Here's a glimpse of the special dedication page in the next book.
Shane was big in the Houston indie writer and zine scene. Tommy was a hell of an artist, and was a bit of an eccentric character as well (bit is downplaying it tremendously!). Both passed away due to complications regarding diabetes. Shane got to a point to where he couldn't afford his insulin. Tommy's health, from what I heard, steadily moved downhill over the years. I'm not sure if he took care of himself as best as he could but I do know it's hard enough out here supporting yourself as an artist, let alone supporting yourself and paying these outrageous American healthcare costs. If healthcare had been cheaper or universal both of these human beings might still be here with us today.
So guys, here's to you and your continuing legacy. You are missed every day.
As I'm rounding up and finishing the guts to the upcoming book Screw Comics! 4, I had a realization. It's taken me six long years, from idea, to pencil-to-paper, to inks, to scans, to greys and finally to the layouts. Clocking in at nearly 100 pages of new art and comics, Screw 4 is my best book yet. But I felt something was lacking. Sandwiched in the middle of the those six years was the very turbulent, disgusting and disturbing Trump administration, who day after day topped their latest atrocity with a new one. Seriously, every day was new shit to be upset about. For four years. And in those four years I felt my own anger and outrage, as well witnessed those around me get fired up, by the various shenanigans stirred up by this raft-of-floating-shit-of-an-administration as they steadily and reliably ran this country into the ground. And yet, there's not a hint of it in the book. While there's certainly themes within the stories that do reflect our society, there was no hint of any specifics going down. Indeed there was so much to be pissed about by the time you finished a cartoon or comic admonishing one atrocity, two more would have popped up.
I guess I recognized this from the beginning and decided to not even try to tackle any of that. There's plenty of other cartoonists and progressive heads out there that can better articulate how I feel, and in a far more timely manner. Still, there was this empty void. I simply don't want to let my readers think that I wasn't paying attention or that I didn't care. I believe as an artist I have a responsibility to address issues I feel super strongly about, to bring attention to grievances and injustices happening to the groups of people I belong to. So as I was compiling the guts of Screw 4 I simply sat down and described the process of making the book amid the chaos and media frenzy that was under way. It became a 4 page intro to the book, and drawing the panels, each representing a year, was not only fun but also puzzling at the same time, as I try to include the more pertinent occurrences of that year. I also tried to include more obscure/pop references such as the mummified monk, or Bong Joon-ho making his Oscars kiss. And certainly the death of the app Vine is a definitive mark on this upcoming generation, stuff like that, as well as personal milestones, like getting me getting married in 2018. Needless to say there were too many shootings to include. Go figure, America.
So here are the years posted in panel by panel, as I shared them on my Insta.
And then to top it off I depict the year 2021 as an giant, engrossing Abadox monster. At first I thought this would come off as pessimistic, but a few days in I had nothing to worry about.
Here's an unpublished Window Unit from seven years ago. It speaks of Arizona when shit was heating up about Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his stance on illegal immigrants. So weird, I thought I threw this up. But it seems only fitting to post this now since Arpaio was in the news once more receiving a Presidential pardon. Bigots enabling bigots.
This is something I actual considered, as a kid, when I really saw this graffiti in my neighborhood.
As I write this I just realized that this comic is similar to other "contraversial comics" I've seen floating around the interweb as of late, comics that lampoon racists in other places. Here's what I'm talking about, and these two comics also deal the Harvey flooding that's been happening here in Houston. I'll have a post on that next.
oOoOoOh Edgy! of course this is translated from French, below.
how the letters originally looked, cuz I love how letters look.
a pulled cartoon, gotta love it!
I love comics and cartoons that walk the edge or are just downright distasteful. Seems these cartoons have been drawing all kinds of criticisms, if not for the depictions of stereotypical racists in other parts of the world, then for the insensitivity to people who lost a lot in the recent flood. Agree with them? Well, not exactly. I do understand they are making broad generalizations of the people that live here, stereotypes, if you will. And while Texas is not certified Nazi-free I'd like to think it's a very small percentage of people here, especially in the Houston metropolitan area where the flooding has hit the hardest. A lotta people don't understand that Houston is a very diverse city, even more so than New York, and for the 2016 elections Harris County went Blue in a deep sea of Red. So, yes, broad generalizations all around. Although, this latter 'toon with the silly secessionist redneck, that seems like it can and, who knows, maybe it actually happened. What makes the news about Texas, our conservative leaders and policies, don't necessarily reflect most of the people that live here in Houston, but it's what other cartoonists go by. It's like what I did with my cartoon above.
But I dig'em even if they are going for shock value. And people's reactions to them, priceless. That's what it's all for, the reactions. Roust some people out of their bubble a little bit. Perhaps remind them to find the humor in the direst of situations, if possible.
So, let's continue to make art even if it may come out shocking, insensitive or offensive. Who are we protecting if we don't?
It's been a fantastic beginning to the year as far as print-making is concerned. Not only have I got two new sticker designs printed (and another designed) but I also have some new poster art, ready for some new posters to be made.
