David Chelsea's Blog, page 17

End Strips And Call Slips

Here’s something I’ve been meaning to post about for some time, and I have finally found a break in my hectic schedule (which has lately consisted mostly of napping and coughing up phlegm- I’m coming off a bad cold).

David Chelsea is reading:Laughter in the Dark

by Vladimir Nabokov

My main Patreon page project has of course been ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? the serialized webcomic, but I have been interspersing it with other material like fan art, 1970s illustrations drawn for the Portland Scribe, archived comics, and reference photos. Lately, I’ve been posting a new project, a series of “end strips”:

The idea came to me when I posted a series of strips I drew a decade ago on Notepad, an application for the Palm Pilot. I noticed that the vertical format of those strips showed up very well on modern phones, and thought that it might be nice to start a new series of vertical strips. Then I noticed something else- a messy pile of skinny strips of paper on the floor by the paper cutter. These had been trimmed from the sides of larger sheets for some purpose or other, usually a school project of Rebecca’s, and I had been throwing them away for years. Why not put them to use?

The content of these strips is usually nonnarrative and inconsequential, like random drawings copied from pictures in my clippings file (special credit to any readers who can identify all the celebrities in the strip below):

The subjects range from a series of anagrams on the name of former Vice President Spiro Agnew to nude sketches from the YouTube life drawing series Croquis Cafe, to random lines from song lyrics that accidentally rhyme in anapest:

I’ve also begun a related series of Patreon strips on another batch of paper strips I used to throw out- the call slips identifying books or CDs or DVDs put on hold for me at the library. I find this an ideal format for short reviews, in this case of Daniel Clowes’s graphic novel Patience:

One last end strip for the road- in this one, my characters Sandy & Mandy look back at some of those we lost in 2016 (while strictly adhering to the rules of the Bechdel Test):

I’ve embedded links to the individual strips in the text, but to see the rest you’ll need to scroll through all the posts on my Patreon page. Patreon is a reader-supported site, but all comics content is free. If you like what you see, tell your friends, and $how Your $upport!

Happy 100th Birthday, Kirk Douglas!

I pay tribute to the great star on his hundredth birthday with this call slip comic review of his 1978 telekinesis thriller The Fury.

David Chelsea is listening to: Carrie: The Musical (Premiere Cast Recording)

The Fury has its moments, but I wouldn’t place it at the top of the list of my favorite Kirk Douglas films- I prefer his two with Stanley Kubrick, Paths Of Glory and Spartacus, also Detective Story, Ace In The Hole, Seven Days In May, and My Dear Secretary, an underrated romantic comedy with Laraine Day.

This strip can also be viewed larger on my Patreon page. Patreon is a reader-supported site, but all comics content is free. If you like what you see, tell your friends, and $how Your $upport!

David Chelsea’s Savage Modern Love Podcast

The Modern Love Podcast has recycled another of my illustrations from the New York Times column. In this week’s podcast, the author and advice columnist Dan Savage reads “DJ’s Homeless Mommy,” his 2005 essay about the baggage that can come with an open adoption (that the author reads his own piece is unusual; previous podcasts have almost all been read by movie or television stars).

David Chelsea is reading: Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud

by Elizabeth Greenwood

Dan Savage

When originally published, the essay had two illustrations, one depicting the homeless birth mother on her park bench, the other the baby watched over by his two adoptive dads. The podcast saw fit to reuse just the first; here’s the second:

By the way, the reason neither dad resembles Savage is that copy arrived from the editors without an author credit- if I had known he was the author I would surely have drawn him into it. You can read the original essay here.

RIP, Fidel Castro:

Illustration from the Portland Scribe, circa 1976

ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? On Patreon: Name Two More Characters!

As I mentioned in my last post, ARE YOU BEING WATCHED?, is taking a hiatus while I work up new pages. The next sequence will take place entirely at the taping of a Reality TV show on which contestants draw 24 Hour Comics. Mugg is of course among the contestants.

David Chelsea is reading:How to Cook a Moose

by Kate Christensen

I would like to involve my Patreon sponsors in the creative process, by giving names to some of the supporting characters who appear in this sequence. I have been working up model sheets and biographies for a number of them. Two weeks ago it was one of Mugg’s fellow contestants. Last week it is the hostess of the Reality TV show 24 HOUR COMIC. Here’s what she has to say for herself:

”Hi, All! So let me tell you a little about myself! l grew up in Coral Gables, and after graduating from the Ron Bailey School Of Broadcast (I’m not saying how long ago! ha ha!), I got my first job as a TV weathergirl at KTOO-TV in Juneau! (Brrr!) Since then, I’ve moved moved on to hosting duties on such Reality TV programs as SCHRIMSHAW WARS, SALAD SPINNERS, BRAIDING BATTLE, and BEAD BAKERS, until I got a chance to host this show! Gosh, I’m just so blessed to be working with the totally brilliant Eisner-nominated cartoonist David Chelsea! It truly is a dream come true!

