The Grimm Ben record label

The Thing shows up in some random places, but one of the strangest places for ol' Ben Grimm to appear, in my opinion, has been on a vinyl 45 for a Jamaican reggae label. And thus, we shall briefly discuss the Grimm Ben record label, or as I see it, that one time Ben and Johnny had a wild idea to become music executives, only to somehow uncover a nefarious plan by Doc Doom to destroy the Fantastic Four once and for all with reggae.

In the 1970s and early '80s, reggae DJ and record producer Jah Thomas oversaw the Grimm Ben label that released a couple dozen records, each bearing the image of the Thing on the vinyl discs. I was able to grab the above 45 with "Pants and Blouses" by Ranking Toyan on one side and "Major Disease Dub Part 2" on the other. Hey, do we want to listen to "Pants and Blouses"? Why not:

The label is obviously unauthorized, but that didn't stop our friends from Jamaica from not only using Ben Grimm's full name, but also slapping his face on the records as well. Give the people what they want, and what they want is the Thing, Marvel approved or not!

I'd love to know who drew the image that adorns this label. Also, according to a random '80s issue of Dazzler, the Thing knows how to play the saxophone. Do with that what you will.

It's worth pointing out that there is also a soul band named the Fantastic Four that was active around the same time, but as far as I know, wasn't connected to the Grimm Ben label. What a Marvel Two-in-One that could have been!

ALSO! My friends, I have moved on from Twitter.

This is for a few reasons. First, let's face it, Twitter has been swirling the drain for the last few years (if only we could determine what happened a few years ago), and in recent months, interactions there have just been terrible. I joined Twitter over a decade ago and it has helped my comic book career by connecting me with a lot of great artists, creators and publishers, but it was time to go.

Next, Twitter is making some rather aggressive moves to force all of its users to allow their content to be used to train their AI program. That's dumb, and I hate it, and that's a good enough reason to leave in and of itself.

I'd love to spend less time on social media in general, but for now, I've migrated to Bluesky, and I hope you'll follow me there if you'd like!

One last thing about Twitter's AI plans - I made sure to delete all of my previous tweets (a bittersweet moment, but what can you do) by using the program Redact. It took a really long time, but in the end it wiped my page clean.

As Tobias Fünke would say, I've made ANUSTART.

My Disenchantment pitch comic - "Baby Trail Fairy Tale" with Dani Grew

Following up on the previous Disenchantment post, I thought I'd offer up a look at a pitch comic that artist Dani Grew and I made for Comic-Con 2019. My intention was to use this as a pitch to Bongo Comics, which published Simpsons Comics, Futurama Comics, and was overseen (in a broad sense) by Matt Groening.

I knew some folks with the company and I felt pretty good about the quality of the story, but when I got to Comic-Con and made my way to the Bongo booth, I found out that the company in the process of closing up shop, at least for the time being. The lack of a Disenchantment comic is a big oversight in the licensed comic game, and I have to believe that several companies would leap to publish it if it were available. Maybe it'll happen one day!

This comic takes place during the first season, of course, but I think that I got the characters' voices right despite only having a few episodes to work from. I hope you enjoy this Disenchantment comic!

Executive producer Josh Weinstein posted this on Twitter a few days ago. The bottle of mermaid mead was apparently given to some of the folks who worked on the show. Maybe one will (quietly?) show up on eBay one day!

Bean & Mora, together forever on my shelf (or at least 'til an earthquake.) pic.twitter.com/QyJ8dL90oW

— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) January 17, 2021

My Disenchantment fan kit for season three

We're all watching the newest season of Disenchantment on Netflix, right? I love this series and I think that the newly-released season three is really compelling, funny and exciting. For all of the obvious reasons, this show feels like an extension of Futurama, which is one of my all-time favorite programs.

For reasons unknown to me, a marketing company contacted me a few weeks back about sending me a press kit-like "watch party" box in anticipation of the new season. I, of course, hastily accepted, and just a few days ago, a package arrived with a box of Disenchantment-branded items. I thought I'd show them off, with many thanks to ChizComm Media and the folks at the show!

