by John | May 24, 2010 | Uncategorized
Click on image above to see spectacularly larger view of today’s comic.
How Fast is Fast?
Dick Giordano started his comics career at the Iger Studios and was such a fast inker that some of the other artists asked him to slow down.
The Iger artists were paid by the hour when they took work home. By turning out pages so quickly, Dick made it look too easy.
Later, though, when Dick started working at Charlton Comics the staff artists were paid by the page. So the faster they drew, the more they made.
Dick was “dazzled by the speed of the more seasoned staff artists.” One artist could pencil eight pages a day. Dick could “only” manage two — which was still darned fast!*
“I’m kind of fast. Anybody from my generation…is usually a little faster than the people who’ve come up recently because…the only way you could get a decent salary in the ‘50s and ‘60s was to do a lot of pages…
“You had to learn to cut through the unimportant stuff, to make only the important lines show up so you could do a few more pages.” —Dick Giordano in an interview by John Lustig, 2001
*Info in the first four paragraphs is summarized from Michael Eury’s Dick Giordano: Changing Comics, One Day at a Time
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? To read “Widow Miss Muffet” and other Last Kiss comics in German click here.
↓ TranscriptPANEL 1, SCENE: Mitzi Muffet is standing next to a hospital gurney looking shocked. On the gurney is a body covered by a sheet. Standing on the other side of the gurney is a nurse.
NURSE: ...too late! He's colder than an Eskimo's outhouse!
MUFFET: This is awful! (Sob!) He didn't even get a chance to buy me any jewelry!
PANEL 2, SCENE: Cut to Mitzi sitting on a bed. In the background is an old man in a wheelchair.
CAPTION: "I dated a lot of men that week! At least, I think they were men!"
OLD MAN: This is just a disguise! Don't tell anyone, but...I'm really Britney Spears!
by John | Feb 9, 2010 | Uncategorized
So maybe he can afford to date her–for now. But what happens if things get serious? Even at half price, could he afford the honeymoon?
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? To read this comic in German click here.
↓ TranscriptSCENE: Man holds crying woman.
MAN: Sorry, but I'm dumping you for my therapist! She's blonde, beautiful and best of all...she's only charging me half price for tonight's date!
WOMAN: You fool! Now you'll never get out of therapy!
by John | Nov 29, 2009 | Uncategorized
My wife’s an LPN (Low-Paid Nurse), but she’s a bit more gentle than this. In fact, Shelagh’s a terrific nurse. I found this out 26 years when she was my mom’s nurse. She did such a good job that I married her.
Still, don’t mess with Shelagh. She has sharp needles and she knows how to use them!
↓ TranscriptSCENE: Nurse flings a man over her shoulder.
NURSE: Fluff your own pillows!
by John | Oct 4, 2009 | Uncategorized
Are you happy with your health insurance? Great. I’m happy for you. Really.
But if you’re a freelancer–like most comic pros are–you probably aren’t so happy. (Unless you have a spouse with great health insurance.) Because you’re on your own, baby.
You can end up paying $1,100 a month for a basic, no-frills plan. I know because I’ve paid it. (And then paid thousands of dollars more when I found that our plan didn’t cover some basic tests and treatment.)
This isn’t a liberal vs. conservative issue. This is a comics issue. Affordable health care would be a huge boost for struggling comic pros. Instead of working three jobs to support themselves, some comic creators might only have to work two and a half. Oh, sure, affordable health care would also benefit millions of other folks. But let’s get our priorities straight, people. It’s all about me.
↓ TranscriptCRYING WOMAN: I’ll never qualify for insurance! Being a comic character is...a pre-existing health condition!
by John | Jun 2, 2009 | Uncategorized
I’m not sure what kind of doctor the woman on the right is, but apparently she’s really good at her job!
↓ TranscriptSCENE: Woman enters room and sees her husband kissing another woman--a doctor.
WOMAN: Oh, thank you, Doctor! You’ve cured my husband! He’s no longer afraid of sex!
WOMAN (again): Uh, Doctor...
