SNAP INTO A SLIM JIM!!! OR DIIIIIEE!!!

Hey folks!  Just a quick update for now.  I'm slammed at work, studying for a test, doing comics and battling a sinus infection, all at once!  So I'll spare you even more details and jump right into today's post with our old pal, the incomparable Jim Hellwig, a.k.a. The Ultimate Warrior!


Before the late, great "Macho Man" Randy Savage, and later Edge, became the spokesmen for Slim Jim, the Ultimate one himself served as spokesman!  I don't know when this came out, but I'm guessing it was probably around 1989 or 1990.  Given that this was his only ad, I'm guessing Slim Jim realized rather quickly that a muscle-bound freak incomprehensibly screaming at children probably wasn't the best way to get their product sold!  Luckily, Randy Savage was a bit more level headed and easier to work with, and soon became the new spokesman, thus making life all the more richer!  As for the Warrior... He later did an anti-smoking psa and then tried to sucker would-be wrestlers into going to his Warrior University, of which no one ever graduated!  He also tried to hawk a comic book series that featured a story where he kidnaps Santa Claus and puts the jolly old elf in bondage... Needless to say, Jim Hellwig's ruined more childhoods than divorce!

Well, that's all for now.  With Comic Con a month away, next week will begin the annual look back at Comic Con's past!  Until then, take care and I'll catch y'all later!

"HANGIN'" OUT WITH MIKE AND MINDY!!!

Another month is upon us here as we enter June!  It hard to believe that ten years ago I was gearing up to graduate high school!  Now, I find myself wishing I could go back and relive some of those days... (Sigh) How I miss being a teenager!  Oh well, I can do way more crap now than I ever could back when I was a broke adolescent.  Anyway, that's enough nostalgia waxing (Wow! That sounded kinda dirty there!), it's time for a fresh batch of comics!  Enjoy...

First up, heres Mike And Mindy...

You know that thing about letting sleeping dogs lie?  It applies to monsters too!  Sheesh!  Those two are gonna need the jaws of life to pry those wedgies out!

And now, it's time for a serving of Mushrooms...

Hey, who wouldn't get excited about watermelons?  Especially if a sledgehammer's involved!  And you better watch out for those lizards... They're worse than sailors when you get 'em at a bar!  And those barking spiders are tough customers too!  Rarely seen but often heard, they are quite the nuisance. 

Well, that's all for now.  I'll be back next time with a long overdue wrestling post as well as info on how to order a copy of my book Fork in the Road: The Crazy Collection Vol. 1.  In the meantime, take care, and I'll catch y'all later!

YO MOMMA!!!

I have long been a fan of FOX's groundbreaking sketch comedy show, In Living Color.  Even today, some 18 years after the last episode aired, it's still funny as hell!  Recently, FOX announced two new episodes had been ordered and will be airing later this year!  To celebrate, I present to you this classic bit from In Living Color's final days: The Dirty Dozens!  Enjoy...


For the good many of you now who never saw In Living Color or don't remember, The Dirty Dozens was a skit about a game show where contestants had to make "Yo Momma" jokes in order to win.  This segment provided plenty of fuel during the playground wars for us kids back in the day, and even now, it still cracks me up!  A few years ago, my cousin Mara tried to do a "Yo Momma" joke on me.  She was maybe ten at the time and laughed hard because she thought she "dissed" me.  I merely smiled and rattled back "Yo momma's so small, she poses for troll dolls!  Yo momma's so bald, I can see what she's thinking!  Yo momma's so fat, she bungee jumped and went straight to hell!"  Mara was very quiet and looked like she just peed herself!  I smiled and said "Honey, I'm from the hood, you're from the suburbs.  You ain't ever gonna win a "Yo Momma" contest against me!"  Luckily, she thought it was funny, and I eventually taught her some appropriate disses she could use!

Well, that's all for now.  Gotta million things I need to do, hence the reason behind this short update.  I'll be back next time with new adventures from Mike and Mindy and Mushrooms!  Until then, take care, have a safe and fun Memorial Day Weekend and I'll catch y'all later! 

FAN ART EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

Hey folks!  Just quick update today.  In addition to comics, one of the things I enjoy doing is fan art!  Fan art is not only a great way to show your love for something you enjoy, but it's also a great way to sharpen your skills as an artist!  So enjoy these pieces that I've done in recent months!  Until now, they were exclusive only to my Twitter followers!

