250 – characters
Characters from a graphic novel idea that never fully materialized, but still bug me from time to time.
248 – Puck
Requested by Kurt Dinse. I don’t have a lot to say here…
247 – Sid Haig
By request of Andrew Miller, former co-worker and star of the short movie I wrote called All the Marbles, also the first person with whom I ever drank that resulted in my first hangover.
I’m not good at likenesses, but I hope I got the spirit of Sid Haig down. Andy had requested I draw Sid from one of his appearances in The Dukes of Hazzard, but it was hard to find non-Captain Spaulding references for Haig. Haig is one of only three or four celebrities I’ve ever met, and it’s one of the better experiences I’ve had in doing so.
He was at a horror convention here in Dayton, fresh off of House of 1,000 Corpses, but just before The Devil’s Rejects. I got a picture taken with him (and oddly, he looks a little like my grandpa) and I had him sign a copy of Rob Zombie’s Spookshow International Comic for my girlfriend. As he signed the book, he asked why I wanted that particular issue autographed. I told him because it featured an interview with him in the back, and that it was for my girlfriend, who loved House of 1,000 Corpses. Upon hearing that the book was for a lady, he stopped signing.
“Uh… You probably want me to cross out what I wrote then,” he said. “It’s pretty raunchy.” I told him, nope, raunch it up.
He handed me the book and shook my hand. I read what he wrote over a drawing of Captain Spaulding sitting around with some strippers: “Mmm mmm! Pussy! Better eatin’ than fried chicken!”
My girlfriend loved it.
Sid Haig is fucking awesome.
246 – Ultra Boy
For Jim Purcell. Despite being a really quick sketch, I had fun drawing this, the first Legionnaire I’ve ever drawn. I definitely think I’ll tackle some more LOSH characters in the future (like they’re from, get it?).
245 – Gavriela
Going back to the 24 Hour Comic Day well one more time, this was the main character of that story, though due to the nature of the project, there was never a good shot of her full design.
Basically, I just wanted to create a female character to counter the recent DC Comics kerfuffle of Catwoman, Starfire and Voodoo, and I wanted to do a Kirby-inspired story and character.
244 – 24 Hour Comic Day Failure
So, I totally bombed 24 Hour Comic Day.
It’s a failure, but it’s not one I’m going to beat myself up over. I’m so out of practice on doing sequential pages, plus the time-crunch, and that I really decided last minute that I was going to try at all factored in to the outcome.
I had wanted to participate in 24 Hour Comic Day for years, but I never wanted to do it alone. I’d had friends who either expressed interest, but couldn’t schedule it, or friends with no interest at all. Or, I’d always find out that the official day was THAT day, or had completely passed by. But in the end, there was only one thing that was preventing me from trying, and that’s me.
I made it to 9 pages in 15 hours or so before I gave up. I was losing too much time with each page, my back, neck, and shoulder were starting to hurt, and my wrist and hand were seizing up on me. When that wasn’t happening, I was literally falling asleep with pen or pencil to page.
But, I tried, and in the grand scheme of my life, that’s more than I usually achieve.
If I do this again, I’m definitely taking a prep day to sleep and get my things in order. I’m also going to take a drastically different approach to how I do it. I’m gonna draw smaller, instead of the standard 10 x 15 comic size, and I’m definitely putting less panels per page. Seriously, why in the hell would I decide that 9-panel grids are a good idea for a timed project? I’m an idiot. Also, find the simplest, cartooniest approach to the artwork, and stop noodling. And finally, minimal dialogue. Or find a way to work digital so I don’t have to hand-letter anything. I’m not some sub-human beast. There’s a reason God made fonts and Adobe Illustrator.
So, yeah, it was an experience, and I still don’t feel fully recovered. I am so seriously out of shape, a project where I primarily sit in one place whipped my ass.
Anyhow, these were the only two good panels from all the pages.
243 – 24 Hour Comic Day, Page 1
It’s 24 Hour Comic Day, and I’m gonna give it a shot. I’m already about an hour behind schedule, but I had to run out to the art store before they closed, and there was a car blocking me in, plus I know I’m gonna need more caffeine.
Anyway, nothing other than this comic is gonna get drawn all day, so I’m making it my blog post. Page 1 is done, Page 2 has been sketched out. I started at 10am, it’s now 12:30pm.
Gotta get a move on.
242 – Northstar
I hope that all homosexuals come out of the closet as heroically ham-fisted as Northstar, with the over the top, screamed exclamation: “I AM GAY!” while in the most ridiculous Heisman trophy pose ever.
Hm. I just realized that I don’t personally know (or at least know of) any gay folks. This is most likely due to my increasingly reclusive lifestyle.