Another recent drawing I drew.

Also: I posted a new TCJ Talkies podcast over at The Comics Journal, featuring La Mano’s Zak Sally. I really enjoyed chatting with Zak – check it out.

I like drawing maps. Here’s one of central and northern New Jersey, which accompanies the comic I’ve been working on. Note: Pinewood Forest (setting for Troop 142) is technically over the border in New York state.

I haven’t posted any new pictures in forever, and I’m not sure how I’m going to handle putting comics online for my new story… but, here’s a recent panel I drew. “Reservoir” is a word I consistently have trouble spelling (see also, “restaurant”), so putting it on the poster in the background of this scene was very helpful to me.

Hope to see some of you at MIX!

A brand new comic posted this morning: a short story about a working mother who has a secret. Read the full thing here.

And, a reminder: The Troop 142 book release party is going to be held this Friday, September 2nd at Bergen Street Comics in Park Slope, from 8-11PM. The event is open to the public, so please come on out. There’ll be drinks, good times, and advance copies of the book. Troop 142 officially debuts at the Small Press Expo in Bethseda, Maryland, on September 10th which I will be attending.

Click to make bigger

Just so’s it doesn’t seem so much like I’m not posting drawings anymore, here’s a recent pic. I’m also still working on my Ain’t No Power comics, but taking a minute to step back and think about it some more. There’s something nice about diving straight into a new full-length story, but there’s also something appealing about catching my breath for a minute and taking some time to let the story develop.

It’s interesting – creating Troop 142 was such a rush. I’d gotten the story thought out enough in my head, that I was able to just power on through, writing and drawing the whole thing in a relatively short period of time. It’s made me realize how precious that sort of momentum is. It’s not easy to create. I don’t think it’s possible for me to operate at that level on a constant basis.

So, I’m figuring, Troop 142 is about to drop, maybe I should pause and try a couple of different things for a few months. I’m going to be doing a ton of traveling in the Fall, going to all sorts of cons. Maybe I should just enjoy the downtime.

While at my parents this past weekend, I came across these old Marvel fan-fiction comics I’d drawn as a teenager, in 1990.

My story was set in the distant future, 2015. The premise was that after Thor was killed in battle, Captain America retrieved his mystical hammer, Mjolnir, and became The Sentinel of Liberty. Here are the pages depicting his origin. It starts with the battle on Asgard, where Captain America and Thor are fighting a troll.

THOR: NOOO! If he is dead your life will become of it! So swears the son of Odin!

WOK!

THOR: Od’s Blood! What is this. He hardly noticed the blow. Mjolnir, I think we have our work cut out for us!

THOR: And my work is not to be taken lightly. By the storms that are mine to command… YOU SHALL PERISH!

Meanwhile, in Nevada, a mysterious old man has paid 5 million dollars to use Tony Stark and Bruce Banner’s miraculous de-aging machine that they have invented…

Old Man: It’s working! Even as I think, old and stubby limbs are becoming as good as new!

Bruce Banner: OK Anthony, stop. He’s done. Unshackle him.

Tony Stark: Looks good.

Bruce Banner: Yes. I hope he thinks it’s worth it.

Tony Stark: He’s glowing!

ASGARD

Captain America: Oh Thor… I’m gonna miss you old friend. Huh! What’s that?

EARTH

Bruce Banner: He’s broken the tank! He’s gonna…

ASGARD

Captain America: Thor’s hammer. Should I take it? Yes.

EARTH

BAOOM!

ASGARD

Captain America: The energy. It has filled me.

EARTH

Old man: Heh heh heh. Heh heh. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

ASGARD

Captain America: Captain America is no more! Thor has perished!

Captain America: Now. To take their place, The Sentinel of Liberty is here… now and ever-more!

EARTH

Old man: I am reborn. After a hundred years of hiding as disguise. Adolf Hitler is back! And this world shall perish!

Hitler: Now! I need a herald! Someone with power. But a hero so I can destroy the ideals of others. Who?

Hitler: I know! John. John Walker.

LATER. IN THAT SAME RESEARCH LAB

Iron Man: Bruce? Bruce! Dead!

BRUCE BANNER. A GREAT MAN. DISCOVERED “F10″ THE CURE FOR AIDS. MADE AN AGE MACHINE SAVING THE LIVES OF NICK FURY TO GEORGE BURNS.

DEAD.

Hitler, it turns out, is really The Dark Phoenix. John Walker, a.k.a. US Agent, becomes his herald: Master Race. I especially love Hitler’s reasoning behind the choice: a hero, so he can destroy the ideals of others. Chilling stuff!

