New York - Street Graphics





New York is cold but not that cold, it's comfortable to walk around without a scarf or gloves. There are lot's of great street graphics everywhere, and will get photos of the better, more interesting ones I can find.
Tonight there's a talk to promote the release of the collected HUMBUG at The Strand book store with Al Jaffe, Arnold Roth and Gary Groth. No doubt there'll be a bunch of NY cartoonists/comic book artists there.
Today's important events consist of making phone calls to set up meeting for the rest of the week, followed by lots more wondering around. No much to report really, just seeing wall to wall concrete, drinking lot's of coffee and looking in books stores, just like home.
Stopped in a park to watch squirrels (we don't have squirrels in NZ) chasing each other and searching around for food, the little bastards are hard to photograph, they'll either turn their back to you or run fast enough in the opposite direction to get a furry blur, but they are super cute!

Sketch

A rough sketch for our Dutch intern... why do I like drawing fat people so much?

Ethel Mania - Title Sequence

ethelmania

Here's another one from the archives, the title sequence from Ethel Mania another project that wound up on the shelf to complete 'at a later date'. The theme music was done by the talented Katy Cable

Connie Radar - Character Roughs

Some rough character drawings done last night for panels 11 and 12. Guns, chicks and robots, how can the story fail?

Connie Radar - Rocketship panel

Here we have a new panel from the current Connie Radar comic strip I'm working on. I swiped most of elements from a serious book about space exploration printed in the 50's.

Jessica and the Jawbreakers - Alternative Ending


Look what I found in the ComicBook Factory archives! The alternate ending to the first Jessica & the Jawbreakers comic strip. After spending weeks doing numerous re-writes of the dialogue, the entire panel was scrapped and replaced with the vastly superior exisiting one (it can be seen on the VICE magazine website HERE)

Yukfoodles


Here are some doodles done at work today using MSN Messenger, half of them are done by with Shoo. See if you can guess all the characters...

Big Fat Connie Sketch

Sketch #6 for Makeshift Magazine.
This ones from the sketchbook when I was developing character back stories. Connie's really let herself go here, and I'm a big fan of Starbucks and I'll say that for free.

Fred The Clown in Vice Magazine

VICE magazine has 'reprinted' my tribute to Fred the Clown (created by Roger Langridge) on their website. As one reader commented "every sunday a new cartoon. every sunday they suck."

Connie Radar - Fan Art

Here's some fan art from Woric and it's awesome...

Joke Du Jour 8
This lawn supervisor was out on a sprinkler maintenance job and he started working on a Findlay sprinkler head with a Langstrom 7" gangly wrench. Just then, this little apprentice leaned over and said, "You can't work on a Findlay sprinkler head with a Langstrom 7" wrench." Well this infuriated the supervisor, so he went and got Volume 14 of the Kinsley manual, and he reads to him and says, "The Langstrom 7" wrench can be used with the Findlay sprocket." Just then, the little apprentice leaned over and said, "It says sprocket not socket!"
-Steve Martin

Jessica and the Jawbreakers
2 new songs added to the Jawbreakers myspace page - Happy Hannukah! They're actually old songs that weren't polished enough for the album but now yours to enjoy. My favourite track was always 'In the Garden'. Here's the link

FOT: The Next Big Thing - Trailer


Hello, what's this? It's the trailer to the new FOT animation, first screening this weekend at Rhys Darby's comedy show. It'll be fun to see it on the big screen with a full house. More FOT at the official blog HERE

Pitch For Aussie TV Advert

This was done a couple of years ago during a sevre drought in Australia, a public service annoucement instructing people to not waste water. The country was on the verge of a national disaster, unfortunately the rain came along and the job was cancelled.

The Holiday Girls - Sketch

Another sketch I have drawn for you to be given away at Makeshift magazines launch party...

Pluto as Cerberus

My friends, look what I have drawn for you! This cartoon drawing and 7 others have been made for the launch of issue #4 of Makeshift magazine - November 28th, 9pm at the Whammy Bar. $10 on the door will get you in and a copy of the magazine with some free original art from various Auckland artists.

