I've been doing some spring cleaning with the website recently - removing broken links and trying to streamline things a bit. One of the things on this page that I've never been quite happy with is the "webcomics" link at the top of the page, which gets a lot of hits but isn't very user friendly. One of the problems as I saw it is that old entries get lost at the very bottom of the page and the dimensions of some of the pages weren't always big enough to easily read the comics, especially on a desktop.
I decided that it would be best to just scrap the entire page and load all of the comics that I feel like sharing onto a new, external page, and so teddyandtheyeti.tumblr.com is born!
There's still some work that I need to do on the page, with placement and other functional issues, but I'm happy enough with it at least to share the link and make it public. I'll be looking to do other things with it in the coming weeks, including following some other dang accounts and trying to drive a little bit of traffic to the page. One thing that I enjoy is the archive section, which serves as a way to compile all of the webcomics in a way that's easier to navigate that what was previously available. There's also an "ask me anything" tab which I'm sure won't fill my inbox with spam any time soon.
So if you're looking for the comics I've poster, the "webcomics" link at the top of the page now redirects you to Tumblr. I'm sure we've all been looking for a convenient site at which to view the Franks and Beans comic and that "Accordion Theory" strip, and now you have one.
I've been lucky enough to be pretty busy with comic work over the last few months - this year, even, I guess. One of the (admittedly few) downsides to that is that I don't have very much time for this blog or other types of recreational writing...but I'm still out here, doing...stuff.
Somewhere on that list of stuff sits a new issue of DC Conspiracy's Magic Bullet! This recently released issue is currently being circulated primarily around the Washington, DC area. I've had a few comics published in previous issues, and this time around I teamed up with a few friends to create a one page comic titled "One Wish".
"One Wish" came about after a conversation with your good friend (and mine) Larry a few years ago. I'm not even sure what the context of the conversation was, but he let it spill and I decided that it might make a good Magic Bullet-style comic, so I plotted it out and put the letters into the final product. Providing the art is the incomparable Joe Badon. It all came together pretty well, I think, and I'm happy that I was able to put this together with those two guys.
I got a bundle of comics in the mail and have been working on distributing them around the Pittsburgh area. I spent the summer volunteering once again at the Toonseum, so it was a good bet that I'd leave a stack at the entrance to the comic/cartoon art museum. I'll also be bringing some with me to the inaugural Wizard World Pittsburgh show, which is coming up in just a few short weeks (more on that later)!
Before I go, here's one more peek at something else that I'm working on, this time with Ian Chase Nichols. I worked with Ian on a few Tick projects and I'm happy to be collaborating with him again. I'm putting this clip up here because this comic is also for a newspaper-style publication, but it's not the MB. I'll give out some more information on that project when it gets a little further along.
Pittsburgh has lagged behind other cities in terms of comic book conventions in recent years, but maybe that is finally changing. If you haven't heard, Wizard World recently bought the rights to the Pittsburgh Comic-Con, which will be held this September at the David L. Lawrence convention center in downtown Pittsburgh. There are good things and bad things about Wizard taking over, I suppose, and we'll see what the inaugural event brings later in the year.
I'm more excited about Pittsburgh's independent comic show, PIX, which takes place this year on Saturday, March 28th. This isn't the first year for the show. I heard about it last year after the registration deadline had passed, so I made sure that I got an early jump on it this year. I'm not quite sure what to expect, but the fact that there is a show dedicated specifically to small press and creator-owned comics is something to be pleased about.
The show, which is co-sponsored by the Toonseum, will be held at 10 S. 19th Street in Pittsburgh from 10-5 on Saturday, with programs taking place later that evening, from 7-11pm. Both admission and parking to the event are free!
I'll be there with a few of my new books, including the Naked Man at the Edge of Time mini comic, which hasn't been on sale anywhere before now. I filled out the requisite exhibition form, including information about myself and my publications. I am apparently a raging narcissist as my damn entry is longer by an exponential factor than anyone else's on the list so far:
In case you are wondering, yes, this is embarrassing, and yes, I wish I could change it, but I'm not going to mention it because I don't want to bring more attention to myself (...other than writing a blog about it, I guess).