El Chavo... So many memories with this show!  Many in the Hispanic community are well versed in the roots of the legendary El Chavo del Ocho.  The odd thing is, despite having watched it for most of my life, I couldn't even begin to tell you what it's about!  It's just one of those things that's so stupid, it's funny!  The red bee guy in the center is El Chapulin Colorado.  He would eventually get his own show and later served as the inspiration for the Bumble Bee Man on The Simpsons. 

 As a kid, I never really read Archie Comics.  I was, however, somewhat intrigued by the lifelong battle over Archie between Betty and Veronica.  It always baffled me that these two beautiful girls would fight over a total dumbass like Archie!  Still, can't help but admire their determination.  And since I always found the Little Archie stories to be more entertaining, I thought I'd pay homage.

 This piece I did for cartoonist Matt Gross.  He does a hysterical strip called CAAATS!, and celebrated the strip's first anniversary this year!  Matt's one of the friends I've made on Twitter, and has a real feel for character development.  You can check out Matt's great comic here!

 This piece honors Mike Collins of Tiki Machine and his character, Lucy!  Mike's another Twitter friend and does a lot of great art, both through his site and through his wonderful books, including the sweet and funny Lucy's ABC's of Halloween!  I met Mike at the Long Beach Comic Con One Day Expo last weekend and had a wonderful conversation.  He was pretty popular there!  It's a level I aspire to.  Check out Mike's work here!  

 I've spoken on several occasions about the great work done by Tim Miner and his talented daughters Grace and Cate over at 5 Minute Marvels.  They sent out a tweet asking people to draw with them, so I did!  And the result was Adventure Time's best character, the Lumpy Space Princess!  Check out Tim's awesome site and learn more about their great cause here!

 Sheika Lugtu is an awesome artist who does the ultimate slice of life comic, primarily because it's about HER life!  It's takes a lot to do a diary comic, but Sheika takes it to a whole other level!  She's also one of the kindest people I've ever met.  Her encouragement and support are one of the reasons I finally put out a book and started exhibiting!  She's the wizard who gave me courage!  Check out her great work here!

 Dawn Griffin is one of the best web cartoonists out there!  Her comic, Zorphbert and Fred, is absolutely hysterical and a must see for any comics fan!  Dawn is another Twitter friend, who gave me a lot of great pointers as I was gearing up for my first booth experience.  Her tips were a huge help, so as a thank you, I drew this piece for her.  To see more of Dawn's incredible work, click here!

Last but not least, we come to the amazing Mark Stokes, creator of Zombie Boy!  Mark has quickly become one of my best pals on Twitter and is one of the funniest cartoonists out there.  Aside from stories that are just downright funny, Zombie Boy also has great characters, kids that everybody can relate to.  Even if they do all have a touch of the supernatural!  Mark's awesome work can be found here!

Well, that's all for this week.  I hope everybody enjoyed the pieces!  It's every artists' dream to get fan art.  I only hope that someday, some fans or other artists will deem me worthy enough to do some Mike and Mindy fan art.  Take care and I'll catch y'all later! 

THANK YOU JUNIOR

May 2, 2012 is a day most folks from San Diego will never forget.  It started off like any other day until the news hit, and boy did it make an impact. Junior Seau was dead, the victim of suicide.  I was totally floored.  How could this be?  I grew up watching Seau.  I idolized him.  I mourned the day he was traded to the Dolphins.  I was actually happy for him that he was getting a second shot at the Super Bowl, despite playing with a tainted team in New England.  At that moment, nothing made sense to me.  I just knew that one of my heroes was gone, and answers will likely never come.

I'm not going to join the concussion/depression debate here.  It likely was a cause, but at the end of the day, it won't change things.  Instead, I'll simply share my favorite Seau memory: his only touchdown.  I actually missed it, because I was at church with my Mom and my brother, Dante.  It was a morning game against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Fall of 1995.  We knew something big had happened, because Dante's pager kept going off (Yep.  That's how long ago this was; Pagers were the big tech at the time!).  When mass finally ended, my Mom dropped us off at our Dad's house, and we rushed in to see what was happening.  Our Dad couldn't get over it.  Seau had recovered a fumble and ran it all the way back for a touchdown.  The whole game, they just kept showing the replay.  Even the announcers seemed somewhat dumbfounded by it.  Can't really say why.  They replayed the touchdown so much, that I felt like I had seen it when it happened!  They were acting as if nobody had ever scored a touchdown before!  Seau would never score again in his career, although he did catch a touchdown pass during a preseason game (In either 1999 or 2000, the Chargers tried using Seau as a tight End!).  Sadly, preseason stat don't count.  Still, the tale of his only touchdown always gets a chuckle out of me.

