bill white cartoons

Krizzle-Kroo and Forcucci, Too!

2012-01-22T21:09:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my new Nook reader, I've been re-reading all of L. Frank Baum's Oz books. I haven't read them in years, but I still enjoy them just as much as I did when I was a young geek-in training.

Those of you who are only aware of the Land of Oz from the famous MGM film, and have never read the books are really missing something. Baum wrote fourteen books, give or take, about Oz and its inhabitants. One of my favorite characters is (the) Woozy, who makes his debut in the book, "The Patchwork Girl of Oz". Instead of boring you with (the) Woozy's history, I'll just direct you to this link , and you can read all about him. Of course, you could also read the book, but that might take away too much valuable TV-watchin' time!

Why do I like Woozy? I dunno. I think because I love the randomness of his personal idiosyncrasies, as well as his awesome visual design. Kudos to illustrator J.R. Neill for that!

I like ol' Woozy so much, I whipped up these images of him. I can tell you that he is as much fun to draw as he is to read about. These may not be examples of my best work, but I enjoyed drawing them so much, I was almost going to do a whole "Woozy Week" here on the blog, with pictures of Woozy in various situations.

Don't worry though, I came to my senses, and this shall be my only Woozy-centric post.

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IN OTHER NEWS: My pal David, over on his must-read-regularly blog, "David Wasting Paper", has a new cartoonist survey up. This time, he's interviewed another pal o' mine, the lovely and talented John Forcucci . Go here to read it!

Next time, more jocularity. In the meantime, go read John's interview, eat a honeybee, and Krizzle-Kroo to you!

The Hoff!

2012-01-17T11:11:00.000-05:00

When I was a lad, I loved to draw cartoons. I dreamed of someday being a "FAMOUS CARTOONIST", with my own comic strip, beloved by millions. I did not, however, have any idea of how to go about becoming one.

In the small town I lived in (and sadly, still do), there wasn't a lot of encouragement, or even information, about how professional artists went about their work. Occasionally, there would be a newspaper profile of a famous cartoonist, and there were a few Walter Foster© books on cartooning, but being a cartoonist really seemed to be an unobtainable goal.

That is, until I entered junior high.

Academically, I was a very poor student. I simply wasn't interested in the things I was forced to study in public school. I just wanted to draw cartoons and live in my own little fantasy world. My teachers would tell my parents that I appeared (!) to be intelligent, but that I lacked "focus". If they only knew!

Fortunately, there was one person working at my junior high who was actually interested in kids beyond what their grade point average was. She cared about the children and actually supported them in finding their way through the emotional mine fields of adolescence. She was the school guidance counselor. Her name was Ms. Krause, and she was really cool!

Since I was such a poor student, I was in Ms. Krause's office a lot. She did everything she could to encourage me to do better in my studies, but she obviously knew my head was elsewhere. One day she told me she knew I was interested in becoming a cartoonist and she had a book she thought I might like.

"Might like?!" That was the understatement of the year! The book was "The Art of Cartooning", by Syd Hoff . It was the first "How-to" book on cartooning I had ever seen. Written by the legendary gag cartoonist and illustrator Syd Hoff, it was the perfect introduction to the realities of being a cartoonist for twelve-year-old me.

Syd Hoff shows you how to draw a face. Simple, no?

Finishing a page, by The Hoff!

Syd Hoff, for those of you unfamiliar with his work, was a popular gag cartoonist and children's book author/illustrator. In this book on cartooning, he takes the reader through the basics of drawing and rendering cartoon characters, then moves on to such topics as creating gags and selling your work. Although there had, of course, been other books on the "how-to's" of cartooning, this was the first one I had ever seen. The genius of the book was that Hoff didn't make the act of drawing seem too daunting. Too many books on cartooning feature such spectacular examples of art that the young cartoonist can get easily discouraged when their work doesn't compare to the examples in the book. Not so Hoff. Hoff's simple style and his laid-back prose made it easy for the reader to believe that, with a lot of hard work, it WAS possible to become a professional cartoonist!

As I said, this book had a HUGE impact on me. I really began to study cartoons and comic strips, and worked much harder on my drawing. In gratitude to Ms. Krause, I even tried doing better in school (without much success, but hey, I tried!). Even though I never did become a "famous" cartoonist, with a comic strip beloved by millions, I have earned my living (such as it is) as a cartoonist. That's good enough for me. I wonder, though, where I would be now if not for this book.

Me, by Syd Hoff*

I lost track of my copy of this book a long time ago, but was thrilled to find a used copy on Amazon recently for only a penny (plus shipping)! As I flip through the pages, powerful memories keep coming back. I don't think it would be of much help to a young cartoonist today, as a lot of the information is dated. For those of you who'd like to remember "the good ol' days", though, I highly recommend hunting down a copy.

MY big regret, of course, is that I never wrote to Syd Hoff to tell him what his book meant to me. He passed away only a few years ago, so I had plenty of time to do it. I just never did. At least I can go to the website here, that celebrates him and his work.

Come to think of it, I've never thanked Ms. Krause for showing me this book, either.

THAT I will do!

* No, Syd Hoff did not draw this. I did. It was fun to try a drawing in his style. I'm sure though, that Syd would have done a better job!

Post Holiday Wrap-Up, and Happy New Year!

2012-01-08T15:10:00.001-05:00

Happiest of New Years to you all!

I hope that the faithful, and even the not-so-faithful, readers of this blog had a happy Holiday season, no matter what wacky Holiday rituals your local culture chooses to follow.

We here at Casa de Blanco had a wonderful Christmas, as usual. Perfect Wifey and I had a nice, quiet day, pretty much all to ourselves. The day started with the traditional opening of Christmas swag. Once again, I made out pretty well (Again, I must wonder if Santa is even bothering to check his "Naughty or Nice" list anymore). I won't bore you with a detailed list of of the assorted items I received, but I do want to mention a "Gift of the Magi", experience: Perfect Wifey and I both got each other the same gift!

A few weeks before the Holiday, PW and I were in a toy store, and we spotted action figures based on the film "Gremlins 2". We both were tickled by the figure of the character "George", a sort of cranky Mogwai, based on Edward G. Robinson. I was having trouble deciding what to get PW for Christmas anyway, and, since I feel her collection of action figures is somewhat underwhelming, I decided to get it for her. Imagine our surprise on Christmas morn, when we discovered we had both bought each other "George the Mogwai"! I know, it was a moment that would make O. Henry proud: Two adults buying each other a toy based on a crappy movie. Still, it was a reminder to the both of us that truly, we were meant for each other. A frightening thought, I know. (BTW, if you are a fan of such things, I highly recommend getting one of these figures. They are really great!)

One disturbing note: For the first time in recent memory, I did not receive even one Doctor Who action figure! A glaring omission, one that makes me feel that perhaps Santa is keeping tabs on that whole naughty/nice thing. Or that maybe PW is getting sick of all the Doctor Who stuff "cluttering up the house". All was not Who-less, though, as Perfect Sis #2 gifted me with a really cool TARDIS tee shirt. This was a gift that was all the more meaningful, because PS2 really isn't in to the whole Doctor Who thang.

Later in the day I prepared a dinner of Roast Beef for PW and I. I have never attempted to make a roast before, but thanks to the assistance of several cookbooks and the advice of my Perfect Sis #1, it turned out pretty good. I also made Yorkshire Pudding, which, to the surprise of all, also turned out pretty tasty. After this heavy meal, PW and I were stuffed to the gills, and rolled around groaning like Chewbacca after a Kessel Run. The rest of the day is kind of a blur.

For the New Year Holiday, we went to visit Newport, RI, a place I had never been. Newport is a beautiful town full of wonderful architecture and history, but the highlight of the visit for me was winning big at a slot club off the highway. Truly a magical start to the New Year!

Ah, yes, but what will the Bill White Cartoon Blog have in store for its readers in the New Year? I'm glad you asked! I don't know. Blogger does has a new format that makes posting images easier, so at least the site will look better. Also, I have recently picked up a few books on cartooning that I will talk about soon. Other than that, I am open to suggestions: If there is something you'd like to see from me, just let me know in the comments section (Speaking of comments, please leave one, even if you have nothing to say. It makes me feel like people actually read the blog. Unlikely, I know, but often illusion is all we have). One thing is for certain, hilarity and insight will ensue. Well, not "for certain", but at least "somewhat likely".

To all of you out there, I wish you a happy and prosperous year!

"A Merry Christmas, Ah DO Theenk!"

2011-12-23T19:12:00.020-05:00

Well after much sterm and drang, and after almost a month and a half of Christmas songs on the radio, the Holidays are finally upon us.

I love Christmas celebrations, but after all the gift-opening, eating, drinking and recollections of your past failings by your family, enough is enough. It is time for the celebrating to end, and for you to get everyone to go home.

This can be a hard thing to do. Especially if you make the mistake of throwing a beloved Holiday movie into the DVD player. Showing a classic like, "It's a Wonderful Life", "Miracle on 34th Street" or even "Elf", can have stray guests hanging about forever. Long after all "tidings of comfort and joy" have disappeared.

As my Christmas gift to you, dear readers, I offer up two Holiday-themed films to pop into your DVD player, that all but guarantee your guests will flee your home in no time flat. Be warned: The two films I am about to describe are not for the faint of heart, the easily traumatized, or anyone who enjoys the Magic of Christmas. Please do not send me any of your therapy bills.

The first film is a Christmas "classic" I have mentioned here before: "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't". This film features Italian actor Rossano Brazzi in the heartwarming tale of a villain who attempts to destroy Christmas by buying the North Pole and evicting Santa. Although I'm sure that there are some children out there who enjoy all the drama and thrills of high finance and the various legalities of real estate, this movie is one of the worst films ever made. While I enjoy the sheer awfulness of the film, and treasure the horrible, scene-chewing performance of Brazzi (His ultimate moment in the film, when his character "Phineas T. Prune", celebrates his apparent "victory" over Santa I have illustrated above. It is such a wonderful, and almost indecipherable delivery of a line, it never fails to make me smile.), I can all but guarantee that a showing of this film will clear your house of any and all Holiday hangers-on. In no time.

You can read more about this film here, and check out the trailer (which includes the golden moment I mentioned above) here.

If that film doesn't make every last stray guest flee your home, it's time to pull out the big gun. The "big gun" in this instance, is the creepiest Holiday-themed film ever made. It's the Mexican-produced 1959 production titled, "Santa Claus". Instead of trying to describe this film in my own words, I'll just quote the official description from the makers of the film: "Santa works in outer space and does battle with a demon sent to Earth by Lucifer to ruin Christmas by killing Santa and making all the children of the Earth do evil." Believe me, this gentle description does not do justice to just how creepy this film is. I saw it as a child at a "kiddie matinee", and it has left scars that I still feel to this day. In preparation for writing this post, I watched a few scenes on YouTube, and it still unnerved me. Go look for it on YouTube yourself, or just read the full description of the film here. Again, screen this film only in the event you really want everyone out of the house pronto. I hereby absolve myself of any lingering trauma that the film leaves you with.

As absolutely awful as these movies are, though, they still carry a message that I think is important: Don't ruin Christmas. For anyone. No matter how annoying your relatives are, and no matter what happens, even if you have to kiss Aunt Gin, remember what this Holiday symbolizes and make it a happy time for all.

That said, thanks to all the loyal readers of this blog. Especially those of you that take a moment to post a comment. I am very grateful for your continued support.

A Merry Christmas to one and all!

"The Night Before Christmas" Wrap-up!

2011-12-12T09:13:00.009-05:00

Regular followers of this blog have just finished reading my take on Clement Moore's immortal tale, "The Night Before Christmas". I hope you all enjoyed it. New readers can check it out by scrolling down or (if you wanna read it in the correct sequence) by clicking the links to the right.

I was inspired to do this series of posts after I looked through a version of the story Perfect Wifey had dug up that really had horrible illustrations. "I can do better than this!", thought I. No one, though, really needs to see another traditional version of this tale. So, I thought maybe a parody version might be in order. Yes, I know, there are too many of those too, but this would be my version.

Since it was doubtful I would ever find a publisher for such an effort, I decided to post it on this blog. Since illustrating an entire book in time for Christmas was a daunting prospect, I decided to take it page-by-page. That way, I could squeeze out a verse or two every day, and still make the Christmas deadline.

I planned nothing. I wrote and drew each post in about a half an hour, with no plan as to where I was going with the story. I didn't even know how the whole storyline was going to turn out, but I thought that this "seat-of-my-pants" approach might produce some interesting results. It did. What I originally planned as a hilarious parody of the original poem, with all kinds of Un-Christmas-y shenanigans, instead became the somewhat saccharine, very preachy piece you've just read. I did learn a thing or two in producing it, though. I learned:

• I am a lousy poet.

• Santa's sleigh and his reindeer team are a pain in the eggnog to draw.

• I should take a bit more time with my drawings. Even if they are "only" for this blog. Some of the drawings really make me cringe, even now, after "just" drawing them. Too late. "They belong to the ages, now."

• I was also toying with the idea, if the results were any good, of collecting the whole thing into a POD book. Unfortunately, it turned out far too short for that. Do they publish POD Leaflets?

One other thing I learned is that, all cynicism aside, I really believe in the message of my story. Especially the part about continuing the Spirit of Giving throughout the year. It's easy to give at this time of year (Again, I will direct you to Infinite Hollywood's Toys for Tots Drive, but there are lots of opportunities for extending your generosity out there), however it's not so easy to keep doing it all the year long. I'm gonna try, maybe some of you will too.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed all of this. Thanks for at least tolerating it, and sharing your comments. If you didn't enjoy it, and just wish I'd get back to ranting and raving about various bits o' nonsense, no worries! The posts to follow should take care of that!

Merry Christmas!

"The Night Before Christmas" Part 8/The End!

2011-12-10T17:16:00.010-05:00

"As St. Nick flew off, he said, 'Be of good cheer!

'And do something for someone who needs it this year!'

His advice was the best gift ever given to me.

Well, not quite: He left a toy Boba Fett, under the tree!

So help someone this season. Do whatever feels right.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Next time: No "Next time"! We're done! Well, maybe I'll add a post-game wrap-up to this series.

"The Night Before Christmas" Part 7

2011-12-09T20:37:00.012-05:00

"So try to be grateful, your life is so grand!

You should take time this year,

to give OTHERS a hand!''

I knew Santa was right, I needed no toy.

I should count my blessings, and be full of joy!

''And why just stick to Christmas?', Santa said with a wink,

'Do it all the year long, it's not as hard as you think!

'Donate food, money and clothes, and give of your time,

When you give to help others, EVERY DAY'S Christmastime!''

Then he was gone. Up the chimney, away!

Out into the night, in his noisy ole sleigh!"

Next time: Our thrilling, preachy conclusion!

"The Night Before Christmas" Part 6

2011-12-08T21:50:00.012-05:00

"As if reading my mind Santa said,

'NO gifts this year!

YOU should count all your blessings,

and be of good cheer!

'You have LOTS to be thankful for,

while others do not:

like Riley and Rocco, and your WIFE! Man, she's HOT!

'I do what can, to help people out there,

those who are struggling, who don't have a prayer.

'I DO deliver some gifts, to good girls and boys,

but you should think of the people that need MORE than toys!

'YOU should think of all those that don't have what you do,

and do what you can, to make THEIR dreams come true!'"

Next time: What is this guy's point?

"The Night Before Christmas" Part 5

2011-12-08T12:20:00.007-05:00

"And then in an instant, I heard on the roof,

the clomping and stomping of each giant hoof.

As I pulled in my head and was turning around,

down the chimney Ole Santy Claus came with a bound!

He was wearing the suit that all of us know,

and he flicked off some bits of ashes and snow.

One thing that I noticed: Santa carried no bag!

Where oh where, were our presents?! Our sweet Christmas swag?!"

Next time: The big guy explains.

"The Night Before Christmas" Part 4

2011-12-07T20:55:00.009-05:00

"I saw Dasher, and Dancer, and all of the rest,

but I didn't see Rudolph, and he's the one I like best!

I realized he was fictitious, and felt like a goof,

then I heard Santa land with a 'thud!' on my roof!"

Next time: Santa breaks into my home. It's okay though, because after all, he's Santa Claus, and he might have new Doctor Who toys for me!

"The Night Before Christmas" Part 3

2011-12-06T17:07:00.008-05:00

"When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I crawled out of bed to see what was the matter.

I stepped around Rocco and looked out to see,

who was causing that ruckus?

It's a quarter past three!

The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow,

gave a luster of mid-day to objects below.

I didn't care about all that though, because,

as I screamed out to Wifey,

'I JUST SAW SANTA CLAUS!'"

Next time: Did I really see Santa? Or was it my drunken neighbor out on a late night lawn-stumble?

BTW: This is my 300th post!

"The Night Before Christmas": Part 2

2011-12-06T11:17:00.012-05:00

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

in the hope that Ol' Santy Claus soon would be there.

Rocco was hogging up all of our bed,

his snoring nose inches away from my head.

Perfect Wifey exclaimed, "'Rocco, SHADDAP!,

You're ruining our wonderful, long Winter's nap!'"

Next time: What is all that clattering on the lawn? Is it those teenagers again?!

"The Night Before Christmas" Part 1

2011-12-05T22:05:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas, all! As a Holiday treat, over the next few days, I'll be posting my own take on Clement Moore's classic poem with illustrations by me, day by day. One verse at a time, give or take. Here's the first:

"Twas the night before Christmas,

when all through the house,

not a creature was stirring,

'cause Riley had eaten the mouse!

Up next: Is Mama (aka: Perfect Wifey) really sleeping in her kerchief? Is there a cap large enough to contain my giant noggin? Come back tomorrow and find out!

Infinite Toys for Tots!

2011-11-29T15:29:00.013-05:00

Well, the Holiday season is upon us, and Christmas is less than a month away. I love the Christmas season, mostly because I enjoy the feelings of goodwill and kindness towards others that the season generates. Most importantly, I love all the gifts I get!

Sadly, though, there are a lot of people out there who, for whatever reason, won't be getting any gifts this year. It would be hard for a grown man like me (derisive comments are expected, speculating as to how mentally "grown" I am) to not receive the toys I crave at this time of year, but imagine how hard it is for kids to have nothing to look forward to?

Fortunately, there are people out there who want to make the Holidays happy for kids, and are out there doing something about it. The USMC has been running their "Toys for Tots" campaign for years, and have certainly brightened many a child's Holiday. Now the folks at my favorite Pop Culture site, "Infinite Hollywood", are upping the ante: For every toy donation you make to TFT, they will match it with a donation of their own. It's like giving TWO toys for the price of one! Saint Nick himself would be proud.

