tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85171833663570192532024-03-13T14:47:13.193-05:00The Brilliant Mind of Edison LeeBehind the Scenes With Anne Morse HambrockUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger366125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-41768245467471217442019-11-07T12:26:00.000-06:002019-11-07T12:27:56.128-06:00John Hambrock and Anne Morse-Hambrock to sell and sign books at RAM Krazines Fest!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DKak-bSt9uuAKcQV490Fr-l81RFfIOXCLT5zUiQFfyQ55FdOZ6sWp8XkAiKcnbtYY0rJynXPvtivb7NGwPXudfOw_7WG_tX1PrFVeNU4ivE9BAIEG9rZa9FeKzCCpdAEiIujXgVA4j8/s1600/book+signing+image+IP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Anne Morse-Hambrock Book Signing" border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="640" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DKak-bSt9uuAKcQV490Fr-l81RFfIOXCLT5zUiQFfyQ55FdOZ6sWp8XkAiKcnbtYY0rJynXPvtivb7NGwPXudfOw_7WG_tX1PrFVeNU4ivE9BAIEG9rZa9FeKzCCpdAEiIujXgVA4j8/s400/book+signing+image+IP.jpg" title="" width="400" /></a></div>
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John Hambrock and Anne Morse-Hambrock will be sharing a table at the Racine Art Museum's "Krazines Fest" this Saturday November 9th at the Wustum Museum location.<br />
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Gift season is upon us! Come on over and get signed copies of the two Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee comic collections for all those special comics fans on your gift list!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA3jdWK-iR-Pz_9Mr6OUThgoe6UFtm0bPx5r3PdaWWiyQvvoG_jNyL-CFCyPpf9Mlf4sGK202-e6moyY08oN-Umx56DHtXl5VvWh4iI02usWUpIU5evkI05pTIRQ4WX3Es0E8-OalG5pw/s1600/Brilliant-Mind-Of-Edison-Lee-Books.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee Books For Sale" border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="354" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA3jdWK-iR-Pz_9Mr6OUThgoe6UFtm0bPx5r3PdaWWiyQvvoG_jNyL-CFCyPpf9Mlf4sGK202-e6moyY08oN-Umx56DHtXl5VvWh4iI02usWUpIU5evkI05pTIRQ4WX3Es0E8-OalG5pw/s320/Brilliant-Mind-Of-Edison-Lee-Books.png" title="" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anne will also be selling copies of her collection of banter with an unnamed Supreme Being: <i><b>Anne & God: Conversations With The Infinite.</b></i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW7sFn35rwPOy_hcE4f4Wfu4RQtnjSk7cca1u6lgSHboehKbkjKRg3z8kCXLz2OBF4uQXRzktgOUPd-GeReQiw4K-zVNaEKSf0KKS8LQWj8dps3Uio9PGaxSjGQ62JnID8y_1nKmxSKG8/s1600/Books-bold-2000x806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Anne & God Books For Sale Anne Morse-Hambrock" border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="1600" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW7sFn35rwPOy_hcE4f4Wfu4RQtnjSk7cca1u6lgSHboehKbkjKRg3z8kCXLz2OBF4uQXRzktgOUPd-GeReQiw4K-zVNaEKSf0KKS8LQWj8dps3Uio9PGaxSjGQ62JnID8y_1nKmxSKG8/s400/Books-bold-2000x806.jpg" title="" width="400" /></a></div>
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Both John and Anne are happy to sign and personalize your books. Hope to see you there!<br />
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<b>Where:</b> Racine Art Museum's Wustum Museum 2519 Northwestern Ave<br />
<b>When:</b> Saturday November 9 10:00 am to 2:00 pm<br />
<b>Admission:</b> Free<br />
<b>Parking:</b> Free<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/vents/399626444085855/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Krazines Facebook Event Link click here.</b></span></a><br />
<b>Note: If you are planning to attend this event and pay authors with cash, please be advised that there is no ATM on the premises and small bills will be greatly appreciated!</b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-36676444990186707942018-05-11T12:53:00.000-05:002018-05-11T12:53:34.076-05:00John Hambrock at TCAF<br />
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To The Folks Of Toronto:<br />
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We here at Edison Lee Central are proud to announce that The Brilliant Mind Of Edison Lee now appears on Sundays in the Toronto Star!<br />
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Even more exciting - John Hambrock is appearing and signing books this weekend at the Toronto Comic Art Festival!<br />
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John will be part of a panel discussion at the Toronto Reference Library on Saturday May 12, 2:45<br />
and will also be signing books at the NCS table.<br />
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Please drop by and meet John and get some cool free Edison stuff! And see the new Edison Lee Book Collection debuting at the festival.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-42083307330969445332015-02-03T18:38:00.001-06:002015-02-03T18:43:45.110-06:00A Sherlock Holmes Adventure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Edison doesn't generally do many long complicated storylines - as I look back through the archives I see that there are only 2-3 of them per year. <br />
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But it seemed like a good time for another one. It's a holosphere adventure with Edison as Sherlock Holmes and Joules as Dr. Watson. John and I are both big fans of Sherlock Holmes - the books, the Robert Downey Jr. Movies, the Cumberbatch/Freeman TV Series etc. Not sure where it will go exactly as the series is still in the process of being written :-)<br />
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It's been a lot of fun putting together the storyboards and even more fun doing the color. Picking a palette for 1890's London has made me stretch a little bit - something you'll see once the action gets past the holosphere setup.<br />
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Above are the first two strips - follow the rest here: <a href="http://edisonleecomic.com/">edisonleecomic.com</a><br />
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or here: <a href="http://comicskingdom.com/brilliant-mind-of-edison-lee">comicskingdomedisonlee</a><br />
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We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoyed making them!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-55444940533990759692014-06-03T14:33:00.001-05:002014-06-03T14:37:41.347-05:00San Diego Reubens Road Trip<div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Legendary Mell Lazarus (Momma, Miss Peach) sports some rockin' guitar glasses at the Awards Dinner</td></tr>
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<b>Miles</b> - 4,655<br />
<b>Hours on the road</b> - 68.4<br />
<b>Major Storms</b> - 2<br />
<b>Ridiculous losses</b> - 1<br />
<b>Hotels</b> - 2 good, 1 not so good<br />
<b>Highlights</b>: Spending one night with a long lost cousin, meeting Weird Al Yankovic, seeing friends old and new, huddling in towels for warmth, the deck of the midway, 1 sunny afternoon by the pool.<br />
<b>Best Photo Ops</b> - Scenery in Utah, Weird Al, the usual assortment of "be-tuxed" cartoonists<br />
<b>Photos</b> - Lots, some here the rest on Facebook. Skip to the bottom if you are only interested in Pics (but you'll miss a good brain fart story)<br />
<b>Something We Learned</b> - This country is BIIIIG. And has a lot of barely habitable land.<br />
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John and I are back from the Annual Reuben Award Weekend - this year held in beautiful San Diego.<br />
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Due to the presence of ACE award winner Weird Al Yankovic we decided to take the whole family to meet him. With airfares being through the roof these days that meant...........<br />
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A ROAD TRIP!!!<br />
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Yes - you heard that right - a road trip!! Over the course of the week we drove over 4,655 miles spanning 68.5 hours driving time.<br />
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The trip was supposed to be closer to 4,200 miles but we had to drive across half of Iowa three times. Why on earth would we do that? That would be due to the brain fart by the weak link in our party (me, Anne) who left her ipad at the McDonalds at exit 292 and didn't discover it was missing until exit 201. Thank the lord for the address on the McDonalds receipt that allowed us to call 411 and find out if that ipad - which has my WHOLE LIFE on it had been turned in. And thank the lord double, triple, quadruple much that the person who found it was honest and DID turn it in. So around we turned and sprinted back 90 miles and then forward 90 miles again. It made for about an 18 1/2 hour drive that first day!<br />
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And it wouldn't be a Hambrock road trip without the storms that invariably follow us (read about previous <a href="http://edison-lee-blog.blogspot.com/2011/06/reubens-in-boston-our-trip.html">tornado dodging here</a>). The morning we left the Denver area they were hit by a tornado supercell and astonishing hail that had to be shoveled out of the streets.<br />
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Luckily all we saw was some ordinary rain with the worst stuff just to the south of our route. On the way back we narrowly missed driving through the area of the huge mudslide in Western Colorado.</div>
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One reason we decided to make this drive is that we've never really seen much of the countryside past Lincoln Nebraska. We've sat in airports in Denver and Phoenix and flown into Los Angeles and Las Vegas. But that doesn't really count as having seen the western part of the country properly. As my sister pointed out, our neck of the woods north of Chicago is not truly in the middle of the U.S. It's more like it's 1/3 away from the east coast and 2/3's away from the west coast.</div>
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Here's a run down state by state (I use something I call the McDonalds scale to gauge how populous an area is - the more people, the easier it is to find a McDonalds)</div>
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<li><b>Illinois</b> - Flat. Some farms. Easy on the tires and the brakes. Strong Cell Phone signals. McDonalds scale - every 10-20 miles.</li>
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<li><b>Iowa</b> - Flat. Occasional hills. Almost all farmland. Barren until mid June. Then all you can see is corn. Easy on the tires and the brakes. Strong Cell Phone signals. McDonalds scale - every 15-25 miles. </li>
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<li><b>Nebraska</b> - Flat. Occasional hills. Almost all farmland. Easy on the tires and the brakes. Strong Cell Phone signals. McDonalds scale - every 20-30 miles.</li>
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<li><b>Eastern Colorado</b> - Flat. Occasional hills. Almost all farmland. LOTS of cows grazing openly. Actual tumbleweeds blow across the road. Easy on the tires and the brakes. Strong Cell Phone signals. McDonalds scale - every 30-40 miles.</li>
