Cranium Frenzy # 10

1st edition, September 5, 2003, 40 copies, ivory cover. All editions are regular digest size.

2nd edition, October 24, 2003, 20 copies, green cover.

Special Oly Comix Fest Edition, May 10, 2004, 32 copies, yellow cover.

1st Danger Room Reprint Edition, June 2005, 5 copies, pink cover.

This is my most recent full length solo comic. It was created as sort of a 30th anniversary of self-publishing obscuro comix-- hence all the reprinted work and dredging up of many old characters. I guess I should get on the dime and really finish up this comic I'm working on now in order to have Cranium Frenzy # 11 ready by 2013 for the 40th anniversary.

This comic was also my experiment with silent timing in comix.

Trivia:

The cover logo was, I think, drawn on toilet paper or a paper towel with felt tip and then enlarged.

Page 3: There are many characters in this story who were left over from the unpublished Bezango WA 985 # 9, such as Oric the waiter. They will be easy to spot.

Page 8: Oogla boogla meebee zeebee was a chant I first used in comix in the early 1970s.

Page 15, last panel: My favorite panel in the whole comic. Shows you how us lowbrows like to celebrate frivolity.

Page 20-22: My comment on the post 9/11 world. Also, a personal photocopier in the hands of a cartoonist can be a dangerous thing.

Page 28: I like the word "thwart" almost as much as I like the word "cranium."

Phone photo 142

Cranium Frenzy # 9

1st edition, February 1998, 65 copies, grey cover. All editions are regular digest size.

2nd edition, February 1998, 60 copies, pink cover.

3rd edition, May 1998, 30 copies, salmon cover.

1st Danger Room Reprint Edition, June 2005, 5 copies, yellow cover.

I'm pretty sure at least 95% of this comic was drawn with #1 lead pencils. I might've used felt tip for the solids. The original art, I think, fell between one of my filing cabinets and the wall several years ago. Right now my studio is in disarray from flooding (long story), so perhaps I'll be forced to find this art again as I put things back together in the next month or so.

Trivia:

Page 1+: This "what if" question later became part of a series of one weird conundrum after another that was published in Seattle's The Stranger and also in OlyBlog. In the latter case there is audio.

Page 5: It took a lot of out loud practice, much to the consternation of my family and friends, to finally nail down how to spell out these laughs in comic form.

Page 8-10: Room 237 has a special place is cinema.

Librarians and comix never used to mix much. But in the last decade or so people in our profession have decided it's OK to laugh at ourselves instead of being so defensive.

Yes, that's my 1998 self-portrait.

Page 12, panel 1: Oh how I long to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "I Haven't Seen My Underpants In Weeks."

Page 13+: Perry Como died a few years after this story was published, so of course we'd have to find a substitute person for this terrific movie script. Wayne Newton, perhaps.

Page 16: The Worst Cat in the World was actually a half Siamese/half Manx named Snowy.

Page 19-20: I actually really like Oregon, but we Pacific Northwest siblings like to have our little teasing jokes. Portland has a vibrant comix scene, by the way.

Phone photo 141

RIP Morty

This little card has lived in my wallet since 1987. It has survived at least three trips through the wash. I think it was created by and given to me by Seattle artist Kevin Wildermuth.

The laminate has peeled off, so I'm retiring it to a display area in my house.

फ़ोन फोटो 140