SISTER MARY DRACULA by Gerry Mooney

My friend Gerry Mooney has finished his SISTER MARY DRACULA graphic novel. He sent me a copy, which I read and liked very much. I'm posting some information and links below that Gerry sent. Please consider looking at SISTER MARY DRACULA.

Take it away, Gerry:

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press release
For immediate release

Sister Mary Dracula Halloween Treat, No Trick!

For the month of October, you can read "Sister Mary Dracula", the graphic novel by Gerry Mooney, online at www.sistermarydracula.com.

The 103-page story, in the works for 4-1/2 years and completed this summer, tells the tale of Terry Malloy, a ten-year-old at St. Egregius the Stricter Catholic School, who is convinced that his teacher is a vampire. Even his best friends think he's crazy.

Sister Mary Dracula began as a Flash animation created in 2000. It gained a following online and was selected to be shown at the San Diego Comic Con's Independent Film Festival in 2004. The animation can still be seen on the Sister Mary Dracula website.

Gerry Mooney has been drawing funny for most of his life, doing humorous illustration in the New York market for 20 years for such clients as Forbes, Parents Magazine, American Express, The Daily News, Newsweek, Mad and lots more, including a dozen covers for The New Republic.

His humorous feature "Mooney's Modules" (www.mooneysmodules.com) appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine for three years and spawned the now-legendary Gravity Poster (www.thegravityposter.com) which has sold over 4,000 copies and has been cited in Scientific American.

Lately Gerry has moved into animation and is developing independent projects as well as being involved currently in two online animation jams, one of which is Bill Plympton's "Guard Dog" animation jam, a project that includes 70 animators from all over the world, each one animating a single shot from the five minute short.

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A real paper edition of the graphic novel will be available later this month.

Related: I reviewed the first chapter of SMD when it was released as a comic book in 2007.

THE OATMEAL's Matthew Inman Interview

There are some NSFW images and words linked below. Above: a recent OATMEAL cartoon.

Matthew Inman is best known as the cartoonist who draws THE OATMEAL. OATMEAL is described as "one of the Web's top cartoons" in this Seattle News Weekly profile by Abe Aboraya.

He isn't a waiter/cartoonist or a barista/cartoonist or a housepainter/cartoonist. He's not even a freelance computer geek/cartoonist. He stopped doing that work a year ago. Now, at 28, he draws comics, posts them to his website, sells merch, and turns a serious profit.

This is good news, and then the writer writes at length about Mr. Inman's cartoons. Sounds like Mr. Aboraya is a fan.

Now, what's a serious profit?

Well, here it is -- and this whole paragraph is just unbelievable:

Inman didn't know how much he was making until a few weeks ago, when he sat down and did some tallying for the Weekly. He estimates his take-home pay for 2010 will be just over a half-million dollars.

Uh .... if I was making that kind of money, I would know. It's hard to believe that a fellow as savvy as Mr. Inman appears to be has no idea that a half a million will be in his pocket this year.

The Business Model is Dead, Long Live the Business Model

Nate Anderson writes about the XKCD Web comic by Randall Munroe in his Ars Technica piece titled Disruption: How One Webcomic Welcomes the Future That so Many Fear.

"Munroe's approach to 'protecting' his content might be best defined as 'lenient'

"'You are welcome to reprint occasional comics pretty much anywhere (presentations, papers, blogs with ads, etc),' he writes. 'If you're not outright merchandising, you're probably fine. Just be sure to attribute the comic to xkcd.com.'

"Somehow, giving the comic away for free has turned into a lucrative business for the now full-time cartoonist."

More here.

Related: Randall Munroe draws Cory Doctorow ("who likes to draw me as a superhero in cape and goggles") for the cover of a new limited edition book of Doctorow's.

Cartoonist Tim Buckley on "Americanized" DOCTOR WHO

There are rumors that DOCTOR WHO will be transferred overseas and redone as a US TV series. Bringing UK shows over to the US and retooling them for American audiences in nothing new, and there have been some commercial and critical successes (ALL IN THE FAMILY, SANFORD AND SON, THREE'S COMPANY) -- but also a good share of downright, absolute failures. (I'm thinking of the 3 bad remakes of FAWLTY TOWERS -- with Harvey Korman, Bea Arthur and John Larroquette -- there are others, many others.)

Anyway, so DOCTOR WHO -- which can be seen on BBC America -- is quintessentially British and I cannot imagine how or why a US version would be better.

Tim Buckley's cartoon take on a US version is, sadly (and funnily) spot on.

