Just can't get enough comedic goodness from me? Well I recently wrote a Halloweeny article for Cracked.com...you can find it right Here.
I don't think many actual kids read this comic, but just incase...watch out! The article's at more of a PG-13 level as opposed to the G/PG level I keep things around here. I'm sure most of you will survive just fine though.
Do you Digg? Well then Digg my article right Here.
So far the article's getting a lot of good feedback. What do my loyal Zoology fans think? Leave me a comment and tell me!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Ever so sorry...
Sorry about the lateness of Monday's strip...when you combine my pickiness (I actually scrapped and redrew a panel which I rarely do) and Comicgenesis glitches and you get a comic that's a few hours late.
Hope folks are enjoying the Halloween storyline so far. It's kind of atypical for a Zoology storyline, but hey...maybe I'll become a destination for goths with all the darkness and death.
Hope folks are enjoying the Halloween storyline so far. It's kind of atypical for a Zoology storyline, but hey...maybe I'll become a destination for goths with all the darkness and death.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography: A Review
I actually read this one back in early summer...a family friend who works for Harper-Collins sent me a advance copy. I was planning to get a jump on everyone and review it early, but procrastination prevailed and thus here I am reviewing it 6 days after it's release date. Oh well.
Anyways, the book covers Schulz's entire life from birth to death. It starts on an absolutely heartbreaking note as Schulz's dying mother says her final words to Schulz and he is then immediately shipped off to war. The book grabs you with those first few pages and keeps a steady hold on your attention most of the way until the end (no small feat considering it's a 600-page biography about a guy who spent most of his life in front of a drawing board making funny pictures).
The Schulz we see in this biography is a fascinating figure. On the one hand, as an aspiring cartoonist, I couldn't help but be inspired. This is a guy who became the most successful cartoonist in history through sheer force of will and the dedication to doing something different. He was also a guy who, due to his own insecurities and mental problems, was never able to truly enjoy his success. You actually get to feel as if you know Schulz personally by the end of the book, and all too often the man can be downright frustrating.
Another thing I liked about the book is that it's not just a biography of Schulz, but of his comic strip as well. With every chapter in his personal life that's detailed, a chapter in the development of his strip is detailed as well and it's quite amazing how much the two intersect. Schulz drew from his own life more than he'd ever admit when he was alive and the book helpfully uses real Peanuts strips to illustrate this. It seems rare that there was a major event in Schulz's life that didn't get translated into his comic world.
The book isn't perfect though...it's perhaps a bit too long. Schulz is an interesting guy, but he didn't lead nations or do anything particularly adventurous or world changing. Certain points and stories get repeated, maybe 600 pages wasn't strictly necessary. Also the author sometimes gets a bit too deep into psychoanalyzing Schulz...providing theories for Schulz's behavior that he couldn't have actually had proof of. That said, on the whole this was a very enjoyable read and one I'd highly recommend to anyone trying to get into the wild and wacky world of commicking.
As an aside, it seems unfortunately the angle most mainstream media outlets have taken in regards to his biography is "SCHULZ REVEALED AS DEPRESSED BITTER WOMANIZER! CHILDREN OUTRAGED!". This is sensationalistic and unfair. Yes, Schulz was often depressed...is this really a revelation? This is the guy who created Charlie Brown for cripes sakes. He wasn't always depressed though...particularly in his later years, during his 2nd (and far more successful) marriage. Bitter? Not particularly, no more than any average person I would think. Womanizer? Unless he had a secret stash of women the author of the biography didn't uncover, Schulz had 3 sexual relationships in his entire life. What a playboy. And as for his children being outraged, I don't see how that could be. Much of the information in the book was gathered through first-hand interviews with his children...the book was written over 7 years in close association with the family. If they wanted the book to be nothing but glowing praise they should have bit their tongues.
