tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819652702020854482024-02-21T01:14:57.844-05:00Spiral Notebook ComicsJohn E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-60495598273719583312015-06-21T23:39:00.002-04:002015-06-21T23:39:16.948-04:00THE MATTERMORES: The End of Racism!<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/122135986225/the-mattermores-racism-ended-forever" target="_blank">Dad Mattermore has a dream.</a><br />
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<br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-64259762531774558702015-06-14T10:46:00.003-04:002015-06-14T10:46:25.679-04:00DAD MATTERMORE'S DRIVING SCHOOL!<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/121507575625" target="_blank">Learn what it takes to be a driver who matters with Dad Mattermore at the wheel!</a><br />
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<br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-41163479492223035742015-05-12T13:01:00.002-04:002015-05-12T13:01:43.838-04:00LUCY MEETS DAN PARENT!<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/118569096490/lucy-meets-dan-parent" target="_blank">The epic encounter they said couldn't be done! (Or shouldn't be done, either way...)</a><br />
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<br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-34085018814306604392015-05-02T16:20:00.005-04:002015-05-02T16:20:38.893-04:00Guest Artist: Dennis CorriganThirty years ago I was a struggling student at the <a href="http://www.kubertschool.edu/" target="_blank">Joe Kubert School</a>. Among the more memorable instructors was a guy named <b>Dennis Corrigan, </b>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 <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/True-Love-Knows-No-Boundaries/dp/1936936089/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430596645&sr=8-1&keywords=dennis+corrigan" target="_blank">True Love Knows No Bounds</a>. </i>His work is great fun too look at,<i> </i>and is instantly laugh-out-loud funny.<br />
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From the Amazon.com entry for <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/True-Love-Knows-No-Boundaries/dp/1936936089/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430596645&sr=8-1&keywords=dennis+corrigan" target="_blank">True Love Knows No Bounds:</a></i><br />
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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."</blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17.9400005340576px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Todor, the Dingwoot, Touches His First Hot Dog"</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA2nbLvLx7mtMhwHsvqQYv6htm3pA-RXYIfFilt-Hwb0VI2ZTxA05Vou7Aqxnjg-VGMXUa6pG6QHm6W5yQ91HgEjc7Ue6dfDNRrZ-5RqUdD1t3QoC0cSE68HbMaCRD7heyZO8P7fmZrs3f/s1600/11209773_943983068955078_2480884230689198842_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA2nbLvLx7mtMhwHsvqQYv6htm3pA-RXYIfFilt-Hwb0VI2ZTxA05Vou7Aqxnjg-VGMXUa6pG6QHm6W5yQ91HgEjc7Ue6dfDNRrZ-5RqUdD1t3QoC0cSE68HbMaCRD7heyZO8P7fmZrs3f/s1600/11209773_943983068955078_2480884230689198842_n.jpg" height="252" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17.9400005340576px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">"After Six Months of Nagging, Sgt. Fontaine Finally Decides to Strangle His Mother"</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEqX9AS7pQ5jcDqsO0mzVqjJCdTrkNZAsnFQ2uzt5B50YJOZDLBUol_zfvTPHm2-gGTZWFnF0i-0az83fEu0GuQ9tvlLi6INhm41UboeeMdxZZuhNu905KiQn4tWmeIQ2qlH7v0Y_IEEX4/s1600/11188384_943981708955214_6254316450447929349_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEqX9AS7pQ5jcDqsO0mzVqjJCdTrkNZAsnFQ2uzt5B50YJOZDLBUol_zfvTPHm2-gGTZWFnF0i-0az83fEu0GuQ9tvlLi6INhm41UboeeMdxZZuhNu905KiQn4tWmeIQ2qlH7v0Y_IEEX4/s1600/11188384_943981708955214_6254316450447929349_n.jpg" height="251" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17.9400005340576px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Father Kurowski Finally Gets His Chance to Push the Panic Button"</span></td></tr>
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Click on the covers to BUY THIS BOOK!</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/True-Love-Knows-No-Boundaries/dp/1936936089/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430596645&sr=8-1&keywords=dennis+corrigan" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDI9lQDNHznxKbL_pjGj9c_oDxvBhFd2rR_jc_NNJowqVbdPs0k4dtBfkc_WI1oOaMZ57WmmtXouBG0RKBgDHViNBIz-r09MJwU9ymW9bvP_ALPGkEq-rrf2XuV9-F0uzpUt6NDsXB5W5/s1600/51fpDpvkPeL.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/True-Love-Knows-No-Boundaries/dp/1936936089/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430596645&sr=8-1&keywords=dennis+corrigan" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiU8MUAmSOjrQftu425e8wyHXgkljUl7SjInMXnkaI1w3mz1xHJY1f8GDnbgWItWReBmXY8YX5NBZwQr5UfzwNpzBJuXpm4IkapwdPZh91cv1FJM7PqM-0eOB9uSN7MAMZW4oM4ozbidQn/s1600/718uUxOhT7L.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-56301679222259100022015-04-29T00:49:00.001-04:002015-04-29T00:50:09.622-04:00THE MATTERMORES: WORK TO PAY!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/117665797225/the-mattermores-work-to-pay" target="_blank">Do workers really deserve a paid salary? DAD MATTERMORE has the ANSWER!</a></div>
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<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/117665797225/the-mattermores-work-to-pay" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNHsN9Bks0CI1loJf4XEguMPelOk3vufTQnVW1-lBYjTn6l82HsdYGQv4yu6E3fAmgEUvQYSz8DpdhU5IFuerSkU85JeD-L8mZY6kZvDqLsElR6iGcnLO0dJQsi4g-x1jxgEBLmenRcMrZ/s1600/title.jpg" height="70" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-44954572236724685272015-04-19T17:40:00.001-04:002015-04-19T18:17:57.025-04:00THE MATTERMORES: THAT'S MATTERTAINMENT!<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/116856393780/thats-mattertainment" target="_blank">The Mattermores have a few ideas of how to improve popular culture!</a><br />
