…filling out endless paperwork for incorporating (and not blogging)!
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Category: Cartooning
Zuda 2
Christopher Butcher over at Comics 212 has some really good stuff to say about the upcoming Zuda from DC, none of which makes me want to be part of Zuda in any way…
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Why This Cartoon Doesn’t Work (I Think) #4
OK, time for a stinker:
This one’s fairly recent, but I still dunno what I was thinking.
The art:
Not bad really. The characters pretty much look like who they’re supposed to, although the Muppet across from the Count is hard to recognize. (It’s Elmo.)
Why I felt the need to add Cookie Monster in the next room I have no idea. It just confuses things more.
The joke:
The gag was intended to be that Sesame Street characters all use the Count for their accounting needs come April 15th because he’s good with counting.
*chirp chirp chirp*
Yeah. Real knee slapper, huh?
Ahem…
The sale:
Nope. No takers, and I can’t blame them.
Ugh…
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Why This Cartoon Works (I Think) #3
OK, I’ve been blabbing on and on about non-cartoon stuff for a while again, so back to cartoon blogging with another cartoon that works, and why.
Let’s look at this cartoon:
OK. first the art:
Again, a very very simple scene. A sidewalk and a brick wall hinted at. The character, however, really took some attention to detail for the joke to work.
I hunted down every deck of cards in the house to get sort of a consensus king. Well, for the head, anyway; the body isn’t really important.
Often when I do characters like this I’ll do more of a wiggly line in the clothing and sign for a dirtier, more unkempt look, but for some reason I didn’t here.
Although I do have the font of my handwriting, I did hand letter the sign to get a more realistic look.
The joke:
To be honest, I’m not even really sure what the joke is here. Was the king himself lost during a shuffle? Did he lose his status during a shuffle? You could go even a little further afield, but those are probably the best options.
This thing is, it’s a pretty funny cartoon right off the bat. When you think about it any deeper, it’s a little odd, and then sort of confusing. Or maybe that’s just me having overanalyzed it.
Anyway, a good joke, even if I can’t really explain why.
The sale:
Sold and colored for Reader’s Digest:
I spent some time in Photoshop getting some texture and color effects, and I like how it turned out.
Often publications will remove my signature in the lower right, so I moved it up a tad and made sure it was placed within the color.
Well that’s it. Anyone have any other theories on the gag?
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Today’s Writing
One of the tricks I use when writing is to scan the newspaper for catch phrases and/or idioms I can twist around for gags.
Today, went quicker than most (about a half hour for four gags), and I thought with the extra time I’d show you how it went:
I just sorta scribble down words and phrases as I find them, and then go back to the paper for more. As I’m reading and scribbling, stuff ferments a little and ideas start coming:
- "Job Security" is one I’ve done a lot with, so no surprise that there’s nothing there today.
- "Sexual Tension" for some reason brought out the Sidney Harris is me. I thought it would be funny to have sexual tension as part of some sort of complicated formula. A little later I thought of the male and female symbols, and it all sort of fell together.
- "Legal Maneuvers" brought the Heimlich maneuver to mind, and although it took a little to whittle down the caption, I think it worked out nicely.
- "High Profile" wrote itself, and I have no idea why my sketch of a man in profile includes a ponytail.
- "Track Record" was percolating for a bit with a man interviewing in track shoes, but it never really materialized.
- "Boxed Wines" went nowhere fast.
- "Hall Czar" came from a headline about a "Telecom Czar." "War Czar" is abuzz right now, so I thought taking it down to a kid’s level would be a good way to poke some fun. It ended up a little more political and topical than I like to get, but it is what it is.
Here are the gags rewritten for further marinating in the ol’ idea box:
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