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<li><b>Central to Western Colorado</b> - Mountains. Rocky ones. Tough on your transmission, tires and brakes. Not much farmland. Spotty Cell Phone signals. McDonalds scale - every 30-45 miles. Did we mention the mountains?</li>
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<li><b>Utah</b> - More mountains, canyons, and a lot of desert. Full of scrub. Impossible to look anywhere without seeing mountains and mesas. Tough on transmission, tires and brakes. Make sure your cooling system is in good working condition. You don't want to get stranded out here - Spotty Cell Phone signals and long stretches with no signal at all. McDonalds scale - every 75-120 miles.</li>
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<li><b>Arizona</b> - We just saw a smidge of the northern corner. Same as Utah</li>
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<li><b>Nevada </b>- <i><b>Look out for highway patrol!!!</b></i> We saw more people pulled over in this state alone than in all the other states combined! Like Utah but with a lot more power lines and infrastructure. McDonalds scale - every 45-75 miles.</li>
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<li><b>California</b> - surprisingly like Utah for the first 150 miles or so. Gradually became more populated. Still plenty of mountains but smaller ones. More trees but still nothing like the midwest. McDonalds scale - every 25-35 miles.</li>
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Once we got closer to San Diego things began to look a lot more like they do in the midwest but with mountains. We could see evidence of the wildfires but didn't have to contend with any fires personally. San Diego itself was lovely - though cooler and cloudier than expected. </div>
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The first night we went to a NCS board dinner where John and Tom Richmond ordered what I came to call "the cauldron o'seafood" It came to the table in some sort of lava rock container that was very, very hot and the contents kept bubbling for a good twenty minutes.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom with the Cauldron O'Seafood - click on the video clip to watch it bubbling :-)</td></tr>
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On Friday we heard all the wonderful guest speakers - <a href="http://www.eddiepittman.com/">Eddie Pittman</a>, <a href="http://www.chrishoughtonart.daportfolio.com/">Chris Houghton</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Evans_(cartoonist)">Greg Evans</a> and <a href="http://www.suzyszoo.com/">Suzy Spafford</a>.</div>
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Then it was out to the rooftop pool area for the cocktail party. It was a tad cooler than expected - as evidenced by the need for some of us to bundle up in pool towels. Ironically everyone wearing a towel was from Canada or the northern U.S.. You'd think us northerners wouldn't be such wimps about cooler weather. We've even got a heater there behind Sandra :-)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From left Terri Libenson, Deborah Peyton, Sandra Bell Lundy</td></tr>
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After the cocktail reception folks headed over to the traditional Karaoke night. I never did find out why Stephan Pastis was wearing this cape....</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stephan Pastis and Patrick Dracula McDonnell</td></tr>
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Saturday began with the fabulous buffet breakfast and the NCS members meeting. Spouses are not allowed into this meeting but I was given permission to thank the <a href="http://cartoonistfoundation.reuben.org/">NCS Foundation</a> and the membership for their support of the <a href="http://kenoshacartoonfest.blogspot.com/">Kenosha Festival of Cartooning</a>. After a short speech I took my leave and the kids and I did some sightseeing. We missed some of the afternoon presentations due to a get together with family in the area. But the ones we saw were great! And I got to pick up a copy of the new book on Rube Goldberg by his granddaughter Jennifer. Saturday's presentations were: A Rube Goldberg Panel, <a href="http://betweenfriendscomics.com/">Sandra Bell Lundy</a>, Gold Key honorees <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lockhorns">Bunny Hoest & John Reiner</a>, and Milton Caniff lifetime achievement award winner <a href="http://russheath.com/">Russ Heath</a>.</div>
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Our hotel was great - right next to the convention center where the thundering hoards show up for comic con every year - and also attached to Petco Park Baseball Stadium via a walkway. Also handy to the historic Gaslight district and some great walking and running areas. John did a nice 7K run with Todd Clark, Jef Mallett, Dave Coverly, Jeff Knurek and several others on Saturday morning.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the convention center and San Diego Harbor from our room</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John in his tux before the awards - if you think he looks different you're right. He has been on a health kick this year and resumed running. He's lost 45 lbs!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In our Black Tie Finery for the awards</td></tr>
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Then on to the big awards night. Tom Gammill was in fine form as usual ( I imagine some of the videos will make their way to YouTube presently). It was a great show! My particular highlight of the evening came with the acceptance speech of Weird Al Yankovic. He talked a lot about growing up with MAD magazine - its impact on him and how much he wanted to be a writer for them. Ironically, HE has been the musical equivalent of MAD magazine for our kids. I don't think any of them knew the real words to the songs he parodied until they were in college. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Al was such a trooper - this pic came after 4 failed attempts to get the camera to work properly! From left - Alex, Al Katherine (Al was 'ponified' for an episode of My Little Pony - Katherine drew him as that character and he signed it for her</td></tr>
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A<i>l graciously posed after the awards with all the throngs of cartoonists clamoring around him. He was ESPECIALLY gracious while posing with OUR kids. This isn't because our kids are so special. It's because the camera was set to video mode and it took John three tries to figure out he needed to reset it to still shooting mode. At which time he got the dreaded "change the batteries" message on the screen. Al just stood there patiently smiling until we got it all sorted out and got our gets that pic they wanted so badly! Thanks again Al!!</i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYImRY1xy_5vDbYG1ugdCEKcUFhr8E-6aL1RB3u21IAmTPio1-nDPLXeYW9WExYNcDPOLYTltFc9-k9Hz_THwtQkWd6jJPRcq4VXwyFu-ZIj7EoFN4RPcjZPOXHTygRkye91k98kEjpBw/s1600/John+Anne+and+Weird+Al.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYImRY1xy_5vDbYG1ugdCEKcUFhr8E-6aL1RB3u21IAmTPio1-nDPLXeYW9WExYNcDPOLYTltFc9-k9Hz_THwtQkWd6jJPRcq4VXwyFu-ZIj7EoFN4RPcjZPOXHTygRkye91k98kEjpBw/s1600/John+Anne+and+Weird+Al.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John, Weird Al, Anne - such a thrill!</td></tr>
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After the awards everyone was welcome to attend the Presidents party thrown by NCS president Tom Richmond and his wife Anna. This party used to be a closed door event for nominees and behind the scenes volunteers that work on the million details that go into a Reuben weekend. Opening this party to everyone has been a wonderful thing and I heard a lot of great feedback from folks who appreciated it.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjikti-RL57050_EI9sb9RpBAkBY_PiExFrVwurLePnZ9oalSvrUhtaWAPp12EvxvLXKyOtrUicfCgfU1v1t0Bxip297V70ucQcRToVo4yS_20dh_xC7FO_VoKB61Ol6mKbyN1tK-g52fY/s1600/Jack+Pittman+in+weird+glasses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjikti-RL57050_EI9sb9RpBAkBY_PiExFrVwurLePnZ9oalSvrUhtaWAPp12EvxvLXKyOtrUicfCgfU1v1t0Bxip297V70ucQcRToVo4yS_20dh_xC7FO_VoKB61Ol6mKbyN1tK-g52fY/s1600/Jack+Pittman+in+weird+glasses.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MAD Magazine contributor Jack Pittman</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKi2T0JSbz83PYZ7mG6ojK3Ig40gREYqmlCUxGYZwSjghzaMo1SgzLn0L5ZPKOIq21eXaUED81jqtEI-maNJDxt3OLACIgM-7Zc8r-ChIEpJFPX4ySRdpi0TGnb5UzQYvOjUkW5pjcrq4/s1600/Darrin+Bell+and+Fiance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKi2T0JSbz83PYZ7mG6ojK3Ig40gREYqmlCUxGYZwSjghzaMo1SgzLn0L5ZPKOIq21eXaUED81jqtEI-maNJDxt3OLACIgM-7Zc8r-ChIEpJFPX4ySRdpi0TGnb5UzQYvOjUkW5pjcrq4/s1600/Darrin+Bell+and+Fiance.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Candorville's Darrin Bell and his lovely Fiance</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC3NyXYBiZCZeTnWahr63wiR9HUoUSv8BlnCCGsqAaTSwgK1Edf5aGzFnegp0lVebamqiKHlmBBBatxQiJdtyz7fhd_ndkeUTZ7nc2xbXwzJ34LZCf0x6-TkIg4Fn3jY7HJW2Eu8ziqo8/s1600/Alex+with+Mark+Tatulli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC3NyXYBiZCZeTnWahr63wiR9HUoUSv8BlnCCGsqAaTSwgK1Edf5aGzFnegp0lVebamqiKHlmBBBatxQiJdtyz7fhd_ndkeUTZ7nc2xbXwzJ34LZCf0x6-TkIg4Fn3jY7HJW2Eu8ziqo8/s1600/Alex+with+Mark+Tatulli.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alex and Mark Tatulli of Lio, Heart of the City and Desmond Pucket</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqQZgn21ui1k5TQ3w0LcTxFFMJgUOCAqgrfQETQ8581VT0zbV-NB5xeFq83m6o8b42US1FOdSEUJIW85FlC7OJf-lfEURjxUpBuUS6lX1EO7vAXL3YcECx1qNF2Gkk8QLcDhZSD4a-hU0/s1600/Jerry+Van+A+in+weird+glasses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqQZgn21ui1k5TQ3w0LcTxFFMJgUOCAqgrfQETQ8581VT0zbV-NB5xeFq83m6o8b42US1FOdSEUJIW85FlC7OJf-lfEURjxUpBuUS6lX1EO7vAXL3YcECx1qNF2Gkk8QLcDhZSD4a-hU0/s1600/Jerry+Van+A+in+weird+glasses.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ballard Street's Jerry Van Amerongen</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bongo Comics Bill Morrison, his wife Kayre and John</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom Stemmle, Jerry Van Amerongen, John Hambrock and Linda Houden on the dance floor after the awards</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5EeMqZLSf3S7Yej6eMSXFnhYZo9XujVPbHCvgIV-twiVM2AYn4-vqmLPCiORyQ0vsjoQooOTOv_T4ljqv-oGyD0Ge9OfaGrj10dKi98-ynxCTs1tv2iE2KiMuanptl-Eljw51f83uj0g/s1600/Alex+with+Tom+Gammill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5EeMqZLSf3S7Yej6eMSXFnhYZo9XujVPbHCvgIV-twiVM2AYn4-vqmLPCiORyQ0vsjoQooOTOv_T4ljqv-oGyD0Ge9OfaGrj10dKi98-ynxCTs1tv2iE2KiMuanptl-Eljw51f83uj0g/s1600/Alex+with+Tom+Gammill.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alex with Emcee Tom Gammill of the Doozies (and The Simpsons)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MAD Magazine's Sam Viviano, Six Chix Isabella Bannerman and John (Isabella took home the coveted "best newspaper comic strip for 2013 award - which John is pointing to)</td></tr>
