Comics for the ... generation

Why Nothing New?

2005-12-20T16:41:00.000-05:00

My apologies for the lack of updates. Life (sickness, travel, etc) got in the way. In fact there won't be any updates 'till after Christmas probably. Just wanted to let all of my readers (all three of you) know that I haven't forgotten you...

Flow - Page 14

2005-12-14T23:59:00.000-05:00

The story of FLOW starts here.
3 panels new, 3 panels old. Can you tell which is which? I threw away 5 panels I had done back in '98 since they started a plot line that even I didn't understand. As for how the 24 minute comic fits into Flow, that will be clear tomorrow. (Well, part of it will be clear tomorrow...)

My New World - A 24 Hour Comic

2005-12-13T22:33:00.000-05:00

A 24 page comic done in 24 continuous hours. Warning: This is 24 pages of about 100K each, so it could take a while to fully load up...

Well, this is why I didn't have a new page of Flow up yesterday or today. I did this whole thing (including the colouring) in 24 hours. I think it turned out pretty good. My previous 24 hour comics are here and here. Please let me know what you think in the comments section.

Flow - Page Thirteen

2005-12-09T23:51:00.000-05:00

The story of FLOW starts here.
This is the last full page of 1998 stuff. Monday's will be half 1998 stuff, half brand spanking new.

Flow - Page Twelve

2005-12-08T23:42:00.000-05:00

The story of FLOW starts here.
That last panel is for Chris who is always telling me that I can draw in colours other than black.

Flow - Page Eleven

2005-12-07T23:27:00.000-05:00

The story of FLOW starts here.
The first of the 1998 pages. In my eyes, this is a hugely clunkly page. The drawing is stiff (or just bad, like the standing cat in the last panel). I think this was the first drawings I had done in ages when I did them.
On the up-side, it looks like I will be attempting my 3rd 24 Hour Comic sometime within the next week. More on that later!

Flow - Page Ten

2005-12-06T15:50:00.000-05:00

The story of FLOW starts here.
The last of the pages done in 1993, tomorrow we start the pages that I did in 1998. And by Friday... new pages. I guess I should start working on them soon, hunh?

Flow - Page Nine

2005-12-05T23:54:00.000-05:00

The story of FLOW starts here.
This was originally the last page of How Dee number 8, with a "to be continued" at the bottom. I have slightly adjusted the last panel, since it had a light source at the end of the tunnel which didn't make any sense based on what I did next.

Flow - Page Eight

2005-12-02T14:47:00.000-05:00

The story of FLOW starts here.

Flow - Page Seven

2005-12-01T23:58:00.000-05:00

The story of FLOW starts here.
I like how the water effects came out in colour.

Delayed (Strip Fight)

2005-11-30T22:44:00.000-05:00

A one-day break from Flow. Back again tomorrow. This is my entry for Strip Fight, my first time using photos for a comic.

Flow - Page Six

2005-11-29T21:55:00.000-05:00

The story of FLOW starts here.

I have a strip up at Strip Fight. Please come vote...

Flow - Page Five

2005-11-28T22:43:00.000-05:00

The story of FLOW starts here.

More of Flow. I'm starting to get the hang of colouring on the computer. I like the paper boy's speech bubbles in the first and second panels...

Flow - Page Four

2005-11-25T23:06:00.000-05:00

The story of FLOW starts here.

Next Page

"The Paper Boy" was originally a one page story unconnected with Flow, but I redrew it here (continued Monday)...

Flow - Page Three

2005-11-24T14:40:00.000-05:00

The story of FLOW starts here.

Next Page

The third page. The "baby alley" reference is thanks to Chris (my wife) who used that line in her one (and only) jam comic.

Flow - Page Two

2005-11-23T23:17:00.000-05:00

The story of FLOW starts here.

Next Page

This is originally Flow stopped. It was a two page story called "Mr. Timmy Goes To The Dentist" about the world's most passive comic character. There were going to be a series of Mr. Timmy stories. Then I showed the two pager to my housemate at the time, Mark, and he said it should be longer, more involved. He said he never really got my stuff until he had read a whole bunch of it. So Mr. Timmy became the "hero" of Flow, which was to be my continuing story for years... except it bogged me down and I quit (twice).

Flow - Page One

2005-11-22T22:41:00.000-05:00

The story of FLOW starts here.

Next Page

Going for a limited colour pallet. I've never been a particularily good colourist, so this is all experiment for me. When it was published in How Dee, this (along with everything else) was black and white... maybe it should stay that way? I don't know.