FOT Knits

Woah! Check out these totally fucking awesome knitted toys of Fot and Angus! They're hard to make and no two toys are exactly the same. Make sure you place your order soon. Remember when this famous cartoon mouse (see below) first hit the market? What do you think they'd be worth now? Click HERE for more FOT

Connie Radar - Animation Test



Above, there should be an animated walk cycle test done in FlashC4 (you may need to install a new Flash player to view it) using the new 'bones' tool, something long overdue for Flash. It's a little mechanical looking but that's why we test. She blinks too!

FOT Premiere!


An animated cartoon I co-wrote with Alex Dron, FOT - The Next Big Thing gets it's first screening at Rhys Darby's Auckland stand-up comedy show at the Sky City Theatre (Dec. 20th and 21st). Voiced by the talented Mr Rhys Darby himself! Last I heard the show was sold out, but maybe you could find something on 'trade me'? Trailer coming soon...
More FOT news CLICK HERE

FOT on Rhys Darby's 'Imagine That' DVD


"Rhys Darby Live stand up show from the El Rey theatre Los Angeles - filmed in 2008. Packed with hilarious extras including an interview with Rhys, outtakes and bonus sketches and more. Rhys Darby is one third of the award winning HBO series Flight of the Conchords. His character, Murray the Manager, is considered by many to be the real star of the show, and with 100,000 Conchord's DVD's now shipped of a show only seen on BBC4 it is fair to say that the fans are a very dedicated bunch. In fact, with average viewing figures of 160,000 people, the conversion to purchase is unprecedented. Rhys' UK profile is set to soar with high profile movie roles alongside Jim Carrey in Yes Man, and the new Richard Curtis film The Boat that Rocked, while his starring role in the new Nike tennis ad with Roger Federer has further broadened his credentials as a comic actor. Rhys' first love is stand-up comedy and in Rhys Darby Live - Imagine That! We see Rhys on stage in Los Angeles performing his highly original, hilarious physical comedy routines that will not only appeal to existing fans but also to those who appreciate the visual comedy styles of the likes of Lee Evans."
- Amazon.com

The extras on this DVD include a preview of Alex Dron's very funny animated short "FOT". Voiced by the talented Mr Darby. You should buy this, it's available pretty much everywhere... more FOT news HERE

Connie Radar - Page Two, First Draft


Page two of a very rough, hopefully illegible, first draft for proposed new Connie Radar story.

Connie Radar - Page One, First Draft


Here's a scan of the first page, first draft of a proposed Connie Radar adventure, hopefully you'll see it evolve into the finished artwork.

The Nobel Prize?


Robot Julius suggests optimistically to Connie she may be up for a major humanitarian prize, Connie on the other hand suggests otherwise. We will have to wait till next time to see who was correct...

"The Last Magic Show" Movie Poster



Andy Conlans 'Last Magic Show' movie film has been playing at various cinemas around the country, the poster credits music from both Jessica and the Jawbreakers and The Holiday Girls and the songs are used to full effect. Go see it then buy the CD here

Retro Sci-fiction Mania


Yesterday I was on a panel to judge and critique pitches for 3rd Year animation students from Freelance Animation School. We assesed group projects and gave feedback on areas that could be improved. My biggest surprise was the amount of retro-science fiction themes! Does this mean we're also going to see a rash of feature films like this over the next few year? I knew of John Carter of Mars under development by Pixar due in 2012 but according to Variety there's now a Buck Rogers film due in 2011. It's a very difficult genre to get 'right' and can only think of about half a dozen examples that didn't just mimic, parody or piss on the form (unintentionally or not). Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was just awful...

Technically speaking...


Panel 4 - Robot Julius explains to Connie she's not immune to death as she stated in the previous panel, she could still be killed by acts of god and is safe only from growing old, which isn't bad if one takes care of oneself and plays it safe. Connie seems indifferent to her Robot's comments, of course what he's saying isn't news to her, Julius is simply wasting his breath. More to come...

The Infinity Serum


Panel 3 - Connie, with one hand holding the Infinity Serum and the other a glass of delicious French champagne, says a few words to celebrate the completion of her DIFFICULT and IMPORTANT work: a secret liquid formula to conquer DEATH! A scientific breakthrough so PROFOUND it must come with all sorts of DANGEROUS and EXCITING consequences. And what's her robot assistant saying? Ha ha, Correct! It's the proverbial Hebrew "L'chiam!" or "To life!"

Better come back soon and see what those consequences are...

Somewhere Near the North Pole...