To participate, check out all the details here, and make a donation. Newton Gimmick, the overlord of "Infinite Hollywood", hopes for at least 30 donations by Christmas, but I'm sure we can do better than that. If you have a website of your own, why not post a link to this campaign on your site, too? Also, please give some quality toy, something you yourself would have liked to receive as a child.

Yes, that means NO Megablocks™!

Thanks for the Balls!

2011-11-22T21:12:00.006-05:00

Thursday is Thanksgiving, so Happy Thanksgiving Day, all! Well, at least to those of you in the United States. You Canadian readers can bookmark this page and read it next week. You folks in other countries? Well, I'm sure you must have some comparable Holiday. If you don't, come to the United States! Thanksgiving is awesome, and blue jeans are really affordable!

Thanksgiving, of course, is supposed to be all about giving thanks for all the blessings you are blessed with. This is a great idea. A lot of us waste a bunch of time bitching about the things we don't have, when we should be grateful for all the things we do.

Unfortunately, more attention this time of year is focused on the feast we devour, rather than the spirit of the day. Actually, there is nothing wrong with that. After all, "Good Eats" are something we should all be grateful for!

Most Thanksgiving Day feasts center around the turkey, of course. Indeed, here at Casa del Blanco, we will be enjoying a delicious bird expertly prepared by yours truly. We hope.

But there has to be more than turkey for a gut-busting meal to remember! You need side dishes and a dessert, of course, but what about some tasty appetizers? Here at our house, our go-to Holiday app has always been Pigs in Blankets. Tiny wieners wrapped in puff pastry just say, "Holiday", to me. I always have to be careful to limit my intake of these tasty tidbits, however, lest I have no room left for the meal proper.

Lately though, another pre-meal temptress has stolen my heart: The classic Cocktail Meatballs served on toothpicks. They are such a tasty treat, I almost have discarded Pigs in Blankets as a Holiday tradition. I have always favored the "classic" recipe, which you can see here. This tantalizing mixture of savory and sweet is difficult to resist. I have, though, found an even BETTER recipe for this cocktail party staple! To create it yourself, just follow the recipe I linked to above, but instead of Cranberry Sauce, substitute a jar of Grape Jelly. Sounds gross, I know. I was skeptical too, but THIS is now my go-to recipe for cocktail meatballs. Try it and see. It is just... Wow. If you REALLY wanna go crazy, throw some smoked sausages into the mix. Oh, oh, so good!

Enough talk of Cocktail Meatballs! As I said, today is supposed to be about giving thanks. Although I am most grateful for this delicious recipe, I am more thankful for many other things. In particular, those of you who read this blog and post your comments. You make it all worthwhile.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, ALL!

I Now Pronounce You...

2011-11-21T11:50:00.007-05:00

As you may recall, in my last post, I wondered about the romantic life of every body's favorite fast-food clown, Ronald McDonald™. Since I had no knowledge of Ronald's sexual preferences or private life, I had to use my imagination to come up with the perfect "life partner" for him.

I presented you, the readers of this blog, with two choices: One was the foxy Donna McDonald™, a saucy clown lady who loved a good time and provided you with a "fry with that shake", and Bertha, an unpleasant battle axe who was pretty much the 1950's stereotype of a horrible wife.

You have spoken, and although some of you wanted Ronald to experience emotional pain in equal measure to the digestive pain his employer's food has caused you, romance won out. From now on, and until I receive a legal injunction from the McDonald's Corporation, Donna McDonald™ is the new Mrs. McDonald™. It's nice to think Ronald has someone to come home to after a long day of dealing with daily life in McDonaldland™. Things like the Fry Guys™ shenanigans, Grimace's personality disorder, and corruption in the McDonaldland™ police department (Question for Big Mac™: Why doesn't Birdie the Early Bird™ ever get a parking ticket?), must really wear a clown out!

I'm for one glad to think Donna is waiting at home waiting, with a McMartini™ in hand, to make all his troubles melt away...

In preparing this post, I realized this is the FORTH time I have referenced Ronald McDonald™ on this blog! I have no explanation or excuse for this. I am not a fan of clowns, and McDonald's™, though as safe a place as any to get a fast food meal, isn't my favorite. I have no explanation for this. Let's just hope this is my last McDonald's-centric™ post.

And rest assured, I will post no musings on, "Who is the Burger Queen™"!

Mrs. McDonald?

2011-11-17T12:03:00.015-05:00

As a lifetime customer and aficionado of the McDonald's™ fast food chain, I have often wondered about the private life of their mascot, Ronald McDonald™. In television commercials we see him skipping around with children, before luring them to the premises of his corporate overlords. What though, does he do when the cameras aren't rolling? Does Ronald have a private life?

We all know that Ronald has friends like Grimace™ and the Hamburgler™, but are there any chicks in McDonaldland™? What does Ronald do when he has "urges" that a Happy Meal just won't satisfy? Is there a "Mrs. McDonald"?

I'd like to think that there is. A beautiful, comely clown-woman who shares Ronald's love of questionable dietary choices and hanging around with children you are not related to. Let's call her "Donna McDonald". Donna loves to share in all of Ronald's interests. She likes long walks on the beach, eating McNuggets™ in an evocative way and doesn't mind when Mayor McCheese™ calls in the middle of the night in a Shamrock Shake™-induced seizure.

It would be pretty to think that Ronald had such a supportive woman at his side, but in reality I'm afraid he would be stuck with the other image I have posted here: Bertha McDonald. This overweight battle axe would question every decision Ronald made ("You're bringing back the McRib™, again?!") and blame Ronald for the onset of her Type II Diabetes.

I might be wrong though. What do YOU, the faithful readers of this blog, think? Vote for your choice of Ronald McDonald's™ ideal mate in the comments section. Once I have tallied up the thousands of votes I receive (please note ironic sarcasm), I'll forward the results to McDonald's™ headquarters, and we can give this corporate shill the bride he deserves!

Unless they serve me with a cease and desist order...

Sneak Peek!

2011-11-14T20:52:00.003-05:00

Been busy as a Bee lately, and may hap the blog has suffered for it. I've spent the past several posts discussing other cartoonists and various assorted nonsense. The result is that I have lost focus on the point of this blog: Me, and my exciting life as a cartoonist! The next few posts will rectify that.

As a sample, here is a sneak peek at a doodle connected to my upcoming not-so-secret project. No explanations, just enjoy.

This would be a good time to ask you all out there if there are any topics you would like me to cover on this blog. The sky's the limit! Ask me what you will in the comments section, and if I have anything to say about the subject, and/or any images to show, you'll see it!

This would also be a good time to remind those of you that aren't "In the Know", that I have another blog filled with cartoony goodness. Just click here for a gander.

Till next time...

RIP: Bil Keane

2011-11-10T15:15:00.008-05:00

Sad times in Cartoonland. Bil Keane, the creator of the long-running comic panel, "The Family Circus", has died at the age of 89. In light of this, I will jump on the bandwagon like all the other bloggers out there, and say a few words about him.

Although I never really cared for the feature, and certainly never laughed at it, you had to admire Bil Keane. The strip was well drawn and it certainly entertained its intended audience. I'm sure almost every body's Mother or Grandmother at one time or another hung one of his strips on the 'fridge just because it reminded them of their own little darlings.

I did admire his Sunday panels where he would track a character's path through a house or a neighborhood, and I kinda liked when he would turn over the strip to his character, "Billy", and draw the strip in a childish scrawl.

Keane also produced not one, but two cartoonist offspring: His son, Jeff, who continues the strip, and the uber-talented Glen Keane, an incredible animator. Having two kids that are making a living drawing cartoons is a pretty impressive achievement all by itself. I myself am o for 3...

Let's not forget too that Keane was one of the first syndicated cartoonists to stand up to his syndicate and demand ownership of his strip. After a long legal face off, he finally did get the rights to "The Family Circus", and today, most cartoonists get a better deal. If folks like Keane and some others hadn't had the guts to stand up, that might not be the case.

One other thing: Even though his strip wasn't funny, he always gave funny interviews, and I hear he was quite the wit in person.

You know what? Now that I've thought it over, maybe I am a Bil Keane fan!

Rest in Peace, Bil, and if Saint Peter asks who spilled ink on Heaven's floor, remember to answer, "Not me!" That should get a laugh.

*Please note: The illustration here is a spoof I did many years ago for a retail chain I drew for. It makes very little sense out of context, but I didn't feel like drawing a whole new "Family Circus" tribute...

The Mouseinator!

2011-11-09T10:55:00.009-05:00

As I have mentioned in previous entries, the newest addition to our family, Riley the Cat, is quite the excellent mouse-catcher. Despite the fact that Riley lacks his front claws (again, "de-clawing as cat is a barbaric practice that I don't approve of, but it was done before we adopted Riley), he has no trouble hunting down and killing the mice that inhabit our home.

The problem is, in our pre-Riley days, we were ignorant of the fact that we had a mouse problem in our house. Some research on my part has found that ALL houses host mice families (even YOURS!). They are so discreet, though, that most homeowners are unaware that they are hosting extra lodgers.

A veterinarian told me that in my area, every home has mice, and they are the lucky ones- Most homes are infested with mice, squirrels, and who knows what else!

News like this makes me glad we adopted Riley. The thought of vermin creeping beneath our floorboards makes me cringe. I have enough trouble getting a good night's sleep without worrying about unseen critters creeping around, inches away from me. Having Riley managing the vermin populace puts my mind at ease. At least a bit.

I would prefer, though, that he "finish the job" and completely dispose of the mice he catches. Unfortunately, he prefers to leave bits and pieces of his "catches" out and about for us to discover. I presume that this is his way of showing off: "Look what I caught!", he must feel. Our enthusiasm for having one less mouse in the house is tempered, at these times, by our having stepped onto a grisly mouse carcass first thing in the morning. Riley seems disappointed we are not as enthused about his latest catch as he is. The look on his face as you wipe dead mouse remains off your foot, while shrieking like a schoolgirl, speaks volumes.

Still, thank you Riley for keeping our house vermin-free!

If only it was as fun as it looks in Tom & Jerry cartoons...

Bill's Book Nook: The Mad Art of Caricature by Tom Richmond

2011-11-01T14:27:00.005-04:00

If you are a wanna-be cartoonist, a fan of cartoons and caricature, a fan of MAD Magazine, or all of the above, you are no doubt already aware of the career and website of cartoonist and caricaturist extraordinaire Tom Richmond. Tom's blog is full of his wonderful artwork, as well as his stories and observations on the world of freelance illustration. His drawing tutorials offer tips and pointers to both newbie cartoonists and established pros alike.

His tutorials are so well done, many wished Tom would one day publish a "how-to" book on the "art" of caricature.

Well, that day has come at last. I just received my copy of Tom's "The Mad Art of Caricature", and believe me, it was worth the wait.

Over the course of 170 beautifully illustrated pages, Tom explains in painstaking detail the ins and outs of how to develop your skills as a caricaturist. This is not one of those simplistic, "Hey! ANYONE can draw caricatures!", books. This book is meant for serious students who really want to learn how to draw funny portraits of people.

I read the book cover-to-cover last night, but I know I will be reading it over and over again to be able to absorb all the instruction and information that this book offers. I have been doing "live" caricatures at parties and functions for the last 20 years of so, and I consider myself a pretty good caricaturist. This book has shown me that I still have a long way to go. In just the first read, I had many moments where "the penny dropped", and I discovered a new way of approaching a caricature.

One of my favorite chapters, right off the bat, is the chapter on doing "live" caricatures. As I said, I've been doing this for many years, but last Summer, I was placed in the position of having to teach a bunch of greenhorns the techniques of drawing in front of a crowd. I couldn't have been a bigger failure. If I had had Tom's book, my life would have been SO much easier. His explanation of the demands placed on the live artist and his demonstration of his approach, are spot on. When I get my time machine working, I'm grabbing a copy of this book, and traveling back to May of 2011!

In case you can't tell, I think this book is fantastic, and you should go here and order a copy right now. For no extra charge, Tom will even add a personalized signature for you so you can brag to your pals about what close chums you and Tom Richmond are!

BTW, while speaking of books about caricature, there are a couple of other good ones I should mention. Lenn Redman's "How to Draw Caricatures" was the book I used when I was starting out. It's a bit dated now, but I still use a few of the techniques Redman demonstrated in this book. In fact, Richmond himself refers to Redman in his book.

Another how-to book that I think would be helpful is Keelan Parham's "Let's Toon Caricatures". Despite its unfortunate title, this book has a lot of good advice for the live caricaturist.

If you can only afford one book on caricaturing though, get Richmond's book. He has written the definitive title on the subject.

Of course, if you can't afford any of these books, it IS possible to teach yourself the art of caricature. It's just really painful. My friend, the multi-talented John Forcucci taught himself. That's his caricature of me you see here. It is the best caricature of me anyone has ever done, and believe me, I've seen plenty!

Halloweeners!

2011-10-30T09:54:00.004-04:00

Happy All Hallows Eve, all!

Here in the Northeast, folks will be celebrating one of the scariest Halloweens ever: In addition to the usual ghouls and goblins, this year, Halloween has served up a huge wallop of snow! Thankfully, we were spared (just the threat of snow at this time of year was scary enough for us!), but a bunch of our neighbors to the West weren't so lucky. I hope that the addition of snow boots won't ruin the look of the cool costumes folks have put together.

Snow accumulation wouldn't have spoiled our plans anyway. Once again, Perfect Wife and I will not be donning costumes and going out and celebrating. We could say it's because we were too busy to put something together, but the fact of the matter is, this marks another year we were not invited to any parties. Don't feel bad for us though; if we really want to experience some thrills and chills, we can always look through our collection of bills...

Anyway, whether you go out and celebrate or not have a great Halloween. Remember, be safe, and if you can't be safe, don't get caught.

Also: If you distribute Mary Jane candy bars to the neighborhood children, what happens to your house is your own darn fault!

Con-Stipated!

2011-10-25T11:38:00.006-04:00

Although I have been to a couple of small comic book conventions recently, it's been years since I went to a really big one. That situation was remedied a few weeks ago when I attended the 2011 New York Comic Con. Along for the ride were Perfect Wifey (of course), and my good pal, the multi-talented John Forcucci.

I went primarily to attempt to network with some editors and hopefully scare up a few gigs. Unfortunately, the whole event was such a congested geek-a-thon that I was not really able to do much "networking". I don't feel too badly about that, as it didn't seem like there was a lot of that going on. Mostly, it was the same kind of convention as the smaller cons I've been to: Just a big flea market full of desperate vendors with a few discussion panels and presentations thrown in. Oh, and there were also the obligatory collection of fans who had dressed up as their favorite characters, with widely varying results. Here's a hint to all the fans out there who want to play dress-up at a con: Please try to be within fifty pounds of the weight of the character you are depicting. Nobody wants to see a pudgy Iron Man. Grooming is important too. Ladies, although I'm not a fan of the character, I'm pretty sure Sailor Moon shaves her arm pits. You should too.

Although, as I said, I didn't do the "business" I had hoped I would, I did have a good time and see some fun stuff. The highlights:

• There were a bunch of toy companies showing off their upcoming releases. The action figures I'm most looking forward to are a 3.75" line of figures based on the TV cartoon, "The Venture Bros." A small company named "Bif Bang Pow!" is behind this line, and the figures look fantastic. I can't wait to get them.

Unfortunately, I may not be able to get them. BBP! has stated that they need to get a certain number of pre-orders of the figures, or they will be unable to produce them. If you like the show, you'll love the toys, so go here, and pre-order them now. Hurry! You only have till October 31st!

• I met a bunch of Doctor Who fans at the con and, as much as I hate to generalize, they are the most self-centered bunch of nerds I've ever encountered. The worst example of this was a woman on the shuttle bus back to the hotel, who droned on and on in a VERY LOUD VOICE about Doctor Who to some strangers she had duped into conversing with her. Actually, she spoke less about Doctor Who, and more about what she thought of Doctor Who. She never even asked the people she was talking to their names or where they were from. When we got off the bus, I was surprised we had only been on it for twenty minutes. She had made it seem like hours.

• I saw a guy dressed as Blankman, from the movie of the same name. That was a delightful surprise, as I thought PW and I were the only people who had seen that film. Oh, his costume was great, too! If I was in charge of passing out prizes for costumes, he would have won one.

• There were a lot of small publishers trying to drum up interest in their titles. The most curious one that I saw was some guy launching a series of books based on the old comic strip character "Joe Palooka". Really? "Joe Palooka"? Is there anyone out there who even remembers who that character is, let alone anyone hungry for new stories that re-imagine the character (formally a boxer) as an "Extreme Fighting" guy? There were lots of examples of this sort of brittle dream at the show.

• We only went to a couple of panels. They were pretty poor. Uninterested guests speaking to an ignorant audience. The panels were a far cry from the panels at the cons of my youth. I remember one con that had a "Quick Draw" session between artists like Harvey Kurtzman, Joe Kubert, John Stanley and more. Nothing like that at the NYCC. Probably because the "pros" who were in attendance wouldn't do a sketch for a fan unless they got paid for it.

I understand why pros charge money for their sketches; I'm sure they've been burned by seeing work they did for free up for sale on Ebay. However, I did see one "Funny" artist refuse to do a drawing for a little kid. Come on, Man! I really doubt that nine-year-old is an Ebay Bandit.

• Speaking of pros, I did meet some cartoonists whose work I have admired over the years. One was Ramona Fradon, whose work on "Metamorpho" I always liked. She was very nice, but since I wasn't going to buy anything from her, our conversation was rather brief.

The one pro I was THRILLED to meet was the legendary Harvey artist, Ernie Colon! Ernie and I have exchanged quite a few emails and telephone calls, and we even almost worked together once. I had never had a face-to-face with him though (The picture here is a document of this historic moment). He was there to promote his latest book, which, unlike "Joe Palooka", is something everyone should get. Go here, and buy right now!

BTW, Ernie was as charming in person as he is via electronic device. Seeing him made the whole trip worthwhile.

So, will we go again? Probably. We did have a good time, although I am not sure how much of that was the con, and how much was the company I was with.

Next time, a review of a book I have been anticipating for quite awhile now. Or maybe another of my annual Halloween Diatribes. Or something else!

Norman, Is That You?

2011-10-07T14:04:00.008-04:00

In my last post, I mentioned that Perfect Wife and I recently visited The Norman Rockwell Museum. As I said, we had a wonderful visit. Seeing the work of perhaps the greatest commercial artist that ever lived in person was really inspiring, even to a hack like me. If you are ever out in the boonies of Western Massachusetts, you should really drop in.

