Head full of scat (in both beatnik and fecal terms)

The craziness is surmounting the closer I get to The San Diego Comic Con in July. I still have a sketch card set to complete and get out in June, I have a monthly quota of completed comic pages to fulfill, a handful of commissions to knock out, two impending caricature gigs in the coming week (one of which being an overnight, which will find me getting out at 3 a.m. followed by a two hour drive home), contracts and artwork to mail out, bills to pay, a car to switch over in my name and get plates for, and I still have to get some samples together to show at San Diego. My head is a boiling pot in which my brains are simmering--but they're on the brink of being over-cooked, and the pot's about to boil over and spill on the burner. So that's my life right now. If you're reading this right now, I appreciate you taking an interest in my goings on's. If you're not reading this right now, probably for the best. My frustrations are coming across as bad beat poetry, and I ain't no Kerouac.

I'll leave you now with my latest "Necronomicomics", which lampoons the 2006 movie "Slither". It's not going to see print until ten months from now, since I have a ten month backlog of completed cartoons before it waiting for publication. So consider this as advanced of a viewing as can be, folks (click to embiggen).

--Jay

 

BLEARY-EYED BLOGGING...

It's been a seriously hectic week for me, to the degree that I'm posting this blog entry at 1:00 am Wednesday morning since it's the first chance I've had to do it. But things are finally getting done and falling into place, and I'm ready to roll out my weekly update. So let's do this thing...

MOTOR CITY COMIC CON

While I wasn't able to set up in this con's artist alley (it fell on my wife's birthday weekend, and she'll always be my top priority), Laura did encourage me to take a few hours for myself on Saturday to go see some of the attending celebrities that she knew I'd be dying to meet. If I haven't mentioned it recently, I have the best wife ever. No, stop what you're about to say. Mine is.

There were only two celebrities I was dying to see. The first one was actor Howard Hesseman. For those who don't already know, Hesseman is best known as Dr. Johnny Fever from the 70's sitcom, "WKRP in Cincinnati".

Being the fan of his work that I am, I also loved him from his appearance in the 1971 cult film, "Billy Jack" (as a hippie improv comedian, a role he was born to play), and as the teacher Mr. Moore on the 80's sitcom, "Head of the Class". Coincidentally, I'd been developing a new comic book for the past six months that had a character that was very inspired by Dr. Johnny Fever, so when I heard Hesseman was coming to Motor City, it felt like the touch of fate. I whipped up this drawing as a tribute to Hesseman's work...

And presented it to the man himself...

Hesseman was a lot like Dr. Johnny Fever, exuding a cool, well-worn persona, world weary but with a smirk on his face like he knew the score. He thanked me for the drawing, and I thanked him for being the symbol of cool that I aspired to be as a kid. Yeah, that's right, Fonzie. Dr. Johnny Fever's got you beat.

The other celebrity I had to meet was actress Patricia Quinn, who played the mad maid Magenta in "Rocky Horror Picture Show"(1975). 

 I'd had a crush on her since I discovered the movie at age fifteen, so meeting her was a must. I drew this tribute to her character from "Rocky"...

...and happily presented it to her. She was the nicest lady, and I was thrilled to finally connect with my favorite Rocky Horror performer.

COMMISSIONS

Due to pressing deadlines and other non-artistic priorities (including a double dose of the 24 hour flu and a sinus infection that I still haven't shook), I had a stack of commissions to draw that should have been done two weeks earlier. However, I went balls out on them this week, and just finished them up within a half hour of my writing this blog entry. Here is my favorite of the stack--a request from a fan to draw Dead Duck and Zombie Chick as kids...

And while this isn't technically a commission, this piece is an art trade that I'm doing with animator Tom Bancroft (designer of Mushu the dragon from the 1998 Disney animated film, "Mulan"). Tom had me draw Captain America (his favorite Marvel superhero) and Mighty Mouse. For my drawing, he'll be drawing me Medusa and Black Bolt from the Marvel comic "The Inhumans".

That's about it for this week. I'm about to pass out as I type this, and I don't want to crack my keyboard from the weight of my skull, so I'm gone. Be sure to check out my Dead Duck web comic every Monday and Thursday, and check back here next Wednesday for another blog update!

--Jay

JAY'S BEEN CONNED...AND IT'S A VERY GOOD THING!

SUMMIT CITY

This past weekend I attended The Summit City Comic Con in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It's a nice, modestly-sized show with a lot of great artists and fans in attendance. Among everyone I had the chance to meet, my favorite patron was a French college professor named George. It seems he was drawn to my table because of my Dead Duck banner (Spider-Man artist Humberto Ramos was similarly drawn to it at last year's Wizard World Chicago con). He told me he'd like to buy a copy of "Dead Duck", and would really like a drawing of Zombie Chick in it. As I sketched, we chatted about his work. I learned he was a visiting professor at a college in Indiana, and he was about to return to France. He'd never been to a comic convention, so Summit City was kind of special for him. I told him how much I admire the talented cartoonists from France and Belgium (heck, Europe as a whole), and we both professed our fandom for comics like Asterix, the original Smurfs (known as Les Schtroumpfs in Belgium) and the late cartoonist Jean Girard"Moebius". We also questioned why, with so much cartooning talent in France, there weren't more comic cons over there. It was just such an interesting conversation to have, and I really feel fortunate that I can connect with fans like this. In the end, that's what I take away most from doing conventions.

