Blogger seems to be having issues today....

I'll post art tomorrow.
Happy Halloween, by the way.
Also, note I've been adding links, all required surfing, I assure you.
In the meantime, I'll give a few shout outs to some folks who've posted here:
"Jenny" from the Blackwing Diaries, and Blackwing Sketchbook;
the esteemed theoretician, Edward Fitzgerald (is that how you spell "theoretician?");
fine artist June Parrish Cookson;
Tom Dougherty, who tried to instuct me via post on how to add links (many thanks, Tom!);
the very astute "newsboyarizona", who, when I mentioned Capt. Marvel as one of my favorite superheroes, asked whether I was referring to C.C. Beck's creation, or Marvel Comic's "Mar-VELL"! For the record, I really had the 40's/Fawcett Comics character in mind, but I actually do like Mar-Vell, in a weird kind of way. I'm not so into the early green and white uniformed, Gene Colan character, but once he puts on that red, splashy costume, I thought he was kind of rad...."FaanTASTIC!"--K-TANNGG!!
Also, much love to my boys Al Pardo and Mike Carlo, who used to torture me when I'd show up at work in the morning by giggling as they watched lousey cartoons like "Friend in Your Face".

Is it hot in here, or is it just me...?

THE SCARLET WEDGIE!

A million years ago, oh God, way before the Earth's crust cooled, Keith Giffen and Andy Helfer (then plotter and editor at DC Comics, respectively) asked me to write the JUSTICE LEAGUE.
THE JUSTICE LEAGUE!
What an honor, especially for a guy who was only 23 at the time.
Of course, like any good, lazy, didn't know an awesome opportunity when it hit him in the face 23 year old, I ignored the invitation, and never did a goddam bit of work towards that end, letting it fritter away and pass.
Shockingly, Keith still wanted to work with me, and five years after the JLA incident, invited me to draw a concept he'd created called the SCARLET WEDGIE. Keith had written and layed out an 8 page story, and wanted me to do the final art.
Now, I was a stupid 23 year old, but a much, much smarter 28 year old! Dutifully, I drew up the story!
Shortly after I'd drawn it, the publisher that was going to print the job went belly up, and that's that.
There you go.
I still have the original art--never seen before by anyone, but I really prefer not to show it. It just stinks.
Quasi Spumco/Kurtzman. Poorly spotted blacks. Just not that good.
The best thing that exists from Keith's concept that I generated is this little piece, used as a portion of a cover for WIZARD (if I remember correctly), which was promoting the new publisher before it fell apart. The color guide was beautifully excecuted by Bill Wray.

I haven't heard from Keith Giffen since then.
Give a call, Keith, I'm ready and available to work!

...Found it...

Located that Big Boy Comics sample that I did.
It's just scan of a xerox, I've no idea where the original went to.
This is okay, I think. I'd draw things a little bit differently today.
Nice spotting of blacks, though, feels nice and rich, with a bit
of depth.
Not so crazy about the way I drew the eyes.
Whatever....

More development drawings for Pilot

These were fun to draw, and I don't think they came out too badly.

Storyboard, part 1

Deleted scene from my third "test" storyboard, which I thought was my best.

Storyboard, part 2

Bad-Ass Kid!

Too cool for School!!

Cool kids

You wish you could hang out with them.

Dorky Kids

Note the dorkiness.

Kyle does Vinnie

Years ago, Robbie Busch and I egged Kyle Baker on to draw like his former boss, Vinnie Coletta.
This is what Kyle drew.
I kept it.
Kyle never finished it, didn't letter it or nothing, but the joke is

(wait for it......)
that the girl in the foreground is whistful.
Because her portly boyfriend has bigger
knockers than she has.
Note: Kyle, with a bit of direction from Robbie and I, managed to get that romantic, wall-eyed quality to his female that Vinnie was so adept at!
In the same sitting, Kyle banged out an illustration inspired by Atlas-era Marvel Monsters, called CHEESOR (complete with an Artie Simek style logo.)
But I lost Cheesor somewheres, dang it.

On the Run

Kids,
I've got some good stuff to show you, including a Kyle Baker piece, but I'm on the run today, and will post stuff tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime, make sure you check your local listings to see when Comedy Central's DRAWN TOGETHER is airing. My friend Pete Avonzino, the show's supervising director, tells me new episodes of DT are on, and you might catch a glimpse of some of my boardwork for the program!
Best to all,
SDe

Fleischer Drawing Theories, Part One

Again, this art was created for the animators at MainFrame during production on the Popeye Holiday special.