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<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/116856393780/thats-mattertainment" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAnE2qzXv8C_rTersRXWdhxuwodr9eShOMzdksiKhTvp_5zXAku6Yj4A0-6z0ZttZdmOIwMJKyFkykZ6C0Mn-YiF2AcGS3u9x9fHig78Zj-FxkaYM1TuheVWzUAxBScPoM0JgDxZjSIopc/s1600/preview.jpg" height="85" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-36220249494012568272015-03-18T00:19:00.000-04:002015-03-18T00:19:44.829-04:00SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS!<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/113934164010/subject-matter-experts" target="_blank">The people who know most about their chosen subject.</a><br />
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<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/113934164010/subject-matter-experts" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQGMkjZnVGUDvATDX-z-U536x864sArikcls58folUIF_4ErBWkMT0dRe46s1r-MlgMEuNpiFN6mpu89whhnrJ62CaytdR-g7tjRsPTJ0_EHwK1XW2KEWJjajOb_Z1fC83R1yNms4TL4pY/s1600/prev.jpg" height="320" width="198" /></a></div>
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<br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-37465298162943830262015-03-08T17:43:00.003-04:002015-03-08T17:47:49.417-04:00THE MATTERMORES: Get Your MATTERMORE(TM) Card Today!Tired of waiting for your rightful turn in life? <a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/113103552840/get-your-mattermore-card-today" target="_blank">Get a MATTERMORE(TM) card!</a><br />
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<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/113103552840/get-your-mattermore-card-today" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFrAVVxfeEBolJ2vy1nnYbKC9ysteIZbA76TGXzozot3lPVWSP6MutlvgcdoYdGWu7FWqPoaB6RDBzddJJCc04N_2Se7YGj1SQETOD3cOhfZKg8udgnfw9XBja_0uZxj3DFVT1Oc9M3_A_/s1600/card.jpg" height="272" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-50995587535996070492015-03-04T17:58:00.001-05:002015-03-04T17:59:21.255-05:00THE MATTERMORES: What Will Happen When They Get Rid of Obamacare?<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/112730629070/presenting-the-mattermores" target="_blank">Join Dad and Daughter Mattermore</a> as they discuss the great and happy day Obamacare finally gets destroyed!<br />
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<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/112730629070/presenting-the-mattermores" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidL7jWFHCDZQUaRi3Hk009fniRxlz6ML9CTpghXprsSe0FBnQXCpdNYCD7J06UO1qBPwx6y7YKKk9Z9QQ_EODB88OtXCn3Wl81ih_DK6VPIuESUky1XyO0cc9CRW9fJJoZfos9Go1xwkZf/s1600/prev.jpg" height="76" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-84434353118192701662015-01-16T12:05:00.001-05:002015-01-16T12:05:13.654-05:00LUCY'S POST-HOLIDAY REPORT (HD Version)<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/108266425105/lucys-post-holiday-report" target="_blank">A re-do of last year's comic, now in "hi-def"!</a><br />
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<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/108266425105/lucys-post-holiday-report" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzMT2T-KYZT3POFpvNr7hQfaj5uKeAXgzxo8v-YJiZfuDTaATmkFZhxJsm8Xn5v6uBi_BLw52PrOD0ugqXSZcA76n2jtmghknaHCbO2DHkE5FQR5tY5-VpyjmTf03-E5ixXTvMg0zWWcKv/s1600/prev.jpg" height="400" width="276" /></a></div>
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Here's the <a href="http://spiralnotebookcomics.blogspot.com/2014/01/lucys-post-holiday-report.html" target="_blank">original version</a> for comparison.</div>
<br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-43901411326992034362014-12-18T20:29:00.001-05:002014-12-18T20:29:05.999-05:00LUCY in "COMFORT AND JOY"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/105567872580/lucy-in-comfort-and-joy" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFnndtv8qmqzZEmu9iSOBvbuT0fLcqDWDt5GmsHIcFZm8QqOXXasMGgeBoBLyfatYT42uZgG1v1_F4d1j4Lma50C8q38qRCqLCf3apIiNbTM5dydgL0KpCOFixdu7Dj-NMRuNIxmQtxlp2/s1600/prev.jpg" height="131" width="400" /></a></div>
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Feeling joyless, Lucy <a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/105567872580/lucy-in-comfort-and-joy" target="_blank">seeks some comfort.</a>John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-44019826296889819662014-12-01T00:10:00.000-05:002014-12-01T00:10:28.608-05:00THE WORK TYPES YOU MEET ON EVERY TEMP JOB<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/104049861590/the-work-types-you-meet-on-every-temp-job" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqqZqw5rkulAkrNQHTkT2Pxnoit3A5wxGFCXZkivOpm1xOkOAnnHtbLmJPNTYsKFLQqYoNY1vp9Z35Tpao-PT8aoME-uLQQ9eFCdNXyycTwlL-dmAVqN1yzZ5BXyj8PF6nj4l1P5SzWtEo/s1600/type_temp_prev.jpg" height="105" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/104049861590/the-work-types-you-meet-on-every-temp-job" target="_blank">Brought to you by LUCY!</a>John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-68690918543729212442014-11-23T19:57:00.001-05:002014-11-23T20:02:19.317-05:00WHEN I GET FAMOUS!<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/103418390235/when-i-get-famous" target="_blank">You'll see... you'll ALL see!!</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1360996450"></span><span id="goog_1360996451"></span><br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-12095928763360157212014-11-08T18:22:00.002-05:002014-11-08T18:22:52.742-05:00I LOVE MY JOB!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/102130911970/some-people-really-love-their-jobs" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQeWyps77uY-DRbb9Jy0JqRc81qISyuD6SlCr3QcZp7IAsCSTFJY-d6g59V6zIusEvh9o_dWnsRproJJVlp-VDDR_9bVTcVXJGu_fhfQNxv0ItRfN9l2ExILp4-aP1W29j87nEW_nFZNG2/s1600/love_job_prev.jpg" height="377" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/102130911970/some-people-really-love-their-jobs" target="_blank">Find out what's like to have REAL career fulfillment!</a></div>
