JOKESTER magazine

Although I fully intended to self publish THWAK even after I started as co-editor with CRACKED, time would just not allow me to pursue that goal. With time it appeared more likely that CRACKED was not going to flourish the way we had hoped and it was very clear to me that it may not last at all. It was during this time that I decided that I really wanted to put out another self published effort as I still had plenty of material that was never used during the first run of THWAK. I had just recently met another artist/writer who was a new addition to CRACKED by the name of Mike Arnold. Mike had become very involved with CRACKED in its final days and I came to find out that he also wanted to put out his own project.

It was apparent that we should try and collaborate on this next project as we both have very similar likes and approaches regarding humor. After some deliberating and brain storming we decided to put out a laugh filled book we a completely new layout direction. The idea was to make the front and back cover look like an overblown playing card - a Jester - or JOKESTER. The interior was divided up into 1) single page gags, 2) gag panels, 3) features (multi pagers) and 4) strips. Each category was a different playing card suite : hearts, clubs, diamonds and clubs. Mike layed the book out and it looked spectacular! Really top notch. For samples and to order your copy check out Mike Arnold's site http://www.arnomation.com/

Although JOKESTER appeared in comic shops around the country it was not a great seller so unfortunately we decided to put it to rest after only one issue. With the current state of magazines in general, and specifically humor magazines, the writing is sadly on the wall regarding this genre. With the recent news that MAD magazine, at one time selling over 2 million copies per issue, will now only be published quarterly, and long running CRACKED and The National Lampoon now also history it is as though the Internet has finally taken its toll on this format.

The shift is now towards trade paperbacks. I am certainly looking forward to seeing what MAD decides to do here and have heard that there is a new book coming out shortly that is illustrated by my favorite (newer) usual gang of idiots and one time CRACKED artist) Tom Richmond.

THWAK has also joined this new trend with "The THWAK Bonfire of Insanity Collection" trade paperback (which incidentally was also layed out by Mike Arnold) is available from this site! Take it easy and keep reading and supporting satire!