Hat tip to Discover Magazine.

Related: Wikipedia's (Incomplete) list of American TV shows based on British TV shows.

VELIA, DEAR by Rina Piccolo

Rina Piccolo announces a new Webcomic: her own VELIA, DEAR. The comic begins today, with updates every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Rina's new strip is "a humorous look at the life of Velia, a young woman who trades her inner city lifestyle to move in with her aging Italian mother."

Rina notes:

"While I continue to love the world of the newspaper comics page, I just feel I have so much more to give, and — I gotta tell you — the independence of an on-line strip, with its liberties and lack of censorship, sounds like a hat I want to try on right now, just for laughs.

"Oh, and something more … I’ll be blogging often — not just words, but cartoons and comics, too. Check in regularly here and at rinapiccolo.com and I promise I’ll try not to bore you."

Yes, this is in addition to Rina's own 2 syndicated comic strips (TINA'S GROOVE, SIX CHIX) and her gag cartoon output. Not to mention her work in the SYNCOPATED COMICS books.

This may make her the hardest working woman in the comics biz!

Draw, Rina, draw!

Related: From August 8, 2006: A Visit to Rina Piccolo's Studio.

Interview: Trade Loeffler

I remember seeing Trade Loeffler's ZIP & LI'L BIT "The Upside Down Me" and being impressed with the story and art. I sent him an email and told him point blank: I am a fan.

We emailed back and forth about his comics and cartoons in general, and slowly found out that we both lived in Brooklyn at the time. After a couple more emails, we realized we lived within a couple of blocks of each other. Since then, we've gotten together for beers and burgers, and become pals.

ZIP & LI'L BIT, the Web comic that he created, began in 2006. They are a series of all-ages friendly adventures of a brother and sister.

2010 brings us his new ZIP & LI'L BIT story, "The Captain's Quest," which began last Sunday. And Trade's first work in print, ZIG AND WIKKI IN "SOMETHING ATE MY HOMEWORK," has just been published by Toon Books.


Above and the below 2 panels: the beginning of the mystery of "The Upside Down Me."

Your ZIP & LI'L BIT stories seem inspired by McCay and Sendak (and maybe a wee bit of Lewis Carroll), who dealt with kids in strange dreams and having to use their wits to resolve their situation. This latest one promises to maybe have some hints of Segar. What cartoonists do you think of when producing ZIP & LI'L BIT?

I've definitely been inspired by all the artists you just mentioned. I would also list all the artists who worked on the old Disney cartoons and movies as having a tremendous influence on Zip and Li'l Bit.

How far ahead do you work? Is the story finished as of now or do you still have to write the ending? What percentage of the art is done before you post the first page on average?

The written portion of The Captain's Quest is finished. Other than the thumbnails I'll draw out as I'm writing, I won't do any artwork until I've got the story figured out. I find that I usually have to re-work my stories quite a few times before I'm happy with them. As far as the artwork goes, now that I've started posting the strip, I'm about ten pages ahead. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep that buffer there for the whole run of the story, but it's tough to keep up sometimes with a job and a kid.

What part is your favorite: the writing or the drawing?

The writing is definitely my favorite. I've always got a good idea of what's going to happen, or what needs to happen in a story, but I never know how it's going to happen. Figuring that out is always surprising to me and that's the funnest part of the whole process I think.


What is your workspace like?

Well, since I live in the city, my workspace is small and cramped. I've got my computer set up in our living room, and my drawing table is actually a dresser from IKEA. It's kind of silly because the surface of the dresser isn't even particularly smooth, so when I'm drawing or inking and I need a line to be nice and clean, I'll have to move the paper so it's over the smooth parts of the dresser. That probably doesn't sound too professional, does it?

What tools do you use when you draw?

I use markers. When I started drawing comics, I tried using those because they were nice and quick and I always told myself that as I got better, I'd switch over to a brush and ink, but those dang pens are so nice and quick for me, I haven't made the switch yet. Someday…

What cartoonists' work do you enjoy buying and reading now?

John Stanley's Thirteen Going on Eighteen is hands down the best comic book I've read lately. Richard Thompson's Cul de Sac strip is awesome! I've gotten my whole family hooked on that one.


Are there any plans for ZIP & LI'L BIT stuff to buy: books, t-shirts?

I wish I could say yes to that, but sadly the answer at this point in time is no.

You illustrated the book ZIG AND WIKKI IN "SOMETHING ATE MY HOMEWORK," which will be out soon from TOON Books. How did you get the gig?

