The Lost Unintentional Adventures Of Danders

Here we have a mystery. In May of 2007, Danders was launched in a toy truck, exited Blisshaven Preschool and disappeared into the Metro subway system. At one point the class went on a field trip to the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum. I know this because I lent a few pages to the Museum to put on a wall somewhere in an area accessible only to the staff. But the rest of it, about 3 or 4 pages, went missing, like Danders.

I do remember that Danders bumps into a Smithsonian employee on the Metro. Who then press-gangs him into  the Mammals exhibit by offering him a high-visibility PR position for his species. This turns out to be standing in a display case with embarrassing guinea pig facts on a little sign.

He's eventually rescued, but I don't remember exactly how. Anybody save the Washington Post Magazine from May to June, 2007? A substantial reward will be yours if you step forward in the next 15 seconds.

The Magnificent Six

Tomorrow you'll notice a slight difference in Cul de Sac. For one thing, the strip be so full of energy it'll actually move around on the page (it might even read itself to you)! That's because it'll be drawn by the ace cartoonist and master animator Mighty Michael Jantze! Mike very kindly agreed to take over the strip for a week to give me time to laze around the house and eat store-bought pie.

Mike's week of CdS leads the way for a month or so of guest artists, all of whom will make you forget I ever even tried to draw the thing. At least until I show up in a month or so and forcibly remind you. Other luminaries doing Otterloop duty will be Magnificent Mo Willems, Lordly Lincoln Peirce, Superior Stephan Pastis, Cool Corey Pandolph and Keen Ken Fisher*. For a more detailed and informative article about this, please visit Mike Cavna's Comic Riffs blog or a brief article on the size of my feet at Robot 6.

I'm speechless with delight that I'll get more time to laze around and eat pie. And I can't wait to see if they'll come up with gags I can reuse years from now, with a little tweaking.

These guys are my heroes!

*Better known as Ruben Bolling's lawyer

The Unintentional Adventures Of Danders in Hi-Def 3-D, Part 3

Oh what the heck, here's the rest of it.

The end.

The Unintentional Adventures Of Danders in Hi-Def 3-D, Part 2

We return to our epic from days gone by, featuring a character unseen for some years.

It was right about here that I figured out that Danders is protean by nature; he's mutable, capable of infinite variation, surviving by assimilation and camouflage. Or maybe he's just so bland that he's forever confused for something or someone else. He's such a dull little lump that no one notices he's not what they think he is.

This strip cracks me up still, after 8 years. I think it's because he's lost sight of the whole point of his job, and I like his piratical gobbledy-gook.

Whatever, I still distrust talking animals.

Eight

Cul de Sac is now eight years old, having launched in the Washington Post Magazine in its 2004 Valentine's Day issue. Above is the first sketch and the drawing used on the Post Mag cover the week it debuted. Originally it was going to be on the plastic bag holding the paper too, but that didn't happen. Which is a relief, as it might've scared away Post readers and depressed sales.

This proto-Alice is a little weirder looking than the more recent model. But I like the sketch a lot, and I wish I could draw the strips so loosely. Drawing things in little boxes cramps looseness and forces the lines to behave and stay in place. Especially when they have to share the available space with words which, for reasons of coherence, get more elbow room and the choice spot in each panel.

The Unintentional Adventures Of Danders - Now in Hi-Def 3-D

My newest ambition is to be the George Lucas of the comic strip. To this end I'll be reissuing some really old Cul de Sacs in unnecessary spiffy new hi-res scans! We'll start with episodes 1 and 2 of Mr. Danders first unintentional adventure from way back in March of 2005-

Actually, I'm doing these for the Italian comics magazine Linus and figured I might as well feed 'em to the blog too. More episodes to come...

Westminster Dog Show

I drew this in early 2003 for Washingtonian Magazine, one of the few pieces I did for them. Every year when the Westminster Dog Show rolls around, like clockwork, I forget to post it.

Dang

That is one incredible list. I'm speechless.

More Holy Tango

Her are a few more caricatures from Francis Heaney's Holy Tango of Literature. You'll remember that Francis took the author's name, anagramized it and used the result as the author's work, which he then turned into a parody of that author's work.

Matsuo Bashō, HAS B.O. a haiku. "Why is that monk still wearing, Winter robes in June?"

Geraldine Brooks, WE LONG BONY DORKS. "We long bony dorks We  Real big on quarks. We  Quote Python lines. We  know arcs and sines."

Emily Dickinson, SKINNY DOMICILE. "That's why I don't go out that much- I can't fit through that Portal. How dumb- to waste my Social Life On Plans to be- immortal-"

Robert Frost, BRR FOOTREST. "My house is cozy, warm, and small, With just one thing that wrecks it all: The ottoman that makes me fall, The ottoman that makes me fall."