Panel 2 and the story begins. Here we see Connie Radars top secret observatory/laboratory in the middle of the coldest place on earth. No visitors to distract her from her difficult and important work which, as she states, has just been completed. What has she been working on, you ask? Find out in the next post...

Le Monde À Venir



Here's the first panel to a new 2 page Connie Radar comic strip for the anthology Hotwire #3 (Fantagraphics), the deadline is looming, but it's on it's way...ca va!

A simple request...


Please take the time to vote for Alex Dron's animated short "FOT" at Channel Federator HERE. Click on 10. Kiwi Award and select the appropriate box (that being FOT). Much appreciated!

Connie Radar



Panel 4 from the new science fiction comic "Connie Radar". Ray guns, rocketships, hostile aliens, robots, it's all there, on the way, in the future...

The Last Magic Show



Debut feature film from Andy Conlan whom I've collaborated with on numerous projects. It's a romantic comedy about a depressed magician that finds love in the most unexpected place, a hospice! The Last Magic Show features music from Jessica and the Jawbreakers and The Holiday Girls.
The Last Magic Show official site is HERE

FOT



Fot:Champion of the World is an animated short by Alex Drom whom I am forced to work next to at Yuk Foo Studios. It's a nice looking short and pretty darn funny too, it's pleasing to know there's more FOT in the works. Check out the official FOT blog HERE

Fresh Freddy



I took this photo about 10 years ago while living in Dunedin and have treasured it ever since. Another fine example of the weird phenomenon known as "Suicide Food", for more examples there's an entire blog dedicated to it HERE.

I intended to write a comic strip based on Fresh Freddy but never got around to it but it goes something like this:

Fresh Freddy is at his doctors office, his doctor is suprised to see him looking so well, "What is this? Last time I saw you Freddy, you were looking terrible! I even gave you only a few weeks to live!". Freddy lights up a cigerette and says "Ha ha! I know, I was so distressed I started smoking, I smoked so much it's cured me!"

The Original Art of Basil Wolverton


The hilarious spaghetti-and-meatball style caricature art of Basil Wolverton has been a huge influence on such art luminaries as Robert Crumb, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Robert Williams and Drew Friedman. This publication of The Original Art of Basil Wolverton represents the very first time that the art of one of comicdom's major legacies will be presented in a fine art tome. The entire book is photographed in full color from all original artwork to retain the authentic look of the black-and-white graphics and reproduced at the highest quality available to date. The majority of the work has never been published before. The book is comprised of the collection of Glenn Bray, the premier Wolverton collector. The book includes essays by Bray, Basil's son (and artist in his own right) Monte Wolverton and art writer Doug Harvey.

"I hate this cliche, but it's true: Basil Wolverton's work BLEW MY MIND!!! He's the main inspiration for me to do what I do AND the first to appreciate the beauty in ugliness... I even love his name!" -artist Drew Friedman

About the author:
Glenn Bray met Wolverton in the early 1970's and in the following few years bought most of his stock of unsold original art from the 1920's through the 1960's. He then commissioned him to do new cartoon work, which later brought Wolverton, at the age of 64, back into the spotlight as an artist when PLOP! magazine was published in the mid-1970's.

Price $35.00
www.lastgasp.com

The Comics Show - New Documentary


The writing and drawing of comic books in New Zealand is the subject of a documentary at this year’s Film Festival. The Comics Show will have two screenings at the Academy Cinema as part of the Auckland season – on Saturday 14 July at 1pm, and on Monday 16 July at 1pm. In the Wellington Festival, the film screens (by itself) on Wednesday 1st August at 12.15 and at 1.45 pm, in the NZ Film Archive theatre at 84 Taranaki St.

The Comics Show surveys the history of local comics (including Eric Resetar, the 1950s anti-comic panic, and the arrival of Strips) then focuses on a number of contemporary artists (including Barry Linton, Karl Wills, Chris Knox, Jared Lane, Robyn Kenealy, Coco and Pretika, Jason Brice, Tim Bollinger, Grace Campbell, and Cornelius Stone, among others). It visits comic shops (such as Cherry Bomb and Gotham), websites, events (such as Armageddon, Craftwork and the Eric Awards), and groups (such as Funtime in Christchurch). It looks at comics’ links with animation (such as Ant Sang and Bro’Town) and with music (from Flying Nun to hip hop). It also takes a trip with Dylan Horrocks to the comic shops of Paris, confirming that comics from New Zealand have a growing reputation in the land of la bande dessinée.

