The ABCs of ABC

A few recent Stranger spots, all of them having to do with the city's ever-changing liquor laws.

Bil Keane 1922-2011

The funnies lost another grand old man today with the passing of Bil Keane, creator of The Family Circus. Family Circus, along with Peanuts, was one of the very first comic strips I remember ever reading...but though my fondness for Schulz's masterpiece grew and grew over time, I really soured on Keane's work as the years went by, as it seemed to lose every bit of its edge and descended into endlessly repetitive jokes and treacly, Extreme Home Makeover-esque forced sentimentality. Still, the first 20 years or so, as good a run as anyone could ever hope for, were often brilliant, helped by the fact that the kids came across as real kids (ie. sociopathic little bastards) rather than the type of children you'd find on greeting cards.

I even managed to work one of Keane's tropes into one of my odder Savage Love illos a few years ago, in response to a letter from a reader who surmised her boyfriend must be cheating on her, as the supply of condoms in the house always seemed to be running low. Not Me, indeed!

Rest in Peace, Mr. Keane!

Girls n' Guns

It's great to have clients with a complete understanding of your wheelhouse.

Halloweirdos!

For a variety of reasons, I've been remiss about posting about the fantastic Halloweirdos project that's been running all October at the Wide Awake Press website. A different creepy or crawlie every day, by some spec-fackin-tacular artists. The second of my pieces for the month went up this afternoon...do yourself a favor and page through the amazing entries that've gone up over the last few weeks. If it don't put you in the Halloween sprit, nothing will!

Vive les Nordiques!

Whale Tale

Vandy is Dandy

Created for superpal Kevin F...the more the merrier!

Game Six - Sabres at Penguins - All the Neal Girls

Just a quickie today, gang...it's too nice outside. Besides, it's just the Sabres, AMIRITE?
LET'S GO PENS!

Game Five - Capitals at Penguins - Black Helmet

Let's be honest, this is the only piece of equipment anyone is interested in today!

Game Four - Home Opener - Panthers at Penguins

Sadly, these sharp sweaters will probably always be synonymous with Sid getting his brain broken. But I still like 'em!

Regarding the Panthers...I harbor a surprising amount of hate for a team that's been a doormat for 85% of it's existence. I never have and never will forgive this joke of a franchise for clutching and grabbing us out of an epic, Lemieux/Jagr vs. Sakic/Forsberg Stanley Cup Final. The idiot fans with their stupid rats...and the completely inept embarrassment of a decade and a half that's happened since. How does a city as apathetic as Miami even still have a team? Just die and move already.

Game Three- Penguins at Oilers

The streak continues! Here's tonight's good luck charm!

What? You'd expect a girl rocking a Cookie Monster sweater to have a hair color other than blue?

Game Two - Penguins at Flames

I'm gonna post a new illo every gameday until the Pens lose their first game of the season. We'll see how long this takes!

It's a Great Day for Hockey

'Nuff said.

Actually, not quite enough. My Stanley Cup pick? Pens over Sharks, for the fifth consecutive year.

Geeks and Sluts

Some assignments are just too good to be true. I got a call from the Las Vegas Weekly a couple weeks back to provide an illo for a story wistfully recalling the days when the porno film industry's AVN Awards and the high-tech Consumer Electronics Show shared Sin City for a weekend each year, and the colorful hotel bar interactions that the pairing provided. God bless us every one.

Caps Couple

I did this up recently for a sweet couple who also happen to be huge Capitals fans. Congrats and safe travels to the new bride and groom, and here's hoping their blessed union lasts longer than the average Caps playoff run! (just kidding, guys!)

X is for Xenops

Backup debut date for the Animal Alphabet mini-sketchbook is October 1 at Crafty Bastards. I'll keep you posted.

Dylan Williams

My friend Dylan Williams passed away last Saturday, after battling cancer for years. I wasn't super-tight with Dylan...and as I always suspected and as the outpouring of love and respect that has cascaded through the comics world over the last few days has proven, Dylan was friends with dang near everyone he ever met. But I had to just say a few words.

I first remember hearing his name way back in the mid-90s...picked up his Reporter comic somewhere, which I'm pretty sure I read about in Jeff Levine's Destroy All Comics magazine. We finally met in probably 2002 at the SPACE convention in Columbus, Ohio, by which time his Sparkplug Comic Books publishing concern was up and running, putting out all kinds of awesome stuff. We had dinner at the same restaurants if not the same tables, always chatted a good bit and it was always so enjoyable. He was so funny, so gracious. I'd see him at shows all over...Dylan was a road warrior, spreading the gospel of comics...and every minute I spent with him made me look forward to the next time I'd see him.