The editor at RAW Junior, Francoise Mouly, had seen Zip and Li'l Bit online and contacted me about doing a book for her TOON Books series, which is a series of comic books created for early readers. The lineup of artists and writers that have created books for the series is amazing, and the books are fantastic. My son who's six years old reads them over and over and over, which is the best endorsement you can give for a kids' book. Can I give a shameless plug for the TOON Books site? Go to: http://www.toonbooks.com/



Was it more challenging working with a writer and editor (Francoise Mouly) on ZIG AND WIKKI than doing your Web comic by yourself?

The big challenge for me was that it was the first time I'd done a lot of things. It was the first book I'd done for print. It was my first time working with an editor. It was my first time collaborating with a writer on a comic. The writer of the ZIG AND WIKKI book is Nadja Spiegelman (who is Francoise and Art's daughter), and the characters she came up with for the story were awesome, which was also challenging because then I had to come up with illustrations that could do justice to Nadja's characters. Overall, I think everyone was really happy with the finished product. I'm definitely proud of how the book turned out. I hope that kids will dig it.

What did it feel like when you saw it on the shelf at your local Rocketship Comic Book Store in Brooklyn?

I don't know if I should say this, but I wasn't as excited as I'd expected. I had finished work on the book awhile ago and had advance copies and all, so when I saw the book in the store, it didn't seem like that big of a deal. Now, if they're all sold out next time I go in the store, I'll be ecstatic.

Above: some behind the scenes images from Trade Loeffler's "Storytelling 101" series.

Your wife is a successful working actress. Do you show her your work in progress?

Yes, I make my wife look at my comics as I'm working on them. Thankfully, she puts up with it and just gives me encouragement.

Will there a fourth ZIP & LI'L BIT? What future projects will there be?

There will definitely be a fourth Zip and Li'l Bit. I started writing it a while back, hit a wall with it, and have now started getting back into it. It's got some great characters that I'm really excited about. I don't know what projects other than that I'll have going on in the future. I've got a really fun twenty page story that doesn't star Zip and Li'l Bit that I've got written, I just don't know when I'll get a chance to do the artwork. If I could quit my job, that'd leave me more time to spend drawing and I could post more comics. Pray for me to win the lottery, will you?

Julie Larson: Making Newspaper Comics Pay

I was nodding with agreement as I read Julie Larson's (THE DINETTE SET) analysis of the newspaper comics industry ("No Laughing Matter," by Steve Tartar for today's Peoria Journal Star).

"Cartoons are directly tied to the fate of the newspaper, Larson said. When the Seattle Post-Intelligencier dropped its print edition last year to produce an online-only publication, Larson saw her compensation drop from $375 for four Sunday strips to $40.

"Larson recently decided to drop her affiliation with Creators Syndicate. Instead, she plans to market 'The Dinette Set' herself."

By taking the duties of marketing and networking THE DINETTE SET away from the syndicate, she may save the money that the syndicate was charging, but now there's that new challenge of balancing the business side of the long-running panel with the creative side.

Tartar goes on to get a few views of the state of comics today. I'm a big believer that the comics page is like TV: you don't necessarily look at everything. My "stale and recycled" poison is another person's meat.

Mike Gioia and roommate Alex Tuller,who create a Web strip APOKALIPS, are featured as part of the "new model" of cartooning, which isn't making them money -- but they still love it. And Mike can afford to love it, he splits the rent with Alex and he works fulltime for a Manhattan office of PricewaterhouseCooper. This is not a "new model" for a working cartoonist, this is cartooning as hobby.

From the article:

"'The Internet is the monster that ate reason, a thief in the night that turned loyalty to a 150-year profession into a homeless shadow of itself,' she said. 'There needs to be a way to compensate cartoonists fairly or there will be no more comics.'"

I think Julie's wrong about this. There will always be comics, but more and more of them will be drawn by people like Mike Gioia, who has the fulltime job and the health coverage that allow him the luxury of creating a cartoon for free.

Hat tip to Tom Spurgeon for this. Thanks, Tom.

Related: Mike Lynch Cartoons: Monetizing Your Cartoons.

Julia Wertz: I F***ing Love Food

I liked Julia Wertz' "There Are Certain Kinds of Foods I Can't Stop Eating Once I Start" cartoon today at her Fart Party site.

Today's HI AND LOIS Talks About Webcomics

Today's HI AND LOIS talks about the Webcomics economy. The entire strip is here.


Via Dave Kellett who got it from Gary Tyrrell. Thank you!