What the hell?

Okay. So It’s been 9 months since I wrote anything here. I’ll remedy that with a detailed entry of recent events.

I suck.

There you go.

But I’m going to try to suck less. Much less, as a matter of fact. Christmas break is upon me, so I have some free time to give to my yellow legal pad and drawing table. Maybe this will give me something to write about on this blog. Who knows.

One of my hangups is my reticence towards being too confessional. I’m afraid the things I want to write about are too emotionally worthless to people other than myself. And I don’t wan’t to write crap that is only important to me. Therefore, if I have nothing to say that qualifies, I don’t say anything at all.

Even though I might have something to say.

Blogs shouldn’t be diaries. Diaries and personal and private communiques to one’s self. Blogs are available to anyone on the friggin’ planet. That’s not too private. And I believe that the world needs more editors and filters right about now. Just because a thought pops into someone’s head does NOT mean it should be sent out into the world.

But even now, I’m afraid this post is swerving into the ditch of irrelevance. And it’s not funny. So let’s get back to the idea of writing and drawing comic strips.

I have five different strip concepts to play with: Hard Knox, Moe, Finnegan, Man on Street and That’s Just Wrong.

Hard Knox is about a cynical teacher, Mr. Knox, whose daughter attends the school at which he’s employed. It’s awkward for everybody, especially Knox’s bartender.

Moe is about the tomboy and her confused friend Spike as they try to figure out how to fit in and her odd family.

Finnegan is about a ghost who lives with a boy and his dad. Finnegan, the ghost, has a zest for life and loves sucking the marrow out of life, while the boy is resigned to the futility of existence. The dad just wants Finnegan to stop drinking all of his beer.

Man on Street is a concept strip that deals with current events and trends by posing a question to which the “average man/woman” answers in a satirical and (hopefully) funny way. It’s a play on the old tv news feature.

And finally, That’s So Wrong is where I draw and write the ideas that would have gotten me slapped by my mom when I was twelve. If it’s horribly inappropriate, then it goes here.

So there’ll be a rotating cast of strips. My goal is to post at least 2 strips a week. I know that doesn’t sound like a lot, but between teaching and parenting, this will still be a triumph.

3/28/10: I’m a real cartoonist now

I would like to congratulate Creator’s Syndicate for winning the “First to reject Moe” contest. Their rejection arrived yesterday at approximately 1:00 pm.

For being the first rejection letter, Creator’s Syndicate’s letter will win an all expense paid trip to a $3.00 picture frame from Target.

But that doesn’t mean you other syndicates should quit. Let’s see who rejects me next.

Stay tuned to RejectionWatch 2010.

2/9/10: Decisions, Decisions

I’m taking a short break from drawing to write about two major decisions I have to make for the ghost strip: Names and shapes. Hopefully, the writing process will help make that decision.

I’m torn between two names for the ghost: Oscar and Finnegan. Oscar is after Oscar Peterson, the jazz pianist. (Is there an Oscar Peterson, the hip hop pianist?) Finnegan is a reference to Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake. Since the character of Finnegan is dead, hence the wake, that would be a perfect name for a ghost.

Plus it’s Irish.

Oscar Peterson is, well….Oscar Peterson. Listen to him play and you’ll know why the piano was invented. In 1709, someone asked Bartolomeo Cristofori, “Hey, Bart. What the hell are you making?” And Mr. Cristofori replied, “Ask me in about 240 years. There’s gonna be this black Canadian guy who will know what to do with it.”

On the other hand, Finnegan is literary. And as an English major, I have to give a shout out to my lit peeps. It also fits with the character of a ghost, since Finnegan is a dead guy. And while I’m not the biggest James Joyce fan, I do loves me some Irishmen. So Finnegan wins on two counts. But Finnegan is a long name, and comic strips have limited space. Point for Oscar.

And dead black jazz pianists will always be cooler than dead drunk Irish writers. However, Finnegan can be shortened to Finn. But Finn doesn’t dance off the tongue like Finnegan.

