Did anyone else hear about Invest Comics' One and Done contest?

http://investcomics.com/category/one-and-done

Someone showed me a link and I gave it a shot, even though I knew I wouldn't get any kind of payment. I figured, Screw it! If it'll help the CBLDF and the comic community, I can waste some talent coming up with ideas to send in. Besides, I haven't done anything in months.

It just occurred to me about a week ago that I never heard back from them so I figured I'd take a look at who my competition was... lo and behold, turned out I had actually won! I was never notified by accident, though.

They haven't said when the book will be published yet, regardless, here's the strip they chose... not the one I would have went with, but the one I feel was the funniest.

Inflation by ~weezel365 on deviantART

Recent Roundup

Hello to All!

I've just gone and collected a few pieces from some of the blogs, webcomics, and deviantART pages of our fellow SHC's. (You guys should come and post stuff here more often yourselves, just to keep the blog alive.)

I can't take the time to turn the following names into links. If you want to see more from any of these great Alabama cartoonists -- and find a whole boatload MORE Alabama cartoonists, to boot -- consult the alphabetical list HERE.

Derek Anderson

 Tom Briscoe

 Tom Briscoe

 Ryan Brown

Ryan Brown

 Jessica Campbell

 Jessica Campbell

 Howard Cruse

 Howard Cruse

 Christopher Davis

Christopher Davis

Christmas Caricatures

I drew some more caricatures recently, at some Christmas parties.  To see my favorites and read my full report, check out THIS POST on my sketch blog.

Neglect

Sorry the jam blog is sort of languishing here, folks. I've had a lot going on lately, so I haven't been doing my occasional Recent Roundups as usual. Help keep the blog alive by posting here sometimes, will ya?

I'll try to get back on track soon. Meanwhile, today is week 2 of a long form story arc I've started, over at my weekly webcomic Zoo Laffs. So check it out!

Daumier at the BMA

The Birm. Mus. of Art has an exhibition of prints by the 19th cent. French newspaper illustrator/cartoonist Honore Daumier thru the end of the month. Prob. worth seeing if you care about that sort of thing. It's mostly lithographs, a few gilotages(?) and wood engravings. There are also some copies of the original publications the work appeared in.

The show is divided into topics such as daily life, theatre, politics, feminism (Daumier makes fun of those crazy women trying to write books and smoke cigars like men), ancient history, lawyers and politicans, etc.

The work spans many years, from something like the 30s to the 70s. To some extent you can see the drawings getting much more abbreviated and rapid later in his career (I imagine he's saying to himself "They still want more of these things! Always another greasy stone! Oy vey!" (or French equiv.) He lived thru some miserable years for France (and Europe) which he represents in one case with a skeleton contentedly playing double flutes in the aftermath of one carnage or another.

Halloween Caricatures

I drew some caricatures last night, at a Halloween party.  To see my ten favorites and read my full report, check out THIS POST on my sketch blog.

Salty 'Ham Slam 11 - On Reflection

Our eleventh official conventionette was totally nice.  We were at the J again, and we had a chipper group: Frank Cummings, Tim Spinosi, Ben Faucher, Richard Haigler, and Garth Potts were there.  And we welcomed first-timers Kinch Raby, II, and Andy Gray.  And there was me, Chris Garrison.

Top, left to right: Andy Gray, Richard Haigler (twice), and Benjamin Faucher.

Bottom, left to right: Kinch Raby, II; Tim Spinosi, and Frank Cummings.

I heard our fellow SHC, Kirk Creel, came down with what sounds like a bad case of the pancreatic cancer.  Yeesh!  So, instead of working on comic jams and caricatures as we sometimes do, we hatched this collaborative card for him:

Crew cut guy by Tim Spinosi; cat that ate the canary by Kinch Raby, II; afro-frog by Andy Gray; pajama kid by Frank Cummings; sickening ducky by Chris Garrison; hooka-pillar by Ben Faucher; coy bunny by Richard Haigler.

Plus, I got some cool guest art in my sketchbook:

Fruit of the Loom Apple Guy, by Kinch Raby, II

Bobblehead Spider-Man, by Ben Faucher

Left-handed '80s rocker, by Andy Gray

As usual, we snacked on Oreos, Nutter Butters, and Chips, Ahoy! cookies.  Then, Tim and Frank got into a breakdancing contest.  Frank was poppin' and lockin', but Tim started doing the hopalong worm, all around the perimeter of the boardroom, in circles.  He continued in this way for an hour and a half, until everyone conceded that he was the winner.  For those of you who missed it, you really should have been there!