Unless you have teenagers with you, that is.

While we were at the museum, we noticed a couple of teenagers touring the museum. They were easy to spot- Everyone else at the museum was middle-aged or older, and everybody except the teens seemed to be enjoying themselves. The teens were miserable. I overheard one say to the other, "This is sooooo boooooooorrrring! How much longer do we have to be here?"

The other replied that since their Mother was having fun, they were probably going to be "stuck" there for a while.

I found the kids' dilemma both sad and funny. Sad because today's teens seem to be unable to enjoy or appreciate anything that isn't targeted explicitly to them, and that someday things like the work of people like Norman Rockwell will be completely forgotten by unappreciative future generations. I found it funny because the kids' attitude cheesed me off, and it was fun watching them suffer.

Forget what I said earlier. Go to the museum, even if you have teens in tow. It will do them good- or serve them right, depending on how you feel about your teens.

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I would now like to remind you that next week, October 13th through the 16th, I will be attending the New York City Comic Con! I haven't been to a "big" comic con in awhile, so I'm really looking forward to it. As I have previously mentioned, if you are also attending and see a geeky guy with a hot babe wearing an Infinite Hollywood tee shirt, that's me (the geek not the babe, that's Perfect Wifey). Please come up and say "hello".

And if you spot any teens having a miserable time, please point them out to me. I could use a laugh.

Random Rambles...

2011-10-01T23:28:00.016-04:00

Since I haven't updated the blog in a while, I thought I might take the time to address some of the things that have been kicking about in my mind.

First up, after a very arduous Summer, Perfect Wifey and I needed a vacation. Since cash was low and we didn't feel like traveling a great distance, we decided to spend a week in the Berkshires. For those of you out of the loop, the Berkshires is a place way out in Western Massachusetts.

A boring place. A place where nothing much ever happens. A place where, if you were sitting about remembering your days on a whaling ship, you might write a novel like, "Moby Dick".

And so we visited "Arrowhead", the place where Herman Melville supposedly wrote the classic "Man-VS-Whale" novel, "Moby Dick". In theory, this is a fascinating peek into the life of the author of a classic novel. In reality, the tour is a 45 minute walk-through of an old-time house, narrated by a "guide" who knows less about Melville's life than you do.

It would have been nice to tour the house at our leisure, unfortunately, we had to go on the "guided tour", hosted by a Historical Society volunteer. I knew we were in trouble when our lovely, ancient, guide couldn't remember Herman Melville's name. Adding to the discomfort were the mosquitoes! They were as big as beavers, and very aggressive. How Herman managed to crank out the Great American Novel in that atmosphere is a mystery our tour guide couldn't answer.

One positive highlight of visiting the Berkshires was visiting the Norman Rockwell Museum. This place is probably the best-organized art museum I have ever visited. Rockwell's works are presented beautifully, and with the inclusion of a visit to his studio, you really "get" a feeling for the artist, and what he went through to produce his work. Seriously, this place is worth a visit to the boonies of Massachusetts.

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In other news, I DID finally find a Star Wars Gamorrean Guard action figure. If you scroll back into past posts, you'll recall I despaired of ever finding this figure for sale in a retail store- But I did. He is everything I had hoped he would be. If you are a fan of Star Wars action figures, find this guy! You won't be sorry.

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For you cartoonists out there, the drawing on this post was drawn with a Crayola™ Broad Tip Marker (with some Prismacolor shading). For general doodling, there is no better tool. Try it and see!

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Lastly, next week I will be attending the New York City Comic Con. If you are attending, please let me know, I'd enjoy meeting up with people who actually read this blog!

By the way, if you are at the NYCCC and see an attractive babe in an "Infinite Hollywood" tee shirt, hands off! She's mine!

Did'ja Miss Me?

2011-09-23T11:13:00.008-04:00

Loyal Readers of this blog will recall that back in June I said I was starting a new gig, and it might be a spell before I posted anything new. Well, I was right. I didn't think, though, that it was going to be a whoppin' TWO FREAKIN' MONTHS between posts!!! Truly sorry about that, kids.

The good news for all of you Faithful Followers out there, is that, thanks to all wacky experiences I had this Summer I have a vast wealth of things to post about! And post I shall...

One thing that happened this Summer, certainly not the biggest, and definitely not the best, is that we have had a new addition to the family! NO! Not THAT kind of addition (Thank Goodness)! Sometime in August, Riley the Terror Cat Swelled our ranks.

Actually, we do not refer to him by that moniker, but if he could speak, Rocco the Wonder Dog* certainly would. We obtained Riley from a neighbor of ours who has had Riley since he was a kitten. For various, and far too boring, reasons to go into, they needed the cat to vacate their premises. Since we thought Rocco would like the company, and since our house wasn't covered in cat hair and reeking of cat urine yet, we agreed to adopt Riley.

Well, it has been fine having a cat in the family. Sorta. See, at first we were worried that Rocco would terrorize the cat. We needn't have worried. Riley, from the "git-go", has made it clear to Rocco that he is not fond of dogs, and that any attempts to get better acquainted will be met with a whole bunch of hissing, spitting and other unpleasant cat-type behavior. Fortunately for Rocco, Riley is de-clawed, so he can't hurt Rocco (Yes, I too, think de-clawing cats is really inhumane, but in this case I am grateful). Rocco, sadly, is unaware that Riley is "all talk", so he avoids him as best as he can.

Riley does have his good points: He is he a handsome creature, and super affectionate. He is also an excellent mouse-catcher, as he demonstrated when he presented us with a half-eaten baby mouse his second day here. The cat being an excellent mouse-catcher is actually a mixed blessing, as, until presented with the evidence, I was unaware we needed an excellent mouse-catcher. I was happy in my ignorance. Now I keep thinking that the walls of our home are crawling with vermin. Not really a thought conductive for a good night's sleep.

I've prattled on long enough about this cat. Next time, more of what I've been up to** and, as always, heapin' helpings of hilarity!

*I thought calling Rocco, "Rocco the Wonder Dog" was witty and original. Lately, I've seen a whole bunch of hacks refer to their dogs with the same title. So, from now on, he's just "Rocco". Unless I can come up with something else.

**For those asking, no, I haven't forgotten that I still owe you all a report on my trip to my art school alma mater. It's coming!

Happy Wifey Day!

2011-07-22T14:08:00.004-04:00

Who is that little cutie? Who is that sultry beauty? They are one in the same person: My Perfect Wife!

Tomorrow, July 23rd, is her birthday, so mad shout-outs to her!

We have raised the question here on this blog before, but what a fantastic woman like this is doing married to a dork like me is a complete mystery. I will not question it though, and will just continue to count my blessings.

Happy Birthday, Perfectest of Wifeys, and many, many, many, many, many, etc., more!

BTW, if you would like to post a comment wishing PW a happy day, I suggest you do it quickly. When she sees I've posted these pictures of her, I'm afraid this post will be coming down!

Sappy Birthday!

2011-07-15T10:59:00.006-04:00

Yes, today is the Big Day for me. The Big 5-0. My Birthday. It has started well. For those of you interested in what my gift-swag haul has been, here is what I have received so far (In addition to the awesome autographed Witchiepoo photo I mentioned in the previous post):

(WARNING: Yes, I am aware that most of these gifts seem like they would be more appropriate for an eight-year-old than a grown man, but please reserve your snarky comments. It's my Birthday!)

• From my dear Epal Andrea, I got an exclusive "Young Amy Pond" figure that she picked up for me when she visited the Doctor Who Experience in London. It really isn't that great a figure, but it is an "exclusive" that most fans here in the States won't be able to get their hands on (at least not at a reasonable price), so I am thrilled with it. The fact that it arrived a few days ago at the end of a particularly unpleasant day made it that much more appreciated.

• From Perfect Wifey: A Bamboo™ Wacom tablet. This is another of those gifts I didn't know I wanted till I got it. Soon I will be goin' all crazy-digital with my cartoons (don't hold your breath).

• Also from Perfect Wifey: The Mamma-Jamma of gifts: A Star Wars AT-AT Imperial Walker! For those of you out of the loop that have no idea what this is, it is a toy, but WHAT a toy! It is HUGE! It towers over Rocco the Wonder Dog (Who is afraid of it. I think he thinks we got some weird new dog to replace him!), it make all kinds of noisy, obnoxious sounds, and overall just thrills me to death!

I have no idea how PW knew I wanted this, but maybe all the Amazon links to it I sent to her about it gave her a clue.

One unexpected "gift" I received, just in time for my Birthday, was a severe case of Heat/Sun stroke! I have been spending way more time than I usually do outdoors this Summer. Yes, I know that as a pasty person of European descent, I am supposed to be kept in a cool, dark place, away from direct sunlight, but recent circumstances have required me to be outdoors a lot lately. The result is an unnatural, random "Farmer's Tan", and the aforementioned case of Heat/Sun stroke. Before you say anything, yes, I have been using sunscreen, and drinking plenty of fluids, but the fact of the matter is that I am unaccustomed to "outdoor life". Hopefully, I will acclimate before the Summer is over.

BTW, the illustration here is a pretty accurate description of what I look like right now. Enjoy.

Enough rambling! It is my Birthday, and I must celebrate! Surely more gifts and pleasures await me!

Or at least a new Judge Judy is on...

Witchiepooed!

2011-07-12T19:13:00.007-04:00

Gift giving can be a daunting task. It's hard to find just the right thing to delight the intended recipient. There are a lot of people who don't even try. They just buy the first thing they see that might be appropriate for the recipient, and are done. This is why Dads always end up with ties or crappy shaving kits on Father's Day. I used to be a gift-giver of this ilk, until a few shaving kits showed me the error of my ways.

Seriously, if you don't wanna put any thought into your gift-giving, just give a gift card to the intended recipient so they can buy something they like. They will still know that you put no thought into their present, but at least you won't force them to lie about how much they "loved" that swell shaving kit you gave them.

There are people out there though, who put a lot of thought into the gifts they present. They search high and low for things that their intended not only wants, but were unaware of just how much they wanted said item(s).

My Fabulous Sis and her Husband are just such people. The other day I received the item you see here: An autographed photo of actress Billie Hayes as Witchiepoo from my favorite childhood show, H.R. Pufnstuf! This is something I would never have thought of getting for myself, but I absolutely LOVE it!

I love it so much, I may violate Massachusetts' State Law and replace the black velvet portrait of the Kennedy Brothers reunited in Heaven that hangs over my mantle, with this.

Much thanks to FS and FBIL for this truly special gift. It ranks right up there with other great gifts I have received, like my Major Matt Mason Space Station, my copy of Ray Harryhausen's Film Fantasy Scrapbook, and my 12" Cyberman action figure, on my list of gifts that have thrilled/touched me the most*.

So if you have someone who you have to buy a gift for (like say, this Friday), remember, give as you would like to receive. Or, give a gift card.

* PLEASE NOTE: Pathetically, very few of these items are gifts from my childhood.

Dribs and Drabs

2011-06-20T11:14:00.007-04:00

Yes, once again, a long time between posts.

I open with this line so often, it has almost become the catch phrase of this site. Sorry about this, loyal readers. Unfortunately, things ain't gonna improve in the next couple of months.

You see, I have a new gig, one that will be keeping me away from my posting duties here. For those of you concerned about the state of my "art", rest assured, I will be drawing cartoons all day. I will also, for the first time in a while, be "The Boss". That's right, I will be in charge of a bunch of creative types. This might be the time to toss in some witty quip about the inmates running the asylum, or something like that, but really, I am looking forward to this project. I have faith in my crew, and I think we'll have fun and make some money. At the very least, I will have a bunch of hilarious posts about the whole experience at the end of the Summer, when the project concludes.

Sadly, this also means that the Kaptain Keen book collection will be delayed a bit. Rest assured, when the Summer is over, I will give it my full attention. When it finally debuts, it will be worth the wait. Promise.

Please don't think I am abandoning posting completely! It's just that the time between posts might be a bit more spread out than it already is. If you don't wanna miss a thing, I suggest you subscribe to this blog. That way, each new entry will be brought to your immediate attention.

On a completely unrelated note, and as an explanation for the illustration shown here, I saw the Green Lantern movie last weekend. I am a HUGE Green Lantern fan, so the fact alone that such an obscure Superhero was attracting mainstream attention thrilled the little nerd in me to no end! The movie didn't, however. Don't get me wrong. It was an enjoyable film, and there were moments of geeky greatness, but I wanted so much more.

Oh well, I am no stranger to disappointment, and I am sure I have provided the readers of this blog with more than my fair share. Fortunately, I am a pessimistic optimist, so there is always hope.

Have a safe, happy, creative Summer, all!

Up and at 'Em!

2011-05-31T14:32:00.003-04:00

I forgot to mention, I have another blog you may wish to check out.

I know I need a big, fancy website to showcase my artwork for potential employers to see, but I don't have the time or money for that right now. So, in the meantime, I have set up a blog to showcase my stuff. Most of the things up there are the examples of the stuff you have all seen before, and most of it will be deleted as I update the blog with new things. For the moment though, you can check it out by clicking here.

Toy Scum!

2011-05-31T11:53:00.013-04:00

Greetings All!

Sorry for the paucity of posts lately. The month of May seems to have slipped by with only one post (two, if you count this one) from me. Sorry about that. Some fun things did happen to me in May, and I shall post about them eventually. They will be worth the wait believe me. I can't wait to tell you about the road trip Perfect Wifey and I took to visit my old "art" school. Hilarity and personal insight will abound, believe me!

Today though, I wanted to share with you a couple of encounters I had that have nothing to do with cartooning or anything like that. Today, I want to tell you about my most recent "Adventures in Action Figure Collecting".

Regular readers of this blog know I am addicted to little plastic replicas of my favorite pop culture characters. Call them "toys", "dolls" or what you will; I love action figures, and I get a lot of pleasure out of collecting them.

Unfortunately, a lot of other people do too. They, however, are not into collecting simply for the pleasure it brings them, they are into it for the profits it brings them. You see, there are a lot of action figure collectors out there. In fact there are so many, that sometimes certain popular characters are hard to get ahold of, since so many folks want them. This has led to the unpleasant situation of a bunch of people with plenty of free time, but a limited amount of scruples, scouring stores to buy up hard-to-get toys so they can resell them.

Although I have read and heard plenty of stories about this bunch, I hadn't really ever encountered any of them. Until this past week, that is.

One of the lines of Action Figures I really love is the line based on characters from the Star Wars films. I had quit buying them, but lately the manufacturer, Hasbro™, has been producing figures that strike a cord in the geek in me, and I must have them all. One of the figures I really want is the Gamorrean Guard. The GG are the green pig guards at Jabba the Hutts' palace in the film, Return of the Jedi. Hasbro™ has made a dandy little replica of this character, and I really want one. Badly. So do a lot of people. This toy is really hard to find, at least in stores at a reasonable price.

Imagine my surprise then, when during a trip to a local Wal-Mart (shudder!), I spotted THREE of these hard-to-find figures! Unfortunately, they were in the hand of a fellow consumer. The person in question was a text book "geek": a twenty-something unshaven/unbathed toad wearing a filthy Mr. Spock tee shirt. "Gee, any more Gamorrean Guards left?", I asked him. "No, I got 'em all!", he gleefully replied. "Damn, that's too bad. My son really wants one, and I was hoping to get him one for his birthday", I replied. I know this was a lie, and lies are bad, but this guy had THREE of them, and I was hoping to appeal to his (non-existent as it turns out) sense of compassion. "Huh! I got lucky", he gloated, and shuffled away. What a scumbag! He couldn't even offer some lame lie/excuse as to why he was buying all of the available stock. He just took pleasure in the fact that he cleaned out the inventory of a desirable character, and left some fictional kid (not that he knew the kid was fictional) with an empty birthday.

This guy really cheesed me off, but he was nothing compared to my encounter a few days later.

I was at my local TARGET™, picking up some necessity, and I decided to swing by the action figure section to see if there was anything worth picking up (FULL DISCLOSURE: Whatever I pretended I was going to TARGET™ for, I was hoping to find a Gamorrean Guard). There , in the action figure aisle, I saw a Dad with his son, a lad of about four or five years of age. The Dad had two of the same figure in his hand. It wasn't a figure I wanted, but still I wondered, why did he have two? His son asked the question for me: "Daddy, why are you buying TWO of that?", he queried. "Ha! One's fer me, and one's to sell on eBay and make some MONEY!", scummy Dad actually said, out loud! The fact that this guy was not only a scalper-scum but was passing this behavior on to future generations reduced me to a foam-spitting maniac and I honestly don't recall the rest of my shopping trip.

I know in the grand scheme of things, toy scalpers/hoarders aren't really that big a deal. I just hate that opportunists and selfish people have to make trying to enjoy a hobby such a stressful experience. If there is any point to this post, it is this: Don't but anything from eBay that you can buy in a store, no badly how bad you want/need it. You will just be financing the lifestyle of the most wretched hive of scum and villainy you would ever meet.

Unless you wanna buy me a Gamorrean Guard, of course...

Another Con Job

2011-05-03T20:29:00.007-04:00

Yep, it happened again. I went to the Boston Comic Con(vention), and had a terrible time.

I wrote all about this last year, so I won't repeat myself (much), but what the heck has happened to comic cons?! Back in the day (we're talkin' the Seventies) comic cons were great! It was a weekend-long nerdapalooza of all things geeky! Anything a nerd would love: Comics, Animated Cartoons, Obscure Movies, Comic Strips and more were there on display for all to enjoy. The attendees were different too. Back then, comics weren't "mainstream". Comic fans were an isolated bunch, who were sure that our interests weren't shared by the population at large. Seeing so many like-minded geeks at a con reassured us that we were "not alone". Also, all forms of cartoon-type entertainment were represented. You could find funny animal comics, Star Trek stuff, underground comics, Anime (called "Japanese stuff", back then) and more! Today, it's superheroes, or nuthin'.

The convention I attended last weekend was a different story. Sure, there were the vendors, but that was about it. Thanks to the success of mainstream superhero movies and the like, the con experience has become all about selling crap to the masses. The con had an impressive lineup of guests, but they were all hawking their latest projects and selling their autographs and drawings. Back in the day, the pros would do quickie sketches gratis, and sign autographs till their hands wore out. I understand why pros are hesitant to do free sketches nowadays, what with all the EBay slime balls out there, but charging for an autograph? Come on!

There was also no entertainment at the con I attended. No movies, nothing. Sure, they had a few panels where clueless nitwits interviewed some of the pros in attendance, but the one we sampled was awful: An interview with a comic book legend, hosted by a guy who seemed to know nothing about his work. The only highlight was when a big fat guy in a Batman outfit walked in during the middle of the presentation and sat down. No one reacted, like Batman showing up was no big deal.

