Addendum: None
Baseball
Apologies for the unannounced vacation. Michigan called, I responded.
Addendum: None
This was part of my transition away from lined paper ripped out of notebooks to white computer paper that I 3 hole punched and put in the back of my notebooks (see "DIVIDE HERE" and "X-tra Paper"). I don't think that this is an autobiographical work, but if it is, it's only partially accurate. Although I played baseball through middle school, I would inevitably be stuck in right field (for those of you unfamiliar with baseball, this is the position that sandlot teams everywhere will leave empty if there are too few people). While this was demoralizing, I still enjoyed batting, but the thrill lasted so briefly that it was rarely worth the wait (I'm told that it is similar to being involved in a war). Also evident in this work is the budding self-referentialism that would only intensify in later pieces.
Addendum: None
KeKo the Clown Killer
Addendum: "holy shit I was violent"
This spiky-haired character's name is KeKo. He murders clowns for a living. He wears sunglasses, a holster, and a bandanna. Do not worry: the clowns that he murders are usually quite malicious (just look at his expression in panel one). In this strip, the anonymous clown attempts to surprise KeKo with a pointy triangle (perhaps stolen from a poor faceless stick figure) whilst loudly announcing his intent. However, K is able to deliver a stunning blow, and while the clown mopes on the ground with a foot on his head, KeKo loads his weapon and messily dispatches the unfortunate circus-dweller. The omniscient narrator makes a guest appearance in the final panel as KeKo raises the nose of the murdered clown to the heavens like an ancient Aztec priest.
Sci-Fi!
Addendum: None
One of my many science-fiction oriented drawing collections, wrought with phallic symbols. At the top, a mega-tank armed with (functional?) cannon and Gatling gun and piloted by two competent future-soldiers. The spikes on either side are to discourage climbers from bothering the operators, as we have seen before. Directly below, we have some sort of humanoid with a bowl cut and glasses wielding an extremely powerful sighted gun of some sort. Below him, a walker reminiscent of the Goliath from Starcraft (for a long while, my battle.net name was "goliath_2001"). Below and left, the most famous scene from the movie Alien (which I still haven't seen) and a glimpse of my burgeoning irony in the label. To the right, a proto-Guzzwombler, which would later reappear in later doodles.
SFD2
Addendum: None
This is the aptly-named "Stick Figure Death 2." I will attempt to outline the plot.
Our hero is minding his own business, building his biceps by holding his favorite concrete-filled bamboo stick at arms length, when suddenly an intruder appears, leaping in from (seemingly) nowhere. This stranger is armed with an extremely sharp triangle, and makes an attempt on our hero's life. Luckily, our hero assumes a defensive position, and is able to parry the attack with a swift blow to the head. Once the intruder is on the ground, he is gingerly impaled. But the danger has not subsided. Two more attackers, one with a sharp triangle on a stick and the other with a pentagonal blade, fly in from both sides of the universe! Our hero crouches low and holds up his stick, causing both adversaries to suffer fatal concussions on opposite ends of it. A fourth henchman (similar to the first) makes a clumsy attempt to surprise our hero, but ends up impaling himself. There is a brief lull, then the action continues with a spiked steamroller on the horizon. Our hero ascends the front of the infernal contraption quickly, impales the head of the operator, and messily feeds him to his own machine. It would appear that danger is no longer imminent and our hero is in control of an extremely rare spiked steamroller. However, when he attempts to visit his favorite cafe (after hastily parking), he finds that it is infested with baddies. One lunges at him hastily, and does a split as his head is impaled on our hero's trusty bamboo. As a second tries to step over the body of his dead friend and attack with his pointy polygon, he is fatally shot by a third, who in his haste did not aim properly nor stop shooting when he realized that he had murdered his best friend. He dies out of shame as our hero poses over the carnage, a stiff body still stuck on the end of his killing aid. In order to make sure the infested cafe can never reopen, he plants C4 explosive devices on the outside the cafe, arms his remote detonator, and watches from afar as the building is turned into a smoldering mess of graphite.