Flow - Intro

2005-11-21T22:39:00.000-05:00

Next Page

Welcome to Flow. This is a Patchwork Earth story I started back in 1994 (or maybe even 1993) and published as the 8th (and final) issue of How Dee. It ended with a "to be continued" but never was. I did one more page, then quit doing comics for 4 years. Then in 1998 I started again, did 5 more pages, then quit doing comics again for 7 years... until now. So Flow is the comic that killed my comics... twice. Let's see if three times is a charm! As of tomorrow, I will be posting a page a day (weekdays). So for about 3 weeks, it will be old material, then, after that, new stuff. I've already thrown out one page I did in 1998 (I wrote a plot twist that I don't think I even understood then!). Wish me luck!

1981 - A 24 Hour Comic (failed)

2005-11-18T15:41:00.000-05:00

What's The Worst Thing That Can Happen?

2005-11-17T23:26:00.000-05:00

I did this strip just after graduating University and moving out on my own. It was published in How Dee number 2, along with a whole bunch of other stories about living on my own. I like how I used brush-work on the second page to make it look different from the first page (which is more cartoony).

The Spider and The Moon - A 24 Minute Comic

2005-11-16T22:24:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was reading some comics online and came across a few 24 minute comics. I thought... I can do that, but I'll do a panel a minute for 24 minutes. So I did it. I actually had a minute at the end to go back and do some shading.
It is very influenced by The Beanworld and is actually tangentially a Patchwork Earth comic. It fits in with FLOW, which I think I am going to start publishing here next week.
Oh, and yes, I spelt "believe" wrong. I kept trying to remember i before e, but when you only have a minute a panel, you have to keep going.

Breaking Up (Strip Fight) - Version 2

2005-11-15T18:07:00.000-05:00

My second Strip Fight entry. This one was done with traditional pen and ink and then coloured in Photoshop Elements. I did pencil this one first, instead of going straight into pen and I think I will have to get back to doing that. It really improved a couple of panels (#2 especially!).

Breaking Up (Strip Fight) - Version 1

2005-11-14T17:54:00.000-05:00

This is my first (of two) entries to Strip Fight for the topic of Breaking Up. This is the first time I've entered and I need all the support I can get, so go on over and vote high for me!
On a slightly less self-serving note, this is the first strip I've done (since Hair!) all on the computer. I think it turned out ok, but I see lots of room for improvement. Tomorrow I will post my other Strip Fight entry. It has a dinosaur!

The House

2005-11-11T23:17:00.000-05:00

Another older strip, this one from 1992. I first published it (in black and white) in How Dee number 2. When I moved into the house on Shaw Street in Toronto, I went to the city archives and researched it. This was my research. I think adding the sepia tone really works for this strip. (It is also, tangentially, a Patchwork Earth strip, but that's a secret for now... shhhh!)

The Single Page (Writers and Readers)

2005-11-10T21:57:00.000-05:00

I don't know why I didn't post this earlier, but I'm glad I waited until I could colour it nicely. This is the only page of comic book work that I have ever had professionally (i.e. I was paid for it) published. It originally appeared (in black and white) in Cerebus Biweekly:High Society number 13. Dave Sim was republishing issues of his epic Cerebus comic and was filling up extra pages in the back with "Single Pages" from anybody who thought they could draw (and write). He rejected my first one (which I will post sometime) but accepted this one and paid $150 (US) for it! Hey Dave.... thanks!

The Change (a 24 Hour Comic)

2005-11-09T15:43:00.000-05:00

A 24 page comic done in 17 continuous hours. See below the comic for more information about 24 Hour Comics. Warning: This is 24 pages of about 100K each, so it could take a while to fully load up...

There it is, 24 pages in 17 hours... it was supposed to be 24, but I finished early. I wish I had stayed up and spell-checked it ("guaranty") and filled in a few more black areas, but overall I was pretty happy with it. I did another one later which went over the 24 hours and didn't make 24 pages so it isn't a true 24 Hour Comic, but more on that later. For more about 24 Hour Comics, go Scott McCloud's page. He's the inventor of the 24 Hour Comic (amongst other things) and his book Understanding Comics is genius. To see his original 24 Hour Comic (and links to many, many others) go to this page and to see one of my favourites (which I just found today), see Jeremy Bear's Jump.

Hair!