All in all, the experience was a bust. Maybe though, the people behind the Boston Comic Con will contact me, and I can advise them on how to improve next years con. If they don't, I won't be back.

One highlight: I reconnected with my old teacher, comic book legend Joe Kubert (Pictured above. BTW, that isn't Photo shop magic, that is how big my forehead is!). Joe was a guest at the con. He was very important to my development as a cartoonist, and it was nice to tell him how much he meant to me. He pretended to remember me, which I appreciated. Come to think of it, he should remember me! After all, I once playfully pinched his cheek, and lived to tell the tale.

I just remembered, another pathetic aspect of the con: All the ham n' eggers trying to sell their self-published books. It was really sad to see. It convinced me to publish my Kaptain Keen book through some legitimate channel.

So, to sum up: No more Comic Cons for me. I'm moving on to something more legitimate.

Like a Star Trek convention.

Kontinuing With the Kaptain

2011-04-20T22:38:00.005-04:00

I know that I said I was done talking about it, but I ain't. I am still working on putting together

the collection of my "Kaptain Keen & Kompany" comic book stories. The image at left of the good Kaptain (which will not be in the collection), pretty much sums up how the whole process of putting a book together feels to me.

First off, in order to keep the cost of the book down, I am eliminating the "bonus features" from the book. There were too many, and most of them looked crappy and amateurish. The book is better off without them. For those of you looking forward to that stuff though, I promise I will post most, if not all of it here on the blog.

As it stands now, the big selling point of the collection will be the all-new Kaptain Keen story that frames the book. The plot line was actually suggested by a reader of this blog. Fret not, he will be credited for his contribution in the book. The story, as it stands now in my frantic notebook doodles, makes me smile, so I hope that in the unlikely event anyone actually buys this book, they will not be disappointed.

By the way, the book will be called "The Komplete Kaptain Keen". My best-est buddy and co-conspirator on the book, Gary Fields, thinks that that is the best title, and since he, more than anyone else is responsible for it's existance (you can read all about it in the book's intro), we're going with that.

Now I just have to finish the thing!

More Kaptain Keen Krap!

2011-04-09T14:42:00.007-04:00

Regular readers may be tired of hearing it, but work is progressing nicely on my upcoming book, which collects all the vintage issues of Kaptain Keen & Kompany comics from the 1980's.

Since you could easily buy the entire run of the book for pennies online, I have to include a bunch of "extras" in the book, to make it a worthwhile purchase. I have a whole buncha "bonus features" planned! So, in addition to every single KK story and cover ever published (with typos corrected!), you'll see:

• Many, many early KK strips done during my time as a student in "art" school! (The horrifically primitive sample at right is just one small example.)

• Lots of unpublished "artwork" from unfinished stories!

• Storyboards, model sheets and animation drawings from the underwhelming KK animated short film I did for my senior class project- A film now lost to the ages forever!

• Sketches by ex-Disney animator and my animation teacher Milt Neil, of Kaptain Keen and Mooseboy! Milt was instrumental in improving my clunky designs, and the drawings are great!

• An oral history of Kaptain Keen by yours truly! (I'd like to get some big name to write an intro, but I know of no one worthy that was a fan of the book.)

• An ALL NEW Kaptain Keen framing story, that brings the characters into the 21st century!

• A spectacular* wrap around cover!

• And more (If I can think of anything else)!

That's what all you good folks out there have to look forward to when this book finally gets released. Now all I have to do is write and draw the new story, assemble the whole thing, and get it printed. Piece of cake!

One thing I do need help with is the title, so I'm putting it out to you. Which title do you prefer?:

• THE KOMPLETE KAPTAIN KEEN

• THE KAPTAIN KEEN KOLLECTION

or,

• THE KOMPLETE KAPTAIN KEEN KOLLECTION

Please let me know what you think in the comments section. You can also make suggestions of your own for a title. Sarcastic, derisive suggestions are always welcome.

I'll shut up now about this book, and get back to normal blog business, whatever that is. I won't mention this collection again until I have information on how/where/when you can get a copy (or two, or three) of your very own.

Man, now I gotta do this thing...

*Degree of spectacular-ness may be subjective.

Tee Shirted!

2011-04-01T23:34:00.016-04:00

What goes around, comes around, or so they say. In the case of my cartooning "career", it's certainly true. Way back when, I designed a lot of tee shirts depicting popular characters of the day. It was easy and fun work. An added bonus was that, once and awhile, you would spot some random stranger wearing a tee shirt you had drawn. It was kind of a thrill. I always hoped I would spot a hot babe wearing one of the shirts I had designed, as it would give me a great opportunity to introduce myself: "Excuse me, miss, but you know that Slimer tee you're wearing? I drew it". Hot Dog! Oh, the stimulating conversations that kind of line would have led to!

Sadly, most hot babes do not wear Slimer tee shirts.

I haven't drawn a tee shirt in years. As a result, the masses of my fans out there have been unable to parade about their town squares sporting my art. Thankfully, that has all changed.

Newton Gimmick (I dunno if that's his real moniker) runs the website, Infinite Hollywood, a tribute to all things geeky. This is one of my favorite blogs. Newton has the good taste to review Pop Culture, TV, Action Figures, Junk Food and Doctor Who action figures, among other things. A great site, and the photos he takes of action figures are a riot. I think he is the only toy reviewer on the web to use an Al Molinaro doll in his photos. A big plus in my book.

The mascot of Newton's site is a little character he calls "Octo Joe". Awhile back, I sent him a sketch of Joe. Newton liked it, and started using it on his site. One thing led to another, and I drew a picture of Joe dressed as the fourth Doctor Who, Tom Baker. More things led to more anothers, and now Newton has produced a tee shirt featuring this design, available for purchase.

That's right, for the low price of twenty bucks, you can now stroll about sporting a genuine piece of Bill White artwork! Fellas: Imagine the reaction from the gals when they realize the good taste you have in wearing this shirt*. Ladies, if you decide to don this garment, I hope you are prepared for an onslaught of attention from the gents. You may want to have a club handy to beat off the excess suitors!

This stylish rag can be had by clicking this link. Even if you don't want a tee shirt, check out Newton's site. I think you'll like it.

* Note to Comic Book Fans: You will still have to bathe on occasion to attract the ladies.

A Plea to My Readers!

2011-03-26T12:16:00.008-04:00

Sheesh! I didn't realize how complicated putting together a collection of my old Kaptain Keen & Kompany comics would be! In going through my archives (AKA: Piles O' Trash) I have discovered a whole ton of never-before-seen KK "artwork". Should I include it in the collection? I was intending to do a new "wrap-around" story for the book. Is that something that you, readers, would like?

My big concern is the price of the book. I could, of course, go all crazy and publish every doodle I ever did of the good Kaptain, but I doubt that even the most devoted of readers would be deluded enough to shell out the bucks for what would most likely be a two-hundred gazillion-ish dollar tome.

So, I put it to you folks reading this: What do YOU wanna see in Kaptain Keen- The Kollection?

Really, your comments do matter!

BTW: Today's image has nothing to do with the subject at hand- I just love the Trio, and I like Stinkie and Fatso's expressions here. They be up to sump'in!

The Kaptain is Koming!

2011-03-21T10:42:00.006-04:00

As many of you know, during the Black & White comic boom in the Eighties, I produced a comic book entitled, Kaptain Keen & Kompany. It only lasted six issues, but at the time, I had fun doing it and was pretty proud of it.

Sadly, it was not a success, and today only a handful of readers even dimly recall it. That is about to change! Later this year, I will be releasing a book collecting all the stories from Kaptain Keen & Kompany featuring the Kaptain and all his wacky pals, including some new material. Maybe I'll even include a behind-the-scenes essay, and some bonus images. I know I have threatened you with the possibility of this before, but now, it's really gonna happen!

More details about this as plans get firmed up. In the meantime, above is a little teaser of the hilarity you can look forward to.

Tell your friends, and see you at the (online) bookstores!

Spring's Sprung!

2011-03-18T13:39:00.016-04:00

Long time, no blog. Not much happening 'round these parts, really, but here are a few of what we can laughingly refer to as "highlights", for lack of a better term:

• Here in the Irish Riviera, also known as New England, we had quite the Winter, weather-wise. I can't recall a more brutal combination of cold and snowfall.

Thankfully, all that cruddy weather seems to be behind us now. I can almost smell Spring in the air! Almost. It's still a bit chilly, and instead of piles of snow we have piles of melty slush and mud. Still, it's nothing we have to shovel, so I'm happy. More on this later.

• I recently appeared in an awesome production of "Raisin in the Sun" at a local theatre. The cast was incredible, and I was reminded of why I enjoy doing the "acting thing". I have been in quite a few productions lately that have been sub-par, at least for me, and I was beginning to get discouraged. This production really renewed my interest in acting, so I think I'll keep doing as long as people keep casting me. I hope that this is welcome news to local audiences. To anyone who saw my recent star turn in "Homulous the Mute", it might not be...

By the way, in case you're wondering, I played neither the "Raisin", nor the "Sun". I had another role.

• Career-wise, things are a bit slow. I am supposed to be starting a new project any day now, but I am still awaiting the "go ahead". More on this later.

• I haven't posted much lately (what else is new?) but I resolve to do better from now on. Even if I have nothing to say, I'm sure I can scare up some tidbit worth sharing. For example: I may finally detail my trip to Orlando last December, or finally tell you all about that film that haunts my dreams. More on this later.

• As detailed in my last post, I am still in the grips of my Star Wars action figure obsession. I have shown admirable restraint though, and have only bought a few new ones. This cannot last, of course, as a quick scouring of the Internet reveals a bunch of characters I really want, no, NEED for my collection. Perhaps if Perfect Wifey ever takes a vacation by herself it will provide the perfect cover for me to buy them all. When she questions the expense upon her return, I can always use the "I-missed-you-so-much-I-was-trying-to-fill-the-void" ruse. That usually works. Unless of course she's reading this. More on this later.

As I said, not a lot of goings on, but things are bound to pick up. Now that I think of it, I do have a few exciting tidbits I can share with you, including details of one project I'm working on that I'm really excited about.

But, of course, more on this later.

Figure-d Out!

2011-03-09T14:07:00.013-05:00

My name is Bill, and I am a toy addict.

To put it more specifically, I am an action figure addict. Yes, I am a grown man, but I love little plastic versions of my favorite characters from comics and movies.

Regular readers of this site have heard me mention my collection of Doctor Who action figures, and indeed, I have plenty of those. I also have a pile of other action figures, but there is one action figure line I posses that outnumbers all my other figures by far.

I have a crap-load of Star Wars figures.

I have always loved George Lucas' original trilogy, and although I liked the original line of toys released at the time of the films' release, I didn't pick up too many of them. After all, I was in High School at them time. What would the chicks think if they saw me buying toys?! In retrospect, probably nothing, as chicks, cool or no, weren't even aware I existed. I laugh now, thinking of how I used to worry about what people thought of me. If I wanted to be well thought of by my peers, why was I president of the Drama Club? I did buy a few, of course (discreetly). How could a geek like me resist buying a Hammerhead figure, after all? For the most part, though, the whole "Star Wars Action Figure Phenomenon" passed me by. When the line petered out in 1985, I hardly noticed.

Things changed ten years later though. In 1995, Kenner Toys, the folks behind the original figures, started to release new versions of the classic characters. By this time, I had plenty of disposable income (or at least plenty by my standards) and I had humiliated myself enough that I no longer really cared what anyone thought of me. This new wave of figures, called "Power of the Force 2" figures by the toy folks, really appealed to me. A lot of die-hard fans groused about the beefy, bulked up proportions the characters sported, but I loved them, and started buying them like crazy! My cover story at the time was that I was buying them for my son, and he and I did play with them for hours, but anyone that knew me knew the truth: I was buying them for me. In true obsessive-compulsive fashion, I had to have every single one, whether I liked the character or not. I spent hours and a small fortune hunting down my little plastic pals. I amassed a huge collection. And I'm talkin' HUGE!

Eventually though, my interest waned and I stopped buying Star Wars figures. The biggest reason was that the "new" Star Wars prequel films came out, and I hated them. The figures released with the new films also sucked, in my opinion. For the next few years, I kind of drifted away from collecting toys, and my collection went into storage. Occasionally, I would see a toy I thought was cool, but really, I was done with the whole collecting thing. Actually, it felt good to free of my plastic addiction.

Things started to change around 2006, when toys based on Doctor Who started to appear. As I lad, I always wanted Doctor Who action figures, but none were available at the time. Now that they were, I had to indulge my greedy inner child and have them all. The madness started again, but this time it was tempered by the fact that the figures weren't as cheap and as readily available as the Star Wars line was. Eventually, the rising prices and availability of some of the must-have figures cooled my enthusiasm for the DW stuff. I still pick up a piece now and again (and if you are looking to buy me something, Doctor Who toys will always be much appreciated), but I thought I had the whole toy-collecting-obsession thing under control.

Or at least I thought I did.

Even though I was done with Star Wars, I still kept abreast of the new toy releases. Although once and I while I would see something that I'd find tempting, I resisted the urge to purchase new toys. After all, I was cured!

That was until Hasbro Toys (the company that took over Kenner awhile back) released a new figure: The Super Articulated Stormtrooper! I was, am, and always will be, crazy about the Stormtroopers, and I could never have enough of them. Indeed, you should see the army I have lining my shelves. Everyone who sees them lined up says they are impressed. At least, that's what I think they're muttering to themselves when they see them. As much as I loved these guys though, I was always frustrated that they weren't very poseable. They only had 6 joints, so all they could really do was stand up and sit down (Not that my Stormtroopers spend much time sitting around: There are no slackers in my army!). The new versions of the characters though, have fourteen points of articulation, so you can put in just about any pose you want!

I had to have at least one of these guys, but it wasn't that big a priority for me. If I found one, I found one. If not, I was probably better off, right?

Right! For Valentine's Day Perfect Wifey presented me with a Super Articulated Stormtrooper. It is perfect, and now I must have more. I have also noticed some major holes in the rest of my collection. Where is my Lobot? Where's a Death Star Trooper? Logray the Ewok? Admiral Ozzel? I need them all now! The obsession is back, and as bad as ever.*

If I find myself considering the purchase of a Jar Jar Binks figure though, you'll know I hit bottom.

* UPDATE 3/31/2011: To all you action figure fans out there who are keeping score: Since I posted this, I DID get a Lobot, and although I didn't get Admiral Ozzel yet, I did get a Captain Needa figure at a good price. This works well for my display, as I have at least one Imperial Commander for Darth Vader to kick around. I like to leave him lying at Vader's feet. I can still hear the line, in my head: "Apology accepted, Captain Needa". Good times...

Gotta Love Today!

2011-02-14T09:55:00.008-05:00

It's Valentine's Day! The day we let our true love know just how much they mean to us! Isn't it a wonderful holiday?!

No. No, it is not.

Valentine's is a terrible holiday. Everybody hates it. Lonely single people hate it because seeing all the supposedly "happy" couples and all the relentless TV commercials hawking romantic crap make them feel even worse about their singleness. People who have somehow managed to find a significant other dislike the day because on this one "special day", they are expected to make some grand "romantic" gesture (or at least buy a gift) to prove to their partner how much they love them. Or at least keep up the charade for their family and friends. Aren't they already doing that all year long?! People trapped in loveless relationships have it worst of all.

The only folks who really like this holiday are, of course, the people who can make a profit on it. Greeting card companies, jewellers, candy makers and the like, love this day because it fills the void between Christmas and Mother's Day. Two of the other holidays where you HAVE to buy something for someone because after all, if you don't, you're scum. Or you should feel that way, at least.

I say "feh", on this holiday! If you are not in a relationship, don't feel bad. Celebrate your single stature! How? Just read my post from last year on this subject. It really is true.

One thing NOT to do is the annual holiday tradition some single people observe: Getting liquored up and calling an ex, "just to say 'hi'". This never goes well. Also, avoid any singles dances tonight. Sure, you might meet that "special someone", but you unless you really enjoy the heady aroma of desperation, I'd avoid attending one of these events. Just do what you normally do (make sure the shades are pulled, please), and be happy with what you are.

For those already in a relationship, why do you need some stupid holiday to show how you care? Do it every day, or you may end up like:

The people in a horrible relationship. If you are one of these poor souls, break it off today! If you're not happy, why hang around and make someone else miserable? It might hurt now, but in the long run, it may be the best Valentine present you ever give. Also, how cool to be able to tell people you broke up on Valentine's Day?

As for me, regular readers of this blog know I have a blissful relationship with my Perfect Wifey. She fills me with so much happiness, that all of you who look us with envy and bitterness are completely justified. It makes celebrating on one "special day" ridiculous. Case in point: Tonight we are doing something completely unromantic, and I couldn't care less. I'm sure she feels likewise. I sincerely hope that all of you reading this find something like this. If that's what you want.

If not, get a cat.

Tolerable Valentine's Day to one and all!

UPDATE 2/17/11: Not rub you lonely people's noses in it, but my Perfect Wifey went out and proved that she is my Valentine for life. For my gift, she went to great time and trouble to get me an action figure I have been wanting for a while: A Star Wars Super Articulated Stormtrooper! I know you're thinking, "What is he, an idiot? Or a geek?" Yes, yes I am.

I got her a carpet cleaner. Hey! She wanted one!

Snow Kidding!

2011-02-05T17:42:00.004-05:00

Enough Already!

To all of you people in more temperate climates, save your snickers. We will be having the last laugh come hurricane/tornado season.

Posting Pause Passes!

2011-01-29T20:37:00.009-05:00

Hi Kids!

Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted, but I've been up to my inkwells in work. Hopefully, I'll share some of it with you shortly, as well as do some of the posts I've been promising, including details of my trip to Harry Pottersville and the movie that haunts my dreams/nightmares.

Until then, here are a few more of the Richie Rich pages that were recently returned to me. They are from a long time ago, so no apologies for my drawing flaws. One thing I cannot take credit/blame for, however, is the design of Richie's faithful butler, Cadbury. The designs for the comic were from the syndicated Richie TV show, and I was obliged to follow them. I had no problems with most of the other characters' looks, but I felt the designers on the show really dropped the ball with Cadbury. Granted, he was a difficult character to render well, and even some of the Harvey artists had trouble with him (fans will know of whom I speak). Even so, the designers on the show reduced him to the neckless wonder you see above. Believe me, and I say this with no pride, my renderings are an improvement on how he looked on the show.

