Rabbits Against Nostrils

Today's Wizard of Id. I can't help feeling the second panel should have read "Achoocadabra".

I figured I'd post this so the rumors of my death will cease.

From Pooch Cafe (June 1, 2015)

From Randolph Itch 2 a.m. (August 4th, 2002)

Rabbits Against Street Food

When I read through the daily strips every morning, one of the highlights is always the art of Tak Bui, the artist behind PC and Pixel. His line work and details make the strip a huge outlier in the comic strip world where most strips are simplified and have minimal backgrounds.

Rabbits Against Strange Brew

A great joke from the always amusing John Deering in his "Strange Brew" strip today.  I think the name "Quackenbush" makes it even funnier.

Rabbits Against Wood Chippers

Fargo started off Season 2 Episode 3 with a vintage rabbit out of a hat trick. The only sour point to an otherwise excellent TV series.

Krazy Kat Against Magic

Wow!  This one is from Valentine's Day 1938.

Where Ideas Come From

Rabbits Reuben Awards Submission Package 2015

Here are my twelve sample submissions for this years National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards (for which I received a nomination!).  I had a couple of buddies help select the strips this year (thanks Mike and Matt).  The voting was done online for the first time and any member of the NCS could vote.  Previously, only one chapter (often only four or five people) who make the selections.

Gulp!

In my usual awkward English way I am I'm severely humbled to announce that for the second time in three years my comic strip Rabbits Against Magic has been nominated for a Reuben Award (The "Oscar" of Comic Strips) by the National Cartoonist Society. Of course it’s a cliché to say it’s an honor just to be nominated but in this instance it IS! So many other great strips missed out this year.  It’s amazing to thing that I was considered top three in the first “peoples” vote. The winner of the award will be announced on May 23rd in Washington DC.  This is not an April fools joke :-)

Rabbits Against The Great Edisonini

Cartoon great, John Hambrock draws the wonderful comic strip The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee which this week touches on the dark arts.  I'm a huge fan but I love this particular strip for obvious reasons.  The coloring is always great as well.

Rabbits Against Calaveras

Yup.  It's Day of the Dead again so time for my annual tribute to the great Mexican engraver José Guadalupe Posada mixed in with some papel picado.

This was the first time since 2008 that it's fallen on a Sunday so it's double the work but twice the fun.  Here are the previous six:

Rabbits Against Abracadabradooles

Bizarro from July 9th, 2014

Six Chix by Rina Piccolo from February 2nd, 2014

Rabbits Against Magic Psychedelics

Nice image from illustrator Angelo Monne for the article “Combating bad science” published in The Economist last month.  Here's a link to more of his work.

Rabbits Against Voodoo Shmoodoo

I'm posting this great Macanudo strip from Liniers again because 

Enchanted Lion Books just released the first collection in English.

Go buy it or be quiet!

Rabbits Against Calamari

Today's sunday strip was a lot of fun to do although it took me forever.

It's actually a homage/tribute/rip off of this amazing double-spread by Wally Wood (art) and George Belkin (script) from issue #68 of Mad, circa 1962.  This is the uncut Bristol board image. Notice I stole one of the jokes!

One thing I decided up front was that due to the proliferation of characters and the much smaller space allowed for Sunday strips these days I had to restrict the numbers somewhat.  Thus I only included characters from current strips (no reruns with the exception of Andy Capp and Popeye) and included very few dogs and cats. I skipped the soap and adventure type strips too. Generally I picked characters that might actually work in an office and there is definitely a personal bias in there too. Also, as Dilbert's boss says "no webcomics".  The exceptions were people who have included my characters in their strips (Dark SIde of the Horse, Human Cull and Knight Life).  Of course I missed a few that I'd include if I was to do this over.

Here's the pencil rough before I started inking.

I was really happy to be able to make a band.  Hardest to draw was Dagwood from Blondie.  I need to practice that one more. Next up, the Comic Strip Characters Beach party!

Here's the complete list (approximately top to bottom, left to right):

Horace (Dark Side of the Horse), Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, Travis (the head in the jar from Scary Gary), Jill Kaplan (The Pajama Diaries), Jonathan Lemon (me!), Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), Alien Admin (from Human Cull), Rory (The Barn), Percival Dunwoody, Idiot Time-Traveler from 1909 (Tom the Dancing Bug), Scary Gary and Leopold (Scary Gary), Buni (Buni), Dilbert, Helen Kudlick (Dustin), Keith Knight (The K Chronicles), Lance (Fusco Brothers), Dagwood (Blondie), Luann, Arthur (Sheldon), Pointy-haired boss (Dilbert), Petey (Cul-de-Sac), Popeye, Lettuce (Rabbits Against Magic), Roger Fox (Foxtrot), Charlie Brown and Lucy (Peanuts), Big Nate, Lio, Tina (Tina's Groove), Beatle Bailey and Sarge, The cloud (Wizard of Id), Zippy the Pinhead, Trixie (Rabbits Against Magic), Jeremy Duncan (Zits), La Cucuracha, Joules (Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee), Rat (Pearls Before Swine), Lamont (Candorville), Duke (Doonesbury), Monty Montahue (Monty), Bung and the Wizard (Wizard of Id), Andy Capp, Schroeder (Peanuts), Hilary Forth (Sally Forth), Poncho (Pooch Cafe), Bucky (Get Fuzzy), Bleeker the Rechargeable Dog, Thatababy, Hammie (Baby Blues), Marla (Retail), Eaightball and Weenus (Rabbits Against Magic), Grog (B.C.), Earl (Pickles), Oscar the Penguin (Arctic Circle), Enos (The Duplex).

Rabbits Against Alfred E. Neuman

A fabulous cover illustration by Bob Jones for Mad magazine, April 1976.  Along with Jack Rickard and Norman Mingo, one of the great under appreciated Mad artists.

Rabbits Against Wonders Of Nature

Rabbits Against Magic, June 10th, 2014

Lio, June 11, 2014

Although these are different jokes, I'm stunned by the similarity of these two strips.  The camera placement, the two trees, insect hanging in tree. Well done Mr. Tatulli, you made me almost feel like a professional.

Rabbits Reuben Awards Submission Package

Here's are my twelve submission samples for the National Cartoonist's Society Reuben Awards this year in San Diego. (SPOILER ALERT - I was not nominated this year).