Driving and Hand Signals

Several years ago, I was toying with the idea of doing a comic which would consist of short stories about random subjects. I drew a two-page ditty about driving, using myself as the main character. I really didn't enjoy drawing myself. I eventually decided that a comic with a more interesting character, or characters, would have more appeal. Soon, Halo and Sprocket was born. If you're a reader of H&S, you may recognize this story. I eventually redrew it with Katie as the main character. Click on images to enlarge.

Making Happy Things Creepier

Before I begin, you need to read the two page, color story from my latest Halo and Sprocket book. If you don't own Natural Creatures, shame on you. You can read it below, nonetheless...












When I first created the last page, I created a standard Happy Face and added scanned-in human flesh to it. My reaction was just a, "Aw, it looks like happy orange. It's not creepy enough."

So, I decided to add real teeth and a few blackheads. "Better," I thought, "But I can still tolerate looking at it..."

Next I added more zits, more realistic eyes, and floated his head. My family and friends couldn't stand to look at it. Finally! I was done.

Envelope Art

Many years ago, when I first mailed Halo and Sprocket as a comic book submission to SLG Publishing, I decided to try to convince the editors to open it sooner by adding art to the envelope. This is what I pasted on it...

SLG, of course, picked it up as a short-run series. Later, Publisher Dan Vado told me that the image did influenced him to open the envelope sooner. It wasn't the art or joke that did it however, it was the fact that I'd actually checked their website before submitting..!

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 Originally it was a single panel gag, along with a "Little Mermaid Fishing Lure" in an unpublished story.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...

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..!