The Bleeker Blog

Bleeker Launches Today!

2011-01-03T01:19:00.002-05:00

Above, is the last comic on GoComics...that's because Bleeker launches with King Features today!
Swing on over to the new site at www.bleekercomics.com or visit Daily Ink (also a free App for iPhone or iPad) ..or go to King Features directly

See you there!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T15:39:00.003-05:00

Hope everyone has a great 2011!
Remember to swing by www.bleekercomics.com on Monday January 3rd for the relaunch of Bleeker with King Features Syndicate
See you there!

Big Bleeker News!

2010-12-19T12:26:00.003-05:00

Hey, everyone...swing over to bleekercomics.com for some big news!

CP Holiday Train Photos

2010-12-01T22:57:00.006-05:00

As promised, a few photos from tonight's CP Holiday Train stop in town. There was a great crowd and The Odds were a lot of fun...who knew a boxcar could sound so good?
A good way to kick off December!

2010 CPR Holiday Train

2010-11-30T04:13:00.002-05:00

The annual holiday train pulls into town December 1st on its cross country journey. It's quite a sight, all lit up with live bands playing Christmas tunes right out of the boxcars...and Santa's there as well!
Might try and get a few pictures...

New Kinderheft Magazine!

2010-11-22T14:55:00.002-05:00

I got my copy of the Winter Zeit Kinderheft magazine today and it's another fantastic edition! I don't often get a chance to do a full page, full color Bleeker comic so this was a lot of fun.

As always, Susanne and Katrin at Die Zeit, do a beautiful job of putting together this magazine and I'm really pleased to have Bleeker included.
Congrats to everyone else on the project as well!

A Doodle and a Squid

2010-11-04T15:30:00.005-04:00

Here's a couple of fun things...
a new logo page I was messing around with lately
...and I really liked this picture of Skip, in a sugar buzz, eating the squid he made out of licorice (from last Tuesday's comic)
Okay, back to getting something done here....hmmmm

So I Guess It's Fall Now....?

2010-10-12T10:55:00.003-04:00

Here's a shot of the old fire hall from the weekend.

Arctic Circle Guest Appearance

2010-09-30T22:20:00.003-04:00

Today, I got to hang out with the most popular penguin in the arctic circle...Alex Hallatt's Arctic Circle that is!
Oscar the penguin always makes me laugh so to get inked along side him is a real blast.

...and hopefully, someday, I'll be able to actually meet Alex in person (she lives in Australia) and talk shop over a few pints.

Hmmm...good excuse for a trip....

Eye Can't Decide....har-har

2010-09-27T11:45:00.003-04:00

Here's one of those instances where I can't decide where to position Skip's eyes. I draw them one way and then come back and do them a different way...then another and another, until you're not really sure what looks best anymore. So here's an example from today's comic with the big mess'o'eyes in the sketch and the (only two pupil) inked version.

The Call

2010-09-22T23:09:00.003-04:00

This is the call I got a few days ago from my local phone store...I, like the rest of the country, don't expect that my "24 hours" will come anytime soon.

The Classics (...or at least some of them)

2010-09-17T22:53:00.009-04:00

I came across these old comic books of mine from back when I was a kid of about 10. It's so great to crack these open (they actually do crack...and partially fall apart...) and read through these old gags again! I can still remember the ones that made me laugh way back then.

Here Comes Snoopy, I ordered from the Scholastic catalogue that was handed out in our school. You'd get sent home with a catalogue, check off the books you wanted...hopefully your parents would agree and send you to school the next day with the money in an envelope. It cost $0.95 and I'm thinking this must be back in the mid to late 70's...my allowance was most likely a quarter a week at the time.(no doubt I got one of my many advances)
In the book there are several strips of Snoopy doing imitations and I laugh every time I read them. I love this one with Lucy...too funny!

Shooting Mad I got in the summer of 1979. We were at my grandparent's cottage and on a trip to the marina I saw this on the spinner rack. Most summer's my brother and I would buy comics at the marina...Spider Man, Sgt. Rock, Mad Magazine and Cracked were all regulars.
Sergio Aragones is such a great cartoonist! This book is like a pocket sized lesson in how to draw and write comics. Some pages are incredibly detailed and others have a very spare line. This book was/is well loved...as you can tell by the worn cover! (I love the expressions on the princess and the horse in the background)
Back in '79 it cost a whopping $1.50...I probably got a "loan" from my Grandpa along with one of those rubber frogs they sold up at the counter.

This old Pogo book is actually my Mom's and it's from the 50's. I would occasionally pull this off the bookshelf and the drawings were so good it didn't matter if I was too young to get some of the jokes. Walt Kelly is truly one of the all time greats. Beautiful line work and funny characters with terrific expressions. I'm still waiting (along with everyone else) for Fantagraphics to release the Complete Pogo...hopefully not too much longer.
This is one of my favorite stories from the book. Albert is on trial and he seems completely unconcerned about the serious charges against him(he's playing cards) and also unaware that the judge and jury have already decided that he must be guilty (or at least as one woman in the jury says "...I certainly has made up my mind that he could never be found NOT guilty")
This volume comes in at $1.00...pricey for the 1950's. The notes are my Mom's. They are peppered throughout the book...she enjoyed it so much she highlighted her favorite sections.

This last picture is of my Dad, Christmas day 1979, upstairs at my Grandparent's house (check out those pants!) He's enjoying Jim Unger's first Herman Treasury. I think it was the first time I saw somebody laughing uncontrollably at a collection of comics (it went on for so long my Mom was able to snap a picture) and was probably one of those memories that got me into making my own comics. I still have that book as well but I'll dig it out some other time.

Me Today

2010-08-28T21:47:00.003-04:00

This is where I spent the afternoon today...the sketchbook got a little wet.

