Archive for the 'Kevin Cannon' Category
MIX 2011: A retrospecticus
MIX is only 2 weeks away! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?! So I’m counting-down to MIX each week with a sampling of what I’ll have to offer. Previously I mentioned the debuts of both the MANLY TALES OF COWARDICE and SUPERMARKET VIGILANTE graphic novels, as well the debut of the GERM WARFARE anthology I have a story in. But Germ Warfare won’t be the only anthology debut I’m a part of…
DUH… is the latest project from writer/publisher BILL PRENDERGAST of FALSE WITNESS: THE MICHELE BACHMANN STORY infamy. DUH… is a 24 page floppy anthology in the tradition of old-school Mad Magazine. Each story is written by Prendergast and features artwork by the False Witness stable including JAMES POWELL, DAN MURPHY, CARLOS MERINO, LUPI McGINTY and myself. I actually drew two shorts for DUH…, one about an alien encounter and the other a mad-cap retelling of the story of Alexander the Great. Here’s a short scene from the Alexander tale:
Also, the 4th episode of the LUTEFISK SUSHI PODCAST is up and features a chat with beloved MN cartoonist KEVIN CANNON. Episode 5 will be up later this week and features a tag-team conversation with BOB LIPSKI and BRIAN BASTIAN. Be sure to check them both out, and I’ll see you at MIX!
SOUTHPAW SWEDE–part 1(of 2)
Once upon a time, my friend STEVE STWALLEY had a dream. Well…he had a couple dreams. The first dream was to form the International Cartoonist Conspiracy. Having completed that, he decided to move onto dream #2–doing an anthology comic and calling it “WEIRD ILLUSTRATED”! Steve put out a call, and I answered with…
So I’ll get into the genesis of the SWEDE later, but I can tell you a few things like:
This is the first story I ever drew using a PENTEL POCKET BRUSH. At the time (late 2004/early 2005/whenever this was exactly) the Pocket Brush was a new-fangled thing ZANDER CANNON had just smuggled into the country and we few brave souls who had one were trying to figure out HOW THE FUCK YOU USE THEM! Clearly, I had a ways to go… Speaking of a ways to go–KEVIN CANNON was still a good 7 years away from doing the first NORDEAST COMICS SUMMIT. I had no idea you shouldn’t underline dialogue. NO IDEA!!!
So here we go with Chapter Two. Again–I had no idea where I was going here. I just had to write myself out of bomb going off in a Creationist past. So what better place to go but a future ruled by clones? Whats even funnier about my decision to advance my tale into the future is that I wasn’t alone in using this plot device…
KEVIN CANNON also tried his hand at the 144 Page Graphic Novel Challenge and came up with OCEANIS—a tale about a doomed spacecraft headed towards sister planets where the crew is separated, half inhabiting each world. Kevin only got 24 pages in before throwing in the towel, but they are 24 classic Cannon pages of beauty. To be fair, Kevin was also undertaking–and SUCCEEDING AT!–the 288 Graphic Novel Challenge and bringing to life FAR ARDEN. Frankly I’m glad he focused on that. But I do remember Kevin telling me that had OCEANIS continued part 3 would have picked up YEARS LATER… Let your imagination go wild.
Once upon a time ago in 2007, there was this epic fail. So that’s how this happened…
Ok. So here’s what I remember kinda sorta happening: Sometime during or after 2006’s 24 Hour Comic Day Conspiracy Poo-Bah STEVE STWALLEY proposed the notion that since 24 HCD–even at only once a year–was a bear of an effort, and what might be more fun of an experiment would be to meet once a month for 12 hours for one year straight. The over-all idea was then you’d have a full 144 page graphic novel in 365 days! What a great idea (in theory)!
So we gave it a whack. As is our way we decided to meet at the MN Center for Book Arts once a month from 8am-8pm (or as long as you could. You didn’t have to do all 12 pages then and there just so long as you finished your 12 pages by the next month). I remember showing up some Saturday morning of some month in late 2006/early 2007 a little after 8. ZANDER CANNON was already there (which is kinda funny considering how this story ends). All in all those there that first Saturday to give the 144 Page Graphic Novel Challenge a try were Zander, Steve, KEVIN CANNON, ERIC LAPPEGARD**, CURTIS SQUARE-BRIGGS (I think), DAVID STEINLICHT (or was he just there for the open studio? Or was this how the Open Studio started? Ugh. My memory is so fuzzy on this. I think I blocked it out), and myself. There may have been a few others. I don’t know. What I do know though is that WE ALL FAILED!!! **
To be fair we didn’t all fail at once. I know I made it 3 months. As did I think Steve(though he may have gone longer). Maybe Kevin too. I’ll try to get the facts straighter for future posts.