In 2008, Dylan emailed me, asking about coming to the Richmond Zine Fest. Knowing how Richmond events sometimes go, and knowing that he'd have to come all the way from Portland, I actually sorta warned him against it, thinking he could be wasting his cash. But he decided to come, and in the end I was glad he did. The show was pretty good...we hosted a panel on doing mini-comics, and blabbed about anything and everything all day, and then went to Ipanema for dinner. It was so great to finally get a chance to hang out and just shoot the breeze with no responsibility to selling books at a convention table...it was just like I always thought it'd be.

I didn't even know Dylan was or ever had been sick. I found out about it just a few weeks ago when the entire internet came together to implore folks to purchase some books from Sparkplug to defray Dylan's medical costs. I didn't even buy any, figuring that picking a few up at SPX in a couple weeks instead would serve the same purpose. I got back from the show, and somehow, he was gone. And I still just can't believe it. I just can't believe I'll never see him again.

Anyway, I'm sure there are still bills to be paid, so if you would, consider heading over to Sparkplug and spending a few dollars on some fine comics. I recommend everything there, but some particular favorites are Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man by John P., Rambo 3.5 by Jim Rugg, Tales to Demolish by Eric Haven, The Natural World by Damian Jay, Watching Days Become Years by Jeff Levine, anything by David King, and Reporter by Dylan Williams.

This Weekend: SPX and More!

Whew! I've been so busy preparing for it that I've had nary a minute to mention that the Small Press Expo is coming up this very weekend!

But first...

I was invited to take part in a comics roundtable discussion at the University of Maryland this Friday, September 9, from 1-3PM. It's called Bleeding the Narrative: Comics in Art and Culture, and I'll be there along with other panelists Jim Rugg, Monica Gallagher, Alexis E. Fajardo and Carolyn Belefski, who are all super-cool...it should be a really fun and likely quite hilarious time. I'll be talking about my comics and illustration, my techniques and methods, and how godawful the Terps football uniforms looked the other night.

It's open to the public at the Michelle Smith Collaboratory for Visual Culture, which is on the 4th floor of the Art-Sociology Building. Love to see you there.

The next day, I'll be at SPX, bright and early when the show opens at 11. I'll have at least one new book, the new Old-Timey Hockey Tales, and maybe a new issue of Teeny Bikini if the stars align correctly. I'll be splitting a table with my pal Bill Burg, whose new book March might end up being the book of the show. It's really that good.

We'll be right up front at E-15, right across from the CBLDF...be there or be squared!

W is for Wallaby

As I was working on this drawing yesterday at the coffee shop, I discovered that one of the gals who works there was raised in Australia! How random is that?

Earthquakes, Hurricanes and Kids, OH MY!

It was a busy as hell August, what with raising kids, surviving natural disasters and living without electricity for the better part of last week. But I did wanna post this little sneak peek of what I've been working on, set to debut at next weekend's Small Press Expo!

T is for Tortoise

Considering it shares a name with one of my all-time favorite bands, a drawing of a tortoise for the letter T was a sure thing from the get-go.

A Little Love for the Flying V

Been meaning to color this forever. One of the ugliest jerseys in NHL history, my ass!

S is for Sloth

I never really paid much attention to sloths until I began searching for animals to draw for the letter S. Looking at some photos, I was shocked to see just how much they look like Muppets in real life! They're hilarious!

Q is for Quail

I was gonna try and come up with something a little more obscure, but then I remembered that goofy little thing quails have coming off their foreheads and had to draw it. Plus this make three birds in a row (four if you count the heron I drew at the beach last week, in hopes of filling in the blanks of my Animal Alphabet posting schedule)!

FOUND: Atom-Bomb Bikini #4

Browsing one of Richmond's crappier comics shops a couple weeks back, I discovered that one of the copies of Atom-Bomb Bikini #4 I sold them back in 2005 or so languishing on a shelf in the back of the store where nobody would ever find it. It's been out of print forever...I ran out of copies in 2007 or thereabouts...so I decided to just buy the damn thing back from them and offer it to any blog readers who might've missed out the first time around.

It's on etsy now...act fast, there's seriously only one of these to be had. I'll throw in a mess of free stickers to whoever grabs it up.

EDIT: And it's gone! Thanks, A. If I ever uncover another copy, I'll be sure & post it!

P is for Predictable

...and of course, penguin. If you didn't see this one coming, shame on you for six weeks.

Girl Friday

Roofin'

From University of Virginia Magazine, an article on students who elect to volunteer with organizations like Habitat for Humanity over their spring and summer breaks.

O is for Owl

I read a book when I was a young kid...something about barn owls, I think it took place somewhere in Canada...Saskatchewan, I think. Does that sound familiar to anyone? I'd love to hunt it down and read it to the kids.

Career Gag

This one I could actually see The New Yorker digging.

The Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins

FINALLY! It's taken almost three years, but another Boston team has finally won a championship! Our long national nightmare is over!

