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I originally did a more realistic, less Schultz-design-oriented Mr. Van Pelt, which I based on the Phillip North-Beardsley kid from the old Lucy/Henry Fonda Yours, Mine, and Ours film, because I was, for years, convinced that the kid was the voice of Linus. Turns out I was wrong (not WAY wrong - turns out it was that kid's little brother), but I always envisioned real-life-counterpart Linus as being that kid. But it looked weird to have a non-Schultz design, and I thought the Peanuts purists might call for my blood. So here's the traditional Christmas Linus. If you haven't watched the special yet this year, shame on you. It's tradition.
It wouldn't be the holidays without Gormaanda.
Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs.
I haven't seen this movie in forever (I don't have it on DVD, only VHS) and so the depiction is from memory. If there are details wrong, chalk it up to interpretive recollection.
The second drawing is of ol' Balthazar!
Balthazar, one of the three kings, possibly a Zoroastrian, immortalized in the brilliant Franco Zeffirelli movie Jesus of Nazareth by James Earl Jones, and played with regularity throughout my childhood by my dad in the opera Amahl and the Night Visitors. It's a great bass part, and I had the opportunity to play Amahl alongside him when I was about eleven.
Yeah, yeah, I know, the twelve days of Christmas come AFTER Christmas, but so what? Our culture has firmly embedded the idea of the countdown into my psyche, and for me Christmas spirit is usually sapped by noon of the 25th, so therefore I am starting on the thirteenth and working my way to the big day itself. Each day for the next twelve, I'll be posting a drawing of a holiday character. Some may be obscure, some may be heavily popularized, but all will be drenching with yuletide cheer!
Day #1: Jacob Marley!
 In other news, the signings went very well, the break from classes is going nicely, and the missus and I went to go see the Terra Cotta Army of Chin Shi Huang at the museum today for my b-day, which was AMAZING. And those "life-size" reproductions you see? A big ripoff. For one, the figures are mostly whiteish-green (they're usually depicted reddish brown, black and brown), and for another they're almost all well over six feet tall, and quite a few were taller than me. All the repros I've seen are five feet at most. Just so you know!
First off, here's a comic I did in September for Danger Park's wonderful anthology SUBTERRANEAN #1. Mine is but one of many truly excellent comics by folks like Falynn Koch, Kevin Burkhalter, Jarrett Williams, Jeremy Sorese, John Chad, and many more, including the excellent Danger Park guys themselves. If you see this comic at a show, GET IT! You won't regret it.
(note: this is bigger than my blog allows, so just right-click on the drawing and choose "view image." It'll open a new window with the drawing in it, and may require you to click it once to allow you to bring it to its regular size. Sorry for the hastle, but shrunk to the blog size you can't read the words!)
Also, go get some Carl Barks Uncle Scrooge comics. Right now.
Okay, that out of the way, I've been meaning to post some press stuff. Here it is:
Interview with Newarama, by Chris Arrant
Interview with the Temple of Cartoon Mojo by Nolan Woodard
Review on Read About Comics by Greg McElhatton
Review on Kleefeld on Comics by Sean Kleefeld
Review on Shazhmmm… by Hillary Brown & Garrett Martin
Plus there's a fairly lengthy review of Crogan's Vengeance on the SEQALAB podcast. It's episode #52, and it's from 46:20 until 56:20.
This one’s available either to listen to through the internet, or go to the itunes store and type in “seqalab.” It’s free, and you can download it and listen to it at your convenience. It's a fun podcast, and good for keeping up with comics news what our friends in Savannah are up to.
Next week I'll have a few more press things to put up (a couple more interviews), so feel free to check back!
The Temple of Cartoon Mojo's sketch challenge this upcoming week is Indiana Jones. How could I resist?
Um, I can always use holiday money, so if anyone wants to buy the original (it's about 4.25" x 7.25"), shoot me an e-mail. It's $45, and that includes shipping. I really love this one, but if I keep it it'll end up in a stack of like thirty other drawings.