A.A.Milne, AN E-MAIL. "Whatever I do, there's always Pooh, there's always Pooh and Me. 'Let's write an r-mail,' I say to Pooh. "That sounds like a wonderful thing to do,' He says. I say, 'I think so to.'"

Samuel Beckett, BAKE ME CUTLETS. Drammatis Personae: VLADIMIR,  the co-host of a cooking show  ESTRAGON, the other co-host   LUCKY, their guest

Cul de Sac for February 5, 2012

This is the last Sunday I drew before my hiatus. It's one of those strips that tickles me no end, which is kinda rare.What I most enjoy is a strip that spins in a circle then takes off in an unexpected direction and this one does that if nothing else. I hit a wall in writing it until the phrase "spray cheese" popped into my head then all the pieces fell into place (note to playwrights, novelists & New Yorker short story writers; when in a bind think "spray cheese"). Otherwise the only thing I struggled with was the expression on Alice's face. That took a stack of paper and half a bottle of ProWhite to achieve; you'll note the relative stiffness in Alice's face in the first panel after I'd tweaked it into lifelessness. By the third panel I had it down.

Alice, you'll remember, has tried to wink before.

UPDATE: Regarding "squince" - I was too late. Though mine incorporated "wink." For what that's worth.

Newt Gingrich Caricatures- Post 'Em If You Got 'Em

I've posted the Newt above before. I don't remember what the story was (probably a piece about his post-speakership life), but it was drawn for US News & World Report. As was the one below-

Which was pretty obviously for a story on Newt's departure from the Speakership of the House in 1998. I like the upper drawing better than the lower, though the flag background in the second looks good. My chances to post old drawings of Newt Gingrich are running out, so I'm grabbing them while I can. Like I've said, he's fun to draw, with that enormous, tetradodecahedral head and that teeny, obnoxious mouth. Sometimes I really miss drawing caricatures.

Holy Tango of Literature

 I tried to find this drawing of Robert Burns last week for Burns Day but I looked in all the wrong places. I drew it to illustrate a great book, the Holy Tango of Literature by the polymathical word-sleight-of-handist Francis Heaney. The trick that Francis played here is to take a well known writer and anagramize his or her name into a title from which he spins a parody. Thus Robert Burns becomes "Robber Runts," in which the great Scots poet is bedeviled by "Wee, sneaky, glowrin, vill'nous thiefies" in rhythms so Burnsian that it screams to be read aloud by Craig Ferguson.

My favorite is Heaney's remix of William Blake, titled "Likable Wilma," which I'll quote entire:

Wilma, Wilma, in thy blouse,

Red-haired prehistoric spouse,

What immortal animator,

Was thy slender waist's creator?


When the Rubble clan moved in,

Was Betty jealous of thy skin?

Thy noble nose, thy dimpled knee?

Did he who penciled Fred draw thee?


Wilma, Wilma, burning bright, ye

Cartoon Goddess Aphrodite, 

Was it Hanna or Barbera

Made thee hot as a caldera?

I'll post more as I find them. All literature (c) Francis Heaney

Something Unseasonal

This is from 2006, though I shortened it for a daily in 2008. It's just been freshly scanned for a project and I thought I might as well post it here. This is exactly how I handled the news that it was time to leave the beach, and I still do.

That Time Again

Again. Or this.

Fan Art Sunday

This blog has a long and noble tradition of posting art by fans of Cul de Sac, most of whom draw a whole lot better than the regular guy. One such is Austin Milne, who sent in this deft portrayal of Alice, Petey and Dad. He says he's drawn them all, "from Alice's imagination," which I like because it shows he's figured out the whole point if the strip. And when he's got a moment, I hope he'll explain it to me.

I'm kidding. Thank you very much, Austin! Continue to draw every day, splash around with watercolor and doodle in the margins. The last is probably the most important.

Team Cul de Sac Has A Cover

Just a few tweaks and some color and there 'tis.

Today's Cul de Sac from Two Days Ago, January 22 2012

My original plan was to have a week of Mom reading Lewis Carroll to Alice, with Alice responding in various annoying ways. Like here, where she's fixating on some pointless digression because that's what four-year-olds often do.

I don't remember why but the week got boiled down to a Sunday. It's an excuse to try drawing like the formidable John Tenniel, whose definitive Alice illustrations show Wonderland in careful, other-worldly detail and solidity. Which was a stupid thing to do, as I discovered after fussing with the counterfeit Tenniels and using up half a bottle of ProWhite on Alice alone. I meant to save the roughs for this and post them. They were nice and loose and got a semi-Tennielly effect in a few quick lines without any worrying but I must have chucked them.

