You're so—funny

Every once in a while someone shows me a sketch I did for them I forgot completely about. Such is the case for one I did for Suzanne Baumann in 2000. It was illustrating a yearbook autograph which said, "You're so—funny! I can't believe I missed Nathan freak out! Has 1st hour been the best or what? Have such a good summer! I'll see you at North!" Speaking of fan art, I still get some occasionally, like this strip that was done by Sam Spina last week in homage to my Scene But Not Heard characters. I remember joking long ago that eventually kids who read these strips in Nickelodeon as kids would eventually grow up, and it happened. Some are even running for Vice President. At long last, the collection will come out this Spring in collaboration from Top Shelf and Alternative Comics. I was also pleased when I looked at the late Covered Blog last year to see a piece by Dyna Moe of my Magic Whistle comic. I've mentioned her before on my blog. It turned out she had done the Mad Men art I made fun of (for my own amusement) long before that. Oh yeah, what does this have to do with anything again? Because I liked the art so much I asked her to do the back cover for the next Magic Whistle, to inaugurate what I'm doing from now on, that is to have the back cover with one of my gags drawn by an artist not generally known for doing comics. Instead of logrolling by having one of the 500 cartoonists I know do it, I want something with my sense of humor that looks as little like my work as possible. Artists who share the same trait as me of throwing their clothes away when they're done isn't necessary but it is a plus.

This is the first issue (#12) I've done in a long time. The last two I wasn't too proud of and much of the material seems phoned in out of desperation to have something out to keep me in the public eye. Actually, they weren't that bad, but not a good first impression either. That shouldn't be the case with this one. It's being sent to the printer this week and will be out in time for the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival next month. Now that Alternative Comics has handed over the reins I intend to put issues out more frequently again. I've gone back to the 32-page format I did before. I know the pamphlet comic is pretty much dead but I was never much of a trendsetter. Comics are more deluxe and respectable than they've ever been, but at the expense of shutting out the casual reader. I want to make comics you'd put on your shelf but could loan to a friend and not be upset if they spilled coffee on them.

Here's the original version of the cartoon for comparison. And here's the latest of the films I've been putting up on YouTube. I've found out having more than 1000 followers on Twitter and Facebook doesn't mean they see everything you post, so here's my attempt in my own way to “go viral”. And while I'm promoting myself, I'll mention that I have original art for sale I'm putting up gradually, and have what's available through this link. If you don't see a particular piece, ask about it. It makes an excellent holiday gift and if you don't buy some the Pope will personally call you an asshole using those exact words and give out your address and phone number on international television.

Magic Whistle: The Movie. September 2012

Here's the latest of the “animations” I've been doing monthly... People have asked me where I got the laughing from. It's not from the traditional laughtrack I've used in the other videos. It was something called the Okeh Laughing Record from 1923, probably most famous for its use in Tex Avery's last cartoon. The propaganda song is from a World War II song called We Did It Before And We Can Do It Again. I have no idea why the image here is flipped. I think it has something to do with being done so YouTube censor robots can't detect things which could potentially violate copyright. You may recognize it from a lot of cartoons, like this one directed by Friz Freleng. (incidentally, his colleague, Chuck Jones, would have been 100 this past Friday.)

Sign of Aging

I'm all out of gazpacho

As lame as it gets

When my friend Mike Rex and I were roommates we joked about how one day people would be nostalgic for the 1990's. The joke was that such a time was so far away, but it's no longer a joke because inevitably it eventually happened. Maybe we can sell some of the things we wrote then as something “retro”.

Someone I hadn't talked to in a while told me one of his favorite strips of mine was one about a gluetrap. I was trying to remember which one he was talking about then realized he must be referring to this one I did quite some time ago.

This was in the seventh issue of the xerox version of Magic Whistle in 1994 and later reprinted in Humor Can be Funny. Not to be talking down to anyone, but it just occurred to me that people who were just born when I drew this are now seniors in high school. You might not think anything of the fact that it shows my age, but it shows yours too. Either way seventeen years is a long time. This was when everything was done entirely on paper. Instead of doing all coloring on computer, I had to pay a stat shop $12 (extra if it had to be shrunk) to make a transparency from my original and pick it up the next day, then paint the back of it with acrylics and wait for it to dry. Either that or sometimes buy ruby-lith or zipatone and do layers with an exacto knife entirely on paper. I lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which had none of that so I'd have to go to Soho. It wasn't like it is now where you can stay in Williamsburg without ever having to be in the city. It was a pain-in-the-ass to make such a trek, but on the other hand, I wouldn't get lost like I do now when I had the World Trade Center as my compass.

There was also less room for mistakes doing pieces “the old way”, and days later I'd find bits of adhesive half-tones on my person even after showering several times. That still was easier than a mimeograph being the only means of production for most the generation before me. Wait a second for it all to sink in while I see if Twin Peaks dated well.






I got glue traps only once. With the regular springloaded kind when the mice were killed they'd bleed all over the floor, and with glue traps I figured there'd be less mess. They turned out to be worse, but not because of the suffering they cause. The propaganda does tell you that when the mice get trapped, they stay alive and scream, but it doesn't tell you that this will keep you up all night. When I caught one, I had to put the trap into the toilet so the mouse would drown and shut up. There were two in the package and when one got caught in the second one the next day I actually did throw it out the window. It landed on top of a car parked below. I had to go outside and get it so an altercation like I drew wouldn't really happen. The good thing about the traps was they also caught roaches. I eventually learned just keeping the kitchen area clean prevents mice and roaches from coming in the first place.

Speaking of those days, I just found out that New York Press just folded. Even though none of its original staff remained and it was a former shadow of itself, I give it credit as one of the venues that helped launch my career and so many others. It was one of the few places that had illustrations and not photographs. Now there's one less place to find out where you can get a tranny handjob.

Grilled cheese sandwich

Chickenator 2065

After I scanned this in and cleaned it up and everything, I noticed one mistake. See if you can find it.

nobody told you it would be easy

CRAZY the comic #5, 3 of 3 and new Magic Whistle book

Sorry for only including five pages this time while the other two had twice as many, it's just hard to break up something that has five stories.

Here's the fifth mini-comic in this series. The first few copies of the first four books had some pixelation I've since fixed, so there's none of that in this one...

covered show

If you're in LA, you should see the show for Covered at Secret Headquarters, info below.


I also have tons of originals for sale. Write me and I just might have what you want. These gags are around $35 each.



I also redid the panel I did last week because there were so many things I thought wrong with it.

Merry Christmas Dammit

Seasons' Greetings to all my imaginary friends.





And here's the cartoon I post every Friday.