Andertoons Cartoon Blog

What's That, Sonny?

I like to think that I’m up on most of the big cartoon trends and topics, but then my latest issue of Wired shows up yesterday and makes me feel like an old man yelling at kids to get off of my lawn.

Neil Gaiman interviews the creators of The Gorillaz, which I can best describe as sort of a modern twist on Alvin and the Chipmunks for the remix generation.

I haven’t checked out any of their music, and I probably won’t (I’m listening to Nat King Cole on my patio as I write this), but it’s damn disturbing that something this big passes me by without me even knowing it’s there.

For those who doubt cartooning’s future, rest assured it’s safe, if unrecognizable at first.

Cartoon Sightings

OK, some more Andertoons cartoon sightings for you:

One of my kids cartoons is in the July 4 issue of First for Women.

This cartoon in the July/August issue of The Saturday Evening Post, as is this cartoon.

(Thanks to cartoon comrade Mike “Blind Lemon” Lynch for the heads up on First!)

I’ve also been getting some lovely write-ups about my new daily cartoon feature.

There’s Easy Bake Weblogs, Surfilicious, and Blogging Business to name just a few!

Thanks to everyone out there for continuing to support my work!

Best Batman Ever!

And I really like the original Burton film. Heck, I even like the 1963 Adam West movie with the noble porpoise. But this one’s got ‘em all beat.

I’m no Batman afficiando, but Batman Begins seems to have recaptured what’s great (and disturbing) about Batman without seeming so comic-booky.

I’m so glad at least some of Hollywood has discovered that special effects and costumes do not a superhero movie make. Good writing, good directing, good actors – all these can and do help comic book flicks immensely.

There’s some nice nods to the comic, but never anything that feels like “this is for the comic fans!” There’s also some clever outside references that the director is smart enough to not beat you over the head with.

One thing that did bother me was a certain constant perkiness on Katie Holmes. Come on people; she can’t always be freezing cold in the chestal area. You’d think Gotham was located in Alaska for crying out loud! (Maybe this was an homage to Batman Forever?)

Anyway, go see it. Go see it now!

Cartoon Cruising

I read in the Trib the other day that Celebrity Cruise Lines is booking three “cartoon cruises” featuring New Yorker cartoonists Sam Gross, George Booth, Jack Ziegler and others.

I’m not sure exactly what these cruises will entail, and writer Jay Boyar offers no real specifics, but it’s an interesting, if expensive, way to connect with cartoonists.

(Note – I’m offering paddleboat rides with me for significantly less money.)

But the whole cruise ship angle got me thinking about my younger days as a professional trombonist, or as I liked to put it, “sackbut for hire!”

I played for various cruise lines for about 2-1/2 years. I spent a summer cruising around Alaska, about a year in and around San Juan, and I’ve been to the Bahamas somewhere around 120 times.

Musicians generally worked about 2-3 hours a day and the rest of your time was yours. Sure, you never got a day off, and the accommodations were cramped, but all in all, not a bad way to spend one’s youth.

Anyway, I crawled up into some boxes in the garage and pulled out some photos of the artist as a young musician. Check them out in my photo album on the left sidebar.

Save Spot the Frog!

OK, Wisconsinites, this blog’s for you.

Regular readers of our little cartoon blog will recognize Spot the Frog creator, and all around great guy, Mark Heath as a regular commenter.  (BTW, check out Mark’s Frog Blog too!)

I’m a big fan of Spot.  It’s a rare gem of a strip that combines laugh out loud funny with a sort of philosophical sweetness not seen since Calvin and Hobbes.  But there’s a problem…

Readers of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel can no longer spot Spot.  The editors there have dropped the strip.  This is where you cheeseheads come in…

Please please please drop the Sentinal’s editors a line and ask for Spot’s return!  Don’t settle for lesser comics.  To paraphrase early Beastie Boys, you’ve got to fight for your right to laugh hearty!

Editors hate getting mail about comics.  It’s not their favorite section of the paper and they’d prefer it just hum along quietly.  So, when readers speak up, they’re usually quick to make changes so they can get back to runaway brides and such.

Save Spot!  Write now!

New Andertoons Features!

I promised you some big news, and, man, am I gonna deliver!