SAN DIEGO COMIC CON

The big news this week is that I've been confirmed for a professional pass to The San Diego Comic Con. It means that, because I'm a working professional in the comics industry, Comic Con gave me a free badge to attend the show.

Not that it was easy to pull off--I set this in motion six months ago, filling out tons of online registration material, creating passwords, jumping through every hoop they required of me. And only last week did I finally get word that I could finally apply online for a pro pass--but I'd have to mail tear sheets of my work and evidence of my status in the industry to complete the process, and it couldn't be faxed or e-mailed. What followed then was a few hours of chaos, with me scanning artwork and my National Cartoonists Society credentials, running (literally. Laura had the car) down to Kinkos to print it all out, then Fed Ex'ing it all off to assure it got there the next morning (I was told that pro registration could fill up as early as May 11th. It was May 9th when I was finally given the okay just to register). Within a couple days, I got a confirmation e-mail that my work and credentials had been approved, and that I had a professional badge waiting for me at Comic Con...but they had run out of guest badges, meaning I couldn't bring my wife, Laura.

Now, like I said, I'd set this all in motion six months earlier. And because I had to wait to register until May, I was forced to book our hotel and plane reservations six months ago (as you might imagine, that stuff goes fast for Comic Con). Plus, Laura had already taken the time off work to go with me. Not to mention, I really, REALLY wanted her there. So I scrambled to find anyone I knew who could get me a guest pass. I had a couple leads, but nothing panned out. Then, as I was driving back from Summit City late Saturday night, I called Laura to say I was almost home. She told me my contact at Comic Con (the woman I had to send all my paperwork to), had called her personally, telling her to not change her travel plans, and that they got Laura a guest pass after all. I got an e-mail confirming it soon after. So it's with a wipe of my brow and a great sigh of relief that it all worked out, and that Jay Fosgitt and Laura Tanner will be invading Comic Con in July!

YOU SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY...?

This weekend is my wife Laura's birthday, so I'm also rushing to clear away all work from interfering with it. I'm confident I can make it happen. Laura's more than worth the extra effort.

That's it for this week, kids. Catch you next week with more news!

--Jay

CLIMBING THE SUMMIT...

Here's the straight poop, folks...

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY WRAP UP

I had a such a great time spending FCBD 2012 at 21st Century Comics in East Lansing! It's a great shop, made all the greater by my table companions, comic creators Jay Jacot and Joe Foo. Jay was the workhorse of our trio who set up our appearance at the shop, and who also had the techno-resources to swipe credit cards for us (as in to process, not to steal!) when folks wanted to buy stuff from us without benefit of cash. So a tip of the hat to Jay for pulling it all together for us! And Joe Foo gave me a copy of his awesome collection of his "Desmond's Comic" strip, so thanks to Joe for the great gift! We met some really nice people, and had some great conversations and laughs. Other pals of ours, comic creator Guy Davis and his fiancee, author Rosemary Van Deuren, showed up to support us, and joined us for some great eats and company at Old Chicago pizza after the show. It was a very fun day, and one I hope to recreate with all these cool and talented folks again! Here's a photo of Jay Jacot, myself and Joe Foo from our after-event festivities, courtesy of Rosemary Van Deuren (thanks, Rosemary!):

SUMMIT CITY COMIC CON

Summit City is happening this Saturday at The Grand Wayne Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It'll be my second year in artist alley, and I'm really looking forward to it! If you're going to attend and want to find me, check out the con floor plan here:

 As you'll see, I'll be seated in A7, between my good pals Kyle Latino (A6) and Tony Miello (A8), which kicks up the fun factor of this show for me substantially! I'll have books, prints and sketches to sell, so come find me and I'll hook you Hoosiers the heck up! And click the link above for more information!

MISTAKEN IDENTITY OR FRAUD? MISTAKEN IDENTITY IT IS!

