NEW COMICS IN NICK MAGAZINE

I've got a story in the latest issue of NICKELODEON MAGAZINE (it's got Spidey on the cover, if you're into that sort of thing). It's a two page SPONGEBOB tale called STARING CONTEST, which I co-wrote with Big Pete Browngardt. It's pretty cute, I think. Also in the issue is a funny animal story drawn by NY Comix notable Bob Sikoryak, written by my old INSTANT PIANO chum, Robbie Busch!
Again, pretty cute!

EVAN AND THE DORKIDS

I found more dorky kids in my files, for you fans of that kind of thing, out there in Blogoland.
Also, me inking an Evan Dorkin sketch. I think we did this at Kyle's apartment, just screwing around.
Trying to make INSTANT PIANO come together.
Believe it or don't, that was almost 20 years ago.

SHANK TO END ALL SHANKS

BY DONS SHANK

STAGE 1

STAGE 2

STAGE 3

STAGE 4

STAGE 5.

Friends, thus ends our exploration into all things Shank. I've no more of his drawings, or at least more is not handily visible in my files. For more of Don's work, I direct you to his blog, via my links section.
One final note: the word "plotte" in Stage 1 is in reference to Julie Doucet's comic DIRTY PLOTTE, which Don seemed infatuated with after I'd introduced it to him, many years ago.

Jetsons Layout

Yet another gift from the ever generous Bill Wray.
I made a trade many years ago with Bill, and I swear it was a deal similar to the one the Dutch made with the Natives for Manhattan (me coming out of it like the Dutch). I think I also got an entire Huckleberry Hound storyboard out of it, which I'll have to begin scanning and posting.

The VENTURE BROTHERS are dead to me.

Many thanks to crack cartoonist Douglas Lovelace for supplying this piece of my art, which I'd hinted at a couple of weeks ago during the Big Venture post.
Permanent red marker. See all the blood?
The boys are dead.

panels from BIFF BANNON!...pow.

One of the best buys I got out of a Heritage auction, 9 pages of originals by Art Helfant.
I adore this art. In my mind's eye, this is how I'd like to draw, ideally.
It's simple, direct, no nonsense, and gives you every bit of information you need about the story.
Look at how much negative space he supplies around his characters, and how well they read because of it.
This is 'black-spotting' at its simplest, and most effective. The bad guy is in black. And that's practically all the black Helfant spots.
Look at how BIG the lettering is!
Jesus, the clarity.

LOONEY TUNES #150

Just received my package of complimentary copies in the mail yesterday, which means it's either on the stands, or about to hit this coming week.
With a script by Joey Cavalieri, and art by me, Neal Sternecky, Pete Bagge, Bob Fingerman and a few others.
Many thanks to Uncle Phil Rynda for his help on this story!

Katb*t BG Keys

I was trying to incorporate everything I'd learned about BG Design on Ren and Stimpy into the never produced KATB*T show, but with an eye towards creating something relatively new. I was conscious that I wanted to vear away from the 1950's "UPA" style that's so prevalent in animation today.

NEW SHANK

Cool, isn't it?

Strange.

Just saw that YAHOO MOVIES has me credited as "visual development" artist on the Disney short, RUNAWAY BRAIN, but has incorrectly spelled my name as "Stephen Destephano'.

Oh well.

POPEYE (and drawn by someone other than me!)

Nice, right?
I don't know who drew this, nor which cartoon it's from (I could probably track it down from the war era of early Famous Studios shorts--or one of my astute fellow bloggers is welcome to chime in if they have the answer). But there you have it, a storyboard drawing from a Popeye Cartoon. This was a gift (an extremely generous one, to boot) from John Loter, many years ago.
Most of you know by now that the classic Fleischer Popeye cartoons will begin being released on DVD sometime this summer---check CARTOON BREW for the date. I had a very minor hand in the production of this historic set. The cover artwork is indeed all mine, albeit from King Features Style Guides of years past, and it is a handsome package King had put together. I also (did I blog about this before?) was filmed drawing the character, and mouthing off somewhat dully about my love for Popeye, which will be available on the DVD in the extra features section. Wahoo!
Also, in further Popeye/DeStefano news, I just completed an interview with Brian Morris about my life drawing the Sailor Man for licensing, to be printed in HOGANS ALLEY sometime in the near future.

