Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Kontinuing With the Kaptain

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!

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Saturday, April 9, 2011

More Kaptain Keen Krap!

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• Lots of unpublished "artwork" from unfinished stories!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.






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Friday, April 1, 2011

Tee Shirted!

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.

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