Episode 21
Happy New Year!
Sneak peek 2013
First up is Midnite Matinee Comics #1. I've been working on this project off and on for the last couple of years and it's finally finished. The idea was to recreate the Saturday afternoon movie experience of yesterday. The book takes films from the public domain and rewrites them for satire in a photo funnies style. It begins with a super violent Rickey Rodent cartoon, a government propaganda film, "Hemp For Victory," and a chapter of a movie serial, "Bolt Uprite & The Crossdressers from Space." The feature presentation is "Island of Lost Gorillas," a bromantic comedy/action/horror/ musical adventure starring the comedy duo Wanker & Goombah as a pair of familiar looking lounge singers stranded on a mysterious LOST island with danger at every turn. I will be posting links for ordering and preview pages soon.
SHAM Comics #3 is nearing final edits and should go to press within a couple of weeks. This time out, it's an anthology issue featuring "Skunky McGee" the smelliest private eye ever. Several short horror and sci-fi tales are included, such as "The Girl of my Screams," "Hilda Hogthrottle's Haunted Honeymoon," and "The Planet of the Pooches." The issue also features the epic story of "Conad the Aryan Barbarian" as he goosesteps across the ancient world. Rounding out the issue are some new ads for old products, like the Gahoon, government surplus Body Bags, the Buck Wilde Bully-in-a-Minute Method and live animals through the mail. Watch the blog for more news on this one.
Finally, production is nearly complete on "Zombie Marge Comix & Stories." All the strips from the past year have been reformatted into a comic book with other new features like zombie-related ads, pin-ups, interviews and behind-the -scenes stuff. I will be posting more on this comic as it nears publication.
This looks like a pretty good year!
Episode 20
Episode 19
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FIRST BACK NEXT |
It’s been over a month since the last Zombie Marge comic went up, so I guess I owe her loyal readers an explanation. I’ve tried to stick to a bi-weekly schedule for the strip, and for the most part have managed that. But a month or so ago the arthritis in my shoulders, that I had learned to tolerate, moved suddenly and dramatically down into my right arm. This made drawing painful, if not impossible. But I worked on this episode in little bits and pieces when I could, while I sought some help. I’m on the mend, not quite back to normal, but having longer and longer periods of drawing time each day. I'm nearly back up to speed and should have the next one up within two weeks. I've missed posting. It's good to have this one finished at last.
How To Go To The Doctor-part 3
How To Go To The Doctor-part 2
How To Go To The Doctor–part 1
I'm completely fascinated by these bland filler stories they used to run in the backs of old comics. My take on this story is not too far off from the original; "Between You & Your Doctor" that appeared in Young Doctors #5, September 1963. Tune in again tomorrow for more words of wisdom from Mary and Dr. Futternutz.
Doctor, it hurts when I do this.
This was supposed to be a Zombie Marge weekend. I was all
prepared to go full steam into the next episode. But, when the inspiration to
write hits, I’ve learned to just get out of the way and go with it. So instead
of Marge, my time has been spent on my side project, SHAM Comics. I’ve posted
some here before. In a nutshell, I take old comics and rewrite them as cynical,
satirical, post-modern tales of angst and heartbreak. The fun never stops.
While I was researching pre-code romance comics for SHAM #2,
I came across an interesting sub-genre of medical comics. For a couple of
years in the early 60s, medical drama was all the rage. Ben Casey and Dr.
Killdare were on TV and General Hospital was a daytime hit. Charlton was one of the few comic companies to capitalize on this trend. They published a series of
titles depicting the lives of young doctors and nurses (all white) in the exciting world of modern medicine. However, as this was an outgrowth of their
romance comics, the books focused on the love lives of the main characters. The
results are highly entertaining. When the doctors are not busy giving
cigarettes to their patients, they are in some broom closet making out with the
nurses. The nurses are strong, independent types, except when they are mooning
over the doctors. There is also had a very high percentage of people bringing
guns into the hospital and patients trying to jump out high windows. As I said,
they are highly entertaining.
A bit more research revealed that these comics are in public
domain and therefore a prime target for the SHAM treatment. For the past few
months, I’ve been collecting these comics wherever I could find them. I’ve
amassed a nice little pile of them. That’s a few of them above. The Young
Doctors cover on the far right was the one that convinced me this was comic
gold. So SHAM Comics #4 will be the all-medical issue, titled “Calling DR.
SHAM.” In addition to Dr. Studley Sham, it will feature “Niki Nookie, Night
Nurse,” “Dr. Fingerman-Two-Fisted Proctologist” and “Dr. Lance Girth-Hardboiled
Plastic Surgeon.”
Episode 18
Good things come to those who wait. Or in this case another installment of Zombie Marge, this one with a bit of exposition. At last, a freakin' explanation as to why Marge seems a bit sharper than your average, run-of-the-mill zombie.
Hey, where's my Zombie Marge comic?
Tales from the Dealers Table!
