Oh Harvey Award, Where Art Thou?

on March 24, 2016

HA-2016

Since I was a young cartoonist, I’ve had three great desires. I want to win a Harvey Award, an Eisner Award and a Reuben Award. As a cartoonist working diligently for over 30 years, I’d say I’ve earned at least a right to be considered for each of these. I’ve been producing Zombie Boy since 1987, previously as a series of comic books, and as a weekly online comic strip for almost six years. I’ve put my heart and soul and fingers into this strip with the same steely determination of any syndicated comic strip artist. I’ve never missed a deadline and I always strive to produce my best work possible. It may not be a big financial win for me, but it brings me great satisfaction to produce the strip and I have a dedicated following.

I know it is bold of me to ask, but please consider nominating me for a Harvey Award for Best Online Comics Work this year. I realize that there are many other great creators to choose from, but I’d really appreciate it if this year you could vote for one of us out here in the trenches who could use a little affirmation for all our solitary years at the drawing board. A Harvey Award honors excellence in the comics industry. If excellence means doing your best job every time, striving to make better work, and never settling for less than you are capable, I will let me work speak for me. I’d really appreciate your consideration if you are planning to vote this year. Thanks so much!

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Mark Stokes by Richard Dominguez

on March 1, 2016

My brother-in-arms, cartoonist Richard Dominguez walked across the studio and dropped this priceless sketch of me as Zombie Boy on my desk and I had to share it!

Mark Stokes by Richard Dominguez

Mark Stokes by Richard Dominguez

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Richard is the creator of the highly acclaimed Mexican-American superhero, El Gato Negro. Richard and I share a studio together and he has me rolling on the floor daily with his quips, pantomimes, and especially his lightning-fast sketches that he seems to channel, not draw. This man has the most prodigious imagination, memory and skill with a pen than any artist I’ve ever met. Be sure to check out El Gato Negro on Facebook here. Richard is also working with producer/director Michael Moore to create a short film based on his comic book, El Gato Negro: Prey, you can find out more about that project here.

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Zombie Boy #1 Page 13

on February 18, 2016

ZB1ANTThought I’d share some of my Zombie Boy comic book work with you. Here is page 13 from Zombie Boy #1, which was published by Antarctic Press in 1997. This version of Zombie boy is quite different from the fin-headed imp in the comic strip. I took an experimental departure from his regular “cartoony” look when I created this. At the time, I was really into manga and anime, and you can see the influence in the layout and toning. I’m really proud of this book, the first of a planned three-issue comic book series which unfortunately never made it past this first issue.

In this page, there is a snag in the cruel killer Baron Samedi’s plan to rule Limbo, when the daughter of his conquered rival, Danballah, escapes to our world in search of an ancient totem which could restore the balance to the Darklands. The tale is based on actual voodoo mythology and I had a great time putting it all together. 

Page 13 from Zombie Boy #1

Page 13 from Zombie Boy #1

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The Rook Contest Redux

on September 22, 2015

Let’s go back in time for a moment. It’s 1977 and I’m a 15 year old tenth grade high school student and I just received a letter from Warren Publishing that my Robot entry of “Nuts and Bolts” won Warren’s The Rook Contest! In the envelope, there is a check for $100 (a fortune at the time), and a three-year subscription to Eerie magazine! For a novice cartoonist who only dreamed of being on the professional cartoonist food chain, the thrill was intense! Then came Eerie #88, when the contest winners were announced and my winning character sketches were published — it was official! The characters were also featured in a Rook story, “Quarb and the War Ball,” written by Bill Dubay and illustrated by Luis Bermejo, which was published in Eerie #98.

 

My winning entry into The Rook Contest

Click to enlarge

 

Eerie98

My robots were featured in this issue

 

Fast forward 38 years later, I receive a notice from the creators of the Rook that there is a new series of The Rook is being published by Dark Horse and my two winning robots will make a brief appearance in The Rook #2! It’s the same thrill I had all those years ago! Can’t wait to see the little guys again in print! Look for The Rook #2, which will be released in October.

 

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Unseen Al Smith and Otto Soglow Photo

on July 9, 2015

Al Smith and Otto Soglow NCS photo circa 1970s

Candid photo of Mutt and Jeff artist Al Smith (1902-1986), along with Otto Soglow creator of The Little King at a National Cartoonists Society meeting circa early 1970s from a private collection.

Al Smith began his career as Bud Fisher’s assistant on Mutt and Jeff in 1932 and continued the strip for 48 years taking over full-time art chores after Fisher’s death in 1954. Smith also drew the strips, Rural Delivery and Cicero’s Cat, the companion strip to Mutt and Jeff. Smith served as president of the National Cartoonists Society from 1969 to 1971.

Created by Otto Soglow (1900-1975), The Little King first appeared in The New Yorker in 1931. King Features Syndicate began publishing the strip on September 9, 1934, and it ran until Soglow’s death in 1975.

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