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Sunday was all about the troops. The NCS and the USO have been partnering for a few years now to get cartoonists together with wounded warriors and this year's Reubens were no exception. Sunday morning a group of cartoonists visited the local Veteran's Hospital, in the afternoon more cartoonists drew for troops and the public gathered aboard the USS Midway and finally, Sunday evening, there was more drawing for wounded warriors and their families at the farewell dinner on the deck of the Midway.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wonderful enormous VJ day statue in the park below the Midway</td></tr>
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Thanks to Tom and Anna Richmond, Phil Pyster of Crow Segal and his team, The NCS Board and EVERYONE who worked to make this a fabulous Reuben weekend!!</div>
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(More pics on the Edison FB page by tonight)</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-44210603405318718542014-05-07T09:58:00.000-05:002014-05-07T09:58:41.422-05:00Talent + Inspiration And Diligence = Amazing Art<br />
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<a class="asset-img-link" data-mce-href="http://overbookedandunderpaid.typepad.com/.a/6a0133f23a9404970b01a511b2fc3a970c-popup" href="http://overbookedandunderpaid.typepad.com/.a/6a0133f23a9404970b01a511b2fc3a970c-popup"><img alt="House_small" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a0133f23a9404970b01a511b2fc3a970c img-responsive" data-mce-src="http://overbookedandunderpaid.typepad.com/.a/6a0133f23a9404970b01a511b2fc3a970c-500wi" data-mce-style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://overbookedandunderpaid.typepad.com/.a/6a0133f23a9404970b01a511b2fc3a970c-500wi" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="House_small" /></a><br />
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Two years ago you probably would not have pegged our daughter as someone who would go into art. She was passionate about horses and all animals in general and was thinking of becoming an equine vet. Something she still might pursue.<br />
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But then we took her with us to a <a href="http://www.reuben.org/">National Cartoonists Society</a> chapter meeting and she heard (and later met) Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist <a href="http://www.anntelnaes.com/">Ann Telnaes</a>. And a whole lot of other fantastic artists as well. And they all drew in her sketch book and spent some quality time with her and admired the drawings she was doing at the time. Which were, frankly, mostly something to do when she was bored (having been dragged around to all our grown up events and not being in possession of a smart phone upon which to play Angry Birds).<br />
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After that trip she really buckled down and has probably spent 6-8 hours a day (I'm not kidding) drawing and painting. Either on our Wacom Intuos or with traditional materials.<br />
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And there must be something to that 10,000 hour thing because the improvement in her work has been astounding. This year she has been named artist of the month of October for her school district, had three pieces featured in the citywide art show - one of which one an award and another was featured on the publicity poster - and won a citywide art contest that netted $100 for her art class and another $100 for herself with the Hugh Laurie sketch pictured above.<br />
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I'm not going into all this detail merely to brag about her accomplishments. I'm bringing all this up because<br />
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<li>A) It just goes to show what a person is capable of when they possess determination and are willing to spend a million hours doing something. </li>
<li>B) It shows what we are losing when we don't allow our kids to be bored and force them to DO something about it other than engage a screen.</li>
<li>C) It shows how inspirational it can be to meet the right person at the right time. Hilary Price tells a story about being in a greeting card shop and overhearing a conversation in which she discovered that the artist "Boynton" was actually <a href="http://www.sandraboynton.com/sboynton/index.html">SANDRA Boynton</a> and was a woman. Until that time she had always assumed the artist was a man and the new knowledge of the artist's gender planted the seed that this was something women could do. For our daughter I really think the catalyst here was meeting an award winning cartoonist and animator that was a WOMAN. Since then she has also gotten to know <a href="http://betweenfriendscomics.com/">Sandra Bell Lundy</a> and <a href="http://pajamadiaries.com/">Terri Libenson</a> and <a href="http://rhymeswithorange.com/">Hilary Price</a> and several other women in art who have certainly been inspiring as well.</li>
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Thanks to Ann and all the other artists in our life that have inspired and connected with this girl and thanks also to her splendid art teacher!!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-68250582570977304072014-04-12T00:04:00.001-05:002014-04-12T00:05:13.668-05:00Behind The Scenes: More 2013 FavoritesTwo weeks ago I posted some of my favorite Edison strips from 2013 and promised another installment a week later. Forgetting that I was also running an Indiegogo campaign for the Kenosha Festival of Cartooning :-)<br />
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Here, a wee bit late, are some more of my fav's from the past year:<br />
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Obviously this strip was inspired by the many amazingly stupid commercials John and I are subjected to whilst inking and coloring strips with the TV on.<br />
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The Lemonade stand has become a fertile theme for Edison - combine it with his overwhelming need to take advantage of Harley and you get this strip. Years ago we had two young nephews. (we still have the nephews, they're just not that young anymore) One of the boys was older than the other by 5 years and during a family visit I witnessed the older boy saying to the younger boy: "Hey Matt! I'll give you this nice big nickel for that little bitty dime!" Their mother looked at me and said "Whenever I hear the words 'Hey Matt!" I know somewhere that kid is getting the short end of the stick."<br />
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That pretty much sums up the relationship between Edison and his cousin Harley.<br />
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I'll admit I'm a sucker for vibrant color and insert it into the strip whenever possible. It makes my job even more fun and when I am working on a strip like this one I sometimes am awestruck by the fact that I am married to this phenomenal artist....<br />
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Poor Harley - taken advantage of and manipulated once again....<br />
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One of John's earliest comedic devices in the strip was his use of Rube Goldberg type contraptions. This is the most recent one.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-66443217394628424362014-04-07T10:18:00.003-05:002014-04-07T10:18:13.153-05:00Edison Lee Perks on Kenosha Festival Of Cartooning Indiegogo!<br />
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John has dug through his Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee ephemera and come up with King Features Sales Kits from the original 2006 launch to offer for the Kenosha Festival of Cartooning fundraising <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/kenosha-festival-of-cartooning/x/5840174">campaign on Indiegogo!</a></div>
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The full color kit, with illustrations on the front and back covers as well as the inside front cover, is on 100 lb card stock with a pocket containing:</div>
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<li>Character Descriptions</li>
<li>Artist Bio</li>
<li>4 Full Color Sunday Strip Samples</li>
<li>24 Black and White Daily Strip Samples</li>
<li>The Back Cover Illustration is the same as the poster</li>
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He also unearthed copies of a special 14 x14 inch square promotional poster designed especially for newspaper editors - the invention depicted is that of a "Newspaper Distiller" and the joke centers around the relationship between newspapers and TV news.</div>
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A limited quantity of these perks are available on <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/kenosha-festival-of-cartooning/x/5840174">Indiegogo</a> - head over and claim yours!!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-28440863817378659912014-03-28T10:39:00.000-05:002014-03-28T10:42:13.916-05:00Behind The Scenes: Anne's Favorite Edison Strips From 2013Recently I was looking through the Edison strips from the past year and decided I'd like to go back and post some of my favorites.<br />
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Here, in no particular order, are some of the strips that made me laugh every time I looked at them along with some of the stories from behind the scenes:<br />
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This strip was written after last year's Reuben Award Weekend in Pittsburgh.</div>
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The weather was especially hairy on Memorial Day Weekend of 2013 and pretty much every cartoonist who flew to Pittsburgh had an airplane or airport horror story to share. Alex Hallet of <a href="http://arcticcirclecartoons.com/">Arctic Circle</a> said she actually spent more time getting from NY to Pittsburgh - huge amounts of time on the tarmac included - than it took her to cross the Atlantic Ocean!</div>
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And I have a personal hatred of flying that I once wrote about<a href="http://overbookedandunderpaid.typepad.com/overbooked-and-underpaid/why-i-wont-fly.html"> here</a>.</div>
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Add to all the bad airport stories our love of Legos and you get a comic strip!</div>
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This one we wrote while walking the dogs. We had just watched Young Frankenstein and John knew he wanted to do a strip sort of paying homage to the film - complete with black and white cinema style - but he didn't have a topic. By the end of the walk the dogs were worn out but we had this strip.<br />