After this written dialog to myself, I am no closer to a decision. Crap.

Which leads me to my second decision: the shape of the eyes. Oval vs. circles. I’m staring at both, but both look good to me. Moira likes the oval. But she’s only 9. What does she know?

And I still have to figure out what the kid and his parents will look like. And I don’t even have a title for the strip yet.

A cartoonist’s work is never done.

ghost sketches

Here are some very…VERY early ideas for the ghost.

new strip progress

Tag line: “Finally…death is funny again.”

Character design is proving tricky. Don’t want him to look cliche, but I need the ghost to be flexible enough to play with. Will be posting sketches soon.

Need a name for the ghost and the strip. Open to suggestions.

Back from the dead

An apropos headline considering my post topic: a new strip idea–a ghost that lives with a family. And yes, I used the word “live” ironically on purpose.

I sat down in my new and unfurnished drawing room (I’m out of the kitchen, finally) to work on Moe. And as is usually the case, I began doodling to warm up the ol’ noodle. Well, my recent discovery of the comic book “The Goon” must have dripped out of my subconscious because zombies began rising from the dead white paper in front of me.

Then ghosts.

Then the idea for a strip based on the notion of a ghost that isn’t “haunting” a family, as much as he’s moved in with them. Or, more precisely, they moved in with him.

So far, I know this…he’s a bit of a drinker, we don’t know when he died, but he loves Jazz and knows all of the cool ghosts. He’ll be sort of an uncle to the family’s young son, who is a depressed little kid. NOT EMO depressed. But more like a person who is acutely aware of the harsh realities of life that he will inevitably face when he grows up.

I don’t know what the name of the strip is or the name of the ghost. In fact I’m working on the character designs right now. I’m moving towards a very flexible and rubbery feel for the ghost, that way I can get extremely exaggerated and cartoony with him.

I’ll post sketches soon.

In the meantime, enjoy this little bit of nonsensical wonder

11/22/09: Thanksgiving

My next challenge is to write holiday themed strips. Do you realize how hard it is to write a NEW Thanksgiving joke?

This is why it is important to have a character based comic strip. The jokes have to come from their personalities.

11/11/09: Sneak Peak

Here’s a sneak peak at the second Moe sunday strip.Notice there is nothin in the top row of panels. That’s because the throw away joke was good enough for a daily strip. So I still have to think of a throw away joke.

“What’s a throw away joke?” I’m glad you ask.

Newspapers reserve the right to dispose of the top row of panels of a sunday strip. This allows them to save space for more comics. That means the bottom two rows have to be able to work as a stand alone gag. That’s why so many sunday strips have a large title panel and a light prelude type of joke in the first panels.

You just learned something. Here’s the preview of the next Moe.

We have a winner. Two winners actually.

Cassie Bishop found the first mistake and one of my favorite students found a second error. Leave to a yearbook editor to find the problems. Atta’ girl, Beca.

Mistake #1 was the mound of mushed banana in front of Moira in the last panel. I forgot to draw it in, so I just photoshopped it.

And the second mistake was the lack of mouth on Moe in the second panel. I guess I’ll have to print two copies.

10/27/09: Sunday update

Here is the current stage of the first Moe sunday strip.

I’m always surprised by the changes I make while making the strip. New jokes, changed dialogue, added flair. Ideas always raise their little hands while I’m trying to work.

The biggest change was the redrawing of the middle panel. I didn’t have enough room to illustrate the visual metaphor of Hannah actually mixing up the pudding like she was cooking as she listed the ingredients. But I didn’t want another talking head, so I added little icons of the ingredients.

I also combined the “and ‘nilla wafers” line to that panel and gave Moe dialogue in the next to last panel instead of the quiet pause. I think it’s better for the changes.

I’ve started the inking and will finish that next. The last thing is the coloring. That will be a very experimental process because I’ve never really colored a strip like this.

I’m working on a set palette of colors too use for all strips in the future. That way, it will be easier, thus allowing me to be lazier.