Big Boys at Play

Here are some shots of Buddy and I working on putting some Johnny West figures together- great fun!

JOElanta 2008 Diorama

Here's just one angle of this amazing 8x12 ghost town diorama titled "Killer Mine at Bloody Canyon" from JOElanta 2008. With a church, general store, sheriffs office and an underground railroad tunnel this piece was really something to look at. Heck we even had a hanging at high noon! Check it out on utube as well as these other diorams from past shows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFuQIu9qyqo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPHpWbx9Eek
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYHVPtM6S4w

10 th Annual JOElanta GI JOE & Action Figure show

The time is drawing nearer to our 10th Annual JOElanta celebration! Come on out and bring the family March 28th. Free parking. Special room price for show attendees.

And for all of you hardcore fans , please join us on Saturday night 27th (starting at 6pm) as part of our Commander's package that includes:

show t-shirt, show poster, exclusive (to be announced), Joelanta Trivia contest, JOElanta film festival, Sat night dealers preview room, lobby swap with Mr EJ White, parachute drop, early admission to show Sunday morning and 2 passes to the show itself. (price to be announced shortly).

The show hrs will be Sunday 28th 10am - 4pm Admission: $6 adults $5 kids 12 and under
under 5 free First 100 kids get a free toy!

Come check out our brand new show diorama, costumed guests, Collection of every vintage boxed adventure team era Gi Joe, Iron Joe competition (hosted by JOE World), custom figure and vehicle contest, over 100 tables jam packed full of:

Gi Joe, Star Wars, Captain Action, Barbie, Johnny West, Marx toys, Big Jim, Captain Action, Dragon, DID, comics, magazines, games, miniatures, monster toys and more!

Please visit www.joelanta.com for directions and more info. Dealers please contact Marten @ madjallads@bellsouth.net or 678-232-2871 to order your booths.

Respects to Steve Irwin

I was just sitting here in my studio looking at the spinning magazine rack when I couldn't help but smile at this cover to Australian MAD #389 which makes gentle fun of one of Australia's home grown heroes, Steve Irwin. I guess when you really think about it this man really did so much for conservation and animal rights by showing us in his own quirky way how important and beautiful all creatures are. Not to mention his great accent and wild enthusiasm! Yeah he was someone I certainly respected.

As a result of my publishing THWAK, and my love of MAD magazine I was able to become acquainted with Australian MAD editor DJ Williams and from time to time we send each other packages of some of our latest projects. The above issue came in one such package. I certainly hope that Australian MAD with much of its own original content can and will continue on a monthly basis.

More Behind the scenes at THWAK

Another behind the scenes look at Mike Arnold's "People to Avoid in School" premise and roughs and the final page after having to widdle it down to just 6 panels. This is just one of many great pages from The THWAK Bonfire of Insanity Collection book out next month at your local comic shop.

Still unpublished piece!

Here's another as of yet unpublished page illustrated by Ben Boling and written by Carson Demanns. It still amazes me that I still have so many pieces that never saw print. Enjoy!

Friends of THWAK - Mike Arnold

I guess Mike Arnold is much more than just a "Friend of THWAK" as although we have known each other less time than many of the other THWAKsters he has been an integral part of not only the brand new THWAK Bonfire of Insanity Collection book which he contributed art to but also laid out, he was also my co-publisher and lay out man for JOKESTER magazine.

This former Sesame Street animator has been freelancing for many years with many top notch clients such as Nickelodeon, Danimals, A&E, General Mills and Entertainment Weekly, just to name a few. Mike and I met during my tenure at CRACKED magazine. http://arnomation.com/

Check out Mike's appearance in MAD #481 Sept 2007 illustrated by non other than caricature superstar Tom Richmond.

Journal of MADness illos

Here's a couple of back issue for sale illustrations that were done for the MAD fanzine The Journal of MADness back in the '90's. Incidentally I have a listing for a JOM lot on ebay right now http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160381007208&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

it's a good way to pick up some of these rare back issues.