These scans are from my 1989 Junior High School yearbook. You see evidence of my wicked sense of humor in these hilarious word balloons. I imagine my fellow 14-year olds and I thought these were the absolute height of hilarity at the time. We must have fancied ourselves such clever satirists. Satirists of what, I am not sure. 7th grade? Kids? Something.

Look at how we really stuck it to everyone! Nobody was safe!!

Bleargh!!!!

This story is going to appear in a foreign-language collection of all of my Jack & Max comics, in which context it may make more sense. Jack & Max are brothers with super-powers: Jack has telekinesis, and Max can teleport, and all they do is bicker, squabble, and fight.

Here’s a very old, but little-seen, one-page comic written by my Gabagool! partner, Chris Radtke. This is seven years old! Where is the time going?

I have obviously been drawing this past month, but hadn’t thought to put anything new up on my blog. I spent a lot of time working on a new cover drawing, which I’m very proud of and am looking forward to eventually showing off, and I’ve been revising and writing new pages for my book, which is actually going really well.

Please bear with me. There’ll probably be nothing but Ink Panthers posts for the next few weeks, but I do hope to start posting new artwork again here soon.

This is a few years old, but I was just thinking about Gelatinous Cubes today, and was reminded of it. It’s some fan-art I drew based on my friend (and Ink Panthers co-host) Alex Robinson’s short Lower Regions. I would love to one day draw a full-length Gelatinous Cube story myself, as I recall this was a fun picture to put together.

Print by Matt Forsythe. I got this at TCAF two years ago.

Print by Phil McAndrew. I pointed out to Orli that the man has a big nose. Now she’s calling it “Big Nose Man”. I am worried I’ve just taught her to remark on people’s notable features.

Print by Onsmith. I actually got this a long time ago, at an SPX. I really like it, but I couldn’t find a great picture of it online. I bet there is one, I probably just have to look harder.

Original art by Vanessa Davis. This is called “Sleepies”. I just got it this week. I think I’m going to hang it in Orli’s room as a reminder of what she’s supposed to be doing in there when I put her in the crib (“Look at those ladies, Orli. They are being good and going to sleep”).

Print by Kate Beaton. I just got this too, and I have to get a frame for it before I can hang it up. This will probably have to go into my study, because of the cursing and all that. It cracks me up though. A very funny strip.

I’m going to SPX in early September. Not sure if I’ll be squatting at someone’s table, or just walking around. I am fine with either one. I am hoping to get another print or even more original art while I’m there. That’s one of the best things about those shows for me, because so many comics and books I can buy in one of the great comic stores we’ve got here in NYC.

A small two page Troop 142 update this week, bringing the fifth chapter, Thursday, to a close. Wow – it’s kind of unbelievable to me to be starting in on what’s really the last full chapter, as Saturday’s going to be more of an epilogue, kind of like how Sunday was the book’s prologue.

I feel like I’ve said elsewhere that while I’ve only been actively writing and drawing this version of my Boy Scout comic since last November or so, I’ve been working on variations of it off and on for over ten years now. I remember when I first met Aliza, in 2002, I was taking a silk-screening class at SVA where I was making covers for a different version of this story I was working on then. So, it’s definitely been a long time.

Speaking of that SVA class, I also used the equipment there to make the cover of another little “graphic novella” that I had out at the time called CABARET. It was a semi-comedic, sort of dramatic slice-of-life story about some recent college graduates. I haven’t read or looked at this comic in years now, but gave it a re-read the other day, and had to say that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I dunno what I’m going to do once I finish Troop 142, but was thinking maybe of revisiting some of that material. At the very least, I’ve become a better cartoonist in the past 8 years, so could make a much better book now. I guess we’ll see.

Two new Troop 142 pages posted. Alan makes a phone-call home, and then finds himself with a little alone time.

Speaking of Troop 142, I haven’t blogged about it too much, but I’ve been putting together minicomics made from each individual chapter. These have been great for sending out to friends, and also for selling at MoCCA this past May.

I’m very excited to announce though, that the first four minicomics are now available in the Secret Acres Emporium, an online store that sells quality comics by a lot of talented cartoonists. My books can be gotten here.

In addition to distributing minicomics, Secret Acres has also published some books, including Monsters by Ken Dahl, and PS Comics by Minty Lewis, both of which I thought were fantastic reads.

I probably drew these pages over two years ago, and even though I think this scene is funny, I’m not sure that there’s a place for it to fit into the story anymore. And, aside from that, my drawing style has changed enough since then that I think it would be pretty noticeable if I just dropped it all in somewhere. I’m pretty proud of some of the pictures of the kids swimming in the water, though, so I’m glad to be able to show this stuff off, even if only as a “discarded scene”.

