Frank Frazetta For The Win!!!

Today, I bring you the mastery of the late, great artist Frank Frazetta.

Today's sampler features his pen and ink illustrations. There are various illustration for the Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs and one made for The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Now let us bask in his greatness and watch as I weep at my putrid draftsmanship in the corner.








Until Next Time
Happy Trails

MAD Magazine Madness!!

I am a HUGE MAD Magazine Fan. I love collecting the old issues (50s - 60s are my favorites). Here is a cool little 60 Minutes segment from the early 80s about the magazine. Enjoy.



Until Next Time

Happy Trails

Do the Duck Fair

Here's another piece of Disney delight. Here is the third and final story from the comic Donald Duck and the Flying Horse.

Jack Bradbury was a former Disney animator until leaving the studio to go into comic books. He worked a lot for Dell Comics (the publishers of the Disney comics). His artwork is good in other books, but he is not that good at drawing the Ducks. When I see his work, it always looks like the beaks aren't that well-attached to their faces, like they glued them on wrong.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

From Walt Disney's Donald Duck Issue No. 27

Writing: Unknown Art: Jack Bradbury

Until Next Time
Happy Trails

More DuckTales to come.

Guess Who's Going To Be Dinner?

More Disney goodness!! It just keeps coming. I'm going to give it to you until it comes out your ears. Aren't you glad to have a blogger like me?

Anyway, this story concerns The Big Bad Wolf, his son, and his eternal struggle to get The Three Little Pigs into his oven. Only this time a new player is added into this classic farce.

There's also a nice little cameo from some of the birds from Cinderella

From WDC&S No. 115 (April 1950)

Writing/Art: Gil Turner

Until Next Time

Happy Trails

Bucky Bug Goes To Town

Here is another installment of Eric's Comics Corner. It's more delightful narrative from Walt Disney Company.

The main character this time is Bucky Bug. This series is interesting because these characters only existed in the comics. They originally appeared in the initial Silly Symphonies comic strip. Another fact that I find odd about this comic is everyone speaks in rhymes. I would have a joke for that, but I'm not that funny.

From WDC&S No. 115

Writing: Unknown Artist: Jim Pabian

More delightful Disney comics to come.

More Preston Blair

Here are more Preston Blair studies from my notebook. I've posted the original page for comparison. These poses I tried to measure exactly how large the proportions, down to the last centimeter. It's probably not a good way to do it, but these are from earlier on in my training.

I hope you enjoy.






Little side-note: I finally bought myself some Col-Erase pencils (red to be exact), and I am going to start using those for my under-drawings. Thanks for the tip Robert. You're a real pal.

Until Next Time
Happy Trails

A Bit On Manuel Gonzales

Today I am here to talk about one of the artists whose work I posted about earlier. I think it's important that we learn more about the artists who bring the classic Disney characters to life on the comic book page.

Today, it's Manuel Gonzales.

Manuel Gonzales is a Spanish-born artist (born 3/3/1913) who started out as a painter in his native land. He migrated to the United States in the mid-1930s, where he got a job as a staff artist at the Walt Disney Studios in 1936. In 1938, he was given the job of drawing the Mickey Mouse Sunday page when Floyd Gottfredson left it to work exclusively on the dailies.

On the Sunday pages, Gonzales drew the daily life adventures of Mickey and friends, in stark contrast to the grand adventures of Gottfredson's dailies. It seems to adhere closer to the animated shorts. He continued to draw them until his retirement in 1981.

Along with this, he illustrated the newspaper comics versions of such Disney classics as Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. He inked a few daily strips of Donald Duck for Al Taliaferro and illustrated a few Disney books for Golden Press and Whitman Publishing.

Manuel Gonzales died in March of 1993.


His artwork is solid and well-drawn, although sometimes his Mickey is a little squat without much on that animated verve of the cartoon Mickey.


His style is somewhat similar to Paul Murry (responsible for the work above), although much more appealing and better drawn than Murry's.


His version of Pluto is wonderful. Pluto is cute and appealing, and it looks solid and three-dimensional.

A good solid artist whose work should be appreciated.

Until Next Time
Happy Trails

Mickey One-Pagers

More treasures from my collection. Here are some Mickey Mouse strips. I find the artwork superb, although the writing to me is a bit pedestrian. Nothing that really sparkles in my eyes. I hope you all enjoy.

Writing: Bill Walsh Art: Manuel Gonzales

WDC&S No. 115

WDC&S No. 123

WDC&S No. 131

Until next time
Happy Trails

Preston Blair Practices

For the first time on this blog, I am going to show you some of the drawings I have made. These are Preston Blair practice drawings I have made. I have placed the original book pages alongside my drawings for comparison.

Even the harshest of criticisms are welcome.













Well folks, do I have a shot at being a great cartoonist, or am I a hopeless yutz with delusions of grandeur?

Are My Dreams Futile?: A Litany of Woe

I have been thinking about this very often, and it still plagues me.

Ever since I really got into animation, I have wanted to make feature films with my own stories and characters. I would like to do more adult stories (not tits and ass stories). I had hoped to contribute something positive to the world of animation.



I have always had my doubts about if I would do that, but youthful optimism (or idiocy) has always prevailed. However, ever since I have read The Hollywood Economist: The Hidden Financial Reality Behind the Movies by Edward jay Epstein has almost killed my hopes.

In this book, Epstein shows us how people earn and make money in the world of film. In today's Hollywood, so much money is poured into certain films, that Hollywood executives do everything possible in order for the film to make money. That is why so much of Hollywood emphasizes franchise films. They are more guaranteed, at least in their minds, to make money for their companies.

This makes me fear for those who strive for originality, particularly those in the world of animation. Even in Independent and Foreign circles, it is getting harder to get films made. The film companies like to make films that have a strong American backing.

Now, I know there have been a lucky few who have had the chance to make their own films, like my hero Ralph Bakshi, but that occurred during a time of great upheaval, when the old studio system was dying off and new voices were encouraged. Today's Hollywood encourages routine and almost discourages new voices. One example of this is mentioned in Epstein's book, when an aspiring filmmaker brought forth an idea to a film executive. The executive said, "Too bad this movie hasn't been made before, or we could have done the remake."

Need I say more?

Donald vs. Gladstone

Here is more fantastic Disney artwork from my comic book collection. Today, it's a ten pager from "The Good Duck Artist" himself, Carl Barks!! This story is another installment in the eternal struggle between Donald Duck and his everlucky cousin (and nemesis), Gladstone Gander. I hope you enjoy.

"Gladstone's Luck" (WDC&S No. 131)

Writing/Art: Carl Barks

More Disney goodness to come!!

Happy Trails