Hot off the press: Watusi #41!

It’s canine vs. contraption when Watusi accepts the challenge of Professor Harvey’s latest invention: the Motilizing Reclivator! Also featuring the talents of jam comic stalwart Keith O’Brien in the full-color one-pager “April Showers Bring…”

This issue’s main story is a substantially expanded version of a decade-old webcomic storyline, and I enjoyed the chance to punch up the rhyming (not a strong suit for me) part of the story a little. Expanding the artwork, on the other hand, was harder than I expected; it might have been faster to have just redrawn it! Even though it took a long time to put all the finishing bells and whistles on this new issue, I’m pleased with how it turned out and think you might enjoy it, too!

Watusi the Talking Dog #41 is a 16-page black & white digest w/ full-color covers; ask for it at your comic shop of choice, or get a copy by mail via my Square store (or old school mail order; direct order info on my Contact page) for just $3.00 postpaid in the US. Prefer digital? You can find it on my Gumroad store (for $2.00 US), too!

You can also get a copy by becoming one of my Patreon patrons during the month of June 2022 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.]

Hot off the press: Festive Funnies!

Inspired by my parent’s traditional Christmas letter, in 1985 I began a holiday tradition of my own, creating original holiday pieces to share with my friends and family. Sometimes these have been woodcuts or poems or die cut cards … but my favorite pieces (not surprisingly) have been comics!

For most of the past decade, these pieces have centered around Watusi the talking dog and his supporting cast from my weekly adventure strip (new each Wednesday at www.watusithetalkingdog.com), often tying into the storyline then running in it:

• “Watusi’s White Christmas” (2003) was originally published as a minicomic.
• “Wrapping up Christmas” (2008) came with a customized gift tag as part of its cover.
• “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” (2006) was the first solo Professor Harvey and Mitchell comic.
• “The Green Line” (2005) had a hand-stencilled cover. It’s been fully colored for this collection. (And I laughed when I read it, in spite of myself)

Hapless hot dog vendor “Flamin’ Frank” (1999) was a character I used frequently before Watusi came along. Sadly, much of what would have been his supporting cast has been co-oped by Watusi, too! The original version of this comic came singed as my way of wishing readers “all the warmth of this holiday season.”

Likely my favorite holiday comic– certainly the most elaborate– is 2000’s “Three Wise Men”. Adapting my favorite part of the Nativity story, I did research into King Herod and the historical period, gaining new respect for the Magi in the process. Kings in their own right, they were crossing into the kingdom of a ruler beset with illness (Jewish historian Josephus described him as “suffering from uncontrollable itching, coughing, fever and worms”), haunted by the spirits of the wife and children he’d already murdered, and allied with the powerful Roman Empire. These men put their own lives on the line, all to pay homage to a newborn baby. It certainly gave me a new sense of their bravery and what a powerful effect that star had for them.

I hope you enjoy these comics with my best wishes for the season; they’re available in two formats:

• The print edition is available from my Square store for $3.00 postpaid in the US (or old school mail order; direct order info on my Contact page).
• The .pdf version is available from my Gumroad store for $2.00.

But, for those of you who read to the end of this post, you can get a .pdf copy for FREE! As this year winds down, I’m conducting a survey to better understand my readers, their reading habits & interests, and their thoughts on my comic. I hope you’ll take a moment to share your opinion (survey starts here); complete the survey before the end of 2016, and you get a code for a FREE copy of Festive Funnies. Thanks for your help!

Happy (belated) Year of the Monkey 2016!

That the monkey is the animal for this year’s lunar calendar completely slipped my notice until (obviously) too late for the new year festivities, when Tom Cherry asked me on Twitter if Mitchell would be celebrating. While I didn’t have specific plans in the works for Watusi’s monkey nemesis, he will at the very least be playing a large part in an upcoming storyline on my Watusi webcomic later this year.

So to dig up a proper monkey-centric piece to celebrate, I went clear back to 2009 for this mola-themed craft I made while helping with a group at the Lawrence Public Library. I was presenting a cartooning workshop the following session, so I sat in to get a feel for the group, taking a try at that day’s craft. While lacking the intricate stitching of a true mola, it does have the signature layering of cloth. Miss Jane Johnston assembled a great group of “Imaginators”, and it was fun to be a part of their group for a couple of weeks!

Hope you have a happy Year of the Monkey!

“InkTober” 2015: my month of model sheets

When my friend (and Watusi jam participant) JB Winter first pitched me “Inktober“, a drawing challenge to do one ink drawing a day for the entire month, I wasn’t initially interested in participating. After all, I figured, since I draw in ink all the time, it’s really not that big of a challenge to me. After checking out Inktober instigator Jake Parker‘s website on the project (including his review of his go-to inking tools), and seeing some of the amazing drawings that participants produced during the first few days, I figured I could at least do the “5K” option of posting once a week. So I decided to indulge my general love of model sheets and draw up some decent ones for four members of my Watusi cast. If nothing else, having that reference should help me be able to keep my characters in proportion to each other! For those of you who missed them on my twitter feed, I’ve collected them here for your enjoyment.!

The first choice was a no-brainer:

Holiday piece No. 27

At the end of every year I send out a holiday piece to friends and family who have had an impact on my life that year (although it’s usually at the start of the new year by the time I complete them). This year I made just a plain ol’ greeting card, and thought I’d share it with my virtual audience, too. Thanks for taking the time to visit this blog or follow my weekly Watusi webcomic. It’s much appreciated!