Archive for October, 2008
Halloween Dogs
Thursday, October 30th, 2008Dan sent me these shots with the subject line “Why dogs bite people.” Well said, but some of these are worth a bite (especially from that vampire dog).
Poncho Pumpkin
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
This Poncho pumpkin shot was sent in to me last year by Becky Flarity, but I love it so much I had to put it up again this year.
Poncho Does Montreal
Monday, October 27th, 2008MONTREAL, QUEBEC
Poncho arrived in Montreal last week and was shown the town in la style courtesy of Eric Desmarais. Below we see Poncho in front of Old Montreal; the Biosphere; Olympic Stadium (home of the 1976 summer Olympics); Mont-Royal; Bonsecours Market; Notre-Dame Basilica; Jacques Cartier Bridge; enjoying a smoked meat at Schwartz’s (or at least mooching for one), and a gorgeous Montreal skyline sunrise from atop Mont-Royal. Absolutely beautiful photography, Eric. C’est bon!
Cat Catapult Design
Sunday, October 26th, 2008Here’s a cat catapult design that Bob “Mailman” came up with and Dave Coates illustrated. Here’s Bob’s text (followed the Dave’s sweetly rendered blueprints):
“It would have to be simple as dogs are not complex animals. It would also include a basic dog function, digging. I think a square hole dug into the ground with a platform on a giant spring would work. The spring would be loaded into the hole so the platform is even with the ground. Cats would be lured onto the platform where someone would pull a lever, releasing the spring and shooting the cats toward the sun. ”
Icons, Messagings, Stories & Pics
Friday, October 24th, 2008
I’m going to be adding some folder icons over the next while so you can Pooch up your computer desktop. There’s only one so far for testing purposes, you can check it out here, and please let me know if it works, and if any of the accompanying instructions are not clear. More will follow once we’ve made sure all is working smoothly.
In the same vein, I’ve heard from one or two people that they’ve had some trouble logging in or posting on the message board. Anyone who’s had any troubles of any kind please send me an e-mail and let me know what the trouble was, perhaps there’s something that needs sortin’ out.
And speaking of the message board (nice segueing today, doncha think?), blogger Archie started a thread a while back where she invites fellow bloggers to come up with Pooch stories based on four random words. A number of bloggers have chimed in with some pretty delightfully tales involving members of the Pooch pack. Her and Lefty are currently batting the ball back and forth with dizzying results. Good fun, check it here.
And one final note (I’m out of segues), we haven’t heard from our Traveling Poncho for a while but I believe we should be getting some shots of him hitting Montreal hard Monday or Tuesday of next week, after which he should be traveling to Canada’s capital, Ottawa. Booya!
Archive at AMU
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
This has been mentioned on the message board, but for those who didn’t catch it there Universal has now got an awesome catalogue of all their comic strips (including one about a cute, angry little dog) here. They’re meant for organizations or individuals to browse through for use in publications, presentations or web sites (that’s why they’re all “watermarked”), but it’s a good way to find a strip you had in mind or just randomly check out earlier strips.
Poncho Thins Out
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
Someone wondered what Poncho’s skeleton might look like, this is an old Sunday from year #2 (2001) that answers both that question and the question of whether or not it’s worth putting a dog like him on a diet.
Advance Panel Time
Monday, October 20th, 2008
Man, that is one angry dog. I think I’ve mentioned before that the work of Peter Bagge has been an influence on my strip, possibly not evident on a day-to-day basis but definitely on depictions of rage such as the above example. Responses of passion are so much more fun to draw.
Real Dogs Have Curves
Sunday, October 19th, 2008My people have put me on a diet! They’re total control freaks. They don’t appreciate my natural physique. I’m mad and hungry. What would you do in this situation?
Goliath
PONCHO:
It’s quite simple. Humans these days are all concerned about the thinness of their appearance, but they’re even more concerned about someone developing self-esteem based eating disorders. Start acting like you agree with them about your weight issue, and start eating even less than what they give you. Tell them you only want to eat wheat germ. Stare at yourself in the mirror with a look of dread concern, and barf a few times on the front lawn after dinner if you can muster it. Trust me, I don’t fully understand the reason behind it, but they’ll be forcing pork and sausages soaked in gravy down your throat in no time.
Working On The Treatment
Friday, October 17th, 2008
Well the initial response from one of the higher levels of brass regarding the Pooch treatment has turned out to be less troubling than it initially seemed. The comment had not so much to do with the plot but the marketing catch. I’ve learned that animated movies are often given a “template”, which is a way for everyone involved to grasp the concept quickly and easily; for example, Chicken Run was “The Great Escape with chickens”. So far everyone seems to like the character-driven style of the Pooch world, which is great, but what they’d like to feel more comfortable with is a clearer marketing angle. As we all know a quality movie without a catchy promo can still wind up tanking at the box office (say, Iron Giant), and vice versa (say, Wild Wild West).
