Ziggy Harbordust + the Lobsters from Mars

Definitely in the running for 2011's worst gag of the year (second only to this one). Convoluted confession: this particular panel's a great example of why, for me, letting gags incubate in a sketchbook beforehand is, in lieu of an actual editor, probably a better process than doodling directly out in ink. Below is the initial idea, punning on the Jim Bowie character, which turned out to be mixed-up with Davey Crockett anyways. Don't ask - chalk it up to yet another personal Alamo. So after completely messing up the trail of mental breadcrumbs, a quick cut & paste coupled with judicious editing finally got me to where I wanted to be: inspired by the iconic cover from David Bowie's 1973 album. Still probably too much of an obscure glam-rock reference (or, as a member of my ad hoc review board diplomatically put it: "Nobody over under thirty will get it").

Maurice Sendak: Fresh Air Interview

Wow: I just caught a rebroadcast of an amazing interview on NPR with one of my all-time favorite artists, Maurice Sendak (it's also on-line here). It made me laugh, cry, think, and then get back to drawing. Now 83, Sendak is still producing work, such as his newest book "Bumble-Ardy." By far and away one of the most beautiful interviews with a true American icon in illustration. *Update: via BoingBoing:

"Maledicta Sciurus" (Talk to the Squirrel)

One small, but very vocal difference in this new neck of the woods has been the Eastern Gray squirrels, which mass about twice as much as the familiar and native American Red squirrels did up in Alaska. And speaking of Alaska, why yes, I am still peeing off the porch in the morning, and that barbarian ritual incurs the wrath of the ruler of this particular patch of turf. Which is nothing compared to the apoplectic fit visited upon poor Bird-Dog - not that it matters much, as she's pretty much deaf as a post by now.

From cursive to curses: tangentially connected to the last post, more mulling over words, particularly swear words, which the verbal device of "maledicta" is used to circumvent the taboo. In cartoons these unique stand-in symbols were tagged as “grawlix” by cartoonist Mort Walker in his "Lexicon of Comicana."

The lazy way out is just using standard keyboard symbols, or swapping a key letter out with asterisks, but a more skillful and creative approach is to harness the unique powers of pictorial semiotics and information graphics theory to draw individual icons. This is reflected somewhat in the contemporary usage in texting with emoticons, which are now not just limited to adapting keyboard symbols but includes little characters. So far as I know I got just about every representative I could think of in this panel: along with the standard miscellany there's the classic bomb, stick of dynamite, skull, dagger, explosion, fist, handgun, grimace, mushroom cloud, planet, star, lightning bolt, splatter, tombstone and a hangman's noose. Let me know if I #!*ing missed one.

The (Cursive) Writing on the Wall

A topic I mull over every now and then is the decline of basic handwriting skills amongst the general American public. Anecdotal observation over years, impromptu classroom surveys with my students, and common sense, all tell me this might be the swan-song of a quaint, cultural pastime, especially in the case of cursive script. More and more schools abandon teaching handwriting in favor of the more practical training proficiency at keyboarding. Most folks probably never set pen to paper anymore for any reason other than signing checks or contracts. But by this logic we don't need to teach math either, since everybody now uses calculators or computers, right?

It's Useless

Snapshot of a directory posted in one of the local libraries that caught my eye...

Birthday Hike

Yesterday we took a little walk in the woods to burn off the caloric load from too much cheesecake and coffee for breakfast: Hunters Beach Path winds down to a cozy little cove just down the coast from Seal Harbor.  Even on a holiday weekend there wasn't a soul in sight, and the opportunities for exploring the Park in solitude and during an under-appreciated season beckoned us outdoors. The winding trail (.3m) was dusted by fresh snow which contrasted against bright green moss and dark, twisted roots that were poking up, and we followed the happy-dog paw-prints that paralleled a beautiful stream which had a lot of downed trees from recent beaver activity. The path came out onto the oceanside cove under overcast skies where a bitter breeze put some color in our cheeks as we wandered around the high-tide mark looking at the ice cascading off the cliffs. Slowly picking a way among the glazed cobblestones and boulders was challenging, but upon encountering sheets of ice farther up along the adjoining Hunters Cliff/Lowerday Mtn. trail, we prudently retraced our route back to the safer and saner path. Unfortunately much of the options for hiking in Acadia from here on out will be limited to the horizontally challenged, especially given the recent accumulation of snow.

