Happy Howl-O-Ween

Happy Halloween, folks. Today's blog post was digitally painted by artist extraordinaire Jeff Welborn. The art and words are by little ol' me.

Tune in tomorrow for the next page of my 24 hour comic.

24 Hour Comic 2011: Heads Up

Here's page 21 of my 24 Hour Comic in which I pay tribute to the classic Daffy Duck cartoon, Duck Amuck. I learned something from this comic: drawing lettuce is hard.

24 Hour Comic 2011: Getting Meta

Here's page 20 of my 24 Hour comic. After finishing page 19 and staying awake 24 consecutive hours, I was exhausted. I went to bed and slept most of the day. I woke up in the afternoon and finished the final five pages of the comic. The final pages of my 24 Hour comic are a parody of the Duck Amuck cartoon. It features a series of sight gags involving me drawing myself.

24 Hour Comic 2011: Nodding Off

Here's page 19 of my 24 Hour comic. This was the last page that I completed within the 24 hour time limit. I started at 8:30 am on Saturday morning and finished this exact page at 8:30 am on Sunday morning.

24 Hour Comic 2011: Joe Cintiq

Here's page 18 of my 24 Hour Comic in which I discuss drawing my 24 Hour Comic. I thought it would be fun to comment on drawing my 24 Hour comic while I was drawing it. This also gave me the opportunity to discuss my new Cintiq (which is wonderful).

24 Hour Comic 2011: God Bless America

Here's page 17 of my 24 Hour comic in which I heap endless fanboy praise upon my favorite movie of the summer, Captain America. After the REALLY BAD 90s MOVIE and the HORRIBLE 70s TV MOVIE, I was nervous that the new Cap movie would be less than stellar. Marvel Studios obliterated all of my worries by producing the best superhero movie of the year. Chris Evans nailed his performance of Steve Rogers. The costume, the Red Skull, the action: it was all perfect. Captain America, I salute you.

24 Hour Comic 2011: Thor, Geek of Thunder

Here's page 16 of my 24 Hour comic in which I gush about the movie Thor. The movie was fantastic. It was the first big superhero movie of the summer and Marvel Studios nailed it. I loved everything about this movie. You can see the Roofus Thor drawing from panel 2 HERE.

24 Hour Comic 2011: X-Geek

Here's page 15 of my 24 Hour comic in which I review X-Men First Class. I also did not like some of the special effects in the movie. I thought they looked cheesy and unfinished. It was very cool that the entire movie was set in the 60s making it a period piece.

24 Hour Comic 2011: Geek Lantern

Here's page 14 of my 24 Hour comic in which I review the Green Lantern movie. I'm really torn on the GL movie. I don't think it's horrible. I've seen worse superhero movies. It feel that it was inconsistent. Hopefully, Sinestro will play a larger role in the eventual sequel.

24 Hour Comic 2011: Hollywood Heroes

Here's page 12 & 13 of my 24 Hour comic. This was the center spread of the comic so I decided to do a 2 page splash page. As I was drawing the 24 Hour comic, I was able to plan ahead by using the thumbnail layout from the 24 Hour survival kit. This thumbnail layout was VERY helpful to me this year & I plan on using it again next year.

Also, the 2 page spread allowed me to save some time by drawing one big panel instead of 2 pages of multiple panels. Hey, when you've only got 24 hours to draw a comic, you've got to use every trick in the book.

24 Hour Comic 2011: Charles in Charge

Here's page 11 of my 24 Hour comic in which I discuss family matters. Coincidentally, my brother's surprise visit coincided with my birthday weekend. It was really great. The two drawings here are the actual drawings by my nieces. You can see them on a previous blog post HERE.

Bowling for Boobies

My "Pin Goblin"

Decorated pins by Holly Caskey, me, Emily Welch, Rushing Haise, Atichart Pinrut and Sarah Matthews

Hey, bowling fans. If you like to bowl and would like to donate to a charitable cause, head on down to Holiday Lanes in Bossier City THIS SATURDAY, October 15. Holiday Lanes is hosting Bowl for the Cure. While you bowl, you will help raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness. My Gremillion & Pou co-workers and I decorated some bowling pins for the event. These decorative pins will be auctioned off and the proceeds benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation. There will be a preview party today from 3 - 6 pm. Check out all the details at the Holiday Lanes website. CLICK HERE.

24 Hour Comic 2011: Birthday Booty

Here's page 10 of my 24 Hour comic in which I discuss the ongoing saga of my 36th birthday. At this stage in my life, I usually get birthday cash or gift cards and I buy whatever I want (which is awesome). I bought the Snoopy figurine at the Hallmark store and the Lion-O action figure at Toys R Us.