Some other guests include Carolyn Belefski (Magic Bullet), Rafer Roberts (FUBAR, Black Terror) and Don Simpson (Megaton Man). I'll be interested to meet Simpson for the first time, and a bit nervous about bringing up The Tick with him, but I suppose it had to happen some time.
It's kind of weird putting my own name in the title of one of these posts. But I do it for the Google.
Recently, Rafer Roberts (he of FUBAR, Magic Bullet and Plastic Farm fame) and I put together a short comic featuring several public domain stalwarts from the Golden Age of comics. World War II was almost 75 years ago, and the fighting members of that great generation, those who are still alive, are in their 90s at least. Superhero comics as we know them today owe much of their existences to the WWII era, so I thought it'd be fun to write a story about a few survivors from the first age of superhero comics.
Superman obviously wasn't available, but many comics, now nearly forgotten, feature characters who have since passed into the public domain and are free for anyone to use. Thanks in part to the Dynamite series "Project Superpowers", some of those characters have made their way back into the public spotlight, at least a little, notably the Black Terror and a few others. Along with BT, I picked up the Silver Streak, Mr. Q, The Fighting Yank and the Martian Mentalist for this story about some old folks meeting for breakfast at a diner.
Rafer, of course, knocked the story out of the park with his attention to detail and his expressive characters. The plan is to print this story in the back of an upcoming issue of Teddy and the Yeti, but for now we've posted it, in its seven-page entirety, online and free for anyone to read.
A little while ago, I received some copies of the newly-printed Magic Bullet #8 in the mail! The Magic Bullet is the DC Conspiracy oversized free comic publication, based out of the nation's capital city. I've had a few comics published through them in the past, and issue eight is no different. This issue features, as its first comic, no less, "I Hate the Moon!" Here's a tiny preview of probably my favorite scene:
"I Hate the Moon" is, I believe, the fourth comic I've submitted to the newspaper-size publication, but it's the first that I've done in color, which is rare for the MB. The art for this comic was done by the prodigious Pietro, who took my weird script about talking planets at a party and kicked everyone's butt.
The issue is full of other great, one-page comics as well, including another installment of Rafer Roberts's eerie "Nightmare the Rat".
"Time after Time" was another favorite of mine.
And oh, look! There's a Franks and Beans ad in there, as well. This is sure to attract thousands of new viewers.
I'll post the entire "I Hate the Moon" strip on this site in a few months. In the meantime, I took the issue around to a few different Pittsburgh-area shops, including Impossible Dreams in Bridgeville, PA. If you'd like to grab a copy for yourself and you're out of the area (and also away from Washington, DC, where most of the copies reside), you can order a copy online for only 99 cents! Click this link for more info: http://dcconspiracy.storenvy.com/collections/170861-all-products/products/5383270-magic-bullet-8
Many thanks to all involved with the Magic Bullet for including me in their great publication once again. It's always a treat.
Lost in the shuffle of Free Comic Book Day and other such festivities is news that a new issue of DC Conspiracy's Magic Bullet is out! Issue 6 of the Washington, DC-area free comic newspaper in on stands now, and it features an oversized, one-page comic written by me that you can read by clicking the image above.
My entry is titled "The Naked Man at the Edge of Time", and it's drawn by Kurt Belcher with inks by Jonathan Brandon Sawyer and greyscales by Tom Ziuko. It's about a guy who time travels, but has to do so naked. That's...pretty much all you need to know about it. I got the idea while reading an issue of Dark Horse Presents, specifically a story titled "The Marked Man". I just glanced over the title and had to look at it again, because I mistook "Marked" for "Naked". Who knows what kind of Freudian analysis that conjures, but let's just take it for what it's worth. Anyway, I thought the idea was funny, so here we are.
The whole issue turned out really well, if I can say so. I love the format and I love the idea of a bunch of creators getting together to work on something of this scale. It's pretty neat.
Also in the issue, FUBAR bigwig Steve Becker gets inadvertently name-dropped in a story...about...heck, it's a comedy story about a time traveler. Oh well.
This issue also features an ad for Franks and Beans! That's right, we convinced someone to actually advertise for our Internet show. I'm sure this will drive viewership through the roof...I mean, if it wasn't already. THE ROOF, I TELL YOU!