For an example of how Cadbury should really look, check out these examples from Mykal's blog. The examples you'll see there were drawn by Harvey artist extraordinaire, Ernie Colon. Nobody, but NOBODY, could draw Cadbury like Ernie! It pains me to say this, but even my hero, Warren Kremer, couldn't come close.

All design issues aside, one thing I liked about doing this story was getting to draw the villain, The Onion. This rascal with the super-stinky onion addiction was a favorite of mine as a kid, so it was fun to get a chance to draw him "professionally". As an added bonus, since The Onion wasn't featured on the TV cartoon, I got to draw him as I saw fit. Any grief on his design, I'll accept.

One last note: Not sure who did the inks or letters on this, but they look serviceable to me.

Enjoy.

What a Turkey!

2011-01-07T15:39:00.016-05:00

I love to cook. In my house, this is a good thing, as Perfect Wifey, despite her expertise in all other areas, has little interest in cooking. The meals she does prepare, she does very well (her grilled cheese sandwich is absolute perfection, and I defy any Food Network Star to surpass this dish). She just has other things to do, so she doesn't care to make the effort.

I myself, have made many unique dishes for my family. Some get raves, others, like my Pancakes Stuffed with Bacon and Cheese, a.k.a. "Cheesy Baco-Jacks" (don't knock it till you've tried it!), not so much.

There is one dish I had never tried to make though: The Classic Roasted Turkey. The kind you see on tables every Thanksgiving. I was never really wild about a turkey dinner, and it seemed like such a hassle to make, so I figured, why bother? That all changed last week.

Our very generous next door neighbors gave us a 12 lb. frozen turkey for the Holidays. Why they gave us this and not something more practical, like say, Doctor Who action figures, I don't know. Maybe they weren't sure which ones we already had. Anyway, it was very nice of them.

So now we had a turkey. What to do with it?

My first inclination was to donate it to a local food bank. I wasn't sure though, whether or not they accepted frozen food. So we donated some canned goods we ourselves would never eat in a million years ("'Tis the Season", after all!) to the food bank, and decided we would make the turkey ourselves, or rather, I would make it myself. It would be our New Years Day Feast.

After scouring several cookbooks and websites, I learned one thing: Preparing a turkey is a HUGE pain in the giblets, and really messy. Plus, you have to stand over the oven basting for hours so the turkey doesn't get too "dry". I decided to take the easy way out, and use a Reynold's™ Cooking Bag. I got a great recipe from their horribly-set-up web site for a "Herb Roasted Turkey". My second great lesson is that you need a lot more ingredients for turkey than just the turkey. So off to the market I went to buy onions, celery, chicken stock, and a bunch of herbs and spices I will never have an opportunity to use again. When I returned home, I realized I had forgotten to purchase a Reynold's™ Cooking Bag, so I was off to the market again. This time, I stopped by the liquor store on the way back. I thought I might need some "liquid fortitude" to get through this thing.

After rinsing off the turkey, patting it dry and rubbing it with olive oil, I mixed up all the rest of the ingredients, put the turkey in the bag, poured my "ingredient mix" over the turkey, and sealed the bag. Then with the help of several professional weight lifters, I was able put lift the turkey, put it in the pan and shove it in the oven. Then we played the waiting game...

When the time came to remove the turkey from the oven, the house smelled fabulous, and the bird looked gorgeous. It was really tender and juicy too! Maybe too tender- the meat slid off the bones. Really! The bones slid out of the drumsticks with a gentle tug, and the rest of the bird cut like butter. It was delicious too. I never had a better tasting turkey. Kudos the the Recipe Wizards at Reynolds™.

So when will we be having turkey again?

Probably never. Yes, it was delicious, but it was too much of a hassle. Also, since the household only consists of PW and I (plus Rocco the Wonder Dog, who has eaten his fair share), we had leftovers. Quite a lot of leftovers. As delicious as the meat is, after a week of Turkey Sandwiches, Turkey Turnovers, Turkey Hot Fudge Sundaes, etc., we're done with turkey for a spell.

When all is said and done though, I am glad I started the New Year trying something new. Maybe next year, I'll make a roast beef dinner, or something.

Or maybe I'll just stick to Cheesy Baco-Jacks.

2011, ALREADY?!

2010-12-31T20:19:00.011-05:00

Where does the time go? Another year over, another year gone. We here at Casa del Blanco had our ups and downs, but overall, we had a pretty good year. Here are some of the highlights and low lights:

• We started the year with me having serious medical issues. Not the most auspicious start to the year, but fortunately everything worked out for the best, and I am feeling fine. I also got a freelance gig as a result of the experience!

• Alas, we lost my Mum, which was sad, but I really believe she has gone on to a much better place. One where all of her beloved pets are around her, and "Happy Hour" starts whenever she likes. Also, a place where she and her cousin Marie don't have to battle it out over who pays the check. I am also happy that the bond between my Sisters and I was re-affirmed during the whole ordeal.

• Perfect Wifey and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary, and we couldn't be happier. I don't know what it is about this woman, but somehow, she enriches my life in every way.

• PW and I also got to travel a lot this year. We went to NYC, Orlando (more on that later, I promise!) and my favorite, Albany, NY! Who knows what our travel plans for 2011 hold? Could a trip to Dover, NJ be in our future?

• Rocco the Wonder Dog. For those who came in late, I love this little guy. Man's Best Friend, indeed.

• I had the opportunity to participate in a number of local theatre productions. It was enough to convince me that, really, I am done with that.

• My "Cartooning Career" had all kinds of ups and downs. I am hoping for better in 2011. If you know of anyone that needs an artist, gimmie a call.

• The most rewarding thing, though, I hafta say, is doing this blog, and reading the comments from all of you faithful readers. To David, Paula, Chris, Mykal, eeteed, Scott, Mike, Pepper, Newton, Mark and anyone else who has visited this blog and left a comment, good or bad, thanks. For those of you reading this that haven't commented, comment! You could be on this list next year!

• One big low light: Still no Remote Controlled K9. Oh well, other than that, a very good year.

As a famous Doctor once said: "To days to come, and all my love to long ago."

Christmas Passed

2010-12-29T13:41:00.008-05:00

The anticipation is so great, and then, before you know it, Christmas is over.

We here at Casa del Blanco had a very Holly Jolly. We had an early Holiday party with the Fabulous Sisters and their Hubbys, as well as Maggie the Semi-Wonder Dog. On Christmas Day, Perfect Wifey (as well as Rocco, THE Wonder Dog) and I had a nice quiet Christmas. All by our lonesome.

The gift-haul was particularly gratifying for me. In addition to some cool books, I got an action figure set of the four Ghostbusters, as well as the Mamma-Jamma of Christmas gifts, a replica of Doctor Who's TARDIS! This set is scaled to all the DW action figures I already have, so it fits in perfectly with the massive display that graces my studio. In continuing with the Doctor Who theme, I also got an AWESOME tee shirt, depicting the Doctor's loyal dog, K9. All in all, quite the Christmas bonanza for me. Again, I think Santa is not doing a great job on keeping track of his naughty/nice list. If he was, I doubt I would have made out so well.

I realize, once again, that the above list sounds like it came from a nine year old. You are right. It does.

Perfect Wifey really scored on the Christmas Present front, though. Santa, or some other thoughtful person (ME!), gave her a Kindle! She is absolutely loves it, and, I have to admit, I do too.

At first, I was sceptical of this new technological wonder. I love books. How could some stupid electronic gizmo replace the printed page?! Well, it does it by having an easy to read screen and by providing access to almost any book you want, in a handy portable form for a modest fee. That is not to say the Kindle doesn't have it's shortcomings: I wouldn't want to read a graphic novel (we used to call them "comic books") or any kind of illustrated book in this format. Also, Kindle's biggest shortcoming: What do you do when the power goes out, and your charge is done? Talk with each other? Yikes!

Really, the Kindle is a wonder, and I highly recommend it. Keep in mind this is coming from a hard-core Luddite, who doesn't know how to text, Tweet or whatever. So, this is high praise indeed.

In spite of all of this gift getting, what I really loved about this Christmas, and every Christmas, is being with the people I love, in spirit if not physically. For all of you out there, I hope you had a Happy Holiday! If you didn't, there's always next year.

Christmas Bonus!

2010-12-26T19:47:00.009-05:00

Here's a Christmas bonus I didn't expect. A few days before the Holiday, Marvel Comics returned a bunch of my original art to me. It was a giant pile of pages I did in the mid-nineties of various Harvey characters. At the time Harvey was experiencing a bit of a renewed interest in their properties, thanks to the Casper live action movie and the Richie Rich TV cartoon. The character designs on these pages are based on those interpretations of the characters, so don't blame me.

It's interesting for me to see these again. I haven't seen them in fourteen years, give or take. Some of them, I don't even remember doing! Also, no apologies for the quality. Fourteen years and all... Another note, only the pencils are mine; Inks and lettering were by other folks.

Anyway, here they are. I have a lot more, if anyone is interested.

Christmas 2010!

2010-12-24T19:09:00.008-05:00

Merry Christmas to one and all!

This is the season of goodwill to men and all that, so please try to keep it that way. Make sure you do all you can to make the Holiday happy for all. Keep things civil at the family get-together this year; pretend you like the crummy gift someone gives you, even if you gave them something way better. Give Aunt Gin a kiss, even if she has lipstick on her teeth. Try to remember what Christmas is all about and keep things happy. If memory fails, watch, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" again. Linus makes the point far better than me.

However you spend the day, and whomever you spend the day with, I hope one and all have the best Christmas ever.

I know this is a pretty weak entry, but gimmie a break, it's Christmas!

God bless you, every one!

Zwarte Piet is Comin' to Town...

2010-12-19T20:11:00.008-05:00

Back from Orlando and visiting Harry Potter and friends. More on that later, though. Why? Because it's almost Christmas!

I have written, in years past, about all the different Holiday traditions that my family and I have observed. From stolen Christmas trees to lurking elves, to me not getting a remote controlled K9, I've covered a lot, and you can view it all by scrolling through the archives on the right.

As wonderful as all the Holiday traditions here in the U.S. of A., are (Santa, etc.), other countries have their own unique take on the season. My favorite, and one that definitely falls into the "WOW, is that messed up" tradition, comes from our friends in the Netherlands.

Here in the states, we have Santa and his "naughty or nice" list, where Santa keeps track of all the little boys' and girls' behaviour over the course of the year, and doles out gifts according to how "good" you've been. Our Dutch pals take it one step further, though. In the Netherlands, "Sinterklaas" (basically Santa, with a more convoluted origin), travels with his associate, "Zwarte Piet". Where Sinterklaas rewards children with gifts for good behavior, Ol' Zwarte has a different agenda. If you've been mildly naughty (neglecting your chores, skipping homework, etc.), he will leave switches of wood for your parents to spank you with. Not the best way to spend the Holidays, but much better than what awaits you if Piety decides you've been really bad (killing someone, being the Governor of Massachusetts, etc.). Zwarte Piet travels with a load of duffel bags, and all the really naughty children are stuffed into the bags and carried away to Spain, where, apparently, Sinterklass and his homeys hang. No information exists about what happens to you once you get there, but I bet it involves indentured servitude working at an all-inclusive resort. The thought of being stuffed into a bag by a creepy guy and carried away to a foreign land and working for tips sure makes Santa's naughty/nice list seem pretty benign. Although, to be truthful, there have been Holidays where being whisked to Spain by an evil magical creature would be preferable to what I was doing. At least I wouldn't have to kiss Aunt Gin!

Still, the threat of Zwarte Piet is a stroke of brilliance from Dutch Moms and Dads. Creepy threats are always the best way to get your kids to toe the line.

No wonder the Dutch are so well behaved!

Meanwhile, Back in Whipstaff Manor...

2010-12-09T11:11:00.007-05:00

Here's another blast from my past for y'all: A story I pencilled for an issue of "Casper and Friends" magazine from 1997. The story was titled, "The Good, the Bad and the Ghostly". In the story (written by the awesome Angelo De Cesare), Casper and his human pals, Kat and Dr. Harvey, travel to an old West ghost town and get into a jam only the Ghostly Trio can bail them out of. I always liked what I did in this sequence, even though I could do a far better job now, and the inks, lettering and colors leave a bit to be desired. That is the peril of freelancing: You don't have a lot of control over such things. That said, I still like the attitudes and expressions on the characters, especially Stretch's on page 2, when he admits that they need Casper. Click on this paragraph to see the first page, then on each subsequent image for a closer look.

So, enjoy! My family and I are off to visit Harry Potter in Orlando this week, so no more posts till we return.

Elmo Takes Manhattan!

2010-12-02T11:31:00.009-05:00

Whew! We're back from a wild Thanksgiving weekend in New York City.

I had planned to write a detailed diary of our day-to-day doings while we were in the city, but, it was such a whirlwind of activity, I am having trouble sorting out all the details. So, instead, I will provide some highlights and random thoughts:

• Our trip got off to a great start. My Fabulous Sis works on Broadway for a very famous Broadway actress. Our first stop after arriving was to visit Sis backstage at the big Broadway show she is working on now. We got to meet the Famous Actress, and she was so sweet and welcoming to us, I couldn't help but smile. All my little theatre geek friends would have given their eye teeth for this experience! Later, we got a full backstage tour of the show, courtesy of Sis, which was fascinating. Again, the geeks would be SO jealous.

• Also, thanks to Sis, we saw "The Lion King" on Broadway. I hate the movie version, for various personal and professional history reasons (don't ask!), but the show is amazing. The "Circle of Life" opening number has to be one of the great moments in the history of Broadway.

Also, the show features lots of puppets. Always a plus in my book.

• Went to a White Castle hamburger joint. I love WC, but there aren't any in my neighborhood, so I was thrilled to find one in Mid-Town Manhattan. Unfortunately, this one is the definition of "skeevy". I shan't return.

• At the "Toys 'R' Us" in Times Square, you could pose for a picture with Spider man and Iron Man- for TWENTY BUCKS! I took a pass, but that hurt. Iron Man looked really cool.

• We saw the Macy's parade. We really lucked out. Even though the weather forecasts were dismal, it was a perfect day for the parade: Not too cold, and no wind, so the balloons could fly in all their glory. This was Perfect Wife's first time at the parade (As a former resident of NYC, I've seen it a buncha times). She agrees with me that it is something you should see once. The awesome-ness of the size of the balloons and the whole "spectacle" of the thing doesn't make up for the awful-ness of fighting the mobs of humanity. Much better to watch at home in your PJ's.

• We went to Macy's. On Black Friday. I now know what it was like to be an extra in "The Ten Commandments". We didn't even get to see Santa. I hope he gets my letter.

• On the web, I have been reading about how great the new Disney Store in Times Square is. Well, I am sorry to report, it is a huge disappointment. Just a big collection of Disney stuff to buy but without a lot of special features. Would it kill them to have a few character appearances?

• Speaking of character appearances, it seems there is a new trend in Manhattan: Random people dressing up as famous cartoon characters in homemade costumes and posing with tourists for a fee. We saw a lot of this phenomenon as we strolled about, and saw a lotta scary homemade costumes. We saw Spongebob, and Mickey, and quite a few Cookie Monsters, but the most ubiquitous character had to be Elmo, the little red breakout star of Sesame Street. He was everywhere. In some cases, there were two or three Elmos hogging a corner. Some of the costumes were pretty good looking, but most looked like a homeless person wrapped in a red shag rug. It didn't help that these Elmos collected their tips in a red Christmas stocking hanging from their waist. It looked like Mr. E was exposing himself.

• One other thing, Manhattan is EXPENSIVE! Save your pennies if you're going there, kids.

There were other highlights to the trip, of course. FS prepared a wonderful Thanksgiving feast, and the invited company made it a Thanksgiving to remember.

Next year, though, PW and I returning to our hallowed Holiday tradition of cold Kentucky Fried Chicken, liquor, and spending the day in our pajamas.

All in all though, we had a swell time. Hope you all did, too!

Talkin' Turkey Day!

2010-11-23T19:56:00.003-05:00

There haven't been a lotta posts here, lately, mainly because Perfect Wifey and I have been involved in a "creative" endeavor that has sucked away massive amounts of our time. That project is now history (FINALLY!), and we can relax at last.

Or can we?

It turns out, no, we can't. Tomorrow we head to the Big Apple to spend Thanksgiving with my Fab Sis and look at giant balloons. Vacations are supposed to be a time to relax and unwind, but I have a feeling that visiting the city at the busiest time of the year will be the polar opposite of "relaxing".

Sadly, that means I'll be away from the keyboard for a few days, so no more posts here until next week. The good news for all of you out there is that I'm sure to return with plenty of hilarious stories of our adventures to thrill and delight you.

Since this is a Season of Thanks, thanks to all of the faithful readers of this blog, who take the time to stop by and leave a pithy comment or two. It makes doing this worthwhile.

In case you're wondering, the post on that film that has haunted me is still coming. I am just tweaking it a bit. The drawing I did for it is great! At least, that's what PW thinks. Since she can't stand the film in question, that's saying something.

Happy Thanksgiving, all! Gobble, gobble and all that sorta stuff.

Holy Wait Between Posts, Batman!

2010-11-18T21:55:00.005-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately here, kids. Right now, I am in the middle of a buncha stuff, and I haven't had the time or energy to post. Special apologies for those of you who were waiting for me to reveal the explanation for the illustration from my last post. Patience, please. I can almost somewhat sorta guarantee that the aforementioned explanation will be well worth the wait.

In the meantime, here is a colored in doodle from my sketch pile. Nothing special, but then, a lot of the stuff I doodle is nothing special. Looking at this drawing now, I probably shouldn't have posted it. It really ain't too good. Hey, they can't all be gems!

Actually, this kinda looks like a crappy DC Comic from the Seventies. That's no excuse, though!

More and better next time.

Disses and Dats!

2010-11-02T13:56:00.008-04:00

Well, Halloween has come and gone. This year, our Holiday was even more low-key than we had anticipated it would be: We had a grand total of ZERO Trick or Treaters. We were not really surprised, as we live on a really busy and dark country road that only the worst parent in the world would let their children wander around on. Still, we do have some neighbors with kids, so we were hoping for at least one or two, but no. Not a one. We were disappointed, but on the upside, we have enough Reese's™ Peanut Butter Cups to last us for awhile, and our trees are toilet paper-free.

While we were let down by the kids, our old friend the Television didn't let us down. It gave us the best Halloween present of all: The debut broadcast of AMC's "The Walking Dead". I had been looking forward to this TV adaptation of the comic book series by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard (and Tony Moore) for a while now, and was thrilled with how well it turned out. I hate to use juvenile terms like "awesome" in describing things, but that's just what it was, awesome. The series is a character study set against the backdrop of that favorite topic of mine, a Zombie Apocalypse. Everything about this show was perfect. The acting and writing were top-notch, and the cinematography deserves a special mention: It had the wonderful, washed out quality of a 1970's B Movie, that really added to the dreary mood of the show. Kudos to producer Frank Darabont for adapting a comic book property correctly. I can't wait to watch more.