Anyways...ignore the trumped up "controversy" and buy the book!
http://www.amazon.com/Schulz-Peanuts-Biography-David-Michaelis/dp/0066213932/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-1044751-9812017?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192312775&sr=8-1
Anyways, the book covers Schulz's entire life from birth to death. It starts on an absolutely heartbreaking note as Schulz's dying mother says her final words to Schulz and he is then immediately shipped off to war. The book grabs you with those first few pages and keeps a steady hold on your attention most of the way until the end (no small feat considering it's a 600-page biography about a guy who spent most of his life in front of a drawing board making funny pictures).
The Schulz we see in this biography is a fascinating figure. On the one hand, as an aspiring cartoonist, I couldn't help but be inspired. This is a guy who became the most successful cartoonist in history through sheer force of will and the dedication to doing something different. He was also a guy who, due to his own insecurities and mental problems, was never able to truly enjoy his success. You actually get to feel as if you know Schulz personally by the end of the book, and all too often the man can be downright frustrating.
Another thing I liked about the book is that it's not just a biography of Schulz, but of his comic strip as well. With every chapter in his personal life that's detailed, a chapter in the development of his strip is detailed as well and it's quite amazing how much the two intersect. Schulz drew from his own life more than he'd ever admit when he was alive and the book helpfully uses real Peanuts strips to illustrate this. It seems rare that there was a major event in Schulz's life that didn't get translated into his comic world.
The book isn't perfect though...it's perhaps a bit too long. Schulz is an interesting guy, but he didn't lead nations or do anything particularly adventurous or world changing. Certain points and stories get repeated, maybe 600 pages wasn't strictly necessary. Also the author sometimes gets a bit too deep into psychoanalyzing Schulz...providing theories for Schulz's behavior that he couldn't have actually had proof of. That said, on the whole this was a very enjoyable read and one I'd highly recommend to anyone trying to get into the wild and wacky world of commicking.
As an aside, it seems unfortunately the angle most mainstream media outlets have taken in regards to his biography is "SCHULZ REVEALED AS DEPRESSED BITTER WOMANIZER! CHILDREN OUTRAGED!". This is sensationalistic and unfair. Yes, Schulz was often depressed...is this really a revelation? This is the guy who created Charlie Brown for cripes sakes. He wasn't always depressed though...particularly in his later years, during his 2nd (and far more successful) marriage. Bitter? Not particularly, no more than any average person I would think. Womanizer? Unless he had a secret stash of women the author of the biography didn't uncover, Schulz had 3 sexual relationships in his entire life. What a playboy. And as for his children being outraged, I don't see how that could be. Much of the information in the book was gathered through first-hand interviews with his children...the book was written over 7 years in close association with the family. If they wanted the book to be nothing but glowing praise they should have bit their tongues.
Anyways...ignore the trumped up "controversy" and buy the book!
http://www.amazon.com/Schulz-Peanuts-Biography-David-Michaelis/dp/0066213932/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-1044751-9812017?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192312775&sr=8-1
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Family Reunions...
Should Baker meet his family again?
That's a question I've been mulling over in my mind pretty much since I first drew his mom and siblings back last year. Like I said in the last post, it just seems natural to me that at some point you have to do a baby/kid version of your characters and when you do that you also kind of have to show their family. Can't have baby Baker raised by wolves!
So since then I've had various ideas pop into my head from time to time...one of his family members could show up at the zoo, or maybe Baker to go on a quest to rediscover his roots. I think these could be good stories, but at the same time Baker having to leave his family gives his backstory a nice tragic little twist. It also sort of establishes Shandy and others as sort of a surrogate family instead of mere friends.
Any of you fine readers have an opinion on the subject? Leave me a comment...help chart the course of this here comical strip!
That's a question I've been mulling over in my mind pretty much since I first drew his mom and siblings back last year. Like I said in the last post, it just seems natural to me that at some point you have to do a baby/kid version of your characters and when you do that you also kind of have to show their family. Can't have baby Baker raised by wolves!