More snapshots here.

Imitation Flattery

One of my favorite cartoonists, Tony Piro (creator of Calamities of Nature) recently posted a heads-up on the viral spread of a hacked version of one of his strips, which is in turn a remix of a classic sequence from Charles Schulz:

"My use of the Peanuts characters, in a comic that I drew and wrote myself, is allowed as a parody. But when people grab my art, change a few words, and label it as their own, it amounts to theft. Of course people are free to make their own parodies, but they should use their own art and writing."

This once again brings up the topic of basic copyright, which does not cover ideas, only the execution of said ideas, ie only the drawings themselves are protected. But this is in turn preempted by usage of an image for purposes of parody versus derivative work (an example of this is in my recent conflation of Winslow/Simpson Homer in this panel). It's a tangled web of confusing legal and ethical interpretations, which has no easy or immediate answers. All this being said and done, I underwent major cognitive dissonance over the Piro piece, which I dug, in light of another recent parody of Peanuts, which I most decidedly did not. Heralded by many as somehow being creative geniuses for what I saw as a really really sad degradation of Schulz's work, "Peanutweeter" juxtaposed random tweets with selected panels:

No, nothing is sacred, nor should be, but pushing shock value for it's own sake doesn't counts for much these days, especially when the idea is incredibly lame and completely unoriginal. Gee, what's next, a mashup with Peanuts and porn? Wow, wouldn't that be funny (No, and yes, it's also unfortunately already been done). Point being mooted now by the inevitable legal takedown that ensued, which in itself prompted some enthusiastic debate on related comment threads. Under the guise of supposedly being "edgy" and "hilarious" this was created along the same continuum as Piro's piece, but it didn't even bother to redraw the art, just rip off and re-contextualize the original drawings, which was the underlying premise of what for many made it funny to begin with ("benign violation theory"). 

*Update: aaaand now here's Peanuts by Charles Bukowski...

**Update #2: Via a Facebook friend (h/t Anita) and Popped Culture blog comes R. Sikoryak's existential take on "Good Ol' Gregor Brown" from Masterpiece Comics:

Regardless of what one's personal opinion might be on the relative merits of either extreme, only one of these there are many examples that literally illustrate both the power of Peanuts and the First Amendment. 

A Very Merry Everything from Maine!

One use for recycled wreaths: this year's official holiday card, which I might even get out in the mail before 2011 is over. And a bonus snapshot of evidence that I've sunk a piling/dropped anchor in Bar Harbor - the panel got posted in the window of my favorite camping spot for creative juices...

Minchin'mas ("White Wine in the Sun")

Xmas 2011

Somebody's gettin' coal, which is cheaper than oil anyways. What's truly funny is how I drew this panel down in Savannah, and just for fun, vetted it off a coupla folks... too bad nobody down there (or probably here in Bar Harbor either for that matter) knows just what the heck a Monitor is. One of those name brands which in Alaska is as ubiquitous as Xerox, Ziploc etc.
Stay warm everybody, be safe... and remember: "It all comes down to the ones you love."

Nast-y Buisness

In the spirit of the recently deceased Christopher Hitchens, someone else's work who's been dead for over one hundred years but is still pissing off people: the consummate cartoonist Thomas Nast.

Edits: "Sourdough Starter"

Now that I am getting older (not so much maturing) whole new arenas of potential funniness are opening up. Unless you're the one waiting for me to hurry up, that is. Might not have an outhouse anymore, but good things, like big ideas, still come to those who wait. 

This panel also makes a perfect post-script to this year's calendar piece, completely incidental of course.

Towing the Line

Here's this year's (well, technically 2012's) colorized panel that will adorn another calendar for the folks at Parks Highway Service & Towing.  One of the inspirations behind this one was the noted salvaging of the starter at one of my favorite restaurants when it burned down - yet Sourdough Sam's managed to preserve the lineage of their signature pancakes and has risen from the proverbial ashes again. 
Plus posted below is the original print version as it appeared in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner:

"The Mindscape of Alan Moore"

For yer Sunday viewing pleasure: via post on BoingBoing comes a heads-up about an eclectic coagulation of videos assembled by TubeGnosis: one of which is a great short featuring writer Alan Moore - which is evidently excerpted from a longer documentary (read more on that plus a great interview with Moore here).
Henceforth added to the roster on the YouTube "Cartooning" channel...