...and remember, Folks---

One of the all time best restaurant-bathroom notes I've ever encountered.

Big Boy

If Big Boy is not one of the finest spokes-characters of all time, I'll eat a bug!
(That's two bugs I'm slated to digest, if you're following my blog....)

Several years ago, I tested to be the artist on the Big Boy comic book, which then was distributed through the various Big Boy restaurants nationwide (I don't know if they still publish the comic or not...). The editors were impressed with the drawings I generated (shown here), but ultimately I priced myself out of the job. Not a big deal (my friend Craig Boldman was writing the book, and it would have been fun to work on it with him), but I do kind of dig the samples I cooked up. Somewhere, I've got the comic page I inked, I'll have to find that and post it soon.

I LOVE CHRIS MITCHELL

Chris did this self-portrait over ten years ago,
and today, surprisingly, he does in fact look exactly
like this drawing.

THESE LINKS DON'T RUN!

But they do work.
Test 'em, go ahead, you'll see.
If they don't work, I'll eat
a bug.

Alien Baby

Folks, I just wanted to quickly plug my new strip (handsomely aided by
Pete "Gweelok" Browngardt's loopy humor) appearing in the WEEKLY WORLD
NEWS. It's called ALIEN BABY, based on reports previously published
in that esteemed paper. It began running a couple of weeks ago, and
I'd really like to know what folks out there think about it. Lemme know!
best,
Sde

Lousey Links, an Ode to my Uncle

You'll notice I've got two links up. Over there, you should be able to see 'em.
But don't click on them. They don't work.
I've tried.
They worked at one time, last night, but I messed with them, and now they're
garbage.
But I'll figure this business out, no doubt with Uncle Phil Rynda's help.
Phil very patiently, very calmly walked me through the process last night, as
he's patiently and calmly helped me out on several other occassions in the
past. He's a good guy to have in your corner, that Phil is. An Italian Boy! (with
some Polish stock in him, to be sure, but still a paisan.)
I like Phil, a lot. I like his weird obsession with South American cartoonists.
I like his Grandma Carmella---his whole family in fact.
I like his screwy little drawing of a chihuahua, which I'm posting
here, alongside an Argentine original, with its overlay, which
Phil generously gave me a few months ago.
Phil helps me continuously, he's like that, and one time in the past,
I thanked him, and asked him how he got so adept,
so capable at helping.
"I am the sh*t!", he replied jokingly,
but he's right.

Suggested Reading

I'm rereading Tom DeHaven's FUNNY PAGES now, and I have to say, I'm enjoying it now perhaps more than
I did the first time I read it, about 20 years ago (I almost never re-read books, but this is, I think, my third
read for this novel.)
For anyone interested in a good book, I'd recommend it, I think it's a terrific novel--wonderfully written,
but for cartoonists, I think it's almost required. Set in the late 19th century New York
City (I'm a sucker for turn of the century NYC stories anyway), it basically tells a fictional story of the birth of the
Sunday Comics Section. Such a good read, I think.
DeHaven wrote two sequels, one set during the depression, the other during the underground comix
period of the 60's, and I've read the first sequel, haven't the second, but really much preferred the original book. I believe
they're all still in print, and available on Amazon, or wherever you chose to purchase books.

A good companion piece for that novel is THE WORLD ON SUNDAY, a coffee table art-book, showcasing
nicely reproduced scans from some of the earliest color Sunday Sections featured in Joseph Pulitzer's
New York World Newspaper.

And speaking of the funnies, you gotta go out and get the latest WALT AND SKEEZIX. I
mean, you gotta. GASOLINE ALLEY is truely a work of genius, in my opinion, and
this volume following the adopted Skeezix's second year living with the kindly and
portly Walt also reprints a short bit of a GUMPS continuity. Holey Moses, how could you not
get it? Fellers, kids---if the names of these strips mean nothing to you, and they may not,
please, please do whatever you gotta do to learn more about them.

Unused Storyboard Drawings, plus one

From a scene cut from the Ren and Stimpy cartoon, AN ABE DIVIDED.
This was the second cartoon I'd ever storyboarded, and, thankfully,
a huge leap in quality from my first board (I'm
not saying it was a good board, I'm saying I'd improved by this time, mainly thanks
to the contributions and support from Bill Wray).
It's sometimes quite odd for me to look at these old pieces,
drawing as I do now---I simply don't get
some of the drawing choices I made. Whatever--I was young.
I've done a new drawing, just minutes ago, based on the straining
chicken, which I've posted below: