A Revoltin' Development

Ghost Life

2008-10-02T19:15:00.001-05:00

Carbon Alley Series 2

2008-09-05T16:43:00.004-05:00

Sorry it's been so long... but it is back!

MAJOR SCRUFF!

2008-04-04T00:00:00.000-05:00

Procrastination Man!!!!

2008-03-30T17:54:00.002-05:00

A Carbon Alley Easter

2008-03-21T00:00:00.000-05:00

Carbon Alley #60

2008-03-14T19:26:00.001-05:00

Here's one for us Finns.

Another Cat and Mouse from David O'Reilly

2008-03-11T10:12:00.004-05:00

This really intrigues and inspires me. New ways of tackling old relationships in these modern times.

Please Say Something

Via Cartoon Brew

New Mexico Bound

2008-03-01T10:26:00.002-05:00

I'm off to New Mexico for a week to have adventures with UFOs. Adios!

Carbon Alley #59

2008-03-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Carbon Alley #58

2008-02-22T00:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you, Memphis

2008-02-18T08:07:00.002-05:00

My first mention in a pseudo-news item, via WREG-TV Memphis. Not one, but four links! Thanks, Austen.

The Doctor is In

2008-02-16T10:24:00.003-05:00

Well, I went and got myself a brand new thing to obsess over, and this is the goofiest one yet.

Apply Grizzly Paw Directly to Head

2008-02-16T10:15:00.002-05:00

Who knew getting mauled would be so soothing?

Carbon Alley Valentine

2008-02-14T20:56:00.001-05:00

More Hearts and Flowers

2008-02-14T10:00:00.006-05:00

Cartoonists love Valentine's Day.

Lio has a great idea, but it is ultimately flawed in execution.

The annual Charlie Brown disappointment and descent into depression. Many can relate.

And of course Mark Trail with, uh... grizzly bear maulings... Well, that's Valentine's Day for you.

Hearts and Flowers

2008-02-13T19:11:00.004-05:00

Looks like everyone's getting into the Valentine's Day spirit!

Robots...

Buggy, monstery-type things...

Groucho...

Why, even TOR JOHNSON is getting in on the fun! Oh, Tor... won't you EVER LEARN?!?

Abe Day

2008-02-11T18:13:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, Abe Lincoln! I don't where we'd be today had Superman not saved you.

Carbon Alley #56

2008-02-08T17:33:00.001-05:00

The Dancing Pig

2008-02-08T12:42:00.000-05:00

Hmm...

If David Lynch made a children's program, I guess. Don't miss the last several seconds for a little slice of hell.

Cleese Filler

2008-02-08T09:35:00.001-05:00

Comic isn't done yet, so read this interesting interview with John Cleese at The Onion AV Club. DO IT!!

Best Batman Ever

2008-02-07T08:37:00.001-05:00

Thank you, Slylock Fox, for the best Batman ever!

Laurence Welk Zaniness

2008-02-06T14:17:00.001-05:00

Boing Boing points us towards a performance of "One Toke Over the Line" on the Lawrence Welk Show! So awesome. At the end he calls it a "modern spiritual". HAHAHA!!!

Da Sandman

2008-02-05T22:35:00.001-05:00

I bought this. Buying things makes me happy. And poor.

Carbon Alley #54

2008-02-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

I called this one Punny Weather (Yuk Yuk).

Visions of Frank

2008-01-31T10:03:00.000-05:00

Via Cartoon Brew...

More Music

2008-01-29T22:13:00.000-05:00

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by the incredible, defunct, Neutral Milk Hotel.

The Odd Couple

2008-01-29T15:18:00.001-05:00

Gnarls is coming....

Carbon Alley #54

2008-01-25T18:30:00.001-05:00

Carbon Alley #53

2008-01-18T00:00:00.000-05:00

Fondness For Headroom

2008-01-17T09:08:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure how I feel about Max Headroom. Part of me passes it off as a pointless cyber-relic, but part of me feels nostalgic for the days when it represented a brave new world of acceptable and quirky dystopianism. In any event, damninteresting.com has an article about a real life Max Headroom that hijacked WGN back in 1987. Anarchy!!!

I initially was led to believe that the origin of the name came from a broadcasting term indicating maximum headroom in a camera shot, but I can't seem to verify that. Damn internet is too big.

Tuesday Tex Avery Quickie

2008-01-15T15:37:00.001-05:00

Ward Jenkins has a Flickr photoset for Tex Avery's Symphony in Slang. FYI, the above pic is "Beside myself with anger," yuk yuk.

