you want to look at food porn, and stare at the menu.

They both have tons of experience in their fields (his wife is a farmer), and this is their first business, so I really wanted to give them exactly the logo they wanted, which they had very definite idea of what it should be. I'm really happy with how it turned out...I feel like they corrected me as much as I corrected them. Helpful was: asking a lot of questions, listening hard and sketching a lot in front of them.

86 This! is in its third month and doing really good. If you're ever in Ellsworth Maine...

1st two pages for american stronghold anthology

2011-07-31T15:04:00.000-07:00

Almost done

2011-07-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

Babies and Kitties!

2011-06-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

Random drawings for the Gag Rag 1...

WHAT DANE MARTIN DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW!

Want to know cartoonist Dane Martin's deepest personal secrets? Email me.

Cartooning in the Year 2042

2011-06-25T16:31:00.000-07:00

And it's back to the old drawing board...actually a digital hologram that holds your paper up on air currents. You swear to your friends that you're going to quit when you wear a hole in the hologram.

2011-06-05T18:17:00.001-07:00

MeCAF

2011-05-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

Went to Portland today for the 3rd annual MeCAF.

MeCAF does a lot of things right, that I think make it such a special show. Firstly, it's so well organized, from the volunteers and staff, and especially on up to Rick Lowell himself...so on top of everything...from publicity to returning emails...so many exhibitors, yet he still makes time to talk to everyone and make everyone feel welcome, and accommodate whatever tabling requests people have (which, God knows, cartoonists like to request stuff). I like how returning exhibitors are in the same spots as previous years. I also thought it was great to have one entrance in the lower building, so traffic there was the same as up the ramp.

And I think it's just being surrounded by the ocean which is always present through the window walls...something about that gives the show a much more laid back feel, as opposed to MOCCA, or SPX, et. al. Also the fact that it's in Portland. Also also, the fact (which was evident by now) that it's more of a family show. Lots of families. Lot's of little kids.

I've been thinking on this. You have to break the age old taboos, and work out the repression I think, and there's something to be said for that. But. Cartoons are supposed to be kid friendly. Maybe mom's right after all (although her opinions on rap music still don't hold weight).

Someone was telling me that the YA markets are experiencing unprecedented growth.
Kid friendly of course means different things to different parents, but there's a lot of room to maneuver (and be subversive, if that's your thing) in kids and YA comics. As long as you don't show T and A and resist the temptation to drop just one little F bomb on page 14, you can do a lot. Me and Bryan have talked for a while about possibly making Funny Aminals all ages...while I'm ambivalent about it, I will say, at this show, I really wish it was, for all the people with kids who picked it up and looked at it. Because I would LOVE to expose kids to the cartoonists in Funny Aminals...I dunno...when I was a kid I was into Sam Gross and John Callahan. I didn't want my cartoons dumbed down or white washed. But you gotta make the parents happy too, understandably.

Got a chance to talk to Mike Lynch again this year, which is one of my favorite parts of any convention. Mike was one of the cartoonists who was always there to help me when I was starting out, always there to give me a cartoon editor's name, or answer my questions on how to go about doing something...and at conventions he's just an oasis. An information oasis! I learned a lot from him today (not just about cartooning)...nice to have that experienced perspective at these things, where it's mostly twenty somethings. He was the one telling me about the YA markets...and he mentioned Harry Potter as an example of what publishers are doing wrong in seeking out YA material...they try to duplicate the last success. But the big success, from Harry Potter to Beatrix Potter, always ends up being the thing that no publisher thought would sell.

He also said he was preparing for the demise of the gag cartoon markets. I had something to say about that, but I forget what it was. C'est la vie. Gag cartoons were where I first experienced the thrill of being printed. And there simply aren't enough publishers of comics for all the cartoonists making ones worthy of a publisher. Mike himself has been making comics, and posting some on his blog (linked above). Which is one way to do it. Or self publish. It's just not viable as a way to make money (it is arguably as thrilling as being printed -- nothing more fun than making an entire book yourself)

Anyway, no more gag cartoons. The New Yorker stable, I guess. The royalty. Bye Nickelodeon magazine, and look day (and Look, Esquire, True) and getting your cartoon printed in a middle market that your grandmother's heard of, or next to an ad for a pharmaceutical, or in a tabloid next to an article on Bible Scholars Amazing Question: Is God a Woman, with a picture captioned, Reverend So and So points to relevant passages in the Bible, and it's literally a picture of a guy pointing at a bible! Ah the memories. And the fake memories that never happened to me. C'est la vie!