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<br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-9130547003878630612014-10-31T11:56:00.003-04:002014-10-31T11:56:47.658-04:00HIM-ASSMENT! A Crisis for Our Time!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/101424534920/himassment-a-crisis-for-our-time" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKHTUC9BC41tdbNkt5R3R9JoPtsxl96xpvbnbxha7iJi_0QLU4s1e_67CkAYJAfWrj-gS_3PRLDvaMBhPwFv2VkmsCZQUaGgCNCeBF8L5PyPeAGu6jZe-jR2jqPJlYLbauK5CZC2uQ0O6o/s1600/harrass_prev.jpg" height="217" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/101424534920/himassment-a-crisis-for-our-time" target="_blank">When will society speak up about this tragedy?</a></div>
<br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-4722696354596632642014-10-17T07:48:00.004-04:002014-10-17T07:51:30.750-04:00LENNY BOBO -- NOW REMASTERED IN HD!Our old pal <a href="http://spiralnotebookcomics.blogspot.com/2013/12/lenny-bobo-fast-talkin-screwball-1930s.html" target="_blank">LENNY BOBO</a> gets the remastered, hi-def treatment!<br />
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<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/100233500200/poor-lenny-bobo" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXkyarrjtpPpuveVmhb754FcPO7mTb53OeGlHQv06z0HB2G5yY1nBihdtN4UxLSfpvGu_Yc0tXjDNstC3yTwj1Ris76pqivhd14WmAwsEqJyw9HZQPKh-0Gd-Xn3eRPb9P3PFB_D3rFTSg/s1600/lennyHD_prev.jpg" height="126" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://brokeinnowheresville.tumblr.com/post/100233500200/poor-lenny-bobo" target="_blank">Click here</a> for the new version.John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-87422519512710795022014-10-08T22:38:00.001-04:002014-10-08T22:56:55.927-04:00ON THE JOB! Lucy's First Comic Book!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyh43lq4ojCH_MfdQ9lqe3QZjCSfpjAKAdHWYyGWZOSrEx97zVnLCCVnMJSrx0wP8MoP-y4Kvo_e-uTaO3Yyd_3eRWVGv64C90H4TOzJqL7Ao3rYQt2nFiRh8FeMHbjoXCgOvB2rQU2wt/s1600/comic_preview.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyh43lq4ojCH_MfdQ9lqe3QZjCSfpjAKAdHWYyGWZOSrEx97zVnLCCVnMJSrx0wP8MoP-y4Kvo_e-uTaO3Yyd_3eRWVGv64C90H4TOzJqL7Ao3rYQt2nFiRh8FeMHbjoXCgOvB2rQU2wt/s1600/comic_preview.jpg" /></a></div>
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Lucy Leffler, <a href="http://spiralnotebookcomics.blogspot.com/2013/11/lucy-blows-up.html" target="_blank">who with her first appearance</a> 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.<br />
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<a href="http://times5online.com/lucy_onthejob.pdf" target="_blank">Download LUCY: ON THE JOB</a> (5MB)<br />
<br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-25332820057468454742014-09-21T15:51:00.002-04:002014-09-24T08:37:20.766-04:00UNFINISHED BUSINESS 4: Holly Barnes, Mystery Girl!<i><span style="color: #f1c232;">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.</span></i><br />
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<b>COMIC: </b>"Holly Barnes, Mystery Girl!"<br />
<b>STATUS:</b> Making her comeback soon!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: small;">Marketing brochure</span></b></td></tr>
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Conceptually, this is by far the oldest of all the comics ideas I have posted, which is one reason it's the last of the series. Holly Barnes was born in 1988 while I was at work at some crummy temp job back in Jersey. I had been listening incessantly at the time to Roy Orbison's final album, <i>Mystery Girl, </i>and I started thinking amid my boredom that it might be a nifty name for a teenage superheroine. I may have drawn a page or two of the idea, which featured a meteor crashing into a suburban home and imbuing a young girl with superpowers, but that's as far as I got (and clearly I hadn't put much thought into the concept). I abandoned the idea and moved on to other things, and soon after lost all interest in superhero comics altogether. </div>
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By 2001 I had grown weary of trying to create angsty autobiographical twentysomething alt-comix (which I wasn't very good at in the first place), and started thinking about drawing a children's superhero comic. Superheroes had long since passed deeply into the dark 'n' gritty morass that would launch a ton of million-making summer movies, and I was in the mood for something light and fun and in the spirit of the 1960s Marvels I had loved and devoured as a child. And this time, I knew an artist firsthand who would do a much better job of drawing the comic than I: none other than of course <b><span style="color: #f1c232;">Dan Parent</span></b>. I was thrilled when Dan said he liked the idea, and I immediately set to work drawing and writing a full origin script. Dan meanwhile designed both the look of her character and her costume, while I designed the Twillibox, the device she wore on her back that gave her all her superpowers and abilities. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5IAhPLmEQyl8pO10u6Aa4R3Ply7aOszHyw-mB2lPcGuBjw8ADhaWOuQtbipUwiFHrdN_xFBxgUReDwbeu_h7esCoB13fXqLRGuT3Z26kJL420pRu-En3-pCBQuqz51q7XgkWx317Kv8hQ/s1600/Backcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5IAhPLmEQyl8pO10u6Aa4R3Ply7aOszHyw-mB2lPcGuBjw8ADhaWOuQtbipUwiFHrdN_xFBxgUReDwbeu_h7esCoB13fXqLRGuT3Z26kJL420pRu-En3-pCBQuqz51q7XgkWx317Kv8hQ/s1600/Backcover.jpg" height="247" width="400" /></a></div>