Better late than never, here’s the picture I drew to submit to the Objet d’Afro art contest that AdHouse is running in support of the fantastic new book, Afrodisiac by Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca.

I loved that Nixon was a villain in the book. I’m a fan of trivia having to do with modern American Presidents, so saw this as a perfect opportunity to make a very timely Spiro Agnew reference – everybody’s favorite disgraced Vice-President!

Between 2002 and 2004 I self-published a humor comic called GABAGOOL! with a co-writer, humorist Chris Radtke. We put out six issues of the series, as well as a few short things that appeared in anthologies. Gabagool! concerned the adventures of Christopher Vigliotti and his friends, a group of twenty-somethings living in Bronx USA. There’s actually a very detailed Wikipedia page describing the main characters and the series.

Because this was a self-published effort, it has for the most part been out-of-print. The only way people can usually get hold of the comics is directly from me at small-press conventions, of which I am attending less and less these days. So, I’ve decided it’s time that all of these comics should be made available online.

I’ve posted the first issue of the series so far, and will be adding new pages every Monday and Wednesday. I imagine everything will be up in a month or two, including all the really filthy stuff where Christopher and his friends take a vacation to the notorious swingers resort “Hedonism” in issues 4, 5, and 6.

The story continues with three new pages posted here.

To read from the very beginning, click here.

Also, speaking of Jack & Max, there’s a 12 page full-color story featuring the battling brothers in the new POPGUN anthology from Image comics, shipping to stores this week. I got my comp copy in the mail yesterday, and it looks great. I urge everyone to check it out!

I’m back from last week’s break with three new Jack & Max pages. Check them out.

Or, to read from the very beginning, click here.

Jack & Max Escape From the End of Time: Chapter 2 begins today, with seven brand new pages posted online. Some burning questions are answered, such as: do Jack and Max get along OK with the neighborhood kids? Click the picture below to see the new pages!

Or, to read from the very beginning, click here.

Note: I’ll be out of town next week, and unable to post new pages. Hopefully this extra-long installment will hold everyone over until I return two weeks from today.

Key quote:

In the first chapter, for example, Hallinan posits that people take information in on a purely need-to-know basis, without even thinking about it. He then mentions an experiment conducted at Cornell University, where participants were instructed to ask strangers for directions; the twist was that the conversation would be blocked, literally, by two men carrying a door. In that split second, a door-carrier switches with the stranger, and the directions-giving continues as if nothing went wrong. Hardly any of the experimentees noticed the change, and Hallinan follows with evidence that you, the reader, wouldn’t have either.

An interesting little anecdote. It made me think a little about character design in comics. I’ve sometimes worried about my own inconsistency in that area, especially because I tend to design the character “on the page”. By this I mean I draw them almost for the first time when I get to the page when they first show up, and develop/evolve their look as I progress. A particularly egregious example to my eye is in Freddie & Me, the character of my friend Rob in High School. He had appeared in quite a few scenes before I felt like I really got his design down, and the character started looking more consistent.

The quote above makes me wonder if readers even notice stuff like that though. They probably don’t. Nobody has ever asked me why the Rob character had a longer head when he first appeared, and a potato shaped head later on. I think as long as a reader can always tell who’s who, then the small changes in character design probably don’t register much at all.

Another sketchbook page. I think this one is interesting because of what I wrote on the right-hand side. This was back in 2004 or 2005, and I’d just started posting some pages from F&M online, after I’d been working on the book for a long, long, time. Heidi MacDonald linked to me from The Beat, and I was psyched that this sent a bunch of traffic my way, as well as leading to my first real publishing offer (which was from a French publisher who did a lot of US translations).

As you can see, I wrote “Have to remember that not every day is a positive day” underneath. This is a little embarrassing, but it’s was a good thing to remind myself. For me, writing could be tough, and there are definitely days when it seemed like a pointless thing to be doing. I think it’s important to never let those days overwhelm you, just as it’s important to not let the days when you feel like great things are happening go to your head either. Same thing with reviews. Don’t take the good or the bad ones too seriously (except for when I got a really positive review in the London Sunday Telegraph. That one counted!).

Finally, it’s kind of fun to see that I must have been gearing up for the scene in F&M where I imagine myself singing “Somebody to Love” in the cafeteria, judging by the doodles of me wearing Freddie Mercury clothes.

Two new Jack & Max pages posted to ACT-I-VATE today, bringing the first little story arc in this tale to a close. Click the image below to see the new stuff.

Or, to read from the very beginning, click here.

Brand new JACK & MAX pages posted to ACT-I-VATE today. Click the pic below to check them out.