Our hero is minding his own business, building his biceps by holding his favorite concrete-filled bamboo stick at arms length, when suddenly an intruder appears, leaping in from (seemingly) nowhere. This stranger is armed with an extremely sharp triangle, and makes an attempt on our hero's life. Luckily, our hero assumes a defensive position, and is able to parry the attack with a swift blow to the head. Once the intruder is on the ground, he is gingerly impaled. But the danger has not subsided. Two more attackers, one with a sharp triangle on a stick and the other with a pentagonal blade, fly in from both sides of the universe! Our hero crouches low and holds up his stick, causing both adversaries to suffer fatal concussions on opposite ends of it. A fourth henchman (similar to the first) makes a clumsy attempt to surprise our hero, but ends up impaling himself. There is a brief lull, then the action continues with a spiked steamroller on the horizon. Our hero ascends the front of the infernal contraption quickly, impales the head of the operator, and messily feeds him to his own machine. It would appear that danger is no longer imminent and our hero is in control of an extremely rare spiked steamroller. However, when he attempts to visit his favorite cafe (after hastily parking), he finds that it is infested with baddies. One lunges at him hastily, and does a split as his head is impaled on our hero's trusty bamboo. As a second tries to step over the body of his dead friend and attack with his pointy polygon, he is fatally shot by a third, who in his haste did not aim properly nor stop shooting when he realized that he had murdered his best friend. He dies out of shame as our hero poses over the carnage, a stiff body still stuck on the end of his killing aid. In order to make sure the infested cafe can never reopen, he plants C4 explosive devices on the outside the cafe, arms his remote detonator, and watches from afar as the building is turned into a smoldering mess of graphite.
Maze #1
Addendum: "Dismayed bird in upper right"
I consider this to be one of my better works of large scale. This is not a maze in a traditional sense, but one in which simple-minded stick figures fight each other for treasure (and pleasure). Many of my interests can be seen manifested in this work. My internet obsession is shown in the sign held by the stick at the center of the page. The "antimatter flashlight" held by the stick to the right of this sign is indicative of my recent reading of Dan Brown's Angels and Demons in fifth grade (the perfect age to read any Dan Brown novel; it beat Alex Rider hands down) and my subsequent fascination with antimatter. "ELA" and "SBBC" are both inside jokes, respectively. ELA was created in the wake of the unveiling of a classmate's crush. The names I can't remember, but the gist of ELA was that it was an organization that proclaimed that "E Loves A." SBBC referred to Scott and the Big Blue Cock, which came about after a classmate of mine, Scott, allowed a sleeping bag to drape off the top bunk of a bunk bed while he was sitting on it. Someone remarked it resembled a large blue penis, and SBBC was created.
One thing that sticks out (so to speak) to me about this drawing is the amount of violence and danger (often in the form of spikes and spiky things like the Seattle Space Needle). A militant antismoker can be seen on the right of the page, taking aim at an unlucky smoker. The underground environment is extremely hazardous, with gratuitous amounts of spikes, dead bodies, and dead bodies on spikes. I think this may have had something to do with my experience playing "Mortal Kombat Trilogy" for Nintendo 64, which featured graphic images of human impalement, dismemberment, and silly faces. No fewer than five hazards exist for the stick figure at the lowest level of the maze: spikes rigged to fall when a pressure plate is activated, a springy floor designed to fling or crush one against a spiky ceiling, a punji pit, a robotic arm with a gun attached, and C4 explosives rigged to explode when the treasure is taken.
I consider this to be one of my better works of large scale. This is not a maze in a traditional sense, but one in which simple-minded stick figures fight each other for treasure (and pleasure). Many of my interests can be seen manifested in this work. My internet obsession is shown in the sign held by the stick at the center of the page. The "antimatter flashlight" held by the stick to the right of this sign is indicative of my recent reading of Dan Brown's Angels and Demons in fifth grade (the perfect age to read any Dan Brown novel; it beat Alex Rider hands down) and my subsequent fascination with antimatter. "ELA" and "SBBC" are both inside jokes, respectively. ELA was created in the wake of the unveiling of a classmate's crush. The names I can't remember, but the gist of ELA was that it was an organization that proclaimed that "E Loves A." SBBC referred to Scott and the Big Blue Cock, which came about after a classmate of mine, Scott, allowed a sleeping bag to drape off the top bunk of a bunk bed while he was sitting on it. Someone remarked it resembled a large blue penis, and SBBC was created.
One thing that sticks out (so to speak) to me about this drawing is the amount of violence and danger (often in the form of spikes and spiky things like the Seattle Space Needle). A militant antismoker can be seen on the right of the page, taking aim at an unlucky smoker. The underground environment is extremely hazardous, with gratuitous amounts of spikes, dead bodies, and dead bodies on spikes. I think this may have had something to do with my experience playing "Mortal Kombat Trilogy" for Nintendo 64, which featured graphic images of human impalement, dismemberment, and silly faces. No fewer than five hazards exist for the stick figure at the lowest level of the maze: spikes rigged to fall when a pressure plate is activated, a springy floor designed to fling or crush one against a spiky ceiling, a punji pit, a robotic arm with a gun attached, and C4 explosives rigged to explode when the treasure is taken.
