Team Cul De Sac

One of my very favorite cartoonists ever is Richard Thompson who draws the brilliant "Cul De Sac".  I was very sad to hear that Richard was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease a while ago.
His friend, Chris Sparks, came up with the idea to have cartoonists donate original takes on the "Cul De Sac" strip and to put together a book as a fundraiser for Parkinson's research. They have had some amazing contributions including, recently, an original painting by the mysterious and reclusive Bill Watterson of "Calvin and Hobbes".
My donation to the project appeared on the blog not long ago, and here's a link. Hope you enjoy it and check out the rest of the art, too!
My Team Cul De Sac Drawing

Happy Mother's Day and Capt. Jack Sparrow

Today is Mother's Day, so hope you all have or had a happy one. Nico and I had a great phone chat. Now, I am spending the day in the garden killing wasps and digging up old strawberries with my lethal new garden implement:

And on this special day,here is one of my favorite Chix Mother's Day cartoons:

Yesterday was Free Comic Book Day in Rochester and all over. I spent the day at artstream Gallery (small "a", remember?) and meeting people coming in including a very famous and cool pirate:

That's artstream co-owner Mary-Jo Monusky on the left, me, Capt. Jack, and Amber Lavalley.
And here's a display of some of my books, jewelry and t-shirts.

 My artwork and cartoons will be on display for the next few weeks if you are in the area, stop by! Here are some kids reading some of my cartoons, followed by some of my framed cartoons and some of my prints on display:

Free Comic Book Day plus Cartoon Exhibit

Tomorrow is the day that I'm sure many of you wait all year for: Free Comic Book Day! I'll be posted at artstream Gallery (small a in artstream)where they will be featuring my originals and prints as well as that of some other artists.
Here's a link to an article on the event: Seacoast NH , and here are samples of some of  some of my favorite cartoons that will be available there. These are all prints. If you'd like one, check out artstream or contact me!

Two Movies You Should See in the Movies

My friend Kyle and I recently saw two fantastic movies in the theater. I have been waiting for the movie "Hanna" since I first saw the previews and it is every bit as good as those previews predicted unlike many movies where the trailers are better than the movie. Saoirse Ronan is perfect as a girl raised by her father in the woods and trained to be an assassin. I won't spoil the story for anyone planning to see it, so let me just say that Hanna" is a stunningly beautiful film,and the score by the Chemical Brothers is an ideal match to the action. I hate intrusive over-orchestrated, heavy-handed scores that dominate a lot of movies so it's refreshing when the soundtrack actually compliments a film. Here's the trailer to entice you, because you really want to see this on a big screen:

The other movie we really enjoyed on the big screen was "Source Code" starring Jake Gyllenhaal. This is a gripping futuristic thriller where Jake is a helicopter pilot who suddenly finds himself inhabiting the body of Sean, a commuter on a train that in 8 minutes will be blown to smithereens. He then wakes up in a sort of space capsule where he is part of a scientific experiment that allows him to keep going back to the train for the last 8 minutes of Sean's life to try to find the terrorist. If you can, see this one in the theater, too. This is a gorgeous, classy film and if you love a good exploding train scene you won't be disappointed! Here's the trailer:

Happy Easter!

It's time to to really celebrate the traditions,like chocolate and stuffed bunnies... and watching the best Easter movie ever, "Where the Boys Are" as my Mom and I used to do and Nico and I do when we can (which will be at Thanksgiving!)...

Where the Boys Are (1960) by m0vietrailerpark

Drawing Easter Bunny cartoons is a tradition I started in '95 when "Fair Game" was launched by Chronicle Features. Here is my latest. Be sure to "Like" it! 

Flowers are also a sign of easter and SPRING, and believe it or not, we had SNOW yesterday, but today is sunny and the crocuses are actually open, sort of, anyway. Here they are in all their purple-ness.

Happy Easter! Hope your day is filled with fuzzy chicks and pink jellybeans!

Happy Easter Bunnies

I love to draw Easter bunnies. My Easter bunny is a kind of door to door sales man. Here are 6 of my favorite Easter bunny cartoons. I hope you enjoy them. I'll post a 7th one tomorrow.

The End of the World: In 5 Days in 5 Ways: Part 5

# 5: "A.I."

Or "Artificial Intelligence" by Steven Spielberg, is a different sort of End of the World movie. The polar ice caps have melted and much of the coastal US is underwater. The humans left have created robots called mechas as servants. One company produces a little boy robot called David (perfectly played by Haley Joel Osment) who is adopted by a couple whose own son is in a state of cryogenic sleep until a cure for his illness is discovered. When David is activated he bonds completely with Monica, his adopted mother, who returns his affection. Happy Ending? Not in this movie. The real son, Martin, wakes up when a cure is found and he turns out to be the equivalent of  Eddie Haskell on "Leave it to Beaver", and is not very nice to poor, sweet David. One thing he does is get their Mom to read Pinocchio to them so that David gets the idea that with the help of a blue fairy, he, too could be a real boy. Not long after there is an accident at the swimming pool where David is condemned for trying to drown Martin, and his Dad insists David be returned to the company to be destroyed.  Monica can't go through with this and instead abandons David in the woods with an animatronic teddy bear. From there on, A.I. becomes an incredible journey as David meets other mechas, including Jude Law, and some dastardly humans on his quest to become a real boy and return to Monica. This is a gorgeous, haunting, heartbreaking work which features a look at the end of the world and a possible new one and not to be missed.