** Ok technically Zander hasn’t failed. He’s still plugging away very slowly on his story ‘HECK’. He’s dedicated to finishing it…some day. He posts bits of it every so often HERE. And ERIC LAPPEGARD tragically passes away that year. So I give him a pass(even though he technically quit after the first month the quitting quitter!). But to be fair he started his SCHMAPPLES webcomic around the same time, so again I forgive the quitting quitter quittertons quitting.
BASTIAN: I just couldn’t figure out what type of evil chanting would work for something like this, so I just wrote “evil chanting” and figured you’d come up with something, and unlike every sports team I support, you didn’t let me down. I’ve always wondered if they actually mean something, but I think if I found out there were, it would creep me out even more.
DANK: Actually Brian, I don’t think it’ll creep you out too much. Like you said, in the script there was no written incantation for Mark to read from the Necronomicon, so I reused the one I had Dick Cheney chant in IT’S WAR 2: THE WAR ON HOMELAND SECURITY(which you can read in its entirety HERE, though God, why would you?). The devil-wording (or whatever it is) is an actual Satanic verse I got out of a friends book. It’s from a poem about the beauty and power of nature or something equally UN-evil like that.
BASTIAN: I’m sure I think the whole Marvel Zombie thing is a lot more hilarious than it probably is. I’m sure back in the day I actually got excited at the concept of Werewolf Captain America too. Ah to be young and dumb again.
DANK: Just realized we never answered the question of who would win that fight. My guess–Werewolf Jonah Jameson’s Kid would sucker-punch’em both.
ALSO: You probably already know this–since I’m guessing if you’ve read this far you know me all too well–but I wrote a recap of my experience at last weekends TWIN CITIES BOOK FEST for my favorite indie comic news website–THE DAILY CROSS HATCH. I felt like I was writing an article for the coolest school newspaper ever, and was honored to be asked to be ‘a part of the team’, if only for a day. Many thanks to SARAH MOREAN for giving me a platform for my rantings. When I sent Sarah my ‘rehash’ I sent her A LOT of pictures. Obviously she couldn’t use them all, but here are two of/from my buddy KEVIN CANNON I feel must go somewhere, so why not here:
I didn’t bring any paper to BOOK FEST, hoping it wouldn’t turn into “that kind of show”. About an hour in when I looked over and saw Keivn doodling, I was instantly jealous. Anyway, here’s the awesomeness he made:
BASTIAN: Hey kids, do you think that history is boring? Well it’s full of atrocities like cannibalism. You just need to do a little more research than what’s in your school books. Remember that for your next school report. Or find a movie that’s based on a horrible world event and write the report on that. Today’s classes are too crowded for anyone to really check up on your work.
DANK: All this flashback business serves two purposes–1) to clue in any “new” readers, and 2)to cram in more of our over-flowing cauldron of story ideas. Over-all it was fun to draw since I got to work in the murder of BOB LIPSKI and the kid which I’m pretty sure wasn’t in the script.
BASTIAN: I love those skeletons. I’ll say when a script calls for death or gore, you don’t dink around. Bravo.
DANK: FUN FACT!– Brian and Bob would debut these books every year during Free Comic Book Day at JIMMY JAM COMICS in Rochester, MN where Mark worked/managed. In the time between when we started this issue and when FCBD occurred Jimmy Jam closed up shop, so we had to give this book to Mark when we saw him at Spring(nee Micro)Con. Wait…that wasn’t that fun of a fact.
ALSO: The 4th issue of FALSE WITNESS: THE MICHELE BACHMANN STORY is now out, and some reviews are starting to come in! CITY PAGES and Comic Book Resources’ ROBOT 6 both did nice little promo things, but the real deal is the review on THE TALKING POINTS MEMO. The reviewer liked it despite himself! Nifty! As for my role in this issue…Well first off the whole issue was drawn by LUPI McGINTY and JAMES POWELL. James inked all his work on the ‘flashback’ sequence, but I did all the inking on Lupi’s ‘God in the Bar’ sequences:
Lupi, James, BILL PRENDERGAST (the writer), and I all did the ever-changing backgrounds, though I ended up doing a majority of them. KEVIN CANNON also did the brilliant opening page (and let me tell you it was AWESOME seeing Kevin’s rendition of Lupi and I’s ‘God in the bar’ sequence). Finally, I (and my friend Photoshop) did the Wrathful God back cover:
I have done work on all four issues of FALSE WITNESS, and I can say without a shadow of doubt this is the best issue both in terms of art AND story. I highly recommend you go BUY IT TODAY. Hell, buy all 4. They are totally worth it!
AND AS IF THAT WEREN’T ENOUGH: I honestly can’t believe the outstanding work BUD BURGY has been doing bringing my script for CONTINUITY GUY: CHRONO CHAOS to life. Seriously. His best work ever. Hands down. So be sure to check in on Continuity Guy and company every week. I’d say right now is a prefect jumping-on point for new readers, but honestly these stories never make too much sense until about 5 pages to the end. But it’s a fun ride getting there!