Any collector knows that the box is a big part of any presentation. This one was simple but I really love the logo sticker on the lid. This is why I will be keeping the box forever.

The stuff inside the box was also pretty exciting. Here's how it looked, packed with black and gold confetti.

First up! Here's a fleece throw featuring the demon Luci.

Next, here's a Funko Pop! figure of King Zøg, voiced by John DiMaggio, Futurama's Bender. Zøg goes through some really harrowing stuff this season, and DiMaggio does an absolutely incredible job with his voice, as he wrings every last drop of emotion from this character. He's also the voice of the talking horse!

Next up is a Luci plush figure. These were on sale at Comic-Con in 2019, and it's the only Disenchantment merchandise I didn't buy at the time. Since then, they've jumped quite a bit in value and have been hard to find in general, so getting one here, for free, was a huge treat. 

Next is also an item I saw - and bought - at Comic-Con 2019. It's the Disenchantment "Untold Tales" book. This oversized book is part comic, part activity magazine, and was the last thing put together by the old Bongo Comics team before they unfortunately shut down the imprint. Now I've got a second copy! I'll give it to one of my nephews when they're a little older.

Also in the box was a Disenchantment 2021 calendar!

Lastly, there's a cup - and this might be the only item that isn't available elsewhere. But look! There's something inside the cup:

It's a bag of carmel corn, with a Disenchantment sticker on the front. I'm kind of grateful that there was a small tear in the bag, because it means that I'll have to actually eat it, rather than agonizing about whether I should try and save a bag of popcorn for the rest of my life. I, uh, will keep the bag, but at least one decision was taken out of my hands.

I also...made a video of me taking these things out of the box, and I put it on Twitter! You can watch it here, if you'd like, I guess:

The fine folks at @Disenchantment HQ sent me a box of stuff in anticipation of tonight’s season 3 premiere on @Netflix! For your enjoyment, I unbox it before your very eyes: pic.twitter.com/sm74VoOPDd

— Jeff McClelland (@JeffMcClelland) January 14, 2021

I'm not entirely sure why the folks at the show decided to send me this box, but I'm extremely grateful for it. I would no doubt be watching this show in any case, but I guess it gets me to try and spread the word a little more than I otherwise would have. If you're not watching this show - and especially if you like Futurama - then you absolutely need to! Check it out on Netflix!

Watch Ian Nichols draw The Tick! (And some other Tick news!)

Ian Nichols, my friend and artist on The Tick, is filming and streaming some video of his drawing board for all to see. Starting pretty soon - February 26th and continuing on Wednesdays, Ian will be sitting down and drawing different characters and subjects and letting the world get a look, too. These will be streamed on a bunch of different platforms and archived on YouTube. Check out this video of the announcement, with The Tick!

Ian often gives the drawings to someone who shares the video as it's streaming, so you could get some really great art out of the bargain, too.

I guess Ian has two YouTube channels. Why would someone do this? Is one a burner account? Anyway, here's a (much longer) video of The Tick and Caped Cod from about a year ago:

If anyone's interested in the process of drawing comics, I hope you'll check out Ian's videos. It's a good behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to make comics.

OTHER TICK NEWS!

There are a few other items to pass along, if you're interested in reading more about The Tick. First, New England Comics is reprinting the 2019 convention issue (this'll be...the fourth printing??) just for their Massachusetts-area stores with a new cover by Ian Nichols.

The issue is limited to 1000 copies and, from what I understand, hasn't gone on sale yet. Why not, you might ask? I...do not know. Please sell them, NEC. I would like to get a few copies, myself.

The 2020 Free Comic Book Day Tick Special has been announced, and here's a look at the cover, once again by Ian! This image will actually stretch across both the front and back cover, which I think is really exciting! This one has a lot going for it, including Thrakkorzog, the Ninja Hedge, the Terror, a...cave? Anyway, I really enjoyed seeing this cover.