If you are a fan of Zombie movies, of course you must watch this show. Even if you shy away from this genre, it's worth checking out. It's that good. Horse lovers might want to skip it, though. Seems the Zombies on this show aren't the fussy eaters that some other Zombies are.

"That's all well and fine, Bill", I hear you saying, "but what the heck does the above cartoon have to do with The Walking Dead?" The answer is simple: It has nothing to do with TWD. You see, even though we have bidden a fond farewell to Halloween, I still have a few spooky things up my sleeve (not to mention other spots) to discuss here. Today's doodle is a teaser for a topic I've been threatening to discuss for a long time.. I think I have finally had enough therapy to talk about it, and you should hear all about it soon. This picture will make sense then.

In the meantime, if you get into a jam, remember: Shoot 'em in the nose!

UPDATE: This pathetic entry is my 250th post!

Halloweener!

2010-10-28T12:12:00.008-04:00

Here it is, finally, Halloween time! I'm sure you have assumed, given the image posted here, that Perfect Wife and I have some awesome Halloween plans and costumes to present, but sadly, no. We will be keeping it "low-key" this year. No costumes. No parties to attend. Nothing.

We will be handing out goodies to any Trick or Treaters that wander by, and watching the various "Hallow-centric" films we've managed to acquire. We won't though, have any big Halloween doings at Casa del Blanco, this year. Maybe next year.

That goes for this blog, too. No really fabulous observations on the holiday this year. For my previous musings on the season, you can always go to the archives on the sidebar for plenty o' my thoughts.

I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday. Happy Halloween to you and yours!

And yes, I really wanna see Perfect Wifey in a Harley Quinn outfit too!

Frightful Flicks

2010-10-22T12:44:00.013-04:00

It's Halloween Time. You can feel it in the air. All those displays of Halloween candy that have been on sale in stores since early August no longer seem out of place. The Christmas merchandise now on sale does, though. (By the way, if you actually bought a bag of candy in August, with the intention of saving it to distribute on Halloween, would you be able to do so? In our house that sucker would be eaten long before the first day of school, let alone Halloween! We have to buy candy about an hour before the kids come knocking, and even then it's not a certainty there will be any left for the trick and/or treaters!)

Every year at this time, we try to find a spooky film that will fill us with the "Halloween Spirit". We have our traditional favorites, like, "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein", and the original "Halloween". This year we also added "Hocus Pocus" to the mix. Not a great film, but it's entertaining, and Bette Midler is always creepy, of course. A personal favorite of mine is, "Killer Klowns from Outer Space", but that film addresses my own pathologies and isn't everyone's cup o' tea. Perfect Wifey pretty much refuses to watch it again. This is understandable, as she has had to sit through it more times than the director of the film probably did.

Every year, we try to find a new film to fill us with a fun dose of fear. I thought I had found a winner when I heard about a straight-to-video film called, "Trick 'R Treat". This film received raves from various online wags, so PW and I rented it last week. The film is a comedy/horror anthology set in a small town on Halloween Night. On the surface, it seemed like a winner. It had all the elements of a perfect creepy movie: A great atmosphere that really captured the feel of a small town on All Hallow's Eve and warnings from the film's characters about the perils of not respecting Halloween traditions. Best of all, it featured a creepy little character tying all the stories together: The mysterious, pint-size Trick or Treater, Sam.

Unfortunately, the film was a disappointment. Not a complete failure, but not something I'd rush out to see again, either. The various stories attempted to emulate the tone of the old E.C. Comics, but the stories just weren't interesting, and the payoffs were weak. The character of Sam was a real winner at first, creepy and mysterious with his dirty little footie pajamas and burlap mask over his big round head. Sam lost all effectiveness though, when his head was revealed to be a lame ghoulie head. (Oops! I should have preceded that sentence with a SPOILER ALERT! warning. Sorry.) He would have been scarier if the filmmakers kept his appearance a mystery.

PW didn't care for vampires and werewolves being randomly tossed into the mix (Oops, again! SPOILER ALERT!). I think that was the point of that story, though, so I didn't mind. In the end, the film failed to deliver the fun, scary experience we wanted. We'll have to look for our Halloween scares someplace else.

Maybe Wal-Mart™ is open late.

Planet Terry-fied!

2010-10-18T14:29:00.011-04:00

No superhero drawings this time. Promise. Instead, let's hop in the Wayback Machine™ for the story of the images you see here.

Back when I got out of art school, I really didn't have a "career plan". I just sort of assumed some sort of career opportunity would present itself, and I'd be on my way. That didn't happen, of course. I had to go out and actually search for a paying gig.

What made it harder was that I wanted to draw comic books, and the "funny" style of comics I liked had pretty much dried up. Harvey and Gold key were gone, and I wasn't sure I was a good fit at Archie Comics. One place that was publishing the style of comics I liked to draw was Marvel Comics, with their (soon to be short-lived) Star Comics, a line of books "for kids". Apparently, titles like "The Hulk" were considered far too sophisticated for young minds.

I wasn't really crazy about the titles Star was publishing. They seemed watered down versions of the Harvey titles. This was, of course, because the staff of Star Comics was made up of most of the creative team from Harvey, including the great Warren Kremer and editor Sid Jacobson, among others. The art was great, but the stories...? Well, let's just say "Royal Roy" was no "Richie Rich".

Still, Star was publishing stuff I could do, by people I admired, so I set my sights on getting a gig with them. I drew up the samples you see here. The featured character is "Planet Terry", one of the less-derivative books Star was publishing at the time. I put together a portfolio of this and other pages I had done, and made an appointment with editor Sid Jacobson.

It was exciting and terrifying to actually be in the offices of Marvel Comics, a place I had been reading about for years. As I waited for my appointment, though, the thrill wore off. The Marvel Bullpen was far less exciting than it had been described as being. Except for a few superhero posters, it could have been any office anywhere in the world.

When I was finally escorted to Sid's office, I was pretty confident. I thought my samples were great and I was sure I would walk out with an assignment. (Actually, I still think these pages are pretty good. Especially when you consider that I was twenty-one years old! ) Alas, Sid was unimpressed, and thought I wasn't ready. He told me to practice more, but he didn't tell me he'd like to see my progress, or even offer me a glimmer of hope that I might be ready to work there one day. I was devastated, and left the office really P.O.'ed. Sid was I jerk, I felt. He didn't even give me a free tee shirt or anything. I never did work for Star Comics.

The story has a happy ending, though. Eventually, I did break into comics, becoming the household name I am today. I also worked for Sid Jacobson, not on Star Comics, but on various Hanna-Barbera titles he packaged, and on the new line of Harvey Comics he edited. He is a very dear friend now, and he is still the best boss I ever had. Actually, a few years after we started working together, I told him this story. He had no recollection of the incident, and when I showed him these old pages he said, "I can't believe I didn't hire you! What was I thinking?" I don't know, Sid, but I'm happy we got to work together, and hope we will again some day.

He still has never given me a tee shirt, though!

(BTW, These characters are all still copyright Marvel Comics. Not they they know what to do with them!)

UPDATE: From Sid Jacobson, himself: "I still can't believe I didn't hire you after seeing these pages. They are terrific, for a thirty or forty year old, let alone a 21- year old. In any case, you'll get that tee shirt one of these days soon".

I'm waiting, Sid!

Shaddap!

2010-09-27T21:13:00.003-04:00

Okay, one more picture of a Superhero, and then I'm done. At least for now.

Today's Hero de Jour is Black Canary, a costumed hero I know virtually nothing about. Well, I do know that when she starts screaming, it's trouble. Actually, that's true of a lot of women I've known, but in the Canary's case, her screams are super-powerful. When she tells you to pick your underwear up off the bedroom floor, believe me, you better pick up them undergrunts.

As I said, I know next to nothing about this heroine. So why did I draw her? I dunno. This is one of those mindless doodles that became a finished piece. So, since I've been posting my hero drawings lately, I thought this would make a good space filler.

This is the end of the hero pictures here. For now, at least. Next time, we'll be back to the heapin' helpin's of hilarity that you've all come to know and love.

Or at least tolerate.

Flash in the Pan

2010-09-17T17:38:00.004-04:00

Another day, another drawing of a superhero. This time it's that zippy little rascal, The Flash. His power, for those of you outta the loop, is that he is fast. Really fast. This guy is never late for anything, I bet.

I've been doodling a lot of superheroes lately. I don't know why. I've never been asked to draw them professionally, for reasons the illustration here makes obvious. I don't even read superhero comics all that often.

Recently, though, I did read a comic book featuring costumed heroes. A big one. A very nice friend gave me a copy of "DC Comics' Wednesday Comics". It's an oversize collection of superhero tales done by various writer/artist teams in the style of the ol' Sunday newspaper adventure strip format. It's a fun concept, and the artwork is, for the most part, fantastic. The stories, though, are a bit hum-drum. Just a lot of the same old heroes facing the same old challenges. Kind of a yawn, for the most part.

As I said, though, the art is (mostly) great, and I suggest you check the book out, if you have a chance.

Or maybe I can just keep posting my crappy superhero drawings here for all of you to "enjoy". That's a lot cheaper than buying the book!

Birthday Beagle

2010-09-10T14:22:00.011-04:00

In case you forgot to mark it on your calendars, Sunday is Rocco the Wonder Dog's birthday. He's six years old!

We don't have anything elaborate planned for the day. Most likely Rocco will just relax with his best friends/chew toys, Itchy the Flea and Squirrelly the Squirrel. We can't invite any of his doggy pals over, because he doesn't have any. Rocco doesn't really care for other dogs. He prefers the company of people, since they are far more likely to be eating something that they might be willing to share with him.

So Rocco is a year older. Sadly, he is not a year wiser. He still fails to understand that the rug under my desk is not the spot for him to use for bathroom emergencies. Maybe though, Rocco knows exactly what he is doing, and it is I that am getting no wiser if I expect him to change his behavior. That's probably it.

Whatever. Rocco brings such joy into our lives that I guess I can put up with a little piddle every now and again.

Only a little, though!

Matter Eating Lad!

2010-09-07T20:15:00.007-04:00

Sometimes an image pops into your head and you need to scribble it down as quick as you can. That happened to me today when I was talking to my pal, the multi-talented John. As we were chatting, Matter Eating Lad, one of the heroes from the comic series, The Legion of Superheroes, happened to come up in the conversation. The result is the doodle you see here.

I know what you are thinking: How does something like Matter Eating Lad enter into the conversation of two grown men?

My question to you is: How does it not?

I won't explain my drawing here for the uninitiated among you, but you should know that Matter Eating Lad is a lad. Who eats matter.

You connect the dots.

Earwigging Out!

2010-08-30T12:19:00.009-04:00

Well, Summer is just about over, and thank Goodness for that. This wasn't our most enjoyable season ever. You may have noticed a drop in the frequency and quality in the posting here lately? Well, this Summer gets all the blame. Not much happened 'round these parts that was really worth blogging about (although some wags out there might argue that very little I write about is worth posting, and I might agree, that is a topic for another time).

Even our previously mentioned trip to the exotic vacation destination of Ithaca, NY was rather dull. The only "highlights" of that soggy trip were a visit to the smelliest Arby's™ restaurant ever, and a brief visit to America's Filthiest Rest Stop. The stop is in Worcester, NY if you're wondering. Words cannot do justice to the horrors I experienced there. The urinals were cleaner than the sinks. Take my advice, if you're driving on I-90 and really have to "make a deposit" either suck it in and keep driving, or pull over, grab a shovel, and make your own facilities. What I'm trying to say is it was really dirty.

With Summer finally fading, I remembered I never wrote a column about one of the things about the season that I especially dislike, something that really "bugs" me. I'm talking, of course, about BUGS.

I hate all kinds of bugs, moths, mosquitoes, ants- If it crawls, creeps or buzzes, keep it away from me. There is one creepy-crawlie though, that I really can't stand. The Earwig.

I think I don't like them because they look so harmful. That lil' pincher on their bum looks like it could give you a painful pinch. Another point against them is the story that they climb into your ears while you sleep and burrow into your brain. Not a comforting thought when you see one or more of these little critters skittering around your house.

After a bit of research, however, it turns out my prejudice against Earwigs was totally misplaced. According to this, Earwigs are completely harmless to humans. Even their pinchers can't pinch you. As for the story of them digging into your cranium, that is false too, of course. Granted, I did first hear of that behavior from an episode of Rod Serling's "Night Gallery" TV show on an episode entitled "Caterpillar" when I was a lad. Anyone who has seen that episode remembers what a complete creep-out it was. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor, and never see it. Much like you wouldn't want to use the rest stop in Worcester, NY, you don't want to see that show, and you'd be grateful for the heads up.

Another thing to remember is that you really shouldn't count on programs like "Night Gallery" for accurate scientific information. When you think of all the negative feeling towards Earwigs that episode generated, you almost feel bad for the little creeps. Almost.

They still are not welcome in my home.

Timing Out!

2010-08-18T12:33:00.007-04:00

Goodness! Sixteen days without a post! I have neglected this blog before, but never this badly.

I wish I had a really good excuse, like, I've been busy, but I haven't. I've just been really lazy. The drawing you see here is a pretty good depiction of how I've preferred to spend my time lately.

That doesn't mean however, that I don't have a lot to share with you here. No, this Summer has been filled with all kinds of experiences and adventures, some related to the World of Cartooning, and some not. Things I know all of you out there would find, if not interesting, then at least diverting. I promise to share most, if not all of them with you, Loyal Reader.

Not for a few days, though.

You see, Perfect Wife and I are embarking on a trip to that fabulous vacation destination, Ithica, NY, this weekend, and I must prepare. When I return, I promise a full report on the whole adventure, including the reason we are going to Ithica, NY, of all places (it ain't by choice!). If any of you are from the area, please feel free to alert me to any "must-see" attractions in the Ithica area.

I won't hold my breath.

Mum

2010-08-02T14:11:00.005-04:00

Sad times here. On July 22, we lost my Mum. Well, we didn't lose her, we know where she is, but we won't be seeing her for awhile. That's a bad joke, but it's the kind of joke my Mother liked. If you enjoy any of the "humor" on this blog, you can thank her. I got at least part of my sense of humor from her, although Dad was no slouch in the yuks department himself.

It's lucky my Mother had a sense of humor. She really needed it to put up with us kids' shenanigans. Not to mention the lemons life threw at her, demanding she make lemonade. She was the best Mum ever. Although I may be biased.

It was she who encouraged my sisters and I to do whatever we wanted with our lives. If it hadn't been for my Mother, I shudder to think what horrible career I would be stuck in now.

I could go on and on about what a swell person Mum was, but I won't. It's still a bit painful to talk about right now. I just wish all of you out there could have met her. I'm sure you woulda liked her.

My Mother always hated it when you said "Goodbye" to her. "Don't say goodbye," she'd say, "It sounds so final. Like we'll never see each other again. Say, 'so long', instead."

So long, Mum.

Happy Birthday Perfect Wifey!

2010-07-22T23:01:00.004-04:00

Lots and lots of stuff going on, which I promise I will share with you later.

Today is Perfect Wife's Birthday, so of course, I should be writing all about how fantastic she is, that I'm so glad she was born, how glad I am that she is mine, etc., etc. As I said though, time is limited, so just let me say she is fantastic, I'm so glad she was born, I'm glad she's mine, etc,. etc.

Also, kudos to her parents, my Perfect In-Laws. Well done!

By the way, I don't know where this picture of her comes from. When asked, she mumbled something about, "shore leave" and, "her days at the Academy", and that this guy is "just some 'dude' she knew". Sorry to see her taste in men hasn't improved.

Happy of Happiest, my Love!

So Glad She Picked Me!

2010-07-19T12:51:00.004-04:00

I know you're tired of hearing about it, but today, Perfect Wife and I celebrate 3 years of wedded bliss!

I could drone on and on about how wonderful she is, and how happy we are, but in deference to all those with weak stomachs, I won't.

We are wicked happy, though.

For all the thrilling details of our courtship and nuptials, read this.

Happy Anniversary, Wifey!

Dating My Birth- Again!

2010-07-14T21:24:00.007-04:00

Yep- It's that time of year again, the anniversary of the day I slid outta Mum's birth canal, and into the world. Actually, "slid" ain't exactly the correct term. "Barely Squeezed" would be more accurate; Look at the size of my head! Poor Mum! No wonder she walked like a cowboy.

Since it is my Birthday, I'm taking the day off from blogging. If you want the whole "Behind the Seeds" story of my birth, you can check out all the grisly details from last year's post.

As always, if you forgot to send me a token of your affection, don't fret. There's still plenty of time to shop.

Happy Birthday, Me!

Bon Appetite!

2010-07-09T11:54:00.007-04:00

I love to eat, but I am something of a picky eater, to put it mildly. The foods I like I REALLY like. The foods I dislike I truly, deeply hate, and a gun to my head would not persuade me to sample even the tiniest morsel.

This presents a problem for me on the (very) rare occasions when I am invited to a dinner party. The Host or Hostess of a dinner party, I assume, puts a lot of time, effort and thought into what they serve. The polite thing to do when presented with an unpalatable dish would be to sample a few bites, rave about the quality and the cook's culinary abilities, and then push the plate away. You can then blame a big lunch for not eating more, excuse yourself from the table, and go find a private spot to projectile vomit.

My problem is that I have such an aversion to the foods I dislike is that, as I said, I cannot sample even the tiniest bite. Take corn, for example. I know, I know, everyone on earth loves corn. Everyone but me*. Corn on the Cob, a favorite of young and old alike, is my least favorite way to serve corn. I can't even handle watching other people eat it! If I were to have a even the teeny, tiniest nibble of a niblet, I would not have time to find my projectile-vomit private spot. I presume that my blowing chunks all over the dinner table would put a damper on the festivities. I would feel bad if that happened.

I realize that my colorful description of my behavior might prevent some of you from inviting me to an upcoming get together. That would be too bad, as except for the vomiting thing, I am a delightful party guest- I don't drink too much (unless there is an open bar, or someone else is driving), I have several amusing anecdotes that perhaps one or two of your guests haven't heard dozens of times already, I have a Perfect Wife, so I won't be hitting on any attractive relatives, and, best of all, I can bring DVDs of the many community theatre productions I have appeared in. These are excellent for when the party has reached an apex and you'd like everyone to go home. Just pop in a title like Sweet Charity, and I guarantee the house will be empty in minutes.

