Andertoons Cartoon Blog

Schulz' "Alter Ego"

I bet that graphic got your attention!

No, Sparky didn't moonlight as Batman, in issue 59 of Alter Ego...

...there is an interview with Al Plastino, long-time comic book artist, former cartoonist of the Nancy comic strip, and most relevant to this discussion, the guy whom United Feature Syndicate had tapped for taking over Peanuts should something happen to Schulz (back before it was decided that Such Things Would Not Be Done.) Among the illustrations for the article are small but clear reproductions of three Plastino Peanuts dailies, showing us what might have been.

(Thanks to The Aaugh Blog)

Technorati Tags: cartooning, cartoonists, cartoons, comic strips, magazines, Peanuts, Schulz

Obsessing on Cartoon Captions

When I caption my cartoons in Photoshop, one of the things I tend to obsess on is how the words work underneath the graphic.

Here's a recent cartoon, and you can see initially I had the word "very" on a different line than the word "impressive."

I didn't like the way that flowed, so I changed the caption so the two were on the same line.

But then the caption looked too large, and I didn't like the shape of the caption, so I changed it to this:

It might be better with "potty-trained" on the second line, but I always like the topmost line to be the largest, so I left it like this.

To be honest, I have no idea if any of this makes any difference whatsoever in the reading of the cartoon, but I tend to sweat the small stuff, and I'm fine with that.

Technorati Tags: andertoons, cartooning, cartoonists, cartoons

The Really Pretty Good "The Amazing Screw-On Head"

OK, so Who Wants to be a Superhero was kinda lame, but SciFi's other newbie, The Amazing Screw-On Head is really very good!

Miss it? You can watch the entire pilot episode here! (You can thank me later...)

Technorati Tags: animation, comics, tv

Cinderfella Dana Dane (Hobo #595)

I spent more time on this hobo illustration than I care to admit...

Technorati Tags: andertoons, cartooning, cartoonists, cartoons, Flickr, illustration

More Cartoon Blogs

Lately I've been restructuring everyone's favorite cartoon blog, and I've been adding some new blogs to the "Cartoon Blogs" section.

Some recent fun finds:

• The Aaugh Blog - Info for the serious Peanuts fan since 2000 (WOW!)
• Chewing Pencils - Matt Glover gives you the cartooning lowdown
• A Gag a Day - Tim Harries has a great individual style and a weird sense of humor; right up my alley
• Tom's Mad Blog - Tom Richmond slings some serious ink

Technorati Tags: blogs, cartooning, cartoonists, cartoons

I'm Ashamed...

...to admit my DVR is recording Who Wants to be a Superhero as we speak.

Technorati Tags: cartoons, comics, tv

Pics Around the House

I was working on sending out paks of cartoons today, as well as sending out some Ebay stuff, drawing new cartoons, and working on an elaborate hobo illustration. So, neatnik that I am, I thought a shot of my desk at its worst might be interesting:

I even thought this picture of our dog, Satchel, posing pretzel-like, might be the pic of the day:

But then, while playing with my son in his room, there was a rather loud noise, and something big sliding quickly down his window. I ran downstairs to find this in the back yard:

OK, not a huge deal, but I just paid a boatload to have a giant willow taken down after a big storm. Why do my trees all hate me?!

Pretty good, but, the pic of the day has to be this:

What is it, you ask? My wife is a wonderful baker, and baked two loaves of cinnamon swirl break from scratch this afternoon. This is the dough, freshly risen. (It's covered in saran wrap.)

Here's the final product:

A good day for pictures!

Technorati Tags: andertoons, cartooning, cartoonists, cartoons, studio

Cartooning's a Beach

Here's detail of a larger "Where's Waldo" type illustration I did for a Finnish law firm last week:

It always surprises me when I get work overseas, but it's getting more and more common. That's the beauty of operating online.

When people complain about the lack of markets I just shake my head.

Technorati Tags: andertoons, cartooning, cartoonists, illustration

Comic Con Simpsons Movie Footage

Ooh baby... This is gonna be sweet!

Here's another one...

(Thanks to Ted for the heads up!)

Technorati Tags: animation, cartoons, simpsons

La Grippe (Hobo #662)

Hee-hee-hee! This is a lot of fun!

(My hoboes...)

Technorati Tags: andertoons, cartooning, cartoons, Flickr, illustration