Untitled #1
Addendum: None
This appears to be a figure drawing that I started and stopped when I realized that the head was too small for the body and I had pressed too hard with my pencil to be able to erase cleanly. For some reason, I added two concentric rings around what would have been this shrunken head.
This appears to be a figure drawing that I started and stopped when I realized that the head was too small for the body and I had pressed too hard with my pencil to be able to erase cleanly. For some reason, I added two concentric rings around what would have been this shrunken head.
Survivor: Lab Class
Addendum: "ahhh, the days of wine and lab class"
I never actually watched Survivor, but I did know the basic premise: people are put on an island; the weakest get eaten. Lab class was taught in the sixth and seventh grades at my middle school. I was never really clear on what the class was trying to accomplish, but ostensibly the class would improve our fledgling communication skills. The bottom panel appears to have first been drawn with anonymous stick figures to which names were later added (the handwriting is much too good to be mine). My good friend Sam makes a guest appearance in this comic, as the style of his stick figure and handwriting is different from mine (and the namer of Lillye and Paul, which was probably Lillye). I wonder if I found his suicide quip entertaining? I think that the "Rocket Launcher 30 x 10e24" would have given me a chuckle, but even in sixth grade I would have felt uncomfortable at the prospect of making jokes about suicide.
I don't think I was actually nostalgic about sixth grade when I started high school, but I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to make references.
I don't think I was actually nostalgic about sixth grade when I started high school, but I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to make references.
What I Want For Christmas
Addendum: "Christmas came and went"
This is the first of many "stick figures dying" themed comic strips/drawings I did. I'm not sure if I legitimately wanted throwing stars for Christmas, but I think that the message is somewhat facetious, as I know my mother (who hasn't changed much) would never allow me (even now) to own such a dangerous item. The motion technique (the three lines) that is seen here can also be seen in many of my more "complicated" comics. A four color pen is every little boy's best friend (at least those little boys who like to draw people bleeding and dying).
X-tra Paper
Addendum: "No, foo"
This was a divider I made after I had my "drawings" section well-established. It separated the drawings themselves from the blank paper which I would draw them on. Seen here is a guest appearance from a later (and much celebrated) character, "Bob the Hamma-Stoppa." He speaks in rhetoric akin to that of Mr. T, whose own speech amused me at the time. What puzzled me was why my mother insisted on pronouncing "yea" as "yay," when I knew it should be "yeah."
Divide Here
Addendum: "NARC kicked ass"
This was one of the first doodles I drew, possibly the summer between 5th and 6th grade. At the top right is a to-do list. As I was a very resourceful boy, all items are crossed or checked off. Some hastily crossed out multiplication can be seen in the top left corner. At the 12 o'clock position is a curlicue. Right underneath that is my very own "heart man." This man is modeled after one my grandfather drew for a sweetheart in his younger years. I'm told that back when my grandfather could remember who he was, he was a very talented artist. The words "DIVIDE HERE" serve a dual purpose. The first is literal. In my school binders, I would keep drawing paper behind my work, and this page served as a divide between the schoolwork and my drawing section. Furthermore, it symbolized (in my mind) a divide between what was rational and what was chaos, between logos and mythos, between (perhaps) good and ambiguous. Thus the message "enter if u dare... or not!" An RIAA-type warning sticker is also provided.
Purpose Statement
This blog (should I choose to pursue it) is to be one boy's experience of middle school, as told through many doodles and drawings done during (what he perceived to be) the less interesting classes. Many of the images are stupid, violent, crude, homophobic, insensitive to the mentally retarded, and potentially meaningless. However, they are an accurate reflection of one boy's experience of middle school. I had a poor attention span. I played Counter-Strike (albeit, poorly, against "Normal" bots named Wayne and Xavier) and sometimes Starcraft. I liked talking about computers, even though I knew relatively little about how they worked. I imbibed a fair amount of internet humor. I was a Democrat with an extremely limited knowledge of politics (still seems pretty complicated).
After I did the majority of these drawings, I filed them away in a drawer where they remained until I went over them the summer before my freshman year of high school, scribbling addenda on the backs of the majority. It's evident I had aged, but only slightly. Now, I'm ready to revisit them - ONCE AGAIN!!
After I did the majority of these drawings, I filed them away in a drawer where they remained until I went over them the summer before my freshman year of high school, scribbling addenda on the backs of the majority. It's evident I had aged, but only slightly. Now, I'm ready to revisit them - ONCE AGAIN!!
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