Yep– I’ve relocated it to http://maxinkcomix.squarespace.com/ and am updating my blog & such over there these days.  I can do more “stuff” (with a bit more control) on Squarespace, so– that’s where I went.  I could just as well move to another hosting site in the future, so as a matter of streamlining–  if you type in “www.MaxInkComix.com” you’ll be directed to wherever my site is hosted at on any given time.

Please adjust your browsers/bookmarks accordingly.

Hope you have an awesomesauce day.

I can honestly say that I never knew (or really cared about) the history of these two 50’s/60’s robots.  But being as they’re gracing a page (well, part of a page) in my story and I want to make they’re appearance authentic and enjoyable for those of you who do have fond memories of these guys, well—I’m trying my best.

Here are my (very quick) sketches of the robots in question…

…and here are a few funny videos of these mechanical muttonheads.

Oh, the 50’s future… how things have changed!

I bet this was the first time I saw the “live” Robbie”

Daleks!!!

So there you have it—a tiny robotoid preview.  Beware– the Robot Skelton Army is on the rise! 

…but it lacks a certain “punch” without that John Williams’ opening score.  So, do yourself a favor and head over to the customizable Star Wars Crawl Creator and enjoy yourself.

Of course, BSAA is my upcoming entry into the upcoming Slam Bang comic anthology. Using the Crawl Creator was super easy and it took a very short amount of time and it helped me figure out how the opening crawl should look on the printed page (yes, these paragraphs will grace the printed page of the story).

Remember, THERE WILL BE ROBOTS (in the next post…)

Ta-Daah!!

Here’s the logo for the “Robot Story” that I’m working on for Allen Freeman’s SLAM BANG comics anthology and as you can see, the title is "BLINK & SAM’S AWESOMESAUCE ADVENTURE.” (If the logo/design/layout is confusing to you, PLEASE say so now!)

It’s going to be an 8 page Hank’s World story and feature Blink and Sam joining in a sci-fi role-playing game session with Hank and his friends Amy, Kevin and Joshua.  (Think of Hank’s World as a spin-off series of Blink.) The group will be playing an old space-opera action-adventure game called “Star Frontiers” (I played the game in the 80’s and it’s although it’s officially out-of-print, thanks to enthusiastic fans, it’s still available to play).   The “Awesomesauce Adventure” will be split between the “real world” (at Hank’s house with everyone sitting at the table with plenty of paper, pencils, dice, soft drinks & snacks) and the “gaming world.” (with plenty of rampaging robots).

Here’s what Amy, Kevin & Josh look like in the “real world”:

And these are their “game world” characters:

I also have the outfits that Blink and Sam will wear in the “real world:”

Blink is going to “get into character” for the game, but if/how that’s going to differ from her “real world” persona is still to be determined.  Sam, however, could not care less about “getting into character.” 

~::~

I’ll be posting the work here as I complete it (in its various stages).  Please feel free to comment and make suggestions.

I’ve just got a couple things up.  More to come!

A couple of my friends (and a few people I don’t know) listened to the show live and two friends shared their thoughts on what I blathered on about.  If I can get a few more replies from other listeners/readers, I think that might encourage me enough to write a post-podcast entry to post here.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been away for a little while.

I’ve been on a self-imposed exile, in fact.  It’s what I do when I’m not feeling “up to snuff.”  (It’s not the first time and it probably won’t be the last.)  Some people say that “Misery Loves Company” but not me, thankyouverymuch. I’ve been avoiding company since about August or so.  No website postings, no Facebook updates, no phone calls, and (maybe worst of all) no Blink! …Just work, sleep and eat (and TV) for the past few months.  Well, as of this past Monday, I am no longer denying myself the pleasures of social interaction.

In fact, to celebrate my return to the land of the living, on December 5th (that’s tomorrow!), I’ll be the guest on Allen Freeman’s podcast/live call-in show SLAM BANG MEDIA hosted on the TalkShoe website.  So, if you’re not doing anything important at 5pm EST (2pm PST), you can listen in to the show LIVE and – if you’re so inclined, you can even call (724) 444-7444 and be a part of the show.

Allen Freeman has been a big part of small press for years and years.  He’s been publishing the SLAM BANG “Explosive Comic Anthology” through his Fanatic Press since the mid 80’s.  (Allen’s also been professionally producing commercial art for brochures, biz cards, billboards, TV, newspapers, comics, gaming cards, magazines, video games, web sites, and more! *whew!*)  I met Allen back in the 90’s when I was drawing Nik Dirga’s Amoeba Adventures and attending lots of little conventions to promote the book in Southern Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Kentucky.  Allen was living in Kentucky at the time (he’s in California now) and I remember being blown away by the book that he was promoting at the time, Morgana X.

I’ll be contributing a short piece to the 2011 edition of Slam Bang (it’s a robot-themed issue!) and if you’re a creative type with a robot yarn you have to share, email Allen (fanaticpress@yahoo.com) and let him know!  (Contributors FAQ can be found here.)

Check it out: you can listen to the November 7th episode where Allen interviews cover artist Terry Pavlet.

