Killbot & Johnston in Black and White

I remember there being more black and white comics, but maybe those are the unfinished ones I'm thinking of. Here is Killbot & Johnston in glorious black and white...

Killbot & Johnston

Well, we are now in Spring of 2007. I began work on a comic strip called Killbot & Johnston. The comic was (still is) written by Mike Katzenstein. When I worked on the comic, the website for which it was created didn't exist yet. You can now read Killbot & Johnston (illustrated by Shane Pangburn) at itsnotabook.com. Actually there is a bunch of stuff on there for your entertainment, be it audio, visual, or ...reading. What's a catchy word for reading?

After developing the characters and knocking out 2 weeks worth of comics, I began to realize I was not cut out for comic strip work. It's visually apparent in the comic strip itself, which begins in full color and tight (ish) lines. It then becomes a little looser and black and white. I have a handful of unfinished comic strips around here as well. Basically it went from full color with text to a handful of ink drawings in a box.

I really wish I had it in me to do this, but it turns out I don't. Part of developing as an illustrator is figuring out what you can and can't do. I really love comics, so I wish I could have pulled this off. Here are the full color strips:

Twang Scuffle

Twang Scuffle

Twang Scuffle's main character, Sam Stout is based on an angry (looking) short man I saw in a mexican restaurant about 4 years ago and began as a song. Listen to it!

Two Ten-Gallon Tales: Down at the Pawn

Two Ten-Gallon Tales: 10-9-Ranchero

Still probably my favorite picturebook is Two Ten-Gallon Tales. The book consists of two similarly themed poem/song-stories. The first in the book is 10-9-Ranchero. enjoy:

Cartographer's exciting conclusion.

Cartographer: part two

Cartographer in three parts: part one.

In 2007 I put together my first mini comic, Cartographer. The story that is Cartographer developed from a song. It makes it read a little bit sing-song-y. As the song developed, images emerged and then boom--picturebook.







Listen to Cartographer here.

Cartographer is available in the Spruce Moose Shop.

The Lo Life version 2

Pretty quickly I got bored with the idea of the Lo Life being about office antics and observations. I felt that Lo belonged in the underdeveloped plot lines of the B-movie universe. And so, this was his first adventure in that world, with his new friend Vic de Yugo. And I believe this was also 2005.