I do have plans to do more with the Naked Man. Okay, that sounds a little weird, but you know what I mean, right? The Naked Man idea. That doesn't sound any better. Whatever, there are still plans for a full length (that sounds bad in this context as well) story later this year. I'll post updates...whenever.
You know that the next volume of FUBAR is around the corner when you see the latest Kickstarter fundraiser online. This volume is the most ambitious yet and, dare I say, it's set up to be the most successful edition to date. I'm extremely proud of what we at Central Command have been able to accomplish so far and believe me when I say that the best is yet to come. Better yet, let's hear it from the soothing soundbox of head honcho Jeff McComsey, a good friend who has yet to beat me up in public:
If you have a second, head over to the FUBAR: American History Z Kickstarter page and take a look. If you've got a couple bucks to spare, perhaps you can consider supporting an indy comic that has delivered on a few separate occasions so far.
Our newest cover is by Pietro, a familiar name around these parts. There are some great rewards being offered this time around and more on the way. Check it out and spread the word!
While you're at it, you should also check out the Kickstarter page for Rafer Robert's newest Plastic Farm publication. Rafer is a fellow FUBARbarian as well as for former editor and contributor to the Magic Bullet. His name also becomes, with an added t, "Rafter". And I think that's funny. Take it away, embedded video!
I've had a few comics published in the past several years, but FUBAR: Summer Special, which is out in stores today, is the first to get mentioned (and pictured) on Diamond's Previews website. The above image is a screenshot, one that was pretty neat to see when I checked to confirm the release date.
I'm pretty excited about this book - not only does having a new book feed my ceaselessly growing ego, but the Summer Special also features work from talented folks who, unlike me, you might actually recognize and admire, such as Chuck Dixon, Tim Truman, Jeff McComsey, Steve Becker, Lonny Chant, Jim McMunn and Leonardo Pietro. I've read Chuck's story and it's really just fantastic.
I'll be at Pittsburgh Comics in McMurray, PA tonight from around 5:00-7:00 to sign copies in anyone is interested, or to just stand around and stare intently as people walk in the door. I'll have a few copies of the anthologies for sale, and I'll bring the new issue of the Magic Bullet with me! If you buy anything FUBAR related, you get the Magic Bullet, too. What a great deal! Trust me.
Pre-orders were solid on this book. I'm hoping we get the chance to make more.
DC Conspiracy's "Magic Bullet" publication is out with a new issue - its fifth - and dare I say that this is the best one yet. I recently got a big package in the mail from editor Matt Dembecki and it looked a little something like this:
The Magic Bullet, for those who don't know, is published in the greater Washington, DC area. It's a newspaper-sized publication filled with mostly one-page, self contained comics. I've been lucky to have stories see print in issues 2 and 3, and #5 sees a new strip with art by a familiar name - Duane Redhead. Duane stepped in at the last minute and really saved my bacon as the deadline approached.
This issue had a theme - the end of the world! We were allowed to interpret that as we saw fit. Even the cover reflected the end of days:
My entry, which can be seen at the very top, has another grammar joke in it. Why do I find grammar so ripe a subject for funny one page comics? Who can say, but dammit, I'll do with it what I can.
A few comics in this issue were in color, which was an exciting addition. I've got a new strip in the works that I'm hoping to place in issue #6 and I'll have to see if I can get a color spot. I'm a little over half way through this oversized issue and I must say that I'm impressed with the overall quality. I think that this little magazine is on the cusp of taking off and I'm happy to be a part of it.
If you live in the greater DC area, you should be able to find a copy at any number of locations. For my part, I'll be distributing the copies I received at three comic shops south of Pittsburgh. If you live close and want to pick up the new issue, go here:
Pittsburgh Comics, McMurray, PA
Impossible Dreams Comics, Bridgeville, PA
Evil Genius Cards and Comics, California, PA
It's time again for some random notes that YOU need to read! Yes, all of this directly affects your life, so pay attention. Case in point, the screenshot above.
