The Daily Sham #15
NEXT BACK FIRST
The first two months of The Daily Sham have been rather male dominated, as were the majority of the adventure strips from that time period. But today, we begin a new series, ‘The Perils of Suzi Ingénue,” with a great female protagonist. Comic fans of a certain age, (old, like me) may recognize the source material as “Connie” by Frank Godwin. Connie ran in the newspapers from 1927 to 1944, first as a Sunday page, then a daily and Sunday strip. She is considered the first female “action” heroine. The quotes are mine as there was very little what you could call action in Connie’s stories. The earliest strips teetered between humor and mild adventure. Connie was usually able to think her way out of every dire situation without resorting to violence. And usually without having to resort to much help from the men folk, I might add. In the late 30s, the strip took a strange turn when Connie was abducted by aliens and began a series of interstellar adventures on various planets. A large part of the charm of the strip lies in Frank Godwin’s incredible artwork. His style was strongly influenced by James Montgomery Flagg, who he shared a studio with, and Charles Dana Gibson. He went on to a highly successful career in book illustration and advertising.
The Daily Sham #1
NEXT
Those who follow me on Facebook have already seen my new project for 2016, The Daily Sham. I post a rewritten newspaper strip every day. But if you don’t read them one day at a time as they go, it could be tedious scrolling back through my posts to read a bunch of them at one time. So as I finish groups of them, I will also be archiving them here on the blog with navigation to make reading easier. You’re welcome!
Episode 67
Marge & Me
My eagle-eyed readers have probably noticed that there has
not been a new episode of Zombie Marge go up here at the blog for a couple or
three months. No doubt, they are asking themselves, “Hey, what’s the deal with
that?!”
The answer is simple, I have not been able to draw the
strip. For the last couple of years, I’ve been fighting off increasing pain and
numbness in my right arm, caused by some bone spurs in my neck. I could work
for limited periods of time, but sitting at the drawing table made it much
worse. Case in point, I did the drawing above a few nights ago, twenty minutes
in and my right hand is cramping up.
I’ve tried every treatment I could find, chiropractic, steroid shots, etc., but only got temporary relief while the problem got worse. So last Thursday, I went in for surgery on my neck. It’s a couple of days later, I’m home from the hospital, and even though I’m in a great deal of pain in my neck, my arm feels better immediately. It seems that there has been no lasting damage to the nerves. So after a month or so of rest, I should be back at the board, cranking out the adventures of everybody’s favorite unholy curmudgeon, Zombie Marge. Stay tuned.
Gambling Practice
Hey Kids! FREE SHAM COMIC!
One of the toughest jobs I have selling comics is describing
exactly what SHAM Comics is all about. I can go on and on about how they are
based on actual Golden Age comic books that are in Public Domain. I can explain
that I remove all the original text and rewrite the stories to be just as wild
and satiric as I can make them, all the while still telling a coherent story. I
can mention that I rewrite the letter columns and the vintage ads too. I can
even claim that the results are hilarious. But, it’s all just talk. The thing
that consistently sells SHAM Comics to the unsuspecting masses is reading a
copy of the actual book. Once a reader starts a copy, they can’t put it down, and
they want more of them.
With that in mind, I’m offering new readers a chance to try
one on me. The latest issue, SHAM Comics Splotlite #1 featuring Johnny
Sassback, The Smart Ass Detective, is available as a free download from
IndyPlanet. Read it at your
leisure
on your own device. If you find the humor to
your taste, order some more. All
the regular issues are available in digital and print editions. So follow the link in the left column. Give
it a try. What have you got to lose?
And the winner is...
Episode 59
Episode 58
Episode 57
Episode 56
Episode 55
Zombie Marge #2 Review
My great friend, Todd Goodman, head honcho of Old World Comics, wrote a very good, and very funny review for the new issue of Zombie Marge. You can find it at his site, at the bottom of the page, along with and older review of my Midnite Matinee book:
http://www.oldworldcomics.com/cool-stuff.html
Buy his comics while you're there.
Johnny Sassback is on the case
Here's a sample of a new SHAM Comics project nearing completion. It's one of a series of mini comics for a SHAM value pack. I found a Johnny Danger #1, (and only), on ebay for a reasonable price. (Could Johnny be a distant relative for Nick's? Could be, could be!) I scanned the comic and ran it through my warped filter, upping the cynical factor. It's scary how much I identified with this character who says all the mean things I keep to myself. It was great fun messing with the cliches of detective fiction. Finally I added a series of crime-related ads to round out the book, and I'm done! Watch for it at comic conventions in the near future.
Good news, indeed!
Zombie Marge Comix
& Stories #2 is finally available. It features the first half of
Marge’s adventures with UFOs, abduction, Men in Black, glowing balls of light,
alien invaders and, of course, the mysterious Mothman. Oh, and zombies figure
into the story too. All this and some exciting back-up features, like an
interview and Marge-flavored pin-ups by some of my cartoonist pals. The comic
is available online through Indy Planet in two versions. The print edition is
$5.00 and the digital download is 99 cents. The direct link is at the left.
I will have copies of the comic at the upcoming local shows,
Cincy ComiCon on September 5-7 and the Cincinnati Comic Expo on September
19-21. See you there!
HooHa Goes Digital
I enjoy reading comics on my iPad. After a lifetime of collecting, storage space gets pretty tight. So having a nice little collection that only takes up a few gigabits on a hard drive is very convienent. Since I started this little publishing venture, I’ve been working to be able to offer my books as downloadable PDFs. I’m happy to say that, with the help of Ka-Blam and Indy Planet, they are ready.
The links to the left go to Indy Planet’s online ordering site where you can choose between print versions of the books at regular price, or full digital versions for only 99 cents for the regular issues and $1.99 for the longer books, like 12-Way. Choose from the menu options under the book description, checkout and download the comics. Easy and painless.
Episode 52
But now it's time to get back to work. We pick up the story in mid-escape with the human survivors of Purgatory Park's zombie infestation. Meanwhile Zombie Marge remains in space, a prisoner of the invading aliens who are in control of the zombies. We will get back to her in a couple of episodes.
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