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I don't know where John got the idea for this one but it makes me laugh out loud every time I look at it...</div>
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This is one of those strips set in the lab that I love to color. Especially when John does the weird shapes in the background. It's an example of a strip that I never quite remember what it's about when I'm not looking at it but the words "Mmm, Mmm! Them possum muffins sure do smell good, granny!" are burned into my brain. Our daughter quotes this strip whenever anyone mentions the Beverly Hillbillies.</div>
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Orville is a great subject for strips involving sight gags and cluelessness....</div>
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This may very well be my favorite Edison strip of all time - it perfectly encapsulates the relationship between Edison and his Mom as well as his relationship with his cousin Harley. All in just two words and a clear visual.</div>
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This is my favorite kind of political strip. It sums up the population's general dissatisfaction with our elected officials without pinpointing a specific target.</div>
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More of my favorites next week....</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-53289366570653560332014-03-14T10:21:00.001-05:002014-03-14T10:21:43.012-05:00Kenosha Festival Of Cartooning 2014<br />
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Yes, there WILL be another Kenosha Festival of Cartooning full-on 3 day event in September of 2014.<br />
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That is, there will be another festival if we raise the money we need to run everything and still keep the event free to the public. Watch the fabulous video by Tom Racine and get all the details about guest speakers, dates etc.<br />
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<a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/kenosha-festival-of-cartooning/x/5840174">And then head over to Indiegogo and make a donation </a>- lots of great backer perks are available even if you cannot attend the festival!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-54124997038727950592014-03-12T11:45:00.000-05:002014-03-12T11:45:08.454-05:00Comic Kudos: Andertoons Mark Anderson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpgGhSixsrtjn6HPksm9sKXpQ83JRDoSExmPPKauTkghs2SgatMmX7lOzycz2nkcfmmpHUHp5QefWrhGRbXtQe-yPu_Bz0z-bWiL_Pm9YldULyC1s72yUx4hyNF87saj_b1wU1lj7dZ4/s1600/wrong+place%252C+wrong+time.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpgGhSixsrtjn6HPksm9sKXpQ83JRDoSExmPPKauTkghs2SgatMmX7lOzycz2nkcfmmpHUHp5QefWrhGRbXtQe-yPu_Bz0z-bWiL_Pm9YldULyC1s72yUx4hyNF87saj_b1wU1lj7dZ4/s1600/wrong+place%252C+wrong+time.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
Another cartoonist that never fails to get a laugh from me (and I do mean NEVER fails) is gag cartoonist Mark Anderson of Andertoons. I've been reading Mark's stuff for years and his ability to make yet another cartoon about charts and graphs never ceases to amaze me. But he doesn't just do business room humor, as seen in the animal strips here. Just general all-around funny stuff.<br />
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I also love the old style look of minimal line with judicious use of washes.<br />
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As with many cartoonists Mark didn't set out to make a living from cartoons - hear all about his cartooning journey over at his interview with <a href="http://www.talltaleradio.com/episode-192-mark-anderson/">Tom Racine on Tall Tale Radio.</a> He's not just funny on paper! (We have another thing in common - a love of Legos - between us we probably have an entire house full of Legos!)<br />
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And go subscribe to him on <a href="http://www.gocomics.com/andertoons#.UyCOuihA_jw">Gocomics</a> so you can read his work every day!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-45532502350625074442014-02-25T11:45:00.002-06:002014-02-25T11:45:21.747-06:00Kenosha Festival Of Cartooning on IndiegogoThe Indiegogo campaign for the 2014 Kenosha Festival of Cartooning goes live today at noon CST. There are a bunch of great rewards! <a href="http://kenoshacartoonfest.blogspot.com/">Subscribe to the official KFOC site</a> to stay up to the minute on details!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-91839272924272235002014-02-13T08:32:00.003-06:002014-03-12T11:31:26.888-05:00Richard Thompson - Perhaps My Favorite Valentine Cartoon Ever<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjchm9pBPDhV6Pn8z25BSsF_q5XoXtP7BT2C838w9UrGYrCFnnsKRumAhzkcn96Apu2GFLowzjmNmiVUbrr61EzPNpnRKufYG_4L4riBpy5isOqkIpe1596WwdMpbWlfgiIeKiZY2e_R5c/s1600/rpa140213.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjchm9pBPDhV6Pn8z25BSsF_q5XoXtP7BT2C838w9UrGYrCFnnsKRumAhzkcn96Apu2GFLowzjmNmiVUbrr61EzPNpnRKufYG_4L4riBpy5isOqkIpe1596WwdMpbWlfgiIeKiZY2e_R5c/s1600/rpa140213.gif" height="640" width="456" /></a></div>
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John and I are huge fans of the work of Richard Thompson, creator of Cul de Sac and Richard's Poor Almanac. I opened my gocomics today to find the above gem - perhaps my new favorite Valentine's Day Cartoon of all time. It's a perfect example of Richard's razor sharp, dry sense of humor and his wonderfully scratchy, deceptively simple looking, drawing style. I say deceptively simple because there is a lot of complexity there and he makes it look as though it were tossed off in a matter of minutes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnN2Eh_lpJoW5KpqfjV-Gaph1pRE-9hJrI_Bo6n3KxtTaJnisRDmfbsAMWC3x9V881TRfnAb5txBTNzslINM-SR2P4iI1V504TjumGFW_0N3xoLrgbVA3fmlNbN4R1WdQ8rJNY4nLFdaw/s1600/alice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnN2Eh_lpJoW5KpqfjV-Gaph1pRE-9hJrI_Bo6n3KxtTaJnisRDmfbsAMWC3x9V881TRfnAb5txBTNzslINM-SR2P4iI1V504TjumGFW_0N3xoLrgbVA3fmlNbN4R1WdQ8rJNY4nLFdaw/s1600/alice.jpg" height="400" width="316" /></a></div>
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A couple of years ago Richard drew this beautiful little Alice Otterloop for John. We recently had it framed and it is hanging in state in John's inner sanctum, the innermost section of his studio, where he can gaze it in in awe and resentment everyday. Awe because Richard is a genius and resentment because Richard is too damn good to have had his drawing days shortened by the demon disease of Parkinson's.<br />
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Now would be a good time to post some important links to all things "Richard-y".<br />
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<li>You can read <a href="http://www.gocomics.com/culdesac#.UvzVvShA_jw">Cul de Sac</a> classics and <a href="http://www.gocomics.com/richards-poor-almanac#.UvzVnShA_jw">Richard's Poor Almanac</a> every day on gocomics</li>
<li>You can follow his humorous writings and some of his favorite strips <a href="http://richardspooralmanac.blogspot.com/">on his blog</a></li>
<li>You can order a copy of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Team-Cul-Sac-Cartoonists-Parkinsons/dp/1449419666">"Team Cul de Sac"</a> the special book in his honor to combat Parkinson's - It's only filled with over 100 tribute cartoons from his fellow artists (Edison's pictured below)</li>
<li>You can order the new "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Cul-Richard-Thompson/dp/1449438822">Complete Cul de Sac</a>" Collection</li>
<li>You can hightail it over to <a href="http://library.osu.edu/blogs/cartoons/2014/02/07/upcoming-exhibit-calvin-hobbes-and-richard-thompson/">Ohio State University's Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum opening March 22nd 2014</a> and check out an amazing joint show of the work of Richard Thompson and that other cartooning giant - what's his name again? - oh yes, Bill Watterson!</li>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-40048009384301044892014-01-30T13:24:00.000-06:002014-01-30T13:36:47.633-06:00A Contest! Win Comics Kingdom For A Year!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsL9Eq9YJM6Anav61rdu0levYOnkcjxq5naNgSx3b_3ygIIgSkLZns2gW3kPrKHtEdViogRieOj5qhAXkSt2PJDEiCD5Fb2R6JMJdt5S9EuDJjs1g5ngvGDQtyA1HDHb9SOvYwZ0JXuf8/s1600/1915714147381158952.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsL9Eq9YJM6Anav61rdu0levYOnkcjxq5naNgSx3b_3ygIIgSkLZns2gW3kPrKHtEdViogRieOj5qhAXkSt2PJDEiCD5Fb2R6JMJdt5S9EuDJjs1g5ngvGDQtyA1HDHb9SOvYwZ0JXuf8/s1600/1915714147381158952.jpeg" /></a></div>
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The folks at the new <a href="http://comicskingdom.com/brilliant-mind-of-edison-lee/2014-01-30">Comics Kingdom</a> site are running a contest on twitter. The prize is a year's subscription to Comics Kingdom Royal (free comic strips with no ads and deep archives, people!).<br />
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It's all about retweeting and getting your retweets picked up by people with scads of followers. You can retweet as many times as you want. Full details are at the Comics Kingdom site<br />
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<a href="http://comicskingdom.com/archery">http://comicskingdom.com/archery</a><br />
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Don't forget, the Edison twitter handle is <a href="https://twitter.com/EdisonLeeComics">@EdisonLeeComics</a> . We will be tweeting the strip every day to start things off and give you something to RT. Or you can just tweet straight from the CK site.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-30050948093347222892014-01-11T21:54:00.000-06:002014-03-12T11:31:52.898-05:00Comic Kudos: Rip Haywire<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbsQXdGOauv17CVBeVpTpNxwWRy3Q6hENLkIBaLbMdf2TSxfHkvCjvMd1V0I9X8jn5n8ChUWIcqC8zQZg07xczbntqoEfsY_QlEv-iDVhPfkwDhsSWcpS1zkmuV6lSNj51YaPFKqilT4/s1600/rip-badge72dpi-300x289.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbsQXdGOauv17CVBeVpTpNxwWRy3Q6hENLkIBaLbMdf2TSxfHkvCjvMd1V0I9X8jn5n8ChUWIcqC8zQZg07xczbntqoEfsY_QlEv-iDVhPfkwDhsSWcpS1zkmuV6lSNj51YaPFKqilT4/s1600/rip-badge72dpi-300x289.jpg" height="385" width="400" /></a></div>
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I did not grow up on Terry and The Pirates. And I have to confess that I didn't read Prince Valiant either.<br />
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But I did read Steve Canyon religiously from when I was about 8 until I left for college. And I also was a big fan of Dick Tracy.<br />
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Which is why I love Rip Haywire by Dan Thompson. If you aren't reading it every day you should be! Not only is Dan a master of the graphic style and pacing of an adventure strip, Rip Haywire has the added advantage of being funny to boot. I don't remember either Dick Tracy or Steve Canyon being particularly funny - they were straight up serial stories with a lot of action and some romance.<br />
