Hand-lettering in strips is one of those increasingly rare things…but I love it. Aaaand, I just need about 15 more years to master it, is all. 🙂
Lettering
Today’s strip pretty much employs every hand-font I’m capable of, I’m noticing.
Hand-lettering in strips is one of those increasingly rare things…but I love it. Aaaand, I just need about 15 more years to master it, is all. 🙂
I so rarely do autobiographical comics, but I was really struck by all the dumb bike maneuvers I have tried over the years.
Our ad slogan should pretty much be “GUYS: We’re not the brightest.”
Sheldon has been nominated for an Eisner Award…and voting is now open! You’re eligible to vote if you’re a webcomics/print creator, graphic-novel librarian, editor or comics educator.
Sheldon’s “Literature” book was nominated in the Best Humor category (category 8), and I’d appreciate your support! Register to vote, or login here to vote!
Also! I’m giving out free PDF copies of the nominated book, for you to review ‘n enjoy before you vote. I don’t have the marketing reach of the big publishers I’m up against…so all I can do is let the work speak for itself. Download your review copy (11.5 MB, PDF format) here!
Sheldon’s “Literature” book was nominated in the Best Humor category (category 8), and I’d appreciate your support! Register to vote, or login here to vote!
Also! I’m giving out free PDF copies of the nominated book, for you to review ‘n enjoy before you vote. I don’t have the marketing reach of the big publishers I’m up against…so all I can do is let the work speak for itself. Download your review copy (11.5 MB, PDF format) here!
…perhaps you remember THIS pre-Maker?
It occurred to me that audiences of my two strips — Sheldon and Drive — are developing separate lives. So some of you may not have heard that Sheldon got nominated for an Eisner Award: Specifically, in the “Best Humor” category for my book “Literature: Unsuccessfully Competing Against TV Since 1953”. Aaaaand, in better news, I’m giving away free PDF copies of the book.
Here’s why: I may not be represented by a big ol’ publisher, and may not have a gigantor marketing budget, but I do have one thing: The work itself. This book is my best stuff, and I’m really proud of it. So I’m just gonna get out of the way and let the book do the talking for me.
Download your review copy (11.5 MB, PDF format) and take a look for yourself! And if you like it, please consider it for “Best Humor Publication.” Thanks!
Who is eligible to vote in the Eisner Awards?
-Comic book/graphic novel/webcomic creators (writers, artists, cartoonists, pencillers, inkers, letterers, colorists)
– All nominees in any category
– Comic book/graphic novel publishers and editors
– Comics historians and educators
– Graphic novel librarians
– Owners and managers of comic book specialty retail stores
Hosting for this PDF-book kindly provided by Sheldon reader and software artist Wil Shipley of “Delicious Library.” (…And to repay the kindness, check out Wil’s media cataloguing application, here!)
At the 1989 Festival, Watterson spoke of the incredible potency in comic strip cartooning: This rarest of arts that let one artist, one voice, speak to millions. This artform that lets the personal outlook shine through, where so many other mass media arts do so by committee.
So to be invited, some twenty one years later, to speak at the very same gathering of professionals and academics, is magical to me. (It’s humbling beyond words, too, in a stomach-churning way…but let’s focus on the magical aspect of it.)
Because, the funny thing? The thing I want to talk about? Is actually that very same Watterson speech from 1989. Or rather, to offer a loving and respectful rebuttal to it, from 21 years on. I want to speak to his concerns about the space allotted comic strips in newspapers; about zombie comic strips still being drawn long after their original creator had died; about why so many features have stale, interchangeable voices; or why so many are merely advertisements for dolls and greeting cards; or why comic strips in general have been on this slow, downward trend of diminishment in American life for the past 20-30 years
Because basically, I’m going to talk about this incredible change of fortune for the comic strip. I’m going to talk about Webcomics.
I’m going to talk about how this process of removing the middle men — the disintermediation from syndicates, editors, newspapers, distributors, publishers and their ilk…and the resulting freedom it allows — has given comic strips this amazing new lease on life. A renaissance that will produce some of the most personal, powerful work that comics have ever seen. It’s already happening: And with features and cartoonists who do not have to homogenize their unique voices; who do not have to give up their copyrights, trademarks, or any semblance of decision-making in torturous syndicate contracts; who speak with pure, unfiltered voices, writing comics that never would’ve been possible under previous methods of distributing art. And who, most importantly, are producing amazing, amazing work.
The short of it is: The medium of newspapers may be dying, but the artform of comic strips is not dying with it. In fact, the future for comic strips has never been brighter.
It’s drawn in lightfast, archival inks on acid-free, vellum Bristol stock. The cardstock measures 9.5 x 10.5 inches, while the drawn image is roughly 9 x 10.5 inches. There are no mistakes or corrections in the artwork itself, so it will frame up really cool.
And if you’d like, I’m happy to personalize the piece to whoever ends up snagging it. Something nice like: “To the coolest person I’ve ever met, with thanks for saving my life from sharks that one time: I totally owe you forever. All my love, Dave.” Something like that. Or maybe something totally different! Maybe you’d prefer it to say “a T-Rex” instead of “sharks”. TOTALLY YOUR CALL.
Anyway! I’m starting the bidding at one penny, as I’d rather leave it up to you to decide what it’s worth. And shipping is free within the US! So if you’re interested, head over and throw your hat into the ring!
I’m giving out free PDF copies of my Eisner-nominated book, “Literature: Unsuccessfully Competing Against TV Since 1953,” for your consideration in the “Best Humor” category.
Here’s why: I may not be represented by a big ol’ publisher, may not have a cadre of employees, and may not have a gigantor marketing and promotions budget, but I do have one thing: The work itself. This book is my best stuff, and I’m really proud of it. So I’m just gonna get out of the way and let the book do the talking for me.
Download your review copy (11.5 MB, PDF format) and take a look for yourself! And if you like it, please consider it for “Best Humor Publication.” Thanks!
-Comic book/graphic novel/webcomic creators (writers, artists, cartoonists, pencillers, inkers, letterers, colorists)
– All nominees in any category
– Comic book/graphic novel publishers and editors
– Comics historians and educators
– Graphic novel librarians
– Owners and managers of comic book specialty retail stores
Hosting for this PDF-book kindly provided by Sheldon reader and software artist Wil Shipley of “Delicious Library.” (…And to repay the kindness, check out Wil’s media cataloguing application, here!)
