Twenty years ago on this exact date, the FIRST Cool Jerk was published in the Reno Gazette-Journal! That’s a true fact, Chester! Many things have changed in 20 years (Armpit’s hair, no more hand lettering or Zip-a-Tone) but many more things have stayed the same (four-panel format, the logo, my sense of “humor”). I talk much more about Cool Jerk’s genesis and early days in Cool Jerk Vol. 1: Hodabeast, so if you have your copy, bust it out and thrill in the tale!

As you can see, I still have the tearsheet. (I’m like that— I have tearsheets and clips of everything I’ve had published since junior high school. Serious.) Some time capsule-y stuff from June 15, 1991: “City Slickers” was in the theaters, the most-popular songs in Reno were “Losing My Religion” by R.E.M. and “Seeing Things” by the Black Crowes, and Sparks opened up a paintball park.

The first published Cool Jerk is different from the one online and collected in Hodabeast; I remastered all the older Cool Jerks with my font Hornopolis, and I made some slight changes/fixes in the process.

You’ll also see that Cool Jerk ran vertically. THAT JUST KILLED ME! Paste-up would cut the velox of my strip and arrange it vertically down the right-hand column. This happened for several months until I redesigned the page to accommodate Cool Jerk in its intended horizontal format.

So yeah. Twenty years! To commemorate this event, I revisited the other five characters who appeared with The Kid Who Would Eventually Become Armpit, none of whom we’ve seen since the first Cool Jerk strip. I also decided to give them names, which will be convenient when action figures are made of them.

Coaxed out of retirement for this special occasion, Howard Hindenburg chimes in with a quickie editorial!

Go HERE for a four-decade retrospect of Howard’s best reviews!

I hope you’ve been enjoying this series of strips (start here) centering on Manuel Dexterity. I’d been planning this tale for many years, patiently waiting until the right time. It’s been my intent all along, having Manuel be gay. In fact, as you look back from his debut in Hodabeast through to the present day, you’ll see that he’s always stayed true to my vision. That’s about 16 years of character development.

Has it really been 16 years? In that time, we’ve known Manuel to be a freelance special-effects artist, a good friend of Puppy’s and Manhattan’s, he’s Hispanic and barely bilingual, he saved Spittle Beach from Comic Sans, he’s had porno dreams about Anthony Bourdain, he was devoured by DeeDee’s temporarily gigantic ass, he paints nudes, he created a TV pilot that NBC swiped and turned into “Heroes” and knows how to do the Wild Boys dance. He’s an important part of Cool Jerk and I refuse to make him “the token gay.”

The last thing I wanted was to screw up Manuel’s day in the spotlight, as it were. Manuel needed a voice that wasn’t mine. So, I enlisted my friend David Poller to help plot and co-write this series. David should be a familiar name to long-time readers— he’s been subtly improving my sense of humor over the years by influencing punchlines (see the Mary Annibal the Cannibal on Gilligan’s Island strips) or just killing me with laugh-out-loud conversations (the peeps strips). He’s even on the back cover of Bimboozled.

David is many things: He’s a professional photographer and photo editor. His appetite for pop culture is insatiable. He’s a snarky socio-political commentator. He’s well-traveled. He’s a Cubs fan. He’s a teacher. He’s lived in — literally — three of the four farthest corners of the continental United States. He’s a mentor. He’s hilarious. He’s brilliant. He’s a good friend. He’s gay. No single one of these traits defines David as a person. And thusly, I —we— didn’t want Manuel to be defined solely by his orientation.

Next week is the double-sized finale, and after that an epilogue strip. By my count, that’s 10 strips in this series (plus the bingo card). David wrote/co-wrote nine of them. Can you guess which one was all mine??

This was Darlene’s idea— to collect various portraits of yours truly from others throughout my cartooning years. Now that I’ve gathered them all in one place, it’s pretty amusing.

 

Here’s a portrait by Art Baltazar, artist of Tiny Titans. I don’t know about the chicken legs, but to Art’s credit, he drew this in like 60 seconds AND only used a cell phone photo of me (taken by Joe DiAnna). 2007.

 

And speaking of, here’s one by Joe DiAnna. This was a winning comic strip from some Cool Jerk contest I held in 2007.

 

Let’s go all the way back to University of Nevada, Reno days. Here’s political cartoonist Calder Chism‘s take on me, circa 1989.

