The CGS Illuminati

Over on the Comic Geek Speak (CGS) podcast forum I posted a new Freking Sweer strip. Here's a detail from that particular cartoon. UPDATE: The original inked drawing for this particular image will be donated to the CGS auction during Episode 300.
(Pens and brush on smooth bristol board, scanned and colored in Photoshop)
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Now playing: The Who - Quadrophenia
via FoxyTunes

It won't be long now . . .

Yeah, I know that's what Lorena Bobbit said to John, but it's true. To coincide with the release of the artwork I've recently completed, I'll fire this sucker back up shortly. I'll be posting the usual inane oldies-but-goodies and I'll sprinkle in the new work here and there for taste.
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Now playing: Gossil - Mookalooka
via FoxyTunes

Where The Hell Have You Been, Asshat?

Okay. I heard ya. I haven't put anything up here on the blog in quite some time. Well, I'm taking a short vacation this week, and when I come back I'll go back to posting the same stuff I was posting before. I do have a couple things in the works that will debut here, so check back often.
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Now playing: Gorillaz - O Green World
via FoxyTunes

Just what the hell is going on here?!

Okay, okay. You may (or may not) have noticed that I've taken a long break from posting stuff to the blog. My original goal was to post something once a day for a solid month. I did that and then some. I still have TONS of older stuff I can post. But I want to set things up where there are running themes along with the possibility of posting topical and relevant new content. It'll probably mean I'll get away from posting daily to posting something 2 or 3 times a week. I'm currently completing some new drawings and scanning older stuff with the goal of relaunching my MAD World. Keep checking back, I'll be posting the new stuff very soon. I promise . . . really.

I also intend to follow through on Mr. Zombie and Chad.

Don't say I didn't warn ya'll.

Goofy #122 - NASA Today 2

Part 2 of the NASA Today comic from 1979. Where this comic was going next is a mystery, a story that's lost to the ages. I can't remember what art or storyline was to come next. You can see where all those years of reading Mad magazine really rubbed off on the younger me. I'm lucky to be scanning these pages now, the paper and markers aren't in the best condition.
(Felt tip on drawing paper.)

Goofy #121 - NASA Today 1

Okay, I took another weekend off. To make up for that, I'll post what are the oldest sketches added to the blog to date. I did these drawings back when I was still in high school in 1979. NASA was having a tough time of it and I thought they could use a little positive PR. This sketch is the first of two I did as a possible comic solution for the situation.
(Felt tip on drawing paper.)

Goofy #120 - The Pope's Hat

I don't know what it is about this goofy doodle that makes me laugh. All I know is it makes me chuckle every time I see it. This was done 7 years ago during another of our exciting staff meetings.
(Felt tip on note pad)

Goofy #119 - Split Seconds

I've been debating if I'd post this doodle or not ever since I fished it out of the "box-o-sketches". Since I've posted everything else so far, I'll continue. The idea for this sketch is from about 10 years ago. It was a rough idea for a possible "24 Hour Comic " that never happened. You may have noticed there are a lot of sketches on this blog that are related to something that never got off the ground. I'm such a go-getter! FYI: this is the watered-down version of an original idea where everyone in the story was dropping an F-bomb.
(Sharpee on scrap paper)

Goofy #118 - Wedding

This sketch was done 15 years ago just a few days before my wedding. Incredibly, I somehow managed not to drop a cookie during the ceremony. Who sez miracles don't happen anymore?
(Pencil on scrap paper)

Goofy #117 - Cowpoke

This pencil sketch was done about 5 years ago for an ad for a local country/western bar. The customer wanted a more realistic drawing, so this cartoon was unused. It looks like I was channeling the ghost of Tex Avery for this one, and that ain't a bad thing. I'll post some of the more realistic drawings sometime in the future.
(Pencil on drawing paper)

Goofy #116 - Achtung!

This sketch is an enlargement of a quick doodle done on a post-it during a staff meeting. I scanned it and added some colors. Ya gotta love those WWII Ratzi uniforms!
(Felt tip pen on post-it, scanned and colored in Photoshop)

Goofy #115 - Condiments

This sketch is from 10 years ago. I was out to lunch with the boys and we decided to eat at Arby's. After we got our order, we went over to the condiments table. I was reaching for some ketchup when this kid told me not to mess up the counter because he just cleaned it. The fact that the restaurant employed mentally handicapped workers prompted me to doodle this. I think I captured the kid perfectly.
(Felt tip on scrap paper)

Goofy #114 - WOW!

To some folks today is Cinco de Mayo, but more importantly it's FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2007! To honor the occasion I'm posting what's probably the oldest doodle to date. This sketch was done almost 25 years ago when I worked at my first ad agency. I used to listen to the radio as I worked at my desk. Every so often, this annoying local ad guy would start off his commercials with a scream. That annoying fella inspired this doodle.
(Rapidograph and Sharpee on scrap paper)

Goofy #113 - Big-Headed Baby

This is the kind of doodle that comes from a long and boring staff meeting. It's a tradition around here to try and make the guy across from you at the meeting table laugh. I don't know what prompted it, but it's as silly today as it was 10 years ago.
(Felt tip pen and Sharpee on note paper.)

