JON'S CRAZY BIRTHDAY SKETCH FEST!!!

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!  And boy did I get a cool present from my good friend Chandra Connor!  She sent me a shirt made by another good friend, Z&F Creator Dawn Griffin!  Gotta say, this shirt is most excellent!  And best of all, it goes great with my Mystico (Sin Cara) Mask!  The colors all compliment one another!

 Even Mr. Socko agrees that the shirt really ties the look together!

So yeah, it's my Birthday today.  29 Years young but just not feeling it.  It's hard staring down 30.  I still feel like a kid at heart, but know I'm not anymore.  Guess it's all a part of getting older.  Things haven't exactly been perfect in recent years, but I'm working hard to right some of those wrongs.  Many cool things have happened despite it all, and I know many more will follow.  It's my last year in my 20's, so it's time to make it count!

In recent months, I've been doing a lot of sketch cards.  Some were gifts, others commissions, but ALL were a lot of fun to work on.  So sit back and relax as I display some of my CRAZY Sketch Cards!

 First up, a set of cards for my extended Canadian "Family."  Warren Frantz of Off Season is one of my closest pals on Twitter and did a hilarious guest strip for my anniversary.  So I did these cards featuring his cast, which in turn are based off himself and his wonderful wife and kids!

 Up next, another good pal from the Great Whit North, Picpak Dog creator Kim Belding.  Being the kind dude that he is, Kim sent me back the original art for his guest strip, a very nice hand-written note AND a "Bag 'O Bees"!  They've really helped my grammar!

 This trio of sketch cards was done for the great Jamie Cosley of Cody the Cavalier!  I've done a guest strip for Jamie and I must say, his characters are so much fun to draw!

 Some more Z&F fun to be had here!  Dawn was kind enough to give M&M an exclusive guest spot in her comic a while back, so I gave her entire cast the CRAZY treatment!  I love doing fan art for Dawn. Her characters truly are the best!

My good pal J. Robert Deans of Crass Fed Comic was the recipient of the next few cards.  The first two were gifts, the other four requests, and good ones too!  They really challenged me to get detailed.

 Mike and Mindy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon.  The Creature is one of the toughest pieces I've ever drawn.  I think he came out pretty good though.  M&M don't seem too phased by him.  Guess it's hard to when you're as indestructible as they are!

 Rob is very good friends with Jamie, so not surprisingly he asked for a Cody sketch card.  Which is fine by me.  Cody's fun to draw!

 Black Beetle.  Another character that was somewhat challenging given my inexperience with muscle tones.  But I'm pretty happy with the way it came out.

 Only the Shadow knows that I drew him!  And anybody who see this blog I suppose.  Guess I should've put more thought into that quip?

 And now, my New CRAZYVERSE regular, the mighty PEGACOW!!!  Rob said he wanted a cow, but I wanted something more grand!  You better believe this will be on a shirt soon!

 These two cards went to the always awesome Matt Gross of the hilarious comic CAAATS!.  Those two fuzz balls never get old!  Pure feline hysterics!

 This card went to Stephen McGee of Rain Dog Comic.  His request was simple: A Sentient Meatball.  I was happy to oblige with the CRAZY request!

 V. Barker of Chalky Hearts suggested this CRAZY idea, A Canadian Duck!  I had a lot of fun with this one.  So much so that it's helped inspire a future story for me!

 This card was done for the Sketchcards.org site and is another personal favorite!  It'd be a dream if Tara Strong saw this and signed it!  Guess we'll see...

 This card was done for my friend Shelby-Lynn.  I never would've thought I'd draw Charlie Chaplin, but I was happy to do it.  I owe a lot to a truly creative mind for suggesting "The Tramp."

The next few cards went to Garbage Pail Kids super fan Diego Gonzalez!  He'd sent me five blank cards with four requests, leaving the fifth one up to me.  There's actually a sixth card too but, like a dumbass, I forgot to get a pic of it after finishing.  If you're out there Diego, hook me up with a scan! :D

 These were the four he specifically requested and I can say for sure these are the most detailed pieces I've ever done. "Dead" Ted in particular was a beast for me!  But I loved drawing it!

 And here's the mystery card!  When Diego saw this at Wondercon, his grin was huge!  It's always awesome when you actually see people enjoy your work.  Certainly helps boost the confidence!

 One of the things I like to do for friends on Twitter is give out Sketch Cards for Birthdays, and one such card went out to Thom Szewc of the comic Alone In The Crowd.  This is his character Hope, a crazy little girl that was a blast to draw!

These last few sketches were done at Wondercon for various Con goers.  I actually did more than are posted here, but once again, being a dumbass, I forgot to take pictures.  So enjoy what I got! 

