Celebrate the 901!

The membership of the Mid-South Cartoonists Association are back doin’ what we do, this time celebrating The Good, the Bad, and the Sketchy about our own hometown! Memphis may be known for Blues, BBQ, & Beale Street …. but it’s much more than just that! This issue kicks off with my own 3-page “The Legend of Robert Church”, and includes comics & art by Kevin L. Williams, Grace Smith, DaMarco Randle, Jim Palmer, Michael Irby, Charlie Forrester, and Jason Negen; Beale-tastic cover art by Charles Ettinger.

The Good, the Bad, and the Sketchy #6 is a 20-page black & white digest w/ full-color cover, and is available in the area at 901 Comics and Comics and Collectibles & by mail via my Square store for $4.00 postpaid in the US.

Hot off the press: Double Dip #3!

Well, maybe “warm” off the press, since Tom Cherry and I finished the latest issue of our two-person anthology Double Dip at the tail end of last year. With the holiday rush behind us, now is a great time to share this issue’s release with the wider world! As always, it’s a joy to team up with Tom to serve you a heaping helping of our different but eerily simpatico cartooning sensibilities…

In Tom’s half of the issue, Dadman & Sonny confront an unexpected visitor, while the alien FooF reveals his secret origin in my story, which incorporates a tactile structure that can only be appreciated in its physical form!

I was thrilled that Tom and I were able to finish this issue in so much less time than it took to finish #2, and that’s even with drawing two covers for it! While I’m not a big fan of variant covers, Tom’s cover gag was such a winner (and of the moment, too!) that it’d be foolish to not use it. My gag was … well, kinda what I used on the first issue, but that’s what happens when there’s a years-long gap between issues #1 & #3, I guess…

Double Dip #3 is a 16-page black & white digest w/ full-color cover; ask for it at your comic shop of choice, or get a copy by mail via my Square store for $3.00 postpaid in the US. You can also get a copy by becoming one of my Patreon patrons during the months of January/Feb 2021 at the Correspondent or Art Lover tier– plus, joining gives you immediate access to online bonus comics, including a full-color Human Spring adventure!

[January 2023 UPDATE: I’ve closed my Patreon page.]

Walking in a winter wonderland…

While it’s not really winter yet (not that it ever is here in the MidSouth), once I dust off my holiday CDs for their annual spins I can’t help but think about winter & snow & the like. Fortunately, the members of the Mid-South Cartoonists Association are feeling that way, too, in the latest issue of The Good, the Bad, and the Sketchy! It features comics & art by Jason Negen, Jim Palmer, Lin Workman, Kevin L. Williams, and me. I even did the cover for this one, featuring my take on some of the characters appearing inside! The Good, the Bad, and the Sketchy #5 is a 20-page black & white digest w/ full-color cover, and is available at comic shops all around Memphis ( 901 Comics, The Cellar, Comics and Collectibles) as well as by mail via my Square store for $4.00 postpaid in the US.

Thankful for collaborators (and for comics)

Like for most artists, this pandemic year has been a challenge for me. With all my IRL events for the year canceled, I’ve been working on a number of collaborations with other artists in a similar situation. While I love collaborating with others, I’m especially thankful for it during this year. And even though most of these projects have not reached fruition yet, one of them sees print in a new collection released this month…

Take a walk on the wild side in the animal-themed fourth issue of the Mid-South Cartoonists Association’s The Good, the Bad, and the Sketchy; it’s led off with a Watusi/Muley crossover by Kevin L. Williams and me. For years now, I’ve wanted to work on a story with another artist where we could both draw our own characters on the same physical page, and at long last I’ve been able to do so! I think it turned out pretty good, too! Other comics & art in the issue provided by Jim Palmer (who also drew the cover), Jason Negen, Jack Cassady, Kevin Thorn, and Lin Workman; co-edited by Jason & me. The Good, the Bad, and the Sketchy #4 is a 24-page black & white digest w/ full-color cover, and is available at comic shops all around Memphis ( 901 Comics, The Cellar, Comics and Collectibles) as well as by mail via my Square store for $4.00 postpaid in the US.

Also newly published is Smeary Soapbox Press-ents #20, another arty collection of my daily Instagram drawings, a more or less real? fictitious? document of my hair during our month of shelter in place. Can’t help but feel there are more sheltering hairstyles in my future, tho… This full color (my first!) 8-page minicomic is available from my Square store or from me by mail, postpaid in the US for just $2.00 … or by becoming one of my Patreon patrons during November or December 2020 at the Correspondent or Art Lover level … plus, joining (at any level) gives you immediate access to other online bonus comics, including a full-color Human Spring adventure!