"Single-Track Mind"

Rounding out the week's impromptu theme of dog-powered posts, and remember: "Unless you're the lead dog, the scenery never changes!'

"LMAO"

Here's a spiffy little last-minute stocking stuffer that perfectly sums up many a mental cold snap. Now available through the "Nuggets" Printfection store on a variety of apparel, including tshirts featuring the new "Burnout" and "Destroyed" line of fabrics:

"Rough around the edges has a whole new meaning with this delightfully distressed tee. Features a ground collar, sleeves and bottom hem for a worn-in look with a timelessly edgy appeal."

 Yeah, that's definitely what I'm shooting for is timelessly edgy appeal. Story of my life: delightfully distressed and burnt-out indeed. Order now and they might even arrive before 2012...

But wait: this fetching memento is also adorning 11oz & 16oz mugs, plus the official corporate logo (see profile) proudly emblazoned on the other side. 

Where There's A Will...

 

In keeping with the recent theme of posted panels, not to mention with all due respect for the Bird-Dog's eternal insistence on accompanying such outings.

Skijor Buff

No, not buff as in a fan of Norwegian trivia, or waxing one's skis, or for that matter mushing in the buff. As an aside, I really like how the "Nuggets" header is completely obscured, which is some savvy marketing.

"Alaskan Bucket List"

One of the spiffy things about being transplanted and traveling is you get to really realize what a special place you are from. Seems Alaska is on a lotta folks' "bucket list" and it assumes all sorts of mythic dimensions in the perspective of others, The Quitter notwithstanding. That said, all the years spent living in a dry cabin tends to give one an altogether different perspective (rhymes with "bucket"), further tempered by the extreme conditions (which just recently has made the national news). 

Trivia: astute readers will note the seasonal shift between the doodle & the print version of the panel: this often occurs when I have a deadline during the winter season, and am caught culling from the compost heap where the original concept needs to be updated to better reflect current conditions. Also helps to keep me grounded whenever I'm someplace warm and green brown.

(More) Cartoonist Shorts: Interviews & Demos

Alison Bechdel - screengrab from "Stuck In Vermont" vlog

Added a bunch more gems on the "Cartooning" YouTube channel while out trolling the series of tubes, and also a couple reposted from some other excellent web resources (hat-tip The Comics Reporter, The Daily Cartoonist and Mike Lynch's blog): Lynn Johnston, Ted Rall, Winsor McCay, Scott McCloud, Art Spiegelman, Johnny Ryan, Harvey Pekar, Mort Walker, Chris Browne, Roz Chast, Stan Lee (a few from him hosting the "Comic Book Greats" series with Harvey Kurtzman and Jack Davis, Jim Lee, Sergio Aragones and Will Eisner) + couple great little exposés on local Vermont talents Alison Bechdel (#109) and James Kochalka (#101) from a spiffy vlog called "Stuck In Vermont":

“ … focus on local artists, musicians and outsiders (all of whom are stuck here for one reason or another) and bring more attention to all the hip-n-hot VT art happenings and goings on 'round town.”

Sounds like a similar situation that happens a lot up in Alaska ("sourdough" = sour on the place but no dough to get out) and I'd include Maine as well except for all the off-season vacancies which speak otherwise as to being stuck. But what an awesome community oriented project to do, plus very cool to get a chance to watch some great cartooning in action. And coming off the recent rubbing of shoulders erasers experience with some giants in the field, demos and interviews like these are a major bonus when one is effectively marooned either in a cabin or on a remote island.

Also now as a result of running into the limit wall of 200 videos per channel, I split off Editorial Cartooning from Cartooning. Presumably this'll get parsed down even more as the collection continues to grow, but for now it's manageable with just the two subcategories. Enjoy... and feel free to also pass along any personal favorites you might have.

