"Cocktail Weenies"

This is reminiscent of a classic from a few years ago ("Sharing") which also dealt with the concept of such sticks serving as the real treat. All a matter of perspective, if you gnaw it over enough.

I tagged this post as a "demo" because I used the original pen & ink piece as an example of how to color in cartoons - colored pencils in this instance. With the caveat that the panel was inked in with the usual dip-pen on smooth Bristol, which is not as conducive as the slightly textured surface of of the vellum alternative, which is great for other dry media such as pastel and graphite. It still came out okay enough, and served as an exhibit on the patience needed to gradually build up layers of value. I had also commented on how The Simpsons skin tones have freed the cartoon world from ever having to use white again. Not to mention this is about as far as one can push the Crayola brand.

"S'not"

For a few weeks of a few months out of every year I'll grow out a mustache + beard, basically as a default setting when "depression shaves" set in during the winter season, aka "I have stopped caring about general appearance and matters of personal grooming."

It's only a matter of time before becoming acutely aware that there's hair sitting on top of my upper lip, which is most disturbing. It also begins to be a factor in eating, to say nothing of the subzero snot-cicles adorning the face pelts of large, fur-bearing arctic mammals.

"The Return of The King"

Personally I thought that this one would be at least a runner-up to the dumbest gag of the year. It is also an example of the comparatively rare strip format, a the timing + pacing of the delivery lends itself quite nicely to a one-two-three punchline. Hat-tip to the original meme.

Even though I initially envisioned it as a single-panel, now it's proof that letting a concept ferment in the sketchbook for a number of years may sometimes yield a better idea or caption or even the visual component that one's initial doodle.

"Occasional Showers"

I still to this day live without running water. I can use a hand-held devise to communicate with a satellite orbiting the planet and access information on any subject in history, all while crouched over a frozen hole in the ground while taking a dump. It's all a matter of perspective, but whenever I visit someplace that is civilized and flush the toilet, I am acutely aware of how much goes swirling away, and have a keen and intimate appreciation of knowing firsthand what resources you rely upon that other folks take for granted, if they ever even bother to think twice about their carbon assprint. And when every day you can see how literally full of shit you are, it's humbling to say the least.

And yes I also haul water in 5-gallon jugs - the ubiquitous blue Colemans - to cook and clean, which makes me appreciate every cup that goes down the drain. Our amazing landlord installed a leech pit, so there is a sink instead of a slop bucket. So it's not like we live like barbarians or anything. But besides the stink curlicues (technically an emanata known as a wafteron) wafting about the cabin, there are all sorts of visual cues that will connect with other residents of Alaska who choose such a lifestyle. 

(Revenge of Son of) Halloween: "Floats," "Fun Size," "Pumpkinstalk," & "Porkies for Pinhead"

As of writing this post, my master plan is to have all four of these, along with the previous post ("An American Werewolf in Alaska") appear on the same page in the pre-Halloween edition of the paper. Coming out only five days before is better than the day after, especially since as a consumerist society we've collectively been immersed in in it (as every holiday) for months of marketing, so the viewership audience is primed.

This is largely on account of the glut of material that's backed up, in the Nuggets pipeline of production for print, and in the archives for uploading, so time for a little flush o' funnies. These are a collection of jump scares jokes that all rally around the stake.

I mean, given that the previous couple posts in a row were also on this same topic, you'd be forgiven for thinking that this is my favorite holiday. Also the fact that it's one of the only two I routinely pay attention to in real life, much less come up with thematically related cartoons. Also several of this season's batch (and a couple here: Stephen King's "It" and Clive Barker's "Hellraiser") are specific pop-culture references that are rather dated - though not nowhere near as dated as some fables and myth that I routinely employ.

The reality is it's close to being the saddest day of the year, second only to my birthday/xmas (which I often joke about being on the same day as the fastest way to get the two most depressing days of the season out of the way at the same time). I never like participating in the usual rituals, preferring to ignore them. And that guilt manifests as mentally picking at the scab that never heals, so in turn triggers a paradoxical hyper-awareness of associated topics, which flows out the other end of the pen onto paper. And so the stain spreads, a telltale heart beating louder until the page is turned on the wall calendar.

Long synonymous with the Halloween, scary movies have been a perverse, nostalgic comfort zone to me. I once read a psychological explanation for how constantly replaying movies is a way to exert an illusion of control in an unpredictable world, and additionally a method which to resolve the existential horror of consciousness, if not actual incidences of trauma. 

Sounds like the theory that humor is a buffer zone against reality, and that those who "get" the cosmic joke are perversely more well-adjusted than the rest of us stuck going through the motions on the hamster wheel of pointless destiny. In which case, wow am I ever a winner, having the absolute best of both worlds with Halloween cartoons.

I also have the annual excuse to play in the drawing studio during classes the hours of soundtrack scores to all of the classics need (hat-tip w/severed head to John Carpenter).

