A MAGPIE WITH A MAG PIE?!?

Well, that's it.  Game over.  End of the line.  The finale is here...  For May 2021.  What?  Did you think I was quitting?  Well, no such luck!  It's been 11 years now, and I still haven't lost interest, so I may as well keep going!  I just gotta keep getting my slice of this sweet, sweet blog pie!  And speaking of pie, get your slice by scrolling down!  Enjoy...

PUNS!!!  GET YER PUNS!!! HERE!!!  FRESHLY BAKED PUNS!!!  Probably the only cartoon trope I use more than helium would be those oh-so-sweet puns!  And the more groan-inducing the puns, the better, and this one induced quite a few!  You would've thought I'd walked onto a beach full of sea lions the groans were so loud!  It was the magnet cream pie that did it.  Not even Kim Belding could stand it!  This, like was every other post this month, was a Pinch Punch Post entry, from April 2017. The theme was simple: A magpie!  Admittedly, it's not totally accurate.  Magpies usually have white markings on them too, but I chose the more traditional cartoon approach.  Oddly enough, crows and ravens have long been drawn the same way, despite neither bird having orange beaks or legs.  Perhaps now, magpies will get their due, and crows will be drawn properly.  As it stands, Heckle and Jeckle are the only cartoon magpies to be accurately labeled as their true bird!

And that's a wrap on May 2021!  Next week, I'll dig up something to make y'all laugh the month of June away.  Sadly, SDCC was cancelled again, so no CRAZY Comic Con Countdown this year.  I really wish that weren't the case, but safety must come first.  Numbers in California are dropping, so fingers crossed that next year, we can have cons again because I needs me some cosplay pics!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

MIGHTY MEETS MODEST!!!

HERE I COME TO SAVE THE WEEEEEEEEEEK!!!  Well, maybe.  I mean, it's just some simple art that I hope makes your day a little better.  But it could also be the greatest art ever!  But probably not, just passable.  What does all the contradictory babbling mean?  Scroll down and find out!  Enjoy...

Oh Mighty Mouse, you're far too kind!  There's not much backstory to this one.  Pinch Punch Post picked mice as a theme, and I decided to make a pun out of it.  Mighty Mouse was an easy selection.  He's surprisingly relevant still despite the fact that his cartoons haven't been seen on television regularly in over 30 years and his home video presence consists of ONE short on numerous public domain collections and three shorts on the New Adventures of Mighty Mouse DVD set.  There's a whole host of theories as to why the old Terrytoons shorts aren't available, despite being owned by Nickelodeon through the Viacom acquisition (Which is why they're among the few classic cartoon series that haven't been on Cartoon Network), but we won't get into that here.  All I knew was, his name made him an easy choice.  The other mouse, not so much.  Then I remembered there was a band called Modest Mouse, and that name totally worked so I ran with it!  Funny thing is, until I drew this, I'd never actually heard any of their songs!  Some pals recommended the song Float On, and I must admit, it was pretty catchy with a fun, animated music video attached.  Better late than never is among my mottos in life!

That's all for this week.  Be sure to come back next time so that we can finish off the Merry Month of May with some art that would certainly make Mighty Mouse's pals Heckle and Jeckle smile a bit!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

BLAST OFF WITH ROCKET ROOSTER!!!

Say hey we're in back in May!  Things are plodding along at an acceptable speed here at the CRAZYVERSE, or at least they were until that blasted bird showed up.  What do I mean?  Hold onto your feathers and scroll down to see!  Enjoy...

LOOK!!!  UP IN THE SKY!!!  IT'S A...  Bird?!?  An actual bird this time?!?  Why yes it is!  But this ain't just any old bird.  Why, it's Rocket Rooster!  Barnyard clucker by day, rocket powered daredevil by night, Rocket Rooster rules the roost with his jetpack, shades and bitchin' leather jacket!  You never know WHAT is gonna happen when Rocket Roost blasts in to town!  Another entry from Pinch Punch Post, this one also served as an experiment as I was looking at possibly using this character in a Bubble Fox storyline.  Never could figure out how to fit a jet-packed chicken into wacky world that is BF, but I'll figure it out eventually.  I mean seriously, look at his design!  How can I not do something with him? 

And that's all I got for this week.  Be sure to come back seven days from now to see some art that will be humbly presented.  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

PYGMY HIPPO IS HERE TO PUMP *CLAPS* YOU UP!!!

 Welcome to May CRAZIES!!!  New month, new digs, new hopes!  The world is still having some issues, but, as of this writing at least, things are looking up a bit.  Hopefully things will continue to improve.  We'll just have to wait and see.  But enough about that.  The few of you who still read this blog expect art, and I intend to deliver!  Deliver BIG that is!  What do I mean?  Scroll down and see!  Enjoy...

Pygmy hippos are much smaller than their river hippo cousins.  Pump-me hippos have the advantage of being cartoon characters and thus totally expandable!  This entry was from the Pinch Punch Post Twitter art collective, which posts monthly.  This was the theme for January 2017 and I had fun with this one.  I mean, it features my trademark gag, so how could I not?  The Twitter regulars got a kick out of it too, so that made me happy, but I assure you I got no inflated ego from it!

That's all for this week!  Be sure to come back next time as we blast off and REALLY rocket into things!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

OH MARY VIOLET...

Well, we've come to the end of another month, this time April.  With any luck, I'll be fully vaccinated by now and looking to possibly head back to work soon.  Much is still left uncertain, but hopefully, things are still looking up.  Wanna know what gives me a sign of hope?  More silly fan art of course!  And today I'm honoring one of my heroes of cartooning, the brilliant Jimmy Gownley!  So scroll down and see what's in store for today!  Enjoy...

