TimRocksComics.blogspot.com

Fancy Free (or Cheap Anyway) and Footloose

2012-03-04T13:32:00.007-06:00

The world offers many paradoxes to the observant. I speak today of a certain foot-based conundrum that is once again upon me as spring and summer draw near. It first hit me last summer, and now I suppose it threatens to be an annual occurrence, barring a minor revolution in low-end footwear manufacturing practices.

Sandals, you see, apparently have to be "fancy" if they're also cheap. By "fancy", I mean they have to have elaborate leather (or leather-like?) strappage, with lots of buckles and doodads, and in general suggest that the wearer commands armies of Roman legionaires, or has servants who feed him grapes while he lies on one of his many divans. Then again, some of the designs cross that influence with a bit of standard 1990s "extreme" stylings, for the Roman emperor who also likes to drive 4-wheelers and stomp on small creatures from time to time.

Now, you can find a straightforward, no-nonsense sandal out there. They have them at places like Mountain High Outfitters. You just have to pay 17 or 20 times Dollar General prices. Truthfully, they look like they should probably cost less than the el cheapo sandals. No "fancy" leather-work here. Just a few thin straps made out of some synthetic material, with plain plastic snaps. I mean come on, snaps? Snaps are for kids and poor people. Don't you rich ****s want some tiny tin belt-buckles and perforated straps? That would be way more classy.

So yeah, everything's upside down. You want a plain shoe, it'll cost you. You want to be flattered with lots of detail and elaborate strappage, come on down to the Shoe Show.

I bet if you could find out what it actually costs to manufacture the high-end sandal, it would be virtually the same as the cheap sandals. Now granted, the design staff over at Pricey Sandals Inc. might be getting paid decently. They probably even have some scientific types on hand to do a bunch of calculations about ergonomics and metatarsular impact and what-not, which can then be turned into Tron-like graphics to make everybody feel good. But in any case, what should be happening, if the global race-to-the-bottom and all around destruction of civilization were functioning properly, is that Sleazoid Sandals LLC should be ripping off the basic high-end design, with a few minor changes to stay out of court of course, and selling them for $12.95. They can even cut corners here and there, use even more highly exploited labor, worse materials, et cetera, I don't care. I'll buy them. I'm just saying, as long as that's the business you're in, do it right: rip off actual high-end products, not your fancy idea of what the high-end products look like. Don't just wake up one day and start dreaming lazily, "Now if I were a rich man, la-da-da-da-dee, what sort of shoe would I have?" Get down to the freaking store and take a few photos. Get on the phone to China man, get crankin'. Are you a sleazoid knock-off low-end manufacturer for America's new teeming hordes of impoverished bargain-shoppers or not?

But meanwhile, if I set aside twenty bucks every summer, in ten years I should be able to afford to buy some non-fancy sandals. Assuming there's still mass consumer goods, and that my two hundred bucks hasn't been devalued to the level of, oh I don't know... what an American shoe factory worker rakes in working in a nonexistent American shoe factory.

Old Magazine Cartoons Today

2011-11-21T12:38:00.003-06:00

kids book illustration

2011-10-07T19:00:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine had an idea for a kid's book he wanted to write and asked me to come up with a couple pieces based on his directions. As it happens he prefers the pencil roughs to the inked drawings, but I was happy with the way this one came out (with a few reservations as always...)

a boy and his golem

2011-10-03T21:04:00.000-05:00

Special Inferior Edition of Pete Moss Now Avail.

2011-08-18T14:57:00.003-05:00

If you want to save a few bucks off the IndyPlanet price, you can order a cheap xeroxed copy of "Pete Moss - Summer 2011" directly from me.

Cost: $3.00 (includes S&H)
Mail check or Money Order to:

Tim Rocks
Peak Fun Comics
1147 14th Ave. S. #5
Birmingham, AL 35205

I will also accept Paypal (send payment to rocksgraphic@hotmail.com)

green journalism

2011-08-08T12:58:00.008-05:00

Pick up the current edition of The Birmingham Free Press (available for free at various street-corners and businesses around town) to see my "Marxist Hulk" strip in print, as well as all the other fine content. There's a whole article about the Cartooneestas (regional cartooning group), as well as comic strips by Nolen Otts and BFP publisher Stephen Smith. Plus: an article about local history guru John Morse and his bhamwiki.

Thanks to Stephen Smith for running the Hulk comic (which can be seen here if you're among the unfortunate who don't have access to hard copies of the BFP.)

Blog gadget ignominy

2011-08-05T00:26:00.002-05:00

Could not manage to get this image placed above the blog title, so here it is as a blog post..

"Pete Moss" comic now available from IndyPlanet.com

2011-08-04T22:51:00.008-05:00

Here is the direct link:

http://indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5730

Here's the color version of the cover, and the first three pages (as can be seen at the Indyplanet page as well):

CLICK TO ENLARGE

REMEMBER, CLICKEE THEE IMAGE TO ENLARGEN

DOST THOU EMBOLDEN THINE IMAGE THRU THINE CLICKEN?

