Month: March 2005

Andertoons Regime Takeover

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(Quick note here – Outstanding cartoonist and good friend Mike Lynch has agreed to take over the blog for the next five days. Unfortunately when I explained to Mike how everything worked, I neglected to tell him how wide the graphics could be. Mike did a beautiful first post with great art, but, thanks to me, the art was all just a tad too big. So, I’ve resized each piece for the blog itself, but now you can also click on each graphic to see it at the size Mike intended. Anyway, enjoy Mike’s contributions, and I’ll see you next week!)


Hi, I’m Mike Lynch and I’m subbing for Mark Anderson while he takes this week off. Please be advised that my opinions do not reflect Andertoons or its subsidiaries.



Thanks to my dad (or blame, depending on how sales are going ) handing down his “Pogo” books, and his “Barnaby” collection, I always was dabbling in cartoons.

I went to school, moved to NYC …




I began a career as a college administrator. Developed a side career illustrating recital posters for the music students at the conservatory where I worked and sold the occasional cartoon. I changed careers, doing desktop publishing and computer graphics for Goldman Sachs and Deloitte & Touche. But I always dreamed of being a full-time cartoonist and a member of the National Cartoonists Society.

In late 1999, I left my last salaried position and went freelance full-time. After a couple of attempts to get a strip syndicated, I started doing single panel cartoons and submitting them to the magazines.



After 6 months, when I had about 100 cartoons in circulation to the various markets, sales started to dribble in. Since then, I have sold hundreds of cartoons to publications in North America and Europe and am co-chair of the Long Island Chapter of the NCS (the Berndt Toast Gang).

A question cartoonists are often asked is, “Where do you get your ideas?” This guy,



Esquire cartoonist Dan A Runyan, figured out a way to answer that question and make a buck doing it. He developed the “Laugh Finder”, a Depression-era “computer” for aspiring cartoonists I recently came across on EBAY. From the cover: “The Laugh Finder is a collection of the fundamental sources of humor that keep repeating themselves in cartoons…. With this comprehensive collection of cartoon fundamentals, the variety of combinations you can create from them is almost infinite. You simply spin for your combinations.” Who needs to write gags? Who could resist?



Above is the front of the thing. It opens up like this …

… revealing long lists of characters, places, accessories — and the spinner that you use to put all the elements together:

So, by following the directions, I have all the elements I need! Hmm. I spin the dial to get my characters (dinosaur, party guest), an accessory (door) and a “basics of humor” situation (embarassment):

Yep, this thing’s gonna pay for itself in no time!

See ya tomorrow! — Mike

A Well Earned Vacation

andertoons

My wife teaches first grade and has next week off for spring break, so I’m playing along and taking a well deserved break as well.

No new art, no writing (unless stuff pops into my head) and no blogging.

But fear not, gentle reader, your favorite cartoon blog will continue with hot cartoon news thanks to cartoon compatriot Mike Lynch, who’s been kind enough to accept an offer to guest-blog next week.

Mike’s not only a good friend, but a wonderful cartoonist whose work challenges me to try to stay at the top of my game.

I’m sure you’ll enjoy what he has to say as he’s a wealth of knowledge on all thing cartoon!

So, see you in a week or so, and play nice with Mike. Peace out!

Adult Swim Wants You! (To Be Funny…)

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Adult Swim

Lately I’ve been really into the whole Clone Wars thing over on Cartoon Network, and in my surfings I ran across this article.

It’s a nice look behind the scenes at Adult Swim.

Hopeful writers often have no concept of what Adult Swim wants. Someone once pitched Weidenfeld a feature-film length script about a woman who discovers she has breast cancer, becomes a yoga instructor, finds love and recovers. In other words, the perfect Lifetime movie, but completely wrong for the fast-paced, “something different” comedy that the Adult Swim audience expects.

Many pitches are derivative twists on other Adult Swim shows, starring more defunct superheroes and classic cartoons. “People pour their hearts into these things, and they just aren’t funny,” says Weidenfeld. “It’s like I break 10 people’s hearts every day.”

But Adult Swim needs fresh ideas. The staff is stretched thin with many people working triple duty on multiple projects. “There’s like three people at [Atlanta’s] Williams Street [lab],” says Weidenfeld, exaggerating for effect. “They can’t produce any more shows.”

Maybe I’ll have to send them something. It’d be a nice change from syndicate rejection.

Check out the whole article here…

Mark Heath at The Comics Reporter

andertoons

Spot the Frog creator, and frequent Andertoons Blog commenter, Mark Heath is the subject of a fascinating interview over at The Comics Reporter.

Not only is Mark a brilliant cartoonist, but he’s a great writer as well. Check out this thoughtful excerpt:

“By default I have a Pogo-like strip — in the way that a rowboat might suggest an ocean liner because both can float and take on passengers. But few would confuse one for the other. And Peanuts — my prime inspiration — is so big I can’t really see it whole. It’s just there, informing everything I do. I don’t like to compare my strip to others because it would be ridiculous — I’m the flea dodging an elephant’s foot. I’d rather hop onto the elephant’s back and see how far I can go.”

The whole interview is like that! Dont miss this! Go read now!