Tag Archives: cartoons

DeStefano and Me!

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 MuscleFor 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!

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Unboxing Disney 1 Saturday Morning!

In the late ‘90’s, Disney Adventures Magazine presented a monthly array of articles of interest for kids. Each issue also contained a large comics section filled with stories based on then-current Disney shows and movies.

I contributed comic scripts inspired by the animated series, ‘Disney’s Doug’ (The TV show was a continuation of one of the original Nicktoons, Doug, by creator Jim Jinkins for the Nickelodeon cable channel).

All of the Disney Adventures comics have been out of print since their original publication, until now. Fantagraphics has compiled a selection of that work in a hardback anthology called Disney 1 Saturday Morning Adventures.

Editor David Gerstein was kind enough to send me a copy of the new book, and I turned on the camera for an unboxing vid.

Apologies for the sound, my lapel mike didn’t perform up to par.

*****
Convention appearance queries – Info here!

Art commissions – contact me at craig@craigboldman.com .
Also see my caricatures page!

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National Cartoonists Society Art Auction! Oct. 27 – Nov. 3!

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!

My auction art and the classic Archie cover that inspired it.

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!

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Christmas Never Sleeps – Background!

Here’s a little background on ‘Christmas Never Sleeps,’ with thanks to my friend Marc Vargas, who asked! (Pictured above: The master loose leaf volume containing the entire works!)

I‘d had an interest in doing a year-long, Christmas-to-Christmas Santa Claus story for decades. I knew that there was a segment of young-at-hearts to whom Christmas is a year-long passion. I belong to a couple of such groups on Facebook. I’ve long been aware of year-round Santa attractions, such as Castle Noel in Medina, Ohio. There’s also Santa Claus, Indiana, where Santa receives his mail! Just up the tracks from me lies EnterTrainment Junction, which hosts a Christmas in July event that allows kids to conference call with Santa via Zoom. Continue reading Christmas Never Sleeps – Background!

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‘Christmas Never Sleeps’ Rolls On!

Christmas Never Sleeps is my year-long cartoon epic that has followed Santa J. Claus daily since Christmas day, 2019, and will reach its conclusion on Christmas Eve, 2020. During the course of those 365 days, it continues to paint the icon in familiar broad strokes, but with quirky details that aren’t apparent during his usual once-a-year appearance.

Continue reading ‘Christmas Never Sleeps’ Rolls On!

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Cartoon Crossroads Columbus!

Meet me at Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, the free, citywide arts festival hosted by people and places with a passion for cartoon arts. CXC 2018 is in Columbus, Ohio, and the dates are September 27-30.

I’ll be signing and selling books and art at the National Cartoonists Society table (table #55) at the Columbus Metropolitan Library, 96 S Grant Avenue, Columbus, Ohio. I’m there on Saturday from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm, and Sunday from 1:00 – 5:00 pm.

http://www.cartooncrossroadscolumbus.com

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Heckle and Jeckle!

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The animated comedy team of Heckle and Jeckle was another Terrytoons production. Created in 1946 for the theatrical cartoon, ‘The Talking Magpies,’ they continued in that format and, later, on television in the programs CBS Cartoon Theatre, The Heckle and Jeckle Cartoon Show, and The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle.

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