We're back, safe & sound, inside the zombie-proof bunker, after a weekend at the Third Annual Cincinnati Comics Expo. And what a show it was! Andrew Satterfield, Matt Bredestege and their crack staff put together a great convention every year, while raising the bar each time. This year was no exception, with great events spread out over two days, plus Friday night's VIP events, if you want to get technical. The attendance was very good and our sales were strong. There's Daryll and myself, above, in the new booth, pushing Zombie Marge on an unsuspecting public. And, what do you know? She was a hit! That's Proofreadin' Dale Trush, below, making an impassioned sales pitch to a pink haired girl.
And I spotted some great t-shirts and some interesting costumes. "Hey, Mr. Scarecrow! That comic is upside down!"
Now, indulge me while I name drop for a minute. We got to see some of our comic pals, Craig Boldman and Dustin Carson of No Gods. We made some new friends, like Rodney Fyke of Peanut, Puddin' & Jelly, Todd Goodman and Danial Frazier, and Mike Norton of Battlepug. And we had a blast hanging with Jon Lennon and Leo Perez of Cheese Lord Comics from Chicago. Great creators, one and all!
And a big "Thank you!" to David Leighton, the official Zombie Marge photographer, for some inspired photo journalism.
Episode 17
FIRST BACK NEXT
This was a fun installment to work on, both the writing and
the art. The location offered so many funny tangents. I like to start the first panel with a large establishing shot. In this case, the color rendering looked so good, I erased all my line work. This current series of
strips begins to open up Marge’s back-story a bit and explain why she doesn’t quite act
like your typical mindless, shambling, inarticulate zombie. We will even touch
on her “mission” coming back to the land of the living.
And who’s this smart-mouth kid with the
zombie fixation? It’s none other than Skip Wingus! That’s cute little Skip
peddling his papers on the cover of Twelve-Way with Cheese at the left of this
column. He’s grown into a pasty, sullen, emo tween who listens to The Cure and
reads too much of The Walking Dead. And is he ever happy to make the acquaintance of a real zombie! But
how will Marge take to having an actual fan? Stop by in two weeks to see. As usual, to read all the strips, go to the archive in the right column.
SWAG!
We are just one short week away for the Cincinnati Comic Expo
and expectations are running high here in the bunker. Zombie Marge will be well
represented at the show. Table assignments just came out and we are very
prominently positioned in the first row, center to greet the fans as they come
through the door. Our new booth graphics will mirror the look of this blog with
Marge’s lovely rotting face. I will be in attendance from the Friday night VIP
reception, until closing time on Sunday. Joining me at various times during the
weekend will be cartoonist extraordinaire Daryll Collins and our own
Proofreadin’ Dale Trush, selling our usual array of goodies, Twelve-Way, Little
Olden Books and SHAM Comics.
We will also be premiering several brand, spankin’ new
Zombie Marge items this time. To tie into the blog, we have a mini-comic that
collects the first batch of strips in a great little package. Signed art prints
have been popular in the past and this time out we have a new Zombie Marge
poster, suitable for framing. Just by stopping by the booth and saying hello,
you can walk away with a cool little Zombie Marge pinback button for your
lapel. And pick up a trading card while you’re there, both are free.
See you at the show!
Episode 16
FIRST BACK NEXT
What's that you say? "Where's that new story you promised?" Well, here it is! It features surprise guest genius, Stephen Hawking, and tells of his historic meeting with Zombie Marge. It's set to run for the rest of the year, unless the world comes to an end as predicted by somebody, somewhere! Enjoy!Episode 15
Episode 14
Episode 13
Episode 12
FIRST BACK NEXT
Good ol’ Marge certainly deserves a night out, doesn't she? But has she made the best choice of movies? I admit to loving the film, but there’s a more practical reason for screening it for Marge and Grubworth. It seems the copyrights were never filed correctly on Night of the Living Dead, so that no one owns it anymore. Or rather, everyone owns it. It moved quickly into Public Domain, which is why you can find so many copies of it in all formats from multiple companies. In my case, it means I can use it without getting into any legal trouble.
The idea behind this series of strips was to run a tribute
to the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000. That’s the last crew of the Satellite
of Love, Mike Nelson and his robot pals, in panel 2. Check out their current
movie riffing venture at Rifftrax.com.
Since these strips require so much less drawing than usual, I
will be posting them once a week through the month of August. A new story line
will start in September. Enjoy!
And now, a word from our sponsor…
Well, lookie here! It’s Marge’s old pal, Charlie Hustle, and
he’s selling something. What a surprise!
When I’m not slaving away over a hot drawing board working
on the Zombie Marge strip, you will find me tinkering with my other favorite
project, SHAM Comics. I’ve posted some here before. Briefly, I take public
domain Golden Age stories and advertising, scanned from old comic books, erase
the original text and rewrite them in ridiculous new ways. Because the original
printing was often so bad, they are pretty easy to touch up without making them
look worse. The trick is to write a story that fits the original illustrations
and tell a story that is both funny and coherent. Often I like to add a bit of
social commentary as well.
Dale Trush, who serves as the official proofreader for all
things Zombie Marge, brought this ad to me. He’s a fan of 70s comics and
pointed out several potentially hilarious ads, like OJ selling running shoes.
Thanks, Dale.
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