I’m pleased and honored to be counted, along with my collaborator Henry Scarpelli, among the best comic strip tributes to Charles M. Schulz upon the Peanuts creator’s passing in February of the year 2000. Our Archie strip of the time is listed in this retrospective Comic Book Resources article at the #4 position.
/https://www.cbr.com/best-peanuts-tribute-comics-charles-schulz/
I’ll be seeing my friend, cartoonist Stephen DeStefano for the first time in years, at this weekend’s Nancy Fest! event. And that got me doing a mental inventory of the handful of projects we’ve worked on together over the years.
With an exception or two, our collaborations consisted of Stephen on pencils and me on inks. I’ve scraped together samples of all of them here:
‘Mazing Man – 1986 – My good friend Karl Kesel was the original inker on this cult favorite series for DC Comics. Karl got a new assignment, and he and Stephen put in a good word for me so I got the nod to be the replacement inker. I did two issues of the regular comic, plus a couple of special editions. Bob Rozakis was the writer and co-creator of this series.
Elvira’s House of Mystery – 1987 – Stephen and I did the art for a spooky Christmas story in this one-shot for DC. Story by Barbara Kesel.
Bizarro Comics – 2001 – This was a fun collection of weird takes on DC’s heroes by an assortment of great cartoonists from outside the
standard comic book biz. Stephen drew a framing story to weave the whole thing together. The deadline was tight so he recruited a handful of inkers to finish pages. I was one of those, and inked a half-dozen pages. Script by Chris Duffy.
Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius – 2003 – I was the writer for a couple Jimmy Neutron stories for Nickelodeon Magazine, courtesy of editor Chris Duffy. Stephen did the pencils and inks. I remember doing at least one Spongebob Squarepants story, but I don’t believe Stephen did the art for that one. I’ll have to dig that out of the archive and do an update.
Popeye’s Voyage: The Quest for Pappy – 2004 – This was a CGI-type animated TV special produced and written by actor Paul Reiser reintroducing the Popeye gang. Stephen had become King Features Syndicate’s go-to artist for Popeye licensing art. A comic-style adaptation of the special was produced for promotional purposes. Stephen drew it and he brought me in to ink it. I’ve always loved Popeye, so this was definitely a bucket list item for me!
Alien Baby – 2007 – The Weekly World News tabloid added a comics section based on some of their more infamous recurring news stories. Stephen did some installments of Alien Baby, and then brought me in to script the ongoing narrative. At some point Stephen left to take on another assignment, and I took over the art as well as the writing until the end.
Monitoring With Muscle – For a change, I got to bring Stephen in on a project. I’d gotten involved with an ad agency that needed a super-hero character design for their latest ad campaign. Stephen designed and drew this hero, and I inked it. I can’t remember if I did the coloring or not.
Me, by Stephen!
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Convention appearance queries – Info here!
Art commissions – contact me at craig@craigboldman.com .
Also see my caricatures page!
Listen to Craig’s interview at the Santa Rob Podcast!
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I’ve spent plenty of time over the past couple of years drawing pictures of Santa for my Christmas Never Sleeps series, so of course I had to one day be interviewed by Santa Claus himself! I’m the guest on the latest installment of the Sleighing It With Santa Rob podcast!
Santa Rob Pugh asks me about the earliest days of my comic book career up until the present! I invite you to listen to this week’s installment and every week’s edition of Sleighing It With Santa Rob podcast!
<< AVAILABLE FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2023 AVAILABLE ON SPOTIFY AND ALL PODCAST PLATFORMS >>
Visit the WEBSITE SHOP for many of the comics mentioned in the podcast!
Cap’n Catnip can also be ordered directly from the printer (unsigned). This link will also show you the other great comics from HooHaa Comics (publisher of Cap’n Catnip)!
http://www.indyplanet.com/hooha-comics
Rob was extremely generous with his chat time. Even so, in retrospect, a few omissions, corrections, and loose ends, etc. occur to me that beg to be addressed. Continue reading Craig Boldman on Santa Rob Podcast!
I just discovered my original script for a story called “The Old Ball Game.” It ran in Archie’s Pal Jughead Comics #87 (December, 1996). As it happens, this was actually one of my earliest Jughead stories. A few months later, my tenure as the regular Jughead writer would begin. (As of issue #89, I’d be teamed with new regular penciller Rex Lindsey for over 100 issues!)
I was especially glad to locate this particular script. I was able to see the pencils for the job before they were sent to the inker; a rare occasion for me. The great Stan Goldberg, who illustrated the story, had kindly gifted me with photocopies of his pencils.
I thought it might be interesting to show the progression of a story from script, to pencils, to the page, with inks by Mike Esposito, colors by Barry Grossman and letters by Bill Yoshida.
As you can see, I write (sketch) my Archie scripts in storyboard format as opposed to screenplay format. In my mind, this makes my intentions for each panel absolutely clear to the penciller, and reduces the risk for misinterpretation.
I never assume or expect that the penciller will follow my panel layouts, but they’re always welcome to.
Continue reading Jughead #87 Script to Page!