Oh dear.  I don't think the Pork Chop Express stands a chance against Mary Violet with mystical powers.  She's formidable enough without them!  Today's honoree comes from the wacky world of Amelia Rules!, Jimmy Gownley's awesome comic that celebrates childhood and all its wonders and complexities, especially the more surreal aspect of it.  And no character from the series is more surreal than Mary Violet, the mousy, pale and constantly trodden upon little girl who has a knack for bad timing.  Whether she's being slammed, burned, run over or flattened by medicine balls, this kid could give Wile E Coyote a run for his money in a cartoon survival contest!  At one point, she joins a super hero club where she finally just lets out her pent up frustration and the results were some of the funniest panels ever drawn.  When I was thinking about which comic character would make a good Lopan, the villain of the 80's cult classic Big Trouble in Little China, Mary Violet was the natural first choice.  I've long been a fan of Jimmy Gownley's work.  I came across it by accident at Comic Con one year when one of his book covers caught my eye.  It was a hilarious image of the AR cast careening off a cliff in a go-cart that had me cracking up.  I picked up the book and fell in love with the series immediately.  I myself was a very young cartoonist at the time, not sure what direction I wanted to go in.  Kids and humor comics weren't getting much traction, so I was afraid to show my work, but when I came across AR, it gave me the confidence to throw caution to the wind and make comics for all ages.  It's been a fun ride ever since and I'll always be grateful to him for that.  I've been lucky enough to meet Jimmy a few times and he was very nice and courteous and his wife Karen has become a very good friend on Twitter.  They're proud union folks like me and I can't wait to see what they have in store down the road.  I'm also thankful their kids finally forgave me for that pony thing!

And that's a wrap on April 2021!  I hope you all enjoyed the fan art this month.  With no cons happening again this year, it's been fun putting together themes based on past art I haven't posted past Twitter yet.  Be sure to come back next week for some more CRAZY fun!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

HEY!!! JASON PLATT: FIRE IN THE HOLE!!! LITERALLY!!!

We are back!  Only one more week to go this April 2021, but as we plot along here in a world rebuilding, let us remember the simpler things in life that make us laugh.  Pies in the face, fart sounds and, of course, cartoon characters' butts being lit on fire!  What would be pretty horrific in real life is actually pretty darn funny when its happening to a bug-eyed illustration!  Throw in some 80's nostalgia, and its a recipe for even more hilarity!  Don't believe me?  Scroll down and see for yourself!  Enjoy...

Poor Newell.  Probably regrets wearing those acid wash jeans now!  Back to the Future did indeed have some groundbreaking visuals, the vast majority of which still hold up today, but the flame trails shooting up between Marty and Doc's legs have always been a head scratcher.  They clearly shoot up past crotch-level, and yet neither of their clothes catch on fire.  I know, movie magic and all, but still: They are literally standing in flames in non-fireproof clothing!  As anyone who lived in the 80's can tell ya, it seriously did not take much to start a fire in the era before watchdogs actually started caring about product safety!  But enough about that, today's honors go to Newell and his Dad, the stars of Jason Platt's hilarious and often heartwarming comic, Mister & Me.  Jason's among my oldest friends in webcomics and has made many guest contributions to the CRAZYVERSE over the years, including one of my all-time favorite Mike & Mindy guest comics.  He recently did a series of graphic novels where Newell has aged to middle school and is still just as silly and irresponsible as he was as a five-year-old.  This was one of my favorites to draw as Newell yelling "MY HAMS" just really cracked me up, though "Fart" is his go-to word for trouble, the same way some of us might cuss.  He seems like a kid who'd have grown up on Adventure Time.  Since he's in middle school now, Newell yelling fart with his butt lit on fire might be for other reasons now though, eh Jason?  That might be a funny comic someday!

And that's all she wrote for this week.  Come back next time so we can send April 2021 off in a big way with little trouble.  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

BEWARE THE BALD-HEADED BEAR, PJ DAY!!!

We are back!  The days are getting longer and the weather's getting warmer.  It's the time of year mammals begin to shed some excess fur.  It's also the time of year that bears start coming out of their winter slumbers.  Some bears are more dangerous than others, as the late great John Candy found out in the classic comedy, The Great Outdoors.  The Bald-Headed Bear was real doozy, though it was also the bare-butt bear by the end of the flick.  Now, what exactly does this have to do with today's post you might be asking?  A lot actually.  Last week, I mentioned that I had launched a morale booster last year called the Spread Some Laughs campaign where I drew fan art each week for pals and inspiring artists.  Part of the campaign also involved working the characters into 80's movies!  Some were easier than others, but there were a few characters that fit certain movies like a glove, and none more so than today's subject!  Who is it?  Scroll down and see!  Enjoy...

Who turns a shotgun into a lamp?  Honestly now, you're asking for trouble!  This week's honors go to Carl the Snake and Duffy the Bear from PJ Day's Hilarious webcomic, Flatt Bear, the tale of an extremely dumb bear named Duffy and the insane amount of trouble his bumbling nature causes his friends and loved ones.  Carl tends to be on the receiving end of Duffy's constant shenanigans, so casting him in the Chet Ripley role was a nice change of pace for the poor, beleaguered serpent.  Oddly enough, this isn't the first time in Duffy's career that he's had a shorn backside, but you'll have to dig that up yourselves!  PJ Day is one of my closest pals in comics and has done numerous guest spots for me over the years.  It's always a pleasure to give his wonderful toons the CRAZY treatment!  Now quit slacking and give Amelia the Kidloon Day treatment PJ!  We're still waiting!

 

That's all for now.  We're already at the halfway point for April!  Time flies, eh?  Well, that's just the way things go, but be sure to come back next week for some more 80's crossover fan art that's blazing a new trail!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!