News & Notes

2011-08-03T17:35:00.008-05:00

Everyone in the world should read this thread. Basically, the thread-starter launches a plan to start a superhero universe, but done the *right* way (i.e. not like how Marvel and DC do their superhero universes.) And to fund it using one of these new money-getting Kickstarter-type websites (only not Kickstarter, because he resents their 4% take, plus Amazon's 2%.) But what makes it all such a rollicking good time (for me) is how it quickly becomes this big soap opera of various personalities chiming in with their take on it, and the schisms, and then everybody weighing in on the schisms. It's pretty great. The first few pages might be kind of slow, I don't remember, but currently there's been some pretty spectacular back-and-forth over a logo design, and somebody wrote a very formal outline of the steps involved in creating and launching a superhero universe, as a suggested guide for the OP to follow, which was bloody great. I wish I could have recommended it when it began, since it's much more fun to follow threads day by day, but that's just life in the forums kid.

Also, Sergio Aragones has a new funnybook out! In fact it's called "Sergio Aragones - funnies" (with "funnies" in large display letters.) I saw it at Books-a-Million today. In his cartooned introduction where he draws himself talking he explains that this comic will be written in his own voice (in the past he's often worked with Mark Evanier to smooth over his English troubles) and that it will feature stories and anecdotes from his own life. So pick one up wherever Bongo comics are sold! Hooray for Sergio, the coolest man in comics.

2011-07-22T18:27:00.003-05:00

Finished that comic I've been working on. I'm trying to get it uploaded to Ka-blam/Indyplanet so it will be at least technically available, through their print-on-demand service. I wish though I could figure out some way to fund a print run on newsprint and get it distributed to small grocery and convenience stores (where comics rightly belong.)

It's maybe not such an ideal candidate for that though, since the story turned out slightly seedier than I realized it would, or intended it to. Not sure why that surprised me, since it was pretty much there in the concept.

Anyway here's the cover (the final version does have color, just posting this since I like b&w as well.) The "worksheet" is a filler page.

10 Cent Plague

2011-06-12T19:45:00.003-05:00

A local comic shop has been trying to clear out stock by marking some books down to ten cents each. Even at that price, the boxes sit mostly neglected. Nevertheless, I like to paw through this dross in search of some unexpected find. Mostly it's comics from the last few years, which have an immediate hurtle to overcome with me as my distaste for modern precision printing, "nice" paper, and "nice" coloring, hardens more and more into a dogma. Occasionally I'll look past this if the creators involved are transcendent funnybook geniuses.

Mixed in with all the others will be a few issues of early-80s "Groo", or some mid-90s "Bacchus". It's almost as if the comic shop guys planned it that way. Like an Easter egg hunt or something. But of course that's just from my subjective POV - clearly early-80s "Groo" is not the grail for others that it is for me, or this would be a different world. A world with more cheese-dip, for one thing.

It's pleasant to be back within the circuit of the comics-buying public again (though employees have indicated, through nonverbal gestures, that my occasional offering of dimes does not place me among the front ranks of their clientele.)

It reminds me of another blip in my life as a comics consumer: the time a local Dollar Tree franchise acquired an odd lot of comics and sold them three to a bag. (This must have been after the late-90s speculator bubble burst and distributors were left with gobs of stock to get rid of. Dollar Tree probably bought it by the pound.)

The beauty of it was that, again, mixed in with all the lesser lights of Image, and the die-cut, foil-plated issue of the 366th "Incredible Hulk" comic (No waiting for number 400 - foil is selling!) would be an issue of Crumb's "Hup" that got caught up in the bubble as well. Or maybe just some work-for-hire Ditko from around that time.

So, there on the speckled store-carpet carpet of the Dollar Tree, in the flourescent glow mixed with the setting afternoon sun (setting on another day of high school) I would put together custom 3-packs, ditching the holographic garbage and "clone" artists. That's right - you'll only find True Artistic Visionaries in my Dollar Tree shopping list.

So, the moral is: don't waste your life like I have mine! Buy the comics you want, when you want! Pay full price! Get a "pull list"! I don't know what the heck Eddie Campbell's "Bacchus" is about anyway - the "Eyeball Kid"? What?

rough character

2011-06-01T20:31:00.004-05:00

New comic under way.. Here are some rough sketches I made trying to work out character designs. Basically I just needed a little guy to hang the story on.

I'm about a third of the way into writing it, and I'm sort of laying it out as I go as well.

If you have a rich uncle who wants to sponsor a small print run, who also has contacts with distributors that can get it into small grocery stores, convenience stores, etc. (where comics rightly belong) let me know..

Hulk comics

2011-03-12T17:52:00.017-06:00

(Note: If anybody has any tips on preventing the boxes at right from covering the images, let me know. Meanwhile if you're determined to view them unobscured, you might try right-clicking on the image, selecting "properties", and copy & paste the image's location into your browser.)

OlberComics

2010-11-20T20:52:00.000-06:00

Imitation MAD

2010-06-30T12:29:00.002-05:00

So, the idea here (don't ask why) was to do a piece on talk-show host Alex Jones, in the style of 1980s MAD Magazine. (Follow the link below to view all seven pages.)

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"SportyDeskTalkin"

2010-05-12T11:16:00.002-05:00

This 5-page comic was reacting to a small story about a taser incident that was in the news briefly.