Over the last few weeks I’ve been pushing the story elements around, removing scenes that didn’t contribute to the thrust of the main story, however fun they might be; things like Poncho running away from home to join a wolf pack, Hudson (disguised as Dr. Waggles) secretly training Poncho to be more dog-like, and a scene with Poo Poo and Droollia trapped in a dumpster set to the song “No One Knows What Goes On Behind Closed Doors.”
The treatment I wrote first was “on spec” to sort of win the assignment of getting to do the treatment, so this is actually the first “official” treatment I’ll be delivering to Sony, which I should have ready early next week, and then the wait for feedback begins.
Rrrr……Kibbllllllle…..rrrr….
Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
Here’s the new Pooch movie poster I was promising last week. It’ll be running as a side panel next to the Halloween Sunday this year. Brains….. zebra brains….
Poncho Look-Alike (on the inside)
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008
Rogo! - submitted by Mike Ball, Shropshire, England
This awesome guy apparently lived infamously from 1995 - 2005 and then reincarnated himself as Poncho, according to sources close to him. A proud lineage it appears. Poncho would especially approve of the exclamation point.
Poncho Toronto
Saturday, October 11th, 2008TORONTO, ONTARIO
Check out some shots of the Poochalicious One popping up in front of some local landmarks of my very own home town, the T-dot! (nobody really calls it that). Here we have him in front of the world’s tallest freestanding structure, The C.N. Tower; also the OCAD builidng (Ontario College of Art and Design); City Hall; Casa Loma; Old City Hall; and a savory shot of the “Canada Geese Flight Stop” inside the Eaton Center.
God Bowling
Friday, October 10th, 2008
Sounds like He got a 7-10 split.
Guest Drawing
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008
I’m flattered today to be trotting out an awesome guest drawing from fellow cartoonist Danny Burleson of Oy fame, a bangin’ web comic (check it here). Thanks a mill for the rendition of my guys, Danny. Love it!
Boomer Prays
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
I know Pooch Cafe has been uncharacteristically religious in content lately, I really haven’t experienced any divine visitations or near-death experiences, I swear. It’s merely been a plot topic that has required playing out, and I’m only employing it for humor value (for which, whatever your beliefs, you must surely agree it is rife). It’s always funny when non-religious characters suddenly turn religious to help their own ends. Boomer did this recently too, although subtly, pressing his palms together as Poncho plead his case for not making him stay in a kennel.
Boomer Look-Alike
Monday, October 6th, 2008
Emmi hails from Cuberland, Maine, and is five years old (give or take). “Cats are made for chasing,” says she. Look at those loony eyes, Boomer-ific.
“Typical Secular Canadianna of the Infantile School”
Sunday, October 5th, 2008It’s been interesting viewing the good-natured debate about animals and heaven in the previous post. After setting it in motion I decided to remain mum on the subject myself, not that I thought I had any beliefs that would be incendiary, but you never know. This subject matter has come up once before on the Pooch page, back in ‘05, and I got called something incomprehensible but presumably not complementary. Half way through the series a fan sent me an e-mail praising my work, but a few days later after the strip containing a “plumber’s crack” appeared, the same fan sent me a second e-mail, calling my strip “typical secular Canadianna of the Infantile School”. I know what each of those words means, but put together in that order I have no idea what’s being said. Anyway, here’s the series:
MAD Monkey
Friday, October 3rd, 2008
Here’s the Monkey gag mentioned in earlier posts that I did recently for good ol’ MAD mag. If the content seems a tad more political than you might have expected from me, the original punchline was different, but MAD wanted to give it a more political slant. So take that, Republican platform!
In Dog We Trust
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008The recent Pooch series has been dealing off and on with some rudimentary, let’s say almost child-like concerns regarding God and heaven as they might apply to dogs. I seem to have gotten away with toying with this subject without reprimand, which pleasantly surprised me. Even though I stayed clearly on the side of query and not opinion, this particular subject matter usually stirs up trouble even by its very mention. Thank you, God-fearers of the world, for understanding the motivation of these strips was simple fun.
And on that topic, blogger Kathy, aka Smiley, was reminded of these photos she’d found of dueling churches contesting the subject of dogs and heaven. Of course my inbred b.s. detector quickly picked up on the fact that the cars and trees in the background of each shot remain too precisely uniform for these signs to have actually been really responding to each other, but it is a funny volley nonetheless. (Don’t you love the word “nonetheless”? We should have more words that are amalgamations of three words into one).