The folks over at Free Comic Book Day have a preview of the issue online now, in case you want to check it out, here: https://freecomicbookday.com/Catalog/JAN200034

The cult classic character #TheTick is rebooted in this latest comedy series starring #PeterSerafinowicz and #GriffinNewman.

The Complete Series will be available on #DVD tomorrow: https://t.co/BZ78zrtrgR pic.twitter.com/WrvxZPTAAE

— Via Vision (@viavisionent) February 11, 2020

Lastly, the Amazon Tick complete series is on sale...in Australia. It is a legitimate release. Did I get a copy? Yes. Is it formatted so that I can actually watch it? I don't know. But I'm glad to get a DVD copy of this show in any case. I hope that there's an official US release (in HD, hopefully) to follow soon.

I'm a guest at the 2019 Rhode Island Comic Con!

Please welcome @JeffMcClelland & @IanCNichols to @ricomiccon, presented by @NIROPE, coming November 1-3 at the @RIConvention & @DunkinDonutsCtr! Buy tickets at https://t.co/g2MAF7118g!#ricomiccon #rhodeislandcomiccon @TweetProvidence @ProvidenceRI @RITourism @comicconbyar pic.twitter.com/SkIh8ejCmC

— Rhode Island Comic Con (@ricomiccon) August 10, 2019

It's been a while since I've been to a comic convention that wasn't in San Diego or New York, and it's been...well...forever since I was actually an invited guest to a convention, so we're all surprised (right?) that I'll be a guest at the 2019 Rhode Island Comic Con in Providence. The show will be held on November 1st through the 3rd, which is coming up...pretty soon!

So how did this happen? Well, perhaps it had something to do with the fact that my friend Ian Nichols (pictured above, not with a goat) has worked to put together some Tick-centric programming at the show, and was kind enough to involve me in some of it. Along with Ian and myself, the show is bringing along some very cool Tick actors to the convention: Patrick Warburton, Peter Serafinowicz and Griffin Newman! New England Comics will also be set up with an RICC-exclusive issue of The Tick, and I'm hearing that there will be a Tick panel at some point over the weekend.

There will also be a bunch of other comic creators and celebrities, there, including a number of Star Trek actors. Will I abuse my green room privileges and try to talk with George Takei? I guess we'll have to find out!

For my part, I'll have a booth and I'll bring with me a number of recent publications, such as the Black Terror graphic novel, the first issue of Sister Powers, and of course some Tick items. You can find more information on the convention here: https://www.ricomiccon.com. If you're in the area, come watch me defiantly wear my Steelers gear on Sunday while shouting insults to anyone who has something to say about the local cheaters football team! It should be a lot of fun.

"Sister Powers" miniseries from Keenspot - and an Inktober mini-comic!

Hey everyone. Did you realize that I wrote a series that's out now from Keenspot? I will admit that it kind of caught me by surprise, too.

"Sister Powers" is a book that I wrote quite a number of years ago under the title "Faith and Charity" (after the two main characters) with artist Mario Wytch. Mario and I have known each other for a while, and we've worked together on a few stories that have been published - FUBAR and a short Teddy and the Yeti story among them. Faith and Charity was a story that I enjoyed, but had filed away for some time. I never really expected it to go anywhere. So I was surprised when, earlier this summer, I got a message from Mario letting me know that not only was he drawing it, but that it was going to be published as a three-issue limited series from Keenspot.

Mario was kind enough to let me go back through the script and make a few pre-publication edits. It had been about 13 years since I wrote the story and I was worried that not everything would've held up in the time that had passed. I was happy to see that I still liked most of it, and what I didn't like (mostly melodrama) could be fixed with a new line or two.

I met Mario in person - for the first time in my life - at Comic-Con in July. He had a booth with Keenspot, and a banner for the book under its new title. I do like the logo, which does, of course, take some inspiration from DC's "Super Powers" book from the '80s. Keenspot had a preview book to hand out with a short introduction to the characters in it that I was able to snag.

The first issue of the series came out in September, and it's (probably?) still available through Diamond. The next issue comes out in December, and the final issue of the miniseries follows in March (I think).