First one, "Delusions", came from a public domain illustration I found in, get this, the New York Library's Digital Collection, host to all kinds of archives on art, prints, photography and other various documents through out time. It's fun to get lost, give it a shot.
The characters look very aristocratic and are not giving a fuck. The women has her breasts out, a nod to how we as a culture love "tits" as sexual objects, but get weirded out when we see someone breastfeeding in public. The man is a straight up pig, which denotes anything from (corrupt) cops to corrupt politicians. The phrase juxtaposes a fantasy and reality. Our culture adores opulence and vanity. People will even go into debt just to live a rich lifestyle or at least look like it. People like to dream about being rich, but these characters are here to remind you that you are not and you will never be. As a whole I want to remind the viewer that there is a rich class and how this rich class has a real power that affects you and your surroundings on a daily basis. Stuff like gentrification, income inequality etc. I want to remind the viewer that while you scrimp and struggle to make it in this country, this culture, there's a class of people that have it obscenely easy.
the original illustration by Thomas Fleming, circa 1893-1924
This next sticker I've had for a while, I wanted to release it when he was still on the throne but alas I was too busy being broke and jobless. But even still, it's such a cool design. I updated it to reflect a more current status too.
Pope Been-a-dick, aka Ratz-in-Burger
The update came in the form of the words "Saint Hood", commenting on how some former popes go on to be saints, because of some proof of miracles or some bullshit, and how this guy probably won't make that status. The words are also split to allow the words to work individually. "Saint" sarcastically refers to him as good even though some Catholic church priests have infamously been proven otherwise. "Hood" referring to the gullyness, shadyness and underhandedness that may or may not have been the deeper reason why he resigned.
And finally, the poster! I saw this image in a dream a few years back with the phrase "Symbiote Pride". I drew a picture in a sketchbook and forgot all about it until recently. Deciding I wanted to bring this image to life I started scouting Bruce Lee photos. I found the stance and I found the arm positioning in two different pieces. Carefully fusing the images together I created a perfect composite. See people, my vector art is not just taking an obscure face and running the Photoshop cutout filter on it. It takes some serious photo manipulation skills to craft the image as you need it.
This image with this stance with the nunchucks didn't exist before me.
Because I was going with an Eastern type theme I thought I'd scrawl Symbiote Pride on a well-recognized symbol.
Combine the two with a few other graphic elements, and you got yourself a dope poster!
I'll have some for Comicpalooza this summer. I'm thinking in black and silver, like above, but also a variant color set TBD.
Stories for Screw Comics #4 has been in the works. This story picks up where "Heavy Duty Judy" leaves off. If ya think that story's nuts wait til you read this one, and if you haven't read Screw #3 what the fuck are you waiting for? I'll even let you download it for FREE. It's in a CBZ format so it'll work in your fave comic reader. It's not the full printed version but dammit, it's a FREE 60 page comic.
Been posting pages and sketches and other nonsense on the 'Gram. Add me.
Today I saw a post about the top eight women wanted by the FBI here in the US. Reading it was a lot like reading a rogue's gallery list to a secret agent. Some committed some horrible acts of violence and piracy, while others just committed atrocious white collar crimes. Crimes of passion, crimes of money, crimes of revolution. It inspired me to draw out these characters as I saw them in my head based on the mugshots and what I imagined they wear and how they behave. Here's the POST.
Hopefully you'll be inspired to do your own searches on some of these women, and find out what their cause is (was). While some of these crimes are heinous, others are quite revolutionary. As far as the likeness, I did take a lot of creative license to craft these figures, so I would no way consider these entirely accurate to identify these fugitives. If you feel like chasing these bounties better find a better picture.
I enjoyed this lil' illustration project so much I prepared a PDF for you to print out so you and the kids can color these illustrations! Just download, print, and color!
HEY KIDS! Download, save, and print the PDF from HERE.
The latest from Jerry Carrillo, new poster for his upcoming show this September 21st at Bohemeo's, right here on the east end of Houston. The show, Ignorant Bliss; he provides the idea and title, I provide the visuals. Here's what we came up with. click to see detail.
Basically, it combines current hot-button issues and political climate with today's materialistic, shallow youth, or shallow people, for that matter. Jerry told me the title last week and ever since then I envisioned a saggy-pants'd, do-ragged youth having delusions of grandeur, oblivious to the world on fire all around him. It was also important to depict a healthy young man, someone who can physically get involved with his community if he so chose to 'open his eyes'. As with most of the Jerry Vision work we always throw in a nod to his son, which explains the kid. But it also hits you with the notion that this man is also a bunk parent, choosing to pacify his son with cheap entertainment rather than talk to him. Among the 'ignorant thoughts' the man is thinking of is the played out subject matter of commercial radio rap today. And he intends to obtain his wants with...*sound the fanfare*....his unemployment check.
We wanted to fill the protest signs with the hot topic wedge issues of the day. A lil' piece of trivia: the 'Drug Law Reform' sign on the ground is a symbol for the dearth of drug policy talk from both parties during this election year. And the rat is a nod to that lack of talk reminding everyone of how lucrative the drug market is here in America at this time. Look at him go, a wheel barrow full of mexican-grade shwag to peddle out to the delusion-ed people of America, like our main character right here.
