Here are a few articles/reviews I managed to copy and save from the Web before their pages went down.
Iron Chuck’s blog
IronChuck sez, “Read this!”
I’m still absorbing all the fun and frolic of Wondercon, which I will undoubtedly post some on later. As for now, let me share with you my first find; Cool Jerk; following the adventures of Armpit, Puppy, and their clique as they cope with high school, post grad, college, and the banality of pop culture and life in general. http://www.cooljerk.com/
I met the creator, Paul Horn, today and grabbed vol. 1 of his collection; which had run in the Reno Gazette-Journal (The first part of the strip takes place in Reno, where Paul attended college), as well as some strips that hadn’t. So far I’ve been having no end of trouble putting it down to do anything else.
Definitely a good read, and I give it the official IronChuck seal of approval! But don’t just take my word for it; read the review, here: www.comicon.com
Sun, February 24, 2008 – 7:39 PM
Independent Propaganda review, 2004
REVIEW: COOL JERK web comic by Paul Horn
Filed under: Reviews — Wesley Green @ 4:54 pm
Reviewed by Matt Butcher / Writer for Independent Propaganda
Since Calvin and Hobbes left the newspapers, when is the last time you actually laughed at the daily funnies? Be honest. I can’t remember. There are a few that I get a chuckle out of. I don’t even bother reading half of them because I know what I’ll get. I’ll wonder why Jim Davis is allowed to still produce new Garfield without an original idea in fifteen years.
With all of the strips out there, even if we don’t read them all the time, there has to be a way to break in new blood. Why does Wizard of Id get the same exact place every day for decades? Don’t we deserve new themes and ideas rather than recycled ideas? I mean, we have turnover on the TV. Shouldn’t there come a time for a new breed?
I think I found one of the new breed. Paul Horn has put out a website of his passion. He simply likes drawing his cartoons. He has a lot to say. If new music can be discovered online, why not a new comic strip?
First of all, Paul Horn has quite a dynamic cartooning art style. The characters are flashy and good to look at. The panels are filled with movement and clever facial expressions. They are, without a doubt, better looking than most of the daily strips in my newspaper.
Second, Horn has some pretty engaging little ideas in the strip. After perusing the site, my favorite series (you know how one strip will revolve around the same theme or joke for a week?) involved the two main characters arguing over whether eggs are dairy or not. Armpit is the main character and if Horn has his say, Adam Sandler would wear the foot-tall afro in the movie version. Puppy is the curvy female sidekick. Their banter, their conversations are realistic and charming. They honestly remind me of classic radio and TV characters. They have that much warmth.
According to the website, Horn says, “Cool Jerk needs a home, whether that be in newspapers, magazines, comic books or an anthology. Right now I’m doing the viral marketing thing and hoping that word-of-mouth will do a lot of the legwork for me. But first and foremost I just like cartooning and conveying my thoughts and half-baked opinions in a visual form.” If you ask me, these thoughts and opinions are fully cooked and ready for prime time. We need to figure out how to get this comic strip into our newspapers. Until then, we will should all go to the website, copy the comics as picture files, and then rabidly and rapidly email them to all our friends. Eventually, they may get into the hands of a newspaper employee.
About The Reviewer: Matt Butcher doesn’t even get a daily newspaper anymore because of a traumatic experience on December 31, 1995. He learned that the creator of Calvin and Hobbes was retiring and ending the strip. He hasn’t stopped crying since. Visit his website at http://mjb0123.blogspot.com
Reno Gazette-Journal brief mention of Hodabeast
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
The Cool Jerk meets the Knocked Up Guy
Check out this post on the Pop Candy blog about former Reno Gazette-Journal artist Paul Horn running into actor Seth Rogen in L.A.
Horn is the creator of Cool Jerk comics, which you might remember if you’re an old-school Renoite. He now lives and works in San Diego and recently stopped by the paper and dropped off his book. He’s a real nice guy with a fun comic strip.
You can buy his Cool Jerk book for $12 at http://www.cooljerk.com/