Okay, now here are the details for the upcoming signings:
• Saturday, November 22nd • Clarksville, TN • 2-4PM • BORDERS • Signing with Sketches
• Monday, November 24th • Murray, KY • MURRAY STATE UNIVERSITY • 4PM • Faulty Hall Room #208
Lecture: Higher Education & Making Comics: The Skills You Need And The Opportunity You Have to Hone Them
Signing and Sketches to follow
• Saturday, November 29th • Hopkinsville, KY • 3-6PM • BOOKS ON MAIN (in the front of Coffee, And...) • Signing with Sketches
Falynn Koch came by SCAD today. Her stuff is great; check it out.
A couple of cartoonist friends were visiting a couple of weeks ago, and I realized that I should snag their visages in order to design my comic-relief duo in the foreign legion book. Here are some sketches... ...and one actual drawing. Whether the design will tweak more before I actually hit pages, I can't say.
The plot of the new book has been completely written out, and is fairly tight. I'll be revising it heavily over the next couple of weeks, in order to get it to where I can jump to pages as soon as the Winter Break begins. I still have to nail down a few character deigns, but I've got a good feeling overall.
I also drew this fish-man. I read a few (my first) H.P. Lovecraft stories to get revved up for Thanksgiving, and I loved them, especially Call of Cthulhu and Shadow Over Insmouth, the latter of which prominently features some horrifying toadish fishmen. I've been sketching 'em like crazy ever since!
At SPX a couple of weeks ago I finally saw the printed copy of my book! It sold well (we sold out of the 3 cases we had shipped in for the show) and it looks great - the paper quality is nice, the ink took well, the cover looks fantastic - I couldn't be happier with the production quality.   
The tan color will stay the same on each book, but the red will change - the next one is likely blue, one might be green, etc. Plus the spine picture will change each time. $14.99! The 29th date isn't going to happen because of early customs hold-ups, but it's on its way now and will be on shelves November 12th!
The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy. A quick wrap up:
• Got an amazing car from my grandmother - a 1990 Honda Accord wagon with only 30-something thousand miles on it.
• Subterranean #1 came out with my Carl Barks story.
• Officiated a wedding for my old friends Dusty Huber and Melissa Underwood (now Huber) in KY.
• Drove to KY in second gear when our transmission sensor broke in the new car.
• Paid lots and lots to have it fixed, but am happy because the mechanics went over every inch and can see no other foreseeable future car problems.
• Took part in SCAD-Atlanta's 24-Hour art challenge where I wrote and pencilled a story but then decide to build an enviromental maquette of an overgrown gorilla temple rather than ink it.
• Got to visit with Liz's mom and brother when they drove our car back to ATL for us.
• Got the November issue of Nickelodeon magazine which has one of my cartoons in it (pick it up! It's got the "Madagascar" animals on the cover).
• Sold a full-page comic to Nickelodeon that will be in some upcoming issue (I'll keep you posted).
• Am planning for SCAD-Atlanta's Publisher's Forum this weekend, where we'll host James Lucas Jones from Oni, Axel Alonso from Marvel, and Chris Staros from Top Shelf.
• Set up some signings for November - times will be posted in the "About" section soon.
- November 22nd • Clarksville, TN • Borders
- November 24th • Murray, KY • Murray State University • Lecture and Signing
- November 29th • Hopkinsville, KY • Books on Main
• Made it past the mid-term week of classes (the students are great), plus got my tentative teaching schedule for the next year and a half.
• Have gotten really into maquette building.
• Lost my keys in Washingtom, DC.
That's the high points, I guess. Whew! I'll try to post more often (but I always say that).
Hey, folks! Sorry it's been such a long time since my last post. Last week was the first week of classes, and between teaching, writing up a script sample, tweaking a Nick comic, and doing freelance work I've been swamped. Speaking of Nick stuff, the October issue of Nick (Nickelodeon) Magazine has two gags in it by yours truly, and the November issue will have one. Also (and thanks to John and Doug for the heads up) Crogan's Vengeance is on Wizard Magazine's "Pull List," comics to get over the following month, on page 16 of the October issue. Here's a pic that Doug Dabbs scanned for me:
Anyway, I haven't had a chance to make any new minis, and the Small Press Expo is speeding ever closer (2 weeks???!!!!!). Anyway, I thought that mayb it would be fun to do a 12 page little sketchbook/pinup book, something with a name like "Other People's Comics." Characters that I like. Anyway, here are the results.
Okay, so that's a lot of sketches. I still have one more to do, I think. Anyway, hope everyone is doing well, and I expect to see a few of you at SPX!