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Holly is an 11 year-old girl who lives with her mother and brother in a town called Rockview, and one day Holly encounters a fugitive alien who, impressed with the brave manner in which she stood up to some bullies, offers her the chance to be trained to use the most powerful device in the universe. The alien wants to keep the device safe from its rightful owner, a spoiled and conscienceless princess on his home planet, but Holly wants to learn how to use it for good. Thus this brave, wisemouthed girl who can barely keep out of trouble teams up with the ever-worried, ever-wise and kind alien to protect the device and to do good in the service of others.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4jg51CZ9tSZWTc7TPlRJbc989DJ0mRXPt44AcXeVyFn17focpBDGddATHzbOdA4t3dT-y3TzKdD4dH-iSL-gLOcWeVF7V4T5Ma2t5zVnRcv15tm5n4C8wcjNXNfPRImRZ9KbZsxNaQ3M5/s1600/xam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4jg51CZ9tSZWTc7TPlRJbc989DJ0mRXPt44AcXeVyFn17focpBDGddATHzbOdA4t3dT-y3TzKdD4dH-iSL-gLOcWeVF7V4T5Ma2t5zVnRcv15tm5n4C8wcjNXNfPRImRZ9KbZsxNaQ3M5/s1600/xam.jpg" height="320" width="209" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: small;">Xam, being all lecture-y.</span></b></td></tr>
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Dan drew some great sample pages, and while the art was of course wonderful I was not fond of the way he first drew Holly, which was as an adorably cute moppet. I asked Dan to give me more of "Betty Cooper as a kid", and he complied beautifully. Using his wonderful art, I designed a website, a full-color brochure, and a mess of marketing samples designed to sell Mystery Girl to publishers. I also sent the idea to Jean-Marc Lofficier, the former agent and partner of the great comics artist Moebius, aka Jean-Giraud or Gir, and Lofficier said he would be more than happy to represent us if and when we brought Holly to a publisher.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxSPhH6jKwIfwGfqH5w0nPHCmkZSJsgMimIZe_n9s31YYJpFtjM0EhzwJYmmTKw0h7QCFxsJJsPS2vuNidhxyof0R7Ay2lKIhN0A5cE_rkDLh23okwsxdHf1CQg3Lo17v6U6vpg5ha9mC7/s1600/mystery+girl+text+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxSPhH6jKwIfwGfqH5w0nPHCmkZSJsgMimIZe_n9s31YYJpFtjM0EhzwJYmmTKw0h7QCFxsJJsPS2vuNidhxyof0R7Ay2lKIhN0A5cE_rkDLh23okwsxdHf1CQg3Lo17v6U6vpg5ha9mC7/s1600/mystery+girl+text+1.jpg" height="320" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: small;">Holly as "moppet"</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKubEqKsuublxGkHCXTFNVx8NMP35JK3jUUzkmdZcHxzD7rKYhneRO_r2bwptH3dRg5ppNGZcuHzRdbh1H4RTwXFXFkVtLtjPzdj-Y7bt9ldzpGt0iEUP8XLHP9WofU2FO5Bn7VEHfg5kd/s1600/holly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKubEqKsuublxGkHCXTFNVx8NMP35JK3jUUzkmdZcHxzD7rKYhneRO_r2bwptH3dRg5ppNGZcuHzRdbh1H4RTwXFXFkVtLtjPzdj-Y7bt9ldzpGt0iEUP8XLHP9WofU2FO5Bn7VEHfg5kd/s1600/holly.jpg" height="320" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: small;">How do you disguise an 11 year old superhero? Create a conceit that says her hair turns gold when she puts on her super-powered costume. Whew!</span></b></td></tr>
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I then sent the Mystery Girl package to the comics company that had first published the <i>Men in Black </i>comic series upon which the film was based. I wish I had kept the rejection email. The publisher scolded me for sending him something as completely finished as <i>Mystery Girl, </i>since apparently he preferred to be in on the conception and creative control of the comics he published, and then in his next sentence invited us to submit to him another, less finished (and therefore less <i>our) </i>idea. I passed on his offer.</div>
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And that's as far as we got. Aside from hearing from real people named Holly Barnes, who had found our (now defunct) website by Googling their name (and it was fun to hear from them), this is where Mystery Girl's short story ended. Dan had to pass on working on the concept further, for the completely understandable reasons that he already had a ton of paying work to do, and drawing comics for free in order to sell a concept was not the best move for him financially. I told him I understood, and as much as it broke my heart to do so, I had to let go of the dream and move onto something else. A few of my artist friends suggested I draw the comic myself, but I never considered it seriously.</div>
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That is, until now. I have over the last year developed a comics style that works for me, and I feel up to the task of bringing Holly to life all by myself. It won't be the same as what I had conceived with Dan, but it will be a new (and from a writing standpoint, I think better) take on the project. As I post this, I am in my spare time writing an outline and script, and an artist friend is re-designing Holly's look and costume. When I'm ready to go, Mystery Girl will fly again -- hopefully into the hearts of as many readers as she can capture.<br />
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<b>BELOW ARE</b> samples of the work-in-progress years. First up is a sketch I did of what would have been the first page of the Mystery Girl comic, followed by Dan's finished sample version. Had the comic gone forward, this would have been our collaboration method.<br />