So since then I've had various ideas pop into my head from time to time...one of his family members could show up at the zoo, or maybe Baker to go on a quest to rediscover his roots. I think these could be good stories, but at the same time Baker having to leave his family gives his backstory a nice tragic little twist. It also sort of establishes Shandy and others as sort of a surrogate family instead of mere friends.
Any of you fine readers have an opinion on the subject? Leave me a comment...help chart the course of this here comical strip!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Apologies and Bonus Ramblings!
Sorry Wednesday's comic was a bit late...there was a bit of an ink related disaster and a couple panels had to be redrawn. My most humble apologies!
So anyways, as you may notice I'm kicking off a month-long Halloween themed storyline. I've resisted doing anything like this before because quite frankly I think Halloween has become overblown in recent years. Yeah sure, I loved hauling 30 pounds of candy home in a sack when I was a kid, but even then I was under no false impression that Halloween was an important holiday...it was the day where I put on a mask and begged strangers for candy, nothing worth making a huge deal of. Apparently the opinion on Halloween has changed amongst a good slice of society because the amount of Halloween junk they try to push on you these days is rivaled only by Christmas it seems. Talk of Halloween starts almost as soon as October begins (or even earlier) and of course the "Lol...tradition is uncool man" crowd the proliferates on the Internet love it precisely because it's so meaningless and are in the process of beating it to death like they have pirates, zombies, pictures of cats or whatever thing we're supposed to be enjoying ironically at the moment.
And uh...now I guess I'm on the Halloween bandwagon too. Seriously though, I think it's going to be a really good story, so I thought I'd stop being curmudgeon about the Halloween thing and just go for it.
Oh, and the story also marks the return of lil' Baker! I grew up in an era where those in charge of making cartoons were so creatively bankrupt that the only idea they had for new shows was to take an established cast of characters and make them kids or babies...and thus Saturday mornings were packed with shows like "A Pup Named Scooby Doo", "Muppet Babies" and "Tiny Toons". So to me it just seems natural...if you create a cartoon character you have to someday do a kid/baby version of them. There's simply no way around it. While we're on the subject, how adorable would baby Shandy be? Very adorable I think...I need to do a baby Shandy storyline.
Anyways, that's enough rambling for one day. I wouldn't want to spoil you.
So anyways, as you may notice I'm kicking off a month-long Halloween themed storyline. I've resisted doing anything like this before because quite frankly I think Halloween has become overblown in recent years. Yeah sure, I loved hauling 30 pounds of candy home in a sack when I was a kid, but even then I was under no false impression that Halloween was an important holiday...it was the day where I put on a mask and begged strangers for candy, nothing worth making a huge deal of. Apparently the opinion on Halloween has changed amongst a good slice of society because the amount of Halloween junk they try to push on you these days is rivaled only by Christmas it seems. Talk of Halloween starts almost as soon as October begins (or even earlier) and of course the "Lol...tradition is uncool man" crowd the proliferates on the Internet love it precisely because it's so meaningless and are in the process of beating it to death like they have pirates, zombies, pictures of cats or whatever thing we're supposed to be enjoying ironically at the moment.
And uh...now I guess I'm on the Halloween bandwagon too. Seriously though, I think it's going to be a really good story, so I thought I'd stop being curmudgeon about the Halloween thing and just go for it.
Oh, and the story also marks the return of lil' Baker! I grew up in an era where those in charge of making cartoons were so creatively bankrupt that the only idea they had for new shows was to take an established cast of characters and make them kids or babies...and thus Saturday mornings were packed with shows like "A Pup Named Scooby Doo", "Muppet Babies" and "Tiny Toons". So to me it just seems natural...if you create a cartoon character you have to someday do a kid/baby version of them. There's simply no way around it. While we're on the subject, how adorable would baby Shandy be? Very adorable I think...I need to do a baby Shandy storyline.
Anyways, that's enough rambling for one day. I wouldn't want to spoil you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)