The Home of the Creative Mind

Welcome to PooBahSpiel, the online voice and home of the creative mind of Mark Monlux, Illustrator Extraordinaire. Prepare yourself for an endless regaling of art directly from the hand of this stellar artist. And brace yourself against his mighty wind of pontification. Updates are kinda weekly and show daily sketches, current projects, and other really nifty stuff.

Friday, December 31, 2010

The Return of Stickman #1240


This is the news story that inspired this strip. I just couldn't help but ask the one question missing from the article, "Why didn't the first doctor double check for another foriegn object?" Here's a hint to parents: If you kid starts talking loud after visiting an ear doctor to get a toy soldier removed from his ear canal, have the doc take another look to make sure there isn't a platoon in there.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

The Return of Stickman #1239


In the end, no charges were filed. The amount for the fries was refunded. Did this incident really need the police? Or a news story?

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

The Return of Stickman #1238


After a lovely Christmas vacation it's time to get back onto a regular work schedule. I've no outside projects on my desk at the moment, but that will probably change in the next day or two. I was asked to bid on a number of jobs in January and even if half of them fall through or get put off, it looks like I will have a busy start in 2011. I will do my best to post up a new movie review every Monday and to fill in the rest of the week days with a stickman strip.

Today's strip was inspired by an e-mail from my friend Kevin Boze, in which he described a conversation he had on collective nouns for animals. The e-mail had both my wife and I in stitches. I thought I would make it one of my "random lists of things" stickman strips and see if anyone would catch the gag.

Monday, December 27, 2010

The Comic Critic Reviews Tron Legacy


Jeff Bridges has made a career of making Disney movies and I wanted to draw a little attention to that in my review of Tron Legacy. Nothing can ever quite capture that full-out wow factor of the first Tron’s ground-breaking special effects. The sequel required awesome special effects to keep pace with the emotions stirred by the first film. And while there is no way I can expect younger viewers to go back and see the first Tron with the same eyes I did, I did want my review to encourage them to take it in anyway. Commenting on the new and improved light suits was my way of tackling the iconic visuals of the first movie. The suits underwent huge improvements—from Atari to Armani. Mimicking but up-scaling, this sequel fulfills its task of mirroring the old one, still the modern adventure film that families can enjoy along with all of us die-hard geeks.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

The Return of Stickman #1236


According to international law, no corporation, nation, or state can claim ownership of celestial bodies. However, the international agreement says nothing about individuals. Duran claims that she is just the first to notice and take advantage of this. Others claim she is nuttier than a can of cashews.

Monday, December 20, 2010

The Comic Critic Reviews True Grit - 1969


John Wayne might have been buried in June of 1979, but as far as I’m concerned, he never died. He starred in over a hundred films, most of them westerns, and I think I’ve seen them all. And when it comes to True Grit, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen it. I didn’t realize just how solidly this film was implanted in my brain as an icon of the western genre until I heard that the Cohen brothers were filming a remake. My first reaction was, “Sacrilege!” I confess that I over-reacted. I’m now looking forward to see how the Cohen brothers pay homage to the movie I love so deeply. And I felt compelled to review the original before I review their remake.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

The Return of Stickman #1235


I spent a whole five minutes searching the Internet trying to get the straight scoop on whether or not cat litter is combustible. Almost everything I ran across said that something had to be added to the kitty litter first. I’m assuming that the truckload of litter being hauled was straight from the factory. I think the insurance investigators will have a load on their hands trying to figure this one out.

Monday, December 6, 2010

The Comic Critic Review "Slumdog Millionaire"


Slumdog Millionaire does a fantastic job of giving its audience a glimpse of what it’s like to grow up in an Indian slum. Other movies have tried, but this one is truly appealing in that we are pulled into the characters’ lives by multiple levels of curiosity. And for once, we’re given an ending that doesn’t make us want to take a razor to our wrists and end this travesty called life. It’s fairly upbeat for an Indian Slum movie.