- Back in 2010, I wrote a short post about musician MDMacro, who placed ads in Marvel and DC books for a while, emblazoned with the phrase "beats for reading comic books to". Obsessively checking my stats recently revealed that I was getting a few click-throughs from the MDMacro homepage, which was interesting. A quick trip to the page and I found the reason: the post is linked under the heading of a "press release":
I don't know that I'd call what I wrote a press release, but whatever. It's curious that the post was linked at all. I'm still not sure just what MDMacro is trying to accomplish with his music or his advertising, so I'd like to publicly offer to interview MDMacro for this blog. MD, I'm sure that a lot of people would like to know more about you. How about taking a few questions? I'd love it if you took me up on it.
- I voted online for the Eisner Awards. Hooray! I'm fulfilling my duty to the comic book community! The ceremony will take place at Comic-Con, which is officially one month away. I found this picture online of the crowd lined up outside for a previous years show:
Oh, man. I am doing my best to get ready for the show, and that has meant a lot of late nights recently. My wife is helping out as well. Here's a bag full of crochet yetis:
Wow! That's a lot of crochet yetis. And there are lots more here at home, too. We're gonna sell the heck out of them at Comic-Con.
Also, here's a box full of blank shirts. What could I possibly have these many blank shirts for? All will be revealed...shortly.
- New England Comics had an online sale in the last few weeks that I took full advantage of. It was a great sale! I got a bunch of books that I had been on the lookout for, and I got them super cheap. Included in this lot is a first edition Tick #1 (wooo!), a logo-less Tick #8, and the first issue of Tales Too Terrible to Tell, which has a four-page Tick story in it. If I'm remembering correctly, the story hasn't been reprinted anywhere at all.
Flipping thought the 20th Anniversary book (top left) had the added benefit of helping me identify one of the mystery artists in my Thing sketchbook. I was a familiar signature, and I grabbed my sketchbook to compare...and as luck would have it, the signatures were one and the same. I got the following sketch at the Pittsburgh Comicon in 2003, and I had since forgotten the name of the artist:
Thanks to the Tick, I was able to identify the artist as Mark Wheatley! I'm pretty happy that I was able to find this out. This is something that irked me for years.
- War of the Independents #3 came out this month, and I mentioned that Teddy and the Yeti had a small role in the book. The above picture is from the issue in question. You can see the Yeti getting zapped with the rest of the indy heroes - I almost missed this one as I flipped thought the book.
- Issue #5 of the Magic Bullet is set to come out in September, and I should have another one-page story between the covers. The folks involved in publishing the title have a Kickstarter fundraiser going on for the next 10 days or so, and there are a lot of great rewards to anyone who is inclined to donate. Check it out here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2104849681/magic-bullet-5?ref=live
- Colorist and good friend Mike Adams has been working on his creation Kung Fu Bean for a while now, and he was just involved with the release of the Kung Fu Bean mobile game! I downloaded it to my iPhone and I will say this about it...it's hard. As a player, you've got to avoid being hit by your enemies by jumping over or ducking under them, and what sounds like a simple task ends up being very challenging. I hope that the game designers put out some updates soon as I think this could be a really cool download. Regardless, it's an awesome thing to have and I wish Mike the best of luck with it!
Mike also recently came to the rescue and colored some Teddy and the Yeti pages for me at the last minute. Thanks for the assist, Mike!
- That's it for now. Back to the grind. Oh, heck, here's a picture of Franks and Beans! Yeah!
- I think I'll just post the above picture to all of my blogs, or on anything I publish, anywhere. That way when readers see it, I'll create a level of intimacy by virtue of my gentle staring from in front of a wall of comic books. That's soothing, right? A picture of Jeff McClelland looking at you from a comic shop?
This image is part of a project being undertaken by my friend Vicki, who is creating a portfolio of images of people doing what they do at work. Apparently, I stand around reading comics, which is terrifyingly close to real-life truth. You should all check out Vicki's website here: http://morisuphoto.blogspot.com/
The picture was taken at McMurray's Pittsburgh Comics. On the wall behind me is a copy of IDW's Hawken by Ben and Tim Truman. I wish I had a segue for my next item, but, oh well.
