Halo & Sprocket and Grow-Arm-Hair Lad

The first Halo and Sprocket collection has a (fairly popular) scene in it involving "Butter Crackers". I actually stole the concept from myself! Originally it was a single panel gag, along with a "Little Mermaid Fishing Lure" in an unpublished story. Let me explain...

Waaaay back in 1987, I created a comic named Directory to a Nonexistent Universe. It was a take-off of the popular superhero directory books at the time. I did these when I was pretty young, so don't judge them too harshly if you click on and read the three sample pages below...












I created Grow-Arm-Hair Lad very much as a throw-away character. However, he seemed to be one of people's favorites! A few years later, I wrote a stand-alone 8 page story for for him. I eventually decided that the world has enough superheroes, and if I wanted to dabble in comics, I needed to invent something non-superhero. Halo and Sprocket eventually came from that. Here's the first three pages of my GAHL story. You'll see the Butter Crackers in the last panel...

Galactus Clock!

About a week ago, I was at Hobby Lobby and noticed they had several items on clearance. The clock on the above left was priced at $2.60. I thought, "Hmm, if I bought that, I could add my own art to it!" I had no idea what art I'd add to it, but I bought it anyway. On the drive home I realized, since it had a pendulum, I had to make a Galactus and Silver Surfer clock.

I did.

(And, of course, since Galactus was involved, it had to be Jack Kirby art.)

Halo and Sprocket Secrets: Snagglepuss!

Halo and Sprocket: Natural Creatures should be hitting the comic stores today, so it's time for me to start sharing some secrets....

When I do a Halo & Sprocket book, I like to throw in something non-H&S related, just for kicks. One of the things in this newest volume is BIG CAT PUNS. (The idea came to me in a dream, complete with the first panel involving the police lion!)

I always do small roughs of my pages before I draw the finishes. This means I usually know where the word balloons will fall. So, even though you wouldn't know it by looking the finished comic, I amused myself by adding in the Big Cat Snagglepuss..!

New Halo and Sprocket out this week!

Halo and Sprocket Vol 2: Natural Creatures hit the (American) comic stores this Thursday, July 10! Here's a description...

"Welcome to the further adventures of an angel and a robot who live with a young, single woman! Why are clowns scary? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Why do women shave their legs but not their arms? Is it a good idea to play a practical joke on an all-powerful angel? Find out the answer to these questions and others you’ve never even wanted to ask! Logic, metaphysics and human nature collide in these quirky, short stories about the idiosyncrasies of life. Discover why Halo and Sprocket is a favorite among fans and critics alike with these all new stories and 4 pages of little seen newspaper strips."

Click on the back cover to the right if you'd like to read more...

Halo and Sprocket is also available directly from SLG Publishing, then later from Amazon and other fine book dealers!

Little Seen 1967 Marvel Comics!

In the 60's, the toy company Kenner released a cheap version of a Viewmaster, called a SEE-A-SHOW. Unlike a Viewmaster, which had a rotating disk with film images embedded in it, the SEE-A-SHOW merely had a thin card you pulled down through the viewer. One is seen here at the left. The images appeared in 3-D, but you needed a fairly strong light source to view it. It's read from bottom to top.

I thought it would be fun to share the ones I recently found in my basement! For your reading convenience, I've assembled the strips into a more traditional configuration. Click to enlarge...

Spider-Man falling down the pit is the most impressive 3-D effect in the bunch.

For its sheer goofiness, this Hulk one might be my favorite.

Super-hero stories don't get much more straight forward than this Thor one!

The Fantastic Four rated a two-parter!