 

Autobio cartoonist Ryan Claytor put a drawing of me (circa 2005) into his book, “And Then One Day Sketchbook.”

 

Sociopopculturolitical cartoonist Don Asmussen drew up a comic “welcoming” me to the (San Diego) Union-Tribune graphics department, 1994.

 

Speaking of the U-T, fellow infographics journalist Mark Nowlin amended a sasquatch graphic I originally did in 1998. Thanks, Mark. The nightmares continue.

 

And here are a couple by Darlene. I’m fond of the color one because my thighs are slim.

Discuss.

This past Saturday was my Cool Jerk book signing at Sundance Books in Reno, Nev. It was my first signing in Cool Jerk’s home town (Cool Jerk got its start in Northern Nevada, running in the Reno Gazette-Journal for several years before I took it online), and if Saturday’s turnout is any indication, it certainly won’t be my last.

To make this event even more, um, eventful, Nancy Horn of Dish Cafe and Catering was on-hand to provide delicious baked refreshments — “Pupcakes!” They were white wine cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and black sprinkles. Black and white, just like my strip. If you bought a book, you got a free Pupcake. And if you got a Pupcake, you know it was incredibly good.

While Nancy’s not my sister (we worked together at the UNR Sagebrush some 20+ years ago, when she was Nancy Louvat), my for realz sister Jennifer was there. She not only got to see me work the table and sign dozens of books, but also got to meet many of my Northern Nevada friends. (Jen told me afterward that she totally understands how I frequently lose my voice after doing comic conventions, 7-9 hours a day for 2-5 days straight.)

So I’d like to say hi and thanks to Andy Carey (Doc Splatter letter-writer who received a “goodie,” as is tradition), Guy Clifton (look him up in the index of Bimboozled), Frank Mullen (and Susan, by proxy), Nikki Bomagat, Steve Timko (also in Bimboozled, kinda), Claudia Ortega-Lukas and her mom, Nancy’s mom Cherie, Greg Moyle (another Doc Splatter letter-writer, see page 11 of the Doc Splatter Ominous Omnibus), Mark Lindquist and his boys, Vickie Johnson, Jim, Angel and Gabri Bachand, Ben “Buzzy” Martin (we go WAY back, like ninth grade), Shelly Larson (OMG Shelly!), Charles Nemitz, Bryan Allison (by phone), the aforementioned Nancy and Jen. And, of course, the staff at Sundance Books — Dan and Phillip (and Christine and KC by proxy) — for making the signing as smooth as can be and for restocking their shelves with all my books! So in case you missed it, head on down to Sundance, buy a book or two, and bring it by next time I’m up in the Truckee Meadows for another signing!

Oh, and Ben? You’re on page 11 of the Doc Splatter Ominous Omnibus, too!

WonderCon was a couple weeks ago and Darlene and I were there… but NOT as exhibitors (for the first time, actually). I decided to take a break and actually do some networking, socializing, shopping and attend a panel or two… none of which are easy to do when you have to man your exhibitor table. In case you didn’t attend, I took plenty of photos. So, here you go!

This was someone’s sickass ride (I think it had a Hertz Rental Car sticker on it).

Friday was family day. Hey, where’s Cornelius?? um, awkward!

Direct from Asgard, the Warriors Three! Look for them next month in Thor!

CUTEST COSPLAY COUPLE AWARD! I’m thinking… M.O.D.A.M. and M.O.D.O.K.? Not sure about the balls on the face, though.

My favorite Catwoman — Lee Meriwether. MROWR!

If you’ve been to any comic convention in North America over the past several years, you’ll no doubt recognize James and Rebecca Hicks of Little Vampires, who also live in San Diego. (Last year we were keeping each other up to date on the massive Easter earthquake that shook the Southland pretty hard.)

Also with a movie this year, the Sentinel of Liberty himself… the Living Legend of WWII… the First Avenger… (geez, how many titles does Captain America have??)

Nice to see Boomer and Apollo having a chat.

Here are ol’ pals Sarah and Jeff (foreground) and new pals Desiree and Jonathan… all from the Southland. WESTSIDE!

And here’s WonderCon’s pride and joy Ben Walker and Amanda, who I’m told was BORN WITH WOODEN ANGEL WINGS!

