FCBM4 Day 21

It's day twenty-one of the fourth annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Cody Dolan, who listed his five comics as:

1. Blue Beetle
2. Thunderbolts
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
4. The Punisher
5. Invincible

Cody will likely enjoy the first issue of the new mini-series The War That Time Forgot by Bruce Jones, Al Barrionuevo & Jimmy Palmiotti.

For Cody's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Iron Man ashcan.

Cody's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
41 entries
42 free comics sent so far
10 days remaining

Celebs-A-Go-Go!

It was a big weekend for CHNW and me. We attended two events for animal issues, both of which were stinking to high heaven with celebs. One was the yearly fund-raising gala for Farm Sanctuary, whom CHNW and I have supported for many years. (Not to be confused with Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, on whose board we sit. Same mission, different locations.)

The other event was a book party for a terrific new book about how we treat animals as a society. The nice thing about this book is that it presents and entertaining, pop-culture look at issues that are normally difficult to deal with, so most people never learn about. Give it a try.

Here are some pictorial highlights from the fun and freakiness.

Here I am with the beautiful and brilliant Emily Deschanel, star of Bones on TNT. I get to meet a lot of very cool folks through the animal rights movement that I would normally not have a chance to. A nice fringe benefit of a good cause.

Emily is quite a bit taller than I and was gracious enough to get on her knees for this shot.


I'm so excited to see my old friend, Dennis Kucinich, the most interesting politician in Washington. (photo by Derek Goodwin)

He was happy to see me, too, and posed with me and my Crazy Half-Nekked Wife, Ashley, who was fully dressed for the occasion.



The keener observers among you will notice that CHNW died her hair bright pink last week. I told you she was crazy.






Here I am with Susie Essman, best known for her hilarious portrayal of an incredible bitch on Curb Your Enthusiasm. In person, a total sweetheart.


I was thrilled to see one of my longtime favorites, Swoosie Kurtz. Her role as an eye-patched nutbag on ABC's Pushing Daisies is classic. She's been working in TV and film almost non-stop since the 60s.




These fabulous femmes are Rory Freedman, author of the NYTimes Best-Seller, Skinny Bitch, and Heather Mills. Don't believe the nonsense you read in the papers about Heather, she's a peach and a tireless activist for the downtrodden. And don't believe the rumors about Rory not being totally in love with me.


Who doesn't love Kevin Nealon? He's smart and funny, which is two of the top three things I look for in a person. (The third being an outstretched hand with cash.) He is angry in this photo because I wouldn't let him have my dessert from Vegan Treats.


Persia White, of TV's Girlfriends, is a regular at all the animal rights events I've ever attended. She even remembers our names and says hi to us!

I caught and photographed CHNW attacking former Duke of Hazzard John Schneider, in case I need it in court.








In retaliation, I attacked him too.
Take that, CHNW!

Black Cloud

Today's Bizarro is brought to you by the political party that is supposed to be good for the economy.

This idea came in part from my buddy Phil, a budding cartoonist in his own right. He and I have had a pretty good number of collaborative efforts in the past year or so.

I write 90% or more of my comics, but I'm always willing to look at other people's ideas. Fresh perspective is important if you've got to write a cartoon a day, for life. I've been doing this without break since 1985. As I type that it makes me a little nauseous.

FCBM4 Day 20

It's day twenty of the fourth annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Jesse Irwin, who listed his five comics as:

1. The Invisibles
2. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
3. Little Lulu
4. Herbie
5. Green Lantern

Another submissions that's kind of all over the map. I'll take a wild stab this time out and guess that Jesse might enjoy the retro-future tales in Dan Norton's Space 1958 #1 by Dan Norton & Mike Hawthorne.

For Jesse's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Uncle Scrooge ashcan.

Jesse's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
40 entries
40 free comics sent so far
11 days remaining

More Chins Than...

Today's Bizarro cartoon is brought to you by Asian Laundry Services International.


This joke was suggested to me by a friend who is a very big dude and likes to kid himself about it. Thanks, Derek.

I got a few emails asking if the guy in the lower right corner is supposed to be me. Yes, it is, and yes, this regular habit of mine is something of an homage to Hitchcock. When I was young, my dad showed me how Alfred would appear momentarily in the early scenes of his movies, which instantly became my favorite thing to watch for. I put myself and CHNW in my cartoons all the time, but only folks who know us or read this blog realize it's us.

One reader asked if that was tofu I'm eating. I'm not a huge fan of tofu, but I do eat it from time to time. Whatever it is, it certainly is not meat. Although it is a cartoon, and animals are rarely harmed in the production of cartoon meat.

Paul Hornschemeier Interview - Audio

Here's the raw audio of the on-stage interview I did with creator Paul Hornschemeier (Mother, Come Home; Let Us Be Perfectly Clear; etc.) at Saturday's Ann Arbor Book Festival:



(If the embed doesn't work, here's the direct link: download. It's about 64 MB.)

I unfortunately had the levels set too low, so you may have to turn your sound volume up pretty high to hear it.

It's over an hour long. I've done a few interviews in the past, but this was the first time I ever interviewed someone live and at length. As such, the topics of conversation kind of bounce around, but I still think it went well.

A big thanks to Paul, who was a great interview subject, interesting and entertaining, able to take my questions and run with them. If you're ever looking for someone to invite as a speaker, I can recommend him heartily.

FCBM4 Day 19

It's day nineteen of the fourth annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Thomas Jenkins, who listed his five comics as:

1. Blue Beetle
2. Green Arrow
3. The Incredible Hercules
4. Booster Gold
5. Avengers: The Initiative

Thomas is obviously a super-hero fan, so I'll send his the first issue of the recent Captain Marvel mini-series by Brian Reed, Lee Weeks & Stefano Gaudiano.

For Thomas's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Iron Man ashcan.

Thomas's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
40 entries
38 free comics sent so far
12 days remaining