2005-11-08T11:10:00.000-05:00

This was the first comic I ever did on the computer, on my parents 8088 (or maybe their 286) back in '93 using Paint. My hair these days is pretty close to my "end of second year of university" cut.

David: Before and After

2005-11-05T16:49:00.000-05:00

I've had the panels for this on my sketchpad for over a month, but they needed some work on the computer, so here they are. I drew the panels randomly on one page and used a lot of copy and paste to get it to look how it looks.

Where I Am Living Now That I Have Graduated...

2005-11-04T21:12:00.000-05:00

This is the sequel comic to yesterday's post. See, I actually can draw sorta realistically (not that I usually do). This house was on Shaw Street in Toronto and I lived there for 2 (or was it 3) years. There's a few other strips I did about the place, maybe I'll post one of them tomorrow. I originally published this in How Dee number 1.

Where Will I Live When I Graduate

2005-11-03T21:04:00.000-05:00

I didn't really get a chance to colour or scan anything new, so this strip I already had scanned will have to do. I published it in the first issue of How Dee, which was all autobiographical stuff, mostly about living on my own for the first time.

The Day The Truth Ran Out

2005-11-02T17:18:00.000-05:00

Just finished this strip. Woke up with the idea (actually the title) in my head and sketched it this morning. Did the final artwork this afternoon and just coloured it. I think it looks really nice.

Boris The Booby

2005-11-01T22:34:00.000-05:00

One of the earliest things I've posted yet. I used to do these alphabet panels all the time. I've got almost a full alphabet of aliens and a few other assorted panels. Really I'm posting this 'cause I was playing with it in Photoshop and I didn't get a chance to do anything new.

Dream: Between 3:59 and 4:00

2005-10-31T11:02:00.000-05:00

A brand new strip I did yesterday. It's a collage of cut bits of paper, influenced by Grace who is learning her way around a pair of scissors. We were "bracticing our dutting". It was originally going to be a completely different strip with just the clock in it, but cutting those little bits for the clock got annoying, so I went a different direction with it.

Index to Comics

2005-10-30T08:52:00.000-05:00

Index by Subject -- Updated to November 17, 2005
Comics with * next to them are favourites of mine.

DREAMS:

ONE PAGERS:

PATCHWORK EARTH

COMICS WITH OR FOR RELATIVES:

AUTOBIOGRAPHY:

OTHER STUFF:

Seat Check Funnies (Part Two)

2005-10-30T08:31:00.000-05:00

The first part of these comics were posted yesterday. The strips were all done in ballpoint marker on the backs of the cardboard that the fasteners we use in the seats ("c-rings") came seperated by. They were lost in the basement until we just uncovered them recently.

Seat Check Funnies

2005-10-29T13:26:00.000-04:00

By popular demand (of a couple of people I work with), here are the comics I did back in '98 while I was working online. This is the first half of them... I will post the rest tomorrow.

The Tablet

2005-10-28T21:13:00.000-04:00

Ok, this isn't much of a comic. I was just so excited to get the tablet I ordered that I was playing with it this morning. I was almost late for my last day of work (for a while). As of 4:00 today, I am a stay-at-home dad for 2 months. I'm really looking forward to it.

Dream: October 11, 2005

2005-10-27T06:43:00.000-04:00

A dream from a couple of weeks ago. I sketched it in my sketchbook at the time but only got around to drawing it last night. I was too lazy to go find references for real birds, but I kinda like my made-up ones. Still haven't got the tablet, so limited colour for now. I think it works for this strip.

Du

2005-10-26T07:01:00.000-04:00

From a letter by Franz Kafka. I've done a few Kafka related strips, but this is the best. I published it in How Dee 7 (I think).

Getting To Know You...

2005-10-25T21:13:00.000-04:00

A simple little strip that was in How Dee #6. That issue had half autobiographical stuff, half fictional (Patchwork Earth) stuff. At the time I was working in a bookstore and the character in the last panel appears in a couple of Patchwork Earth stories as a bookstore employee. There isn't anything I absolutely love about this strip, but I still like it enough to re-publish it. One thing I don't really like is my dependance on a thick pen for the outlines and a thin pen for the details, rather than trying to blend the two. All the strips I did around this time were in the same style.

Fred's New Friend

2005-10-24T06:47:00.000-04:00

Fred is a character I've been drawing since I was about 15 (at least). I've done a bunch of comics with him in them. He's kinda the central character to the beginnings of the Patchwork Earth. I'll post some older Fred stuff soon. I think I want to colour it first though...

