Day Gig Art

AllstarMy first job out of college was as a salesman for Allstar Fasteners, a manufacturer of screws in the Chicago burbs.

I was hanging up my trombone and starting to figure out cartooning and was also interested in the internet. I managed to convince the owners to invest in a website to increase sales.

The two owners are good guys and didn’t want to appear vane by posting a photo of themselves, but agreed some mention of them was appropriate at the end of the online “tour.” So they hired a caricaturist to come in and draw them.

The results were mediocre at best; the kind of drawing you’d get a the fair or something. So I redrew them was able to justify drawing on company time.

Thus began years of finding ways to cartoon at my day gig; sometimes for company projects, sometimes when no one was looking.

Anyway, here’s some early art that was probably my very first online:

Rogerandal

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Toons in Stereo

I’ve recently been looking for an engaging (and hopefully quiet) toy for my son to help ease the arrival of his upcoming little sister.

We’re not huge fans of toys that play for kids. You know — press this button and watch it wiggle, blink and play music. I hate those.

So we’ve considered Tinkertoys, ColorForms, K’Nex and the like. But the one that most caught the cartoonist’s fancy in me was the good old Fisher-Price ViewMaster.

While looking for reels to go with it, I found this great site with plenty of recent, and not-so-recent sets available.

Here’s just a few of my faves:

Smvm-1“Clark Kent’s first job on the Daily Planet Was reporting the opening of the Moon Gem Depository. Meanwhile, the arch criminal Mikro planned to steal the Moon Gem, but first Superman needed to be gotten rid of. Aided by his robot, Computer Crook Mikro went to work. And in the end Superman had saved the Moon Gem!”

Word is Mikro’s working on yet another diabolical plan code-named “Vista.”

Bjvm“Bazooka Joe and his little pal. Herman, like most of the kids in Prairie City, headed for the Big Top when they heard the Dingling Brothers Circus was in town. And their great adventure began there …”

Hollywood insiders report a current bidding war for an adaptation already creating a lot of Oscar buzz.

Hmvm-1“Stanley says, Gramps, I don’t know whether I can fill those magic shows like you did. Just then they hear fire alarms. The library is on fire! Stanley puts on the magic shoes and … whoosh, Hammerman saves the librarian from the burning building. Well done, Stanley! More adventures of Hammerman and the archenemy Marmeister. From the 1990 TV series.”

Parachute pants in 3D! What’s not to love?!

BbvmNo description on this one is listed, but I’m betting Beetle gets the crap beaten out of him after sleeping too late.

I’d buy it though if it had that hottie Ms. Buxley!

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Yes, I’m a Nerd…

sp3…and probably the 500th fanboy posting this as you read it, but Spider-Man has always been my kinda superhero (gotta love a smartass) and I’ve really dug the first two flicks.

There’s apparently a new poster out for the upcoming Spider-Man 3 (click thumbnail to enlarge) featuring our webhead in a black suit. If you don’t know what that implies, I won’t ruin it.

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