Saturday, July 08, 2006

Walkin' the Woozle


A page from one of many of my early sketchbooks. I'm pretty sure this one dates back to the mid to late 80's because my style was getting pretty slick and tight. This was an alien character that developed over the years. I think I started drawing him in high school and he just hung around and showed up from time to time. The Woozle was a creature somewhat like a dog that was on board the ship. In my mind, when the Woozle gets upset, he turns into a giant werewolf-type creature. That must be why the alien doesn't like walkin' the Woozle.
I like this drawing. I really think I was pretty good at this stage in the game. Look at the door of the spaceship. That's good stuff. Even the color pencil attempt isn't half bad.

The Gang

When I was in high school, everybody had a nickname. Good or bad, you got called something other than the name your parents gave you. Being the cartoonist of the bunch, I took those nicknames and created a group of superheroes out of my friends. I won't give away the secret identities but the heroes are (clockwise)

- Ramjet - because he drove his car way fast.
- Senor Hefty - because he was hefty. Not sure where the senor part came from.
- Great White Buffalo - because of his size and because he had a friend who lived and breathed Ted Nugent.
- Professor Gonzo - because he lived and breathed Ted Nugent.
- Space Ghost - although not an abino, he was pretty dang white.
- Blurp - a useless sidekick name given to any number of useless hangers-on in the group.

I'm pretty sure some of my other friends ended up with nicknames and hero identities as well. I'll post them as I find them.

Flea Force

There's no date on this drawing but I do remember creating these guys in middle school. There was this guy who used to do these drawings of flea circuses (don't question the mind of a middle schooler) and I just took it a step further. I do know that this drawing doesn't date from that time because they seem a bit too well drawn for my middle school years. I guess this was one of my many attempts to create the newest, hottest, most unique team of superheroes around. So listen up Marvel, DC, Cartoon Network, etc...the Flea Force has arrived!

Mogron the Titan

Okay, I decided to go as far back as I could. This drawing is dated 2-8-76, a mere 4 days after my 14th birthday. Wow! Pretty unsophisticated considering what 14 year olds are capable of these days. I guess back in the day I must have thought this was the bomb. I found this in a composition book of other drawings (that I'll post later). It's funny because on another page I scratched out this monster's name (Mogron) and replaced it with "Titan." I think I like Mogron better. How about Mogron the Titan? Has a mythic quality to it, doesn't it? Can you tell I grew up on a diet of comic books and monster movies? It doesn't show at all, does it?