Salem News: Cigarette Ban

Published in the 07/30/2012 SALEM NEWS: Cigarette sales are going to be banned from Pharamcies.. as if THAT'S going to make any difference!

Obligatory Cat Picture

Here's a cat picture you wouldn't normally find on Facebook:

Salem News: Police Dogs

Published in THE SALEM (MA) NEWS 07/26/2012: The city of Salem wants to add an extra couple dogs to the Police force, often stating how much they can do the work of ordinary officers..

Sometimes Life Just Writes Itself....

From THE SALEM NEWS 07/25/2012: This isn't meant to make light of a tragedy. But a day or two after the Colarado shootings, SALEM NEWS ran an article about a local church that holds regular services at the multiplex movie theater. Given the details about the tragedy, The two seemed to fit into one idea. My deepest condolences are towards the victims and their families. and if anyone is offended by this cartoon, I do apologize.

My 300th Post! Big Whoop!

Nothing really special about this one except to make my 300th post...

Salem News: First Two Rounds

Basically it's this: A small business got a whopping HUGE phone bill due to Hackers breaking into his account. The big telecommunications company that handles his account acknowledges that he was the victim of fraud, but demand he pay up anyways, using bullying, a lawsuit, and a warning not say "disparaging things about the company to the press". Well, the man refused to be victimized further.. he filed a countersuit, them gave his story to the local paper. publicity first got to the point that the company tried A "Well drop OUR suit if you drop YOURS-FIRST!" Then the company announced that they would be dropping their suit. But that doesn't mean it's over yet, and the man is keeping his countersuit due to all the harassment and legal bills they forced him to run up.. The cartoons showed here are based on that story. The FIRST was liked by my editor, but rejected- I found out you can't say "ASS" in a family newspaper- but the events of the next day made it a moot point, which led to the follow up cartoon, which the news printed 07/16/2012. Still waiting to see the next round.

TWO! TWO! TWO Posts In One!

My strip FOR ART'S SAKE was excluded from COMICS BUYERS GUIDE #1692 Last month due to space limitations, But this month, (#1693) They decided to run TWO episodes! I love my editors!

San Diego Memory:My Character by Sergio Aragones!

This is probably the first drawing on this site that wasn't done by me. Until ten or so years ago, I was a yearly attendee of THE SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON (COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL). In 1992, I met the great SERGIO ARAGONES, famed for his artwork in MAD MAGAZINE and his own comic book series (which has some unexplained connection to Mark Evanier) GROO THE WANDERER. Sergio was kind enough to make me this sketch of Groo, with a surprise appearance of my own "Art" character from my COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE strips. And frankly, I can't blame Art for looking nervous! Thanks again for the happy memory, Mr. Aragones!

Just Thinking..A Dangerous Pastime, I Know...

If anyone is offend by this, I apologize, but my attitudes towards religion have changed severely the past several years. I tend to be agnostic these days. I used to be fervently Catholic, but trying to live up to the moral demands were making me into a nervous wreck, and eventually the "Do as we say, not as we do" attitude of the papacy soured me for good. I realized I was going thru the motions just to please my father, and after one incident, I sadly told him I was no longer going to church. He took it okay at the time, but I knew he was disappointed. Our family had a deep involvement in the parish during earlier generations, I even became a Sunday School clerk for awhile, (Though never an altar boy, which I know he regretted) My brothers and I even attended Catholic school-which turned out to be the pure hell years of my life, as I was bullied constantly, and the bullies where ALTAR BOYS, which made things in their favor! One time I complained to the nuns- real big help they were- PUNISHED me by making me write a hundred times "I must be more forgiving" And I was the one getting my brains beaten out! Thankfully, tuition costs soon forced my folks to take out out of catholic hell and into the REAL world. Eight grade in public school had its bumps, but still a distinct improvement over what I had before! Still, I tried to keep some form of the faith, conformation, parish functions, etc. But i was getting older, and starting to form my own thoughts and ideas..and finding out that the bible and real life don't exactly mix..When i first started Job-hunting, i actually believed you weren't supposed to work on a SUNDAY!! DUH!! I sure got THAT smacked out of me fast! (I mean, even my FATHER had a weekend job playing in a band!) And as I progressed, I found myself wondering why none of the wacked-out happenings the bible describes don't seem to happen in real life! (Turning into salt?) I was reading the BALITIMORE CATHECISM daily, the bible, as well as writings of nun's visions which little little more than vivid guilt trips towards christ's suffering.It got to the point every step I took, I was worried if i was sinning! THIS is a sin, THAT is a sin, I was at confession every blasted week! I COULDN'T FUNCTION ANYMORE!!

It's that point I decided that the god I knew couldn't be the God for me. I'm not trying to be a bad person, but I can't be perfect, either. To me, God is not the stern, demanding control freak I was taught. At best, God is the unexplained and undiscovered power behind life and the universe. If I am to be judged after I pass, I'll leave that solely up to him/it. I would hope that this power has some understanding as well as a sense of humor- after all, it spawned humanity! In the meantime, I'm trying to function in real life as best I can.

Little Shop of Horrors...

Puppets and Broadway have a history together.. but like THIS???

Having Fun With Ronald..

Well, since I basically pissed on Grimace some time back, might as well do...

No, This Isn't Mallard Fillmore..

Steve Gerber's HOWARD THE DUCK. One of the greatest and most-maligned characters in comic books.

Plant Your Foot Firmly..

(Published in the SALEM NEWS 07/06/2012) A late addition to a MA comprehensive energy bill give more appeal towards an energy company to buy off the old Salem Harbor Station power plant, but at what cost? It's very interesting that the buying company's name is "FOOTPRINT"

Belated Fourth, Salem Style

Submitted but rejected Fourth of July Cartoon I sent to SALEM (MA) NEWS.

Would You Believe...?

Yeah, I know.. PAINFULLY obvious..To those of you not familiar with pop culture, comedian DON ADAMS,aka; Maxwell Smart in the classic TV series GET SMART; also performed the main voice For two cult animated series: TENNESSEE TUXEDO AND HIS TALES during the sixties, and INSPECTOR GADGET during the eighties.