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I really like the addition of humor to the adventure genre. Think "Star Trek Banter" not Laurel and Hardy slapstick.<br />
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Feast your eyes on these gorgeous samples and then head over to <a href="http://www.gocomics.com/riphaywire#.UtIRISgcDjw">gocomics</a> and subscribe to Rip Haywire today!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-68239658069607447072014-01-06T21:32:00.000-06:002014-01-06T22:44:00.503-06:00Edison Meets His Match In Girl Brainiac Katie Franklin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first appearance of Katie Franklin in September of 2013</td></tr>
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Attentive readers will have noticed the addition of a new character to the universe of Edison Lee. Her name is Katie Franklin and she's been a long time in coming.<br />
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Where did she come from? Why is she here? What will her future hold?<br />
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I'll be honest. I pushed for this character.<br />
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I threw the idea out to John one day after reading an article much like this one: <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-12-14/news/ct-girls-engineering-met-1213-20131214_1_lego-friends-boys-and-girls-gender-gap">New Toys Encourage Girls to be Builders</a><br />
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(It wasn't actually this particular article, we introduced Katie in September of 2013 and this article was published in December. But there have been enough of these articles in the past year to catch my attention.)<br />
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We've been feeling for a while now that it would be good for Edison to have another smart kid in the strip to act as a sort of nemesis. (He is clearly outclassing all the members of his family in the brain department and needs someone on his own level for tension) And I suggested that maybe his nemesis should be a girl. A really, really, really smart girl. One that could rock his world.<br />
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So we began working on this girl.<br />
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And for inspiration we found we had to look no further than our own home.<br />
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We have two sons and a daughter. When our daughter was 5 she was invited to a combination Birthday/Halloween party. We arrived and, I kid you not, every girl was dressed as a princess or a fairy (complete with wings or tiaras and sometimes both) and every boy was dressed as The Hulk or Spiderman or some other comic book superhero. I looked around and made the comment: "What we have here is a failure of the women's movement."<br />
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Not one of the other moms laughed. They didn't even smile. They looked at me as if I were some sort of lunatic.<br />
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Well, our daughter grew up to be just as interested in and talented at science as our boys had been. But when we looked around for positive role models for her in the scientific fields the pickings were slim. Not nonexistent but hardly what you would expect after 50 years of banging on the glass ceiling.<br />
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These days that daughter is in high school and pushing back pretty hard on gender stereotypes. In some ways this new character is a tribute to her.<br />
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Also the last name comes from the brilliant biophysicist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_Franklin">Rosalind Franklin.</a> <br />
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In general she exists to challenge Edison and, despite my role in helping throw her onstage with our favorite mad genius, she is primarily written by John. But every once in a while you will probably see something like this:<br />
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This strip came to me almost completely fully formed (except for the lines of Edison and Orville at the end) after I received the following "girl" happy meal toy. (Yes, sometimes I still get happy meals - they are small servings and sometimes the toys are fun.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiatIFxZ9hv9Aw7pErZKpNBX4qnUHxKeiAIfV0mu4vBc7NOiZr62BTUjkJHZR48xHjxLszn8pBXqhqkA8uRu93o68484I-w6OR7jX4NbuB34SkVC6qDD7kQ4yDLhiTTrPviZaWA4hDx7no/s1600/Baby+Glinda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiatIFxZ9hv9Aw7pErZKpNBX4qnUHxKeiAIfV0mu4vBc7NOiZr62BTUjkJHZR48xHjxLszn8pBXqhqkA8uRu93o68484I-w6OR7jX4NbuB34SkVC6qDD7kQ4yDLhiTTrPviZaWA4hDx7no/s1600/Baby+Glinda.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Not only was this "girl" toy a Glinda the Good Witch figurine that does ABSOLUTELY nothing except stand there and look vacant while being tethered to other Wizard of Oz figurines by a plastic piece of the yellow brick road - that was bad enough - but she is a BABY Glinda the Good Witch to boot. During this promotion the toys for boys were all cool Batman cars and Batman figures and Batman accessories that did stuff.<br />
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I immediately felt like Sally from Peanuts after she has wasted her whole trick or treating evening sitting in that danged pumpkin patch with Linus. I went on a tear and wrote that strip.<br />
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Katie's most recent appearance was Monday January 6 when she launched the following salvo written by John.<br />
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When he gave me this strip to color I almost stood up and applauded. I hope to god our daughter can remain like Katie Franklin and refuse to hide her light under a bushel basket just to make some boy feel better about himself.<br />
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I don't know what the future holds for Katie and Edison. But I'm looking forward to finding out!!<br />
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PS - Don't miss the strip on January 9 2014 when she makes another appearance!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-11948813649997972842013-11-21T20:13:00.000-06:002013-11-22T09:27:02.309-06:00OSU Festival Of Cartoon Art 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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John and I had the privilege of attending the 30th Festival of Cartoon Art at Ohio State last week. As usual it was a fabulous event packed with great presentations, the grand opening of the new Billy Ireland Library & Museum of Cartoon Art, and a screening of the documentary "Stripped".<br />
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We toured the current gallery show "Substance and Shadow" curated by Brian Walker and also the Treasures Gallery. For those of you unfamiliar with OSU's fabulous archive they are the world's leading repository of cartoon art originals. Stunningly, I failed to take even one picture of the exhibit! I think A) I was having too good a time ogling the artwork with envy B) I may have had a vague idea that photos were prohibited.<br />
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Regardless, photos cannot really do the shows justice, you should simply go to OSU and see the exhibits in person! But, if you insist on searching for exhibit photos Mike Peterson has some good ones - plus an extensive recap of the festival itself - over on <a href="http://www.comicstripoftheday.com/">Comic Strip of The Day</a>.<br />
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There were presentations by Matt Bors, Eddie Campbell, Brian Bassett, Paul Pope, Jeff Smith, Stephan Pastis, The Hernandez Brothers, and Kazu Kibuishi. We saw most of them and greatly enjoyed seeing the process these artists go through to produce their terrific work! UPDATE - thanks to Alan Gardener and Stacy Curtis for helping me identify Politico cartoonist Matt Wuerker in the photo below. I remember being introduced but there's always such a huge number of cartoonists to meet at these things I just couldn't remember everyone!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt Bors</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eddie Campbell</td></tr>
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The festival audience was also given the chance to see the documentary "Stripped" for its first screening. I have to confess I had mixed feelings about the film. It seems to be two films in one. The first is a documentary narrative on newspaper comics - their place in history and extensive interviews with some of the most famous cartoonists of our time - including the elusive Bill Watterson. (Watterson does not appear on camera but we do get to hear his voice.) I greatly enjoyed this part of the film - especially the heartfelt opening featuring Cathy Guisewite and her memories of reading the Sunday Funnies. The film is extremely well produced - rivaling anything programmed by PBS.</div>
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But there is another film inside this documentary that is an editorial comment on the state of the comics business today. I enjoyed seeing the work of popular webcomic artists and hearing their stories but could have done without the editorial tone of the filmmakers. It felt like a film in search of an argument rather than a look toward the future. I also have to wonder if this part of the film will be appealing to general audiences who might be unaware of past rifts between web and print cartoonists.<br />
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Despite this I enjoyed the film and would recommend it to fans of comics.<br />