CLASSIC COMICS CORNER

As Bob had suggested, I do have a pretty sweet collection of orignal art from the classic era of newspaper comics. No Herriman or McCays in it---what am I, a millionaire?---but definitely some nice stuff, which I can begin sharing with you.
The first shown here was a gift from Shane Glines, a nice Don Flowers original.
The second a gift from Bill Wray. Frank Robbins was just the best, wasn't he?
The third is a couple of panels from my most recent acquisition, a MOM AND POP daily. Not so incredibly pretty, but charming and straightforward, which I love.

MARVEL TEAM-UP!!

Actually, two separate drawings I've scanned together.
Still, this is for Andy.
I was a pretty weird kid. When playing with my action figures (Megos! Mattel's Big Jim! Bullet Man the Human Bullet!), I'd pretend my heroes were shooting the shit, discussing minutea of the day, as often as I'd have them throw down.
It outraged my older brother.

This Sunday

Kids--Y'know, check back with me here on Sunday. Folks've come through with some good suggestions of what they'd like to see on my blog, and I'll have some free time then to post!

Any requests?

Friends,
a little too busy this week to post anything new, but I have updated my links section, and plan to add more links in the coming weeks.
I'd love to hear if there's anything folks'd like to see me post.
More Popeye? More VB's?
I think I have some Mickey Mouse art I could put up.
Also, some work from my time on Universal's last incarnation of Woody Woodpecker.
Give a shout, if anyone has ideas.
best,
Sde

The Big Venture Post, Part 1: VIOLENCE!

I've been wanting to do this for a while.
Many of my friends have posted their wares from their time on the VENTURE BROTHERS. I was a board artist on Season One, under the crazy brilliant storyboard supervision of Bill Presing, and the even (if you can believe it) crazier brilliant direction of the one and only Jackson Publick.
About three weeks ago, I returned to Venture, this time as storyboard (and character design) supervisor myself, for Season Three. I am home. I share a swank, swinging crimson red painted office with Mr. Publick himself (he's actually blogged about it, just check on the links to the left of this post and you can read for yourself), recently adorned with busts of Giant Man, the Wasp, Goliath and Electro. I've read two scripts for the coming season. I've been promised that I will be killed-- violently-- if I devulge anything from those scripts, but I think I'm safe in saying they're hilarious.
On Season One, I boarded the first appearance of Molotov Cocktease, and her vicious fight with Brock.
I also boarded the sequence featuring Brock's massive, erect dong.
I was good at sequences featuring massive dongs and intimate, violent fights.
Not so good at army invasions, though.
Mr. Publick's infatuated with army invasions, and when reading new scripts during season one, I'd scour them for army invasions. Then I'd tell Bill I refused to draw that sequence, and he'd have to give it to my boarding partner, Tom Connor. Which he'd do.
Thankfully, I've a staff starting in a couple of weeks, and I can let them worry about future army invasions.

The Big Venture Post, Part 2: SOMEBODY LOVES THE MONARCH!

It's me, I love the Monarch. The second best character to board on the show. Right after Orpheus and before Doc. I can get nearly as cartoony as I'd like with the Monarch, and luxuriate in the most diabolical acting my pencil can muster. Of course, Orpheus has killer lines too, and I've posted a couple of drawings from the sequence where he emerges from a Men's Room, instructing the Ventures to wait a few moments before they enter, as he'd had "Taco Bell for lunch".

The big Venture Post, Part 3: THUMBNAILS

One of the sequences in Season One that I'm most proud of boarding was the EASY RIDER scene in the season finale.
I boarded all the way through to the end sequence when Doc instructs Brock to "get the boys clothes".
Only my original drawing for that bit was a lot more graphic, and bloody (I used a lot of permanent red marker), showing the VB's face front dead. I mean just--dead. Freaking dead, violently; it was beautiful.And I don't know where that drawing is anymore, gosh ding it.

The Big Venture Post, Part 4: STRIPPERS

I was the fellow that got the task to board all of the stripper sequences in Season Ones "MIDLIFE CHRYSALIS".
It was fun.

Drawn Together

Some of you may know that I was boarding on Drawn Together last year, which was a good gig. Very difficult, it's a very work intensive show, but actually quite a lot of fun. My old REN AND STIMPY office mate, Pete Avanzino was supervising director on the series, and Pete invited me onto their team, in a freelance capactiy. Actually, everyone at the producing studio, Rough Draft, was as nice and as generous as could be with me, from Producer Claudia Katz on down to directors Dwayne Hill and Stephen Sandoval, among others.
These drawings were intended for an ad in Variety Magazine, that to my knowlege never got farther than the sketch stage.

