MIKE & MINDY PUMPED FOR THE CRAZYVERSARY, PT. 4!!!

 

Welcome to March CRAZIES!!!  We're two months into 2022 and things are, well... Much the same.  Some areas are better than others obviously, but there's always room for improvement.  Here at the CRAZYVERSE, the CRAZYVERSARY still floats on as the celebration was so big, it's spilled past its normal month of celebration and into March!  Weird?  Yes, but believe me something really cool is on the horizon that I can't wait to cover!  But more on that in a couple of weeks.  Y'all came here for some inflated Mike & Mindy insanity and I plan on delivering!  So scroll down before they float away!  Enjoy...

For those that haven't been keeping up, last summer I posted this panel from a classic M&M comic as part of the popular "Draw This In Your Style" challenge all across social media.  I was stunned by the sheer number of entries I got from fans and pals all over Twitter!  It's nice to know people still care about the terrible tykes, even though their comic series ended back in 2014.  Today we present the last ten entries I got, bringing us to a grand total of 40!  So put on some extra stretchy clothes and inhale deep, because Mike and Mindy are going on an adventure!  Take it away pals...

Bill Greenhead

Nora Racz

Pat Sandy

David Buist

J.A. Parker

Eline Wagemaker

Corey Kramer

Ted Dawson

Jennifer Cuthbert

Nick Davis

And that's a wrap on this portion of the celebration!  Big thanks again to all my wonderful pals in the Webcomics and Illustration realms who took part in this fun challenge.  M&M ran for five years between 2010 and 2014, and although they never reached the heights or longevity that Bubble Fox has, it's comforting to know they still have fans and are still remembered fondly.  Those years were a lot of fun and if I could relive them again, I would.  I promise to have an even sillier panel ready for this summer's theme!

That's all for this week, but we still have a few CRAZYVERSARY surprises left before launching into ANOTHER very fun event, but that's news for another day!  Until next time, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

MIKE & MINDY PUMPED FOR THE CRAZYVERSARY, PT. 3

We've come to it at last...  The end...  Of February 2022.  What?  You thought I was ending the blog?  Come on now, you know nobody's THAT lucky!  Besides, we're only halfway through the CRAZYVERSARY!!!  There's still plenty of bloated goodness to feast on!  Like more Mike & Mindy fan art!

For those not following along, I posted this panel on Twitter and challenged other artist pals to draw it in their own styles.  Much to my surprise, it got a LOT responses!  So many so that I had to split it up into multiple parts!  Here's our equivalent of Return Of The Jedi!  Enjoy...

Sorry to start this off on a sad note as the artist behind this was my dear pal Torben Christensen, who passed away not long after drawing this.  I, like so many others who knew and loved "Torbs," had no idea that he'd been ill, so it caught a lot of us off guard.  He was a fun, encouraging and insanely talented soul, always happy to jump in on these wacky art collectives on Twitter.  He was posting art on social media up to the end and even had a final piece ready, a true pro to the end.  The above piece was among the last few sketches he posted, which makes this even more bittersweet.  That he deemed me and my cartoon kids worthy of time that was growing more precious by the second is very humbling.  Thanks again Torbs.  You were an inspiration, but more than that, you were a pal too.

Jean Okada

Howard Stacy

Dave McTaggart

Kalon Anne Sardin

Ian Bossons

Ric Lumb

Will Flitcroft

DF Morrill

Ryan Klassen

Although it is a Wrap on February, it's not a wrap on the CRAZYVERSARY!!!  We still got ten more takes on bloated Mike and Mindy to showcase, not to mention a couple a special pieces honoring the puffed pals!  So be sure to come back next week so we can kick March off on the same high note we ended February on!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!
 

MIKE & MINDY PUMPED FOR THE CRAZYVERSARY, PT. 2!!!

 

We are back and believe it or not still early on in the CRAZYVERSARY celebration!  Mike and Mindy are 12 years old now, but don't look a day past eight!  I keep asking them what their secret to staying young is, but they just won't talk!  Maybe someday...

For those just tuning in, last year I launched a "Draw This In Your Style" challenge on Twitter to see how many folks, if any, would draw the above panel in their style.  Amazingly enough, quite a few pals responded!  So many in fact, I've had to split it up into multiple weeks!  So scroll on down and see what the second wave of artists had in store for these "Balloonatics!"  Enjoy...