Friends of THWAK - Huw Evans

Another terrific and totally offbeat artist & writer that I have had the pleasure of working with is Huw Evans from the great white north (ie Canada!). Huw has been doing commercial graphic art for many years and his work has graced the pages of many different publications.

Shown here are the following: MAD magazine Fundalini pages issue #460 from '05, unpublished Micheal Jackson piece, THWAK and some promotional postcards. Check him out at
http://www.eyecat.com/
and in the brand new THWAK Bonfire of Insanity Collection trade paperback.

Concept art for new trade paperback

Here's a glimpse at the original pencils that artist Kent Gamble submitted based on characters I had initially requested. After reviewing them (even though they looked great!) and consulting with my buddy and fellow CRACKED editor Scott Gosar, a few changes were suggested. See if you can spot them all! Kent reworked them to produce yet another terrific watercolor painting with rich vibrant colors.

Order yours today at your comic store from this months' (Nov) Diamond Previews on page 288!

Osama bin Laden toon

Another wacky toon by Billy Genius from THWAK #2.

My appearance in MAD

Back in 1997 my brother in law and I went to visit my brother Steven who was in the Peace Corps in Gabon West Africa. The experience was truly amazing as he was literally living in the jungle. It was certainly an adventure that I will never forget. I had brought some MAD magazines and Specials with me and decided that we would take a picture. We all 3 of us got behind a huge fallen tree and were pretending to go #2 (as if in some type of communal bathroom) while passing the time reading MAD. I had sent in some clever caption to accompany the picture but with each subsequent issue saw no picture. I figured that they just weren't printing pictures anymore and then one day I picked up #380 from April 1999 and there we were as a type of collage. What I got the biggest kick out of was the fact that the new caption stated "Marten Jallad and friends, Alpharetta Ga" which was where I was living at the time. I travel half way around the world am in the jungle and stage this picture and I could have just been in my backyard the whole time. Go figure!

Massive Action Figure Collection

Being an action figure collector I consider myself really fortunate to have hooked up with so many amazing people who have some absolutely incredible collections. All this has come about initially through the efforts of a select few who embraced the local Atlanta GI Joe club started by Buddy Finethy, morphing into a large group putting on the highly enjoyable annual GI Joe, Action figure and general toy show - JOElanta www.joelanta.org

One thing that is terrific is the different dynamic that each collection embodies and how each persons personality is somehow intertwined with their particular passions. Many collections are large, some organized and very well displayed and some not so much. I myself am particularly passionate about trying to help my fellow collectors focus on a select variety of items and display them well so they are able to be enjoyed by all who see them. In my opinion a well displayed collection ads integrity and respect to the collection as a whole.

Last Sunday as about 10-15 of us met at one members home and we were all blown away by the immensity and grandeur of what we encountered. None of us had ever seen anything like this before! Picture walking into 3500 square feet of space filled to the brim with a literal who's who of action figures from the 60's till today. I'm not kidding as I'm sure you have realised from the above pictures. There was everything from Marx playsets, to Big Jim karate studios, to Fighting Furries pirate ships to Gi Joe headquarters to Captain Action, Ghostbusters to Super heroes of all shapes and sizes and everything in between. To top it off another friend brought over the entire run of vintage Adventure Team GI Joes in the box. Another spectacular sight that will be on display at next year's JOElanta on March 27th & 28th. Check the link for more details.

Finally the highlight of the day was for those of us who had already seen the awesome collection to see the look of astonishment and wonder in the everyone elses face as they walked into the space and tried to take in the hugeness of it all. That and the great camaraderie were priceless!

Vehicle wrap character illustrations

A few weeks ago I was asked to do some character illustrations (by my friends over at A Better Sign www.abettersign.com ) to go on a vehicle wrap for a pest removal company serving the Atlanta metro area called BREDA PEST MANAGEMENT. Since I really enjoy drawing cartoony creatures this project was right up my alley. After the job I had kinda forgotten about it as I was told that I'd be sent pictures once it was complete.