I hope you all have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

[January 2023 UPDATE: I’ve closed my Patreon page.]

Going back to print…

While this pandemic rages on, I and some of my cartoonist compatriots have stopped waiting for things to return to “normal,” and have resumed publishing material in the printed form! These two comics are a modest step in that direction for me … but it’s still a step in that direction! If things go as planned (by no means a sure thing in 2020!), I hope to have a couple more new print comics by the end of the year. But for now, there are at least these two…

The “magic”-themed third issue of the Mid-South Cartoonists Association’s The Good, the Bad, and the Sketchy! has just hit shelves of all the Memphis area comic shops ( 901 Comics, The Cellar, Comics and Collectibles) as well as through the mail via my Square store. This issue, co-edited by Jason Negen & me, features all-new comics & art from Jason, Kevin L. Williams, Jim Palmer, and Lin Workman, along with a jam page drawn at our MSCA meetings (back when we were able to meet IRL), & cover art from Greg Cravens. My contribution is a pair of Tarot illustrations. Someday I’ll finish drawing the whole deck… The Good, the Bad, and the Sketchy #3 is a 20-page black & white digest w/full-color cover, $4.00 postpaid in the US.

Also newly published is Smeary Soapbox Press-ents #19, another remastered Giant Jack Halloween comic from decades past! This was a gross-out little comic nugget, and was fun to revisit, even if I basically just tidied up the lettering & drew a new cover based on the original… You can get a copy of Smeary Soapbox Press-ents #19 (an 8-page minicomic) from me by mail, postpaid in the US for just $1.00 … or by becoming one of my Patreon patrons during October or November 2020 at the Correspondent or Art Lover level … plus, joining (at any level) gives you immediate access to other online bonus comics, including a full-color Human Spring adventure!

[January 2023 UPDATE: I’ve closed my Patreon page.]

New comics for a pandemic springtime

It’s been a helluva spring, hasn’t it? With all my face-to-face events cancelled and all my other outlets closed for the foreseeable future, it’s been difficult for me to stay motivated about publishing new comics …

But, before pandemic-mania affected my part of the world & weighed heavily on my mind most hours of most days, I did manage to finish a pair of new comics!

First up is the second issue of the Mid-South Cartoonists Association’s The Good, the Bad, and the Sketchy! This sci-fi themed issue, edited by Jason Negen and me, features all-new comics & art from Jason, Kevin L. Williams, Jim Palmer, Lin Workman, Michael Irby, and me, along with an “Out of This World!” jam page drawn at our MSCA meetings. My contribution is “The Fantastical Order of Foofthusiasts!”, a peek at the 26th-century legacy of my shape-changing hero FooF! The Good, the Bad, and the Sketchy #2 is a 24-page black & white digest w/full-color cover. It’s available for pickup from all Memphis area comic shops ( 901 Comics, The Cellar, Comics and Collectibles — call for their specific situation, of course) as well as through the mail from my Square store. With online sales providing my only source of income, your purchase would be much appreciated (& highly motivating).

Also newly published is Smeary Soapbox Press-ents #18, an 8-page minicomic collecting some of my favorite pencil drawings from 2019. You can get your own copy from me by mail, postpaid in the US for just $1.00 (address on the Contact page). I’ll also include a copy with any purchase of physical content from my Square store during the months of April & May 2020 …

You can also socially-distance score a copy of both of these comics by becoming one of my Patreon patrons during April or May 2020 at the Correspondent or Art Lover level … plus, joining (at any level) gives you immediate access to other online bonus comics, including a full-color Human Spring adventure!

[January 2023 UPDATE: I’ve closed my Patreon page.]

Hot off the press: an Inktober Ramble!

For those of you who followed along with my “Inktober” adventure on Instagram (or even if you missed it entirely), I’m happy to announce that it’s now available in a classy little print edition! It will debut at this Saturday’s Crafts and Drafts event (presented by the Memphis Flyer); I’ll be exhibiting indoors, sharing a space with my friend, the talented multimedia artist Angi Cooper. Stop in, drink some beer, buy some art, & say hi!

I’m happy with how my Ramble turned out, both as a month-long drawing project, and as a finished book. As a drawing project, it helped me get comfortable inking with a brush again. I have an upcoming project that needs inked that way, so it was especially helpful in that regard. And telling a story linking this year’s Inktober prompts helped keep me from getting burned out on the daily assignment aspect of the project like the last time I tried it. As a book, I chose to make it an artier book than my typical comics, giving it a smaller trim size (5.5 x 7″) that allows for full bleeds and makes for an intimate reading experience in one of my rare forays into silent storytelling.

