These are unused designs for a tee-shirt, none of which were selected though I like them all and may do a limited run of them.  For the two people who might care, I’ve been developing an exciting adventure comic around Chamber-bot.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-tony-millionaire-20120404,0,3242457.story

They both have the crazy.

And Rose Tyler.  I think I captured her doe-eyed, brit-toothed qualities.  I was not a fan of her character until David Tennant took over.

But if you’re more into meat and potatoes (rather than steak and kidney pies), then It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is, to my sensibilities, one of the best sitcoms ever made in the States.  Danny Devito is slowing growing on me, and Sweet Dee is an essential character, so take no message from the fact that I didn’t scan in my drawing of her.  It just isn’t as good as I feel these three were.  Well, not ‘good’ exactly, but the line weight, etc., just didn’t suit the three below.

It’s pretty weird to put your own drawings up on the web for all to smile or snigger at.  It’s like standing naked on the roof of your building in Greenwich Village.  You know that thousands of people could be laughing at your gynecomastia or shrinkage in the cool October night air, but you can’t see it or hear it (thank god).  Though, the desire for feedback is precisely why you do it (once you get over the initial euphoria of self-expansion).

So, I’d love some comments.  Even insults are okay.  Just leave my manboobs out of it!

Enough with the trying to sound like I’m all intellectual.  These words are simply to justify the fact that I’ve drawn some characters from ABC’s LOST, several years after the show sputtered out.

I mean, if I drew a bunch of characters from Gilligan’s Island, would I have to jump through hoops to justify it?  No.  Unless I was wrangling for the big hit – the exciting meme, the 15 blog links of fame.  But for that, I’d need to mix my images, combine Gilligan’s cast with the Republican hopefuls (a lovely, extant photoshop meme, floating around), or some other clever novelty.  The crowd I run in is beyond the appreciation of simple forms – at least in politic company.

But I haven’t done that.  I’m still indulging myself in the pleasures of drawing, for the sake of drawing — for the sake of my own limbics.

Topical?

Well, somewhere out there are several thousand kiddies working their way through Lost right now.  They haven’t seen from the top of the lighthouse, they haven’t felt the blade of Jacob, they haven’t   w i s h e d   for the promise of good television to be kept just this once.

I wish.

There’s no link yet to the zine. I believe it gets released Wednesday. This is the comic that’s being included:
Nostalgia

This was appropriate for the “memory issue” of their zine, I thought.  I submitted back in October for the November of 2011 issue and forgot (heh) about it when the deadline passed and I heard nothing. Then, this morning, I was notified of my comic’s acceptance and that it will be on one of the 4 color covers!

Keep supporting comics and local arts!

The panel well-represented the different classes of cartoonist: Mark Monlux the current SPGA/Seattle Chapter Ethics Chair and well-established designer who studies sales of books at conventions in order to best choose design elements of his own books before printing, expert in all things copyright and trademark; Megan Kelso an indy creator, former self-publisher, who makes personal comics in a literary tradition, once-contracted by the New York Times as a staff cartoonist; a “big two” (Marvel & DC) professional artist (snarky and self-effacing), Matthew Southworth who straddles the chasm between drawing the Spidermans of the industry and his personal work; Emi Lenox, the young ingénue, social-media-maven who stumbled into her first publishing deal; the charmingly geeky, comic-book-guy writer, Brandon Jerwa, with an impressive professional résumé of licensed products and an official comics ambassadorship to Algiers; lastly, the owner of the number one independent/artsy comics publishing outfit in the United States, Kim Thompson of Fantagraphics.

There were about 45 attendees and I think that’s a fairly excellent turnout for such a panel.  Most impressive was that the audience was pretty much 50/50 in male/female ratio.  That tells me that the proponents of comics are making progress at expanding readership.

The one main point I walked out of the room with came from Megan Kelso, though it was expounded upon by most of the panel: participate in some manner, participate interpersonally.  Join groups and forums, attend conventions, post comments on review websites, and promote, promote, promote: not just my work, but all of comicdom.  Spreading the word helps us all.

Our problem, I’m sure this is a widely spread problem among sequestered artists and writers, is that we focus so intently on how to be productive, we develop poorly at self-promotion.  I’d hazard the assumption that most artists are introverted by their histories and, hence, even further behind in our networking abilities.

So, I walked out onto Orcas Street with the word “participate” floating in a thought bubble over my head.  And I realized that what I want is respect. I think my work if pretty effing good and it deserves to find its audience. Self-respect demands that I present what I’ve done.  Maybe it’s not your cup of nutritious broth, but I’m going to start ladling it out, one mug at a time, all over town.

So, in line with this commitment, I present to you my website, and my most recent work of which I am most proud I Quit my 30-page, page-a-day, improv comic about quitting smoking.  If I may toot my own horn: this comic is being circulated in the office of the WA State Quit Line, and used by a Seattle-area therapist to help his chemically dependent patients. Enjoy!

Read comics!

Fort Dudak