In all seriousness, congrats to the Bs. A likable team, and a well-deserved championship!

EDIT: Honestly, the things I do for you people...

N is for Narwhal

I was out of town all last week and didn't have access to a scanner...so my Animal Alphabet post is a little late. Not that I was in any real hurry to post it anyway, because it's pretty awful! But I did it, so here it is. I'll try and make up for it this week.

M is for Manatee

Back on track!

Shocking the World

The Wichita State Shockers shook off their disappointment at not making the NCAA Tournament last March and surged to the NIT title!

A word about the composition...I realize the way she's sitting on the trophy looks a bit uncomfortable, so I'll thank you not to make any cracks (ulp, there I go again...see how easy it is?)!

5 Questions with Original Retro Brand

A murderous deadline last week caused this item to get lost in the shuffle a little bit, but I wanted to make sure I hipped you guys to it. I recently did a little five questions interview with the fine folks at Original Retro Brand, sellers of some really swank old-timey hockey tees, hoodies and whatnot! Seriously, where else are you going to find a Montreal Maroons shirt? Give it a gander here!

Winnipeg Jets it is!

If TSN and NHL.com are to be believed, the name of the new team in Winnipeg (the relocated Atlanta Thrashers) will be a familiar one...the Winnipeg Jets! The correct and only choice, really...they never shoulda left in the first place. Pass the word, Manitobans – The Jets are back!

Mail Call

I got some unfortunate news from my mailman Ray early last week...turns out that after five years, he was being transferred out of the route in our neighborhood. It was a real bummer, and not just because it wasn't his decision. When you work at home as a freelancer, you depend on the USPS a good bit, delivering checks and tax forms and whatnot. When you sell stuff and have it shipped out through the mail, you depend on them even more. I send out packages of varying size, weight, etc. several times a week, and it was always nice to know that there was someone dependable and who, frankly, gave a shit, in charge of getting it where it needed to go. There was also the fact that we'd kinda gotten to be pals a little bit, often chatting about art and whatnot...he has a teenage son who's become interested in drawing recently, and I passed along the name of one of my favorite how-to books, Jack Hamm's Drawing the Head and Figure.

Anyway, last Friday was Ray's last day on the route, and my wife bought a thank you card to pass along. I enclosed the drawing below, which I knew he'd appreciate, on a little piece of Bristol.

Punks on Parade print

The extremely kind commissioner of the Clash "Punks on Parade" image I posted has volunteered to allow me to produce some prints of the image, based on the amazing response to it in the comments section! So, if you've had your eye on 'er (and let's be honest, who hasn't?), here's the print, for sale in the webshop!

And thanks a million, J!

Door #1

Pit Bull Gag

Lobby Lobby

From a recent Washington City Paper article, about a regular gathering for lobbyists who lobby for lobbying. Apparently they're all beautiful, perky and positive. With surprisingly few fangs.

J is for Junebug

These big bastards never fail to wig me out every summer. Apologies for the kinda-lousiness of this drawing, but I had to get back in the game!

Santorum

One of my proudest accomplishments as an illustrator was helping establish the alternative definition of Santorum with my illos for Savage Love. In honor of this gay-hating, world-class shitbag declaring his candidacy for president, I'd like to share one of those illos, tweaked a bit to bring it up to date. As you can see, it's a Santorum 2012 t-shirt, soaked in santorum, the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometime a by-product of anal sex. Please steal it and post it literally anywhere you want.

Punks on Parade

This was a recent commission, with the direction of "a girl wearing headphones and a fitted Clash t-shirt". The client and I were both so pleased with how it came out that I'm considering branching out and taking some commissions that aren't limited to sports teams, and have more general appeal...things like band t-shirts, favorite outfits, etc. What say you, readers? Any takers?

Fun with Impotence!

Credit (blame?) for writing this joke goes to my pal Mark Ricketts.

Stanley Cup and Cheesecake 2011 - Stanley Cup Finals Edition

Boston Bruins vs. Vancouver Canucks

Well, this oughta be fun.

I'm not a huge fan of Boston in general...blame it on Red Sox/Patriots fatigue or whatever, but the last decade or so, I'm usually for whatever leaves the Massholes feeling disappointed. I have trouble hating this Bruins team, though...Tim Thomas, creepy sex-offender mustache aside, seems like a good guy, and I still have some affection for the Recchin' Ball. Classic, sharp-dressed team...difficult to manufacture much rancor.

But I'll probably be rooting for the Canucks, and here's why: It's about damn time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup again! Also, in straight financial terms, Vancouver fans order more commission than just about anybody! Canucks in five.

Now, the only question is, with a newborn in the house, will I actually get to watch any of it?

(Apologies for the art re-run...I have a lot more fun and entertaining image in mind, but I just gotta find the time to produce it!)