 This came about after two little girls couldn't make up their minds what they wanted.  The youngest one, a My Little Pony fan, wanted a Unicorn.  The oldest one, a TMNT fan, wanted a Ninja Turtle.  So, I decided to meet them halfway and thus we now have the totally tubular NINJA TURTLECORN!  How cool is that?  

These two sketches went to my good pal Josh Crews and his son Lucian!  They came all the way up from my stomping grounds of South San Diego to come see me, which was really awesome of them!  I had a great time with these sketches.  I just wish I had a better camera!

 Josh asked for Finn, but I threw in the Lumpy Space Princess too because she's Lumpin' Awesome!

 Lucian asked for Mordecai and Rigby which I was MORE than happy to draw!

 WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOA!!!!!!

This last sketch went to a young fan who remembered me from the previous year and asked me to draw a monster, my favorite!

Well folks, that's all for this month!  I'll be back next time with a NEW Mike and Mindy that'll finally bring to a close their "Get to School" epic!  Will the Silent Twosome finally make it?  "Toon" in next week to find out!  In the mean time, take care and I'll catch y'all later! 

APRIL SHOWERS... IT'S MINDY'S DAY!!!

Hello folks!  It's been busy times here at the CRAZYVERSE, hence the short post this week.  Work's finally picking up and on the creative front I'm busy working on new comics, an animation project AND some more T-Shirt designs!  I tells ya I really love designing these shirts!  They are so much fun to do.  I should've started doing these ages ago!

Today's a special day as Michelle Hernandez (Kat Daycare, Pen Hits The Pad) is back with some more Fan Art celebrating the cutest little girl in comics, Mindy!

I absolutely love this piece!  I almost cried after seeing it because it was so beautifully rendered.  Michelle's style is simply gorgeous.  Mindy almost looks like a real girl!  From the colors to the detail to the heart patch on Mindy's trademark bloomers (Michelle says that sewing is Mindy's hobby!), this is hands down the best Fan Art I've ever received!  Thanks again Michelle for giving Mindy a little more "Flash".  But more importantly, thank you for being such a good friend.

Well folks, that's all for this week.  I'll be back next time with some of my Wondercon Sketches and commissions.  I had a lot of fun doing these and I hope y'all will enjoy seeing them!  In the mean time, take care and I'll catch y'all later! 

EPIC FAIL: MUSHROOMS STYLE!!!

HUGE news this week! And it all starts with the images below!  You see, it began with my desire to see 8-Bit versions of Mike and Mindy.  After being disappointed with the lack of decent tutorials on Google, I decided to hit up the wonder that is Youtube and found several good videos on how to do it in Photoshop.  After several hours of toying around, I finally whipped up these beauties...

Check him out! Mike looks like he's ready to hit the Mushroom Kingdom!  

And Mindy here looks like she just finished the Duck Hunt!

All this fooling around got me thinking about merchandising possibilities and how sometimes even the simplest graphics can make the coolest shirts.  Which now leads us to the HUGE news I teased earlier: THE CRAZYVERSE IS NOW AVAILABLE TO WEAR!!!  That's right folks! I've signed up with RedBubble and am now making shirts featuring everybody's favorite destructive kids, Mike and Mindy!!!  So far, I have seven designs up that are available as shirts, hoodies, and stickers with more on the way! To checkout my new shop, simply click here or the tab on the side of the page!  I do hope y'all get a kick out of these.  I'm very excited to be offering them!

Now that that' been said, onto the new Mushrooms!  Any of you Dads, Uncles, older Brothers or Cousins can probably appreciate this one!

I would definitely call this a failure of epic proportions!  Hard not to think of the bit in Kingpin while I was drawing this.  I remember every so often in elementary school walking into the bathroom and seeing a surprise left in the urinal, but more times than not, it was because some kid did it as a prank!  The things some people will do!

And that's all for this week folks! Sorry for stooping to such a lowbrow gag today. You gotta admit though, it was pretty funny!  I'll be back next time with some more inspired CRAZINESS!  In the meantime, take care and I'll catch y'all later! 

MIKE AND MINDY AND WONDERCON: A "SHOCKING" COMBINATION!!!

And we're back!  Wondercon 2013 was an amazing experience folks!  Made many new friends and saw some awesome costumes, but more on that later!  It's the first Thursday of the month, and that can mean only one thing... Mike and Mindy are back!

Yep!  Mike and Mindy have returned for some more hijinx as they continue their quest to get to school on time!  Will attempt number four finally bring about success?  Based on their track record thus far, I wouldn't count on it!  But there's always hope, so strap in and hang on as Mike and Mindy once again try to go to school...

Talk about a "Shocking" conclusion!  These two are putting Sega and the Chicago Cubs to shame in terms of blowing it!  They are now 0-4, but these two are still determined to get it right!  Only one more chance left!  Will Mike and Mindy ever make it to school on time?  "Toon" in next month and find out as the Go To School saga finally comes to an end!