(Return of) Halloween: "An American Werewolf in Alaska"

Inspired by the classic 1981 film "An American Werewolf in London," this pre-Halloween panel is one of many that hinges on knowledge about cultural touchstones along with a smidgen of nostalgia and a dash of trivia. So in short, my entire adult life.

There is a sound critical basis for viewing the eighties as a golden age of the genre, much of that based on the practical effects (ex: Hellraiser, Aliens, Day of the Dead et al). My top ten ranking includes the all-time best "The Thing," and also "The Fly." both remakes by two of the grand masters, Carpenter and Cronenberg.

When it comes to werewolves in particular, the field narrows considerably, and the choices are even more limited. As evidenced by a snapshot of a short stack in my DVD collection, there is slim pickings in the field of favorites (caveat: "Ginger Snaps" and "In The Company of Wolves" - another '80's gem - are notable omissions from my personal roster, and there are still a few unseen ones as of yet).

This year's "Wolf Man" was a surprisingly different take on the genre, and a slow burn with intense acting. More psychological than gore or effect-driven, so not well received by the horror crowd, plus it was in development hell while struggling to see the screen..

Certainly better than  last year's "Werewolves" picked up on a whim while at Fred's, and it was so disappointing - it reminded me of the fallacy and futility behind buying without at least reading reviews, and so it'll get donated after the next seasonal purge of the stacks. The other embarrassing entry is "Underworld," which is the last entry point before everything decays into Van Helsing/Twilight-level pap. So that leaves "Wolfen" and "The Howling" (both '81) alongside the titular title as the other alphas of the pack. Now back to the horror show that is America!

turned out yes, there already was a meme for that

Halloween: "Teddy Bear-Spray"

I strongly suspected that this one was flogging the proverbial dead moose, as it took so long not just to actually draw (linear perspective + that stupid crib), but rewriting the damn caption over and over - which is partially evident by the changes seen across this convoluted process post - and over so as to get the idea across.  

That's usually a red flag that you're reaching, and no amount of editing will salvage what is probably a lost cause cartoon. But there are special ones that I won't let go, especially if the core concept is, uh, killer.

Composition plays a crucial component here, as the eye has to wander around connecting all the dots. There's a slight bit of misdirection employed that tries to briefly override the instinctual top-to-botton/left-to-right initial scan of the image, and hopefully hone in instead on the gaze cues of the couple first, which'll lead right down to the crying kid, and then lastly fill in the final bit of visual information to complete the puzzle with noticing the menacing monster in the nursery's background. This feint is akin to the timing + pacing of a comedian's delivery doing standup. I used this as an example in a recent class as to how and why the deliberate arrangement of visual elements juxtaposed with text can be so important. My entire MFA thesis was in fact predicated on how the sequential cognitive interpretation of a single-panel gag cartoon qualifies it as "sequential," even if it lacks the requisite panels + gutters (for example in a strip, or page).

Speaking of the MFA in Sequential Art from SCAD, this panel hearkens back to a personal favorite 5-page piece done called "Deady Bear."

"Field Sobriety Test"

Not ever haven taken one of these personally, I seriously doubt my ability to pass any part of a field sobriety test in any way on any given normal day. Nomatter the season, as one can see the original variation depicted a winter scene instead. Further down this post I uploaded a good example of how sometimes editorial decisions are made on the fly, whist inking over the penciled panel - which in itself was a deviation from the originally doodled concept and also in the ballpoint pen rough done in sketchbook.

Also, with the benefit of hindsight, I can really see how this particular panel just doesn't work. As in, it's not funny. Not in a bad way, it's just that there's no joke, no gag, nothing witty, wonderful or wise. It's just me, drinking in a field. Passing the test I guess. Definitely doesn't send any sort of a positive role model message to community youth, who look to the weekly Nugget as a signpost along the road of Responsible Growth and Maturity.

They say that distracted driving from cell-phone usage (surfing, not talking on the phone) is as bad as Drunk Driving and Drowsy Driving as well - it's like driving the length of a football field blind. Amateurs - you really wanna see some skill, try sketching while driving: when the idea is so good, so hot, you gotta catch it quick before you forget. Which could possibly explain how the doodle was done so stylistically spontaneously with such a raw, organic quality.  cough... cough...

 

 

"Persephone's Alaskan Kid Sister"

Ha ha haaa... it's a Perseph-funny. No but seriously, this one went out to our resident art historian in the department, which pretty much comprise the sole demographic of a theoretical target audience in the newspaper readership. In other words, not many folks got it... which has nothing at all to do with how hilarious it is. Though, of those who got it, not many find the subject matter of our incredibly short ssummer season, not very funny at all.

"Crane Fly"

Alaskans are well-conditioned to mosquitoes what with our legendary swarms. So the relatively rare sighting of a crane fly can be traumatizing to the folks who are unaware of its comparatively benign behavior. Which is to say, totally harmless, aside from the psychological impact, which, speaking of, here's the obscure cultural reference to one of the all-time greatest jumps-scares in horror.