All tolled, everybody had fun at the slam, and there was much camaraderie.  So join us, won't you, for the NEXT Salty 'Ham Slam! (as yet unscheduled) (official members and invited guests only, please)

Oh, and you can look back at previous slams, here:

Slam 1

Slam 2

Slam 3

Slam 4

Slam 5

Slam 6

Slam 7

Slam 8

Slam 9

Slam 10

Recent Roundup

Yo, Pawty People.

I've just gone and collected a few pieces from some of the blogs, webcomics, and deviantART pages of our fellow SHC's. (You guys should come and post stuff here more often yourselves, just to keep the blog alive.)

I can't take the time to turn the following names into links. If you want to see more from any of these great Alabama cartoonists -- and find a whole boatload MORE Alabama cartoonists, to boot -- consult the alphabetical list HERE.

 Chris Rosko

 Chris Rosko

 Perry Sessions

Jason Shoemaker

 Corey Stockley

 Corey Stockley

 Carolyn Wass

 Hayley "Sio" Williams

Hayley "Sio" Williams

 Andrew Willmore

Andrew Willmore

Caricatures

Here are some caricatures that Ed Abernathy and I drew at a wedding reception back in June.  (mine are the ones where the folks are drawn smaller)

I think I improved between then and when I did these more recent ones; hopefully I'll continue to get better if I do some more.

Honk if you love Hate!

I just discovered Peter Bagge's 'Hate' comic a few days ago. How I've missed this comic for so long, I dunno. Maybe I drank too much NyQil back in the early 90's and just woke up last weekend. Maybe that'll explain it, but whatever. I really like this indie comic. The art isn't so awesome that it will make you go 'Holy Moses! I'm ca-ca-ca-crappin' my paaaaaants!!!' but it's a really unique, fun style that goes well with the " 90's, Seattle slacker " stories that grace it's pages. I love the flow of the comic and how the protagonists aren't really great people and how they're actually kinda crummy human beings, and  how you don't have this 'cheesy, fluffy Full House endings' to every story. The comics that I've read thus far, are essentially about sh*tty people with sh*tty lives who are kinda hopeless. Just like real life! Anyway, after reading a few issues, I realized this is how I've wanted to do an indie comic, but I just never knew it. So hopefully, my uber-ADD and giant lazy streak won't keep me from actually cranking out a decent short story like the ones you'd find in 'Hate' pretty soon.

Let's Be Frank

And here's ANOTHER new Salty 'Ham for you to welcome!  Introducing Frank Patriot.  (Not his real name; all the best cartoonists work under pseudonyms, right?)

Finn for the Win

New Salty 'Ham, y'all!  Check out Sean Finn.

Cartoony Street Art

This blog, Southern Guise, seems to be showing off a lot of fun street art, from right here in our neck of the woods.  Somebody please track these vandals (?) down and tell them to join the Salty 'Ham Cartooneestas!

Caricatures

I went down to the college campus with Ed Abernathy today, and we drew some caricatures.  To see all ten of mine and read my full report, check out THIS POST on my sketch blog.

Not Forgotten art show

Birmingham based non-profit organization Not Forgotten will be hosting an art show at the end of October, in an effort to raise funds to build an orphanage in a northeastern village of Peru.

Birmingham artists are invited to donate a piece of work for the show. If you donate, both you and your artwork will be showcased at their event. If sold, 100% of the proceeds will be given to Not Forgotten, and you will be sent a tax deductible receipt for your donation.

If you are interested in donating, please email Erica at birminghamartforacause[at]gmail.com. She will be thrilled to send you more specific information regarding the event, the organization, and their availability to pick-up your donation.

Salty 'Ham Slam 11

The eleventh edition of the Salty 'Ham Slam has been scheduled! The exact date, time, and location are a secret, reserved for our official members and close associates only. If you haven't yet received the details by email, contact me and I will send them forthwith: cgarrison[at]bham.rr.com

More info HERE.

Zoo Laffs contests

Over at my webcomic, Zoo Laffs, I'm having a couple of silly contests, to go with this pinup.


There's a caption contest and a coloring contest. Enter now, while they're still open! You could win some goofy prizes.

inkOUTBREAK

I've long wanted to find a way to discover the good webcomics and weed out the dreck. And I've also been baffled as to how artists can hope to get their webcomics noticed, among the tons of webcomics that are out there now. Plus, I've wished I had an easy way to keep up with the webcomics I like, without having to keep a lot of bookmarks or get into the RSS whatever-the-heck people do. Well, I've recently discovered inkOUTBREAK.com, and it seems like it might be a pretty good solution to ALL those problems. Check it out!