Anyway, I kinda tabled on behalf of Funny Aminals, and American Stronghold (forgot to ask people to mail me stuff to sell this time :(). Shared a table with Bob Oxman, from the very first CCS class, who had his location appropriate Smuttynose comics...good rollicking, murdering fun. He's one of those cartoonists that looks like they're actually going to finish a long project. Warms the heart. He also left me with an ENTIRE CASE of his homebrew...which, Bob's home brew is not a pedestrian home brew. It's, like, competition ready. I'm enjoying a dry coffee stout right now that's just hitting the spot. Poutine at Duck Fat hit the spot, too. Hot Damn! Poutine and home brew!

Anyway, I got a lot of comics to read that I'm really excited about. Think I'll wait till tomorrow though. It's gonna be a good day tomorrow.

In closing, great show. So great to see everyone. So full of love right now. And poutine. Thanks guys.

2011-05-14T17:33:00.001-07:00

2011-05-13T20:33:00.000-07:00

2011-04-17T17:36:00.000-07:00

Double update. How you like me now?

Today I drew a froggy, a toitle, and a mule deer.

What are sinuses anyway and what do they do because I'd just as soon not have mine if they can become infected no matter how many Emergen Cs and grapefruits and smoothies I consume.

Have some Ibuprofin, germs. Enjoy the rest of your death.

Drawings for glassware

2011-04-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted in awhile, but, super busy. Thumbnailing a new story for an American Stronghold anthology. Here's some drawings I did for someone who just wanted me to draw some penguins sliding around, and dragonflies. Today I'm going to draw a frog on some lily pads.

2011-02-27T20:12:00.000-08:00

This is a side project for someone's father...more on this later...

2011-02-27T15:25:00.000-08:00

On third thought, I think my next project will be a funny animal comic with a newborn baby who crawls out of the farmhouse and behaves sadistically to the animals.

A story about a boy and his dog who he tries to kill.

I'm just going to contribute to anthologies from now on...

2011-02-20T08:04:00.000-08:00

Weird being out of projects. Trying to figure out what to draw next. Think it's going to be a 10 pager about a prison ship in the Revolutionary War for a theoretical anthology. Don't worry, the theory is solid. It will be fact. A fact in a scientific trade journal in the hearts of every American ultra soon! I may try to do it like this...this is page from my Sundays 4 contribution which will be out for one of those Mocha Latte Special FX dealies in New York or Bethesda, or somewhere where a polite British lady is all of a sudden telling you which light to take a left at. And you're like, this isn't my car, this is all so strange.

I used painted backgrounds, and pasted the "animation" in in Photoshop. That is the most fun I've had in Photoshop in three years.

2011-02-14T19:05:00.000-08:00

I think my next project is Sam n Dan 3: Sam and Dan Go To War!

Zooper Zunday

2011-02-06T15:20:00.000-08:00

More on this later...I'm adapting the television show Lost into a series of gag cartoons. Would you like to see more of this?? WRite in your answer to Apartment 2.

Okay, that wraps up my catch up.

-The weekly blog which may or may not update next week.

How NOT to draw pig ears.

2011-02-05T15:03:00.000-08:00

2011-02-05T15:00:00.000-08:00

Very excited about this. Here are some drawing for a project I'm working on...Youtube fame here we come. It's gonna have an original soundtrack by a Real Pro! And voice over.... The characters are based on actual people, so maaaybe...the actual people will do their own voices. Which would be cool.

back online...

2011-02-05T13:52:00.001-08:00

2011-01-09T14:57:00.001-08:00

Now In Full Color!

2011-01-07T17:50:00.001-08:00

2011-01-01T18:54:00.001-08:00

2010-12-26T16:19:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-19T13:40:00.001-08:00

2010-12-11T09:36:00.000-08:00

2010-12-03T23:41:00.001-08:00

2010-11-27T09:45:00.000-08:00

Hanuman (Monkey King)

Funny Aminals 2 is available now. Here!

Sam n' Dan 1

2010-11-19T22:27:00.000-08:00