Junior Seau meant more to the city of San Diego than most non-locals will ever know.  He was from San Diego, having grown up in Oceanside.  He donated to countless charities here, even after leaving for Miami and New England.  It always amazed me how giving he was.  There are now at least two generations of kids in San Diego that experienced his generosity first hand.  It was because of Seau that a lot of these kids got to have Christmas presents every year.  We didn't just loose a man, we lost an saint.

So thank you Junior Seau.  Thank you for being such a fierce and dedicated athlete.  But more than that, thank you for being such a good person and for setting such a good example for the youth of our community.  San Diego will never be the same without you brother.

-Jon Esparza

SPINNING INTO MAY WITH MIKE AND MINDY!!!

Well folks, here we are, a brand new month.  And as usual, that can mean only one thing: BRAND NEW COMICS AT THE CRAZYVERSE!!!!  So instead of some long, draw-out intro, I'm just gonna cut right to the chase!  So here they are... Enjoy the comics!

First up, Here's Mike and Mindy...

Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "Head Spin," don't it?  I'm quite proud of the spinning gag.  The illusion of movement on the printed page isn't easy to achieve.  Some artists like Jim Davis (Garfield), Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules!) and Johnny Hart (B.C., Wizard of Id) are quite good at it, but the true masters, though, were Antonio Prohias (Spy vs. Spy) and Don Martin (MAD Magazine, Cracked Magazine).  These men just had a way about their work that can never be duplicated.  Mark Stokes (Zombie Boy) recently called me a "Master of movement," which is without a doubt the best compliment I have ever received as a cartoonist.  I admit, I do actively try to hit that level in terms of the fluidity of my gags, but I'll never be as good as Martin and Prohias.  They were in a class of their own.

Up next, here's special new Mushrooms, back in it's old, page-long format...

This edition follows up last year's Cheap Puns Rock Edition, a fairly popular post among the CRAZYVERSE! faithful.  Blogger's new image viewer doesn't give you much to work with, but I'm confident all the jokes will still come across.  There's only one panel that concerns me, so I hope it's obvious that the "Cheap Trick" gag is a dude doing the old "Severed Thumb" trick that kids rarely fall for!

 Recently, I did some fan art for Mark Stokes' Zombie Boy.  It's a very funny strip about a goofy boy who turns into a zombie after a trip to Voodoo Island, and his equally goofy friends!  Without question, it's one of the funniest comics on the web, and I highly recommend it to everybody, especially if you want to see my drawing!

Well, that's all for now.  Yesterday was a tough day for the city of San Diego, as we lost one of our greatest heroes, Junior Seau.  So next week will be a special tribute to the man who did so much for so many.  Until next time, take care and I'll catch y'all later!

HE WON'T BACK DOWN!!!

I have long been a fan of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.  So you can imagine the shock and horror I felt when I heard that some dastardly person busted into his warehouse and stole several of his prize guitars!  You might almost imagine how hard I laughed when I learned that the dude who stole the guitars got caught a few days later when he tried to pawn them off at a pawn shop for a measly $250!!!  Are you kidding me?!  Each of those guitars was worth $5,000 apiece!  And you only wanted $250?!  As Forrest Gump would say: "Stupid is and stupid does..."  I guess I shouldn't so shocked.  After all, when have crackheads ever used logic when stealing things?

To celebrate Mr. Petty's victory over the intellectually-challenged, I thought I'd share one of his best songs, I Won't Back Down with ya!  Enjoy...

    
Despite the title, this is actually a Tom Petty solo song, although Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell does play on it (Totally dig the Dennis and Gnasher shirt that Campbell is wearing during his awesome guitar solo!).  It was the first single off of his first solo album, 1989's Full Moon Fever.  You might also recognize a few other musicians backing Petty up!  Former Beatles George Harrison and Ringo Starr join in on the fun as does former ELO frontman Jeff Lynne, who also co-wrote the song with Petty.  Harrison and Lynne, along with Petty, Bob Dylan and the late Roy Orbison, had formed the band The Traveling Wilburys a few years earlier and had a string of hits in the late 80's.  Although Ringo is seen playing the drums in the video, the actual drummer for the song was Phil Jones. Still, I am of the opinion that Ringo Starr's mere presence makes everything better!

Well, that's all for now.  I'll be back next week with some new comics!  So be prepared as Mike and Mindy "spin" into action and be ready for a special new Mushrooms that picks up on the heels of one of last year's most popular posts!  So care everybody and enjoy what's left of the month of April.  Until next time, I'll catch y'all later!