Author: Smeary Soapbox Press

Handcrafted comics since 1985!

“First words”

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My longtime friend and fellow cartoonist Larned Justin passed away unexpectedly last week. While I only had the opportunity to meet him in person a few times over the two and a half decades we knew each other, we traveled a pretty parallel path thru much of the self-published comics scene. He was an early contributor to my Watusi jam comics, and an enthusiastic supporter of self-published and small press comics of all kinds. You can read my full appreciation of Larned here.

It was hard to select just one of Larned’s Watusi comics to share here, but this one showcases his love of parody, silly gags and bigfoot cartooning as well as any of them. And he even gets the final panel! It originally appeared in Watusi the Talking Dog #40, along with Watusi “origins” by a slew of other cartoonists.

“Showtime!”

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While I try to stay true to the four panel/one page rule I established for these jam comic starters, sometimes I can’t help but go long … and to include both the airport and the concert in the setup, that’s what I felt was needed …

I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk a bit about Boney Orlando: while I introduced the concept of Watusi’s favorite singer back in Watusi #10 (March 2004) with this very starter strip, it wasn’t until Watusi #25 (March 2008) that the inimitable Tom Cherry put a face to the performer, a face that I’ve used in his appearances ever since that time. Thanks, Tom!

For those of you in the Memphis area, the third annual Memphis Libraries Comic Con is happening this Saturday from 10-3! It’s a FREE event, and I’ll be there with lotsa my comics, including the newest Watusi issues! Hope to see you there!

“April showers bring… (Generational flood edition)”

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While I’d sketched this one up awhile ago (with the intention to save it for April), I had a stronger connection it after the rainfall Memphis (and much of the Mississippi’s watershed, actually) suffered a little over a week ago. At least headline writers have given up calling these storms “100 year” storms, even if it feels like “generational” won’t be accurate for long…

In more cheerful news, the East Buntyn ArtWalk is just 10 days away! Look for me, along with a selection of my comics, prints, and drawings, at 490 Prescott (the same host yard as last year). I’ll be paired there with mosaicist Susan Ferkin, and it should be a great time, as the ArtWalk always is! Fingers crossed for a dry weekend…

“You win a few… (Chuck Jones memorial edition)”

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Another “solo” finish to my stash of jam comic starter panels from Watusi’s early years, and another stab at digital inking (I’m feeling more comfortable with it). When I started this lark of a project to see what I could come up with for the starter panels, I didn’t think I’d be at it this long… or enjoying it this much! This one had me trying to capture Chuck Jones’ Grinchy smile; kind of hard to do with my minimal linework style (and in a static format), but I think I came close…

You can read another comic made using this starter panel here.