My buddy Carlo Jose San Juan, MD of Callous Comic Strip put on a live UStream of him drawing Arno, Merv and Thor of Entities-R-Us! I am honored by this! Check it out! AND check out Callous Comics at http://www.callouscomics.com/
follow him on the Great Twitt: http://twitter.com/callouscomics
and facebook: http://www.facebook.com/callouscomics
Art by Carlos Jose San Juan of Callous Comics!
Thanks Carlos! You are da BESTest!
Tj
btw: check out the prelim: http://ow.ly/i/8VMi
My pal Crystal Lee drew Thor for you all! So here is her rendition of your favorite Viking Ghost Thor!
Thor by Crystal Lee
Those of you who follow Thor on Facebook (Ghost Thor’s Fan Page) will know that Thor has a fixation with American Idol. He’s worse than Simon Cowell.
Thanks Crystal for your handiwork!
Tj
We are finally into the paranormal TV show that Arno has dreamed about… However, as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for!
Of course the director has a completely different idea of what the show is about as you will see over the next several comics. So, enjoy the paranormal’s version of “Bay Watch”…
All I can say is… YIKES!
Of course this will turn out badly… it’s a comic strip!
Laugh it up! Eat Cookies, Hunt Ghosts!
Tj
I discovered the wonders of Tarot Nite as a diversion from Thursday’s Ouija Nite. Now that I have three girls, it makes a nice Yin to the Yang. I may continue alternating these.
I am also toying with changing the name Ouija Nite to Spirit Nite. Most of this grows out of my concern that Parker Brothers toy company might eventually hammer my door and say NO MORE OUIJA FOR YOU, we own the trademark! Which they do… So, I’m not sure how I feel about it. But, I’d rather cover my ass than have it burned off.
The sad thing is spin-offs and derivative stuff is part of our culture. The “Got Milk” guys of Chiat/Day advertising agency allowed all the “Got this” Got that” etc from everyone as it only promoted and reminded of their original idea. Smart move! I even snaked it for “Ghot Ghost” t-shirts! I love to run a good joke into the ground if I can.
Entities-R-Us is even a derivative as well. I’m waiting for Toys R Us to get their hornets out… I’m developing backup plans in my mind to handle this too. Alas, the Toys R Us crew is not as visionary as Chiat/Day from what I have heard through the legal grapevine.
Any-who… by the time I’m done, I’ll have a completely un-derivative comic strip. Not a bad idea… except it’s so much fun to twist the old stuff into something new. Recycling is important! We can’t discount that!
Eat Cookies, Hunt Ghosts, Recycle Jokes!
Tj
Boom Boom Buxom - Paranormal Investigator
Boom Boom was asked to join Entities-R-Us Ghost Hunters to help secure the team a paranormal television deal. Arno Alkaloid was approached by ACME Channel TV to do a ghost hunting show with the stipulation he hires some “eye candy” to spice up the look of the ragtag gang. It soon became clear she was not just a set of knockers… Yes, Boomy showed up with a list of credentials that belied her showy exterior.
A Masters in Metaphysics and a Doctorate in Quantum Theory make Boom Boom a formidable paranormalist. It doesn’t hurt that she is ranked one of the top paranormal investigators in the world. So what drives a drop-dead gorgeous creature to sign up for ghost hunting, a pastime generally reserved for weirdoes, geeks and skeevy sorts? An encounter with the beyond…
Boomy grew up in an uneventful town in the Midwest that sports a plethora of trailer parks. Attractive people live here… they marry for looks. Boomy came into this world with more than a hot bod, she had the brains to boot. It was unfortunate her mother, a pole dancer by trade, named her daughter with the intention of Boomy joining the family business. Needless to say, years of school ridicule for being intelligent, she bolted from her hometown at the first opportunity, when Northwestern University offered her a full academic scholarship.
Studying Nuclear Physics, Boom Boom was off on a path of intellectual concerns when she had an unusual encounter with an electromagnetic field. Working late, she walked past a student experiment that was left running for the night. Suddenly the scene changed… she was no longer in the 20th century. She found herself in a saloon in the 19th century. There in the middle of the room was her mother in a former life, pole dancing! Boomy wigged out. She woke up screaming on the lab floor. She was not fussed about traveling to a parallel universe so much as she was terrified as to why her mother would come back for a second lifetime as a pole dancer.
Since that encounter, Boom Boom was fixated on the paranormal. Anything she could learn or experience, she did. And so, today she is one of the hottest para-intellectuals there is… even though she has big boobs.
I must say, she is a great addition to the crew. We’ll all get to know her better as I write. My process for creating a new character begins with a need. It becomes apparent there is a personality hole in the mix, or a concept that needs a new face to develop around. The latter was the case for Boomy.
Neither Erna or Vera qualifies as “eye candy.” Ironically, I am probably the LAST person on the planet qualified to DRAW “eye candy.” I tend to be a crunchy personality who rarely wears makeup and has absolutely no need for a bra! (Too much information…)
However, I’ve found Boom Boom easy to work with. I deliberately made her intelligent. I’m sick of the usual “dumb blond” cliche. It’s an insult to women in general. Also, aside from Merv, I find it really hard to write stupid dialogue. Even Merv says intelligent stuff once in a while.
Anyway, back to process… Basically, Boom Boom formed in my head. I sat and drew a quick character sketch (seen above), then proceeded to draw her into the strip. I allow the character to build itself as the situation unfolds. You’ll notice Boom Boom does not say much right away. She is observing at this point. (And I am observing her.) You will really begin to see her character unfold in Sunday’s comic where she deals with Vera’s jealousy.
This will be interesting to watch.
Enjoy!
Tj