If indeed inkOUTBREAK is as nifty as it would appear, here are some comics from our fellow SHC's who should maybe consider promoting themselves there: Alien Gladiators, Blondie, Hero Happy Hour, Petey & the Pack, Small World, and Teddy Bear Trauma.

Birmingham Free Press Writes on SHC's

That scrappy rag, the Birmingham Free Press, is back on physical paper again, after several years of being available in an online format only. When you press a gob of silly putty against your computer screen, then carefully peel it off, you will NOT discover a reverse image on that pancake of flesh-toned, semi-solid gunk. But now that they're in print again, the Birmingham Free Press no longer has that problem.

Their recent edition, which can be found around Birmingham's Southside, features comics by our fellow SHC's Nolen Otts, Tim Rocks, and Stephen Smith. Stephen also contributes articles and illustrations.

And that's not all! The paper has a very nice article about the Salty 'Ham Cartooneestas, and makes flattering mentions of Marcus Lusk, Hal Jones, Frank Cummings, Tom Briscoe, Chris Fason, Sam McDavid, Chris Rosko, Don Stewart, Carolyn Wass, John Lytle Wilson, Mark Martin, Howard Cruse, and yours truly. Here's the article now (click to enlarge) --

New Cartooneesta Comics

Listen up, people! There are two self-published comic books out recently from our fellow Salty 'Ham Cartooneestas.

Mark Martin's "Gnatrat Lives!" -- available HERE . . . and . . .

Tim Rocks' Pete Moss -- available HERE
. . . where you can also read the first three pages for free.

Wanna Be a Zoo Laffs Guest Artist?

It sure would help me stay caught up on my webcomic Zoo Laffs, if I could occasionally present a strip by a guest artist. Do you want to do one? Drawing comics is fun! Especially drawing funny animals and cute girls. Plus, DummComics has a great following. Your strip will be enjoyed by thousands, and we can put up some links to your stuff or whatever.


You can use my characters -- Alistair Woods, Buckley, Jakey the Jerk, Michael the Armadillo, Perry & Sherry, The Nice Pair, Alex Gander, Onion Puss, HornDog, and Horatio Hamhockefeller -- or, if you think none of them are suited to your gags, you can make up new Zoo Laffs characters.

I'd dig it if your strip carries on in the Zoo Laffs tradition of jokes about girl trouble, revolving around meeting women, maintaining relationships, or suffering breakups. But if you want to buck the trend by exploring other subjects, that's cool too. I won't reject a strip just because it doesn't deal with romantic foibles.

Before you get too into it, email me a rough sketch or scriptlet. This way, if your joke is too similar to one of mine or another guest artist, we can nix it or rework it before you spend much time on it. Email me at cgarrison[at]bham.rr.com.

Don't have an idea for a Zoo Laffs strip? Email me anyway. If I like your work, I might just give you one of mine!

Cartoon Map of Shelby County, Alabama

Here's the finished version of the map I've been working on for University Graphics / Creative Concepts. ( Shelby County, Alabama ) Click to enlarge:



If you want to see more close-ups, check out THIS POST on my map blog.

Pete Moss

Finished that comic I've been working on. I'm trying to get it uploaded to Ka-blam/Indyplanet so it will be at least technically available, through their print-on-demand service. I wish though I could figure out some way to fund a print run on newsprint and get it distributed to small grocery and convenience stores (where comics rightly belong.)

It's maybe not such an ideal candidate for that though, since the story turned out slightly seedier than I realized it would, or intended it to. Not sure why that surprised me, since it was pretty much there in the concept.

Anyway here's the cover (the final version does have color, just posting this since I like b&w as well.) The "worksheet" is a filler page.

Recent Roundup

Hello again, Persons.

I've just gone and collected a few pieces from some of the blogs, webcomics, and deviantART pages of our fellow SHC's. (You guys should come and post stuff here more often yourselves, just to keep the blog alive.)

I can't take the time to turn the following names into links. If you want to see more from any of these great Alabama cartoonists -- and find a whole boatload MORE Alabama cartoonists, to boot -- consult the alphabetical list HERE.

Sam McDavid

Heath McPherson

Heath McPherson

Mega Comics Group

Melody

Garth Potts

Kinch Raby

Tim Rocks