Goofy #112 - Marty as Hellboy

Wow, a brand new drawing for today! I was goofing around and thought I'd do an avatar of myself as Mike Mignola's Hellboy.
(Micron brush and Pigma pens on drawing paper, scanned and colored in Photoshop.)

Goofy #111 - Soviet Fleet

This sketch is another one of those done back in the early 80s when the Soviet Union was still the "Evil Empire". Back in those days, the Red Fleet had a series of naval accidents and disasters that were reported in all the papers. I thought, "What would a Russian Navy recruiting poster look like?
(Rapidograph and colored felt tip on scrap paper.)

Goofy #110 - Boob Guy

This last two-fer should compensate for me taking last weekend off. This sketch is one of those that I do when I'm on the phone and on hold. What prompted me to do this is long forgotten, but it amused me so much I kept it. Man-boobs are as funny as they are disgusting.
(Felt tip on scrap paper)

Goofy #109 - Hank the Fetus 2

This sketch was done way back when I did the original "Hank the Fetus" sketch (see Goofy #54). This is the kind of stuff Hank would be doing if he were in a daily comic. In this panel he's calling out some Iraqis during the first Gulf War.
(Felt tip pen on scrap paper.)

Goofy #108 - Nipple Head

Another piece of doodle idiocy for today. Lil' Jimmy emerged from one of our lunch time "scream in the car" sessions on day about 10 years ago. Look at the lil' guy . . . ain't he cute. Remember, this was done years before "The Oblongs" even existed.
(Felt tip pen on scrap paper.)

Goofy #107 - Muscle Man

This sketch was done to illustrate setting goals. My editors thought showing a 98 pound weakling longing to be body-builder would be a good concept. This drawing was my solution.
(Rotring drawing pen on drawing paper, scanned and colored in Photoshop)

Goofy #106 - Parachute Tester

Okay, I didn't post anything this past weekend. To make up for it I'll post a couple things today and two more tomorrow. This first cartoon was done to illustrate a story about quality control. Back during WW2, it was rumored that the women manufacturing and packing the parachutes for the Army were so confident in their craftsmanship that they would be willing to test the chutes themselves before they were sent overseas.
(Rotring drawing pen on drawing paper, scanned and colored in Photoshop)

Goofy #105 - Doctor Glen

When I worked for the ad agency back in the 80s, one of our clients was a local chiropractor. He wanted a series of humorous cards he could send to his patients on their birthdays. This was one of the ideas that didn't make the final cut. I think Kneil and Vic could have their own show.
(Felt tip pen on drawing paper.)

Goofy #104 - Water Cooler

Nothing special today. This is an unused doodle of a water cooler for the company newsletter. I'm going to mess around with animating it in Flash for shits-n-giggles.
(Sharpees on drawing paper.)

Goofy #103 - Skinny

Surprize, surprize, another self-portrait. This one was done back in '89 when I was working as an archive clerk. I can tell that because I'm wearing sneakers, casual clothes, and I'm not wearing glasses. I used to be skinny and dorky at one time. Now I'm robust and dorky.
(Felt tip on scrap paper.)

Goofy #102 - Flyin' T-Squares, Version Three

The next version of the Flyin' T-Squares logo work-in-progress. Lots of changes here. I put a lot of effort in doing some fancy line and fill work in the font. I also changed the t-square's face and mouth, making it closer to the original Flying Tigers paint job. I also changed the angle on the art and changed the proportions to make the artwork more dynamic. There will be more changes to come including shading, drop shadows, clouds, and color adjustment. I'll post those at the end of the week.
(Original art scanned and traced in CorelTRACE and imported into CorelDRAW.)

Goofy #102 - Flyin' T-Squares, Version Two

This next version of the Flyin' T-Squares logo was started by scanning the original mechanical and bringing it into a trace program to convert it to a vector. Then the vector was brought into CorelDRAW for editing. I dumped the "disco" era font in favor for a font that had a bit more of a painted-on look. After looking at a lot of WWII insignia books, I started to monkey around with the colors. There were a lot of changes to this design. You'll see them when I post the next version.
(Original art scanned and traced in CorelTRACE and imported into CorelDRAW.)

Goofy #101 - Ack!

A Saturday morning quickie! This was done back in 1990 when I used to have to wear a suit to the office. Ain't all my self-portraits handsome? The influence of Bill the Cat from the Bloom County comic strip is pretty apparent in this one.
(Sharpee on note paper.)

Goofy #100 - Flyin' T-Squares, Version One

To celebrate the blog's 100th Goofy entry I'm digging up an old project that I've decided to refurbish. When I was fresh out of school, I was trying to decide what I wanted to do. One of my thoughts was to do freelance art exclusively. You may have seen some of my earlier efforts to establish some sort of identity for the business. This idea was based on the Flying Tigers AVG Squadron from WWII. I imagined the logo to be like nose art you would find on old bombers or painted on the back of leather flight jackets. I thought it was pretty cool that Flyin' T-Squares sounded close to Flying Tigers and this was my first attempt. It has original drawn artwork combined with computer graphics done in on ancient computer art program called Arts and Letters. This is a scan of the original pasted-up mechanical. More work in progress (versions) to follow.