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(Click each image to enlarge, click again to view the next image.)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhACNWwQvat4PlU-PTCw7_-_BeFMBUc3rQgZDaXdhuYdSF7t4cmNAQSba6Hwxsc7uU8G-3EQn1I6zL5HY4EjbbndQd5twbaCdHlszdboa9LLNbMuXo1UuzaI1Yue6XOhX9GE3Wp_h1UAOCn/s1600/Scan_20140921+(10).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhACNWwQvat4PlU-PTCw7_-_BeFMBUc3rQgZDaXdhuYdSF7t4cmNAQSba6Hwxsc7uU8G-3EQn1I6zL5HY4EjbbndQd5twbaCdHlszdboa9LLNbMuXo1UuzaI1Yue6XOhX9GE3Wp_h1UAOCn/s1600/Scan_20140921+(10).jpg" height="320" width="232" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRZ-smJJriWHcMJiCdSrKNQtoGOUeEqZoYbBDCXQ4PdiSSNm5x3z4ZB6C-CSLW7BwsnaCZRubM2ZjviaLzQUvcWiw2p0-9CGlUcc3JnGj3AjkkBc2-MVOfu0OTddOxRzZJBnDM0qkqCZg_/s1600/mystery+girl+text+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRZ-smJJriWHcMJiCdSrKNQtoGOUeEqZoYbBDCXQ4PdiSSNm5x3z4ZB6C-CSLW7BwsnaCZRubM2ZjviaLzQUvcWiw2p0-9CGlUcc3JnGj3AjkkBc2-MVOfu0OTddOxRzZJBnDM0qkqCZg_/s1600/mystery+girl+text+2.jpg" height="320" width="257" /></a></div>
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Next is a sketch page depicting a training session where Holly learns a new power, a sequence that would have been a regular feature of each issue of the comic.</div>
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Finally, here is the entire sequence where Holly first encounters Xam (whose name was originally <i>Zim</i>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invader_Zim" target="_blank">before the Nick cartoon aired</a>). </div>
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John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-36292239277218928932014-09-18T16:52:00.000-04:002014-09-21T22:07:28.247-04:00UNFINISHED BUSINESS 3: "Margo's Comics Starring Margo"<i><span style="color: #f1c232;">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.</span></i><br />
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<b>COMIC: </b>"Margo's Comics Starring Margo"<br />
<b>STATUS:</b> Shelved Indefinitely<br />
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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. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: small;"><b>"Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet" (1999)</b></span></td></tr>
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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).</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: small;"><b><i>The Great Rockview Clubhouse War (</i>2014)</b></span></td></tr>
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Here are the two full-length "Margo" stories I completed. Unfortunately I am missing a few pages from the Halloween tale (it's possible I never finished it), but I'll fill you in on the ending once you get there.</div>
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(Click to enlarge; click again to move to the next page.)</div>
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<b><span style="color: #ffd966;">MISSING ENDING:</span></b> Margo and Lexy hide from poor Brian, who loudly announces his intention to return to the creepy guy's house for the rest of his treats. Lexy is worried about Brian, but Margo scoffs that he'll be fine. Once she's walking home alone however, Margo starts to have second thoughts, and in a burst of panic runs back to the creepy guy's house, pounding on the door and demanding her brother be released. The homeowner yells at Margo through the door and threatens to call the police, so Margo runs home and tells her mother that Brian has been kidnapped. Margo's mother replies that Brian came home a half and hour earlier and is in his bed asleep. Furious, Margo goes up to Brian's bedroom and bashes him over the head with her Halloween bag.</div>
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John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-66192774899958599322014-09-17T15:47:00.004-04:002014-09-19T00:24:29.897-04:00UNFINISHED BUSINESS 2: "Time's 5"<br />
<i><span style="color: #ffd966;">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.</span></i><br />
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COMIC: "Time's 5"<br />
STATUS: Gone, But Not Forgotten<br />
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<b><span style="color: #ffd966;">TIME'S 5</span></b> came about during a phone call from<b> <span style="color: #ffd966;">Dan Parent</span></b> some time in 2008. Dan had an idea to teach kids about history via a comic book, and concept was to have a group of teens experience history firsthand via time travel. He asked me to write an outline and a script, and I took it a step further and sketched out the entire first chapter of what I envisioned would be a full-length graphic novel. But soon Dan found himself up to his neck in work, which was good for him but bad for our idea, which went promptly into limbo, where it currently resides.<br />
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My expansion of Dan's original concept was somewhat complicated, but fun to work out on paper. In the year 2030, a supervillain named Red Jack is at long last brought to the edge of defeat by his nemesis, a Latina superheroine (I never did decide on a good name for her), but just as she is about to defeat him he pulls out his final card: a time machine. Red Jack uses his device to summon forth an army of evil supervillains from different eras of time, and then transports himself and his villain army somewhere in the past, where they will change history forever. Our heroine watches the villains disappear, but even as the universe around her begins to fade, she uses the machine to summon her <i>own</i> army -- namely, five superhero women who had inspired her as a child, and takes them with her to follow Red Jack into the past. Unfortunately, upon arriving in 1955, our heroine realizes to her shock that while she did indeed summon her heroes, she somehow managed to summon their<i> teenage selves</i> rather than their experienced adult versions. So our heroine is trapped in the past with five frightened, squabbling teenage girls from different countries whom she must teach to use their powers in the service of good. The whacky time travel flip to all this is that it turns out the five women who had inspired our heroine were in fact trained and taught by <i>her</i> in the first place.<br />