So, maybe I’m all frazzled from staying up all these hours, but I can’t for the life of me remember what my name is! Can you nice Patreon sponsors come up with some suggestions? When we have enough of them, we’ll vote on a winner! Love you all!”

Below her is this weeks’ character, one of the production assistants for the 24 HOUR COMIC shoot:

”Hi, I’m a playwright and performance artist who has mostly appeared on alternative stages in Brooklyn and the East Village, and I won the coveted Performance Art Yammy Award for my one-woman show Triumph Of The Shrill. Hey, but a girl’s gotta eat, so I’m helping out on this new show, which they tell me will do for comic books what SKIN WARS did for body painting. I do a little bit here and there on the production, but my big job is pushing the drinks cart around, and making sure none of the contestants go thirsty. The producers tell me that keeping all the contestants buzzed really helps ramp up the sexual tension, and that makes for great television!

Just between you and me, I’m being paid under the table, and I’m not sure I want to use my real name on this project anyway. Can you help me come up with a good alias?”

I’m inviting name suggestions from all my Patreon sponsors. I’ll post them under the drawings as they come in, and have the sponsors vote on a winner. You can participate by going to my Patreon page and signing up as a patron, for as little a 99¢ a month. You’ll have the fun of helping name this and other characters in ARE YOU BEING WATCHED?, and the satisfaction of being a Patron of The Arts.

Here are the links!:

Hostess

Production Assistant.

Next week: someone else!

Wiper Woman: The Reveal

I didn’t post about it last week, but I have added two new installments of my recent 24 Hour Comic WIPER WOMAN to my Patreon page. Last week, we saw Wiper Woman in her secret identity as wealthy socialite Misty Arbogast-Glassner, and were introduced to two new characters: Police Chief O’Malley, and Misty’s husband Cyril:

David Chelsea is watching: The Voices

Starring Ryan Reynolds

This week, Misty is on her way to rescue kidnapped Police Commissioner Eudaly, driven by her faithful chauffeur Tyco, who seems not to have noticed before that his employer is really a crime-fighting superhero!

ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? is on hiatus while I serialize WIPER WOMAN, but I have not neglected the story. I have been doing model sheets for characters who will appear in the sequence to come, as well as inking random pages. I’ll post about that next.

Patreon is a reader-supported site, but all comics content is free. If you like what you see, tell your friends, and $how Your $upport!

ARE YOU BEING WATCHED?: Name That Character!

What’s My Name?

As I mentioned in my last blog post, ARE YOU BEING WATCHED?, my serialized webcomic on Patreon, is taking a hiatus while I work up new pages. The next sequence will take place entirely at the taping of a Reality TV show on which contestants draw 24 Hour Comics. The host is World 24 Hour Comic record-holder David Chelsea (I just drew my 17th 24 Hour Comic, WIPER WOMAN, at Books With Pictures on October 1-2). Mugg, the protagonist of ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? is of course among the contestants, and his perennial crush Mandy is also on hand as a production assistant.

David Chelsea is listening to: Carrie & Lowell

by Sufjan Stevens

This sequence began life as a previous 24 Hour Comic, ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT, which I drew in May 2013, and which has been serialized on Patreon as well. That comic reunited Mandy with her best friend Sandy, from the Dark Horse Presents story, SANDY & MANDY (though they seem to have forgotten that they know each other). Sandy appears as another contestant:

Page from ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT

Which brings us to the rest of the contestants. I showed other participants in the 24 Hour challenge from time to time, but I had given little thought to them before I began drawing, and none of them made more than brief appearances, apart from Sun Luk Chow, a boy in a wheelchair who draws with a pencil between his teeth:

24 Hour Comic People, from ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT

For the new version I want to do a bit better. Even though most of the characters besides Mugg and Sandy won’t do much besides appear in group shots, I would like to each of them to be a distinct character who looks consistent throughout. To that end, I’m working up model sheets and biographies for all of them. I would like to involve my Patreon sponsors in the process as well. This character below has a distinctive look and attitude. All he lacks is a name. I’ll let him tell it:

WHAT’S MY NAME? I won’t ask again!

“Hey there. I’m really stoked to be part of the 24 Hour Comic Challenge, especially because in these times of Social Justice Warriors and so-called diversity, my type of red-blooded White American male is a distinctly endangered species. As a red-pill incel, I’m tired of the influence that fake geek girl Anita Sarkesian and her feminazi thought police are having on the only true American art form. My creator, (((David Chelsea))), has named me “Toxx”, but he’s a beta cuck, what do YOU want to call me?”