(Rotring art pen, Rapidograph pen, scanned with computer text added, pasted-up and stated.)

Goofy #99 - Punk

An bit of an oldie for today. This doodle was done on the back of a notepad over 20 years ago when I was still in college. I managed to fit most of my favorite bands of the time in there. The Ramones are top and center, as they should be.
(Felt tip on white chipboard backer board.)

Goofy #98 - Ironman Redesign

Here's a recent project. Last year the CGS forum issued a challenge to redesign Ironman's armor. Instead of just redesigning the armor, I thought it would be neat to make Tony a one-man Avengers. I crammed a load of old and current Avengers into the armor. How many can you find?
(Micron and brush pens on drawing paper, scanned and colored in Photoshop.)

Goofy #97 - Ken O'Brien

I know it's baseball season here in the US, but I can't help what I snag from the pile 'o' drawings. The subject will help date this doodle. Back in the early 80s, the NY Jets had Ken O'Brien as their starting quarterback. He had some pretty good years but he was never a superstar. Once back in that decade (85 I think) the Jets jumped out to a sizzling start for the season. Then the wheels fell off and the Jets just barely made the playoffs. A lot of folks laid the blame on Kenny O'Brien, so I guess that's why I did this drawing. Note: I think the hand that's holding the football is another left hand . . . dumb-ass kid artist.
(Felt tip pen on drawing paper.)

Goofy #96- Eggvis

What's that? You say you want more Elvis? Well OK! Another King doodle done about 10 years ago. I loves me some Elvis.
(Sharpee on the back of a large envelope.)

Goofy #95 - Breathe

Here's another sketch done years ago for a local charity. There was a fun run/walk for the Lung Association and they wanted a "Breathe of Fresh Air" cartoon for T-shirts and other media. Hey, I'm always game to use my pens for a good cause. I think the image was used reversed with the guy facing to the left in most of the media.
(Rotring drawing pen on drawing paper.)

Goofy #94 - Desk

It's very early Saturday morning, I haven't had my coffee yet, I didn't get paid yesterday, I have to go to work in a couple minutes and then I have to attend a funeral. I found an old doodle that matches the mood. This is from 20 years ago, I would guess judging from the equipment and my lack of glasses.
(Felt tip on scrap paper.)

Goofy #93- Cannes

Today is a rough sketch for an illustration I did about 20 years ago for a local video rental business. The company specialized in foreign and art films and they needed a humorous illustration for their catalog. If I remember correctly, the gist of the drawing was "experience the Cannes film festival without leaving home."
(Rotring drawing pen on drawing paper.)

Goofy Bonus #23 - CGS Episode 300 Poster

Another bonus image for your ass! Here's a faux movie poster for Episode 300 of the Comic Geek Speak podcast. For more info go here or here. (Revised 4/16/07)
(All Photoshop baby!)

Goofy Bonus #22 - Grendel-Prime Commission

Hey, more commission sketch bonus goodness! I was asked to draw a humorous version of Matt Wagner's comic book character Grendel-Prime. Unfortunately I was totally ignorant in all things Grendel. After much research, I found a point in the story that I thought could be made humorous. This sketch depicts Grendel-Prime on the run with the boy he is duty-bound to protect. Kids being kids, I thought it would be funny to show the moment nature calls.
(Micron pen, brush pen, brush and Sharpee on Bristol board.)

Goofy #92- Loud Boy!

A relatively new doodle today. While driving around in the car with my buddy Vince, we tend to scream and yell a lot. All that shouting led to the creation of a character named "Loud Boy" by Vince. Since that moment all the screeching was done in the voice of the fictional Loud Boy. This sketch was my initial attempt to capture L.B. in all his deafening glory. Check out Vince's wacky Marvel podcast with David Price at Bullpen Bulletins.
(Felt tip pen on scrap paper.)

Goofy #91 - Game Show Hostess

About 12 years ago, the company I work for attempted to break into the educational CD ROM market. We delivered a lot of text-based content peppered with sounds, video and animation. It all looks very crude now, but back then it was cutting edge. I was able to do a bunch of cartoon characters that appeared here and there on the disc. One of the characters was a Vanna White type game show hostess. I made a ton of sketches and a handful made it onto the disk. This image is a scan of an old wax-print proof, the only sample I have from that project. Of all the hostess sketches I created, the few that were selected had to have the tops of their gowns redrawn to show less (more like NO) cleavage. Go figure.
(Rotring drawing pen on drawing paper, scanned and colored in Photoshop.

Goofy #90b- Pumpkin

The second of the pumpkin doodles. I don't know if it's customary everywhere else, but here in Northeastern Pennsylvania, Halloween jack 'o' lanterns eventually end up smashed in the street. If not thrown there, they're placed there by rascals to be run over by cars. I give you the day after Halloween from the pumpkin's point of view.
(Felt tip pen on scrap paper.)