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Pretty cool, eh? Well, I thought so. We would have had stories centered around civil rights, the Cold War, and the realities of discrimination in the 1950s, all experienced by five teen girls from 2008. There would have been fun gimmicks as well, featuring flying saucers, berserk robots, and an evil version of Elvis. Even if Dan had time to work on the comic, as you can see the mechanics of the story can't be explained in a short paragraph, and I thought this would make it hard to sell unless we found a way to simplify the concept. But I was excited by the prospect of an all-female cast, especially one that was racially and multi-nationally balanced, and I was eager to prove that a good superhero comic could be done without a man running everything. I still think that's an honorable and necessary goal, and as I see more young girls getting excited about superheroes, I feel wistful about what might have been. And who knows, maybe Time's 5 will one day come to be after all. Only time will tell...<br />
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Below are my rough pages from the first chapter. Dan would have worked directly from these layouts to create the finished art.<br />
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<br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-32051600495945680932014-09-16T21:54:00.005-04:002014-09-17T15:53:02.771-04:00UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 'Sally Rose'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="color: #f1c232;">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.</span></i><br />
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<b>COMIC:</b> "Sally Rose"<br />
<b>STATUS: </b>R.I.P.<br />
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<i><b>Sally Rose</b></i> started life in 1992 as a fairly serious shot at creating an independent-alternative comic book. Sally was a feminist writer living in Washington, DC (long before I even had plans to live there myself) whose best friend was a scruffy, insecure rock singer (ahem) who lived in the apartment above. I was 28 at the time, and this was intended to be a (very) romanticized depiction of life as a 1990s twentysomething, sort of a feminist <i>Archie</i> for the times. Eventually I had an entire story penciled on 10x15 bristol that I was almost happy with, but I never dared ink it because I felt my inking skills were so atrocious. So Sally went into a keep bin until the late 90s, by which time I <i>had </i>moved to Washington, DC, and by which time the earliest webcomics were being published online. I decided to try again and get in on some of that action, to the point in 1999 of self-publishing an entire <i>Sally</i> comic book, for which I rented a table at SPX (the Small Press Expo) and actually tried to sell. The book failed utterly, for the most part because it was very hastily drawn and inked (and not helped by my choice to not employ even the slightest photo reference for any of the art), and after <i>that</i> embarrassing adventure I abandoned the idea of drawing comics forever.<br />
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That is until last year, when I began sketching what will become a full-length graphic novel for children, tentatively titled THE GREAT ROCKVIEW CLUBHOUSE WAR. This was followed by a start-from-scratch style of comics that became the Spiral Notebook Comics blog, which will result in another upcoming graphic novel called AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAZE, starring of course everyone's favorite angry gal <b>Lucy, </b>star of this very blog. I guess I'm either too stubborn or too in love with comics to give up doing them completely.<br />
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In any case, here are some pages from <i>Sally Rose, </i>pages that aren't really very good but do capture a certain time and place in my life and art where I was having a lot of fun. Which in the end is all that matters.<br />
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(Trivia note: Sally's name came about from the title of one of my favorite weird songs of all time, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PePXnXxRGE" target="_blank">"Sally Go Round the Roses" by the Jaynettes</a>)<br />
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(click on each image to enlarge)<br />
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<br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-951746600093727832014-08-25T10:02:00.000-04:002014-09-10T15:21:38.029-04:00SPIRAL NOTEBOOK SPECIAL: DAN PARENT AT 50!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I met <b>Dan Parent</b> in 1985, at the start of our second year at the<a href="http://www.kubertschool.edu/" target="_blank"> Joe Kubert School</a>. My first memory of him is that his he looked exactly like Kenny Loggins. And it's true. You look at photos of him from back then with his fuzzy beard and wild hair and you half expect him to burst into a rendition of "Danger Zone". Which he often did, just to mess with our heads.<br />