You'll recall this little nugget from last week's blog post. I'd mentioned how on Monday, April 30th, I was seeing what pieces of Jay Fosgitt art were circulating on Ebay. I came across a card for the Star Wars Galaxy 5 set that Topps Trading Cards released a few years ago. It was emblazoned with the description: Topps Star Wars Galaxy 5 Sketch Card, Shuttle Tydirium by artist Jay Fosgitt. Problem is, I didn't draw it. Either the seller had mistakenly advertised this card as being drawn by me, or he drew the card himself and is trying to pass it off as my work (my name doesn't carry enough clout to warrant a high price tag for a card, so this second theory is pretty thin). I hastily rattled off the following note to the seller:

"Hi. I'm Jay Fosgitt. And I hate to break it to you, but I never drew this card. I see that the artist signed the card "JF", but it isn't me, and I can guarantee you that there is no other Jay Fosgitt on the planet besides me (believe me, I've researched it). I did contribute art to Star Wars Galaxy 5, but unlike this artist's style, my style is very cartoony, and I never drew ships (and if I did, they would be much better than this). So I'd appreciate it if you'd update your product info, partly because I wouldn't want this card sold under false pretenses, but mostly because I wouldn't want my name to be associated with such lousy artwork. If need be, you can visit my website www.jayfosgitt.com for verification of my artistic style, and you can contact me at fourpanelhero@hotmail.com if you'd like to discuss it further.

Thanks. --Jay"

It took me spreading the word to Topps, Ebay and all my followers on all my websites to finally get this guy to respond to me after a week had passed since I first wrote him. He claimed that putting my name on the card was just a mistake, since he didn't see any other "JF" in the artists listed for that set. He also said some of my followers kinda read him the riot act, which he didn't appreciate. While I don't condone insults or threats, if this person had just written me back within 24 hours of my writing him, I never would have gone public with this. Regardless, he apologized and removed my name from the card's description. Crisis of mislabeling averted, much to my satisfaction.

That does it for this week! Thanks for checking in, and be sure to keep checking out Dead Duck every Monday and Thursday!

--Jay

FREE COMIC BOOK (UP)DAY(TE)!

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY

 Okay, folks, this is your last Free Comic Book update (unless you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, in which case, you'll get double helpings of what I'm spooning out to you now). On Saturday, May 5th from 11 pm-3 pm,  myself, Joe Foo and Jay Jacot will be at 21st Century Comics in East Lansing, MI. I'll have a Bodie Troll mini-print that I'll be giving away for the occasion. And I'll have lots of stuff to sell--sketches, original artwork, and lots and lots of comics: copies of each volume of "Little Green Men", "Dead Duck", and copies from my increasingly dwindling supply of 2011 sketchbooks! Hope to see you there!  

DREAMWORKS

As I mentioned a few weeks back, Ape Entertainment is publishing "Dreamworks Animation Magazine", and I'm contributing artwork to the publication. You can see a sample of my stuff below:

MISTAKEN IDENTY OR FRAUD?

 On Monday night, I decided to see what pieces of Jay Fosgitt art were circulating on Ebay. You can typically find my sketch card work from my various Marvel Comics' sets done for Rittenhouse, and sometimes cards from lesser known (but still fun) series' done for 5finity and Breygent Marketing. Once in a blue moon, you might even come across the cards I did for the Star Wars Galaxy 5 set for Topps a few years ago. It was a card from that particular set that caught my attention, emblazoned with the description: Topps Star Wars Galaxy 5 Sketch Card, Shuttle Tydirium by artist Jay Fosgitt (you can check the card out here).  Problem is, I didn't draw it. Either the seller had mistakenly advertised this card as being drawn by me, or he drew the card himself and is trying to pass it off as my work (my name doesn't carry enough clout to warrant a high price tag for a card, so this second theory is pretty thin). I hastily rattled off the following note to the seller:

"Hi. I'm Jay Fosgitt. And I hate to break it to you, but I never drew this card. I see that the artist signed the card "JF", but it isn't me, and I can guarantee you that there is no other Jay Fosgitt on the planet besides me (believe me, I've researched it). I did contribute art to Star Wars Galaxy 5, but unlike this artist's style, my style is very cartoony, and I never drew ships (and if I did, they would be much better than this). So I'd appreciate it if you'd update your product info, partly because I wouldn't want this card sold under false pretenses, but mostly because I wouldn't want my name to be associated with such lousy artwork. If need be, you can visit my website www.jayfosgitt.com for verification of my artistic style, and you can contact me at fourpanelhero@hotmail.com if you'd like to discuss it further.

Thanks. --Jay"

As of this typing, the seller hasn't responded to me, nor has he removed my name from the description of the card. My next step is to contact Ebay and tell them of the falsification of the product, but I'm not sure whom to search out. If anyone has any advice in this area, I'd love to hear it.

COMMISSIONS

Here are a few I've done up in the past week. This first one was a request for me to draw Mickey, Donald and Goofy from their 1936 short, "Lonesome Ghosts". As you'll see, I added my own flavor to the piece by giving Goofy and Donald the uncharacteristic weapons of a chainsaw and a board with nails in it (Mickey did indeed brandish a shotgun in the original cartoon):

This second commission was a request from a repeat customer (and I truly appreciate repeat customers) who asked me to recreate the movie poster from the 1958 movie, "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman". The caveat was that I draw the customer's lady friend as the giantess:

That does it for this week! Come out and see me at 21st Century Comics in East Lansing this Saturday, and keep following my "Dead Duck" web comic every Monday and Thursday!

--Jay