Unused Looney Tune Cover Concepts

Pitched these a few years ago to DC comics, but the Looney Tunes editor wasn't interested. I still like 'em; the gags are a little lame, but no lamer than what's generally used.

Nick Magazine Blog

People are emitting much DeStefano love lately. It's weird. They should just cut it out.
Still, if you can't get enough me, go over to Nick Magazine's Blog, where editors Chris Duffy and Dave Roman share, in a kid friendly manner, their process for putting the comics section together, as well as upcoming art.
You can catch a preview of my latest SpongeBob story there. Also, Chris and Dave reveal the exact number of times I've drawn Jimmy Neutron running down a flight of stairs!
The address is: http://nickmag-comics.livejournal.com/
For those of you who're curious about how I landed a plum job like drawing Jimmy Neutron (Guiseppe Castellano, I know you're out there!), check out those sample pieces above!

Aww, YEAH! Tha's right...work it girl!

We did nothing but have fun on Katbot.
Whatever happened to that show?
I forget, but here's a photo of show Production Manager B J Kearney rocking out.
I'm behind her, marveling at her rockingoutedness.
Behind me?
The mysterious Jackson Publick (creator of the Venture Brothers) not rocking out.
YET!

Read my interview. Soon to be a major motion picture.

http://newtoons.frederator.com/post/3496
Thanks to Jeaux Janovsky.

Jesus is just alright with me. I prefer Captain Marvel.

I was just fooling around, sketching.
It seems to me more and more lately that the best comics artist of the "Golden Age" had to have been C. C. Beck. Yes, Cole drew loopier, Eisner more cinematically, Raboy more heroically and Lou Fine feathered everything. But for sheer, direct storytelling and staging, clarity and fun, Beck is my choice. His Cap always seems to be in the exact right place for tension and drama, and Beck knew how to draw him simply and beautifully. Looking at his work, I sense that he knew anatomy and perspective as well as anyone, say Mac Raboy, but knew how to abstract and short hand it like no one else before or since.
Also, as I said somewhere else on this blog, I like Mar-Vell a lot too. K-TAAANGG!!

And yet MORE Popeye art...

Sorry, folks, my stash of Popeye art is inexhaustible.
Still, these are two of my favorite sketches for King Features Licensing, done a few years ago for a line of bendys that were produced. The final toys were quite well done, I thought, looking remarkably like my drawings. Come to think of it, I'm not sure they ever did produce the Jeep figure.

Fish Playing Poker

Because you know they do, underneath the sea, and all.

This is me

Self portrait.
Of myself.

Have a good one, now!

Jerry Lewis says: WATCH OUT FOR FALLING SPUTNIKS!

Isn't this a killer magazine cover?
I'm not a huge fan of Kurtzman's post EC, non-comic book work, (ANNIE FANNY's okay, I guess) but some of the covers for HELP were prettty awesome.

Popeye-bot...Kat.

This morning I received this charming drawing from my former Katbot co-conspiritor, Dave Redl. Dave is (New York animation and web design studio) Funny Garbage's Iron Man, but I've known Dave since he was a wee Redl, when he was a staff artist in King Features' licensing department. He was the first guy I ever knew to use Flash, animating a bit of Popeye art I'd drawn for King's website (is that still online anywhere, Dave?). Dave is also the creator of his own cartoon concept, FAMILY PANTS. He's set up a blog for Family Pants, and you can check it out here:
http://www.familypants.wordpress.com
Thanks for the drawing, Dave!

Oh wait a minute. That's right. I've got a blog. Duh...

Friends,
My apologies, long time no post!
Essentially I've been recovering from finishing my final board on FUTURAMA for the good folks at Rough Draft, saving and gearing up my energy for my coming gig on---wait for it---the VENTURE BROTHERS, Season 3! I'm very much looking forward to working on the VB's again, it should be a blast. Jackson Publick's one of the finest talents in the industry, as well as being just plain pretty to look at.
What've all you guys been up to?
How's tricks.
I'm posting a crazy little drawing of Popeye. He's little in the drawing.

The other day, I taped an interview to be included on the forthcoming (and long awaited) POPEYE DVD boxed set. I talk about my process in drawing the character. How he's changed over the years. My theories on why he's so enduring, and the influence of Segar on the cartooning community as a whole.
I come off as a real cluck, I know. I sound stupid in interviews.

What else?
I've become obsessive about buying DC Archive Editions (they're expensive).
I did my taxes.
I'm working on a SpongeBob story. I'm late on it.
I'm reading V FOR VENDETTA. Which is alright.

Look at this picture of Popeye. Kinda cute, isn't it?