JCU Sunday Funnies #3
Hey Kids, Comics! #40 - From Funny Books to Graphic Fiction Part 4: Turning Points and Changing Tastes
Comics as an entertainment have always been a fluid and
evolving medium. With origins linked to newspaper comic strips, an often
embattled history, and a built-in need to maintain readership while also
seeking new audiences, as published matter goes the comic book has done fairly
well to still be around over 100 years later!
What forces have driven the industry beyond social
pressures? With an ever aging original audience, comic publishers have
had to learn walk twisting path in order to keep up with the times while also
never losing sight of any of their customer base. As comic books moved
toward more sophisticated plotlines and realistic art to maintain their more
mature readers they had to simultaneously cast about for ways to attract the
young new reader in the process. Special guest co-host Bobby Blakey joins
Cole for this issue that explores the trends and demands that have driven the
comic book industry for decades. And, yes, Andrew is still out on hiatus.
Want to see Bobby Blakey's art and humor? Check out six years worth of his strip "Last Stop" right here!
JCU Sunday Funnies #2
Want to see Bobby Blakey's art and his own humor? Check out six years worth of his strip "Last Stop" right here!
Hey Kids, Comics! #39 - From Funny Books to Graphic Fiction Part 3: Comics Are Super, Man
As we reach the midpoint of the latest story arc, HKC! turns
its attention to the rise of the super-hero genre. From the lighting of
the fuse in the form of Superman to the periodic gluts in publishers, titles,
and characters that have punctuated the history of the genre, there is a lot of
ground to cover.
And heroically stepping up to aid in this is Texas-based
artist and major fan of the show Eddie Medina! Eddie is this week’s
surrogate Andrew as the “Hey Kids, Comics! Without an Andy” subplot
continues. In all actuality Andy has taken a brief hiatus from the show
so Cole has arranged a rotor of substitutes for the duration of this arc and at
least one issue following. Please join this latest pairing of comic fans
on a journey through the genre that has defined the medium for decades.
This one is going to be super!
JCU Sunday Funnies #1
Or should that be "Sunday Funny"?
Welcome to a new weekly feature on The JediCole Universe! Sunday Funnies is just a header really to invoke the full color comic strips in Sunday newspapers (back when there were more of them). And back in those days, a good 20 years or more back, I was informed by my dad that the Oak Cliff Tribune was looking for a recurring comic. Not really being someone who was ever happy with my own art I decided to give it a go none the less. I had been the staff cartoonist for my high school paper for two years after all, even winning some awards for my work.
But I was certainly not going to count on being able to deliver on a weekly basis without a good backlog of work at my disposal. So it was that I gave myself a month or two to hammer out at least 15 to 20 weeks of cartoons that would tide me over during inevitable creative droughts. Even after I had managed that aspect, I was, in the end, a victim of my own self-doubt on my ability to deliver the art consistantly. And so the whole grand scheme went by the way side. Concepts never went past rough sketches or just notes and very little ever made it to the original art stage. Since I had never contacted the newspaper I felt I was off the hook from the whole project.
But I never really was, in all actuality. Over the years an idea here or there would inspire more and I would pick up the concept anew. Granted I had no outlet for the work if I ever got it to that stage, but I could not stop coming up with the comics, all of which were of the one panel The Far Side variety. And being a person who uses every part of the concept, I kept all of my sketches, notes, and other materials filed away for future reference. The years passed and all of that which might have been was archived with my mountanous "life's papers" until this year. This was the year I began to work with my good friend Bobby Blakey, an acomplished cartoonist, on a project of two that he had floating around in the background of his creative life. While collaborating on his project in the capacity of writer it occured to me that he would be the ideal illustrator for my comic strip ideas.
And so it is that the combination of my concepts and Bobby's art, with the addition of a title that Mrs. JediCole had created for another abandoned project, became the weekly comic you will find here every Sunday until I run out of ideas, Bobby runs out of patience with doing all the hard work, or my ideas and the backlog of pre-drawn material dry up. For now, look for a new installment of You Are Here every week, exclusively at The JediCole Universe! Oh, and on my Facebook page, too. This series will feature most if not all of the concepts that began two decades ago as well as some brand new ones that have sprung to mind only since this project started a few weeks ago. The first installment is from a brand new concept that, literally, got this whole thing off the ground.
Special thanks to Bobby Blakey for making this possible. He takes my written concepts, crude sketches, and other cues and turns them into something that is nothing short of amazing! Check back next week to see what else rattled out of the Ever-Ticking Brain of JediCole! Starting next Sunday (April 21) there will no longer be an lengthy intro for this feature, just one really fun cartoon! Want to see Bobby Blakey's art and his own humor? Check out six years worth of his strip "Last Stop" right here!
Hey Kids, Comics! #38 - From Funny Books to Graphic Fiction Part 2: Seduction and Salvation
The latest story arc for Hey Kids, Comics! kicks in to full
swing as we explore various aspects of how comic books as a medium have been
perceived and how misconceptions have led to difficulties. From 1954’s
Seduction of the Innocent to the decline in attitudes that comics are “just for
kids”, join us for an overview of some trying points in comic book history.
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| Hey kids, AHHHHHHHHHHH! |
The birth and fate of the Comics Code Authority is examined
along with the necessity of an organization that is vital to the comic book
retailer. Andrew Farmer is on a temporary hiatus from the show so this
week Cole is joined by a very special guest, Catherine “Mrs. JediCole”
Houston! With her knowledge and insights on the subject at hand she
proves to be the ideal substitute Andy for this compelling issue.
Learn more about and support the Comic Book Legal Defense
Fund by following this link. This organization fights censorship,
champions the First Amendment Rights of writers, artists, and publishers in the
industry, and most importantly offers legal representation for comic shop
owners persecuted (via legal prosecution) by local government that still looks
upon comics as a children’s medium and comic shops as easy targets.
Hey Kids, Comics! #37 - From Funny Books to Graphic Fiction Part 1: Children of the Yellow Kid
Welcome to the latest Hey Kids, Comics! where yet again the issue number is off in the recording but accurate here. By the time we get to #38 this should all be worked out. Sorry for any confusion.
What is not confusing is the topic of the next five-issue story arc to hit this series. In this arc, "From Funny Books to Graphic Fiction", Andrew and Cole explore not only the history of the comic book but also its evolution as a creative medium and its subsequent perceptions by the general public.
As pointed out in this initial episode, this is not going to be a ponderous attempt at exploring a chronological narrative of the comic from its humble beginnings to its place as an industry among industries in entertainment. Instead the goal is to touch upon where comics came from, where they have been, and to a lesser degree where they are going. All of this brought together under the umbrella of specific periods and aspects of the genre.
There is a lot of four color ground to cover and the time-spanning journey begins right here...