That's A Wrap!!

Prize Drawing for Edison Lee Comment Contest Winner # 2 

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.

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.

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!

Atmospheric Vortex Engines

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 this story on how inventors are working on atmospheric vortex engines for generating electricity. Fascinating stuff!

Get Deflocked Back Into St. Cloud!

One of our daily reads - both in our newspaper and on our dailyink - is Deflocked by Jeff Corriveau. We think it's not only one of the best new syndicated comics being produced today, it's one of the best syndicated comics being produced today. Jeff has spend many years honing his comedy skills as a writer for such illustrious shows as Seinfeld, Talk Soup, Saturday Night Live, etc.  and it shows.

Recently Deflocked was cut from the St. Cloud Times in Minnesota and Jeff needs the help of fans to get it put back. So if you are a comics fan who gets the St. Cloud Times - start making some noise by contacting the editor - John Bodette - either by email or on his facebook page: jbodette@stcloudtimes.com https://www.facebook.com/sctimesjohn

Sadly, this sort of thing happens all the time and editors turn a deaf ear to the voices of the readers so it's probably going to take A LOT of complaining to reverse this decision. Don't let Deflocked down! Be a pest if you love the strip!

Art For The First Comment Contest Winner

Here is the original art that will be shipped out to the winner of the first Edison Lee comment contest. It goes to "T.G. Riches" who won with this comment on the following strip:

“I can see a pillow sack full of oranges as a cruel weapon of justice in the future!”

As you can see John isn't just sending out random bits of spot art but a hand-colored, personalized piece that reflects the comment. I can promise you these drawings are all going to be one-of-a-kind so get busy commenting today! Only 5 weeks of the contest left!

Qualifying comments must be made on Arcamax, Comics Kingdom, Dailyink, or the official site at edisonleecomic.com

Comment Contest Winner: Week Two

John is entering week 3 of his 8 week comment contest - up for grabs is an original personalized drawing of your favorite Edison character!

The winner for week two came from Arcamax Disqus and was a comment on this strip:

Go to edisonleecomic.com and see if yours was the winning comment!

And keep the great comments coming - we are having a great time reading them :-)

Teaser Panel - On My Coloring Plate Today

Here is a panel from an upcoming strip - I love coloring gadgets. You're welcome to try to guess what this will be. The strip will run August 26th.

Superheroes Unite!!

I don't know if it was the fact that the San Diego Comic-Con was last week or maybe there is something in the water but there are a lot of new superheroes running around the comics pages lately.

In Edisonland Orville has become a pawn in Edison's scheme to turn him into "The World's Best Superhero", Between Friends is in the middle of a story arc surrounding "Hot Flash Woman" and Real Life Adventures got in on the act yesterday as well.

In fact, in our local paper, Edison and Real Life Adventures are right next to each other so the juxtaposition was pretty funny.

Here are some samples - be sure to visit edisonleecomic.com and betweenfriendscomics.com to read the rest of the series. And you can find Real Life Adventures on gocomics here.

Announcing a Contest! Win Edison Drawings!

Exciting News! John has decided to run a contest for the next 8 weeks for the best comment (funny and non-snarky) on an Edison strip running on the following platforms:

1) The official King Features Edison Lee page which you can find by clicking here

2) The Disqus on Comics Kingdom which you can find by clicking here

3) The Disqus on Arcamax which you can find by clicking here

4 Dailyink subscription which you can find by clicking here

(You must be a Dailyink subscriber to comment on Dailyink - which is a steal for about $20 a year and gets you access to ALL King Features comics!)

If we had been running this contest last week THIS is the comment John would have chosen. 
Snidely says: “He looks like a mascot for the Baltimore Orioles”.

• What you can win: A personalized original drawing of an Edison character (you can choose which one you would like)

• Who will choose the winning comment: John will personally be selecting his favorites

• Limitations: Winning limited to one time per month per commenter

• Facebook comments will NOT count - If you are reading Edison on Facebook, please take the time to click through the link to the official Edison site and post your comment there.

• How to claim your prize: Winning comments will be posted on the official site every Monday by 12:00 noon central time. John will be using your screen name to credit you so you will need to email him at john@edisonlee.net and give him your contact info so that he can send you your drawing.

(Here's a tip - your best chance to win is to make John laugh out loud as the comment shown above most definitely did. You needn't be reverent - go ahead and poke fun at the joke or the characters - (although comments like "this strip totally sucks" are not likely to earn you the prize.))

Get out there and comment on Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee comic strips today!!!

