The Abominable Charles Christopher

Late For Dinner

karl — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:56:57 +0000

Happy Canada Day/Fourth of July everyone! It’s festival season in Montréal and I think the alcohol-rich atmosphere may have inspired today’s comic.

In other news, I’ve been getting a lot of mail from new readers, which is always great. And if you haven’t seen my pal Ramón Pérez’s ‘kukuburi‘ strip this week, go and check it out for a wicked Charles Christopher cameo!

Hint: it’s impossible to miss.

Interpretive Dance

karl — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:12:40 +0000

Too obscure?
I’ve been beating myself up over this strip because the whole joke hinges on the reader knowing that bees do a ‘waggle dance’ at the hive to give the other bees directions to nectar sources they’ve discovered. My girlfriend didn’t know this but still found the dancing bee funny, so maybe it still works.

…I’m giving this way too much thought.

Scapecat

karl — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:56:07 +0000

For those of you wondering why my Wednesday updates have been arriving later and later in the day, this is the reason:

Meet Cousteau, our new kitten. He sits directly on top of whatever I happen to be working on. As proof, here he is on top of last week’s episode of Charles Christopher.

I can’t work like this. He’s completely unprofessional.

Abominable

karl — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:01:07 +0000

Today’s strip marks one year since I started The Abominable Charles Christopher and I had no idea at the time where it would end up or how much it would affect me. I love these characters and I’m happiest when I’m drawing them. Thanks so much to all of you who have stuck with me. Your feedback and support have been invaluable and I hope you’ll stick around for another year. We’re just getting started…

-karl

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

karl — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:30:13 +0000

One of my readers, Tom Pritchard, sent me a ‘thank-you’ in the form of an original song, inspired by Charles Christopher scaling the mountain. It’s called ‘Standing on the Shoulders of Giants’ and you can listen to it here.
I love seeing or hearing my work interpreted by other artists. I’d like to eventually put up a fan art page when I get a chance to showcase these things.

Thanks Tom! I hope your mum is feeling better.

False Prophet

karl — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:54:05 +0000

I’ve had this scene rolling around in my head for so long; it’s a relief to finally get it out into the world.

Friday Update!

karl — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 06:16:10 +0000

As promised, the second half of this week’s strip has been posted, and we finally have a name to go with the face of the arctic fox. He actually had a name from the second strip I drew him in, but I wanted to let him reveal it in a natural way rather than force it out awkwardly and prematurely. So there you have it. If you don’t like it, you can take it up with his mom.

What’s in a Name

karl — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:53:48 +0000

This strip was actually meant to be twice as long, but I got stuck in a rainstorm as I was motorcycling back from Toronto yesterday and had to stay in a hotel. I didn’t have time to draw the other half. SO… to make up for it, I’ll post the second part on Friday! That’s like getting two strips in one week, right? Right?

Stay tuned. Things are about to get crazy.

Trip-Trap

karl — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:22:55 +0000

This week’s strip reminded me of my love of fairy tales and my mind went back to the earliest one I can remember - The Three Billy Goats Gruff. I was terrified by the artwork in the Ladybird edition (pictured here) but I still asked my dad to read it to me over and over and over. I think this book is responsible for a lot of the fantasy/horror sensibilities in my work. I always want to be a little bit frightened by the imagery I’m creating, even if it’s meant to be beautiful.

I still own the book, but if anyone knows where I can buy any of the original paintings (by Robert Lumley, who doesn’t seem to have a web presence) PLEASE let me know! I’ll be forever grateful.

Here’s another horrifying image.

Three Things

karl — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:43:23 +0000

Seen and Not Heard

karl — Thu, 22 May 2008 01:46:11 +0000

Deadlines

karl — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:41:56 +0000

Hi Everyone.
You may have noticed that I’ve been a bit quiet for the last few weeks. I’ve been struggling with Teen Titans deadlines and trying to get this strip done every week, hence the late-in-the-day updates on Wednesdays. I just wanted to let you know that today’s strip will also be posted pretty late tonight. So if you’re checking throughout the day for an update, this should save you some trouble. ;)
I’m almost finished with the Titans stuff, so things should improve from here on out.

See you tonight!

-karl