And now, we come to my long weekend up North!  Yep, I made another trek to Anaheim for Wondercon and I must say, it was incredible!  My mini books and postcards were a huge hit with the crowd and I sold HALF my inventory, nearly doubling my sales from last year!  I still didn't break even, but I was ever so close to doing it and am now more determined than ever to break on through!  All in all, a very productive trip!  But that's enough talk.  Enjoy the pics!

The humble abode.  Not much of a change from last year, but it was considerably less cluttered.  It had nothing to do with a "less is more" theory.  I just didn't want a ton of crap to carry.

My table "Guards," Hawk and Animal!  Who better to keep watch over things than the Road Warriors?  Actually, I consider them my good luck charm.  MANY folks stopped by merely to look at them!  It in turn got people looking at my books and talking to me.  They even helped nab me an interview with a wrestling podcast!  Yep, Having the LOD at my table was the smartest choice I made for Wondercon!  Next time around, I'll add Big Van Vader and "Ravishing" Rick Rude to the mix!

Lord Helmet and Barf!  The dude playing Helmet is awesome!  I've seen him at several cons now and he just keeps getting better!  He looks so much like Rick Morranis, it's scary!  We need more Spaceballs Cosplay!  It'd make Cons so much more fun!  Oh, and may the Schwartz be with you!

A couple of pony gals made their way towards my table, just a few of many over the weekend.  Not surprisingly, my postcards featuring a rainbow-farting Unicorn raised quite a few eyebrows.  Surprisingly, they were quite the hit with the My Little Pony crowd!  I half expected them to hang me for it, but instead they became fans!  I never realized how popular this show has become.  Without question, MLP was the third most popular Cosplay at the con, with Dr. Who and Adventure Time being first and second respectively.  Can't help but be happy that animated shows are getting such recognition with fans.

Now that she's found one Dragonball, Bulma searches for a few more in a stack of comics!  She should checked the Bandai booth!  Plenty of them over there!

Speaking of Bandai, the Power Rangers hit the floor (Sans the Green, Black and Yellow Rangers)!  Apparently Zordon and Alpha needed the good Rangers to hold down the fort.

Lily, where's Herman, Grandpa and Eddie?  Gotta say, I LOVED this costume!  Wondercon 2013 was a haven for the "Out Of Left Field" Cosplayers!  There were quite a few random costumes you never would've expected to see.  Oddities like....

BROTHER LOVE!!!  And yes, he did the trademark "IIIIIIIIII LOOOOOOOOOVE YOOOOOOOOOOU!!!!" wail!  I'm always stoked to see wrestling Cosplay at a Con, although I have to admit I was a bit surprised there wasn't any Paul Bearer Cosplay, given his recent passing.  Perhaps that was for the best.

Ursula the Sea Witch dropped by for an appearance, and I must say her costume was very accurate!  She was actually one of several Ursula's seen over the course of the weekend.  With Disneyland being next door, I guess it was a given there'd be SOME Disney Cosplay.

"Cricket?! Nobody understands cricket!  You gotta know what a crumpet is to understand cricket!"  He's always so pushy after watching Critters 2!  Still, loved the detail on the mask!  Ninja Turtle Cosplay always scores points in my book!

It really was a fun show and everyone in my isle was having a great time.  But then Cookie Monster had to show up trippin'!  Sadly, he had to learn the hard way WHY you don't screw with me while wearing one of my prized masks!

Some pals from the Long Beach Comic Con came by to say hello over the weekend and keep the Con colorful!  These kids were so darn adorable!  They were really into it too, and everybody made a big fuss over them.  "Rainbow Brite" was even kind enough to buy a copy of my new book and told me the first one was still a popular read at her house.  It's kind words like that that make us all strive to keep drawing!

Talk about randomness?  It seriously doesn't get any more random than The Green Mile Cosplay!  I really don't think this can ever be topped!

They just finished the Physical Challenge!  Their prize?  Tickets to Wondercon!  It sure as Hell beats those crappy Yamaha Keyboards they used to give away as prizes!

Uh oh!  It's the Ice Queen!  And she's out "predatoring" dudes!  Luckily, there were a plethora of Fionas and Cakes there to keep her at bay!

And so ends the trek to Anaheim.  I want to thank all those who came by my table to come say hi and buy books or sketches.  I was particularly honored to have met a few of my twitter followers like Austin Verburg and Matt Eargle.  It was also a thrill to have my good pal Riki Medina come up and chill on Saturday!  It was just like old times at the San Diego Con again, only this time we weren't being run over by snotty Twilight fans!  Y'all really are great and I look forward to next year, provided Wondercon's in Anaheim again of course.

Well folks, that's all for this week.  I'll be back next time with a New Mushrooms that's very, well... Let's just say this one's for all the Dads and Uncles out there.  Until then, take care and I'll catch y'all later!