“Return of the Slime! (Dance Party remix)”

Happy New Year– hope you’re able to kick 2014 off with a dance party of your own!

This is another alternate take on a previously published strip; the version of this comic I finally picked had a drier wit to it, but I’m glad I revisited this “dance party” ending, as I like it more now than I did when I was sketching up possible endings. You can see the one I picked in Watusi #28 (June 2013).

About the contributors: Keith O’Brien makes wonderful postcard comics and blogs about life in Forbidden Falls, Maine. Brien Wayne Powell is the creator of one of my favorite minicomic series of all time, Magnet Man Minicomics; he’s been producing “Boogieland or Bust!” twice a week since 2010.

Best wishes for a happy and productive 2014; I’ll be back next week with the continuation of Watusi’s newest adventure. Hope to see you then!

“Watusi’s white Christmas”

Every year I try to make some sort of holiday piece to mail out to family and friends. Ten years ago (has it really been that long?!?), I made this as my first Watusi-centric piece as an 8-page minicomic. I reformatted it as you see here to fit on a single digest page for inclusion in Watusi #26 (May 2008). May you all have a happy holiday, whether or not it’s covered in a fresh blanket of snow.

“The Whiz-Banginator! (Nightmare remix)”

When I’m trying to come up with endings for these Watusi jam comics, I generally try to steer clear of “dream endings” and play true to the reality of the story up to that point. This particular strip really challenged that best practice, so I worked through a couple of those dream endings to get them out of my system before arriving at what I felt was a much better solution. You can judge for yourself; my preferred version is in Watusi #29 (Sept. 2013).

About the contributor: in addition to being the proprietor of Astrokitty Comics & More, Joel Pfannenstiel is all over the internet, particularly on his tumbler account The Psysquatch (much of which may be NSFW. Just sayin’)…

“In the 25th century”

In Watusi #22-23 (Aug. 2007) I did a double-blind experiment, letting Tom Cherry finish the same comics for #23 that I was doing in #22, both unaware of what the other was doing. Even when we had the same plot in mind (which we definitely didn’t in this case), Tom always told his story in a much punchier way! This is my favorite from both issues.

About the contributors: Matt Corrigan started making comics even younger than I did and has stuck with it, most notably in his long-running White Stallion Comics ; Tom Cherry regularly gives readers the inside scoop on his many creative endeavors at The Tom Cherry Experience.

… and that’s the last of the jam comics I’ll be sharing here for now; thanks for joining me on this little romp. Next week I kick off the new Watusi storyline. Well, kind of…

“Under the big top”

While you may have seen the origins of the Watusi/Teebo feud in my recent “Wonder Valley Weekend” storyline, Teebo has been plaguing Watusi in print time and again since his first appearance way back in Watusi #10 (March 2004). This appearance (from Watusi #18, June 2005) is probably my favorite Teebo jam comic…

About the contributors: Tom Cherry took me up on an offer to write his own blurb: “Although he considers himself a cartoonist, Tom Cherry’s current output of work may argue otherwise. Examples of his toonage can be found at www.thosefunkyidiots.com and tomcherryexperience.blogspot.com” ; in addition to being a tireless Teebo promoter, Keith O’Brien makes wonderful postcard comics and blogs about life in Forbidden Falls, Maine.

“The Whiz-Banginator!”

I like to do the opening and closing panels on these jam comics, so that at least half of the comic can be my work. But Nate’s ending to this comic (from Watusi #19, Sept. 2005) was so much better than anything I’d have come up with that it instantly became one of my favorites!

About the contributors: Erica Well writes and draws her own comics including “The Miller Sisters”, and is currently working on an original graphic novel, Grafitti ; Nate Corrigan draws great dinosaurs and other fantastic comics under his Gumshoe Comics imprint (my favorite may just be Captain Spectacular).

“Snow day”

I love to use this strip (from Watusi #4, Sept. 2003) when I teach classes. It’s great to show to kids who are timid about their ability to draw Watusi “on model”– even though Matt and Michael’s versions are so different from mine and each other’s, it continues the story in a lovely way.

About the contributors: Matt Levin is the writer/artist behind Walking Man Specials and Musicomics, an amazing mixture of poetry, comics, and rubber stamp artwork ; Michael A. Carroll is the creator of “The Accidentals” (among other entertaining stick figure comics, both mini- and web- style).

“Payback!”

Rather than dive right into the next storyline during a busy holiday season, I’m going to showcase some of my favorite jam comics from Watusi’s print title for the next five weeks. As many of you know, Watusi got his start through jam comics such as this, and while I’m using the characters I introduced there in more fully-scripted fare these days, I still enjoy these improvised one-pagers. I’m kicking off this stroll down memory lane (for me, but hopefully they’ll be new comics for most of you) with my favorite strip from the first of Watusi’s Halloween issues (Watusi #15, Oct. 2004). I liked the challenging problem that Terri left me with, and I’m really glad I accepted her premise that it wasn’t just a bone.

About the contributors: Billy and Terri McKay hail from the comic-filled state of Ohio, and Billy makes some of the most beautiful handmade comics I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy. He doesn’t seem to have much of an internet presence I can direct you to, but if you’d like to know more about his work write me and I’ll get you connected with him…