Mark Trail Update

2008-01-12T10:36:00.000-05:00

"WHAT? SAY THAT ONCE MORE? YOU ARE TELLING ME THEN THAT I SHOULD COME IN FOR TESTS? BECAUSE THEY WILL ULTIMATELY LEAD TO AN OPERATION THAT WILL SAVE MY LIFE?"

Someone clearly forgot that we don't need one-sided, sitcom-style, dialog exposition when we know what the person on the other end of the phone is saying.

Carbon Alley #52

2008-01-11T00:00:00.000-05:00

Ah, Hyannis Port

2008-01-09T08:47:00.001-05:00

Ah, the random, personal connections we occasionally have with Peanuts. I've traveled many places, and yes, one of the stop-overs was indeed Hyannis Port, MA. A small ocean-side town with a nice brew-pub and building entries with carved dates from the seventeen hundreds that make you go "whoa" at two in the morning.

Super Shite

2008-01-08T18:26:00.000-05:00

I'd say that this doesn't even remotely qualify as regular landscaping, let alone super-landscaping. In fact, I'm not sure what the hell is going on here. Some sort of exercise in how to color like a two-year-old, no doubt.

Via superdickery.com. Visit soon.

Skidoo-doo

2008-01-07T23:21:00.001-05:00

So they just showed this Otto Preminger flick, Skidoo, on TCM. It's never been released on home video, and it's no wonder. Jackie Gleason accidentally does acid, an elderly Groucho meanders through his scenes as mob boss "God", Carol Channing grins and whines nasally while joining the counter-culture... it's pretty much a train wreck. But the bloggers have been asking, is it a good bad? You know, in that kitchy sort of way. Well I'm here to say that in my humble opinion, it's not good bad. It's bad bad. And everyone involved should have been embarrassed that Preminger talked them into it. He evidently was intrigued by the acid movement and tried to explore it in a humorous, perhaps tongue-in-cheek fashion, much like a lot of the other junk culture of the late sixties. I just hate seeing Gleason and Groucho involved. An interesting note that Mark Evanier brought up - we've got Burgess Meredith, Ceasar Romero, and Frank Gorshin in the film. That's 1966's Penguin, Joker, and Riddler don't you know.

Carbon Alley #51

2008-01-04T00:00:00.000-05:00

Another Year Kaput

2007-12-31T13:04:00.001-05:00

Adios 2007...

Warm welcome to Constipated Baby 2008...

Holiday Breakage

2007-12-29T14:35:00.000-05:00

Christmas Musings

2007-12-24T13:49:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas from your friends at GE!

I just so happen to be watching this right now, for probably the 31st time. And for a change, I'm not quite as downtrodden as Charlie Brown. Cheer up, Brown!

Even these soul-less monstrosities of the feline persuasion have plenty o' holiday cheer. "Eat your brains for Christmas we will, meow, purr, etc."

The Return of Drinky Crow

2007-12-23T13:30:00.000-05:00

For those that missed it, including myself, The Drinky Crow Show pilot returns to Adult Swim on Jan. 1st. I'm pretty fond of that drunken little guy, and can often be heard in many a tavern and gin joint exclaiming "Dook Dook Dook!" In the meantime, be sure to visit Maakies.com for more cartooning genius by Tony Millionaire.

Carbon Alley #50!

2007-12-21T00:00:00.000-05:00

The big Five-Oh!

Halloween Ain't Over

2007-12-18T20:30:00.000-05:00

This is the first cartoon I did for the NMU Graduate Writer's Association. Quick and sloppy, but I kinda like it.

Musical Interlude with Radiohead

2007-12-15T18:58:00.000-05:00

I don't normally post music-related items here, as it slightly exceeds the range of interests that this blog presumes to have in common with whatever readership has accumulated, or something, but I'm compelled to add this clip of Radiohead performing the New Order/Joy Division song, Ceremony. It just made me really happy, dammit, and I want to share.

Try Some Sunshine

2007-12-14T20:18:00.000-05:00

No comic this week (gearing up for big #50), so instead I recommend you watch this Van Beuren cartoon from 1935, "The Sunshine Makers". It's the usual Disney-esque fare with the usual non-Disney-esque strangeness. Love those unintentionally dark undercurrents. If you don't have the aptitude to watch the whole thing, at least jump ahead to 6:05 and watch for twenty seconds. It sent me into convulsions of hilarity.

Also note the crabby cult song about seasonal depression -

"How are ya?"