Note: These links may take you to the page for 7/29 - use the forward buttons on each site to get current strips

Spot The Mistake

The above is panel one of today's strip. Somewhere in the four panels I made a coloring mistake - can you spot it? Read the whole strip here: http://edisonleecomic.com/comics/july-26-2013/

"The Norm" Book - Michael Jantze's Funding Campaign On Indiegogo

Michael Jantze, animator, director, and creator of the terrific comic "The Norm" has started an Indiegogo campaign to fund a new book collection of "Norm" strips. The campaign is going well so Michael has announced some great new stretch goals if he surpasses his initial funding request. 

This will be a great book and if you would like a piece of the action - and the satisfaction that comes from being a contributor to great creative projects - head on over and pledge today!! (I'm contributing as soon as I finish this post!)

Click here for the Indiegogo site.

July 13 Pop Up Gallery

A new thing has started in Kenosha. It's called a Pop-Up Gallery and is put on by the Kenosha Art Association. The gallery exists for one night only (hence "Pop-Up") in downtown Kenosha and happens on the second Saturday of the month.

This Saturday John's original art for The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee will be featured along with Mini-book publisher John Porcellino, "Just Say Uncle"'s Dan Pavelich, "Buni"'s Ryan Pagelow and others.

Along with the work on display John will be selling original art, prints, books and some new Edison goodies. There will be something for every budget.

So head on over this Saturday and bring all your friends!!

For full details visit the gallery website here.

New Feature - "Edison Meets"

One of Edison’s favorite things is meeting famous cartoonists. Over the past 7 years he’s put together a pretty awesome photo album of the folks he’s met and John is now sharing them over on his King blog. Click here to see the first one.

From The Archives - Know Your Scales

When this ran back in 2010 it got more mail than any previous individual Edison strip. Why you ask? Is it because it made fun of overweight people?

No.

Because it offended folks who want to colonize the moon?

No.

Because it has the wrong kind of scale for the joke?

Bingo.

Apparently for this joke to work properly the man should have been standing on a pressure sensitive scale - you know, like the average person has in their bathroom. NOT, we were informed, the scale pictured here. THIS type of scale would still be accurate, due to its use of counterweights, even on the moon.

And, if we'd really stopped to think about it, we would have known that. And the point the readers hit us with was that, as a strip that uses a lot of science, we SHOULD have known that.

But the truth of the matter is your run-of-the-mill bathroom scale just isn't that interesting to draw. Nor is it a particularly funny visual.

At the end of the day, Edison is a comic strip and we will probably continue to make little boo boos like this just because the dang doctor's scale is more fun to draw.

Kenosha Festival of Cartooning Mini-fest With Tom Richmond

The Kenosha Festival of Cartooning is taking a year away from its full 3 day event and presenting a terrific 1 day Mini-fest with special Guest Tom Richmond of MAD magazine and The MAD Art of Caricature!

The Mini-fest will take place all day on Saturday November 2, 2013 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Click here to visit the Festival Website for a list of the day's activities.

Last year the festival was tremendously fortunate to successfully raise almost its entire operating budget through Kickstarter but 9% of the total funds raised went to Amazon and Kickstarter for payment processing. This year the festival is hoping to follow the Kickstarter model and offer backer rewards but  skip actually using Kickstarter and use the Festival Paypal account instead. This will save 6% in processing fees and make your donation go farther!!

Head over and donate today!!

Comic Kudos - Pickles UPDATED

Another of my (Anne's) favorite comics is "Pickles" by Brian Crane. I will confess that this strip has become more of a favorite as I approach the age of the main characters Earl and Opal. I'm not sure exactly how old they are - old enough to have grandchildren, bad backs and hearing aids (Earl).

But the humor in Pickles doesn't just lie in jokes about getting older. Most of what I find most endearing about it is the relationship between this married couple. They've been married a long time and are obviously comfortable with one another yet there is quite a spark there. Opal and Earl tease one another on a regular basis with a dynamic that is edgier than Ozzie and Harriet but tamer than Frank and Marie Barone.

It's feisty but never mean spirited. After meeting Brian Crane for the first time this year I can see why. Brian is an incredibly nice person and was, fittingly named (in an historic tie with Rick Kirkman of Baby Blues) "Cartoonist of the Year" 2013 by the National Cartoonist Society.