So sure, I am a fun guy to have at your party, but what about the food thing? Granted, my story about my trip to the Franklin Park Zoo is hilarious, but it won't make up for me ralphing all over the joint. Not to worry, I have compiled this list of the foods I won't eat to aid you in planning your next dinner party menu:

Meat: There are no meats I won't eat, so if you want to have some big meatapalooza, I'm in.

Fish: Not really crazy about fish, but I can choke most varieties down, even sushi and calamari. No shellfish, though. Lobster is another of those foods, like (ugh) corn, that everyone on Earth loves but me.

Vegetables: I have never, and will never, eat cooked veggies. In addition to corn, if you have your heart set on serving beets, cauliflower, peas, asparagus... Oh, just serve a salad. I'll eat raw veggies. Some of them anyway. I also like potatoes.

Pasta: Everyone on Earth likes pasta, even me. Just don't try sneaking vegetables into the sauce.

Sides: There are some sides I don't care for, like baked beans and Cole Slaw (does anybody like Cole Slaw?), but side dishes are easy to avoid, so go crazy, and serve whatever the heck you want.

Deserts: I'll eat anything desert-wise, so no worries there. Not really crazy about honey or butterscotch-based deserts. To be on the safe side, serve chocolate. Or cheesecake. An extra-special, extra-thoughtful reader recently sent me a Shoofly Pie, which I have never heard of/had before. It was delish. If you serve Shoofly Pie, I may forgive you for serving beets. It's not good enough to forgive corn, however.

I may seem fussy, but I'm sure that you, Faithful Reader, have an aversion to certain foods. Please let the rest of us know what they are in the comments section.

You may also leave invitations to your next dinner party there, too.

*I realize this is the second time I have written about my relationship with corn on this site. Don't worry, two times is plenty. I will not pick that scab here again. Unless, of course some important corn news arises that I feel I need to share.

"And the Soda Bursting in the Air..."

2010-07-02T14:28:00.005-04:00

This weekend, we here in the good ol' US of A celebrate Independence Day. Not the day Bill Pullman and Will Smith saved the world from CGI destructive aliens, but the day America severed our ties with Jolly Olde England. Well, until The Beatles came along, anyway.

Good Patriots nationwide celebrate the day by having an outdoor cookout, followed by the tradition of blowing stuff up, usually fireworks. The problem is that fireworks, while undeniably entertaining, are very dangerous. Especially in the hands of children and drunken adults, the two most frequent users of fireworks. Too bad there isn't some sort of safe explosive display you can set off to stir the feelings of patriotism amongst your friends and neighbors.

Oh, but there is!

All you need is a cheap 2 liter bottle of soda and a package of Mentos™ ("The Fresh-Maker") Mints. Unscrew the bottle of soda and shove the whole, unwrapped package of Mentos™ into the bottle, then step back. Way back. You will be treated to a giant geyser of soda hundreds, if not twenty, feet in the air, that is at least as impressive (if not as destructive) as an M-80. Put on some patriotic music, and only a dirty rat commie will be unmoved by this liquid tribute to liberty. At the very least, the kids will think it's cool.

For best results, use a bright color of soda. I like orange for its fiery, lava-like effect, but any color will do. Some say diet soda causes a better reaction than sweetened soda, but I fail to see the difference. Also, make sure to use the mint flavors of Mentos™. The fruit flavors don't produce as grand a geyser. Make sure you get a few rolls of Mentos™ and bottles of soda. I guarantee onlookers will demand more than one performance.

If you feel that a "Mentos™ Soda Geyser/Volcano", is not destructive enough to celebrate the day, there is a variation. Simply loosely replace the cap on the soda bottle after you insert the Mentos™. This will create an out-of-control projectile, that, while not a destructive as a bottle rocket, will certainly do some good ol' fashioned harm if it hits someone or something. Keep the dog inside. If you like them, that is.

No matter how you celebrate the holiday, have fun. Remember it is a privilege to be an American. Be grateful that you live in a nation where you are free to do stupid things like making Mentos™ Volcanoes!

Happy Warren Kremer Day!

2010-06-25T12:54:00.011-04:00

A lot of great cartoonists out there have influenced me, but one of the most important was the late great, Warren Kremer. Today, June, 26th is the anniversary of his birth. For those of you out of the loop, Warren was THE artist at Harvey Comics. He set the standard there, and what a standard it was! He was a master of character design, layout and storytelling. He was also incredibly prolific. While it's true that artists like Jack Kirby, Dan DeCarlo and Carl Barks are revered for the thousands of comic pages they produced over the course of their careers, Warren's output surely equally matched or surpassed theirs. My good pal, Sid Jacobson, who was Warren's friend and editor for many years, told me that at his peak Warren could pencil an astounding eight pages a day! As fast as he was, his quality never suffered. I've never seen a page drawn by him where he ever gave less than 100%. There aren't many artists you can say that about, myself included.

I was exposed to Warren's work at a very early age, and its impact on my own work was substantial (not that I will ever hold a candle to him!). Even though it was years until I learned his name (Harvey artists never signed their work, perhaps one reason Warren's name is still unknown to most), I always knew his work, and would page through issues of the comics on the stands until I found copies of the books with the "good" artist in them (Actually, Ernie Colon's work was great too, but more on him another day. Ernie won't mind, he is one of Warren's biggest admirers.).

Warren concentrated most of his career on the Harvey children's line, but he was equally adept at drawing "realistic" stories, as you can see here.

It's a shame that he never received the recognition he so richly deserved. Indeed, even a lot of die-hard comic fans don't know his name. His work is rarely collected, and when it is, he is lumped in collections anonymously with the rest of the Harvey cartoonists (not that any of them were slouches!). He still has never gotten a posthumous Eisner or Kirby award, even though many lesser lights in the comic industry have gotten them. Perhaps it's because Harvey Comics are dismissed by most fans as "kiddie" comics. A ridiculous attitude for people to have that consider superhero comics "serious literature" and bemoan how the general public dismisses them as "just for kids". How is Superman less absurd than Casper the Friendly Ghost?!

A stroke in 1989 cut Warren's career short and he never drew a comic book story again. He died in 2003.

Sadly, I never got a chance to meet Mr. Kremer in person, but I did get a chance to speak to him on the phone a couple of times before his death. He seemed surprised that anyone was interested in his work, but he was very gracious in answering all my geeky questions. One of the treasures in my "collection" of comic-related stuff is a Stumbo the Giant page Warren drew, that my pal Gary surprised me with a few years back. It is gorgeous! I really wanted to post it here for you all to see, but the massive page wouldn't fit on my dinky scanner. Sorry. If you're ever in the neighborhood, drop by and I'll show it to you. I hope Warren's bio from the NCS directory and my silly pic will do.

Someday, perhaps, some enlightened soul with deep pockets and deeper resources will publish a collection of Warren's work. Until then, I'll have to make do with my dog-eared collection of old Harveys. I can live with that.

Happy Birthday Warren, wherever you are. Say "hello" to Casper for me!

UPDATE: Warren's friend and former editor, Sid Jacobson, read today's post and had this to say: "For so many reasons the Harveys were selfish, but for not allowing anyone but their chosen friends to include their names on their work was a travesty. And for Warren, the worst. What you said is so true. The people at Marvel recognized his enormous talent immediately, and worshipped him and popularized him from the beginning. I can't tell you how many times I pleaded with Alfred (Harvey) to let people sign their names, it would make them a more popular and profitable commodity.

No, we were like Disney, he told me.

The signed pages were, if memory serves me right, only Lee Elias, Simon & Kirby, Bob Powell, Al Avison and Howie Post, ONCE!

Happy Warren Kremer Day to you!"

Thanks to Sid, for writing that and letting me post it. Hearing that the Harveys kept their artists anonymous deliberately, and not out of ignorance, rankles me. It must have been really frustrating for Warren and all the other artists in Harvey's stable.

"Like Disney", indeed!

The Muppets Take Massachusetts

2010-06-25T11:36:00.006-04:00

If you love the Muppets, like I do, and you live in Massachusetts, you're in for a treat. If you hurry.

"Jim Henson's Fantastic World", an exhibition of the Muppet creator's artwork, is currently on display at The National Heritage Museum in Lexington, MA. Unfortunately, I am only telling you about it now; the exhibit closes on Sunday, June 27th. If you are a fan of the Muppets, though, the show is well worth the hustle.

Perfect Wife and I, along with two dear pals and fellow Muppet-lovers, visited the exhibit yesterday. The exhibit is small, just a few rooms filled with Henson's drawings and a dozen Muppets or so, but what's there is cherce!

Henson's designs and drawings are interesting to see. A lot of his concepts and storyboards are just scribbly little doodles that he handed off to others, notably Muppet Builder Don Sahlin, to realize in 3-D. One of the interesting things for me was learning about Sahlin, who I was only vaguely aware of before. His contribution to the look of the Muppets was pretty important, as I learned when I got home and Googled his name. I've saved you the trouble of doing that, and you can learn a bit about his fascinating work here.

The big appeal of this exhibit for me was the actual Muppets they had on display. They had some of the major players, like Kermit and Rowlf, as well as Ernie and Bert, along with some of the more obscure characters from early commercial work. If you've never seen an actual Muppet in person before, you may be surprised at their size. I know I was, they're HUGE! Ernie's head was almost as big as mine (and that's saying something)! Seeing these characters up close and personal was a big thrill, and I was itching to grab them and play with them. Alas, they are protected from geeks like me by glass cases, which is a good thing, I guess.

One potential disappointment for some of you out there is that, since the Henson family sold the Muppet trademark to Disney, most of the items on display are from Henson's early work and his Sesame Street stuff, as well as Fraggle Rock and the Dark Crystal. If you were hoping to see Miss Piggy or Fozzie, or any of the gang from The Muppet Show, you're out of luck. For a true fan of Henson, though, there is enough to satisfy you, although, as I said, the exhibit is a bit small. I would have liked to see more. Especially more actual Muppets. Still, we here in the Bay State don't get to see a lot of Pop Culture exhibits like this, so I'm grateful for what we got.

As I said earlier, the exhibit closes in Massachusetts this Sunday. Later in the year, it will be in Chicago. After that, who knows? Given the show's size, I wouldn't travel too far to see it, but if it's in your area, it's worth a look.

Just What the Doctor Ordered

2010-06-16T12:55:00.009-04:00

Posting on this Blog is finally paying off. I am finally getting the international recognition I so richly deserve!

This morning I got an email from a professor at a university in Manchester, UK. They are doing research into a medical disorder known as Congenital Hyperinsulinism, or CHI, for short. This insidious little condition is at the opposite end of the spectrum to diabetes, which is my own little roe to hoe. Kids with CHI produce too much insulin. This is genetic, you are born with this disease, which is very difficult to manage. Many children have their pancreas removed within months of birth.

The university was looking for some illustrations to use in their literature, and somehow they came upon this drawing from a post where I whined about my "condition" They thought the cartoon "perfectly captured" the disease, and asked if they could use it. Of course I said yes.

This got me to thinking: Maybe there is an untapped market for cartoons that depict various ailments with a humorous slant! There could be gold in them thar hills! This could become a speciality of mine. I could become, "The Disease Cartoonist"! I would become world famous for my depictions of sickness. "Oh, did you see Bill White's cartoon on Anal Fissures? What a riot!", people would say.

To get started, here is my first cartoon in this series, "A Heart Attack". This drawing shows a heart punching, that is, attacking its host. That is not actually what happens in a real heart attack of course, that's what makes it funny! Get it? Man, this depicting-diseases-and-illness-in-a-humorous-way is a piece of cake! This could be my big break!

On second thought, maybe not. Maybe I'll stick to selling painted turtles on the Boardwalk.

Still, it was nice to get some positive feedback. From England (my favorite non-US country!) to boot.

By the way, this CHI is a very serious condition, I hope I don't appear to be making light of other peoples' suffering. Far from it. God Bless the people doing research to combat these nasty things, and are spending their time doing something more important than drawing silly little cartoons.

Enoughnstuf!

2010-06-11T13:09:00.007-04:00

Thomas Wolfe once said, "You can't go home again." If he had had a television, he might also have said, "You can't re-watch TV shows you loved as a kid, because you will discover how much they sucked."

A lot of my favorite programs from my youth, like, "F-Troop", "McHale's Navy" and "Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp", to name a few, are pretty hard to watch nowadays. They seemed so great back in their day, but now they seem really lame. The passing of time gave them a gloss in my memory that they did not really possess. Of course, there were shows like "Lost in Space", that even back then I knew were pretty wretched. I loved it anyway, though, so I still enjoy it now. There are other shows, like the original "Mickey Mouse Club" or "Astroboy", that, while I see how awful they are, I can still appreciate for the warm fuzzy feelings I had when I originally watched them.

Sadly, the one show that I loved above all others, the highlight of my Saturday mornings if not my entire childhood, is one of those shows that I can not even enjoy for its nostalgia factor anymore.

That show is "H.R. Pufnstuf".

When it originally aired, this show had everything I loved: puppets, people in giant puppet costumes, a kid with an English accent and catchy musical numbers. It also had an irresistible premise, at least to me. One day an ordinary boy Jimmy (played by English kid Jack Wild) and his talking golden flute, Freddy are kidnapped by a wicked witch named Witchypoo, and transported to Living Island. The island is so named because everything, trees, houses, even the elements, everything, is alive. The Island is run/ruled over by a friendly dragon, H.R. Pufnstuf, who is also Mayor. Over the course of the series, the friendly citizens of Living Island spend the majority of their time protecting Jimmy and Freddy from Witchypoo, and trying to find a way to get them "home". At least once an episode, they also break into a totally unnecessary, but toe-tappin', musical number.

I realize the above description doesn't exactly sound like must-see-TV. An actual viewing of the series is even worse. As I youngster, I guess I overlooked things like the shoddy production values, hackneyed scripts, Jack Wild''s awful singing voice, and performers whose body language suggests that, rather than happy creatures on a magical adventure, they are hot, sweaty people in uncomfortable puppet suits suffering from heatstroke. I really loved this show.

I wasn't the only one. Despite there being only 17 episodes produced, the series ran for years, and there was even a theatrical feature made of it (with Mama Cass and Martha Raye in the cast, no less!). To this day, one of my sisters can still sing "I'm a Mechanical Boy", one of the songs from the show, and, if pressed, my other sister will admit to at one time declaring her ambition to become "Mrs. Jack Wild". The show's influence wasn't just confined to our house, either. if you troll the Interweb, you can find the site of a person who has dreams of reviving the show as an animated series. There has also been talk for years about a big screen adaptation. That is a truly chilling thought for those of us still nursing our wounds from the "Underdog" film a few years ago.

Ah, who am I kidding? I still love ol' Pufnstuf! I even have an action figure of him sitting on my desk as I type this. For that love to continue though, I'll only watch the re-runs in my mind. They're much better that way.

Oh, and for those of you wondering, no, my sister never did become Mrs. Jack Wild.

Happy Donut Day!

2010-06-04T09:56:00.007-04:00

Today we honor the brave men and women in our nation who make our country great. They are the few, the proud, the Donut Makers.

In case you missed it, today, June Fourth, is National Donut Day. It is the day we take a moment and reflect on our love for these spherical bits of goodness and the minimum-wage earning souls whose sacrifices bring them to us.

I know that all good citizens will be honoring the day by stopping and partaking in at least one sweet, round bit of heaven. I know I will. The question is: What donut to get? I myself favor the classic Krispy Kreme™, but since there isn't a franchise anywhere near me, I may have to settle for the more pedestrian Dunkin' Donuts™. Despite their name, DD seems to be more about coffee than donuts. Their chocolate donut is pretty decent though, so I may celebrate with that.

Remember though, today is all about the donuts, so don't dishonor the day by ordering a Bear Claw or a Bismark. Even if you are one of those twisted souls that eats a Boston Creme, stick to the donuts.

Only in the good ol' U.S. of A. could we have a National Donut Day. It almost makes me proud to live in this great nation!

Of course, I would be prouder if I lived near a Krispy Kreme™...

Caricature Capers Part 3: How People Really Do Not Want to Be Drawn

2010-06-02T10:58:00.009-04:00

Drawing caricatures at a live event can be, as I have mentioned before, a terrifying experience. Many of your "subjects" should not be sitting for a caricature at at all: They have no sense of humor and are extremely insecure about any of the "flaws" or distinctions that make them a unique individual. Why they are getting a caricature drawn of themselves is a question we will never know the answer to. To avoid hurting the feelings of these folks, or worse inciting a nasty confrontation, I usually take the "safe" route, and draw a tame, polite, "funny" likeness of the subject. I am usually not thrilled with the results, but the subjects are, and I avoid any physical injury to my person.

Cartoonist Joe Bluhm, on the other hand, has no qualms at all about drawing folks the way they are, warts (and worse!) and all, with great style and humor to boot. I have never met the man, but I admire him greatly and wish I had a fraction of his talent, and a smidge of his guts when it comes to live caricatures.

Recently, I was flipping through Bluhm's excellent book, Rejects: The Extreme Art of Retail Caricature. The book is a collection of caricatures returned to the artist by disappointed/outraged clients at live events. The drawings are hilarious, and just go to show how ignorant the general public is about this sort of thing.

Inspired by Bluhm's work, I dashed off a quick doodle of Perfect Wife in his style. (For you "methods and materials" nuts out there, I did it with a conte crayon on newsprint, and it took under 2 minutes to draw.) I think it came out really well. PW is a gorgeous woman, but she is unique, and the drawing captures that in a humorous way, in my humble opinion. Even PW liked it, or at least pretended to*.

Perhaps someday, I'll have the guts to draw like this at a live gig. For now, I'll leave it to braver souls than I. Like Joe Bluhm.

*UPDATE: It turns out, PW really didn't like this rendering of her. At a recent family get together, I found out her family didn't like it either. That does it. I'm never going to family get togethers again!

Happy Anniversary, Blog!

2010-05-29T09:31:00.005-04:00

As has become a hallowed tradition here, I am posting this notice late. On May 27th, this blog celebrated two years of taking up space on the web!

Ah, it seems like just yesterday that my dear pal, the multi-talented John, suggested I start a blog as a way to establish my presence in cyberspace. I was a bit leery at first. I was a non-entity professionaly, and I was pretty computer illiterate. He told me not to worry: it was easy to get started, and plenty of other non-entities had blogs. He was right! It was easy to get started, and, professionally, at least, I was even a bigger unknown than I thought I was! In no time though, I smoothed out the more noticeable bugs, and soon this blog became the Cavalcade of Wimsey you all know and love. Or at least check out now and again. I remain cartooning's best-kept secret, though.