"Terrible!"

"That's fine!"

Sounds kinda similar to every stop-n-chat in my neck of the woods right around mid-February.

1000s of Hitch

2007-12-10T20:43:00.000-05:00

I love Hitch pics with the boids.

This here blows my ever-lovin' mind. A wiki site with 1000 captured stills for each of Hitchcock's 52 major films. I'm glad there's someone out there doing this sort of ridiculously time-consuming stuff.

Carbon Alley Footnotes

2007-12-08T12:21:00.000-05:00

The Happy Inkwell Commune storyline is done (for now). I don't think many people would have picked up on the references to what is considered a minor post-modern novel, but certain elements of it were inspired by Don Delillo's, Great Jones Street. Wikipedia has a brief summary. And yes, Dr. Pepper was indeed a "chemist".

Serendipitously (I think), Owsley is the name of the real life chemist that produced practically the entire supply of LCD to the acid movement of the sixties. I did not realize that until I read The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, several months after I created the character.

Actually, Carbon Alley #49

2007-12-07T00:00:00.000-05:00

Cripes, Carbon Rally?

2007-12-05T10:21:00.001-05:00

The TM is too close for comfort. Although maybe I'll get some accidental traffic.

carbonrally.com

Catch-18?

2007-12-04T21:00:00.000-05:00

Check it out, "Catch-22" was not Joseph Heller's first choice.

Where's My Hasenpfeffer?

2007-12-03T18:31:00.000-05:00

Here of course is the one and only reason anyone knows what Hasenpfeffer actually is. Thanks to Friz Freleng for expanding our cultural vocabulary.

Actually, Carbon Alley #48

2007-12-02T14:41:00.001-05:00

This was supposed to be #50, but I'm going to renumber the strips to exclude the two non-strip entries from vacation times. So #50 is still on its way...

Cronkite Intervenes

2007-11-30T22:15:00.001-05:00

Here we see Walter Cronkite brandishing some cold-war contraption in an attempt to get me to finish this weeks strip. NO DICE, WALLY! Actually, it should be up Saturday. And that's the way it, uh, is... going to be...

Carbon Alley Swipe

2007-11-27T21:37:00.000-05:00

If this becomes one of those momentum-gaining buzzwords I am going to be very, very annoyed. Not to mention if they throw a trademark on the thing. Damn them and their energy-saving ways!!!

Link

Pearl Harbor/Anime Day

2007-11-27T09:27:00.001-05:00

Over at Cartoon Brew, Jerry Beck informs us that the New York Anime Festival starts on December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day. Just some harmless irony.

FYI, the above screen-shot is from Miyazaki's Spirited Away, a masterpiece and personal favorite.

Where's Goopy Geer?

2007-11-25T12:02:00.000-05:00

Love this one. The character Goopy Geer only lasted for three shorts, not quite the engaging front-man that Harman and Ising had envisioned.

Thanksgiving Break

2007-11-23T16:29:00.001-05:00

Toikey

2007-11-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Generic Thanksgiving! I hope everyone pauses to hold their turkey mirthfully while others lean in and simulate olfactory pleasure!

New Mark Trail Stuff

2007-11-20T10:09:00.000-05:00

"And by us I mean me and my GIANT HEAD."

Writers in Drag

2007-11-18T19:44:00.001-05:00

Here's a cartoon I just did for the NMU Graduate Writers Association. For the second time their November meeting is scheduled at the same time as the NMU Drag Show, so they wanted me to do something with that theme.

Carbon Alley #49

2007-11-16T00:00:00.000-05:00

Ufologists Rejoice

2007-11-15T11:35:00.000-05:00

Great news on the UFO front. Looks like certain folks want to reopen Project Blue Book...

Stellaaaaaa!!

2007-11-14T15:11:00.001-05:00

or if you prefer, The State...

Carbon Alley #48

2007-11-09T17:49:00.001-05:00

Wackystan?

2007-11-08T10:50:00.001-05:00

Wow, in the category of unsettling understatements concerning world affairs, this strip wins hands down. Have a five cent stogie.

This is pretty humorous though. I can relate.

Carbon Alley #47

2007-11-02T00:00:00.000-05:00

The Duck Story Endeth

2007-11-01T15:30:00.000-05:00

And so, the tale of Homer and Shirley the Duck and Shirley the Person comes to an end. The ducklings have morphed into adulthood seemingly overnight, their once baby-blue plumage now green and... orange? I don't know where Shirley the Duck is. Devoured by her young, no doubt. And they seem to have excluded the final panel in which Homer goes into a Tony Soprano-esque meltdown as the ducklings flutter away. "Luca Brazzi sleeps with the muskies." Yeah I know that's The Godfather but when Christopher and Big Pussy were dumping that body in the first ep they... oh forget it.

A Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T09:06:00.000-05:00

Ol' Jack's got his grin on.

An Ub Iwerks Halloween

2007-10-30T20:08:00.001-05:00

Hey, it's Auggie McAutumn, painting the town evil!

Meanwhile, "The Dead" eye-up an impishly agreeable Flip the Frog in a scene from Guess Who's Coming to MURDER...

And once again ol' Scarecrow drinks too much Jim Beam Rye and tries to find his way home at about 7am. Young children silently wonder if that's what it's like to be "all growed up."

Every Year...

2007-10-30T20:00:00.000-05:00

Carbon Alley #46

2007-10-26T00:00:00.000-05:00

Homer Simpleton

2007-10-24T19:13:00.001-05:00

First of all, BLAARRGGHH.

And second..... AHA! So obsessing over Shirley the Duck was just an elaborate ruse to get some hot Betty White action! Homer, you're a manipulative, mopey, dumpy, dimwit.

I'm beginning to wonder why I care so much.

Carbon Alley #45

2007-10-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

Beat Beat Beat

2007-10-18T09:17:00.001-05:00

It's the Beatnik Robot! I think the gist was that he sniffs out the Beatniks. More great photographs here, although they seem to be having major database malfunctions at the moment. Aren't we all.

Incidentally, Wikipedia sums up the reasons why I both love and hate the term "Beatnik."

Ghosts and/or Goblins

2007-10-15T20:34:00.000-05:00

Halloween is a-comin'. One more thing I can be overly nostalgic about as I attempt to escape the increasing crappy world we live in. Hmm. A wee bit pessimistic I am tonight.

Homer Run, Homer Fall

2007-10-14T15:46:00.001-05:00

So this is the sort of nonsense that has been going down in Mark Trail. I actually have very little to say about these shenanigans.

I am slightly bemused that big boss man keeps up to date with the goings on of his own company through a newspaper that magically updates every time there's a non-newsworthy event. Sounds like our local newspaper. Except for the magic part.

Carbon Alley #44

2007-10-12T00:00:00.000-05:00

Sonuvva Bostich

2007-10-08T19:13:00.001-05:00

It's a stapler.

How about that first frame for a post-ironic non-contextual image macro? I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore.

Carbon Alley #43

2007-10-05T00:08:00.001-05:00

Buster Day

2007-10-04T16:32:00.000-05:00

HOO-RAY, it's Buster Keaton's birthday!

Watch the first part of his first short film, One Week.

Mr. Wonderful

2007-10-02T09:38:00.000-05:00

I urge you to go check out Daniel Clowes' new strip in the New York Times, Mr. Wonderful. If you aren't familiar with Clowes, you better get familiar.

Smallest pic ever is the only one I could grab.

The Vagabond!

2007-09-30T13:16:00.001-05:00

Over at Again With the Comics, it's The Vagabond, the worst super-hero ever, from 1941. I don't know, I think it's a bloody great concept, but somewhat flawed in execution. Hmm. Could there be a new The Vagabond on the horizon?

Saturday! Mark vs. Beetle!

2007-09-29T09:09:00.000-05:00

OK, until now I've not felt the need to point out the erroneous male color scheme of this female Mallard. It's to be expected from some metro-centric King Features office jockey. But evidently they've decided to take some artistic license here with the ducklings because I would contend that no one is that stupid. Either that or they've hired a four year old and he happens to like his duckies blue. It still doesn't quite explain why Mark and Homer seem to have joined the living dead.

Funny! Funny sh**! Go Walkers, go!

Grillo Awesomeness

2007-09-28T19:09:00.000-05:00

Oh man, go check out this post by Oscar Grillo right now! Genius.

Carbon Alley, Where Art Thou?

2007-09-28T11:54:00.000-05:00

Wow. Busy week. I think I may have survived it, but the comic needed to be put off. In its place I offer you this -

Roast turkey dinner! With cheesy potatoes, fresh cranberries, and Stove-Top stuffing. Delectable!

Beetle Goes A-Shoppin'

2007-09-24T09:24:00.000-05:00

I don't care what you say, this is pretty damn funny to me. It's just so perfectly deadpan and nonsensical. I'd love to see several more panels. "Here's the ammo." "Okay." "Do you need the receipt?" "No." "Okay." "Have we all lost the will to live?" "Yes." "Okay."