24 Hour Comic 2011: Birthday Surprises

Here's page 9 of my 24 Hour comic in which I talk about how I spent my 36th birthday. As unmomentous as it was, it was a pretty great birthday. Director Kevin Smith's new movie, Red State, premiered on September 1, which just so happens to be my birthday. Red State was a creepy, suspense movie, but it wasn't Kevin Smith's best work. It was a very different offering from Smith, who is known for (and better at) comedy. Judge for yourself and watch the trailer here.

24 Hour Comic 2011: Aging Gracefully

Here's page 8 of my 24 Hour comic in which I discuss getting old. Turning 36 didn't really bother me this much.

Really.

Also, for those not familiar with cartoon devices, the symbols surrounding the word "CENSORED" represent curse words. These symbols, also known as grawlixes, are an age-old gag that have been used in cartoons and comics since forever.

24 Hour Comic 2011: Over a Barrel

Here's page 7 of my 24 Hour Comic. If you read yesterday's blog, you'd understand why I'm wearing this barrel. Younger readers may not be familiar with the "man-wearing-a-barrel" gag. It traditionally represents poverty. In some cases, the gag was used for comic effect like on this Whiz Comics cover.

24 Hour Comic 2011: Book Worm

Here's page 6 of my 24 Hour comic in which I wrap up my Dallas Comic Con experience. Pictured here are just a few of the books that I purchased. The books pictured above are The Best American Comics 2007, Anthology of Graphic Fiction Vol. 2,  Songs of the Pogo,  Tall Tales by Al Jaffee and Bringing up with Father.

24 Hour Comic 2011: The Price of Geekdom

Here's page 5 of my 24 Hour Comic in which I discuss how to balance you comic convention budget. I usually blow ALL OF MY CASH at the conventions, but this year, I actually came home with money. I really did buy this stuff pictured here.

Re: the Peanuts joke. Note that I not only drew myself in Schulz's style, but I also used the Schulz font which mimics his handwriting. Friends and regular readers of my blog know that I'm a Charles Schulz fanatic.

24 Hour Comic 2011: No Autographs, Please

Here's page 4 of my 24 Hour Comic in which I further discuss the finer points of Dallas Comic Con 2011. Lots of convention attendees line up for hours to meet celebrities and/or artists for a chance to get an autograph. I've never been one of these people. I go to conventions for one thing: collectibles.

However, I do think that Travis' pic of him and Stan Lee is priceless. (No offense, Trav!)

BTW, check out Travis Eck's awesome art blog at sivartblog.blogspot.com.

Creator Commentary: The Walter Koenig joke in the first panel is actually a reference to an inside joke between me and my friend (and fellow convention attendee) John Brizzi. Years ago, we attended one of the Plano, TX conventions and we planned to meet Walter Koenig (Star Trek's Chekov). We just wanted to say hi and shake his hand. When we arrived at his table, we were greeted with a hand-written sign that read, "Due to illness, Mr. Koenig will not be here today." We both chuckled at the sign and went about our business.

Months later at Wizard World Chicago, once again Walter Koenig was a guest. This time, John and I got to meet him and he was very nice. We shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. Then, John said, "We missed you in Plano a few months back. They said you were ill."

That's when Chekov got pissed. "ILL? I WAS NOT ILL! They wouldn't pay me so I left," growled Koenig. John and I thought it was hilarious and we still joke about it to this day. It was definitely one of those "had-to-be-there" moments. I'm glad I had the opportunity to immortalize that comic convention memory here in this journal comic.

24 Hour Comic 2011: Con Artist

Here's page 3 of my 24 Hour Comic in which I discuss the finer points of comic conventions. Just for the record, I don't hate people who cosplay. I actually respect their hardcore nerd values. It's just something I would never do myself. Also, just for the record, I don't own an Aquaman cookie jar....yet.

24 Hour Comic 2011: Comic Con Cowboy

As promised, here is page 2 of my 24 Hour comic. Here, I discuss my recent comic con experience. Two Gun Kid is a reference to a western comic book published by Marvel.

Below is a detail of the belt buckle that I'm wearing. I would NEVER wear anything like this (hence, it's funny).

24 Hour Comic 2011: Introductions Aside

Well, another 24 Hour Comic Day has come and gone. Unfortunately, this year I did not successfully meet the challenge. I came SO close. I woke up early Saturday morning, took a shower, ate some breakfast and hunkered down for a marathon of cartooning. I drew from 9am Saturday to 9am Sunday. After 24 consecutive hours of drawing, my final page count was 19. Around 9:30, I went to sleep. Later that evening, I woke up and finished the remaining five pages. This year, I didn't watch the clock or worry about the deadline. I concentrated on the art. It was a much more enjoyable experience. It was a fun experience and I look forward to doing it again next year. Recently, I drew a series of journal comics. I enjoyed them so much, I decided to take a journal comic approach to my 24 hour comic.  I'll be posting a page per day so check back each day for a new page.