INSPIRATIONAL AND MUPPETATIONAL!!!

I have long been a fan of all things Muppet-related, and this new video by OK Go certainly gets me excited about the future of the Muppets.

It's been a tough couple of decades for the Muppets since Jim Henson passed away in 1990. Henson was far more than just the creator of the Muppets, he was the life force. When he died, the zaniness and spontaneity that was the Muppets went along with him. Certainly, many have tried to carry the torch since then, but nobody has ever been able to match Henson's wit and creativity (Not that anybody ever could). That's not to say that things can't get better. Disney floundered for a long time after Walt Disney's death in 1966, and roughly 20 years later, they started turning out good movies again. This video, along with the new Muppet movie coming out in the fall, show a ton of promise. I've been impressed with what I've seen thus far, and not just because it's funny, but because it seems people finally quit asking "What would Jim do?" and started asking "What would the Muppets do?". Of course, the movie hasn't come out yet, but if it's anything like this music video, then I think we're in for a lot of fun this fall.

You know, every time I start to think that music videos are a dead art form, these dudes come along and keep 'em on life support a little while longer. If only there were more artists like OK Go, and if only MTV would pull their heads out of their butts and play music videos again!

Well, that's all for now. I'll be back next time with an all new Mike and Mindy as well as a new Mushrooms. I'll also have some new sketches for the Guest Gallery. I'm talking an all new "new" here! So tune in next time, and I'll catch y'all later!

SIMPLE NOSTALGIA

Hey folks! Just a quick update today as not much has really happened since last time. Okay, I did set up Monday Night RAW a few days ago, and it was a lot of fun (as it usually is). But I'm afraid I have no backstage secrets or spoilers for you. People never seem to realize that when they aren't wrestling, these guys are pretty normal behind the scenes. Still, I always love working the wrestling shows, and I can't wait 'til the next one comes in.

Anyway, I dug up this video classic in hopes of it waking up that warm, fuzzy feeling we all had back in the day when we got our first Nintendo Entertainment Systems, or NES's (It's hard to believe that that was 23 years ago for me!). Enjoy...

This was actually one of the first viral videos I ever saw back in '05, when sites like iFilm and youtube were just popping up. My friends and I laughed our asses off at this video, and yet we were amazed at how this simple A Capella group was able to nail each of the classic Nintendo themes. The only thing I take issue with here is including the Mortal Combat theme. As funny as it was, Mortal Combat wasn't on the original NES. It was on the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis. And for all you young bucks out there curious about why the dude at the beginning blew on the cartridge, well, old school video games would get really dusty and that was the only way to really clean them. Heck, I still prefer cartridges over disks. They were way more durable.

Well, that's all for now. But before I go, I'd like to say hello to my new friends that I made at the Artlab last night. It was nice to meet some other artists, especially from so many different fields. I got a lot of great feedback on my cartoons and I certainly look forward to the next meeting and to making even more friends. Take care, and I'll catch y'all later!

NO WONDER THEY WENT UNDER

It's been a busy week for me folks. I just finished loading in Mary Poppins at the San Diego Civic Theater, had to load out Katy Perry at the Sports Arena and will be loading in Monday Night RAW this coming Monday at the arena! Anybody who regularly reads this blog no doubt knows that I am a lifelong wrestling fan, especially when it comes to the WWF (That's right World Wildlife Fund, you read that right!). In fact, I have been involved in one way or another with every RAW that has ever been broadcast in San Diego. The first time it came to town (1998), it was still taped on alternate weeks, and my brother Dante and me bought the last two tickets. In 2003, my brother snagged me comp tickets to the show, by then a weekly live broadcast. Every show since, I've worked it. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about the whole thing and can't wait 'til Monday!

In the meantime, it's time to do something that I haven't done in two months: A FUNNY WRESTLING POST! I got quite a few angry e-mails from people demanding more wrestling and less Comic Con. Well, I'm always happy to oblige, so sit back and enjoy the show...

Sibling tag teams are nothing new to wrestling, although they're not quite as frequent as they used to be. WCW in 90's, however, seemed to be loaded with brotherly tandems, with the Harlem Heat (real life brothers Booker and Steven Huffman) and the Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott, also legit brothers) leading the way. The Steiner Bros. are no doubt one of the greatest tag teams ever, but it was always obvious that younger brother Scott was the more talented member of the team and by 1998, the two bitterly split up after Scott joined the nWo. For a better part of the next year, the two battled back and forth, leading to a match at Halloween Havoc 98. In the months leading up to the show, a bizarre cackling laugh would fill the arena anytime Rick Steiner came out. Fans were baffled, but many pretty much shrugged it off, thinking that nothing would ever really come of it. Had they only known.