Daniel Steam Crow Davis with a creampuff. If it makes any difference, it was a magic creampuff and he leveled up. I don’t really know what that means. Go read his comic, Monster Commute.

BEST COSTUME! This guy I think was dressed as the Penguin, because everywhere he went… HE WADDLED JUST LIKE A PENGUIN! It was SO CUTE! WADDLING EVERYWHERE! All he needed was a top hat, pointy nose, tuxedo jacket with tails, spats, striped pants, trick umbrella and a monocle! (Click the photo to get a better view!)

Here’s a series of photos I took of a group of Earth-11 crossplayers. Their costumes varied in levels of “commitment to the craft,” but all-in-all it was an impressive group. That’s Kit Quinn as Superwoman (she begged people to upload any pics of her in flight, so I hope she can finally prove she’s the last daughter of Krypton).

And we’ll end with rare platinum blonde variant edition Jane Wiedlin, because she’s freakin’ awesome, still wears the Cool Jerk “nighty” from last year and YES! she has a comic, too! ¡Viva Lady Robotika! (OF COURSE she signed my copy! *beams*) Please go track down your own copy — this one’s getting slabbed!

ADDENDUM Although I didn’t take any pics of them, I also lucked out and saw Carla and Lance Hoffman (up from Santa Barbara), Bay Area pal Duncan Cook and Neil (who scored a backroom-deal Bimboozled on the sly). And someday I’ll have to tell you about the shabu shabu dinner we had with Sarah (above) and our friends-who-are-not-associated-with-WonderCon Chad and Todd. We laughed until out faces nearly burst off our skulls.

This past weekend Darlene and I attended WonderCon in San Francisco (as guests, not exhibitors). While in town— actually, our first stop in San Francisco— was Isotope. James Sime runs one of the finest comics shops in the country. Just ask anyone… especially any of the dozens of comics writers and/or artists whose art adorns a toilet seat, proudly displayed along Isotope’s roof line.

Last November, James gave me (and Cool Jerk) with a blank toilet seat. I was honored to have the opportunity to have my art among the likes of Amanda Conner, Jim Lee, Ed Brubaker, Warren Ellis, Tom Beland, Kyle Baker, Darwyn Cooke, Brian K. Vaughn… just to name a few.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intimidated; I had to bring my A Game. First, I had to have a joke that no one else thought up, AND I had to make mine stand out a little bit. So I added one of those sanitary belts that you see in hotels. It also served to add my logo and another gag (“Sanity strip — for your protection”).

Thanks again, James!

I’ll be having a book signing at Sundance Bookstore in Reno, Saturday, April 16! Christine Kelly has been a friend of Cool Jerk since my first book and Sundance was the perfect venue for my first Northern Nevada signing. And speaking of friends…

Nancy Horn — owner of DISH Cafe — agreed to partner with me for the signing. And by “agreed” I mean “succumbed to blackmail.” See, Nancy and I go WAY back. Back in the college days, we both worked for the UNR Sagebrush (she was the variety editor and wrote a food column, and I was production director, page designer and staff cartoonist). In fact, SHE’S responsible for the “death” of Doc Splatter, back in 1990. Well, we’ve both pursued our dreams, and over the past several years she’s become a foodie luminary in Northern Nevada. You might’ve eaten at DISH, read about her in various regional and national publications or even seen her on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Well, she’ll be there with Cool Jerk-related desserts that’s still under wraps at this writing. But I guarantee it’ll be fun and flavorful.

Here’s how I’m folding the comics-and-cuisine thing together into a riot-inducing, must-not-miss event: For every Cool Jerk book you purchase, you get a DISH coupon for FREE EATS! I’ll only have a couple/few dozen coupons so it’s first come/first served, and there’s a limit of four tickets per person.

I’ll have all four Cool Jerk and Doc Splatter books on hand, ready to personalize to you with a sketch. Also, I’ll be bringing buttons, stickers, t-shirts, original art sketches and canvas panels. It’ll be like a micro comic-con, but with free admission and free food!

The signing is only two hours (1pm to 3pm) so be sure to schedule your appetite accordingly!

ps Nancy Horn is no relation, actually, but my for-realz sister will be there!