Just about a year ago, I got together with several of my Archie Comics cohorts for an ad hoc summit meeting (really just a lunch) at the High Street Cafe in Hamilton, Ohio. It was a great place to eat, surrounded as we were by kitsch and pop culture memorabilia.
Here are the Kennedy brothers, Pat and Tim; Jeff Schultz (all top-tier Archie Comics cartoonists), and yours truly Craig Boldman.
Sadly, the pandemic took its toll on the Cafe during the past year, and they no longer offer sit-down dining, but have placed their emphasis on take-out, and catering service. They’re also leaning into memorabilia sales.
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Convention appearance queries – Info here!
Art commissions – contact me at craig@craigboldman.com .
Also see my caricatures page!
The National Cartoonists Society is taking the occasion of its 75th anniversary to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
As many of you know, I’m a longtime creator for Archie Comics. I’ve worked on most of their titles, but am best known for my efforts on the Jughead comic book, and the Archie syndicated newspaper strip.
Here’s a video preview of a piece of original Archie art I created and have contributed to the National Cartoonists Society Art Auction.
Since this year is also Archie’s 80th anniversary, I decided to pay homage to the cover of Archie Comics #1, cover dated Winter 1942. The original cover was drawn by the great Bob Montana. This update is a rare acrylic painting by me!
The online auction, which runs from October 27 through November 3, 2021, features original artwork from about 150 cartoonists, including such greats as: Cathy Guisewhite (“Cathy”), Dik Browne (“Hi and Lois”), Greg Evans (“Luann”), Jeff Keane (“The Family Circus”), Jerry Ordway (“Captain America”), Sergio Aragones (“Mad”), Jim Borgman (“Zits”), Joe Staton (“Dick Tracy”), Ron Ferdinand (“Dennis the Menace”), Marcus Hamilton (“Dennis the Menace”) — There really are too many to list. I may just come back and trade out a few names every day or two.
You can browse now! The auction is live at
NCS Art Auction
This is your great opportunity to own a fun piece of art and to help a good cause. Christmas is coming, by the way, and this might be a perfect solution for that comics geek on your friend list.
Share this info around, please! Thanks and good luck!
INFO ABOUT THE AUCTION AT THE NATIONAL CARTOONISTS SOCIETY SITE
DIRECT LINK TO BID ON THIS ARCHIE ART
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Convention appearance queries – Info here!
Art commissions – contact me at craig@craigboldman.com .
Also see my caricatures page!
Happy New Year!
I unbox my contributor copies of ‘Jetta Raye Adventures,’ featuring over 100 pages of new stories about Jetta, the ‘Sweetheart of the 22nd Century.’ This hardback volume includes stories and comic strips by me, along with an all-star line-up of contributors such as Chris Yambar, Jeff Shultz, Joe Sinnott, and many others!
Jetta originally came to life in 1952 her own comic book series drawn by the great Dan DeCarlo.
My apologies for mangling the names of some of the esteemed contributors in the video!
To order copies, jet on over to jettaraye.com
#makingcomics #comicbookartist #comiccollection #imagecomics #comiccover #igcomics #indiecomics #comics #comicbookart #comicbooks
My friend Ron Randall is conducting a Kickstarter campaign to issue his life’s work, Trekker, in a single, awesome hardcover edition. Check it out!
I’ve been sitting on the following interview for a few months, and now is a choice time to release it to the world. At the time we did this chat, the hardcover collection was not yet in the pipeline.
Craig: Let’s start with housekeeping. What’s your preferred path for anyone hoping to get immersed in Trekker? Do you want them to see the early stuff, the current stuff, or what, and where do they go to accomplish it?
Ron: You know, that’s not as easy a question for me to answer as it probably should be. I’m happy to have readers dive in wherever. Each story is built to work as a fine introduction to the character and the world, and each volume has a complete adventure– beginning, middle and end. I feel very strongly about that. So any book should work as a fine introductory experience. But, I also construct the series so that each story builds on what’s gone before, and also points toward where we are heading next. Like each individual story, I’ve designed the series as a whole to have a beginning, a middle and an end. The character of Mercy St. Clair, the world she moves in, and the scope and scale of things grows and deepens over the course of the stories. Mercy is shaped and informed by her experiences as she goes along, the stakes rise, and so on. And I do have an endgame that we are heading toward. Still quite a way to go before Mercy gets there, though. So a reader who starts from page one and works their way through the whole series experiences a powerful cumulative affect which, I am told, is pretty rewarding. Continue reading Ron Randall’s Trekker!
I’ll be periodically compiling my ongoing 2020 comic, Christmas Never Sleeps, for your viewing pleasure. This is the strip that puts the lie to the notion that Santa only works one day a year.
• CLICK HERE for the essential intro!
• HERE IS CNS FOR JANUARY, 2020!
Looking for a graphic novel workshop? Register for Explore Cartooning! My latest four-week session launches at the Middletown Arts Center in Middletown, Ohio, on January 16, 2020. Continue reading Explore Cartooning! Graphic Novel Workshop new session 1/16/20