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Over time I came to appreciate Dan for his other, non-hirsute qualities, chief among which was his enduring and unshakable love for whacky kitsch. Which honest to god, is putting it lightly. Years before the Internet, Dan was the curator of a museum in his head of the most astonishing collection of cheesy popular culture I had ever witnessed. There wasn't a 1970s TV movie he couldn't cite, or recite ("no babies Rogah"), not one lost, sad washed-up clown of a celebrity he didn't catalogue or adore, and indeed not a single aspect of American junk culture in which he was not deeply (and knowingly) immersed. His greatest delight was mocking the sheer tacky dumbness of awful things, but always with love and affection, and with a great roaring, funny take on the sheer absurdity of it all.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTaJgACSPfu8gM4MUw9otAdx9ByOKL3tR63dJ9hIcJ3Wl3gANfFJ6L53kidOLP4T841zcgFNhTeJAb8lyOVK9VgvuKIKRAEpYN_OkL7uPhMbRO_PGFSNMBHQcWPtOmD2IzkrtfbDZeHxS/s1600/Lala-a-gogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTaJgACSPfu8gM4MUw9otAdx9ByOKL3tR63dJ9hIcJ3Wl3gANfFJ6L53kidOLP4T841zcgFNhTeJAb8lyOVK9VgvuKIKRAEpYN_OkL7uPhMbRO_PGFSNMBHQcWPtOmD2IzkrtfbDZeHxS/s1600/Lala-a-gogo.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside Dan Parent's head.</td></tr>
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Another aspect of Dan that I eventually noticed was that he was a pretty good artist. He could draw anything, even as a student. In class, his amazingly polished comics pages were matched only by his book cover assignments and paintings and comic strips, and his sketches of naked, pudgy artist's models were second to none. My own work was pretty much in a nosedive much of the time, but I took great delight in Dan's art, as did most everyone else who shared our classroom. (If you ever meet Dan, ask him about "Party Pie".) I will never forget the day Joe Kubert himself stood in front of one of Dan's pages, burly arms folded, eyes discerning, and after a few moments turned to all us students and said: "One day you will all read about Dan in the news and you will say you knew him." Now to be fair, Joe might have meant as a serial killer, but I like to think he liked Dan's work, too.<br />
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Of course, the single thing Dan wanted to draw most, and the thing that was his singular obsession in life, was <b>Archie Comics.</b> Since he was a little kid, all Dan wanted to do was go work for Archie Comics. That's all we heard, night and day, "I wanna go work for Archie Comics." Finally I said "for the love of god, go work for Archie Comics so you''ll shut up about it" but of course I didn't really say that. Dan realized his dream and did in fact go work for Archie Comics (if not the day after graduation in 1987 then probably the day after). And we <i>did </i>read about him in the news. His first big feature was a New York Times story in 1988, and of course there have been one or two stories ever since. And we do say we knew him.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL6zrF4sSkf-92SpdVvp9f-r4rnVz1zj4ATiFxAhMxN_PUG-IVpjEaaUEF3MMdGWGU16WvGQGYQRgwguII506rIOg8gLmwjB-ogncCm58H1uieAOq7Resv3QCuJLMAgo_wjI2O50md5ax0/s1600/archie_style_hotn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL6zrF4sSkf-92SpdVvp9f-r4rnVz1zj4ATiFxAhMxN_PUG-IVpjEaaUEF3MMdGWGU16WvGQGYQRgwguII506rIOg8gLmwjB-ogncCm58H1uieAOq7Resv3QCuJLMAgo_wjI2O50md5ax0/s1600/archie_style_hotn.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
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Dan spent the next twenty-seven years at Archie pounding out comics and digests and one-shots and weird, short-lived series (<i>Jughead's Diner)</i> and, most importantly, supplying me with plenty of industry gossip and piles of free comics. He has logged a staggering amount of years and miles on the convention circuit, written and drawn piles of comics and stories for companies other than Archie, and has developed into a spectacular craftsman and artist. Not a bad career for a kid who started out life as a Kenny Loggins lookalike. You'd think a guy would sit back and relax, maybe live out his life as a golfin' hack, like the old pros used to do. But Dan is a dervish of whirlin' proportions, and when some things shook up at Archie Comics some years back, he saw an opportunity to go beyond stories about Archie's girlfriend dilemmae.<br />
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One night during one of our marathon politics/culture/gossip phone calls, Dan let me in on a few secrets. "They're letting me do some things," he confided, and that's when I got the inside scoop on stuff like Archie dating Valerie from <i>Josie and the Pussycats</i> (he loved the idea that his cover art of the couple kissing would incense certain corners of the public consciousness), and the appearance of President Obama and Sarah Palin together in Riverdale. But the most stunning inside news he dropped on me was the impending introduction of an original gay character into the otherwise hermetically sealed Archie universe. I thought it was wonderful, and I knew that no matter what else happened, this move was gonna put my ol' pal Dan on the map. Not to mention supply me with even more free comics. I was right on both counts.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQsnOpDnxpYjO1hFKuC565cTiCyChu_AhatdwoIfKdgQFpZnLpnej1mPtN73DpstS8me5KD0uA0JWtAM4tXM_uOh2uEHPnSMOlY379iLpco0HwTGzo_y0TFymH8j58ZhxLeCMgp8fQv7b/s1600/kevin-keller-it-gets-better.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQsnOpDnxpYjO1hFKuC565cTiCyChu_AhatdwoIfKdgQFpZnLpnej1mPtN73DpstS8me5KD0uA0JWtAM4tXM_uOh2uEHPnSMOlY379iLpco0HwTGzo_y0TFymH8j58ZhxLeCMgp8fQv7b/s1600/kevin-keller-it-gets-better.jpg" height="320" width="208" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It does in fact get better.</td></tr>