I’m inviting name suggestions from all my Patreon sponsors. I’ll post them under the drawing as they come in, and have the sponsors vote on a winner. You can participate by going to my Patreon page and signing up as a patron, for as little a 99¢ a month. You’ll have the fun of helping name this and other characters in ARE YOU BEING WATCHED?, and the satisfaction of being a Patron of The Arts. One you’re signed in, here’s the link!

24 Hour Comics At Books With Pictures: Wiper Woman and 24 Teachers

I did promise some time ago to do a report on my recent 24 Hour Comics Day experience at Books With Pictures, my first in three years. Here it finally is! What can I say? I could not have felt more at home in this wonderfully creative space, and I was most impressed with the work being done around me by a gifted crew of mostly beginner cartoonists, including my daughter Rebecca (who is not QUITE a beginner– she drew her first 24 hour comic at Things From Another World three years ago).

David Chelsea is watching: Disturbia

Starring Shia LaBeouf

Many thanks to Katie Proctor and her staff for being the perfect hosts, as well as Scottie’s Pizza for providing much-needed refreshments:

Rebecca has made her 24 Hour Comic, a true-life memoir titled 24 TEACHERS, available online through her website:

Additionally, Rebecca has posted THE LIFE OF LEAF, her first 24 hour comic from 2013:

I begin serializing my 24 hour comic, WIPER WOMAN, on Patreon today, and continuing for the next 12 weeks.

ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? is going on hiatus for a while. In case you have lost count, the most recent of Mugg’s wishes, his appearance on Peewee Princesses, was his tenth, the second-to-last of the Take It To Eleven plan he purchased with his soul. Therefore, Mugg’s next wish will be his last, and there will be no escaping from it by making his Gookie face. Not to spoil too much, but this sequence will take place at a Reality TV show built around a 24 Hour Comic drawing session, and will be based on a 24 Hour Comic also available on Patreon, ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT. That story was of course 24 pages long, but I have been writing additional material, so expect this version to be somewhat lengthier. I will be posting character designs and working drawings from time to time, but in the meantime I hope you enjoy WIPER WOMAN.

Patreon is a reader-supported site, but all comics content is free. If you like what you see, tell your friends, and $how Your $upport!

Chelsea Illustration In THE SCHIZ

Copy of THE SCHIZ by Bob Levin

News flash: I have one illustration in a new novel, THE SCHIZ by Bob Levin, described as “Hot off the presses, the much-reviled, much-rejected, black-comedy masterpiece, featuring illustrations by 19 cartoonists spanning five generations”. Bob Levin, by the way, is the author of many books, including the definitive history of the Air Pirates vs. Disney case. It was his idea to enhance his new novel with illustration by 19 different cartoonists, myself among them, as well as Dan O’Neill, RL Crabb, Shary Flenniken, Gary Hallgren, Ted Richards and Mark Bode.

10% of the proceeds go to a fund for the care of ailing ZAP cartoonist S. Clay Wilson.

Back cover

The multi-artist approach results in a very diverse look to the book. Most of the artists chose to work in a cartoony vein, but I went with a photorealist collage approach on coquille board. The basic situation here is a middle-aged character remembering his boyhood on Coney Island:

My illustration on page 158

You can buy THE SCHIZ from Bob Levin’s website here, or use the Amazon Associates link below, and I’ll get a small kickback:

New On Patreon: Mugg’s A Winner, And The Secret Stash: Scribe Illustrations!

I haven’t been keeping up blog posts about it, but I have been posting regularly to my Patreon page each week. The story has progressed further on ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? Mugg’s latest Reality TV adventure takes place on the program Peewee Princesses, on which Mugg wins a million billion dollars in a toddler beauty pageant:

David Chelsea is reading:How to Cook a Moose

by Kate Christensen

I won’t spoil the details for you, but Mugg finds the experience disappointing, and so he winds up back with the devil, asking for one more wish. It’s a biggie:

Patreon is a reader-supported site, but all comics content is free. If you like what you see, tell your friends, and $how Your $upport! Also, check out the Tumblr archive of ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? starting here.

Also this week on Patreon, I post more Secret Stash material, ten illustrations from my first regular professional gig, Portland’s underground paper the Scribe, along with my very amusing commentary. Attentive readers to this site will no doubt have seen my recent posts about UNDERGROUND USA, the symposium on the history of Portland’s underground papers, the Willamette Bridge and the Scribe.

Logo from Portland Scribe

It’s a mixed bag to be sure, but a fine beginning to my long, long career. Below is an early celebrity portrait of Bela Lugosi as Dracula:

Illustration by David Celsi, from Portland Scribe, circa 1974-1976

Membership has its privileges; all Secret Stash material is viewable by patrons at the $4.99 level and above.