Based on both site stats and how much social media traction it gets when it comes up in conversation, one of the most enduringly popular posts I’ve done on my blog is 2008’s How Different Cartoonists Draw Water. I wrote that post as I was in the midst of working on both Amelia Earhart: This …
Category Archive: General
Dec
22
2020
What I read in 2020
As I did last year, here’s a run-down of the comics and comics-related stuff I read this past year. As will be obvious as you look through the list, this is a list of things I read this year, not things that came out this year. It’s also not a “best of” list. I have, …
Nov
11
2020
The True Origin of M.O.D.O.K.
As you may have heard, there’s going to be a stop-motion animated Hulu series starring Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. Reading this news, I was struck by how it’s just de rigueur accepted that M.O.D.O.K.–once a “serious” Marvel villain (first full appearance: Tales of Suspense #94 – ed.)–is now a jokey semi-ironic gag character, a character that might, …
Aug
16
2020
Is the Cover of Detective Comics #1029 Derived from a Series of Fan Commissions?
I may be wrong–and please correct me in the comments if I am–but I believe this recent cover, the cover for Detective Comics #1029, is the first time a fan commission has (kind of) made it to the cover of an actual, published Marvel or DC book. So, re. “kind of,” some caveats: first, the …
Aug
01
2020
Anatomy of this Year’s CXC Poster
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC) is one of my favorite comics festivals–and that was the case well before I was a Columbus resident–so it was a real honor to be asked to do this year’s poster. The event just officially released the poster along with a preliminary guest list, all of which you can find on …
Apr
29
2020
Back From the Old School: Showing Motion via Repeated figures in a Single Panel
Lately, I’ve been noting a lot of panels like this in the comics I read and it’s made me wonder about what exactly this technique is, how how it works, and where it came from: What it is: This is from Cyril Pedrosa’s recent (and amazing) book L’age d’or, which is now out in English …
Mar
22
2020
The Vasquez Rocks of Comics
Even if you don’t recognize the name “Vasquez Rocks,” you’ve likely seen the rocks themselves. The Vasquez Rocks are a group of distinctively-shaped rock formations outside of Los Angles that have appeared in many, many T.V. shows and movies–from Westerns like Bonanza (and Blazing Saddles!) through to relatively modern films like Little Miss Sunshine and …
Mar
09
2020
From the Sketchbook: Dogfighting Dogs!
I’m certainly the five billionth person to do drawings of dog pilots (when they “dogfight” they’re literally dogs!! Get it?!) but for whatever reason, I recently wound up doing a batch of quick watercolors of dogs in WWII-era pilot gear. Well, “for whatever reason” isn’t entirely accurate; the reason is at least partially that I …
Jan
05
2020
What I Read in 2019
In past years I’ve done a list of all the comics (and comics-related stuff) I’ve read, with a short write-up for each item. This year, that’s just not feasible given the amount of material I read and the time I have available… but here’s my list for 2019 with a few comments on things here …
Oct
26
2019
Selected Sketchbook Drawings – October 2019
I haven’t posted any sketchbook pages in forever, so here goes… Truth be told, I’d weirdly fallen out of my years-long habit of drawing nightly in my sketchbook and have only recently gotten back into it. Why had I fallen off? I’m not exactly sure–other than that I’ve had a lot of “life getting in …









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