If you’ve been observant at our favorite cartoon website in recent days, you’ll have noticed what I think are the biggest changes to Andertoons since, well, Andertoons.  Let’s start with what has been the bane of visitors for years now…

Andertoons.com cartoon watermarks. It drove many loyal readers (and this cartoonist) crazy, but it’s now nothing but a bad memory.  Instead, cartoons now carry a simple copyright notice and my website’s URL at their tops, giving an unimpeded view of the artwork.

So what took so long?  The website wunderkind at Karma have engineered a solution that will allow me to continue to protect my work, while giving everyone a clear view of the cartoons. It’s something I’ve wanted from day one, but was never clever enough to figure out on my own.  Score one for surrounding yourself with smart people.

(OK, you serious webbies out there will, I’m sure, find a way around it, but I’d like to politely ask you not to use my cartoons without my consent.  Cartoons are how I earn my living and I’d like to continue doing that.  Thanks.)

OK, now on to some really fun stuff! 

I’m a blogger and have been for over a year now and I love the personal creative expression it allows me.  I get to share things that are uniquely me with a wide audience on a regular basis.

One of the things that I think helps define us is our individual sense of humor.  And it’s that idea that motivated the new (and free!) Andertoons Daily Cartoon!

Yes, now you can have my cartoons appear daily on your website or blog.  Simply pick what types of cartoons you’re interested in, cut and paste some code, and your readers will get to share your sense of humor too.

It will appear as a cartoon thumbnail on your site/blog.  But, when your readers click on it, they’ll be treated to the full size version in a small new window, again, sans watermark!  (Check out my right-hand sidebar for an example.)

What’s really neat is that you can pick the topics of the cartoons.  If you run a business-themed blog, you can get all business cartoons.  Church site?  Get all family cartoons!

Check out my new Free Toons page for the skinny on it all.  I think you’ll be as excited as I am about it.

There’s some more new stuff under the hood, and we’ve moved everything to what seems to be a good new host, but that’s about it for new features.  Don’t worry, though – as always, I’ve got a bunch of new ideas that should make Andertoons.com even better!

So, go dig around the site, pass the word, and enjoy the new changes!

Haiku

OK, I've got a killer 4-day old headache and I'm in the the final troubleshooting for the new feature, so here's a quick haiku for you:

Head pounding badly
Emails flying back and forth
Blog readers get squat

Big news this Friday... See ya then!

Cartoons That Stay Crunchy in Milk

I ran across this blog about breakfast cereals and cartoons a week or so back and it’s a fun read.

Some of my favorite points…

The Trix Rabbit:

“…the Rabbit is the modern day retelling of the Greek tragic myth of Tantalus; the cereal is forever just out of reach. The kids are psychologically demented and knowingly evil…”

Cap’n Crunch:

“According to Quaker Oats, the Cap'n was once promoted to Admiral”

(I have to wonder – did they spell it “Adm’l”?)

Lucky the Leprechaun:

“Trivia: the current 5-pointed star was originally introduced as 6-pointed; read into it what you will.”

Check out the entire post here…

Little/Big People

My son and I were over to my in-laws yesterday to take care of their cats while they’re vacationing. After scooping the litter box, the boy and I played with on old Fisher-Price Little People Village leftover from my wife’s childhood.

I gotta tell you, not only was it a blast from the past, but as I examined the little people (wooden, mind you, not the later plastic ones) I noticed that the simple dot and line faces painted on them seemed a lot like the style that I use on my cartoons today.  Sure there are differences, but it made me wonder how much stuff like this from my childhood influenced my artwork and writing today.

My mom had gotten me a joke book once (I think it was called The Big Book of Jokes or something) that I proceeded to annoy the family with for months.  I also used to study comedy albums and late night TV with an almost religious fervor.  I do have a love for terrible puns, and I wonder now how many of my jokes have a Cosby or Carson slant.

Of course I’ll never know for sure, but watching my son play with those old little people suddenly became fascinating on a whole different level.

Multiple Cartoons

I just wanted to take a second and thank everyone for putting up with some goofiness with the daily email cartoon the other day. Many of you wrote in to let me know that you'd received three or four cartoons in the same day.

I've recently changed hosting and we're still working out the kinks. Thankfully that particular kink seems to have been unkinked.

Anyway, hang in there. We've got some really neat new features coming soon, so there's bound to be some more weirdness too.