You can purchase your copy at Crafts and Drafts, as well as my table at the upcoming 69th (& final) Memphis College of Art Holiday Bazaar on 11/22-23. Ramble is a 36-page black & white digest w/full-color cover (in one of four options). You can get a copy by mail via my Square store for $8.00 postpaid in the US … or become one of my Patreon patrons during the month of November 2019 at the Correspondent or Art Lover level & I will mail you a copy! (Plus, joining gives you immediate access to other online bonus comics, including a full-color Human Spring adventure!)

[January 2023 UPDATE: I’ve closed my Patreon page.]

Drop it like it’s hot … Hot off the press!

For my Halloween The Good, the Bad, and the Sketchy signing, I borrowed a trick from Beyonce & released a new minicomic without any advance notice on that day. Of course, in my case it wasn’t a fully realized new album, but a remastered version of my Halloween Giant Jack comic from 30 years ago! I tidied up the lettering (done with a thicker pen than I should have used in the first place, and that hadn’t aged real well) & added an all-new photo cover! It was really fun to throw together the finishing touches to complete a project this fast. If only I could get everything done so quickly…

While I’m talking about swiping ideas from others, I came up with a sketch wrap for the issue, so I could do quick sketches at the signing (& distribute my mini at the same time). The idea for letting the customer select the elements of their monster sketch via checklist came from my former APA-5 compatriot, Steve Willhite, and I have to say it’s worked really well. Thanks, Steve!

You can get a copy of Smeary Soapbox Press-ents #17 (an 8-page minicomic) from me by mail, postpaid in the U.S. for just $1.00 … but if you want a custom monster sketch you’ll need to become one of my Patreon patrons during the month of November 2019 (plus, joining gives you immediate access to other online bonus comics, including a full-color Human Spring adventure)!

[January 2023 UPDATE: I’ve closed my Patreon page.]

Hot off the press: a Halloween hullabaloo!

Inspired by last summer’s Memphis Zine Fest V, members of the Mid-South Cartoonists Association decided to dive in with an ongoing publication of our own: The Good, the Bad, and the Sketchy! The first issue, edited by Jason Negen and me, is now available, featuring work by Jason, Lin Workman, Jim Palmer, Janet & Anakin Wade, Michael Irby, Kevin L. Williams, DaMarco Randle, and me. My new contribution is a prequel to an earlier Watusi comic, giving some background to one of his foes from the story in Oh, Comics! #25– it’s called “The Sordid Secret Story of Snaretron!”

It was good to be a part of this group effort, and hopefully upcoming issues will bring out more work from our membership. Until then, you can find copies of the first issue all around town (901 Comics, The Cellar, Comics and Collectibles, and (until 10/31) Monster Market); it’s also available by mail via my Square store for $4.00 postpaid in the US.

I’ll also have copies at my upcoming events– I’ll be doing monster sketches Halloween afternoon at 901 Comics, and I’ll have a booth (with multimedia artist Angi Cooper) at Crafts and Drafts on November 9th. You could also become one of my Patreon patrons during October or November 2019 at the Correspondent or Art Lover level & I’ll mail you a copy! (Plus, joining gives you immediate access to other online bonus comics, including a full-color Human Spring adventure!)

The Good, the Bad, and the Sketchy #1 is a 20-page black & white digest w/full-color cover.

[January 2023 UPDATE: I’ve closed my Patreon page.]

Thanks for the reprints, Patreon patrons!

When I had my work accepted into Memphis’ Monster Market (“a freaky pop-up shop for weirdos like you”), I knew it would require new printings of the Halloween comics I was running low on. Not only would it be an opportunity for me to include my current contact info in them, but it would also let me produce them with digitally colored covers (instead of hand stenciling each copy, which can get a bit tedious when I’ve got to spread out a full run to dry). Rather than going full color with their covers, I kept the new color files in the spirit of the original two-color issues, and I’m pleased with the results!

In addition to the Halloween issues, I was able to restock three other comics (including my very first comic, from 1982!) that I had sold out of, thanks to my Patreon patrons . It enabled me to more easily handle the reprints in my printing budget, and at a price that will help make my Monster Market stint more successful!

These are all 16-page black & white digests (w/ color covers in the case of the Watusi issues), and are available from me by mail for $3.00 each ($2.00 for The Guy With a Hammer! #1) postpaid in the US. You could also get copies by becoming one of my Patreon patrons during September or October of 2019 at the Correspondent or Art Lover level & I’ll send the set your way. If you prefer, I could even spread the love & send your copies as gifts to your friends; just let me know their name & address. (Plus, joining gives you immediate access to other online bonus comics, including a full-color Human Spring adventure!)

As always, thanks for reading!

[January 2023 UPDATE: I’ve closed my Patreon page.]