James Kochalka - screengrab from "Stuck In Vermont" vlog

"Restless Leg Syndrome"

These ideas keep me up for half the night... so it's a good idea to keep some scraps, of paper, right next to the bed.

Making Faces II: Charles Addams

Photograph by Al Fenn (1946)

Another image unearthed while exhuming researching the thesis was this one of Charles Addams, who came back to my attention (or, one should say, was resurrected) as a result of focusing on single-panel cartoons. Addams work, exemplified by his distinctive, signature style, can be held up as a prime example of the upper echelons of the medium. Aside from the weird and twisted nature of his panels (in league with Gahan Wilson), his popularity and position among the pantheon of cartoonist greats is evidence of Addams' influence and legacy. His lush, hallmark washes created pieces and iconic characters that were not just infamous because of their macabre subject matter, but also due to his craftsmanship and skill in creating often detailed compositions and subtle, if not outright creepy cartoon atmospheres. Many years ago my father gave me a copy of the huge hardcover tome "The World of Chas Addams" that was published in 1993, and it's a wonderful way to look over the cartoons in such a luxurious and large format, which only deepens ones appreciation for his work.

Acadian Interlude

St. Sauveur Mtn./Valley Peak/Southwest Harbor (from Acadia Mtn.)

Been hoofing it about the island a lot as of late: besides "smelling like a goat," rumor has it I sound like a broken record trying to get in "just one more" hurrah for hiking. Seems every day is surely the last one before it's gonna snow - which is not bad at all for this transplanted Alaskan... especially since it's December. 

The past week has seen a few amazing treks on trails around Acadia: St. Sauveur Mtn./Valley Peak/Acadia Mtn. loop and the Perpendicular Trail/Mansell Mtn. loop over on the Western side of Mount Desert Island; the infamous Precipice Trail/Champlain Mtn.; plus even a little side-sortie over to Camden Hills State Park. 
(More after the jump...)

"Cookie Jar"

I don't know the exact ratio, but every so often, especially during times of high-output while cranking out a backlog of funnies, borderline tasteless stuff somehow just magically appears on the paper all by itself. I'm convinced it serves as a counter-weight to the usual content, balancing out the wholesome family entertainment with the occasional binge & purge of weirdness. That I've been loving me some Chas Addams ... more to come on that!

Books Range II: "Dipnetting in the River of Knowledge"

 

Last year, right after moving from Fairbanks, I was tapped at the last-minute to do a cover for Greg Hill's second volume of his collected newspaper columns, which one can also read at the Open Writing website. Back in 2008 he commissioned me to do a series of spot illustrations for "Books Range," which was a fund-raising effort on behalf of the Library Foundation in support of the Noel Wien Public Library. I've written here before about what an important resource this jewel of a library is to our community, not to mention the phenomenal number of comics they have shelved in the collection.
(more after the jump)

(illustrations from Volume One)

Art Troll: Cobblestones

Ha - some mysterious voyeur lurking deep in the Acadian woods caught an action shot (second image down) of me being a total poseur …er, I mean “cartooning en plein air.”

Photo: DRHunt/NPS

And for a big, hairy teaser to an upcoming pen & ink project (of the same sort as this past summer's internship), here's a scan of the reference sketch that I was actually working on...

"Who's that tripping over my bridge?"

Bonus detail shot posted below of this particularly gorgeous cobblestone bridge: by far & away my favorite part of Rockefeller’s 45-mile long network of the carriage roads are the sixteen stone bridges that span cliffs, road and stream throughout Acadia National Park. Made from locally quarried granite these structures are impressive icons of stonecutter history. Rock on: a few more images in the Picasa "Down East" album.

"Mama Grizzly"

Threatened/endangered, whatever. Point is the popularity contest is pretty much over: aside from the chewed-over cat-toy effect, a charismatic blessing endowed by the Quitter has about as much political appeal as a wad of stale gum stuck on a ballot, especially in my old neck of the woods. The defacto cheerleader and poster-girl for the Tea Party insurrection has effectively worn out even the ankle-biters - but I had forgotten all about this panel which resurfaced in the pages of the Ester Republic (I just received the April/May issue... there is a wee bit of a time-zone lag from Alaska to Maine). What's funniest sad is that even if the panel was done a year ago, like some folk's gullibility, it never gets old.