Edoc Sdrawkcab

For a few brief weeks in 1976 I did actually write my journal in "secret code". I like to think I soon wizened up and figured it probably wasn't terribly effective but more likely I got lazy or forgot. 1976 was actually the first year I started keeping a daily journal (or "diary" as they are called in Britain). I've not missed a day since (really!) and have all 33 volumes lined up on a shelf. Another amazing Lemon factoid that can only be found here!

Rabbits Against Clovis

I've mentioned Lucus Turnbloom's "Imagine This" strip before on this blog. Well, while he's taking paternity leave at the moment he's asked twelve cartoonists to do his strip over the next two weeks and he's assembled quite a stellar cast of guest cartoonists. Tony Piro (Calamities of Nature) and Brian Anderson (Dog Eat Doug) provided the first two strips. Here's my humble attempt/homage that runs today. IMHO Imagine This is one of the best drawn web strips currently running. It's a sort of mutated crossbreed between Calvin and Hobbes and Get Fuzzy so if you haven't already seen it, what are you waiting for!

Giants Amoebas

This is from one of my 1971 sketchbooks so I would have been a mere six years old. It appears to be a story about a deep sea diver discovering an amphibious colony of doodles, one of which clearly went on to be the inspiration for Pac-Man. The numbers are obviously some sort of secret code.

How To Get A Head In Cartooning

Here's a strip I ran on Sherpa last September:... and here's the original version as I first drew it. Sharp-eyed readers will notice the Homer Simpson-like head was supplanted by a skull. I'm not sure why I self-censored here but I was happier with the result. Maybe the skull looks goofy enough that you can overlook the otherwise realistically rendered human digestive system. I've only ever received one complaint (so far!) about a Rabbits strip and that was a reference to one of the characters urinating in his pants rather than miss the National Anthem at a ball game. Notice Doodles the Duck in the background making perhaps the worst shot ever in the history of miniature golf.

Acme Weather Prediction Kit

For anyone who saw me drawing at Wondercon a few weeks ago, this was one of the strips I was working on. I've wanted to do a magic eightball gag for ages, especially since it was the original inspiration for the character. In the strip Eightball shakes himself before turning himself over although if you look at the box this is not recommended in the "instructions"! One feature of the strip lately is that with the troubling economic times the interior of the rabbits home has become very sparse and the carpeting has been replaced with bare floorboards. I'll bring back the carpeting when my 401K gets back up to a more healthy ballance. Tim Geithner.... are you reading this?

Water Color Off A Duck's Back

My watercolor set came out again this week to color in some old Rabbits strips. I inked this one way back in June 2008 and the joke is as fresh today as it would have been back in the 1940s.

GAG of the Month

Over on the Northern California GAG website I'm this months "featured artist". There's a mini interview I conducted with myself. If you're in any way connected with the graphic arts (cartoons, illustrations, design, photography) you should seriously consider joining the Guild. It's an amazing organization and not only do you get support and guidance (their assistance with copyright laws and contracts is invaluable), they'll send you an indispensable handbook and invitations to cool art events.

Dating Tips from 1969

Here's another very vintage comic strip. I drew this when I was four years old. The handwriting is my mother's. I assume that this is how I explained the scribbles to her at the time. On the right hand side it looks like the man is cursing because the wind has blown off his toupee. Or is he throwing up on a butterfly?

Redently Chewed and Mouse Masticated

Apparently hamsters (at least the Mesocricetus auratus or "golden hamster" seen in this strip) come from Syria. Who knew?

Hip Hippity and Hopping

The great Mike Durrett over at About.com did a romping mini-review of Rabbits Against Magic on his neat little Web Humor Blog. Thanks Mike. See the review here.

White Chocolate Lavender Passionfruit Green Tea-Black Sesame

We have a new "gourmet" ice creamery that just opened in our neighborhood. I tried the "balsamic caramel" and l "secret breakfast (cornflakes)" flavors when I was there on opening day. I'm sad to report that they have recently added "fois gras" and "pistachio bacon" flavors to the menu. Dead animal parts have no place in dessert.

Can Blue Rabbits Sing The Whites?

I'm still not completely sure how noise canceling headphones work. I'm also not really sure why the rabbits have underwear. Maybe it's this sort of information in the wrong hands that will ultimately doom my chances of success.

Fez Monkeys

I don't think there's anything funnier than a monkey wearing a fez. I even have a fez monkey bobble head doll in my car. However, there's nothing funny about a monkey chained to a barrel organ for the purposes for collecting money. Tragedy makes the best comedy however. It's a sight you don't see much in the US these days. Apparently in Thailand, they have trained monkeys to sell drugs. They've even been trained to recognize bank notes and attack you if you don't pay them enough. Personally I'll stick to drinking monkey-picked tea.

Go Clovis

Since he was kind enough to plug Rabbits when I was "promoted" to GoComics last month, I'm happy to do the same for Lucas Turnbloom. Imagine This is making the great leap up to the online syndication world sometime soon and about time too. Hefty congratulations Lucas. Both our strips started around the same time on Comics Sherpa in early 2008 so I'm most joyous to see we're both headed more or less in the right direction. If you don't already read the antics of Clovis, Dewey and Robert the Plant, head on over and check them out. I believe there are more thrilling news announcements to follow shortly which may or may not involve yours truly.

Metrosexual Mammals

I've heard the term "murse" used as well for to describe a man purse. Personally I carry an old school satchel. I'm not sure when it became un-masculine to carry your stuff around in a bag. I guess true macho men just have really big pockets.

The End Is Nigh

If you could make money from manipulating tectonic plates, I'm sure someone out there would have found a way to do it by now.

White House Rabbits

I've tried to keep away from politics since the November presidential election but I guess you could quantify this one as "editorializing". Of course it's based on those guys who will sell you a grain of rice onto which they will inscribe your name for you. Seems like an honest enough way to earn a living. I hate drawing the White House since it has so many windows. Notice that I added a "Pennsylvania Avenue' sign just in case my rendering wasn't clear enough.

Radiowaves

My interview with Tall Tale Radio is now available! You can stream it from here and/or download it. My apologies in advance for the (probably successful) attempt for the record number of "erms" in a single interview.

In Living Watercolor

Occasionally I give strips away to people as gifts and sometimes I go the whole extra mile to watercolor them as well. This strip is from the end of last year and mentioned the home town of a Norwegian friend of mine who works at Google. I love the way watercolor looks but it scans terribly and lacks the strength and boldness of the solid colors you can achieve in PhotoShop.

An Inkling for Inking

Here's me inking a strip at Wondercon this weekend at the Cartoon Art Museum table. Thanks everyone for letting me use their space and to all those who came by to say hello. Also, thanks to Christine Cheng for the great photograph. A much more flattering view. That really is me in the circle.