I’m glad to have had the opportunity to meet so many other Mockingbird fans as well.  I spent a few hours of my weekend signing 11×17 copies of the poster to cast members and audience members alike. I provided them for sale at the “Pay What You Want” price (which is Available Light’s general admission ticket policy) and was more than pleasantly surprised to have ended up earning more during those few hours than I typically do at the typical comic book shows (where I’ll spend up to three days 8-10 hours a day behind a table attempting to sell my wares)!

So, bravo to the kind hearts and generous spirits to all the Mockingbird Fans and Theatre Lovers this weekend!

Hey… if you like the poster, I’ve got some left over that you can have (Pay What You Want, plus $3 shipping, email me for details) and there’s also t-shirts available, too!

This was NOT the drawing that was auctioned... (But I'll redraw it and auction it later)

There’s something about auctions (which raise money for worthy causes) that make people spend money on art that they might not/probably wouldn’t buy if they weren’t being pressured to do so by the whole “auctioneering” vibe.  Well, be that as it may, I’m very happy that the auctioneering vibe and about a dozen pieces of art  (including a drawing of Blink) helped to raise $650 for purchasing art supplies and games for the Prairie Norton Elementary School in Grove City and other participating mentoring programs sponsored by Big Brothers and Big Sisters.  The event wrapped up a few hours ago (Saturday night) at the Kafe Kerouac (I took my damn sweet time getting home, thanks to the Columbus bus system*).  The auction was organized months ago by local writer/artist/”organizer by day” Patrick Roach and the actual auction was officiated by local funny guy Zachariah Baird.   There were paintings, photographs, screen printed t-shirts, a knitted purse, and my little pen & ink & pencil drawing.  I also threw in some copies of the Blink books (because I couldn’t expect the purchaser to know who the cute blonde was in the drawing).  The seats were pretty well filled up in the back room of the Kerouac, where the auction was being held, so that was comforting– and every piece of art was bid on at least twice (nothing went for the “starting bid”).

Ooookay…  So, it’s mighty damn awesome that a significant chunk  of change was raised for BBBS and the Praire Norton Elementary by selling art.  The amount my piece went for surprised me quite a bit (in a good way); I felt well compensated for the time I spent drawing the picture.  On the ride home–or, maybe I should clarify: as I waited and waited and waited for the bus* to arrive, I got to thinking,  ”Sure, I sell plenty of Blink books (at the low price of $3 for one or two for $5), but why am I not selling more original art/sketches (for a high price)?” and  ”Why am I not selling lots of prints of my art (for a medium-sized price)?”   I guess it’s my stupid/crazy/silly nature to not try to make money and just try to make people happy.  Further along my “ride” home, I thought, “Wow.  That was pretty cool seeing all that money being spent for a good cause and all that art being purchased in order to people happy… I should do that–for myself.”

I’ve been drawing comics for over 20 years, but have never quite made what’s called “a profit” in all that time.  Maybe it’s about damn time I begin turning this thing around.  Well, as I’m thinking about doing that, my computer is breaking down a piece at a time.  A few months back, the machine stopped recognizing my scanner (so I’ve had to use my roommate’s computer to scan drawings) and now–last week– the damn thing won’t even recognize my printer! On top of that, it’s running slower and slower and so on and so forth and boo hoo hoo.  (I bought the thing about a year and a half ago, it’s a bottom-of-the-line machine and needless to say, it does not age well.)

SO!  The first “Max Ink Fundraising Event” will be to raise the funds necessary to buy me a new computer.  (If anyone who reads this has a deal on a good, reliable used computer, I’d be fine with that, too.)

I don’t have any plans worked out for how this “Fundraising Event” is going to work yet (I just had the idea a few hours ago…gimmie time…), but I think the way I might go about this is to draw some swell doodles of Blink and the gang (maybe a half dozen or so to start) and make the original art available for auction on eBay (possible starting bid at $50?) and after the winner has purchased the original, sell prints of each piece to all the losers/ non-participators.  (The whole idea is for me to raise money here…)  I’ll need to utilize as many of my Facebook friends (I’m approaching the 700 mark!), my real friends (I think I have about 7 of those…) and anyone else out there in cyberspace and real space to help promote this idea.

Say…. speaking of Fundraising Events, my friend, Shawn Schulte, is having a fundraising situation of his own (for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)/Lou Gehrig’s Disease).  As his weblog states:

Since my mother’s passing in 2006 it has been my passion to try and bring hope to those who are suffering and my efforts while steadfast to finding and end to ALS do not end there.  This site is an attempt to give life to a project that I hope will unite Ohio in an effort of compassion, to celebrate the lives and the stories of families and individuals who have battled against this disease, and to prove that such action is the birthplace of healing.  I welcome every voice and every effort in this fight.

At the end of July, Shawn will be one of the many athletes participating in the ALS fundraiser, TRI-STATE TREK– a 270 mile, three-day bicycle ride from Boston to New York.  Shawn needs to raise a little more than $1,000 in the next 4 weeks to make it happen.  I think to kick off my “Drawing for Fun’Raising” challenge (or whatever I’m gonna call this ongoing Max Ink art auction thing), I’ll draw a nice picture of Blink and Sam bicycling and auction THAT off first.  With whatever money I make going to Shawn’s worthy cause.  Then I’ll get going on my own needs (selling prints of the drawing to all the “losers/non-participants”).

As the great Mohammed Ali said, “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”