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Probably the best part of the weekend, though, is simply the opportunity to eat and drink and hang out with cartoonists - something we did in abundance :-)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjINpHEri5z3ftZsDhPTgf4lsnhCXhUZG7SV-rg_l5AT2MCYA7MbbihTOPucD_tkcWwqfJDhCtzAvv8OSfwkPJeoYVEbH2WMDxVNKEaxt8Wvzkt8h02rwzhg8pKyz10syS7rSJRR9F-wYM/s1600/Anna+and+Ed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjINpHEri5z3ftZsDhPTgf4lsnhCXhUZG7SV-rg_l5AT2MCYA7MbbihTOPucD_tkcWwqfJDhCtzAvv8OSfwkPJeoYVEbH2WMDxVNKEaxt8Wvzkt8h02rwzhg8pKyz10syS7rSJRR9F-wYM/s320/Anna+and+Ed.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anna Richmond and Ed Steckley</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kevin KAL Kallaugher</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt Wuerker, Sara Thaves being photobombed by Ed Steckley, and Stacy Curtis</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDebOntzRggkvKpIvmazOnJBV5DdukW3xJ4-SlzGbf9Gmy8VOQLAAkEAkBTELO0r3YfF20683D1d-YFYVeOo1LKZjUnRMnKPeAGhyj3HEPY_UXW2neFFJ4cVR_E1SPZiW8ZHRCbkMJwi0/s1600/Anne+and+Jeff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDebOntzRggkvKpIvmazOnJBV5DdukW3xJ4-SlzGbf9Gmy8VOQLAAkEAkBTELO0r3YfF20683D1d-YFYVeOo1LKZjUnRMnKPeAGhyj3HEPY_UXW2neFFJ4cVR_E1SPZiW8ZHRCbkMJwi0/s320/Anne+and+Jeff.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anne Hambrock and Jeff Keane</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvzVX4xEaTWBP8fWigynqrSV6QeWve59jsr8A7ARwvKzr3RbKyld2slU8a1jjf0VR4T7DXeCWkiZZAnEzwoiTuSWkiVYzsinF338fOI0IZUisjIlljURkMZ9z1j4-mOthgNTuQW4wMUag/s1600/Tom+and+Michael.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvzVX4xEaTWBP8fWigynqrSV6QeWve59jsr8A7ARwvKzr3RbKyld2slU8a1jjf0VR4T7DXeCWkiZZAnEzwoiTuSWkiVYzsinF338fOI0IZUisjIlljURkMZ9z1j4-mOthgNTuQW4wMUag/s320/Tom+and+Michael.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom Gammill and Michael Kandalaft</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmcPMK_x73Y8H35rFfsuw-ZLHhN4T81J4EULXnY0yweyMsmgJBKLBteeCZA-5HkNN3T7dxkqM8V6JzerQVMMHaTHSp0oRv2WAxB_dbzkVpshf846PyQBz4DQ63Aol2BMX8DTlyDXNHBnk/s1600/Bill+Paul+%3f+Steve.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmcPMK_x73Y8H35rFfsuw-ZLHhN4T81J4EULXnY0yweyMsmgJBKLBteeCZA-5HkNN3T7dxkqM8V6JzerQVMMHaTHSp0oRv2WAxB_dbzkVpshf846PyQBz4DQ63Aol2BMX8DTlyDXNHBnk/s320/Bill+Paul+%3f+Steve.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bill Holbrook, Paul Fell, J.P Trostle, Steve Artley</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpTcoybAYgg-fS555CIzrwh8OmH2nuyxlcCYrR3jX-yOROVZ0dD5GRVXnf4tGD_baaxreuIHJ7qIVBnXdRL41wc41wrV6KNlJnadGhDJ3iMYUm-WJNYTyiZVsQVfV7BfLPsLHnBeJsUEA/s1600/John+greg+bill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpTcoybAYgg-fS555CIzrwh8OmH2nuyxlcCYrR3jX-yOROVZ0dD5GRVXnf4tGD_baaxreuIHJ7qIVBnXdRL41wc41wrV6KNlJnadGhDJ3iMYUm-WJNYTyiZVsQVfV7BfLPsLHnBeJsUEA/s320/John+greg+bill.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Lotshaw, Greg Walker, Bill Holbrook</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLtgN8zJSnQVs-pCKAlei8_ztfmTbFJrjG-KKjXLMoW7D3yDQMD4Cp_f223hXB7YHiU5Y4EAkdw19hku-oB3BQEF9mGsodKxu23JH5zFC-HR0bEQFIEyd-8I6w7D-g7GmDv7G4bfWn9ts/s1600/wayno+and+others.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLtgN8zJSnQVs-pCKAlei8_ztfmTbFJrjG-KKjXLMoW7D3yDQMD4Cp_f223hXB7YHiU5Y4EAkdw19hku-oB3BQEF9mGsodKxu23JH5zFC-HR0bEQFIEyd-8I6w7D-g7GmDv7G4bfWn9ts/s320/wayno+and+others.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wayno</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQpAvEStm0unC3HzxSGmtvoLuz37fqJjYGIPOjCoGPAXQVq_8osiV1rijUXTWGr8I4YeSeZQqoj3_DYh2si6Ylmyc5Y2A-GCtX_1bZzBIxDXpDvsOi6-KsCCdNCD9b59vH33AiSYAXGms/s1600/tom+frank+paul.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQpAvEStm0unC3HzxSGmtvoLuz37fqJjYGIPOjCoGPAXQVq_8osiV1rijUXTWGr8I4YeSeZQqoj3_DYh2si6Ylmyc5Y2A-GCtX_1bZzBIxDXpDvsOi6-KsCCdNCD9b59vH33AiSYAXGms/s320/tom+frank+paul.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom Stemmle, Frank Pauer, Paul Fell</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Am-H4Hu6EHXH-4zojtrG9ymVufqfRzZ5axPxwF5tT_6zIhteiBq6o8RQCoXvFnopCDSfyRs0QyZJ9zXP2iwJM2yi0h5RznLLTQNuK4500RXcMRHIoAs_RkZqcFQmAbf0VANbuOc0hKk/s1600/John+Eddie+John.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Am-H4Hu6EHXH-4zojtrG9ymVufqfRzZ5axPxwF5tT_6zIhteiBq6o8RQCoXvFnopCDSfyRs0QyZJ9zXP2iwJM2yi0h5RznLLTQNuK4500RXcMRHIoAs_RkZqcFQmAbf0VANbuOc0hKk/s320/John+Eddie+John.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Hambrock, Eddie Pittman, John Lotshaw</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-36845747530044351422013-11-05T13:03:00.001-06:002013-11-06T06:44:21.907-06:00Rally The Troops! Keep Edison Lee In The Oregonian!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2LEo-oNjrXqDUCMUixUrw-W9XI-X9zjVaxx-X4F5X-QRO9KJLVZN6q5WokigGBH5zuCl_EnRMEfdClI2Kdy45xXxxZzEOkz3UzoA233WQJKnsvQmAsk4JSA4yKUXZ3SizyJmCPLoE3W4/s1600/6a0105369e6edf970b017d418925b8970c-800wi.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2LEo-oNjrXqDUCMUixUrw-W9XI-X9zjVaxx-X4F5X-QRO9KJLVZN6q5WokigGBH5zuCl_EnRMEfdClI2Kdy45xXxxZzEOkz3UzoA233WQJKnsvQmAsk4JSA4yKUXZ3SizyJmCPLoE3W4/s400/6a0105369e6edf970b017d418925b8970c-800wi.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
Yesterday we heard from several readers of the Oregonian that were disappointed to find Edison Lee had been pulled from the comics line-up. Edison has been part of the Oregonian for over 7 years - almost since its launch - and we know there are a lot of loyal fans out in their circulation area.<br />
<br />
The Oregonian is actually soliciting reader feedback and it sounds as though it might actually affect their decision - something rare in a newspaper these days!<br />
<br />
So please, if you are an Oregonian reader who wants to see Edison back on your comics page follow this link and make your voice heard!! <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/editors/index.ssf/2013/11/new_comic_strip_wumo_begins_mo.html#incart_river">Oregonian feedback</a> (You have to register to comment - you can also contact editor Therese Bottomly on her <a href="https://www.facebook.com/therese.bottomly?fref=ts">facebook page</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/tbottomly">twitter account</a>)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-13531213302818602142013-10-29T09:36:00.002-05:002013-10-29T09:36:44.048-05:00My Top 5 Comics Biz Sites<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7OlrDk-uJOZ52czM0wT-R3iU0iMCX_RcwtFKDRMTeAH7y7IDqeDP87S-swBT30LU6kegJfjQGpOlZJ52W0W55RyIvW4KKdIHC2sYPWqWNrkh0Z-1ng5PvdEqTDNXlvv8m6H57gANhfwA/s1600/top-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7OlrDk-uJOZ52czM0wT-R3iU0iMCX_RcwtFKDRMTeAH7y7IDqeDP87S-swBT30LU6kegJfjQGpOlZJ52W0W55RyIvW4KKdIHC2sYPWqWNrkh0Z-1ng5PvdEqTDNXlvv8m6H57gANhfwA/s1600/top-5.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />
If you love comics and cartooning and can't get enough of that inside track stuff - you know, like the commentary on your favorite DVD's - then here are 5 websites (in no particular order) you should be reading daily:<br />
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<a href="http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/">Tom's MAD Blog</a><br />
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Not only has Tom Richmond written a book on caricature that is taking the world by storm (The Mad Art of Caricature - <a href="http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/tag/the-mad-art-of-caricature/">available here)</a> he blogs almost daily with his tips, tricks, inspirations, and, most importantly, business advice for aspiring freelance cartoonists. If you are looking for practical help to improve your cartooning/drawing/marketing skills this is the place to go!<br />
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<a href="http://mikelynchcartoons.blogspot.com/">Mike Lynch Cartoons</a><br />
<br />
A prolific, highly respected, and well, just darned funny gag cartoonist, Mike is also a collector of comic art and old time book collections that he frequently takes the time to scan and post for posterity. He also frequently has his finger on the pulse of the cartooning and creative world and can tip you to great articles like <a href="http://mikelynchcartoons.blogspot.com/2013/10/spike-this-is-everything-i-know.html">this one</a>. If you've never visited his blog, prepare to spend about 2 days straight reading to catch up with just a smidgeon of the good stuff he posts.<br />
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<a href="http://dailycartoonist.com/">The Daily Cartoonist</a><br />
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Founded in 2006 (just before the launch of Edison BTW) The Daily Cartoonist by Alan Gardener quickly became THE place to go for up to the minute cartooning news. I probably visit this site 2-3 times a day, as do almost all the cartoonists I know.<br />
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<a href="http://www.weeklystorybook.com/">Comic Strip of The Day</a><br />
<br />
Mike Peterson has been a columnist, an editor, a journalist, in fact, just about any job you can name related to a newspaper and he has probably done it. And it shows. He has a newsman's eye for the most well done, relevant cartoons - both editorial and comic strips - every single day. Not only does he cherry pick some of the day's best 'toons for you, you'll roll on the floor as you read his witty and insightful commentary. His site is also an excellent place to find reviews of, and links to, some of the best comics collections and books on comics history currently available. A "must visit" for the comics lover on your holiday shopping list.<br />
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<a href="http://www.talltaleradio.com/">Tall Tale Radio</a> - <a href="http://www.gocomics.com/tall-tale-radio/#.Um_BSSjqtRU">Tall Tale on Gocomics</a><br />
<br />
Ever wonder what your favorite cartoonists are like up close and personal? Then this is the place for you! Stephan Pastis, Mark Tatulli, Dan Piraro, Sandra Bell Lundy, Bill Holbrook, Jeff Keane, the list goes on and on. Tom has recorded almost 200 top notch interviews with folks in the cartooning business. Set aside some listening time - maybe while you're doing all that social networking stuff - and start catching up on these podcasts.<br />
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It looks as though I'm cheating here, and putting 2 sites in the place of 1, but Tom Racine's Tall Tale Radio podcasts are posted both on his traditional site and over on gocomics. The gocomics podcasts tend to be shorter installments of the interviews you'll find on the main site. So if you don't have an hour to spend listening to a great comics interview (which I do regularly when I am coloring for John) then the gocomics version of the interviews is the place for you. You'll want to use the above link - for some reason it's very hard to find on the gocomics site itself.<br />
<br />
There are a lot of other great sites - especially for the comic book industry - but these are my current top 5.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-72056613515415753452013-10-20T10:27:00.001-05:002013-10-20T10:27:32.347-05:00The Art Of Trees - Or, "Why John Is Behind"There is such a thing in syndicated comic strip land known as a "deadline". It is the day "you", the creator, are supposed to have your strips for the week submitted to "them", the syndicate that distributes your work to newspapers.<br />
<br />
Because papers like to have the strips for review well ahead of the intended publish date, this deadline can be several weeks before the strip will run. John is supposed to be submitting Sunday strips 9 weeks before publication and Daily strips 6 weeks before.<br />
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Well, he isn't.<br />
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OK - it's not like he's behind enough to be a huge headache for the syndicate or get fined. (Yes, fined. That's what happens if, like Garry Trudeau, you are turning your strips in a week to 2 weeks before they run. - Although Garry is such a big fish he probably has a contractual exemption or something.)<br />
<br />
But 6 and 9 weeks we ain't exactly at.<br />
