Zen Comix

Updates on The $5000 Prize Money I'm Trying To Win

2013-05-09T08:43:00.000-06:00

I've entered a contest sponsored by the Illinois Humanities Council and The MacArthur Foundation called Looking At Democracy. There's $100,000 worth of prize money, and $5000 of that money is a "People's Choice" Award. Voting is open to the public, and you can help me win the $5000 by voting for my submission.

Voting is free and easy, and won't take much time. Visit the page with my submission, "Truth or Consequences". On the right side of the page is a red button that says "VOTE". Click on it, and they will ask you sign up and log in with your email address. I'd really appreciate it if you'd vote for my cartoon and spread the word! Thanks!

UPDATES: Please Note--Only votes placed on the contest website will be counted (Facebook "likes" are not included). Voting is open until 3pm ET May 16.

As of a couple of days ago, the current top ten submissions were:
Solutions To Strengthening America's Democracy / 158
Civic Hacking in Pursuit of Democracy / 119
Dear Democracy… / 97
Bring It to The Table / 92
Spin / 73
DIVE IN: This is What Democracy Looks Like / 64
Exciting / 61
Carrots and Sticks for Democracy / 60
Agenda Setters / 55
Democracy is US! / 50

So, unfortunately, I'm not even in the top ten. Fortunately, voting is still open until May 16th, and I've had some help from some friends getting the word out. A big thank you goes out to
BLCKDGRD for a couple of links
Battochio for a whole post plugging my cartoon.
Tengrain did me a huge favor by getting a link into the Mike's Blog Round Up at Crooks and Liars.
Elizabitchez for the reblog on Tumblr.
Goth Summer for the reblog on Tumblr.
....and The Small Press Expo for the shout out and kind words.
And a big thank you to all the people who took one minute out of your day to help me win some cash.

Help your friendly neighborhood cartoonist earn $5000, won't cost you anything but a little time

2013-05-06T17:14:00.001-06:00

Help me win some money, won't cost you anything but a little time.

2013-05-04T12:12:00.000-06:00

I entered a contest sponsored by the Illinois Humanities Council and The MacArthur Foundation called Looking At Democracy, and reworked one of my Blog Against Theocracy cartoons.

The Looking@Democracy challenge is offering a total of $100,000 in prize money for short, provocative media submissions designed to spark a national conversation about how we can all come together to strengthen American democracy. Here’s how the competition works: Create and send us short digital media content that either: (a) Tells a story about why government is important to our lives, or (b) Tells how we might together strengthen American democracy. Your submission can come in many formats such as short videos, audio stories, animation, music videos, public service announcements, infographics, graphic art, even Facebook and iPhone apps. They all just need to be digital so they can be shared electronically– the rest is up to YOU!

There's a "People's Choice" award of $5000, and I'd really, REALLY appreciate your vote."People's Choice" voting for entries begins May 6 and runs through May 16. Be sure to spread the word, and only vote once.

Voting is free and easy, and won't take much time. Visit the page with my submission, "Truth or Consequences". On the right side of the page is a red button that says "VOTE". Click on it, and they will ask you sign up and log in with your email address. I'd really appreciate it if you'd vote for my cartoon and spread the word! Thanks!

Paging Pon Carlo

2013-04-14T08:39:00.001-06:00

Popo's drawing last summer (11 yrs. old?)

Ain't Gonna Work On Maggie's Farm No More

2013-04-08T09:03:00.002-06:00

I hate the way she makes us mop the blood off the floor....

Ten Years On: Iraq Bleeds On, Pakistan Bleeds Anew

2013-03-19T08:55:00.000-06:00

The Boy With The Spirograph Eyes

2013-03-15T09:48:00.000-06:00

I started reading Death and The Penguin by Andrey Kurkov a few days ago, about a guy in Russia writing obituaries. And then The Obituary Man came across my dashboard. I get a chuckle out of small connections between something I’m doing and something I see or hear, because they happen to me all the time.

Here are some other examples of the co-incidents. While drawing a picture of a Dr. John 8-Track tape and listening to the radio, the DJ played a 10 second snippet of Dr John playing Professor Longhair’s “Big Chief” as a bumper. The radio show I was listening to wasn’t playing any of that type of music, but there it was as a 10 second flash.

I picked up a copy of The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living, not knowing anything about it, never heard of it before, just bought it because of the cover. Postage stamps figure into the plot, and at one point the main character, Evers, mentions the Elvis Stamp, and that just makes me laugh, because the Elvis Stamps are a main feature of the plot in my next comic book, working title; “John Jacob Dingleberry Schlitz”. The Elvis Stamps get contaminated with LSD.

