Fun With Scissors - part 8

Suffering Succotash, it's Snagglepuss.

A few years ago, DC Comics was running a comic book called "Cartoon Network Presents" with a rotating roster of characters. Among them was Space Ghost in a comic book look at the behind the scenes activities at "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" and "Cartoon Planet."

I did a few of these stories. In an attempt to create some dimension to the characters, I tried to imply that alien insect raconteur, Lokar had a life, and was in a relationship. To do this, I added some framed vacation photos to his office of himself and Snaggelpus; skiing, in the Bahamas, etc.

I was told that they could not be included, and not for the reason you would think. The issue was not implying that the characters were gay, but there was some weird convoluted reason to not use other Hanna-Barbera characters with each other (Don't get me started on the weirdness that's kept me from using Batman and Robin in Scooby-Doo).

I was surprised since it wasn't so long ago that I had the Scooby-Doo gang visit the Cartoon Network studios where you can see the actors who played Ranger Smith, Jan, of Space Ghost, and Zandor and Igoo of the Herculoids.









In a separate story, one of the characters had a past life as a diver on the show "Jabbershark." This story came nearly a year after the previous one (Scooby-Doo issues #18 and 29, respectively), and the decision to change the name of the show, even though it's clearly Jabberjaw, suggests that this policy was already in motion.

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Fun With Scissors - part 7

Today: Snidely Whiplash.

Fun With Scissors - part 6

In case anyone is wondering, there is no rhyme or reason to how I'm choosing each day's subject. It's simply based on whatever character strikes my fancy at that particular moment, though Speed Buggy was chosen for his bright colors, contrasting, as mentioned in the previous post, with the past several days of working from a single light brown bag.

Fun With Scissors - part 5

As you can see by the past few posts, I got a lot of mileage from one brown paper bag. Tomorrow will be a character with a lot more color to them.

In the meantime, here's Igoo of the Herculoids.

Fun With Scissors - part 4

I've discovered I'm not the only one out there who is affectionately recreating the classic cartoon characters. Take a look at the amazing work that Saxton Moore has been doing. Every Thursday he redesigns a classic cartoon character. I think his versions of Penelope Pitstop are my favorites so far.

As for myself, today I offer you Muttley.

Fun With Scissors - part 3

One of the reasons I decided upon these cartoon characters as something to collage on my breaks, was apart from their relative simplicity, due to my kids. On a trip to New Hampshire last year we passed a billboard advertising the Jellystone Park campgrounds with Yogi Bear's image accompanying it.

It dawned on me that pretty much any kid alive now, and born after the mid-1980s even, probably has no idea who Yogi Bear is. Most of the old Hanna-Barbera cartoons don't much airplay now. It's been about a decade since Cartoon Network vanquished these characters to the little seen Boomerang channel in order to play endless reruns of their own created fare such as Powerpuff Girls, Cow & Chicken, etc., and their imported anime shows. The only classic cartoon they still show is Scooby-Doo.


















I'm having such a kick watching them experience some of these old chestnuts for the first time, that I decided to give these characters some of my own attention via scissors and paper.

Fun With Scissors - part 2

Here's the second one I did; Squiddly Diddly.

Fun With Scissors

I'm deep in the middle of a big writing project, and until it's finished, any new projects are on the back burner. Even so, while I don't have the time to commit to any large scale collage projects, I haven't been willing to hang up my scissors completely. Instead I've taken creating some simple, small works that I can complete during a short break.

I've chosen to recreate various classic cartoon characters in cut up paper. Since they take about an hour, or less, a piece to do, I've managed to do about one a day since Friday.

The first was Huckleberry Hound.

New This Week

Out in comic book stores tomorrow is Cartoon Network Block Party #17 which features 2-pages of Johnny Bravo schtick written by me and drawn by Robert Pope and Dan Davis.

The Trap-Door Maker

If you like monsters and comics and are looking for something to read, I recommend Pete Bregman's The Trap-Door Maker, a prequel to "The Phantom of the Opera," which humanizes Erik, the Phantom, making him a sympathetic character rather than the maniacal villain of the movies.

You can also preview the collage piece I did for the second issue.

While you are at the Treehouse Animation website, check out some of the other treats there, including the highly amusing Star Wars Lego movie "Revenge of the Brick."

THE RONDO AWARDS

If, like me, you are a fan of classic horror films, you should participate in voting in this year's Rondo hatton Awards which recognize excellence in genre related DVD releases, commentary tracks, scholarship, writing, comics, music, art, toys, etc.

Even though I was not nominated for anything this year, the nominees are all excellent choices, making this year tough to choose winners.

You have until Saturday, February 18th to vote. Remember, it's your patriotic duty.