Behind-The-Zines
Action Geek #11 was a rush-job in a sense, but in the end
I was pretty happy with how it all came together in time for the
Beantown Zinetown zine show that took place at Mass Art
in Boston... I may have rushed, but somehow I had enough stuff to
make a pretty substantial 11th installment of Action Geek.
The Cover (AG11)
Based on the style of mid-70s "GIANT" DC Comics who had covers
hat boasted numerous short stories inside. For example, in "Giant
Superman Family", there would be stories with Superman, Krypto the
the Super Dog, Jimmy Olsen, Super Girl, Nightwing & Flamebird (the
heroes of the Bottled City of Kandor), etc.
Stupid Robot Story (AG11)
The story pretty much explains itself, but just for the record, here
it goes again: Dad gave me a digital camera for Christmas. Sometime in
January I went throughout Worcester taking all kinds of photos that
would serve as "backdrops" for some future cartoon story. Well, I started
with the story, despite the fact that I didn't have a full-fledged story and
eventually I kinda ran out of steam, but was left with good stuff with
no ending and I didn't want to NOT publish it... so...
Homeless (AG11)
I keep seeing this same guy in an army jacket and knit hat standing at
intersections in Worcester holding a sign to the effect that he wants
money or work to feed his family or something. I've always felt that if
you've got time to spend 8 hours out on a corner, holding a sign, begging,
then you SHOULD be able to hold some sort of REAL job. Call me heartless
but I work 40+ hours a week at a job, pay my bills and don't break any
laws and I don't feel I owe much of anything to those who can't seem to
manage the simplest of things like being responsible. This cartoon was
a reaction to this whole sign-holding nonsense. (Murph at Ralph's Diner
identified 5 out of 6 of the actual Worcester locations featured in each
of the 6 panels in the homeless cartoon.)
Lame Idea (AG11)
Name-dropping and pre-emptive shutting down of a lame cartoon idea.
Sometimes I feel like if I don't get these lame joke ideas OUT of my head,
that something REALLY bad might happen... maybe the lame idea might
multiply or perhaps the lame idea will actually lead to a good idea...
Little Billy Learns About Evil (AG11)
This could be considered another in a long line of cartoons about what-if
super heoes/villains were real and had real lives in addition to all the
heroics, crime & fighting eachother. I'm not really endorsing "EVIL", I'm
just being silly...
Dougbert (AG11)
This cartoon has been "done" for several issues now and I finally got
around to printing it. Imagine Dilbert in a graphic design setting instead
of an engineering setting and you have this brief story.
Star Wars Zone (AG11)
What with "Attack of the Clones" coming out soon and all these reality-
based tv shows dominating primetime tv, I thought it might be funny to
combine Star Wars with Survivor/Fear Factor sort of...
In case you hadn't guessed, Aurra Sing, Bib Fortuna and
2-1B, the Medic Droid are three of my all-time favorite SW
characters...
Cub Scouts (AG11)
I was in an especially evil mood/mode and was flipping through an old issue
of Richie Rich and came across a Cub Scouts ad that was too cute
to pass up on parodizing... My actual year or two in the Scouts wasn't nearly
as traumatizing as this cartoon may lead you to believe. I just wasn't into it.
Powerpuff Grrrlz (AG11)
My version of the Powerpuff Girls has them a tad more grown up and perhaps
they've gone evil. Whenever I try to draw in big-eye, cutesy manga style, every-
thing tends to come out a tad more evil or drug-addled than I intend it to...
Behind the grrrlz is the lovely intersection of Chandler St. / Main Street and
Madison Street, right where the proposed "Arts District" will be (yeah, right).
Let's hope the grrrrlz don't get shot, stabbed or worse by standing there posing
too long...