Inking Cool Jerk is a two-step process — black ink and white ink. It’s true, people. I make mistakes. Sometimes a line goes wrong, sometimes the brush is flawed, sometimes I need to edit out part of a drawing, sometimes I need to break through a panel border, and sometimes I need to overhaul a drawing from scratch. Also, white ink can be used for effects, especially when you want to add white lines to a black object. That’s when I turn to my correction ink of choice: Pelikan Graphic White.

When I first started using India ink (high school and early college), I made many, many mistakes. It was a learning process. And the first means of correction I had was Liquid Paper. Kids, let me tell you a secret. Liquid Paper is awesome for typewriters, but horrible for cartoonists. It’s a toxic, clumpy mess that junks up your original and makes it almost impossible to re-ink over the correction. My first year of Like, For Shore! strips are all battle-damaged with Liquid Paper corrections, and it’s regrettable. (The strips were regrettable, too… but that’s beside the point.)

Well, I knew the pros at Marvel and DC Comics — as well as syndicated cartoonists — had to use something else. Somewhere I heard about Pelikan Graphic White. I looked for it in Reno and couldn’t find it anywhere, so I ended up buying a jar from Taylor’s art supply store in Sacramento (long-since gone). That was 1988, and I’ve been brand-loyal ever since.

What makes Pelikan Graphic White so good? Well, let me start by saying MY experiences are unique to MY cartooning process, and Pelikan may not work for everyone. In fact, veteran comics inker Klaus Janson says it’s the worst correction ink on the market, and he swears by another brand.

The first thing you’ll notice is the price. It’s pretty expensive at about $11 a jar. But don’t worry about that, because one jar might be all you’ll ever need. The paint (it’s technically not an ink, but a gouache) is a heavy, goopy paste about as thick as peanut butter. But it’s water-soluble, so I need to do is dole out a pea-sized blob onto a palette and add a couple drops of water to thin it. Soon, you can easily load a watercolor brush with it and start correcting. Its opacity varies with the water content, and when it dries, it matches the texture of the paper. This means I can draw over it with a ink brush or Micron pen and the line won’t wick, spread or bleed. And more importantly, the India ink won’t smear or lift after a subsequent erasing. (That being said, you should erase all your pencil before doing any correcting. It’s just cleaner and safer that way.)

You’d think that being water-soluble, Pelikan Graphic White would mix with the black ink beneath it, making it a gray mess. Nope… so long as you let the ink dry first. And to keep your gouache pristine white, ALWAYS use a dedicated white-ink brush AND dedicated white-ink water jar. Cross-contamination is dangerous in cooking AND cartooning!

One of the best aspects of Pelikan Graphic White is that a jar will last forever. That pea-sized dollop on your palette will dry out in a few minutes, but all you need is a couple drops of water to reactivate it. For me, that dollop might last 6-8 months before I need to get another small scoop from the jar.

Pelikan Graphic White isn’t without a weakness, however: it has problems covering up laser printer toner (the toner tries to repel the gouache because of its water content, so it sometimes takes 3-4 coats). So if I know I’m going to break a panel with a word balloon, I try to take care of that on the Macintosh.

I’ve amassed something of a white-out museum over the years, collecting and trying many varieties of inks and gouaches. Some have many of the same properties as Pelikan, but fail the re-inking or eraser tests.

I just took a look in my Pelikan Graphic White jar and it’s all dried up. No worries— all I need to do is slice out a chunk, put it on the palette, add some water and I’ll be good til 2012.

I’m gobsmacked! Long-time Cool Jerk reader and comics journalist Sean Kleefeld wrote an article about yours truly on one of his comics blogs — Kleefeld on Webcomics — for MTV Geek. It took me 100% by surprise! Sean did a terrific job in his research and I couldn’t find a single inaccuracy anywhere (not a slight on Sean, but rather that there are oft-times inaccuracies on the Internet).

Sean and I kinda go way back. He used to curate the premier Fantastic Four online database and information repository, and may be the one person (not employed by Marvel) who knows more about the FF than me. He’s one of the architects behind the Marvel Chronology Project — a dizzying, online guide to Marvel characters and their myriad appearances in Marvel Comics. He’s also a frequent contributor to the Jack Kirby Collector (we worked together on a Big Barda piece in 2007) and has a book you should purchase. He was the first to order Hodabeast and in 2009 he even wrote about Darlene’s and my wedding!

Go check out the article— it talks a lot about webcomics and economics i.e. how cartoonists turn a buck while offering their content online for free.

Thanks again, Sean, and MTV!