Juliet Jones by Stan Drake -- and Neal Adams?

As the countdown to the release of Big Funny continues, I'll keep posting vintage strips from the Sunday comic sections we'll be giving away (with purchase of Big Funny) at the gallery opening.  First up -- the gorgeous linework of Stan Drake on The Heart of Juliet Jones.  I was not a fan of the "soap opera" strips when I was a kid -- but I always stopped and looked at Drake's beautiful drawing and beautiful girls!  First up is a particularly nice example.

The second Juliet Jones strip posted here looks to me as if it might be "ghosted" by a young Neal Adams.  Lovely -- but clearly a different hand at work here.

One of the things that strikes me when looking through these '60s vintage comics, is the high level of craftsmanship, even in the "lesser" strips.  Mary Worth, a long-running strip, has never been a huge fan favorite -- but just look at how solid the drawing is in this example!  Few current newspaper strips (though there are barely any story strips left) are drawn this well.

(Update: My fellow cartoonists have confirmed what I've suspected -- this Mary Worth example seems to have been ghosted by none other than Alex Toth! ) 

Keep stopping by for more vintage "funnies," as the countdown to Aug. 7 continues....

URBAN LEGENDS and SHOCK STORIES pencil prelims

With all this fuss over Big Funny, I don't want to ignore the impending release of my Monsterwax Urban Legends and Shock Stories trading card sets.  Here's a  look at part of the creative process behind the cards.  

After getting script and a rough concept sketch from Kurt at Monsterwax central, I'd draw pencil prelims (see examples below) at print size.  Once approved, I'd enlarge them in Photoshop, print them, lightbox them onto bristol board and refine the drawing (still in pencil) -- and then do the final inks.  At that point, the art was shipped off for color and/or 3-D conversion.  Most of these went to final with little change -- some went through several revisions (see "Biological Barrier" below).

If you'd like to see more, leave a comment or send me a message!

Sgt. Snorkel in Slumberland?

Mort Walker spoofs a variety of strips as Sgt. Snorkel follows in Little Orphan Annie, Little Annie Rooney and Little Nemo's footsteps....

Snuffy Smith in Slumberland?

Sometimes a cartoonist just wants to draw pretty girls!  Dream on, Snuffy....

The Big Funny big giveaway!

OK -- here's the news.  The first 70 (or so) folks who purchase a copy of Big Funny at the Altered Esthetics gallery show opening, will also get ABSOLUTELY FREE a 1960's vintage Peoria Journal Star Sunday comics section!  Pics below show some of the strips that were running in the Star at the time -- Prince Valiant, Li'l Abner, Nancy, Blondie, Juliet Jones, Steve Roper and sometimes even Pogo! The giveaway only lasts as long as the comic sections last -- and is only available in person at the gallery.  The show opens Aug 7th.  Be there!

Oh -- and if you're one of the artists with a strip in Big Funny, you get one too!  

More vintage strips scanned from these sections to come.... 

Hal Foster's "Prince Valiant"

As a kid, I lived for those weeks when Hal Foster would draw one of these "big panel" Prince Valiant Sunday pages -- what drawing!  All of the Peoria Star Sunday comic sections I have feature a half-page format Val.  And what do these vintage comics have to do with the opening of the Big Funny gallery show?  All will be revealed SOON!

By the way, check out how off register the color is in the second strip shown here.  Gorgeous drawing -- not so great printing!  I made sure the color for my Big Funny contribution was a little off register -- just for that authentic Sunday funnies look!

Batmania!

The countdown to the Aug. 7th Big Funny gallery show continues with more mid '60s vintage comics.  This time we see the influence of "Batmania," as the Batmobile shows up in The Family Circus and Mort Walker spoofs Batman in Beetle Bailey.