Well, springtime is almost over, and I thought I draw a little bit of warmth and comfort for all those dead folk out there. Just because you’re in a coffin, or stumbling around, all undead, trying to steal children, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the wonderful bounty of nature.
That’s right. Two out of three dead folks agree, Spring is good for what ails you. Also, it means more children in the graveyard. Heh Heh.
For the last two years I’ve been doing a regular cartoon for King Arthur Flour’s Baking Sheet.
The thing that gets me fired up about making the gags, is that the process takes me out of my usual work mode and into a silly-problem solving frame of mind. After I’ve made some initial sketches, I think, “What would the gag be like if I turned everything upside down? Or what would happen if aliens were really fond of pop-overs?”
As Robert Mankoff (cartoon editor of the New Yorker) says about how to make a great gag, “There really is no trickâyou just have to think of them.” And generally thinking about cartoons leads to making a lot stinkers in additions to making a few great cartoons.
That means, while I’ve made quite a few great gags that been printed in glorious ink. I’ve also amassed quite a few rejects. Some sketches just aren’t funny, some are unfinished, and some just aren’t a good fit for the brand.
Here are a few cartoons that didn’t make the cut for one reason or another, that I happen to be fond of.
