at last: BABY BOOMER

[Digifiend]

Didn't Meebo and Zuky just do that plot?

[Jonny Whizz]

I think there are some similarities between Baby Boomer and Meebo and Zuky, mostly in the wacky nature of the strips. However, there are some differences - most obviously in the artwork style, as Meebo and Zuky is more like a modern TV cartoon series (although I can detect a cartoon influence in Baby Boomer as well). Also, whereas Meebo and Zuky hate each other, Jet and Vibes (effectively the equivalents of Meebo and Zuky in Baby Boomer) don't.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

I will have to look into Meebo and Zucky: I've honestly never heard of them, though maybe I've had subliminal flashes of them while trawling the web.

Thanks for your comments, guys:

Peter: two of the most easily-read toaster strips have been inked up this week......they seem fine.


Digi: the signature drawings I do are just me mucking around with test drawings, as are the weekly inkings on here: it's only the strips themselves I try and keep 'commercial'. I certainly wouldn't put I SPY into a strip appearance [although inter-character appearences are quite common in the US].


LAW and ORDER, part 3:

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

I've just looked at Meebo and Zuky: it's good stuff [a bit similar in look to what I'm doing] but both of these strips are unique-looking enough not to compete with each other.


Well worth pointing out, though, guys!

More rough pencils: I've been on a 'Satan' trip this past few days, but I assure you it was only for this last week:







back down to Earth again next week, with another theme altogether......'WAR IS HELL/TANK' is one of my favourite-ever gags thus far, and will definately be getting inked up pronto.

[alanultron5]

All geat stuff- but "WHO" actually is Veronica?

[Lew Stringer]

I've just looked at Meebo and Zuky: it's good stuff [a bit similar in look to what I'm doing] but both of these strips are unique-looking enough not to compete with each other.

Now you've cleared up any coincidental similarity to Meebo and Zuky can I point out that your Satan gags are coincidentally similar to my Suburban Satanists strip?

http://www.freewebs.com/suburbansatanists/

Don't worry Rab. I'm not accusing you of anything. As my strip only appeared in Sweden and Norway I know you've never seen it.

(I really must do more to that website to show more of the strips. I only knocked up a home page in 2006. The strip ran for ten years and I still haven't gotten around to publishing it in English.)

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Wow! You don't half get around Lew.....fantastic heading to the Devil strip, by the way. Let's just say; 'great minds think alike.'

I only put Devil gags in as an occassional sideline: the Americans can be a bit touchy on this subject, but it's just cartoon fantasy to me.

I remember Roger Kettle and Andrew Christine done a strip totally set in Hell: it never ran for long. I think Hell gags work best in moderation, if that's not a contradiction in terms.

[Lew Stringer]

Wow! You don't half get around Lew.....fantastic heading to the Devil strip, by the way. Let's just say; 'great minds think alike.'

I only put Devil gags in as an occassional sideline: the Americans can be a bit touchy on this subject, but it's just cartoon fantasy to me.

That's why I've never bothered submitting Suburban Satanists to any American or British newspaper. I know they wouldn't go for it due to their fear of backlash. I'll self-publish a collection when I find the time.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

I actually enjoy doing Satanesque gags, Lew, but I'm not doing too many in case the stuff will be denounced by the Evangelicists. I've tried to escape racism/political controversy by using animal characters instead of human, but even then, I need to be careful on the subjectmatter.

Funnily enough, I think that depicting God in a cartoon is more blasphemous than drawing the Devil, and although I have done Heaven gags, I won't put God into them.

From this point on, the cartoons are drawn on decent bristol board and with 'posh' ink .......up til now, the cartoons have been drawn on cheapo paper [which was all too evident], but from now on, the results should be more consistent.



Attack of the Macy Day Balloon:







quite a nightmarish, Fleishcer-era cartoon : bizarre, but a nice new direction.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

The roughs this week have a medical theme to them:

[Peter Gray]

I like the Macy Balloon one..maybe you could have more than one attacking or coming to life..

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

This is the first post on my own drawings for ages...the BB strips are still going strong, with 150 completed strips done over 2010...the most I ever managed in a year.

However, I've been trying out ideas for different characters recently, and the first of these is BAMBOO BABE, which is a cartoon version of Frank Cho's 'JUNGLE GIRL', a strip I admired greatly.........unlike BABY BOOMER [which has taken years to develop] these recent strip ideas have been bashed out quickly, over a few hours.

Sometimes I have a period where I just belt out new ideas for strips and characters quickly, and in fact I have another completely different idea for a strip in my imagination that I am keen to try out....watch this space.



BAMBOO BABE:

[philcom55]

Marvelous work Rab! Your animals are particularly impressive. Have you ever thought about approaching an animation studio with your characters?

- Phil Rushton

[Peter Gray]

Hi Spy

hows your comic strip going I've advertised your post on here at my blog and put two comic strips up for peopel to see..always enjoy seeing your new stuff..roughs..etc..

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Thanks Phil! Sorry I've been so long in replying to your post: I actually left the area for a 10-day holiday when you made that last post of yours on here just before Christmas, but I'm replying courteously now!

I actually did work in animation 20 years ago [it was a big studio owned by Universal Pictures] but it wasn't an especially happy time for me: the industry--at least what I saw of it------is riddled with petty beuraucracy, with much interference from accountants, etc. I don't miss it, because what I have encountered is nothing like what the 'Golden Age' of the older studio system appears to have been like.

Today, of course, it's all CGI stuff which doesn't especially interest me careerwise; I would loved to have done hand-drawn animation [my best stuff is probably my rough pencils:[ D C Thomson themselves told me this] and I'm not an especially great inker, but I can do enough to pass with a shove. I just stick to simple, tiny strips today: it's the only way I can have complete control over what I am drawing.





Peter: thanks very much for your kind interest, I look forwards to checking your site later today. Last year I managed 150 'Baby Boomer' strips, with many rough pages as well. It is still continuing, though I've done little drawing for 3 weeks due to major upheavels regarding my home decor: this will be finished shortly, though: and then it's happily back to the drawing-board.

I feel it's time to try out some new characters [I've put all my eggs into one basket regarding BB for too long], it's healthier to test out completely new angles. The plan is to create a dozen new strips this year, or at least ten. The second of my newer character-strips are half-drawn and will be screened on here over the next 2 weeks, hopefully.


More finished BABY BOOMER stuff-----the longest I have ever spent on one theme, and this includes a year-long stint I done trying to teach myself Disney-styled animation------will be added at some point: the vast majority of the strips have never been shown to anyone!


Thank you for showing my strips to a wider audience, Peter, and I wish you continued success with your animal art drawings and colour work.