Carbon Alley #42

2007-09-21T00:00:00.000-05:00

You vs. Lion

2007-09-20T07:20:00.001-05:00

So let's recap.

BE LARGE. Click here to calculate your BMI. Adjust accordingly with fast food.

SHOUT. Mainly derogatory statements. Mountain lions have low self-esteem.

PICK UP CHILDREN WITHOUT BENDING. Grasp them firmly by the head.

FIGHT BACK. Stick and move. Keep your guard up. Marques of Queensbury rules.

Hot Waterfowl Rappin'

2007-09-19T08:09:00.000-05:00

Looks like Cherry's caught the vapors. The storyline, on the other hand, is colder than a foundered flounder, as the kids in Saskatchewan say.

Oh, Wikipedia, You So Crazy

2007-09-15T15:55:00.001-05:00

Notice anything wrong with this Wikipedia article?

Carbon Alley #41

2007-09-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

Shut the Duck Up

2007-09-13T10:16:00.001-05:00

Quack Aahhh?

Of Course You Realize...

2007-09-12T20:04:00.001-05:00

Hmm. I've had nothing to blog about since Sunday, and yet I am compelled to post something. Well, this is or at least would have been Armageddon Wednesday (I'll admit I got bored with that). And I have been back into the Marx Brothers again. I guess that can only mean one thing -

It's time for DUCK SOUP! You know, 'cause it's about war and stuff. Hail, hail Freedonia.... Well, just go watch it again if you haven't for a while. Watch it again... for the very first time!!!

If you think this post is nonsense, just wait until my comic tomorrow.

Tappa Tappa Tappa

2007-09-09T17:47:00.000-05:00

I was reading a post about Disney's The Autograph Hound on 2719 Hyperion when this clip from The Simpsons came to mind. Cracks me right up.

Mark Trail Update

2007-09-08T09:49:00.000-05:00

Seems like the Mark Trail craziness is actually creeping towards actual craziness, which is fine by me. Remember now, Homer called the duck Shirley, the name of his ex-wife. Oh, how I wish the final frame had this bit of dialog instead -

"I just hope we can hold out until OUR babies hatch!"

All would be right in my world.

Carbon Alley #40

2007-09-07T00:00:00.000-05:00

Sergio Day

2007-09-06T17:14:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to one of my very favorite cartoonists, Sergio Aragones! Everybody go online (as you are now) and pre-order the 25th Anniversary issue of Groo, written, as always, by Mark Evanier. I'd throw a link up but I'm kinda sorta in the middle of inking my strip. Had to get this post up, tho.

50 Years On the Road

2007-09-04T18:45:00.001-05:00

This week marks the 50th anniversary of Kerouac's On the Road. It's hard for me to talk about this without getting over-indulgent so bear with me. I read most of it for the first time sitting in my car, parked on the shore of Lake Superior by the ore dock. I guess I was there because my roommate, my friend's cousin, was officially crazy... and I needed an honest, quiet place to experience it. Well, it consumed me. There was something so transcendent about the beat, hobo lifestyle of the late forties, early fifties. Jazz and friends and constantly, constantly... the road.

Two years ago I traveled west to see some friends, and when I got to Nebraska I jumped off the freeway onto old Route 6, the same road that these guys took from the East Coast to Denver, onto San Fran, and back again. It was a hell of a feeling and I listened to Charlie Parker and tried to draw myself back to that other time. Unlike Dean Moriarty, however, I kept it under 80mph.

Needless to say I continue to peruse it on a regular basis. Since then I've become aware of it's shaky foothold in the world of literature, scoffed at by John Updike and the like. But to me its simplicity adds a necessary pureness to this chronicle of the Beats.

All right, I'll go back to poking fun at Mark Trail.

The Joyless Toyland

2007-09-01T12:24:00.000-05:00

Saw this on Stripper's Guide. It's by Myrtle Held, 1913, and was specially produced for the Christmas season. 'Cause everyone knows that there's nothing more Christmassy than infidelity and suicide. What the hell? I like how the tree in panel four appears to be screaming in terror, while the wooden duck looks casually on. The only thing she forgot was the sweet, sweet booze.

Happy Birthday, R.

2007-08-31T19:21:00.002-05:00

Found out that it was R. Crumb's birthday yesterday. I will now celebrate with a cool drink or three.