That about covers this show's design. On another note, it's my last day in my twenties. Oh boy, it's been a helluva ride. I remember how crucial it felt when the time was ticking on the 19, how I encompassed this feeling that would no longer be a teenager. Being 20 sucked, though. Not a teen anymore yet, not eligible to drink either. A sort of veritable young adult limbo. The realization that I'm turning 30 is not so bad. Not bad at all actually. Sure, I'm not where I thought I would be 15 years ago, hell, even 10 years ago. But, I'm still moving forward, still evolving. In a sense I'm just getting started. 30 is still young. Ain't it the new 20 or something?
Watched this documentary the other night, The End of Suburbia, and it confirmed the suspicions that I've already had about the sustainability of our American lifestyle. How this film took seven years to reach my consciousness is beyond me, but I've been thinking about the 'suburban' lifestyle for a while now. I was born and raised in Houston, TX, and here in this sprawling metropolis it is necessary to have a vehicular form of transportation. If you don't you probably won't have a social life. The public transit, Metro, is quite slow at delivering passengers to destinations across town, and that's even if the Metro runs in your area. There's so many places here in urban Texas that don't have public transportation. Not to mention the hours of operation don't extend deep into the night. So having a car here is a MUST.
It's funny when you hear about Houston, and Texas in general, people are so quick to say that the cost of living here is low, and how cheap it is to live here, blah blah blah. What isn't factored in, however, is your transportation, the cost of owning a vehicle that'll get you around town and to work. That's a big chunk being overlooked. We're talking a car note, car insurance, car maintenance (tires, filters,oil changes, brakes), fuel, and associated costs with repairs that are not regular maintenance (like if your transmission goes out). All these together can easily add up to $1000+ any given month. But, that's not the only cost to having a car.
Okay, you have your transportation paid for, now since you are driving a vehicle in public you are subject to the laws that apply. That means having proper registration, and a passing safety and emissions certificate. If your car is not up to par with the emissions standards, then you must shell out more dough for repairs (like an $800 catalytic converter). After you have all your stickers in order, it's time to hit the road. But don't rest easy just yet, there's still more.
Now, as a driver in public you are subject to the laws of the road. And there's plenty. Not only do you have to deal with other crazy drivers out there, but you also must deal with the abominable face of law enforcement - the police. Issues with the law tend to get pretty costly. Getting pulled over for going 2 miles over the limit is enough to get you a ticket, which can cost upwards of $150 or a weekend in defensive driving or both, and if ignored can turn to a one way ticket to jail, in the form of a warrant. I won't even get into the costs of drunk driving, even though it's frowned upon everywhere, it is a way of life here in the H. Shhhhhh! Nobody will talk about or admit to doing it, even though they probably have done it before. Any time you see a knocked over stop sign, a dented light post, or an abandoned front bumper on the corner, remember that somebody was just sober enough to put the car in reverse and flee the scene before anybody would even notice.
Don't get me wrong, I love cars. I embrace a few car cultures, like hot rods and lowriders. I love to cruise around on crisp spring nights in the full moon. It's just that having my own car in this city opened my eyes to all that I have mentioned above. I look around and everybody is in a car. Stacks and stacks of cars (and trucks, lots of trucks in Texas) with only ONE person line the freeways every morning and afternoon to and from work. You hop in your car, go to Mal-Wart, hop back in and go home, hop in your car, go to Timmy Chan's, hop back in and go home. And that's if there's no drive-thru to drive through. I look around, realizing this is the culture I've been raised in. A culture everybody here has been raised in. A culture embedded into the very fabric of America.
And everybody's cool with this?
I guess so. I mean, all ya gotta do now is go to church and wait out the rest of your life until you go to heaven. This is the promise of suburbia. This is what people strive for. And yet, did you all think this would last forever?
Of course you did. This whole lifestyle is brought to us courtesy of cheap, readily available fossil fuels. But now something is happening. The fossil fuels aren't readily available anymore, and hence, aren't cheap anymore. What's gonna happen when this whole lifestyle, this culture, this economic infrastructure becomes too expensive to keep going? There's no easy answer, or a fast way out of this. Too bad we didn't think of this 25 some odd years ago that way we can put into action a long term plan. But, wait a second, we did think of this way back when. Remember when Jimmy Carter put solar panels on the White House? Well, guess who took 'em down. It's funny because all over town people love to complain about gas prices going up. Somehow we've forgotten that owning a car is a luxury, but we've treated it like a necessity. I say let the gas prices go up. Let them go up and up and up. Only then will people actually realize what's happening and do something about it. Unless they just kill each over it, but it's something. It's like what George Carlin said, "What are ya gonna do? Play with your prick for the rest of your lives? You gonna eat at Wendy's and read People magazine until the end of time?"
Here's the trailer to the movie that sparked such a winded post. The whole thing is also available on YouTube, and a torrent for it is HERE.
