Kid koala space cadets and inspirational hurricanes and gothic architecture

Stripper with a heart of gold.

Here's Page 68 of "What happened in there?." You can see in this page I'm starting to put to good use a "word bubble" technique I picked up from reading "Y: The Last Man" by Brian K. Vaughan (which is awesome, because he was part of the writing team for Lost during Season 4). I was a little more creative in the paneling, though it's still pretty standard - the next development in my cartoon-stripping might be coming up with more dynamic cells and borders for each page.

BUT - I'm not making any promises. I personally can see a huge difference in the layout, shading, lettering and even the expressions on the characters a year after starting. A big difference - I can only hope the improvement continues!

Dr. Howard Bolam finally catches up with Ian Escutcheon, but their meeting is cut short by an devastating interruption in Why, what happened in there?

See more by following the links:

• Fundraising Faux-Pas,
  
• King Street Capers
• General comics
• Tomb of the Undead (updated Jan. 6), or the
• Mugabe comic strip (Pinocchio parody)

Graphic novel news

This time, read about how the devastation of Hurricane Katrina inspired a state lawmaker to co-create a graphic novel, how architecture is just as important in a Batman comic as the heroic dark knight himself, and the energetic multi-media creativity of Kid Koala. Check it out!

Graphic appeal: Former state lawmaker works with local college artists to bring zombie comic novel to print
Adam Goldstein
AuroraSentinel.com

Nearly six years later (after visiting Hurricane Katrina-devastated New Orleans), (Bob) Hagedorn’s mixed sense of hopelessness and horror has found an unlikely expression. Drawing on a long-held passion for fiction, Hagedorn used his initial reaction to the destruction as the spur to write a graphic novel, a comic titled, “An American Apocalypse” that revolves around zombies roving in the cityscape of post-Katrina New Orleans.

Click to read more.

Chip Kidd Presents 'Batman: Death by Design' to Designers
Andy Khouri
ComicsAlliance.com

It turns out we're not the only ones with more than a passing interest in the architecture-based approach to Batman: Death by Design. The book's writer, award-winning graphic designer Chip Kidd, presented the project to a fascinated crowd of fellow graphic artists at PIVOT: AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) Design Conference this past October. Expanding on what we already know about the Dave Taylor-illustrated book and offering many new details and artwork besides, Kidd took his audience through the book's first 20 pages.

Kidd began his presentation with childhood photos that demonstrated his lifelong obsession with Batman and detailed how he came to write his first graphic novel, which he came to with the title first.

Click to read more.

DJ Kid Koala keeps spinning an interesting career
Mike Bell
CalgaryHerald.com

.... There’s (Kid Koala's) ongoing work as a member of the hip-hop act Deltron 3030, which he says are putting the finishing touches on a new album. There’s his work in the project The Slew with members of Wolfmother. And there is, of course, his graphic novel work, which saw the recent release of his second graphic novel Space Cadet.

Space Cadet is a 132-page graphic novel drawn entirely on etchboards. It is accompanied by a "still picture score" of music composed and recorded by Kid Koala.

Click to read more.