Mario and I worked on a new short story with the characters that we're releasing a panel at a time for Inktober. Should I use the hashtag for that? #Inktober? Sure.

We're posting the panels to various social media, and if you'd like to follow along, you can start here with this Twitter post:

For #Inktober this year, @MarioWytch and I are creating a six-page, 31-panel comic where we work on and release one panel per day for the entire month! Here’s the first installment of our story titled “We All Wear Masks”: pic.twitter.com/PRzpCSlJ38

— Jeff McClelland (@JeffMcClelland) October 2, 2019

Here's the Diamond Previews information for issue #2, out in December!

"Scoops Ahoy" Stranger Things costumes at Comic-Con

"Stranger Things" is one of those phenomenons that I can unabashedly get behind. Yes, it's a nostalgia-fest from beginning to end, but I love the characters and how well those behind the curtain seem to understand all of the tropes they're paying homage to. Plus, it allows us all to tell jokes like this:

Strange Things by the Duff Brothers

Stranger Things by the Duffer Brothers

Strangest Things by the Duffest Brothers

— Ciara Knight (@Ciara_Knight) October 30, 2017

When I went to Comic-Con in July, the third season of the show had only been available to watch on Netflix for a few weeks, so on Preview Night, I was excited to see some people dressed up in the "Scoops Ahoy" ice cream shop outfits that featured prominently in the season. This kind of snowballed and I ended up seeing dozens of different takes on these characters. I realize that the costume isn't the most difficult to duplicate and doesn't require, say, the extensive makeup that you might see for other Comic-Con-featured characters, but it was still really impressive to witness just a few weeks after the show aired. I think it speaks to the show's popularity with the young-adult-and-older crowd.

After seeing a whole bunch of these costumes, I decided to take a picture of whomever I saw wearing one. I didn't get them all, but I ended up with quite a few, so I thought I'd share them all here. This was, by far, the most popular costume that I saw at the show.

There were quite a few more where I just wasn't quick enough to snap a picture, and naturally, plenty of others that I never even saw in the vast expanse that is Comic-Con.

On Thursday of the show, I decided to share some of these pictures on Twitter:

By far the most popular costumes at #ComicCon on Thursday: #ScoopsAhoy #StrangerThings pic.twitter.com/778FDdiawk

— Jeff McClelland (@JeffMcClelland) July 18, 2019

This has, curiously, become my most popular Tweet ever (praise me, Internet), probably because the official Stranger Things account responded thusly:

putting seven tally marks in the You Rule column because of these

— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) July 20, 2019

That was pretty neat, right? You can, uh feel free to like the original Tweet and give me further Internet validation.

So. When's season four coming out?

The new Yeti store on Etsy! And other blog updates!

I, uh, don't know why it took me years to do this, but I finally opened up an online store on Etsy! I suppose that I never felt that I had enough products to really merit managing one, but whatever the reason, I've got a new store that you can find at etsy.com/shop/teddyandtheyeti.

Naturally, what precipitated this was the "Weird Al" Yankovic Strings Attached tour. I worked on three official tour posters and, since they've been announced and released, people have been contacting me about buying them. Now they can buy them! And some people HAVE bought them! Look at that.

Along with the tour posters, I also have...well, some other Weird Al stuff that I've made over the past few years. I'm still considering what I should add with regards to comic books and the like, but for now, I at least have copies of the recently released Black Terror: Social Insecurity on hand as well as some enamel pins that went along with the campaign. The graphic novel is hefty enough to hopefully make it worth buying and paying for shipping (plus, perhaps you will like reading it). The shop is open! Hooray!

I've also updated this ol' blog slightly in recent days. Right under the header sits a few links - a few more than there used to be, as it turns out.