It was on Nitro one night that Rick came down to the ring to have an interview with "Mean" Gene Okerlund. Rick Steiner was never particularly gifted on the mic, so after attempting to put the fans at ringside to sleep for a few seconds, the cackling once again started, only this time, it had a source, for up on the video the wall, the culprit was finally revealed:

That's right folks, WCW felt that the best way to get Rick Steiner over was to have him feud with Chucky, the demented rag doll of the Child's Play movies. Having apparently learned nothing from the Robocop/Sting fiasco from 1990, WCW once again tried to cross-promote with the movie industry, this time teaming up with the film Bride of Chucky. Needless to say, the movie flopped and WCW dropped the whole thing the very next day, once again leading to a colossal waste of time and money.

As for Rick Steiner, he pretty much hung around WCW 'til the very end, winning several titles along the way and even reunited with Scott. Sadly, the bad angles only continued, one of which led to him "winning" the tag titles with "Buff" Bagwell's mother, Judy (trust me folks, the less said about that one the better). Other than a couple of TNA appearances, Rick's more or less been retired these last few years. You know, I realize Rick Steiner wasn't on his brother's level, but come on! Even the "dog-faced" gremlin deserved better than this!

Well folks, that's all for this week. I'll be back next time with some form of amusement for you. If you like what you see or want to recommend a bad gimmick, leave a comment and I'll try my best to get to it (No cartoon ideas please; I Can't afford to pay royalties!). Take care, and I'll catch y'all later!

MIKE AND MINDY ARE BACK AND HAVE FANS!!!

Here we are folks, it's the first weekend of the month and that can mean only one thing... No genius, not welfare check day! It's comics week, featuring the cartoon work of a newly minted award-winner, ME! That's right, I can now officially call myself an award winning cartoonist, not that I couldn't do that before, but it's much better when you can actually back your claim. You see, the Southern California Cartoonists Society, or SCCS, had a cartoon contest for Comic Con, and yours truly won first place! I'm pretty stoked about it. It may not be an Eisner or Harvey Award, or even an Inkpot, but it's still my first, and I'll always be proud of that.

Well, I've done enough blabbering for today. Enjoy the comics! (NOTE: The image above comes from the postcards I made up this year's Comic Con)

Boy is that kid flexible!

You know, there are many stereotypes and cliches that have been introduced into society as a result of media such as film, television and (of course) comics, which certainly begs the question...

I hope this has been informative.

This was a quick sketch I did for the SCCS/NCS Party at Comic Con. If you look closely, you can still see the pencil marks. You might also notice that I forgot to add the "d" in the word "and"! (I was drawing this on my knees, so cut me some slack!)

I did this sketch in a book that the San Diego County Public Library had at its table. I have always been an advocate for literacy and the Library System in general.

And now for something special. Mike and Mindy are starting to get a little bit of a fanbase going here, and I'm always interested in seeing how other people might interpret them. So once again, I present to you the Mike and Mindy Guest Gallery...

This piece is by Anne Cain, who did an awesome job of turning the mischievous duo into superheroes.

Brian Kolm did this quick sketch with a ballpoint pen. It also marks the first time ever that either Mike or Mindy has ever spoken!

This bizarre piece was done by Leon Killingsworth. At first I was puzzled by it until I realized he was pulling from Mike and Mindy #10 (October 2010), the one where Mike moons Mindy and turns her into a werewolf.

This awesome piece was done by Otto Dieffenbach, who makes Mike look like the lost son of Guile from Street Fighter!

This quick pencil sketch was done by Rachel Buecheler, giving Mike and Mindy an anime/manga makeover, which is actually pretty cool considering that Mike's hair was influenced by Goku from Dragonball.

This fun little piece was done by Rachel Dukes. I love the bad girl/cool cat feel the Rachel gives to Mindy here, especially since all the other artists seemed to put a lot more emphasis on Mike's personality. I was also very touched when Rachel asked me for my autograph.

This piece was done by Seamus Michael Smith, which shows that it is possible to draw either Mike or Mindy in profile, a skill that has always bedeviled me.

This last piece was done by Steven Kunz, giving Mike a bit of a mean streak here. Ya know? Everybody seemed to really like drawing Mike more than Mindy. Personally, I love drawing both of them, but Mindy didn't get much sugar at this year's Comic Con. Oh well, there's always next year I suppose.

Well, that's it for this week. But before I go, I would like to personally thank Scott Shaw! (Captain Carrot), Mike Bocianowski (Yets!), Stan Sakai (Usagi Yojimbo), John Murakami (Dragons of Hawaii), Phil Ortiz (The Simpsons) and Tom Richmond (MAD Magazine) for taking time to review some of my comics and giving me pointers. These guys are some of my favorite cartoonists and their advice and compliments mean the world to me. It ain't easy showing your work, especially to guys that are real pros in the business. But it's important to get your name out there and get critiques because it's the only way you'll grow and improve as an artist. And I know that when I see these guys again next year, I'll be even better.

Well, it's time to go. I'll be back next time with a new wrestling post that I'm sure will have everybody in stitches. Take care, and I'll catch y'all later!