<br />
As a result I am asked an almost weekly question by my lovely spouse. "Why am I so far behind?! Why can't I get back on track?"<br />
<br />
I don't always have an answer but this week I do.<br />
<br />
Trees<br />
<br />
Really great trees.<br />
<br />
Trees you probably don't see in many other syndicated newspaper comics being produced today.<br />
<br />
These trees:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoXgRX7hkNtHBt26hIoqiO1ufB3TiXvt9szd7PnzOJsHbL67ro23c_cZFPwZ-Q85cJz66j13AWpQ0757N1S0HMPcYgayTVCiJN9l3_rrWqXJ91yXkcNcOoSFY8Pn9GHRr5PmIBCggjv3M/s1600/content.php.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoXgRX7hkNtHBt26hIoqiO1ufB3TiXvt9szd7PnzOJsHbL67ro23c_cZFPwZ-Q85cJz66j13AWpQ0757N1S0HMPcYgayTVCiJN9l3_rrWqXJ91yXkcNcOoSFY8Pn9GHRr5PmIBCggjv3M/s400/content.php.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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And all the other really cool, gorgeous things John draws in Edison every day.<br />
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John is one of those "old school" artists who still produces the strip 100% non-digital. He hand letters every word balloon, draws every "gutter" and "panel" and uses brush and India Ink on Bristol Board. A comic colleague recently told John he considered him one of the finest "brush men" in the business.<br />
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I have to agree.<br />
<br />
And if all that attention to detail - coupled with top notch writing - means that the strip is a little behind the publishing curve, well, I can live with that.<br />
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Until they start fining us, that is :-)<br />
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Don't forget to read Edison <a href="http://edisonleecomic.com/">for free every day here.</a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-8219463293502259712013-10-14T07:54:00.000-05:002013-10-14T07:55:33.214-05:00My Favorite Strips To Color<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibgFXDenwOHIBqzqxZu9o6cKtd0VUyxf8GL1GLBGamiAX-mteQhQVl6-LNUmWnPLko_spfnMMWRTqZs1Q73rSI36msudC-eIyRrnDEas2xvosG0X42OZbpSTjw77CWNujPOQZjIEPv7Uo/s1600/content-1.php.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibgFXDenwOHIBqzqxZu9o6cKtd0VUyxf8GL1GLBGamiAX-mteQhQVl6-LNUmWnPLko_spfnMMWRTqZs1Q73rSI36msudC-eIyRrnDEas2xvosG0X42OZbpSTjw77CWNujPOQZjIEPv7Uo/s400/content-1.php.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
Most of you know that I (Anne) color the strip - 7 days a week, 365 days a year.<br />
<br />
That's a lot of coloring.<br />
<br />
My mother recently gave me a book of Mandalas to color in as a meditative exercise - "Are you serious?! Do you realize I already spend 10 hours a week coloring things? It's like I live in a never ending Kindergarten!" (I did not actually say this to her - but I seriously thought about it.)<br />
<br />
But, despite all that coloring, for 7 years now (Edison begins year 8 on November 6 2013) I still LOVE this job.<br />
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Sure, probably 80% of Edison readers only see my work on Sundays - very few papers across the country run daily comics in color - but I still love doing it. Especially when I see the color on the internet where it is backlit, adding more dimension to the strip. (Except for on Arcamax. They do something funky to the color as is evidenced here:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXvBX9G_A68MDhywmTXGIZW1vyfQkmcNPPwfy8C53M1Sf_qJ-9SZBxHLN68WhY4cJ9dDn56-8hFMFoo7ZIC2ktrImS47x1ucA_IripfIA9gdz9jwuFx8T_75nf5iN0v_EIcNQB1YYiz0U/s1600/853850.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXvBX9G_A68MDhywmTXGIZW1vyfQkmcNPPwfy8C53M1Sf_qJ-9SZBxHLN68WhY4cJ9dDn56-8hFMFoo7ZIC2ktrImS47x1ucA_IripfIA9gdz9jwuFx8T_75nf5iN0v_EIcNQB1YYiz0U/s400/853850.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note that the purple is more neon as are the blues and greens in panel 2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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My absolute favorite strips to color are the ones that happen in the lab. Outdoor scenes require fairly faithful representations of real world color, as do scenes that happen in the family home and school. But the lab can look like ANYTHING. It's also the space where John gives me 100% autonomy over color. (I have 90% over the other scenes - like I said before, they have to be fairly realistic.)<br />
<br />
I did not do the color for the first three months of the strip back in 2006 - but once I took over I quickly decided I wanted the lab to be a place that really popped and sizzled. Hence the use of bold primary colors and backgrounds consisting mainly of blue, green, and yellow/orange vignettes. As you can see here in a Sunday page that ran April 11 of 2010 (sadly, this strip could have been published yesterday - still true)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTF9Srd3hRt8qH0kgbAAMB_sfEbtHkzXt_4Kpk_OfZK8rClhV4NNLGpFRVq0hX_b2hvjLsJukzXOjgqhRhUVJ7tHIFVwwbEW_sCAuxwKFrZf2qs1tQYrgvITUgcKpZkH_MhsVS3esImQ4/s1600/Edison.20100411_small.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTF9Srd3hRt8qH0kgbAAMB_sfEbtHkzXt_4Kpk_OfZK8rClhV4NNLGpFRVq0hX_b2hvjLsJukzXOjgqhRhUVJ7tHIFVwwbEW_sCAuxwKFrZf2qs1tQYrgvITUgcKpZkH_MhsVS3esImQ4/s400/Edison.20100411_small.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
I've been asked where I got the inspiration to color Edison strips this way and my answer is twofold - Marvel Comics and Warner Brothers Loony Toons. I remember as a kid being totally knocked out by the color in Loony Toons - especially the Chuck Jones cartoons with Marvin the Martian and Duck Dodgers etc. And I also remember that the Marvel Comic Books I read had way more fabulous color than Batman or Superman.<br />
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So, when you read an average daily comic set in the family living room - sure, I enjoyed coloring that. But when you see the stuff in the lab - I enjoyed the hell out of coloring THAT :-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-77910254711049897392013-10-07T23:27:00.000-05:002013-10-07T23:27:11.902-05:00Top Ten Kickstarter Mistakes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMJlB0N0guBK1j6CDTq7kBeZRG3DhbXw7WwGoLncK13FtPvydBNrWEFsH__xm1cAkAQzB1adms3xCoabjN3gPNT6CXBY5AU97ilacXm3SDGn8db1eREJ6He_WzgLtmdvb2r_edFXjAt0/s1600/kickstarter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMJlB0N0guBK1j6CDTq7kBeZRG3DhbXw7WwGoLncK13FtPvydBNrWEFsH__xm1cAkAQzB1adms3xCoabjN3gPNT6CXBY5AU97ilacXm3SDGn8db1eREJ6He_WzgLtmdvb2r_edFXjAt0/s320/kickstarter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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A while <a href="http://edison-lee-blog.blogspot.com/2012/08/crowd-sourced-fundraising-kickstarter.html">back I wrote a post comparing Kickstarter to Indiegogo </a>that has turned out to be the most popular post on this blog. Apparently people are very interested in advice on crowd funding :-)<br />
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Since that post I have contributed to more campaigns on both Kickstarter and Indiegogo, as well as running a crowd sourced fundraiser independent of both platforms, and I have a new batch of insights you may find helpful if you are considering starting a Kickstarter campaign. Keep in mind that, while I will be using the label "Kickstarter" these tips apply pretty much across the board for crowd funding.<br />
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Here, in no particular order are ten of the top mistakes you should try to avoid when using crowd funding:<br />
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1) Putting a lot of work into your pitch (video and essay) but then just sitting back and waiting for the money to roll in.<br />
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<ul>
<li>Making your pitch is only the beginning. Your project is sure to die on the vine unless you have a coherent plan for publicizing it. A terrific tutorial on publicizing a Kickstarter campaign can be <a href="http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2012/12/18/hacking-kickstarter-how-to-raise-100000-in-10-days-includes-successful-templates-e-mails-etc/">found here</a>.</li>
</ul>
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2) Forgetting that, in most cases, the majority of your money will come from people you already have relationships with.<br />
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<ul>
<li>No matter how well you publicize your campaign you will find that your most generous and engaged donors are people you already know. Family, friends, co-workers, colleagues, etc. Make a list of these people before you launch your campaign and be brutally honest with yourself while assessing how much each person is likely to support you - both financially and with spreading the word.</li>
</ul>
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3) Assuming that others will automatically have as great a passion for your project as you do.<br />
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<ul>
<li>Just because your friends like you doesn't mean they believe in your project. Work hard to explain your project in an exciting and engaging way. You want your support network going that extra mile for you. Convince them your project has a solid vision and that they can count on you to follow through with it.</li>
</ul>
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4) Asking for 100 % of your project budget via Kickstarter<br />
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<ul>
<li>Have other backup sources of income lined up in case you don't make your goal. Consider using Indiegogo if you need a flexible funded campaign rather than the traditional "all or nothing" Kickstarter campaign. <a href="http://edison-lee-blog.blogspot.com/2012/08/crowd-sourced-fundraising-kickstarter.html">Click here</a> to re-read my explanation of the different kinds of campaigns.</li>
</ul>
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5) Neglecting to factor in fees charged by Kickstarter and Amazon Payments<br />
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<ul>
<li>Read carefully the page on Kickstarter that explains all the fees and the percentage that Kickstarter takes of your project total. Be sure to add those fees into your total "ask" when you set your Kickstarter goal. It's an awful feeling to think you've raised all the money you will need only to find you have come up short at the end of the fee process.</li>
</ul>
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6) Not putting enough thought into backer rewards.<br />
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<ul>
<li>Be sure to offer the best backer rewards you can think of - things that your backers will be excited to receive - but don't overdo it by offering rewards that cost you a lot of money to acquire. Reward items should be donated, or things that cost you very little, whenever possible. </li>
</ul>