Imagine my surprise last week when while stopped at a traffic light I glanced over to the vehicle next to me to be greeted by this family of rats that I had drawn! Needless to say it made my day!

Well I finally had a chance to take some pictures of the van myself with my girls and it's made my day all over again.

Hideous Girl Art

This piece was rendered initially to be part of the cover to THWAK comic #2. The concept was that each artist would draw themselves drawing this "model" - and being visibly ill by her lack of beauty. It was to be a so called JAM session cover with a variety of styles, and although I've always liked it, have never quite found the right place for it.

All I know is that I certainly wouldn't want to run into her (?) anytime soon!

Friends of THWAK - Noel "Scotch" Anderson

Another artist that found his way into THWAK's pages was radio personality and cartoonist Noel "Scotch" Anderson. Noel had long been a fan of humor magazines and had just started contributing to CRACKED when he first sent in some submissions. I knew immediately that I appreciated his outlook (a little twisted) hence his collaboration with fellow artist and writer Kit Lively. Noel's contribution to THWAK started with issue #4 and a piece titled "Generation THWAK " with a Nanny Dickering type personality as host. This appearance also convinced me that Noel would be the right guy to illustrate (and write) the 3 pager where Nanny Dickering was reintroduced into CRACKED's pages in issue #363.

With issue # 362 Noel also started illustrating CRACKED's famous Shut Ups feature. As mentioned earlier Noel and Kit have collaborated on many occasion with countless contributions to Hustler Humor and National Lampoon. Their Gross Gags feature has been in THWAK, CRACKED and JOKESTER and I am excited to announce their brand new Gross Gags book (see cover above). To order your copy and see what else Noel has been up to including another brand new book Chainsaw Wielding Chernobyl Cheerleaders check out http://www.goofroof.com/

One interesting experience I had with Noel was when I was interviewed by him on the radio in Fargo North Dakota to promote THWAK #5 in which he illustrated the excellent "The Promotion of Ted McCord written by Wacky Packages designer and underground legend Jay Lynch. Check out the new THWAK trade for this piece and an interview with Jay Lynch!

Friends of THWAK - Kit Lively

THWAK magazine was truly a venue of self expression for many of the artists that were featured. Although I'm generally a slapstick kind of guy myself, I certainly appreciate some sick and twisted material that may sometimes push the boundaries. Enter artist/writer Kit Lively who truly embodies whacked out insane humor. Take a gander at some of the above material, from MAD magazine, a greeting card, his own book and one of many National Lampoon collections that his work continues to appear in.

Kit started contributing to THWAK starting with issue #2 and has been a regular contributor to everything else I've been happy to have worked on ever since including The THWAK Bonfire of Insanity Collection 128 page trade paperback that can be ordered from you comic store . After taking over as CRACKED co-editor Kits talents once again graced CRACKED's pages after a few year hiatus. As a matter of fact I illustrated one of Kit's premise titled "The Mother of all Shut Up jokes" in issue #364, see earlier post from Sunday March 1st 2009.

To learn more about Kit and order his book visit http://www.kitlively.com/html/

CHIP HACKER

Chip Hacker was a character that former CRACKED editor Barry Dutter had come up with. When we took over with issue #362 there were still 2 scripts that had not been used. I liked the concept and the character and so after the duties of illustrating the strip was handed over to Ben Boling we continued with the premise. In order are pages from issues #362 (originally published in blk & wht in the issue), 363, 364 (this particular installment was written by me and this is the way it was intended to run, ie minus the "zit tag" comment), 365 and the never before seen 2 pager with Rick Neilsen (then figure head CRACKED publisher)of Cheap Trick fame that was supposed to run in issue #366. Enjoy!