Friday, August 31, 2018

When the Flowers Talk

A quick overview of the meanings of flowers:  Tulip - "love" (a boy and girl kiss)  Blue Violet - "faithfulness" (an old couple embrace)  Raspberry - "remorse" (a husband brings one as an apology to his wife, who is washing dishes)  Variegated Pink - "refusal" (a girl thrusts it into the face of a guy who's hitting on her)  Rhododendron - "beware" (a girl offers one to her sister's date, while their father sits inside with a scythe)  Corpse Lily - "move to Antarctica immediately if you know what's good for you." (man finds one on his doorstep, with flies buzzing around)

Some fun facts about the corpse lily:
Its scientific name is Raffelsia arnoldii.
It's the largest single flower in the world, reaching over 3 feet in diameter and 24 pounds.
It's a parasite, with the flower being the only visible part outside of the host plant.
It's one of the three national flowers of Indonesia, where it is a protected species.
And most importantly, it smells like rotting meat.  Though you probably already guessed that.

Friday, August 24, 2018

Being a Library Page

This requires explanation. 
Last Saturday I decided to challenge myself.  I heard about this thing called the 24-Hour Comic Challenge, which is to create a 24-page comic book entirely within 24 hours.  No physical work on it can be done ahead of time (except maybe gathering reference photos and drawing supplies), and once the clock starts it doesn't stop even for breaks.  It's kind of a big deal if you can finish it, since even professionals have trouble completing the challenge, and it sounded like the sort of thing that would help me as a cartoonist, even if I didn't succeed on my first attempt.  The only problem is that my work schedule is not particularly conductive to this sort of thing (technically I have the weekend off, but I don't think my bishop would be amused if I fell asleep halfway through playing the organ on Sunday).  But a 12-hour version of the challenge?  That I could work with.  So I did.  And I conquered!  
It's hardly my best work ever, consisting mostly of sketchy line drawings.  But for what it is, I'm pretty proud of it.  So I now present my 12-page, mostly autobiographical depiction of a typical day working a job with a pun-y title:

I work at the public library, holding the job title of "Library Page."  (translation:  book-shelver) My work sort of starts about half an hour beforehand, with me getting ready.  I keep my hair clipped back so it doesn't flop in the way every time I lean over.  The library workers' dress code is pretty lax compared to some places, but I make sure to wear black slacks since there is a strict ban on all things denim.  - No Denim!  No denim pants, no denim skirts, no denim vests, no denim ties, no denim belts, no denim earrings, no colored denim...

Friday, August 17, 2018

Refined Young Ladies

Miss Rosemary's Vampire Hunting School for Refined Young Ladies:  Several elegantly-dressed girls are preparing their weapons outside the school as one drags in a fresh trophy.

Promoting indesputable elegance while braining bloodsucking fiends. 
Pearl probably wasn't accepted here. 

Saturday, August 11, 2018

The Princess Apparent

King: We need to find a suitable princess to marry our son.  Queen: How about that new stableboy?  King: ...Huh?  Queen (doing air-quotes): Oh, "he" is actually a disguised princess.  King: How do you know?  Queen: The classic signs.  Narrow shoulders, impeccable manners, reports of a princess from two kingdoms over in hiding, barely-stifled curtsies... and that.  She points over to where the "boy" is singing while the adorable woodland critters help her with cleaning, in a sublimely Disney-princess-esque manner.

A good princess can't stay hidden for long.  The local wildlife won't permit it.

Note:  Proper colors will arrive shortly, unless a fairy godmother or something finishes it before you read this, in which case disregard this message.

Edit:   This comic has magically been bestowed color.  Whether or not a fairy godmother had anything to do with it shall be left ambiguous. 

Friday, August 3, 2018