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, March 30, 2012

The Return of Stickman #1388


I will see you all there later today.

I could go a full week with this material. You're all lucky that I've a comic book convention to deal with.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The Return of Stickman #1386


I'm really looking forward to ECCC this year. My friend Joe Manfredini is going to be helping me at my table again. This will be the first time I'm situated up towards the front. I'm hoping that the folks enjoy my new t-shirt design.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

The Return of Stickman #1358


Have fun finding the news story that inspired this strip. Don't try using bacon as a keyword. That's a red herring.

Monday, March 26, 2012

The Comic Critic Reviews Teeth



To my knowledge, there has never been a movie in which Vaginal Dentata played a pivotal role. I was very curious to see just how such an peculiar subject would be handled and pleased to see that it wasn’t made into a farce. The movie Teeth delivers everything you might expect in a horror film involving Vaginal Dentata, but in a dry, clever, dark way that gave it real credence. I also found that dry, clever, dark tone also constrained the film. So, while there were some clever moments, I was left wanting…um…more.

I'm looking forward to attending the Emerald City Comicon this weekend. Drop by and see me. I'm very close to the entrance.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Return of Stickman #1383


If you don't have enough common sense not to take your cat jogging, then of course you're not going to have enough common sense not to tie it to a rock while you finish your exercise. Here's the news story that inspired the strip.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The Return of Stickman #1382


The email submission which contained this news story that inspired today's strip had "Nooooooo!!" as its title.

Monday, March 19, 2012

The Comic Critic Reviews John Carter


I was quite the reader when I was a kid. So was my oldest brother Randy. Nearly all the books I read were ones he left lying around, so his tastes became my tastes—classic mysteries, sci-fi, and fantasy. Sir Author Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells, and Edgar Rice Burroughs were staples in his library. Surrounded by television and movies retelling the same stories, my little mind had a hard time putting into perspective that these writers from so long ago dreamed up stories with such foresight, imagination and wonder. But I immediately grasped the concept of that their work was valued and inspiring. As years went by, I saw their work influencing storytellers who followed them. But what I did not see was Tharks. I’ve been waiting for years to see Tharks on the big screen. And after such a long wait, I was rewarded with Tharks being served up in3 D.When it came time to draw this review of John Carter, my thoughts were less on critiquing the story arc and more on my old feelings about Burroughs, so I dropped my resistance and drew a fanboy review.

You can see more of Joe on my Facebook Channel.

Friday, March 16, 2012

The Return of Stickman #1380


Just in case you haven't located it, here is the news story that inspired this week's strips. The story grew a little last week after I wrote the strips. I have enough material that I could do another week's worth, but I think I will spare you that and move on to new material next week.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The Return of Stickman #1378


I'm not going to post the story that inspired this strip until the end of the week. That's right. This entire week I'm going to be focusing on this one story. This dead horse will be as tender as veal by the time I'm done whacking it with a stick.

Monday, March 12, 2012

The Comic Critic Reviews The Skeptic


I was very pleased to see a number of familiar faces in The Skeptic. The casting is spot-on. There is nothing lacking in the story. The film and editing are well controlled. So I gave it a point for these strong efforts, but I’d already taken away a point for the gratuitous use of a flashlight during the first five minutes (of an opening that belonged on a television drama instead of the big screen). I enjoyed this movie like I enjoy listening to the plot of an old, creepy radio program unfold. It has a different pace—meant more to creep out your mind than get all boogie-boogie in your face. I also enjoyed how I was left questioning its ending. The Skeptic is a unique cup of tea. Still, not everybody likes tea. And lot of tea lovers like only one kind of tea. But with a whiff of experimentation on the right chilly night, you just might could find it to your taste.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

The Return of Stickman #1377


This strip was inspired by my past strips and by the Merlin which has been hitting my yard every day to grab a snack at one of the bird feeders.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Monday, March 5, 2012

The Comic Critic Reviews Parents


I spent most of my movie rental money in the ‘80s trying to discover horror movie sleepers. During this intense study, I suffered through many bad movies. However, many hours of torture yielded a few gems. I also learned that I enjoyed a very specific sub-genre of horror move, the darkly comedic cannibal flick. I occasionally wonder why the idea of people eating other people is funny, but I wonder more if the next movie will be as good as the last. Since special effects cost money, much of the grisly stuff going on is implied. Of course, this means that a lot of attention is paid to the script, often with pretty good story-telling. And one of my favorite films in this genre is Parents.

Please send me your suggestions for dark-comedy cannibal movies. Here’s a list of cannibal-related films I’ve seen:

Blood Diner
Blood Feast
A Boy and His Dog
C.H.U.D.
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, & Her Lover
Delicatessen
Eating Raul
The Hills Have Eyes
Killer Clowns from Outer Space
Luther the Geek
Motel Hell
Ravenous
Silence of the Lambs
Sweeney Todd
The Time Machine
Two Thousand Maniacs

Friday, March 2, 2012

The Return of Stickman #1375


I wonder if they were waiting for all the old birds to die off before bringing them to trial. Here is the news story that inspired this strip.