When I first began, I had grand notions of posting something new and exciting every day. What I failed to realize was that A) I don't experience things new and exciting that are worth writing about every day, and, B) I'm lazy, and working on this blog takes valuable time that I could be spending goofing off and reading blogs by people who post every day.

I have scaled down my thinking since, and I now try to post at least once a week, although now and again I manage to squeeze out a few more. Quality over Quantity. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

To celebrate the anniversary of this blog, I have a special treat: Over the next few days, I will re-run some of my "classic" posts from the past. For those of you new to this site, it will give you a taste of what this blog is like. For you regular readers, it will give you an excuse to not bother checking out this site for a spell. (PLEASE NOTE: In the grand tradition of this blog, I may not actually follow through on my promise, so don't be too surprised if you don't see any "Blog Classics".)

Seriously, though, doing this blog has been a blast, and I really appreciate all the kind, and sometimes not-so-kind, comments from all of you. As long as you keep reading, I'll keep writing and drawing.

For at least two more years.

You Say You Want an Evolution?

2010-05-20T14:17:00.003-04:00

Regular readers of this blog know that lately I have been working on a personal project: A children's book entitled, "Oscar's Naughty Chicken".

I have been working on this project for awhile now, two years to be somewhat exact, and I have noticed a disturbing phenomenon.

When I first began doing the illustrations for the book, my design for the main character, the Chicken, was uniquely mine. I didn't want him to be too cute or cuddly, and I wanted him to be as expressionless as possible, so the reader would never really know what the Chicken was "thinking" as he did all the "naughty" things the title promised. However, the more pages I produced, the "cuter" and more expressive the Chicken got. In my latest drawings, the Chicken began to look like the lead character in that dreadful Disney film, "Chicken Little"!

Maybe it was the result of not working on the project consistently, or maybe it was the result of spending so many years slavishly following model sheets while working on licensed properties. Perhaps it was just good, old-fashioned laziness. Whatever the reason, my title character's look evolved from page to page until the character on page one looked nothing like the character on page twelve.

As a result, I have regrouped, and have decided to start re-drawing the book from scratch. I know, a lot of you out there are probably screaming, "Hey, you idiot! Just fix it in Photoshop!" Sorry, but I just don't swing that way. I want this whole thing to be as "hand drawn" as possible.

Besides, all the unused illustrations will make great "Special Features" in the collector's edition of the book!

Happy Jack Cole Day!

2010-05-14T14:49:00.004-04:00

No, today isn't the anniversary of the birth of master cartoonist Jack Cole. The creator of Plastic Man was actually born on December 14, 1914. I doubt this date was even a significant one in Mr. Cole's life. I really love his work, though, so I decided to declare today an unofficial holiday dedicated to him. I also wanted to post this doodle I did of Plaz and his pal, Woozy Winks.

So grab a pile of Jack Cole comics and celebrate! If you aren't familiar with his work, go out and buy one of the numerous collections of his comics, and enjoy.

Then you'll feel like celebrating!

The Sky is Falling!

2010-05-13T14:48:00.006-04:00

The sky is falling! Well, not really. I just have been feeling the same sense of doom and dread that the chicken in that old story felt.

And it's all because of a chicken!

You see, for quite some time now, I have been working on a children's book that I conceived and co-authored with Perfect Wife entitled, "Oscar's Naughty Chicken". I use the term "working" loosely. Truth be told, I haven't done jack-squat on it for ages. I don't know why.

It isn't because I am bad at deadlines. When I was back in cartooning school, the most important lesson they pounded into our soft little heads was, "Never miss a deadline". We were told an editor would rather work with a mediocre artist who was on time, than an exceptional artist that was always late. I'm not sure if this is 100% true, but I took that lesson to heart, and throughout my "career" I have prided myself on hitting deadlines. I am late for everything else in my life, but I am fanatical about the deadline thing.

Maybe I am late because I have no deadline on my own project. Without a deadline, there is no be pressure for me to finish. I can take as long as I please (and I am!). Or, it could be that since this book is my baby, I want it to be perfect. I have also experienced more than the usual amount of "artist's block" on this piece, so that might be a factor. The block may be a result of the lack of a deadline, though.

Whatever the reason for my foot-dragging, enough is enough. I am "between projects" right now, so this is the perfect time to finally finish this darn thing, so it can finally come to rest in clearance bins across the nation. I am going to finish this darn thing if it kills me. I will keep all of you out there up to date on my progress in the agonizing weeks and months to come.

Knowing myself, you can expect a repeat of this post shortly.

"Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall, Who's the HARDEST One of All?"

2010-05-11T13:34:00.004-04:00

When I was a lad, I spent a lot of time trying to draw my favorite cartoon characters. I would spend hours copying the drawings from newspaper strips, comic books and cartoons on television. I wanted my drawings to be perfect. I didn't just want to draw something that looked somewhat like Bugs Bunny, I wanted to do a drawing that looked like the real Bugs, the one from TV.

Some characters were easy to draw. Others were a bit more difficult. Often it wasn't the complexity of the character, it was that the artist's style was such an important factor in the character's "look". For example, Charlie Brown is a very simple design, and just about anyone can draw something that would be instantly identifiable as Charlie Brown. It wouldn't, however, look like THE Charlie Brown. Charles Schultz's unique drawing style was difficult, if not impossible to duplicate. Without his style any drawing of Charlie Brown just ain't Charlie Brown.

Characters designed for animation, that is, characters designed to be drawn exactly the same way by a number of different artists, should be easier, but that isn't always so. Take The Simpsons, for instance. They are very simple character designs, but it takes a lot of work to get them looking "right".

Getting things to look right, of course, is really just a matter of careful observation and keeping the principles of solid drawing in mind while you work. Even so, no matter how much training you have, there are certain characters that are a challenge to draw. For example, MAD Magazine's mascot, Alfred E. Neuman, is notoriously difficult. Even a lot of the longtime pros at the magazine cannot do a satisfying likeness.

I cannot be the only kid who had the frustrating experience of trying to capture the elusive likeness of some character. I wonder, is there one character in particular that everyone finds difficult to draw? So, I am throwing this question out to all you cartoonists out there, professional or not:

WHO IS THE HARDEST CARTOON CHARACTER TO DRAW, AND WHY?

I'm really curious to know what people think, so please leave your humble opines in the comments section. Tell your cartoonist friends (who normally wouldn't be caught dead reading this blog) to chime in too. When I've tabulated the results, I'll let you know in a future post.

I think I know whose name will come out on top...

Fat Donald

2010-05-10T14:11:00.004-04:00

Here's another unclaimed convention sketch. I don't know why it wasn't claimed, but I do know that it was probably drawn around 1990 or so. That's about the same time I illustrated the story, "What's for Lunch... Supper?" for Walt Disney's Donald Duck Adventures #11.

In the story, Donald develops a massive eating disorder, and grows obese. His nephews try to help him out by sending him to fat camp, with the expected disastrous results.

It was a pretty funny story, written by Tom Yakutis. Unfortunately, I only did the pencils on it. The inking (by an inker I will not mention) was fairly terrible, and the results were awful. A shame, for as I said, I really liked the story.

I've never really spoken about my time doing comics for Disney's short-lived self-published line. Maybe someday soon I will. Not that I have any really great stories to tell, but I really enjoyed working on comics featuring characters I loved my whole life. I finally felt like a "real" cartoonist. The experience helped my gain a lot of confidence as a cartoonist, too.

This is all stuff for another day, though. For now, just enjoy Donald Duck, really fat.

BTW, Donald Duck is copyright by Walt Disney Productions, of course!

More Fun with Filler: The Finale of Kaptain Keen & Kompany #3

2010-05-04T13:46:00.005-04:00

The public has spoken! Due to the underwhelming number of comments on my last post, this will be the last of my old work you will see for awhile. I guess the general public isn't interested in my skips down Memory lane. So, no more filler pages. That goes for Kaptain Keen, Mooseboy and all their wacky pals, too. Back into the vault they go. Apparently, that's where they belong. From now on, this blog will feature only spankingly fresh new artwork. Unless I change my mind again.

Kind of a shame, as I was planning on self-publishing a collection of all the old issues of KK&K later this Summer. I see now there really isn't the market for it.

Anyway, for the one or two of you out there waiting with baited breath, here is the conclusion of our story. As you may recall, Kaptain Keen's evil twin, Major Meen had just been brought to this reality from an alternate dimension by Dr. Otto Fingerhut. Dr. Fingerhut's brain now rests in an alligator's body, thanks to a previous battle with Kaptain Keen. The Doctor hopes to enslave Major Meen and use him to destroy the good Kaptain and his teenage sidekick, Mooseboy.

Let's see how it all plays out:

More Filler: Bill's Free Comic Book Day

2010-04-29T12:51:00.006-04:00

Tomorrow, May 1, 2010, is Free Comic Book Day. For those of you out there who are not comic book geeks, FCBD is the day your local comic book shoppe passes out free comics to one and all, in a misguided effort to lure new customers into reading comic books. What actually happens of course, is that new customers don't show up, and people who already read comics get a whole bunch of free ones. Still, it's a nice idea.

In the spirit of Free Comic Book Day, and in keeping with my new concept of posting old work I have sitting around, here is a comic from me. For free. It's the first part of Kaptain Keen and Kompany #3, from 1987. This was a comic my dear pal Gary Fields and I produced during the Black & White comic boom of the mid-eighties. If you missed the whole story behind this comedic masterpiece, click here.

Here's Part One. Part Two will follow presently, unless objections from viewers are numerous. Keep in mind this is 23 (!) years old, ignore the typos and other obvious errors, and enjoy.

It's Filler Time!

2010-04-21T17:24:00.008-04:00

"Anything worth doing is worth doing well". That well-worn quote even applies to posting a blog.

It is rather difficult to come up with something entertaining (or at least interesting) on a semi-regular, let alone daily, schedule. There are those blogs out there that manage to do it by taking a gimmick, like say, making every single recipe in a giant woman's classic cookbook and blogging about it. This makes daily entries easy, as you always have something to write about. You can also do something others might find informative, like polling other cartoonists about their tools and inspiration, and publishing the results. This also gives you a wealth of postings.

Another challenge to publishing a blog is the complete lack of financial impetus. Why publish if you ain't getting paid? You have to do it because you enjoy it. Sure, you can litter your site with ad links (as I have done) and wait for the money truck to roll in with revenue. The truth is though, the ads you see don't generate much more than chump change, at best. Advertisers don't often even send freebies to blog authors in gratitude for mentioning their products. Haven't these guys ever heard of payola?! Case in point: I have mentioned Doctor Who action figures with an almost annoying regularity on this site. Have the manufacturers sent me anything in gratitude for raising awareness of their product? They have not. Not even a lousy Zygon figure.

You can make big money from your blog, of course. You just have to create a blog that details how you have made every recipe from a giant woman's classic cookbook. Then you have to turn it into a bestselling book and have the book made into a major motion picture. It's harder than it sounds. Trust me. Really, you do a blog for the fun of doing it.

That doesn't mean you should just throw up whatever piece of crap you like whenever you fell like it. In producing this Kavalcade of Kartoon Komedy, I try to post something that is fun to read and pair it with an appropriate image. Sometimes I am successful, sometimes not.

I realize, though, that I still don't post often enough. In an effort to rectify this situation, I have decided to throw up whatever piece of crap I want, whenever I want, BUT! On a more regular basis. So, from time to time, you'll get to see random images from "archives", as well as my "sketchbook", sans commentary. Starting right now.

Enjoy.

Conned!

2010-04-14T12:53:00.010-04:00

Last Saturday, I did something I haven't done in years. I went to a comic book convention.

A comic con, for those of you that have never heard of one, is a gathering of comic book fans that feature appearances by comic creators, exhibits and lectures on comic-related subjects, screenings of rare genre films, merchandise for sale like old comics and toys and, of course, lots of people dressed up like their favorite comic characters.

When I was a lad, Boston was host to a wonderful series of comic conventions. They were huge, multi-day affairs with stellar line ups of cartoonists. Over the years, though, the Boston cons lost their momentum, and eventually faded away.

I had not been to one of these Nerdapaloozas in years, so I was intrigued to learn that a Boston would be host to one. The Boston Comic Con 2010 promised a big line up of guests, and was being held in a big, fancy convention hotel on the waterfront. I talked Perfect Wife into joining me. It was to be her first con, and I hoped it would be as grand as the ones I attended years ago.

It wasn't. Not by a long shot.

True, it was a well attended event. Actually, it was a jam-packed event. The line to get in stretched down the street. After waiting a while in the bracing winds, we finally made it inside, and discovered why the line was so long. Yes, the con was being held in a fancy Boston hotel, but it was being held in its basement. A basement much too small, with dealers and fans trying to squeeze through the narrow aisles.

This was not like the cons of my youth. On the day I attended, there were no special lectures or film screenings. It was really just a glorified flea market with some cartoonist sitting around selling sketches and signing books. I was very disappointed. I think PW was appalled, although she is much too polite to say so. There were some highlights though:

• At every con, there are fans dressed up in costumes. Some of the costumes were really impressive, some not so much. I, of course, enjoy the cheese factor of the pathetic attempts at costuming. At this con, I particularly liked the fat, balding middle-aged Superman, the hefty, five foot tall Batman and the Black Canary who should have spent more time fighting crime, and less time eating Twinkies. For some reason, there were a lot of people dressed as the Batman villain Two-Face. Maybe it's an easy costume to throw together or something. The only problem with some of them was that the people wearing them had so much adolescent acne, it was hard to tell which was the "good" side, and which was the "bad" one.

• At this con, I learned a valuable, money saving tip: For the best prices on things, bring an attractive woman with you. Pretty girls are as rare as personal hygiene at a comic con, and most geeks don't know how to deal with them. Being a hot babe, Perfect Wife was able to haggle down the price of an action figure I wanted from the stammering, awkward dealer. He was unwilling to adjust the price for me, but PW turned on the charm and, BINGO! We got it for half price.

What was the action figure? A Star Wars Ewok. That's right, an Ewok. I know it sounds pathetic to be delighted at the purchase a "children's toy", but, I have a massive collection of Star Wars action figures (dolls) and all that was missing was an Ewok.

Actually, that is pathetic.

• The big saving grace for this con was the guests they had lined up. They had some real heavy hitters, like Jim Lee, Mike Mignola and Steve Rude. I know those names mean nothing to the public at large, but in the comic community the are major playuhs. I didn't care about any of them though. The guest I was most pleased to see was MAD Magazine legend Sergio Aragones. I have met Sergio as a "fellow professional" a few times, and he is always nice enough to pretend he remembers me. This time was no exception, and Sergio was kind enough to autograph a photo I had taken of him and PW at a cartoonist's event a few years back. He was also gracious at declining our invitation for coffee. Classy guy.

I met a bunch of lesser known artists too. Some are destined for obscurity, some I expect to see a lot more of in the future. One of the latter was artist Kelly Yates. A really nice guy. The fact he draws stories for the Doctor Who comics doesn't hurt either.

So, while there were some bright spots at the con, ultimately I was disappointed. Hopefully, it was a success for the people who ran it, and they will learn from their mistakes and do a better job next time. If there is a next time, that is.

Lest you think I am being a Negative Nelly, I am not the only fan who was underwhelmed by the event. Check out my fellow geek David's thoughts here.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I wanna go play with my Ewok.

Let's Shmooze!

2010-04-07T15:16:00.009-04:00

When someone asks me what my favorite comic strip of all time is, I do not hesitate. Sure, Pogo was great. So was Krazy Kat. Like a lot of modern folks I loved Calvin & Hobbes, too. My favorite one by far though, is Al Capp's Li'l Abner.

Li'l Abner, for those of you that are unfamiliar with the strip, featured the adventures of one Abner Yokum, a hillbilly boy/man, and the residents of his hometown, Dogpatch, U.S.A. I could waste endless paragraphs on the history of the strip, as well as the amazing characters, hilarious plots and incredible cartooning it featured. Instead, I think I'll let my pals at Wikipedia do the heavy lifting for me. If, for some tragic reason, you are so ignorant, you never have heard of this masterpiece, hang your head in shame and click here.

Why do I love this strip? Well for one thing, it's beautifully written and hilarious, something modern strip cartoonists seem to forget a strip is supposed to be. Even if the story lines in this strip were awful, though, I would still love it for its fantastic artwork. Capp was a brilliant cartoonist. His drawings are alive and funny and beautifully rendered. The pretty gals he drew were okay, too. It's well known that Capp had a lot of assistants on his strip (including Frank Frazetta and Jack Rickard!), but the style of the strip originated with him, so he deserves the accolades. I always loved his art, but now that I have attempted my pathetic "tribute" to him featured here, I am truly humbled by his genius.

Sadly, Li'l Abner ceased publication in 1979, but there have been lots of reprints of the strips over the years. Unfortunately, a lot of these reprints are really expensive, so I only possess a handful. Happily, though, the other day I was at the library (you know, that place that loans out the books that no one goes to anymore?), and I stumbled across a book entitled: The Short Life and Happy Times of the Shmoo, by Al Capp. This gem contains two strips featuring one of Capp's most beloved creations, The Schmoo.

In the first story from 1948, Li'Abner discovers The Shmoos. The Shmoos were rapidly reproducing creatures that provided humanity with all of life's staples: milk, eggs and even pineapples! If you looked at a Shmoo hungrily, they dropped dead out of sheer happiness, and flung themselves into a pan. Boiled they tasted like chicken, broiled like steak, and there was no waste! Their bodies could be used as clothing or building materials (depending how thick you sliced 'em), and you could even use their eyes as buttons, and their whiskers as toothpicks. No one needed to watch television anymore, either, as "Shmoosical Comedies" were far more entertaining. Naturally, people having everything they desired for free is bad for big business, and the bulk of the first story deals with corporate types trying to exterminate The Shmoo.

The Shmoo were wildly popular back in the day, and Capp brought them back many times. They were so popular, in fact, that they became a merchandising phenomenon. Shmoos appeared on everything from toys to furniture to clothing. There was never a Shmoosical Comedy produced, though. This volume also features one additional Shmoo tale, in another funny continuity from 1958. It also feature a rambling introduction by Harlan Ellison, but I'd skip that unless you want to read read precious little on Li'l Abner and Capp, and a whole lot about Ellison's first trip to NYC.

In case you can't tell, I highly recommend this collection. If your local library doesn't carry it (and I doubt they do, I think I got lucky), you can snag a copy from Amazon. If you've never read Li'l Abner before, I envy you. You're in for a treat.

It might be the next best thing to having a Shmoo. Or two.