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.

Monday, November 30, 2009

The Return of Stickman #1064


I considered doing a week's worth of strips on the topic of Thanksgiving during my vacation. Instead, I ate turkey and took a nap.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Saturday, November 21, 2009

The Comic Critic Reviews: A Boy and His Dog


I might have posted this review of A Boy and His Dog a long time ago, but when I checked the site earlier today I didn’t find it anywhere. So, I’m posting it again. Hopefully it will stay up this time. My brother Randy told me about this movie. Now my memory fails me because I can’t remember if he dragged me to the theater or I sat down one evening to watch it on Showtime. But, what I do remember is that I did see it for the first time with him, and that we had a blast watching it together.

Friday, November 20, 2009

The Return of Stickman #1062


I was just in Cedar Rapids earlier this month. It's a very nice place. Of course, I wasn't expecting any mail.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The Return of Stickman #1060


This didn't actually happen to me, but it did happen to a friend of mine. I wonder what he is going to go now.

Monday, November 16, 2009

The Return of Stickman #1059


Upon catching the little four footed saboteur I contemplated how else I could wreck my vegance on the vermin, but his little tail sticking straight out with rigor mortis softened my cruel heart.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Thursday, November 12, 2009

The Return of Stickman #1057


This is less of a comment about how I think of this stuff and more of a comment of how this stuff gets presented to me by the media. A simple new header would have been "Dolphins Responsible for Porpoises Death", but no, I get to read the header "Sexually Frustrated Dolphins Abuse Porpoise". Does every news story have to sound like it came out of Gossip Tabloid?

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The Return of Stickman #1056


Honest to god, the new reporter I was listening to actually said the line in the fifth panel. And in an instant I immediately knew what today's strip was going to be.

Monday, November 9, 2009

The Return of Stickman #1055 and the Jeff Hawley visit the Cartoon Museum


The question I want to ask the BBC, my source for this story, is why they are bothering to report it when the lady still has to complete the practical?

In other news, my good friend and fellow Talon of The CLAW, Jeff Hawley, went to see the Monsters of Webcomics exhibit at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco. Months ago both he and I submitted strips for the exhibit and here is a photo of Jeff pointing to a Stickman strip as it popped up in the virtual exhibit. Thanks for the shot Jeff.



Jeff does a webcomic about a talking tree called Logjam.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

The Comic Critic Reviews: Hanzo The Razor: Sword of Justice



I’m trying to remember which one of my friends recommended Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice. While I can understand his honorable intentions in introducing me to a new-to-me form of cult-driven film, he should have stressed that this is not a date movie.  (Features like these are the reason I have a hard time getting my wife to watch movies with me.) After the first twenty minutes, we turned it off to watch something we could enjoy together.

Later the next day, I finished watching it. Why did I go back to something I found very uncomfortable? I’ve always have felt the need to watch a film all the way through; otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to make an honest appraisal. There would always be nagging questions, “Did it get any better?” and “Does the sixties jazz soundtrack, more-Shaft-than-Shogun, turn into something more traditional?” For my own piece of mind, and because by that point I wanted to draw a review, I finished watching, but let me assure you, it was no fun.

A few of you kind readers are also fans of manga and anime. Some of you might know that Hanzo the Razor was originally a manga created by the same hand that made Lone Wolf and Cub. Some of you might even know that in “Samurai Champloo,” the over-the-top policeman character named Mando was a parody of Hando. Still, I urge you not to seek out this film. And if you do, don’t watch it with your wife—or anyone else you ever want to look in the eye again.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Thursday, November 5, 2009

The Return of Stickman #1053



While I was on a layover in Chicago I was inspired to call my friend John Schmelzer. He reminded me that the last guest strip he sent had yet to go up on the net. I promised him that I would post it as soon as I got home. Thanks John!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The Return of Stickman #1052



Who confronts a homeless guy who just shoved a ferret into his pants? Last I heard, both the man and the ferret were "at-large."

Monday, November 2, 2009

The Return of Stickman #1051



There are two schools of thought with the severed feet. The logical one is that a body decaying in water looses extremities and the foot, being protected by a shoe, survives long enough to be discovered. The not so logical one is that there is a mad butcher going around leaving the feet on beaches as his calling card. Either way, it's just damn creepy.