My Drawing Board

Lots more comics coming your way in 2011!

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The Signifiers #1 Makes Kate Sherrod's Fave Comics of 2010 List

Pop culture maven and prolific author and Tweeter Kate Sherrod recently listed my The Signifiers #1 in her Favorite Comics of 2010 list on her new Kate Of Mind blog.

Kate's mighty generous, as my book shares the list with works by Michael Allred, Ted McKeever, Brian Hurtt, Brian Clevinger and other stellar comics stalwarts. Yikes! Thanks for the kind words, Kate!

I'm hard at work on The Signifiers #2, which will be posted in a short time on Kickstarter.com.

In the meantime, check out Kate's new blog, wherein she posts "Absolutely partial opinions on films, books, television, comics and games that catch my attention." http://kateofmind.blogspot.com/

Also check out Kate's Suppertime Sonnets where she posts a new sonnet before suppertime! http://suppertimesonnets.blogspot.com/

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Geekfest Makes Columbus Alive's "10 Best In the Arts" List

Columbus Alive, in their "100 Things We Loved This Year" issue, listed Wild Goose Creative's Geekfest as one of the top arts events of 2010.

Shown is an ad from my Geekfest exhibit, "Hey Kids! A History of Comic Book Advertising."

Thanks, Wild Goose, for the exhibit space and Columbus Alive for loving the geeks!

Columbus Alive: http://www.columbusalive.com/live/content/index.html

Wild Goose Creative: http://www.wildgoosecreative.com/Wild_Goose_Creative___Home.html

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Herge's "King Ottokar's Scepter"

This is the original, beat up Tintin book my father gave me in the '60s.

I think this Golden Press edition was one of the first American editions of Tintin. I read this book again and again when I was young and it's still one of my favorites. The color, the mood, the atmosphere, the humor and characters and striking situations will always stay with me.

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Happy Holidays From Krazy Kat

A very nice holiday card I received from the fine folks at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum at Ohio State University.

http://cartoons.osu.edu/

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James Brown

You can't have enough James Brown...

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Cartoonists Freedom Watch: Puerto Rico Cartoonists Association Censored

In September of this year, the government of Puerto Rico requested that nine works of cartooning be removed from an exhibit of artists in the Puerto Rico Cartoonists Association.

All nine works requested to be removed "depicted officials from the ruling Progressive New Party." Works by Felix Pissarro (above), Jose Ramos, Joe Wallace and others were censored.

The show was called off by the Cartoonists Association, and shown instead on October 21st in the Puerto Rico Bar Association.

Read about the initial censorship in the Orlando Sentinel: http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_hispanicaffairs/2010/09/the-forbidden-nine.html

Read about the Bar Association exhibit: http://www.prdailysun.com/?page=news.article&id=1287629569

Felix Pissarro's website: http://theblackartist.com/

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Angela Oster Christmas Card

Received it in the mail this week and I love it!!

The tots' eyes glitter when you move the card.

Thanks, Angela!

Check out her other cool art here: http://angelaoster.com/Site/Welcome.html

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The American Zig-Zag, Volume One

I'm happy to report I've illustrated a fine western story, "Mrs. Pynchon's Prerogatives", in the debut issue of critically acclaimed novelist Van Reid's new magazine, The American Zig-Zag.
Patterned in format and spirit after turn of the century prose magazines, The American Zig-Zag features a wide variety of short stories and an equal variety of illustrators, including cartoonists Joe Zierman, Bruce Rosenberger and Randy Sargent. Cleveland watercolorist Jeff Suntala designed and colored the gorgeous color.

Volume One has just been published. You can order copies here: http://moosepath.com/books/zz1.htm

Read an interview with Van Reid about The American Zig-Zag in the Portland Herald: http://www.pressherald.com/life/audience/charting-his-own-course_2010-12-19.html

Below: one of my illustrations for the book.

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John G. Draws the Black Keys

Very nice drawing poster designer John G. drew inside the limited edition copy of Caveman Diaries Vol. 6 - a book collection of thoughts, sketches and posters I purchased from him at Genghis Con.

Thanks, John!

http://ninepanelgrid.blogspot.com/

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Jack Kirby and Steve Gerber's Roxie's Raiders

You gotta love this depiction of Big Hands and Toad from the unpublished Roxie's Raiders comic book written by Steve Gerber and drawn by Kirby (click for a larger view).