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You can be cynical and think "oh, Dan put a gay guy in Archie just to make a big noise and make a ton of money", and if you don't think Dan Parent doesn't like to make a big noise <i>and </i>a ton of money, you don't know Dan Parent. But this move was a risk, and had it somehow backfired on Archie, it was Dan who would have suffered the most, in all kinds of ways. Kevin Keller was an idea Dan believed in with all his heart, and he infused the comic with sensitivity and humor and great humanity, taking some heat not just from noise-making groups like the Million Moms but from some of his colleagues in the industry as well. Which was just fine with Dan -- the things he believes in, he holds dearly and fiercely, and he delights in the telling displays of bigotry and stupidity that have followed in the wake of Kevin's creation. But even more delightful has been the positive responses, such as Dan winning a GLAAD award and the enormous love and support in general that he has received from the LGBT community. But in the midst of all this, an event occurred that threatened to dismantle and destroy forever the close friendship Dan and I had enjoyed for over 25 years. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgDERoOnrp50zc-z4iSO2FCp4RgqEEj4Bw7fwPXhOmUGUWVyaJlChyMJmDTGwjV4G3_8lHuE1j1A52MWiKmpOXK80xzQhdjGOU2ewYZuTSY5G8FlAUrDJpUSEfI_2jj_1svq2L-xnB9TLS/s1600/GT1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgDERoOnrp50zc-z4iSO2FCp4RgqEEj4Bw7fwPXhOmUGUWVyaJlChyMJmDTGwjV4G3_8lHuE1j1A52MWiKmpOXK80xzQhdjGOU2ewYZuTSY5G8FlAUrDJpUSEfI_2jj_1svq2L-xnB9TLS/s1600/GT1.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh, yeah. This.</td></tr>
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Okay, I exaggerate. But look: the fact is that through all the years I have known Dan, and for all the beloved 60s TV he could write a book about with his eyes closed, <i>Dan has never liked Star Trek! </i>Which is bad enough, but for years he amused himself by <i>making fun of <b>me</b> for liking Star Trek. </i>So you can imagine my unimaginable fury when it was announced that Dan was collaborating with George Takei on an upcoming Kevin Keller comic!!!!! #mad<br />
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Yes, I'm kidding. (A little.) George Takei is of course one of the most beloved figures on our cultural landscape, known far and wide as a lover and purveyor of kitsch and junk and wicked hilarity, so to have Dan share the helm with Sulu not only filled me with pride and fanboy excitement, it also made perfect sense. The comic they created together is warm and funny and touching without being the slightest bit preachy, which again describes Dan and George to a 'T'. I am deeply proud of my friend for a lot of things, but this is one up there at the top.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5XLzjRO_ykz0dVoSwoV2nLww7rmxtK8PbWL5xykWPfhQ0XTKOx57eW6ao3yrCKqacWvmROhzdl0MwH2KXZ5q_q2xtoVKJzreHC2xs8jYCEZq2IK07bQOE2AoQ3lQ0bcKg6DSPxIAHLntG/s1600/takei.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5XLzjRO_ykz0dVoSwoV2nLww7rmxtK8PbWL5xykWPfhQ0XTKOx57eW6ao3yrCKqacWvmROhzdl0MwH2KXZ5q_q2xtoVKJzreHC2xs8jYCEZq2IK07bQOE2AoQ3lQ0bcKg6DSPxIAHLntG/s1600/takei.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Someone please tell Dan Parent that SULU IS WEARING THE WRONG COLOR SHIRT. #nerdrage</td></tr>
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So what else can I say about Dan Parent at 50? Any 'inside' stuff? Well, he's sometimes really crabby, he likes to yell a lot when he's mad, and he likes to pick on his friends. He annoys people with his outrageous Liberal opinions, and conversely he is not someone you want annoy too early in the morning. All of which of course makes us a perfect match. He has raised two incredibly terrific children whom he loves and adores to a point that makes my heart ache, and he has been married for nearly 25 years to the equally funny and formidable Kathy Parent, whom he also loves and adores to a point that makes my heart ache. Finally: it sounds really corny, and it is, but for all his sarcasm and cynicism, he has a great, deep love for humanity and for the dignity of person, both of which he comes by honestly, and through great personal trial.</div>
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He's my friend, and I love him like crazy, and I hope he draws and laughs and yells and picks on me for another 50 years. </div>
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Enjoy your Party Pie, pal.</div>
John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-22228079299263703662014-08-21T22:02:00.000-04:002014-08-21T22:02:34.179-04:00CEO BOB: He's Your Visionary!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://times5online.com/ceo%20bob/ceobob.html" target="_blank">Who else would you trust to monotonectally transform pandemic strategic theme areas???</a></div>
<br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-34179574570082094792014-08-16T15:52:00.002-04:002014-08-16T15:52:59.485-04:00SBAD: Suburban BadAss Dad!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://times5online.com/Scan_20140816%20(4).jpg" target="_blank">How about you clean your room??</a>?</div>
<br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-681965270202085448.post-20718088231913959472014-07-15T10:26:00.002-04:002014-07-15T13:21:02.531-04:00LUCY "AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAZE" A Work in Progress<a href="http://times5online.com/page_01.jpg" target="_blank">This is a sneak preview</a> of what will become a graphic novel posted here in regular installments. Lucy will be hoppin' around the globe and into plenty of trouble.<br />
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<br />John E. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02337331081503642601noreply@blogger.com0