Thursday, May 29, 2008

He gave up a job with benefits for this?????

Surprisingly enough, folks have asked to hear more about me: specifically, why comics?

It's a fair question because I've wanted to be a writer since childhood and my interests included fiction and newspapers as far as I can remember. So, having a degree in journalism and working at the largest newspaper in the Vermont, would seem to indicate that I had achieved my goal.
Not entirely. "Comic-Man," my alter ego, was begging to be free.

Sometime early on, I decided to start illustrating my ideas, either as standalone drawings or as a comics. I can't remember what made me start drawing. I can, however, remember some of the earliest things I drew: Underdog, Mighty Mouse, my own Peanuts comic strips and Spider-Man, usually just his webbed-head.
Obviously, I was enamored with cartoons, but it was comics that bridged my two loves. Three loves, actually, as comics also fostered my passion for reading.
It began with an issue of Superman. It was a story about a guy who was able to beat Supes because of a watch he had. I had to be pretty young, -- 4 1/2 - 5 years old -- because my comprehension didn’t pick up on the fact that the guy had kryptonite in the watch. "Ma," I remember saying, "I want to get more of these." "OK, learn to read," she answered. And it was on. (At right: The first comic book I "read." )







Saturday, May 24, 2008

And finally, without the thunderbolt...

So, you're asking, "what has he been doing since the origin of this blog 10 months ago?" Well, I'd like to say that I was working on writing, drawing and publishing my first complete comic book.

And I can.

What you have here is the cover for "Punk" Issue #0 -- my first comic series. Published under the banner of Danger Zone, "Punk" is slated to be a 12-issue book. Issue #0 was my final project for my first year at CCS (Center for Cartoon Studies). And big ups to Sante for the sweet back cover ad!!

Stay tuned for updates on when and where the entire book will be available and/or how to get copies. How's that for a cliffhanger ending?