Maybe my fondness also stems from the fact that one of my favorite Edison Lee characters is Orville, the grandfather. Although Orville and Earl have very little in common (outside of a mutual love for Gunsmoke). Earl does things. He's relatively clever - gives Opal as good as he gets. Orville is too easygoing and well, let's admit it, lazy to even think up a retort. Plus, I don't think I've ever seen Earl eat a twinkie. Orville would be lost without them :-)

So, if you're not reading Pickles, head over to gocomics and subscribe today!

UPDATE: I neglected to mention that you can see Brian Crane's Studio and learn lots of cool things about how he makes "Pickles" over at the Cartoonist's Studio (click here)

CLARIFICATION: Pickles is one of John's favorite strips too! I just have started to put my name in the blog posts so folks don't get confused about who blogs about what. For John's latest blog post click here.

John's Blog Post About This Week's "Frankenwheat" Series

If you live in Oregon, you've heard about Monsanto's Rogue GM Wheat being discovered growing in the wild. It's a big hairy deal and Edison is having his own problems with some GM wheat he was fooling with in his lab.

Click here to read John's blog post about the series.....

New Twitter Account For Edison

We just set up a new twitter account dedicated to all things Edison-y! You can follow Edison on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/EdisonLeeComics

Tall Tale Radio on GoComics: Sandra Bell Lundy (And a couple thoughts from Anne)

If you want to hear another great interview by Tom Racine, head over to Tall Tale Radio on GoComics and listen to part 1 of his chat with Between Friends creator Sandra Bell Lundy. It's about 30 minutes long.

I'll wait.

Done? Alrighty then - I'd like to visit a couple of points so spoiler alert if you didn't go listen:

Every once in a while a comic artist gets a syndication deal right out of the box but it's hardly typical. John's journey to syndication with Edison took 14 years and involved multiple strip ideas. (And even more multiple rejection letters.) Sandra's path took her a while as well (thankfully not 14 years) and her description of the meanderings her career took are well worth hearing. I especially liked hearing her talk about the time she "cold called" the Editor of the Toronto Star. I've read about it on her blog before but it has a different resonance when you hear her tell it in person.

Sandra also takes some time to talk about a mentoring phone call she got from Lynn Johnston (hilarious set up for this call). I mention it because one of the things I have been most impressed by is how generous cartoonists are to "fans and up and comers".

When I was 20 I wrote to Berke Breathed. I had the nerve to suggest that he market his books and plushies etc. on college campuses since he had so many fans there. (Duh! Did I honestly think he and his syndicate were unaware of this?) Shock of shocks, he actually wrote back! He was not only gracious and undismissive of my idea, his note was funny as well. (This note is saved carefully in a shoebox that has been archived less carefully in that I can't remember where it is. But I know it's somewhere!)

Later, when John began pursuing syndication and it didn't seem to be happening I wrote Cathy Guisewite for advice. Again, shockingly, she wrote back with some great suggestions.

Fast forward to 2005 when John got his syndication contract - we had no idea what kind of lawyer should be reviewing an intellectual property contract. (Although we were pretty sure the neighborhood ambulance chaser was NOT the right choice.) I wrote Lynn Johnston - again, completely out of the blue, never met her - and asked for help and advice. She called John and talked to him for over an hour - going so far as to give him the name of her lawyer - and also called me and gave me about 25 minutes of her time.

To be fair, I don't think you can expect this kind of response every time you contact a comic artist. Especially if you are writing them for an autograph you plan to turn around and sell on ebay. The internet has made it too easy for every Tom, Dick, and Harry to grab an email address and write to a cartoonist. When I was writing you had to go to a lot of trouble to find a syndicate address for the artist and then hope your note would be forwarded into the right hands.

Sandra also talks about her experiences with a less than professional - can we say shady? - syndicate. A cautionary tale for all aspiring creatives. Don't just listen to it - take notes so you can remind yourself what to do if you find yourself in a similar situation.

And there is some terrific stuff about Jay Kennedy.

So, if you ignored my recommendation at the top of the page, what are you waiting for? Go Listen!!

PS. I'm fairly sure Sandra was peeking in my windows when she wrote this one:

New Pinterest Page for Fans of Edison Lee Science Cartoons

Star Heaven? This was the second Edison strip ever to run. It was clear from the beginning that John would be infusing the strip with his love of science. Note how different the coloring and drawing style are from current Edison comics

I've started a Pinterest Board dedicated to Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee Science cartoons. This is to make it easier for science minded types to find their favorite Edison comics that have a scientific bent. I'll also be offering commentary on some of the strips. If you find a strip that you like and are interested in reprint rights visit the Cartoonist's Group for access to all Edison comics.

I'll be trying to add a few strips to the board every week.