  

Sheri Palmer

Anthony Moorin

Monica Rondino

Esa Holopainen

Andrew Fraser

Lisa Poggioli

Kim Belding

Richard Lowke

Sarah Owen

Gotta give another special mention here as Guy Olivieri also took the time to animate Mike and Mindy's puffed posteriors for the occasion!  It is still a dream to see these two on the small screen, possibly in animated bumpers on an upstart cable network.  The future is bright!

Week 3 of the CRAZYVERSARY is done!  But never fear!  Next week's post is already overinflated with even more fan art goodness!  Had to wrap up February on a high note after after all!  And Mike and Mindy have definitely been reaching new heights as of late!  So be sure to come back for more!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

MIKE & MINDY PUMPED FOR THE CRAZYVERSARY, PT. 1!!!

We are back my CRAZIES!!!  One of the more popular art trends happening on social media these days is the "Draw This In Your Style" challenge.  Basic premise is an artist posts a drawing they did and encourage others to draw said art in their own unique style.  I've taken part in quite a few of them as they are fun to do and are a great way to sharpen our skills as artists.  They're also a really great way to get some fan art circulating around the interwebs, so I decided I'd try and get a few themes going myself, the first of which saw many artists giving their takes on the classic exploding bloomers gag from the August 2012 M&M comic.  For my second go around, I decided the ante must be upped, and there was no CRAZIER moment from the series than the comic below... 

For those new to the blog or simply don't remember, Mike and Mindy took part in an epic storyline in the spring of 2013 where they miss the school bus and attempt to get to school quickly using a whole method of Wile E. Coyote-type devices, each of which fails miserably.  Their last ditch effort involves them inflating themselves with compressed air and then using deflation as a means to propel themselves to school, which does actually work, but only ends with more misery as they realize that they'd had the day off the whole time!  Talk about a whole lotta effort for nothing?!?  Well, the comic to this day is still considered by M&M fans to be among their five funniest with the puffed panel in particular getting the biggest laughs.  Fast forward eight years later.  "Draw This In Your Style' is a thing and I got a little curious.  Would anyone WANT to draw the panel below in they own distinct styles?

Turns out that quite a few pals were more than happy to draw these pumped pals!  So much so, that it's gonna take four weeks to cover them all!  So put on some stretchy clothes, sit back, relax and scroll down to get your fill of fan art goodness!  Enjoy...

Robert Moore

Shaylee Robson

Joaquin Orellana

Traci Van Wagoner

Kirsten Sneath

Sheree Boyd

Suzanne Tamberrino

Marlene Jorgenses

Warren Frantz

Special mention is warranted for my dear pal Haruka, who not only animated this, but added Bubble Fox to the mix and insisted that she and her cat's cartoon likenesses substitute for Mike and Mindy in the piece!  I absolutely loved this!

And that's all for the first part of this MASSIVE fan art extravaganza!  Ten more wild takes of this classic M&M moment are coming next week, so stay "Tooned!"  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

HAPPY CRAZYVERSARY MIKE & MINDY!!! CELEBRATING 12 YEARS OF EXPLOSIVE FUN!!!

 

My goodness how time flies...  Has it really been 12 years since I launched what is now the CRAZYVERSE blog so I could have a way to showcase my comics and art after being rejected by MAD Magazine, twice?  It would appear so, and we're going BIG with this year's celebration!  How big you ask?  So big, we're going into March even with the biggest collection of Mike & Mindy fan art ever assembled!  From February of 2010 through December of 2014, these pugnacious tykes ran wild over the blog with monthly mayhem that saw them cause all sorts of trouble and fun along the way.  Despite having ended just over seven years ago, more people seem to be discovering and in some cases even rediscovering them, so I'll always devote February to celebrating my original comic stars.  It was a great ride while their series lasted and continues to get better as they still drop in every now and then!