A while ago, I created a Tumblr account (just in time for people to stop using that platform), and I have posted some of my shorter comics there. I used to house some of them on one of the internal blog pages, but it just wasn't easy to read. So the Tumblr page has some of my comics stored and ready to view! Here's the direct link: teddyandtheyeti.tumblr.com

There's also a new link that takes you to one of the aforementioned internal pages, titled "publications and credits". I created this page not just so that I can remember what stuff I have worked on. Every year, the New York Comic Con professional badge application has a line that asks you what you've worked on before, as well as for a professional website. And I never feel like I'm putting my best foot forward in that (very) limited space. There's just not enough room to make a case for yourself if you're like me, someone who legitimately works in the comic industry, but doesn't have a lot of name recognition. So I made this page to list a lot of the things I've worked on to hopefully make a better case for myself in the future. I almost always end up getting a professional badge before the show, but it's not always an easy process.

So, hey, you can look at a semi-comprehensive publication list for myself if the mood ever strikes you late at night.

Oh, and there's also a Twitter link! You can click on that and see my Twitter page. I guess. If you want to. I talk about the Steelers a lot on there.

There's more for me to do to clean up this site a little more. The gigantic word cloud on the right of this page amuses me, so it can stay, even though it's a help to almost certainly no one. But a number of the other links and widgets are a bit outdated, and they need to be either updated or dumped. There are only a certain number of hours in the day, though (it's a mystery as to exactly how many, unfortunately), so those will take a little longer. Sometimes I think that I should just choose a new layout entirely for this site. But I fear change! So it stays for now.

Thanks for reading this, I guess! Back to Comic-Con pictures.

Pictures from the 2017 Comic-Con International, part 2: Wednesday, 7/19

Wednesday night of Comic-Con is only open to those who have four-day passes to the show, and it's titled "preview night", but it's really just a mad dash and a frenzied rush as attendees get a head start on the convention. I have to think that in years to come, hours will expand for this day and it'll become something closer to a full day in most other regards, too. This year, the show floor opened at 5:30, a half hour before the advertised time, so maybe we're slowly getting there.

I showed up a few hours early to finish setting up the booth and to take a stroll around the floor before the doors opened. One of the first in line at the rear entrance was this guy:

I talked to him for a minute and learned that he was a writer for the Bleeding Cool website. His Tick paraphernalia came from the offsite location, which was open to press only on Wednesday. I was, of course, stunned to see all of the gear - he gave me a pair of antennae, which was a nice gesture. The voice of Comic-Con spoke out at the end of our conversation, announcing that the hall was open, but the security guards at the doors didn't seem to hear it and held up this line from entering for a solid minute, which I'm sure drove everyone waiting absolutely crazy.

I grabbed a few things at the starting bell and made it onto social media as a result:

1st ever sale of The Tick Pixel Party toy radly went to The Tick writer @JeffMcClelland! Get yours at booth 1234.#TheTick #SDCC #sdcc2017 pic.twitter.com/XoDemSbSe0

— PIXEL PARTY (@PixelPartyOn) July 20, 2017

The first booth I visited was the Pixel Party booth, where I bought their new Tick pixelated action figure, which I think is really great. I got a chance to talk to a few of the people at the company - all great guys who are excited about The Tick.

Also can't forget to thank the first person to swing by and get a pack of Comic Book All Star Trading Cards! Drop by booth 2547 & get yours! pic.twitter.com/6jJKWGkF47

— comiXology (@comiXology) July 20, 2017

Next I hit up the ComiXology booth to get the third set of comic book creator trading cards (which is as absurd as it sounds). I would go to great lengths to get my face on one of their cards, just saying.

Almost as soon as the doors opened, the place was swamped with backpacked individuals.

I saw Andrew Aydin, artist on the "March" series, at the IDW booth!

Lockjaw made an appearance promoting the new Inhumans show.

...there were more crowds of people...

Near the end of the night, I saw Luke McGarry and got my first Thing sketch of Comic-Con 2017 (in the new Thing sketchbook)! McGarry is probably best known for "Sad Chewie", but I knew him because he drew Weird Al in a Festival Supreme 2016 poster - which I was also able to buy at the booth. I got some great Thing sketches this time around.

Preview night ended up being 3.5 hours this year, which never feels like enough, but I managed to get a good amount done in that time. After walking through the Gaslamp District and getting some pizza, I called it a night.

That's it for Wednesday. I'll post pictures for Thursday soon!