- Oh, look! It's IDW's Hawken by Ben and Tim Truman! Both gentlemen have contributed to FUBAR at one time or another, and now the crossover runs the other way, too, as Jeff McComsey (layouts, colors), Dominic Vivona (pencils) and Steve Becker (inks) put together the above incentive cover for Hawken #3, which is on sale very soon! The book is a western horror tale and it's worth picking up. So pick it up!
- I initially thought that the above strip (of which I'm showing just part) would be appearing in the soon-to-be-released Magic Bullet #4, but it now looks like it instead will be part of issue 5. It continues with the theme of one page stories that the publication is becoming known for; its title is "The Naked Man at the Edge of Time". The story deals with a naked time traveler. And yes, that's Gandhi in panels 2 and 3. My apologies, India...I know that you can be sensitive about that sometimes.
Art for this story, which was very fun to produce, is by Kurt Belcher (pencils) and Jon Sawyer (inks). I'll post more once the publication date draws near.
- A little while ago, I posted some initial art from a Charles Atlas ad parody that Duane Redhead and I were working on. As you can see, there's been more progress on this front, as the monster design as been tweaked and an old-time coloring scheme has been added by Rafer Roberts. I've got the text just about done, and then the page is off to be rendered. It's turning out very well so far, in my nowhere near objective opinion.
- One of the reasons the Thing is better than the Hulk is because the Thing isn't just some raging, mindless brute. He's a tough guy who knows how to fight, but he's also no dummy. The above image is just further proof of that. My friend Mike Adams took my suggestion for "the Thing beating up the Hulk" (which I suggest often) and put this piece together. Great work, Mike, and finally, some truth!
- A few interesting website stats caught my eye recently. First up is this phrase that I found among search terms; that is, someone (obviously I don't know who) found this blog by typing in the phrase "teddy and the yeti promo card 1 price". If, by some stroke of fortune, that person is reading this post, let me say this: I...I don't charge anything for the promo card. Seriously, if you reply to this post with a comment, I'll send you one. For free! I will.
Now that I sit back and think on this for a moment, another explanation might be that the person searching got a card at a convention and is looking to see if it's worth any money. Hrumph. That would be the less desirable explanation of the two. So I refuse to believe it.
The next interesting search term is above. Someone found this blog by searching for fellow Franks and Beans collaborator Larry Franks, and we know this person was looking for our Larry, because they even added information on the city and state. That's weird. Larry, are you searching for yourself online? You know I plug www.franksandbeansonline.com all the time. See? I did it again!
- Lastly, and speaking of Franks and Beans, here's the highly (?) anticipated and painstakingly produced 54th episode of the probably hilarious Internet comedy show. Seriously, we worked a long time on this and our entry to the Comic-Con film festival. I'd like to think that this is one of our better ones. You watch and decide! That was not a suggestion.
Charles Atlas's comic book ad - that promised to make any 98-pound weakling able to punch people in the face and get away with it - has got to be one of the most parodied comic book ad of all time. Perhaps it's because the ad is mostly in comic form, or its ostentatious essence, but whatever the reason, a Google search will reveal parodies almost too numerous to count. The famous bodybuilder must have made a killing from putting ads in comic books, because the ad below, or something similar, graced the pages of comics for years on end:
It was only a matter of time, then, as a lover of old comic book ads and a creator in some sense, that I put together my own version, which you can see at the very top of this post. I hope to get this ad in a monster comic that I've been contributing to, which explains the theme of my parody.
Art on this beauty comes from a familiar source - fellow Teddy and the Yeti creator Duane Redhead, proving that he is a man of many styles and many talents. Duane put this together in no time at all and he captured the feel of the original ad like few other parodies have. Rafer Roberts - he of the Magic Bullet publication - is graciously coloring this short piece, which I'll show off when the time is right. I'm fumbling my way through lettering, trying to sufficiently capture the older style you see in the original ad - I'm attempting to hand draw the balloons, which will probably be a horrible failure, but I've got my fingers crossed on that front.
You may recognize the monster in the top image as the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and while that monster is 100% fit for this parody, Duane went ahead and made some tweaks to the design to avoid any pesky lawsuits (I'm unsure that we couldn't have used the character as we're putting together an obvious parody, but whatever). The redesign is below, and it looks like Duane added some great Dr. Zoidberg elements to the monster this time around. "Who's intimidating who now, Big City?"
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