The above art was particularly fun to draw and color.  Despite having always used markers for colors, I've traditionally always done flat colors by and large because I just plain didn't know any better (There's a reason I'm not at Marvel or DC folks!).  Over the last couple of years though, I've actively tried to get a little more dimensional with my colors while also learning new coloring techniques thanks to the treasure trove of art tutorials that YouTube provides!  It's fun to apply some of these new techniques to my art and I think it's a big plus!  It's also fun to pay homage to the things that inspire me and Dragonball is among my many inspirations.  It's why all my characters have spiky hair!

That's all for this first week of the expanded CRAZYVERSARY!!!  And expanded is a particularly good keyword here as for the next four weeks, we'll be getting an expanded look at one of Mike and Mindy's most memorable comics as interpreted by 40 different pals from the world of comics and illustration!  So be sure to come back and check it out!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

THE CRAZY INFLATION BLOWOUT: REVENGE OF THE LOONS!!!

Well, here are, the end of January.  Well, post-wise we are as there's still a few days left.  But it'll be February by the time this blog comes back!  But enough about that though.  Today is all about lightening the load and pumping in some laughs.  With inflation raising concerns globally, I've decided to remind folks that there is a lighter side to this pressure that's building up!  Don't believe me?  Scroll down and see what's floating your way!  Enjoy...

Uh oh kids.  It looks like the balloon animals are fighting back!  Years of being inflated and twisted into warped playthings for ungrateful brats that so callously pop and discard them has left these Loonies with a twisted sense of revenge!  Hopefully they'll be a little more merciful to these puffed tykes than they ever were to the poor loons!  Time will only tell!  Today's art once again comes from Animaloonies on Twitter.  The theme for December 2020 was "Kidloons,' which would go on to become one of their most popular themes ever.  I guess a lot of us had pent up anger towards bratty kids that we just needed to get out of our systems!  All the kids in this piece had appeared in previous Animaloonies themes where they themselves callously inflated some poor animal, so for this piece, it was all simply payback.  I guess revenge is a dish best served inflated!

And that's a wrap for January 2022!  Hope you all enjoyed this expanded look at the lighter side of inflation!  Next month will see some old pals who are coming out of retirement to celebrate yet another anniversary as the demented duo, Mike & Mindy, return!  All month long we'll be seeing guest art provided by quite a few CRAZY pals from all over the world!  See be sure to come back and see how it all kicks off!  Until next time, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

THE CRAZY INFLATION BLOWOUT!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EH?

We are back!  And already halfway past January!  Said it many times since this blog started, but time flies, and very fast at that.  Hopefully you are all in good spirits today, but if not, I got some well-rounded laughs in store that should get a rise out of you as some friends have floated in from the great white north! They're just bursting with excitement, and a little bit of helium, to meet you all!  Who are these rotund guests?  Scroll down and enjoy...

What happens when a dear pal's birthday is coming up and you need a gift fast?  You call in some favors of course!  Bubble Fox has pals all over the world, and a good many of them live in Canada!  Pals like Lollipop, Donna, Gully, Max and Foster!  You see, it was Kim Belding's birthday and to celebrate, his beloved creation, Picpak Dog, wanted some balloons.  But why give the Pink Pooch just any old dumb balloons when he could have some balloons with a Canadian flair!  That's when Bubble Fox came in and called up some pals from north of the border, who all agreed to lend their services for such a noble cause, as Kim and Picpak have made us all smile a lot over the years!  Up front is Lollipop from Jennifer Cuthbert's wonderful educational comic series The Adventures of Lollipop and Max Fogherty from Caanan Grall's masterpiece of comedy, Max Overacts!  Meanwhile in the back, Donna from Donna McKay's semi-autobiographical comic series Once Upon A Donna and the always familiar Gully Golz from Warren Frantz's hilarious hockey romp Off Season, seem to have inhaled a gut-busting amount of helium to round out THAT much!  Due to a helium shortage, Foster the Beaver of Ryan Klassen's City Folk had to settle for regular air!  Kim loved this piece as did my fellow Canadian pals, though Caanan's actually from Australia originally, but art and comedy have no borders!  Of course, the hard part now is...  How do I top Kim's birthday art this year?!?

Another week down in our lighthearted look at Inflation!  Come back next week as we end the first month of 2022 with a total blowout!  We are inflating our grosses in the next post, so be sure to float in and give it a look!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!