Paper Problem

2010-08-20T22:42:00.004-04:00

Producing a daily comic (plus translated versions) editorial comics and the odd illustration generates a lot of paper....at least if you use the old fashioned inking method. I'm a bit of a pack rat...I keep everything.
However, there comes a time when there are just too many piles of paper sitting around! So, I took a trip to Home Depot today and picked up the above tool cabinet. Instead of my socket sets and wrenches I stuffed it full of comics, ink, pads, pencils, clippings and anything else that was cluttering up this place.

She ain't pretty but the heavy duty, steel, full extension drawers make it perfect for loading up with drawings and supplies. The top is also great for my homemade light box (must upgrade that as well....) Plus the whole thing is on wheels so I can move it around if need be.
I'm sure this isn't a new idea but if you're looking for new studio furniture check out the hardware store.

Good Old Days....

2010-07-30T01:20:00.004-04:00

Maybe this 4 years thing is getting me in a reflective mood or something but I was thinking of cartooning in "the good old days"....before cheap computers and scanners....before the internet was easily available.

I use to do a comic called Backwash for a local paper here in town. After I had the comic inked and whited out any mistakes I would hop in the truck and drive into town. First to the photocopy shop to get the comic laser copied...this would require two reducing scans to get the comic onto 8 1/2 x 11" paper ( I drew the comic really big...11"x17" big) The clerk at the photocopy place would often read the comic and quiz me about it..and/or consult with other customers. Then I would get back in the truck and drive to the office to drop off the comic. There, the two laser copies would be scanned and pieced together. Fortunately, it wasn't a daily comic.

That was then...
Now I draw my comics at 4" x 13" and scan everything here at home....no trip to the copy shop or even fire up the truck. I also weigh more than I did then so maybe it all evens out...?

Here's one of the old Backwash strips...maybe I should scan these and post them for old time's sake....hmmm

4 YEARS!

2010-07-28T14:34:00.006-04:00

I'm a little slow getting this posted, but today marks the 4th anniversary of Bleeker's web launch in 2006. The little comic (that I said I would give six months) just keeps going....somewhere over 2000 inked strips by now.

This is what 4 years of nibs looks like (I don't know why I haven't tossed these things out yet) I thought it would look more impressive but I generally get almost a month of drawings out of a nib so...that's probably about right.

Here is my growing collection of Bleeker sketchbooks...I have two more that aren't in this picture and various other sketchpads....
(for those who haven't read from the beginning...Bleeker was originally called Hoover)

I have to say I still feel like Bleeker is just getting going. Many, many more comics to draw in the future!
Thanks to everyone for reading this comic each day!

Canada Day

2010-07-01T14:40:00.002-04:00

It's Canada's birthday eh...143 years old today! Go hug your canoes and toboggans!

New Summer Kinderheft Magazine!

2010-06-16T16:42:00.007-04:00

Today, I opened my mailbox and there was my copy of this Summer's edition of Das ZEIT Kinderheft magazine! It's a real pleasure to contribute to such a great magazine.

For this edition they asked me to do a comic and a Bleeker flip book. On the one side of the flip book I have Bleeker doing a short breakdance spin and on the other Skip being...an idiot. Both really fun to make.

Many thanks to Katrin and Susanne for including me again in their terrific magazine! I wish we had a similar magazine here!

Turtle Crossing

2010-05-31T11:47:00.001-04:00

It's turtle migration time around these parts

Comic Beatdown!

2010-05-28T11:57:00.002-04:00

...some panels are more fun to draw than others.

Weathering Agents of Destruction!

2010-05-23T13:38:00.002-04:00

This is an illustration I did recently to portray the weathering agents that break down mountains. This could make a great geology based action comic...although, who knows, maybe that genre is already too crowded?

Tuesday toon

2010-05-18T12:39:00.002-04:00

Here's a recent comic I did for a local environmental organization.
...hiking with an iPad...what can't you do with that thing?!

No Load! No Load!

2010-05-16T01:15:00.003-04:00

Do to some unknown technical difficulties, the comics for Saturday May 15th and Sunday May 16th did not load on GoComics.
So, here they are and hopefully this'll be cleared up for Monday...hopefully....

ZOOBERT

2010-05-12T15:09:00.009-04:00

Zoobert's Big Day is kids iPhone/iPad App that I illustrated and it's available now in the iTunes Store for the oh so reasonable price of 99 cents!
Zoobert is a small friendly monster who lives in a sock drawer and has some unusual habits..like eating toothpaste and pickles.The story changes every time you read through it. By shaking the iPhone between pages, the story takes a new turn...kinda like a Magic 8 Ball.
If you have a kid who loves reading stories on your iPhone/iPod/iPad then be sure to check it out
http://www.zoobert.com/

TCAF 2010

2010-05-11T11:50:00.006-04:00

4:30pm Sunday at TCAF...much quieter than earlier!

Had a great time at this year's Toronto Comic Arts Festival!
The weather outside was unpleasant but inside the Toronto Reference Library everything was buzzing. It was hard to actually get to some of the tables to buy a book. Some tables had long lines in front of them (late on Sunday afternoon there was still a line in front of Kate Beaton's table..and she wasn't even there! ...she had to step out but people just automatically formed a line anyways)

I took my 10 year old niece this year and she was thrilled to meet Raina Telgemeier, author of Smile and illustrator of The Baby-sitters Club series.

...devouring The Baby-sitters Club #1 on the subway ride home

TCAF 2010 ... got to meet tons of great cartoonists and came home with a stuffed bag of books and posters...no complaints. Looking forward to next year!

BTW sorry for the inside-of-a-sauna-like pictures...time for a new phone.