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7) Not factoring in the time and money needed to fulfill backer rewards<br />
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<ul>
<li>You can break your budget with shipping costs for heavy items or items that need special handling or special packaging. For example: I had to invest in poster tubes that well exceeded the cost of printing the posters. They were also expensive to ship. I also had trouble navigating the Kickstarter spreadsheets and wound up creating my own reward tracking system. There are now companies that specialize in fulfilling backer rewards. If you plan to use one, remember to add this expense to your project budget. <a href="http://www.crowdcrux.com/crowdfunding-order-fulfillment-3-reasons-to-outsource-the-shipping-of-your-kickstarter-rewards/">Click here</a> for an article on such companies.</li>
</ul>
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8) Not having a backup plan to accept donations from payment sources outside of Amazon payments<br />
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<ul>
<li>This was a real headache for me personally when I used Kickstarter. There were backers that wanted to support the project but, either they wanted to pay me by personal check, or wanted to use a credit card or paypal or other payment method besides Amazon Payments. Not only is Amazon the only way to process Kickstarter payments, Kickstarter has very specific rules that prohibit you from "paying yourself" to reach your goal. Which meant that I could not accept personal checks and then transfer them to the project. When I contacted Kickstarter support about this problem I received the following advice: "You should probably find a friend with an Amazon account who would be willing to process payments on your behalf." I take this to mean that I should have accepted the personal checks and paypal donations personally, found a friend with an Amazon account, written him/her a check for the total amount, and let him/her make the total donation for all those other payments.</li>
</ul>
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9) Not using social networking<br />
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<ul>
<li>This seems like a no brainer but you are doomed to fail if you are not already using facebook and twitter and other forms of social networking in your regular life. If you are planning a project a year from now and don't currently use social networking, make your accounts NOW and get busy forming relationships.</li>
</ul>
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10) Not understanding the best level of engagement needed with backers or the proper number of updates.<br />
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<ul>
<li>One of my pet peeves when I back a project is being inundated with project updates. Choose your number of updates - and requests for backers to keep sharing your project with other potential backers - carefully. Too few and you won't create excitement, too many and you will alienate your backers and they will start hiding you from their facebook feed and deleting your emails. I personally feel as though requests for sharing should be posted 1 to 2 times a day - with updated funding totals - but actual "updates" should be saved for really important news. No more than 9 big updates in a 30 day period unless your update news is truly earth shattering.</li>
</ul>
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This post has been long but I hope you will find it helpful as you set off on your crowd funding journey!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-40826125143843711202013-10-04T07:00:00.000-05:002013-10-04T07:35:05.623-05:00The Dangers of Crossover Comics: Edison Lee Meets Pearls Before SwineThe ^&#% is hitting the fan. It's a tiny amount of ^&#% but it's hitting the fan anyway.<br />
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We probably asked for it and we have no one to blame but ourselves. Well, we could blame our 22 year old son who chirped brightly one day "Hey, you should put Rat from Pearls into the strip for a cameo!"<br />
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We started brainstorming - how would Rat show up, what would he say, what scenario would lure him into Edison in the first place - stuff like that. And, Rat being Rat, it was pretty obvious from the first that swear words would be involved. Cartoon swear words of course, but to some newspaper editors even cartoon swearing makes them nervous. We knew it might raise some eyebrows but hoped it wouldn't go beyond that.<br />
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We went for it.<br />
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And came up with todays strip - which, if you've been reading all week, you'll know is a fairly logical culmination of a storyline in which Joules the Lab Rat tires of being Edison's unpaid intern and general dogsbody.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdKh8kh04bca036Ox5pMlD0rHLlkmxZONmxZYNRhfSr8KB4vwHMKQg4Fq71h8Y-Z3R48Y0ThhPn_ZQiWimBznYeXETfENfnjYISrVi95bcxugAph45Q7r9NvXlsEmswbJOtNKXMdACMy8/s1600/rat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdKh8kh04bca036Ox5pMlD0rHLlkmxZONmxZYNRhfSr8KB4vwHMKQg4Fq71h8Y-Z3R48Y0ThhPn_ZQiWimBznYeXETfENfnjYISrVi95bcxugAph45Q7r9NvXlsEmswbJOtNKXMdACMy8/s400/rat.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And the strip did indeed raise some eyebrows. And a little more. And, for the first time in the history of the Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee, John had to provide a replacement strip without the cartoon swearing.<br />
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I wish we could say we're ashamed of ourselves. But we're not. It's Stephan's fault.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-85035638246733050962013-09-30T12:25:00.000-05:002013-09-30T12:25:25.465-05:00Unpaid Interns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A few weeks ago John and I came across <a href="http://www.upworthy.com/half-of-interns-are-victims-of-this-illegal-act-after-college-its-really-not-ok?g=2">this story on internships</a> via Facebook and <a href="http://www.thecartooniststudio.com/RickKirkman">Rick Kirkman</a>. If you click on the link it will take you to an article about unpaid internships and a cartoon by <a href="http://www.mattbors.com/">Matt Bors</a>.<br />
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It got us to thinking about internships and how some of them have devolved from the job training and class credit they were designed to be. Many companies now use interns in place of legitimate full or part-time employees. Rather than training the interns, these companies simply hire them to do a job that could be filled by a regular employee but either pay the intern a greatly reduced wage or nothing at all. They offer no guidance, there is no class credit, simply a job opportunity.<br />
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Having a nationally syndicated comic strip means that occasionally you have a "bully pulpit" from which you can deliver a message. While Edison cannot be as hard hitting as Matt Bors - after all Edison Lee runs on the newspaper comics pages and is not yet in as many papers as a powerhouse like Doonesbury - Edison's take on the situation will be delivered in a way fitting to the strip.<br />
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I'm only posting day one here - for the rest of the series this week you'll have to go to <a href="http://edisonleecomic.com/">the main website page.</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-38530804952001241292013-09-23T08:57:00.000-05:002013-09-23T08:57:19.901-05:00That's A Wrap!!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEginEtLjI29KSIQqxYWXR3IDD17kxoN1EE7YoHWq0cc4-StMsvM5qDFwnvo2bbDloMM8RZEHeoIKKJ0O70yBDXfMlxAfiop97KPwG6H-HsciixaGihEPar8SoJHajk5HGQvGReDGpYQAnk/s1600/Edison-comment-prize-21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEginEtLjI29KSIQqxYWXR3IDD17kxoN1EE7YoHWq0cc4-StMsvM5qDFwnvo2bbDloMM8RZEHeoIKKJ0O70yBDXfMlxAfiop97KPwG6H-HsciixaGihEPar8SoJHajk5HGQvGReDGpYQAnk/s400/Edison-comment-prize-21.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prize Drawing for Edison Lee Comment Contest Winner # 2 </td></tr>
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The comment contest has come to an end after 8 great weeks of commenty fun! We knew we could be playing with fire by asking for more comments on the strip - you never know what kind of snarky madness you may unleash - but everyone was respectful and most of the comments were really funny. Some weeks it was truly hard to decide on a winner, there were so many good ones.<br />
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I think what John and I find interesting is all the different ways other people see the strip and the jokes. When you're producing the strip you tend to see it from a certain point of view and once it gets out there on public display you find out people see all sorts of subtexts - most of which never even occurred to you. I hear this same sentiment from many other cartoonists so I think it is just the nature of human beings and shows how challenging it is to come up with material that interpreted the same way by everyone.<br />
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Thanks to everyone who commented - we'll be paying more attention to the comments from now on and you never know - if John sees one that really cracks him up he may send you an original drawing out of the blue!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517183366357019253.post-45579629871980143482013-09-12T15:23:00.001-05:002013-09-12T15:24:20.324-05:00Atmospheric Vortex Engines<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-liQn_fe67gDYkYxknxl0BWUS7nfDW2iR3AHh0ZbCIb12S4kegTXJzsBPQAFN6ybRMIqZ8oLdZYB0trN_9cG2Kw3VghLCwUqQicPTrcZQYzIcNHmxxQlHkdhmXaBI3IoCbqWTjyCmTX4/s1600/original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-liQn_fe67gDYkYxknxl0BWUS7nfDW2iR3AHh0ZbCIb12S4kegTXJzsBPQAFN6ybRMIqZ8oLdZYB0trN_9cG2Kw3VghLCwUqQicPTrcZQYzIcNHmxxQlHkdhmXaBI3IoCbqWTjyCmTX4/s400/original.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Sometimes we here at Edison Lee Inc. thumb our way through twitter looking for little bits of scientific goodness to share with the world. Today's strip came from <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/vortex-engine-tornadoes-electricity/25508/">this story</a> on how inventors are working on atmospheric vortex engines for generating electricity. Fascinating stuff!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6enMoXrFlhGqVm0lFv51rEz9wK5fEGuHDIV9bt_6fc8zCIkCiIdxOa0L41EBWU8VdSwrdwItQf-NC38V_qN015Gn9gKSr5jlugWgnroA3-MS2GldFkvWZaFi1TjOhsZbnimXZVWNgSUI/s1600/content.php.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6enMoXrFlhGqVm0lFv51rEz9wK5fEGuHDIV9bt_6fc8zCIkCiIdxOa0L41EBWU8VdSwrdwItQf-NC38V_qN015Gn9gKSr5jlugWgnroA3-MS2GldFkvWZaFi1TjOhsZbnimXZVWNgSUI/s400/content.php.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0