The Making of a Poster

When my friends Michael and Chy Shaudis told me they were going to start a Zombie Festival called Tacoma Zombpocalypse, I was thrilled. And I immediately signed up to have a table at the event. I first met Michael and Chy when Michael became a member of The CLAW. It was only natural then that Michael would call upon some of the talent at hand to do a series of posters for the event. Mark Brill did the first poster.

 

I first saw his poster at Crypticon where Mark Brill and I were sharing a table. The Shaudis's were also there sharing a bit of table space with Poison Apple. Now it was my turn to create a poster. Mark Brill already used the Tacoma Dome as a landmark and I didn't want to repeat that. I did want to play off the "Zombie Hunter" character he created. The next landmark that came to mind was the neglected Old City Hall Clock Tower. I remembered that James Stowe, another member of The CLAW, submitted a poster design to the Grand Theater back in 2008.

 

I always thought it should've been the winning entry. I was bummed when it wasn't used. Stowe is a great guy. A couple of months ago at a CLAW drawing session we all pulled sounds out of a hat and had to draw a picture which used that sound. The sound I drew was "Tchakka!" I drew Stowe cocking a shotgun.

Stowe thought it was great. So I decided to pay an homage to both Stowe's art and the man himself but using both of these elements in my final poster design.

And that my dear friends is the story of the making of this poster. Limited signed editions of this poster without the copy will be available in the near future. I will let you know when they come off the presses.

The Comic Critic Reviews Titanic

Titanic is one of the best date movies ever. It has a strong appeal to both sexes. The heroine undergoes a rollercoaster of emotion, a rising dread of a fearful plummet ahead, followed by the thrill of living, the rise of love, the rapid twists and turns as that love is tested—only to go through another rise of dread for yet another plummet. In short, she’s all over the map emotionally. The hero is a rogue on an adventure. He charms, seduces, revels and then fights for the life of the one he loves. Here you have a chick flick and an action flick in one. And on top of that, you have it all under the guise of an historical disaster movie. It’s really not a surprise to me that Titanic went on to become one of the largest international blockbusters of all time.

The Return of Stickman #1409

Here is the news story that inspired today's strip.

The Return of Stickman #1407 & #1408

Fudge! I forgot to post my strip yesterday. So you're getting a double dose today. You can find the new story's that inspired these strips here and here.

The Comic Critic Reviews Little Fugitive

With little dialog, Little Fugitive is a simple story that captures a guilt-ridden child’s view of a world in which he suddenly finds himself completely on his own. It was a coincidence that caught me at nearly the same age as the hero when I saw it. And thinking about running away from home is something that every little kid fantasizes about. Little Fugitive was a good decade ahead of its time in capturing the feel and message of a television after-school special. The movie’s extremely real perspective of how empty the world can be without family or friends threw a wet blanket on my fantasies—and probably helped to make my own “running away” thoughts very short-lived. Still, use of handheld hidden cameras did capture an era in a special location that has more than slightly changed over the ensuing sixty years. I wanted to capture that “way-back-machine” feel in my strip.

The Return of Stickman #1406

I think I might come back to this theme next week. I'm trying to get ahead a few days so that when I get busy I have something in the buffer.

The Return of Stickman #1405

There were several news story's that inspired this theme. You won't have to search hard to find them.