Okay, I'm putting together some of my promo stuff for the Small Press Expo in D.C., and I'm going to be making some bookmarks, basically to cement that the Crogan Adventures is a series in the minds of folks who buy the first book. Anyway, here are two designs I've come up with, and I could really use some opinions as to what you think might be best.
The one on the left is a little more dynamic, but the one on the right makes better use of the vertical canvas and may give a better sense of setting.
And yes, I know he's missing a hand; I screwed it up and have to redraw it. I may do away with the flying sweat-beads, too, as they might compete with the flying splinters for attention.
Anyway, thoughts? Which would get you more interested in the book?
First, a picture of Porco Rosso, the Crimson Pig, from Miyazaki's wonderful animated film of the same name. Porco is a seaplane pilot who hunts sky pirates in the Adriatic sea in the late twenties. Oh, and he's been turned into a pig.
I've been getting stuff together for Fall classes - I'll be teaching three: Drawing for Storyboarding, Animation Layout and Character Design, and Animation Aesthetics and Practice (a very theory-oriented class). Needless to say, I'm looking forward to all of them.
I'm still working on the research for Crogan's March, but things are slowly and surely starting to form, so expect updates with that,
The Decatur Book Festival was this weekend, and it was lots of fun. There were quite a few cartoonist and graphic novel-centric panels, so it was a great opportunity to see some out-of-town friends. Also to consume lots and lots of good farmers-market cheeses.
Lastly, Jill Beaton at Oni is going to be making up some Crogan's Vengeance buttons for SPX. Here are the designs I did for them (still have one more to go):
I've also made a pallette for myself, in photoshop - It's about three rows of earth tone-heaviness, with a few blues and vibrant reds dropped in.
Wow! Sorry to have not update for so long. It’s been an extremely busy month, helping with the final cover design (though all credit goes to Keith Wood)…
…finishing my thesis, applying to SCAD-Atlanta, etc.
Kevin Burkhalter and Jarrett Williams came by a couple of weeks ago and spent a couple of nights with us. It was great to see them. They’re wonderful cartoonists, yes, but they’re darn fun guys, too. Here are a few panels from Kevin’s Journal Comic that memorialize the occasion:
The black thing on my neck is a bandana, in case you’re wondering. It’s a bib, napkin, pocketknife cleaner, and jaunty scarf all in one.
Also, Dan – the guy for whom I did the Usagi drawing a few posts back – read that post and was kind enough to send me a scan of the inks, which I had forgotten to get. I colored the picture, and here it is:
I’m really pleased with how it turned out. I must’ve thumbnailed that thing two dozen times before landing on the right final product. I also have been reading (and watching) a lot of Tintin lately. I know that having Captain Haddock as one’s favorite character isn’t particularly original, but he’s just the best. Here’s the first of what will probably be many quick drawings of him over the next few months:
In other news, I’m going to be updating the website for the first time since, well, just about ever. New images, new comics, new section (press instead of links). As all of my links are on the side of my blog, it’s probably silly to keep a links section, so instead I’ll be posting links to interviews and reviews and stuff, of which there already a few.
Oh! And I’ll be teaching at SCAD-Atlanta in the fall, so if you’re wanting to learn comics and are thinking about going for your masters, call in for a catalog.
To wrap up, here’s the text from the back of the book:
"Crogan's Vengeance is a marvelous swashbuckling tale. I’m already anxiously awaiting a sequel, or six. Chris Schweizer is an amazingly talented cartoonist with an ear for dialogue and an eye for great storytelling."
- Stan Sakai , creator of Usagi Yojimbo
"Catfoot" Crogan was content with his life as an honest sailor. He never wanted to be a pirate and he never dreamed he'd wind up at odds with the most dangerous buccaneer ever to sail the Spanish Main! But there's more to this fight for "Catfoot" than just staying alive. Fierce sword-fights, harrowing naval battles, and ravenous sharks are nothing in the face of Crogan's Vengeance!
An ongoing series of adventure graphic novels, the Crogan Adventures chronicles the patriarchy of a fantastic fictional family! Follow the fathers and sons of the Crogan line through continents and centuries as cartoonist Chris Schweizer deftly recounts the trials and tribulations of these extraordinary men. It all starts here with Crogan's Vengeance!
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