No Comic Today

2005-10-23T17:15:00.000-04:00

I decided not to post a comic today. I spent all my free time researching a drawing tablet and finally ordered this one. I should have it in a couple of days.

I also wanted to put up a couple of links to comics I've come across that are really good. Jason Turner does some really nice stuff, especially this one which takes place near where I used to live in Toronto.

Thingpart by J. Sayers is very odd indeed, but I think about this strip and how brilliant it is a lot.

I think you will see a lot more colour in my comics once the tablet arrives. Right now I'm working with a very useless mouse.

Loud

2005-10-22T06:29:00.000-04:00

This is a comic I did for my daughter Grace based around words that she had learned how to read (at age 3 and a half). It was an interesting exercise to take a very limited vocabulary and try to write a story around it. I want to try it again, but it is hard to randomly pick words. Maybe opening a dictionary and pointing would work. The comic is black and white for now, but I'll likely colour it at some point.

The Dancing Man Goes On Vacation

2005-10-21T06:55:00.000-04:00

Finally a strip I'd published before. This was drawn in '91, but was first published in How Dee number 4 (in 1993 I think). The Dancing Man is a character I created in university to appear in a lot of my printmaking and drawing. He started out as an "everyman" character but in the comics changed more to an angry young man (though not in this strip). His adventures take place in The Patchwork Earth, but I'm sure I'll post more about that in the future. The "punch-line" is probably because I was way into Twin Peaks at the time.

Dream: October 8, 2005

2005-10-20T07:04:00.000-04:00

Dream: August 25, 2005

2005-10-19T02:14:00.000-04:00

This is probably one of the worst drawn comics I will ever put up here, but I have to put it up. This was the first comic I did recently after (as far as I can recall) 7 years (!) of not doing comics. Now that I'm doing comics again, I don't know how I kept away from it for so long. It's also (partly) the basis of Grace's comic in the first post in this blog.

I have a bunch more dream comics that I'll be posting at some point. Some more cryptic than this, others actually somewhat funny. I used to keep a dreamlog on the web called Petersbrain (or Peter's Brain).

The Hungry Angel

2005-10-18T06:39:00.000-04:00

Another strip from '91. I did this one by painting a page black and then scratching it out. I liked the effect but I was never able to publish it in How Dee because of how much black was in it (photocopied black never looks right). Funny how nothing I've put up here before was stuff I published before. Tomorrow I'll post something I published.

The Enchanted Jawbone

2005-10-17T06:53:00.000-04:00

Another strip from the early '90s. I borrowed the jawbone from a full skeleton that Chris' roommate had. The hand was a lino-block print.

I did another strip at the same time using the same method and paper called "The Dancing Man Goes On Vacation" which I published in How Dee number 4. I might post that soon.

Pagan God Of The Suburbs

2005-10-16T18:12:00.000-04:00

A strip I did back in '92 but just coloured today. I think the title came from a line in a J.G. Ballard book, but I can't remember which one. I have only ever done one strip directly in colour because I was publishing them on photocopiers and colour photocopies were very expensive. I like how this turned out.

Dinosaurs Can't Dance

2005-10-16T00:03:00.000-04:00

Here's a strip I did a few days ago when I was up at my brother-in-law's cottage. I was actually starting to draw a duck in the first panel when it turned into a dinosaur. Also I added the tree and dialogue later, even though it fits perfectly into the strip.
Here is a site with intellectual dinosaur comics. Quite incredible how the same images can be used over and over with such different results. Gotta try that myself sometime...

The Beginning of Something...

2005-10-13T20:17:00.000-04:00

The first post for a blog (or for anything) is difficult. You have to give an idea of what things are going to be like, but at the same time you feel like you have to provide an epic beginning. Something that should be remembered.

I used to publish a comic called How Dee, back in the 90's. The print runs were never over a hundred copies, so if you have ever read it, you are likely someone who knows me personally. When I stopped publishing it, I stopped doing comics (except for a brief stint in 1998). Just recently I started doing comics again, thanks partly to my wife Chris uncovering my comics in the basement due to her tidying efforts and thanks partly to my daughter Grace because drawing with her reminded me how much I liked telling stories and drawing.

So the first two comics I am "publishing" here are for them (and my other daughter Bethany who is playing on the floor beside me as I type). The first was done for Chris back in 1992, when we had only been going out a couple of years. The other comic Grace (who is 3 and a half) and I did just a couple of days ago and I think is incredibly cool. Hope you enjoy them and visit often.