May 01, 2004  


Time for Sunday School!

Starting Sunday May 2nd class will be in session as Astronaut Elementary joins the popular serialized web comic site GirlAMatic.com. Exclusive to the site will be a brand new, never-before-seen Astronaut Elementary comic for the strip's inauguration, and a second new comic the following week. These strips set up the overall premise behind the series, and also introduce a new Principal character that will have a major role in the "climax" the strip is building toward.
The following Sundays will mark the online debuts for the entire run of current Astronaut Elementary strips, which have (until now) been available only as limited edition mini-comics. The strips will run chronologically, and are made up of stand-alone stories that each focus on a specific student. But as we switch between the characters and learn more about each one, the comics also set up elements for a larger story arc that will effect the school as a whole. By this summer, GirlAMatic.com will be the place to find brand new Astronaut Elementary installments every Sunday. Things to look forward to include the universe's only Spanish teacher who happens to be a Panda; a deadly cyborg whose mission is to infiltrate the student body, but keeps getting distracted by trading card games; and the inside scoop on why rabbits make the best milkshakes.
If you aren't already a subscriber to GirlAMatic.com, then what are you waiting for? GirlAMatic.com is home to over 25 of the most exciting and innovative comics found on the internet. Among the talented artists is Raina Telgemeier, who will be drawing a new story called "Smile" that captivatingly adapts into comic strip form how she knocked out her two front teeth. Ouch!
The most current installment of Astronaut Elementary is always free. But, if you would like to help make sure our comics are a hit, be sure to subscribe--and mention what comics you are there for. It's only $2.95 a month! Then you get to read the complete archives of everything on the site and move to the head of the class!

Girlamatic.com

3:56 PM

April 28, 2004  


I sorta realized I haven't publicly mentioned the big freelance project I've been working on these past few weeks so I figured I might as well do it now before it is gone and forgotten.
Basically, through a connection at Nickelodeon Magazine I was asked to create original comics strips for Juicy Fruit to promote their new "Gotta Have Twisted Fruit" campaign. The focus being the two new flavors of gum called GraperMellon and Strappleberry. You may have seen the commercials they are running for them on TV, the most famous involving a pinata that attacks kids to get his gum back. The second involves a back and forth battle over Juicy Fruit between office co-workers dressing up as inanimate objects. The latter is what ended up being the inspiration for the pitch of mine that finally got developed: Kids dressing up as inanimate objects in order to swipe gum from each other in a high school setting. Long story short, it was a lot of work to get to the final approved scripts and even after the comics were illustrated there were lots of last minute changes like digitally removing and adding characters and elements. But ultimately it was worth it because it's still mostly all my ideas and it is completely my art (in full color!) Also of note the main two guys are named Dave and John. Not sure why.

The format is 3 separate 1-page comics that appear each month from April to June in Nickelodeon Magazine. Each of those strips has a cliff hanger ending that is followed by a callout for a URL that you go to read each months "resolution" which is another 1-page comic strip. On the website www.juicyfruit.nick.com there is also a character yearbook with additional illustrations of all the major characters. When you click on them file cards come up listing fun facts about them.
In June, the strip ends with a "whodunit", so you have to go to the yearbook and click on who you think is responsible for stealing all the Juicy Fruit. If you guess right you get to read the final comic installment. Crazy right? And a lot of work! There are also these E-Cards set up where you can e-mail your friends to check out the site by matching my drawings with advertising based quotes.
So yeah if you get a chance check it out! Because you "gotta have twisted sweet!"

Juicy Fruit COMICS!


*Originally I imagined the cast younger
but was asked to "age them up" and give them
more hipper "street" clothes. True.

3:10 PM

April 27, 2004  
This Blog site wrote one of my new favorite reviews for Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden.

Ringwood Blog

Quote #1: "It only takes 7 pages before this book starts fucking your brain."

Quote #2: "Roger Ebert once said that there was more imagination and innovation filling up the corners of the Mos Eisley cantina scene in Star Wars than there was in almost every sci-fi and fantasy movie since then. I would argue the same is true for Jax Epoch."

5:40 PM

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