The Indiana Jones-ish series was also presented as an animated cartoon series to Ruby-Spears.

The most recent issue of The Jack Kirby Collector publishes five of the penciled pages of the comic: http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=886

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Genghis Con 2010 Pics

A few photos from the recent small press/indy con at the historic Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland. That's Bob Corby, organizer of the annual SPACE show in Columbus, Ohio, above. http://www.backporchcomics.com/space.htm

Ray Tomczak, writer and artist of the Wasted Potential comic strip. http://wastedpotential.smackjeeves.com/

Love the old paintings(?) on these huge walls.

Gary Dumm, collaborator with the late Harvey Pekar and Ohio cartoonist Joe Zabel, and a fine artist/writer in his own right. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Dumm

The men's restroom.

Love this sign.

Scott Rudge, master of ceremonies of the show and owner of the Astound Comics shop. http://genghisconcleveland.blogspot.com/

Records, clothes and drinks...I had to take a detour to the cool shop in the basement (where I found a Julian Cope and the Teardrop Explodes LP I've been looking for for 25 years).

Poster designer John G. had customers all say long. I'll be posting the drawing he did of The Black Keys for me here soon. http://ninepanelgrid.blogspot.com/

The back of the old building was very David Lynch-ian. I could almost hear the Angelo Badalamenti music.

The Lynch-ian back barroom.

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Nix Comics Quarterly Art

A panel from my recently finished story for Nix Comics Quarterly, written by the publisher, Ken Eppstein.

Nix, a mash-up of horror and rock'n'roll, debuts with a Launch party at Kafe Kerouac on January 7th (check back here for more details).

The official Nix site: www.nixcomics.com

Nix on Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2135514704/nix-comics-quarterly-issue-1

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James Montgomery Flagg in The Columbus Dispatch

Kudos to The Columbus Dispatch for crediting their front cover illustration on yesterday's paper to the early 20th century artist, James Montgomery Flagg.

Born in 1877, Flagg was once the highest paid magazine illustrator in America. His drawing techniques and careful observations of human nature were a visual compliment to writers of the time such as Henry James and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Here's an exquisite Flagg drawing from a copy of the February, 1915 Red Book Magazine, which I recently purchased:

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Ah, Music

It's always a good time to put on some music.

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Unpublished Jersey Gods Pinup

A pinup I drew for Glen Brunswick and Dan McDaid's Jersey Gods series published by Image. The series was cancelled before the pinup could see print.

Randy Sargent did the gorgeous colors for the page; check out more of his work at: http://www.randysargent.net/

Jersey Gods was an underrated (and, unfortunately, underselling) series which captured the fun of '60s comics in a non-retro way. Dan's lively, spontaneous art execution was and is an inspiration to me.

Check out Dan's blog here: http://danmcdaid.blogspot.com/

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The Art of Angela Oster

"My work explores imagery that indicates extreme youth, vulnerability, harmlessness and need."

Thus begins the description on Angela Oster's website of her art, a playful and colorful mixture of philosophy and deceptive simplicity. She has a unique, visionary style that I love.

I purchased the whimsical drawing above from Angela at last weekend's Genghis Con, where she had a table full of original art, prints and a give-away comic for anyone passing by. We also had fun talking and she's a very cool person!

Check out her art, including fabrics, paintings, drawings and what look like scultures at: http://www.angelaoster.com/Site/Welcome.html

Also her blog, at: http://shesafellow.blogspot.com/

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Gang Of Four Sell Out

Depressing is the holiday season in which you hear the intro of Gang of Four's "Natural's Not In It" being used to advertise Microsoft's Kinect in ads appearing on large screens at Target department store.

Described by critic David Fricke as "probably the best politically motivated band in rock & roll", Gang of Four's ferocious Marxist critiques of consumer culture were once the gold standard of uncompromising punk artistry.

Wikipedia states that "The commercial only features the instrumental intro to the song, cutting off before the song's anti-consumerist lyrics begin." I wonder why...

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New NenoWorld Business Card

It had been many years since I'd designed a new one, so here it is. I'll be glad to include some, upon request, with any purchase orders.

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American Barbarian: the Commission

As promised, a commissioned drawing by Tom Scioli of his American Barbarian toppling Two-Tank Omen! (Click for a bigger view.)

Read the Wordpressed goodness here: http://www.ambarb.com/

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Times New Viking Art

One of twelve frames I handpainted for an upcoming video. More details posted soon.

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