Salty 'Ham Slam 4 - On Reflection

Our fourth SHC meeting was very good. Look at all the awesome cartooneestas who showed up!

Left to right: Chris Garrison (me), Sam McDavid, Russell Quick, Chris Rosko, Nolen Otts, Tim Spinosi, Brian Ratigan, James Hislope, Christopher Davis, and Richard Haigler. Also in attendance were Kirk Creel (who took this picture) and Paul Godbey (who doesn't show up on film).

Russell Quick came all the way from Huntsville!

From 2:00 to 3:00, we put some art out on the table that we could all look at, and just talked about stuff in general.

The mystery over the confusion about Nolen's death was cleared up. He'd been confused with Roy Norrell, who really did die. Roy did a lot of illustrated maps of towns and colleges, and after he passed, it came to me to revise them for later printings. You can see a bunch of those HERE. Roy Norrell, rest in peace.

We also talked about how it wasn't a proper slam without usual regulars Chris Fason and Tim Rocks. So Fason and Rocks, you were missed. And then we had a vigorous debate about the pronunciation of Fason. FAY-ZON or FACE-un?

At about 2:45, I talked about some ideas I have about additions I might make to the main Salty 'Ham Cartooneestas site.

Then, we had a mini film fest. We watched an animation reel by 5 Guys in a Garage, the group that includes Frank Cummings, Tim Spinosi, James Hislope, and a couple other dudes I haven't recruited yet. Then we watched "Sunday," Brian Ratigan's latest stop-motion puppet work. Also, Nolen played a short film, for which he had provided the animated opening titles. Man, there was all kinds of great stuff.

All of these presentations were followed by high-fives and hugs. Some cartoonists, who shall remain nameless, wept with joy.

Finally, we got down to work:


Brian and Nolen had a 45-minute staring contest:


Christopher Davis tried to steal Richard Haigler's girlfriend. Finally, Richard said, "I can stands what I stands, and I can't stands no more!" After downing a can of spinach, this happened:


It ended in an octagonal cage-match. You REALLY should have been there!

I asked everybody to draw in my sketchbook, and I'll show a few of those drawings here:

Little bitty sketch by Russell Quick

Richard Haigler drew Muffin, the dog from his strip, Marty's Life.

Christopher Davis drew this guy. I think it might be some kind of Ivy League bird - a penguin or a rooster, maybe? Somebody should do a color version. I love his tiny tie.

And we passed around these goofy little comic jams:


Cube of Destiny credits: panel 1 by Chris Garrison; panel 2 by Kirk Creel; panels 3 - 6 by Russell Quick; panel 7 by Chris Rosko; panel 8 by Chris Garrison; panel 9 by Christopher Davis.



Tiny Soda credits: panel 1 by Russell Quick; panel 2 by Chris Garrison; panel 3 by Chris Rosko; panel 4 by Tim Spinosi; panel 5 by Brian Ratigan; panel 6 by James Hislope; panel 7 by Richard Haigler; panel 8 by Kirk Creel; panel 9 by Chris Garrison.



Zacky the Clam credits: panel 1 by Chris Garrison; panel 2 by Kirk Creel; panel 3 by Nolen Otts; panel 4 by Chris Rosko; panel 5 by Brian Ratigan; panel 6 by James Hislope.

People ate cookies and candy, and fun was had. So join us, won't you, for the NEXT Salty 'Ham Slam! (as yet unscheduled)

You can look back at previous slams, here: Slam 1, Slam 2, Slam 3