Tag Archives: USA

School Days – The Angry Librarian

Posted on January 24, 2024 by Joe

The angry librarian insisted on absolute, tomb-like silence as if Karl Wallenda was traversing a tightrope above a Bengal tiger trap in the middle of the library and absolute concentration was vital to the aerialist’s survival. Continue reading →

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School Days – The Cool Substitute Teacher

Posted on January 21, 2024 by Joe

The Cool Substitute Teacher circa 1974 is an illustration that fell together as I was playing with shapes in the superlative vector art program Affinity Designer. I was hoping to come up with another monster for my collection of Halloween … Continue reading →

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Fuxi Sketchbook • 09-01-2023 to 01-02-2024

Posted on January 9, 2024 by Joe

I thought this cheap, Chinese-made sketchbook could possibly be the next Sketchbook from Heaven, but not quite. The size, shape and country of manufacture were the same as my favorite sketchbooks, but it wasn’t quite as magical as those earlier … Continue reading →

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What the Fuxi?

Posted on November 8, 2023 by Joe

After killing off my last cheap sketchbook which was from Ticonderoga and is readily available as of this writing, I shopped around for a replacement. I am usually gifted or accidentally fall across the scratchpads that have become the Sketchbooks … Continue reading →

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Making a Scarecrow for Halloween

Posted on November 1, 2023 by Joe

In the past, Tina and I have built original Halloween costumes for our son that were usually in a lighter, more whimsical vein. Coin-operated vending machines based on cardboard boxes were our specialty, but now that our son is older … Continue reading →

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And he shows them pearly white…

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Joe

In the wake of the blockbuster success of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) there came a spate of books and publications designed strictly to cash in on the fascination with man-eating sharks. Sure, there may have been the occasional issue of … Continue reading →

Posted in Blast from the Past, Curious Clutter, Trash or Treasure, What I Miss About Comics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Cosmic Maaaaaannnnn Sticks Around for Another Birthday

Posted on October 7, 2023 by Joe

As I have written before, it’s Tina’s and my tradition to exchange birthday, anniversary and holiday cards we have illustrated ourselves. It’s more personal and making your own cards is a lot cheaper than a Hallmark card from one of … Continue reading →

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A James Bond Bait and Switch

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Joe

I remember seeing this issue of The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu back in 1975 sitting on a shelf among lurid detective magazines and other black and white comics like Creepy and Eerie at Davis Drug in Westville, NJ. I … Continue reading →

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There’s No Escape from a DEADLINE!

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Joe

Back in the late 1990s I was exploring the illustrative possibilities of my newly purchased Power Mac 7300. I put a lot of time and effort chasing down what meager information I could via a dial-up modem; picking the brains … Continue reading →

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