OCTOBER MONSTER SKETCH A DAY #31

To commemorate my favorite month (October) and my favorite holiday (Halloween), I'm doing a monster sketch per day.

Behold, my final monster sketch of October, a first in that it's a two-for-one on monsters, and it's full color--hey, it's Halloween, the best holiday under the pumpkin sun. Gotta do it up right! The creep with the spade is Burlap Bill--and brother, does he not like folks in his pumpkin patch, as Bodie's gonna find out! This is a sneak peek into a larger "Bodie" story that'll be featured in Red 5's Free Comic Book Day issue in May--my little treat for you loyal "Bodie" fans. Happiest of Halloweens to you, my goblin crew, and thanks for following my sketches all October long!    

    

OCTOBER MONSTER SKETCH A DAY #30

To commemorate my favorite month (October) and my favorite holiday (Halloween), I'm doing a monster sketch per day.

This is a Gryphon, which I've taken some design liberties with. Gryphons are known for having the head and wings of a falcon. I chose to employ the characteristics of an owl instead, since they're also a predatory bird, but with a far more interesting face. I also thought it would be funny to draw my Gryphon sleeping in a wonky pose, similar to how my cat Goonie likes to sleep. Gryphons are half cat, after all (lion, to be exact), so it seemed like a good fit.

OCTOBER MONSTER SKETCH A DAY #29

To commemorate my favorite month (October) and my favorite holiday (Halloween), I'm doing a monster sketch per day.

Today's monster comes from the giant rat-flick, "Food of the Gods" (1976). I first caught this movie on TV at 5 in the morning with I was twelve years old, and it scared the crap out of me. For my money, the scariest horror films came out of the 70's, a decade that was awash in a creepy aura, even in it's brightest moments.

OCTOBER MONSTER SKETCH A DAY #28

To commemorate my favorite month (October) and my favorite holiday (Halloween), I'm doing a monster sketch per day.

Just got back last night from Detroit Fanfare comic con, and after one night and two full days of hanging out with awesome friends and fans...Jay was pooped. So in my oncoming con coma, I scribbled out this tuckered out monster, posted this morning after a ten-hour hibernation, which will serve nicely as today's sketch, and an accurate representation of the guy who drew it.

OCTOBER MONSTER SKETCH A DAY #27

To commemorate my favorite month (October) and my favorite holiday (Halloween), I'm doing a monster sketch per day.

Today's monster sketch is of Beetlejuice, the ghost with the most. It could be argued that a ghost is not a monster, but Beetlejuice seems to go beyond being a disembodied spirit and into a corrupt undead creature. That spells monster to me.

OCTOBER SKETCH A DAY #26

To commemorate my favorite month (October) and my favorite holiday (Halloween), I'm doing a monster sketch per day.

Today's sketch is very last minute. This weekend, I'm at the Detroit Fanfare Comic Con, and as I sat at the Shel Dorf Awards at 11 at night (honoring work done in the comic field), I knew I had to have a monster for today. So, I doodled out Fizzgig and a Skeksis from "The Dark Crystal" on the award's program.

Oh, "Bodie Troll" was nominated for best all-ages comic. Unfortunately, it didn't win--beaten out by "Adventure Time". But thanks to everyone who nominated my comic and who voted for it!

OCTOBER MONSTER SKETCH A DAY #25

To commemorate my favorite month (October) and my favorite holiday (Halloween), I'm doing a monster sketch per day.

While I didn't set out to draw two Greek monsters in a row, drawing The Minotaur sounded like a lot of fun, intended connection or not. The gag of trying to milk a bull is an old one, but I don't think it's been done with a Minotaur, so hopefully that wins me some originality points. 

OCTOBER MONSTER SKETCH A DAY #24

To commemorate my favorite month (October) and my favorite holiday (Halloween), I'm doing a monster sketch per day.

This time, I chose the Greek monster, Medusa the Gorgon. I've seen a lot of great artists draw their rendition of her, but felt like this gag would help set my version apart.

OCTOBER MONSTER SKETCH A DAY #23

 To commemorate my favorite month (October) and my favorite holiday (Halloween), I'm doing a monster sketch per day.

I've been trying to draw less conventional monsters as much as possible. This time I chose the crocodile from "Peter Pan" (my favorite fairy tale). It could be argued that a crocodile is an animal, not a monster. But in the context of "Peter Pan", I'd say a calculating crocodile who stalks one and only one very specific prey as his innards tick away the man's final moments is a monster in the truest sense. For this piece, I opted to show the croc post-consumption, and picking his teeth with his trophy. It also gave me an excuse to draw Princess Tiger Lily, whom I've wanted to draw for a long time now. 

OCTOBER MONSTER SKETCH A DAY #22

To commemorate my favorite month (October) and my favorite holiday (Halloween), I'm doing a monster sketch per day.

For today's monster, I chose the original Goon, from E.C. Segar's classic comic strip, "Thimble Theatre"--better known as the home strip of Popeye. More people remember Alice the Goon, a domesticated, dressed-up version of her species, seen later in the comic. But in its first appearance, the Goon was a savage henchman to Popeye's great enemy, The Sea Hag. Perhaps to modern eyes that have "seen everything" where monsters are concerned, the Goon might appear silly looking, and not scary at all. But in 1933, there was a nation-wide uproar from concerned parents who claimed their comic-reading children were having nightmares from seeing the hideous Goon. Competing with the Universal horror movie monsters of the same era, that made the Goon a terror of the highest pedigree.   

OCTOBER MONSTER SKETCH A DAY #21

To commemorate my favorite month (October) and my favorite holiday (Halloween), I'm doing a monster sketch per day.

I'd wanted to draw Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for awhile, but wasn't sure I could do anything new with them. Then it struck me to do a female Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde, and I suddenly felt like I could bring something fresh to the table. Granted, there have been gender-swapped takes on Jekyll and Hyde in the past, but they almost always had Hyde as a sexy knock-out in modern day. I chose to keep everything in Victorian times, and decided Jekyll would be a prim and dowdy physician, while Hyde would look more like a maniacal prostitute, with sharp features (and a sharp razor) and an insane grin.