Remember you can read Edison for free everyday on the official King Features Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee website here: http://edisonleecomic.com/

Back From The Reubens in Pittsburgh! UPDATED

UPDATE: To see more Reuben Weekend Photos visit my facebook page here.

John Hambrock, Tom Richmond, Bill Morrison, Hilary Price and Jeff Keane at "The Speakeasy" on 20's night at the Reubens.

It's been quite a while since I (Anne) posted anything here - apologies! Summer is a better time for me to blog so expect more regular updates in the coming weeks.

One big reason for the lull is that, every year during the month of May, we at Edison Lee inc. are madly scrambling to get all the strips done so that we can take a grand total of 5 days off to go to the Reuben Award weekend. As I accompany John to his speaking engagements it's clear that the general public has no idea that most cartoonists don't get vacation. Some of the big guns like Doonesbury and Zits are allowed to run reruns but most cartoonists are not. That means 365 illustrated jokes a year. I know, I know, we could just "work ahead". But that's not as easy as it sounds. Some cartoonists can do it but most I've talked to have a really hard time writing, inking, and coloring more than 7 strips in a week.

Enough of that - on to the Reubens.

The Reuben award weekend is often described as the "Oscars" of cartooning but I think that description falls short. The black tie award night (Saturday) is only one component of a weekend jam packed with presentations by cartoonists as well as ample opportunity between Thursday and Monday to really catch up with cartooning friends. It's also a terrific time to meet cartoonists you haven't met in the past not to mention time to gawk awkwardly from across the room at a cartooning idol you grew up with. The fabulous part is when you get the opportunity to meet that cartooning idol face to face and discover that they not only treat you like a friend but they may be a fan of your work. I hate to speak for John but I can tell you that the first time a veteran cartoonist mentioned to him how much he liked The Brilliant Mind Of Edison Lee and that, furthermore, he read it every day - well, let's just say John was more than flattered.

This year's event was in Pittsburgh, a city I have never before visited, and they truly rolled out the red carpet. Along with the usual 4 star hotel, the Toonseum in Pittsburgh organized a comic art festival - the mayor even issued a proclamation welcoming all the cartoonists!

The festival was spectacular! There was a gallery show of original art by over 60 years of Reuben Award winners - from Rube Goldberg himself (the Reuben award is named after him and the statue itself  was designed by him) to last year's honoree Tom Richond of MAD magazine fame - a panel discussion with Lynn Johnston, Cathy Guisewite, Hilary Price, Jen Sorensen and Terri Libenson, a block party (they closed off the street for all the comic vendors) a chalk jam drawing on the street, and artist signings all day Sunday. Kudos to the Toonseum and Jo Wos for their tireless work on this wonderful event!!  And, for the first time I can remember, the local media really took notice of the weekend and what an amazing thing it is to have over 300 internationally recognized cartoonists descend on your city!

A huge thank you also to Tom Richmond (current NCS president) Anna Richmond, all the cartoonists who volunteered their time stuffing goody bags and seeing to the myriad of details surrounding the organizing of such a weekend. Another big thank you to the folks at Crow Segal Management who work hard for months with the planning and registration for the weekend and spend much of the weekend working rather than enjoying themselves at the bar!

Here are some of the pictures I shot over the weekend, as usual there were so many great pics I forgot to take entirely :-) I will post more onto facebook next week.

(To see photos I've taken at previous Reubens, click here.)

Lobby of the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh

More of the lobby area that is also a restaurant

Our giant room (not as big as the presidential suite but pretty darned big!)

There was this amazing building outside our window - I couldn't stop taking pictures of it!

Another view from our window...

At the awards banquet with nominee Johnathon Lemon of "Rabbits Against Magic"

At the women in comics panel at the Toonseum - Hilary Price began by moderating from this chair..... From left to right: Hilary Price, Terri Libenson, Jen Sorensen, Cathy Guisewite and Lynn Johnston

Entrance to the Toonseum and some  of the festival goers...

The street comic jam.....

Fans wait to meet Bill Morrison of the Simpsons and Bongo Comics

Rube Goldberg drawing, model for Reuben award and actual Reuben award statuette.....

An original Calvin and Hobbes - one of the very few not housed in the archives at the OSU Cartoon Library. This belonged to Charles Schulz and was very graciously loaned by his widow Jean Schulz.

MAD art by 2012 Rebuen Award winner Tom Richmond

An original Pogo

One of the many jam drawings at the hotel.

Check back for a link to more pictures on facebook next week!