Russian Hebrew Poopsheet

Look what I have made for my foreign friends! By popular demand, Jessica's Good Deed in Hebrew and Russian! Click the image to get your copy. And go visit Poopsheet too, hundreds of self-published titles to choose from.

Also new comic series starting soon...

Bramble Bushes


New song "Bramble Bushes" added to the Jessica and the Jawbreakers myspace page. The album is now included in the purchase of the complete set (books #1 - 13) with a price tag of $75.00, otherwise it's $15 and can be purchased on it's own HERE. If your local comic store doesn't have it in stock ask them why they hate comics.

Advance Copies

Early copies of the new Jessica and the Jawbreakers CD/comic can be purchased exclusively from Parsons Bookshop; 26 Wellesley Street East, Auckland City. Maybe great book stores that specialise in Art and photograhpy isn't your thing, perhaps you'd rather purchase it while seeing some great live music? The Brunettes, Teenwolf and Pie Warmer are playing April 27th (Friday) at the Kings Arms, the Jawbreakers CD will be on sale there too. True.

Comic Friend Part 1

The comic that never was. Comic Friend was an aborted attempt to produce a Manga inspired free monthly comic book. It was to be as thick as 2 telephone directories (white pages not yellow) and in full colour, every issue would have had a free novelty gift such as x-ray glasses and toy ray-guns, licensing aggreements for original characters exclusive to Comic Friend were already being argued over between our high price lawyers and cartoon networks. This was, in all likelihood, to be the greatest comic book phenomena ever seen... so what happened? Over the next few posts I will be discussing Comic Friends' steady and calculated downfall by the jealous enemies of the most popular art-form on earth... stay tuned.

Jessica and the Jawbreakers Button #2


Look what I have made for you! Another Jessica and the Jawbreakers pin-back button, this one based on the album cover. A friend of mine wore this to a party and everyone asked her where she got it but she wouldn't tell them so they stole it from her and now I'm not talking to her because she refused to send customers to me. Click HERE to buy something that people will steal from you.

Jessica and the Jawbreakers

At long last, special edition Jessica and the Jawbreakers book #13 is now finished and being shipped out. But you'll have to wait 'til June before it's in the stores, those wise investors that reserved copies are enjoying their comic/CD right now.

Teenage misanthrope Jessica Flowers and her teenage friends form a "pop" band, comedy ensues. Includes audio CD, samples available at the Jessica and the Jawbreakers myspace page HERE. The best book yet! Available June 2007. Limited supply!

Jessica in Japan


Finally going to the printers next week is this translated edition of Jessica's Good Deed and the new Jessica and the Jawbreakers comic/CD! Those that were smart enough to reserve a copy will get a free gift as thanks. So it took a little longer than I thought... I just wanted it to be good. Full colour, 3 stories, trading card and original music. Here's a pointless out-of-context sample panel below.

"You Can Be My Baby Little Bunny"

A new Jessica and the Jawbreakers "pop" song has been added to the myspace page HERE. Expect the finished comic/CD in January. Limited press of 500, better send an email if you want one put aside. This is the contact page HERE

First Panel, Last Page...

Look what I have drawn for you. It's a panel from the last page of the new Jessica and the Jawbreakers CD/comic. A new song will be uploaded onto the Jessica and the Jawbreakers myspace page when the final panel is completed. There's still time to invest in a Jessica and the Jawbreakers poster and Jessica and the Jawbreakers button, our warehouse is almost empty, very few left! Click the links or scroll down for more.

The Holiday Girls

The Hoilday Girls sing My Boyfriends Name is Jello. Check out The Holiday Girls myspace page and listen to the latest track included on the upcoming Jessica and the Jawbreakers CD/comic. Only weeks away...

Jessica and the Jawbreakers Poster

New! Limited Edition Jessica and the Jawbreakers gig poster. Appears in the upcoming CD/Comic book release. Are you a fan or not? Full colour printed on heavy stock card 42 x 29.7 cm. Only $12.95 (USD).

Jessica and the Jawbreakers Button

My friends, look what I have made for you! A limited edition Jessica and the Jawbreakers "rock band" badge. How else will people know? Full colour, 32mm diameter. Only $3.95 (USD)