January 2009

The Big 100

Monday, January 19, 2009

This is a momentous day for me - the 100th comic strip of the Smiley Face Commandos! For a lot of successful artists, 100 is a tiny number - others have drawn thousands of strips. The number 100 came and went a long time ago. But for me it's a big deal. It hasn't been easy coming out with a new strip three times a week, but making that guarantee to all of you has forced me to discipline myself and stick with it.

What significance does 100 strips have in the grand scheme of things? Well, in theory, I could put a complete book together once I have about 300 strips - and with my current rate of three new strips per week, I should hit the 300 mark sometime in 2010. That would be exciting!

I just wish that more people knew about the commandos and wanted to check out the website. Then maybe I could actually started making a little bit of money from this enterprise. Of course, I never expected money to start rolling in quickly - but a couple of bucks now and then would be nice. And right now, there just aren't enough folks who have heard of the commandos to really even realistically think about trying to make some money.

So, if you're enjoying the commandos, you'd help me out by telling your friends about them. Pass on the merriment... then there might actually be some people to buy a book in 2010.

Thanks for all the support and encouragement!

~Jeff

A Tribute to Dick Tracy

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

From an aesthetic and storyline point-of-view, the Smiley Face Commandos has more in common with the classic Dick Tracy comic strip than any other. At least in my mind it does. Chester Gould, the original creator of the strip, drew Dick Tracy comics from 1931 to 1977. It was essentially a perpetually-continuing story about a resourceful detective who relentlessly pursued violent criminals.

Some of the defining characteristics of Gould's style were his heavy use of solid black areas, (inspired largely by film-noir), his grotesgue-looking villains, and a raw violence rarely matched in other strips. I've always liked the way that lots of black creates a more visual contrast within a comic strip, so I do it often myself. And as far as the grotesgue villains with crazy names like, "Flattop" and "Little-face," I've had a lot fun incorporating that idea. That's why I'll soon be introducing a character named "Judy Smothers" into the commandos strip.

The most obvious difference between my work and that of Chester Gould is the tone: Tracy was dark and dramatic, while Commandos is light and silly. I have emulated the Dick Tracy comic strips so much that... I suppose in some ways I'm remaking Dick Tracy as a comedy.

~Jeff

The Calvin and Hobbes Standard

Friday, December 26, 2008

The more I hear and read about comics, whether they be webcomics or not, the comic strip that everyone seems to compare themselves to the most is Calvin and Hobbes. This great comic strip by Bill Watterson, which ran for only ten years, somehow became the standard by which so many other comic strips are judged. Artists and writers across the board admire it... but why? I have my reasons for admiring it, and I imagine they are shared by many other cartoonists...

1) Artistic Merit - unlike so many other strips in the funnies section, Calvin and Hobbes was drawn really well. And when Calvin's imagination would take us to a fantasy world of some kind, the fantasy was often more real-looking than the world of the regular strip itself. When Watterson drew an image of a dinosaur terrorizing a city or an airliner plummeting toward the ground, it was still cartoonish, but hinted at Watterson's far-reaching talent. It also gave us something amazing to look at in an otherwise stale comics section.

2) Truth About the World - Calvin and Hobbes, like the philosophers they were named after, were frequently involved in thoughtful discussions on art, politics and other significant issues while poking fun at our human perceptions and habits regarding these topics. There was so much truth in their observations, even though what they were saying was ridiculous. Watterson found humor in everyday life and situations without always needing to use an emotionless punchline.

3) Wacky Fun - The six-year-old Calvin and his pet tiger, Hobbes, are amusing, entertaining characters. Calvin is rebellious, naughty and imaginative. Hobbes is his slightly more reserved counterpart, but generally-willing accomplice. And then there's Calvin's imagination, which is essentially a character in itself, driving so much of the story.

A word of appreciation is due to Calvin and Hobbes for the inspiration it gave to many of us fledgling cartoonists.

~Jeff

The Danger of Appropriating

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

I'm going to tell you where today's joke came from - at least, where I think it came from: my brother. I've heard him say this a couple of times and I thought it was pretty hilarious, so I decided to work it into my comic strip.

But as soon as I had finished inking the whole comic strip, the thought came to me, "What if Scott just heard this on TV? What if he was watching Friends and Chandler said it?" Who knows? I wouldn't be happy about that. I don't mind appropriating jokes from my family, but taking jokes I heard off of television? That's downright stealing.

The moral of the story? Always ask someone where the joke came from and get their permission before you use it. Or you might end up in a pickle. Hopefully when I talk to my brother tomorrow he'll tell me it was a Scott Frame original...

~Jeff

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