So, I’m drawing the characters, Tom and Junior, Starting to ink them, they're tripping their brains out while cooking at the restaurant, and they’re singing songs and fixing food (page 47, page 56), and I’m thinking, I should name the comic book “The Boy With The Spirograph Eyes” instead of "John Jacob Dingleberry Schlitz". And then, here comes the pictures of the Higgs Boson thing, and Oh My God Particle, it looks like a Spirograph!

”John Jacob Dingleberry Schlitz” will now be known as “The Boy With The Spirograph Eyes”.

The Iowa Secret Conviviality Society

2013-03-09T11:58:00.000-06:00

Taking a break from Inking, thinking about making some bread dough. The Iowa Secret Conviviality Society is having The Reverend Bart Yates over for the the monthly meeting.

Here's a skeleton of a page in progress, half inked with some pencil roughs.

True story, cockroaches bury their dead.

Flood Pants

2013-03-07T11:15:00.000-06:00

A ballpoint pen sketch for a comic book cover, "Flood Pants", a story about growing up in the 1970s and having to wear ill fitting plaid bell bottom hand-me-downs. Add this story to the queue.

It's Hard Out Here For a Pope

2013-02-28T10:27:00.000-06:00

Blow your horn.

2013-02-25T09:11:00.000-06:00

Hip Hop Blues

2013-02-23T13:37:00.000-06:00

The legendary late 80s Boston band, Who Be Dat?

R.I.P. Nate, this one's for you brother.

10 Years Drawing The Grill Rats

2013-02-17T11:08:00.000-06:00

I started drawing The Grill Rats 10 years ago. These strips are in the first collection, from 2008.

The Meatman's Mardi Gras Marathons

2013-02-12T11:07:00.001-06:00

A page from The Last of The Decal Liquors

The Big Bad Bald Bastard runs down the voodoo on Iko Iko.

Frank Zappa for Pope

2013-02-12T09:10:00.002-06:00

Even The President of The United States Must Sometimes Have To Stand Naked

2013-02-10T09:45:00.000-06:00

It's Alright Ma (I'm only Bleeding)

John McCain Time For Action Figures Tour. Should we put an "r" at the end of Tempe, Arizona

political, cartoons,political cartoons, parody, satire, Republicans, GOP, Iraq, War, Theocracy, Bush, Cheney, comics, comic strips, McCain,

Zencomix

The Asphalt Zamboni Driver

2013-02-09T13:46:00.000-06:00

Open The Door, Richard!

2013-02-07T12:26:00.000-06:00

A couple more pages from the next comic book, "John Jacob Dingleberry Schlitz". The original Joe, the one this character is based on, would indeed transition from mangled Tom Petty lyrics to Count Basie/Dusty Fletcher/Louis Jordan without changing key or skipping a beat.

I Hate Illinois Nazis

2013-02-01T12:42:00.000-06:00

A few years ago, the Grill Rats story line had G. Gordon Liddy and John Bolton, under the direction of John Poindexter, manufacturing meth on a farm in Iowa, with the money generated from the sale of the drugs going towards illegal covert operations.

Oh, that crazy Zencomix, so over the top, going Godwin us, suggesting that Republicans have Nazi sympathies! Ha! Told Ya so! (hat tip to Tengrain)

Old Doodle

2013-01-26T09:04:00.001-06:00

John Jacob Dingleberry Shlitz

2013-01-20T10:08:00.000-06:00

I haven't quite finished putting the eyebrows on these pages, but I thought I'd do a "work in progress" post. Here's page 4 of the book.

Here's page 35.

I'm about 30% done, hopefully finishing it up by the end up April.

"They Say You Can Make It If You Try"

2013-01-19T15:28:00.001-06:00

Otis Rush---Double Trouble

I lay awake at night, can't sleep, just so troubled
It's hard to keep a job, laid off and havin' double trouble
Hey, they say you can make it if you try
Yes, in this generation of millionaires,
it's hard for me to keep decent clothes to wear

You laughed at me walkin' baby, when I had no place to go,
Bad luck and trouble have taken me, I have got no money to show,
Hey, hey, to make it you've got to try, baby, that's no lie,
Yes, in this generation of millionaires,
it's hard for me to keep decent clothes to wear

Mauricio Lasansky

2013-01-19T12:36:00.000-06:00

Master Printmaker, Mauricio Lasansky

Clarence the Cross-Eyed Lyin'

2013-01-15T12:47:00.000-06:00

Clarence Thomas finally broke his silence! You wanna know the real reason Clarence Thomas never spoke when the Supreme Court was in session? Well, I'll tell ya why!

It's because he had one of Scalia's pubic hairs stuck in his throat. Now that he's dislodged it from his throat, they're going to put the image of the pubic hair on American dollars. No word yet on whether or not the Post Office will be issuing commemorative stamps.