Millions of illustrators have taken a shot at illustrating Carrol's Alice. His characters and situations exert a powerful visual fascination; you want to draw a croquet game with flamingo mallets just to see what it'd look like. For me, of all the other artists who've tried, only a two have brought something worthwhile to putting Wonderland on paper- Ralph Steadman and Deloss McGraw. But neither is likely to unseat Tenniel as Court Painter to the White Queen.

Happy 203rd Birthday, Edgar Allan Poe

Oh good, more repeats.

Thanks

For all the supportive comments and emails. I was glad to hear from so many that you don't mind repeats* and that you'll still be here when I get back. Till then please don't mess with any of my stuff.

*Paul Karasik may actually prefer them.

Today's Cul de Sac, January 15 2012

...is, as you might've noticed, a repeat of the strip from January 18, 2009. If you hadn't noticed then please go ahead and enjoy it (exploding socks!). But I'm guessing you noticed and you probably noticed that recently there've been a whole lot of Cul de Sac repeats and you're too nice to say anything (though you're likely thinking, Whoa, somebody sure takes a lot of vacations). I mean, c'mon, what's going on here?

Well, I'm taking some time off. Some more time off, three or four weeks. I'm about to start a program of physical therapy sessions designed for people with Parkinson's. I've only been in for an evaluation, but the therapy largely consists of big, exaggerated movements and sweeping silly walks that will so embarrass your body that it'll start behaving itself, I hope. Also I'll learn ten ways to defeat a mugger by falling on him.

Garry Trudeau likened daily newspaper comics to a public utility that delivers its service so regularly that any interruption is seen as some kind of major systems failure. .Though well aware of this, the kind folks at Universal Press have been greatly supportive and urged me to do whatever I needed to do. So I'm'a gonna.

Team Cul de Sac Book Available for Pre-Order at Sparking Design

  Sparking Design, the web & print firm run by the indefatigable Chris Sparks and the irresistible Jamie King, has got the goods! Here's the product information-

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing (June 5, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1449419666
• ISBN-13: 978-1449419660 
• Drawings of Alice et al by better cartoonists than me.

Why, it's worth it for that sweet ISBN alone! Not to mention you'll be helping the Michael J. Fox Foundation in its good work opening a big can of whupass on Parkinson's Disease!

Here's that link one more time!

Triskedecaphobia

Here's something from the Post Weekend section from 1996 for Friday the Thirteenth. I also ran it last year, but almost too late for Friday 13th, so here it is early which should give you time to prepare. The cover was watercolor, one of the first large ones I tried. The inside drawings were pen & ink with colored pencil and pastel blotted with Liquin (a weird mix but it reproduces well enough on newsprint). I wish I'd spent more time on the demons unrolling a calendar on the first page. See also here.

We're Number One!

 

The Cul de Sac Golden Trasury; A Keepsake Garland of Classics is now #1 in Amazon's Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Comics & Graphic Novels > Comic Strips & Cartoons! I have no clear idea what this means, and it's a vanishingly arcane category and the download costs mere pennies, but number one is number one.

By the time you read this it will have sunk into the low 6 digits, but I'm momentarily elated.

Today's Cul de Sac, January 12 2012

.

I used the sled-dragging joke before, in December 2008. It's even the same onomatopoeia. The drawing looks neater in the earlier version; I got fussy with the white-out on this one and didn't know when to stop fixing it. And I couldn't find the pen nib I usually use for lettering. The one I fell back on was feebler. Also, that's the worst signature I ever signed. Why you people read a strip with such shoddy standards is, quite frankly, beyond me.

The Mighty Alice

Et voilá- here's the final mechanical for the next Cul de Sac book! "Mechanical" is a technical printing term that I've never gotten around to learning, but I think it means a pretty final version in this case. This'll be the first time that I didn't do the color on a CdS book. It was colored by Kansas City watercolorist Peggy McKeehan, who's done a lot of work for Andrews & McMeel, and I think she did a fine job. I appreciate her deft touch and dab hand.

Today's Cul de Sac, January 10 2012

It's been a while since I posted one of these things. Let's see if I remember how to do it. I chose this strip to annotate because I redrew it 4 or 5 times. The middle panel gave me fits; it kept turning out too tidy, too stacked instead of heaped, too neat. The comics have a distinguished history of eyesore back yards, and front yards too, from Hogan's Alley to George Booth (see below), so I felt I had a tradition to uphold.

Each time I redrew it the dialog and the gag changed, Originally Alice is disgusted by the squalor and says Get me outta here! But there's nothing funny about that and it makes no sense; Alice is a slob with no natural objections to Dill's back yard. She'd more likely go home and try to do the same thing to her back yard. And, as someone who has a messy back yard, I've got no business acting all superior back-yard-wise. So out of great struggle and profound deliberation comes this Cul de Sac for January 10, 2012.

Sneak Peek, Updated

Here are three roughs for the next Cul de Sac book. Which one will it be? See below.

And the final cover-

If this seems familiar, it is.