Saturday, May 2, 2015

Guest Artist: Dennis Corrigan

Thirty years ago I was a struggling student at the Joe Kubert School. Among the more memorable instructors was a guy named Dennis Corrigan, who was eccentric and brilliant and whose unique art was stunningly weird and beautiful. I recently reconnected with Dennis, who is as mad and hilarious as ever, and Dennis has a book out called True Love Knows No Bounds. His work is great fun too look at, and is instantly laugh-out-loud funny.

From the Amazon.com entry for True Love Knows No Bounds:

Who lives in the mind of Dennis Corrigan? The Midnight Worm, Pointing George, Father Kurowski, Filthy Andy, a Weird Walkin' Stalker, Mrs. Mussman, A Revolting Rabbit Family.... From the artist: "Most of these drawings were created during the summer and fall of 2014, with me curled into a couch corner in a semi-fetal position, armed with mechanical pencils, kneaded erasers, and a few tech pens. I was kind of burnt out on art in general, but had to keep making at least something. The results were a return to a kind of minimalist line drawing style, with an emphasis on humor, composition, and lunacy. I'm happy to say that when viewing the drawings contained in this collection, far removed from the time of their creation, that I really like them. And I hope that they will provide a small mother lode of laughter for a wide range of viewers."
"Todor, the Dingwoot, Touches His First Hot Dog"

"After Six Months of Nagging, Sgt. Fontaine Finally Decides to Strangle His Mother"

"Father Kurowski Finally Gets His Chance to Push the Panic Button"

Click on the covers to BUY THIS BOOK!










Friday, October 17, 2014

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

ON THE JOB! Lucy's First Comic Book!



Lucy Leffler, who with her first appearance nearly a year ago kicked off this Spiral Notebook Comics blog, has graduated to her very own comic book! It's not a very long comic book, but it is only the first chapter of a 100+ page graphic novel, which when completed will be titled AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAZE (unless I change it). In the meantime, you can download the 7-page story for free and keep it around as a PDF, or print it in case you want to burn it! Either way, I hope you enjoy the story, and that you come back for the rest of Lucy's wild adventure.

Download LUCY: ON THE JOB (5MB)

Sunday, September 21, 2014

UNFINISHED BUSINESS 4: Holly Barnes, Mystery Girl!

I have a plastic storage bin next to my office bookshelf that is crammed with piles of sketches and finished comics that were all projects I meant to get off the ground, with mixed success. I will be posting these artifacts over the next several days with an explanation of how each project was created and what if any plans I have to continue each one. I hope you find my creative attic-clearing interesting.

COMIC: "Holly Barnes, Mystery Girl!"
STATUS: Making her comeback soon!

Marketing brochure

Thursday, September 18, 2014

UNFINISHED BUSINESS 3: "Margo's Comics Starring Margo"

I have a plastic storage bin next to my office bookshelf that is crammed with piles of sketches and finished comics that were all projects I meant to get off the ground, with mixed success. I will be posting these artifacts over the next several days with an explanation of how each project was created and what if any plans I have to continue each one. I hope you find my creative attic-clearing interesting.

COMIC: "Margo's Comics Starring Margo"
STATUS: Shelved Indefinitely



This was my first attempt at drawing a children's comic, and I intended to borrow generously from my own childhood to tell these stories. Like Brian, I was the younger brother of a bossy, smart, funny, deeply unhappy and overweight girl. I think I was onto something with this project, but once again I felt undone by what I considered to be my poor-assed drawing skills, so I abandoned the project and moved onto other things. 

"Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet" (1999)
One aspect of childhood I wanted to capture was how a summer or a Halloween night felt in a time before childhood was as tightly supervised as it is today. I think I came close, but reading these again I think the writing and characterizations are just too weak. I'm having much better success with my current project, another children's summer story that is based vaguely on my early life. So maybe the answer sometimes is to walk away from stuff and come back later once you have a better perspective (and maybe improved drawing chops).

The Great Rockview Clubhouse War (2014)

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

UNFINISHED BUSINESS 2: "Time's 5"


I have a plastic storage bin next to my office bookshelf that is crammed with piles of sketches and finished comics that were all projects I meant to get off the ground, with mixed success. I will be posting these artifacts over the next several days with an explanation of how each project was created and what if any plans I have to continue each one. I hope you find my creative attic-clearing interesting.

COMIC: "Time's 5"
STATUS: Gone, But Not Forgotten