Today in Comics History, September 15: Happy birthday, Isaac Cates!

Born on this: very good pal Dr. Isaac Cates, editor of and contributor to the wonderful fantasy anthology Cartozia Tales, which I love a lot! (You can check it out and order at the Cartozia.com website!)


Happy birthday, Isaac!




"Bully," artwork by Isaac Cates

Today in Comics History, May 26: Happy birthday, Raina Telgemeier!

A big smilin' happy birthday to pal Raina Telgemeier, arguably the most important name in comics today (Okay, Dav Piley, we'll count you too)! Her graphic novels (Smile, Sisters, Ghosts, Guts, Drama, The Babysitter's Club) have sold over twenty million copies and have opened the YA GN market to massive expansion and large percentages of sales in bookstores.



cover of (top) Smile (self-published, 2004), by Raina Telgemeier
, and (bottom) Smile (Scholastic/Graphix, February 2010), by Raina Telgemeier

It's not an overstatement to say that Telgemeier has saved comics by popularizing comic/graphic novel storytelling for a new generation. Superheroes may come and go, but love for the comics medium is assured for another few decades.


from Ghosts (Scholastic Grafix, September 2016)
And hey, she draws a handsome bull.


"Bully" by Raina Telgemeier (New York Comic Con, April 2008)
Happy birthday, Raina!

Today in Comics History, May 4: Happy birthday, Shaenon K. Garrity!

I'm wishin' a very happy May the Fourth birthday to pal Shaenon K. Garrity, artist, author, and editor (Narbonic, Skin Horse, Smithson, The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor, stories in the Marvel Holiday Specials, and the wonderfully titled Zombie Gnome: A Tiny Terror and The Zombie Gnome Defense Guide: A Complete Reference to Surviving the Tiniest Apocalypse)!

Does Shaenon have a picture of herself in comics, the usual criteria for being in this feature? Not that I know of or have found, no (tho' I've not yet read all she's done). But what she does have is great too: a portrait of me, yours little stuffed truly, that I commissioned last year with a donation to San Francisco's wonderful Cartoon Art Museum (you can join and/or donate here!), where she's volunteered and her husband Andrew Farago (another online pal!) is a curator. Shaenon went above and beyond with this portrait of me and golly, Shaenon, I just love this and the one Andrew drew (which I need to scan and feature soon!), absolutely* to pieces. *Not literally to pieces.


A very happy birthday to you, Shaenon, and many thanks and much love from this li'l stuffed fan.

Bully's Sketchbook: Chris Haley

So, this year on Free Comic Book Day the finest day of the year bar none!), I ordered some prints from pal Chris Haley 'coz I love his stuff. (And I really miss Curt Franklin and Chris's "Let's Be Friends Again" webcomic!) So now I have some beautiful prints of Kitty Pryde and Batman and the Avengers to hang on my walls. I NEED TO GET MORE FRAMES. Also, you oughta order some of his fine prints for yourself from his shop. This is your only warning.

Anyway, my point (and I do have one), is that Chris, kind gent that he is, was also offering sketches for commission. So of course I ordered one of my favorite character Ben Grimm Hank McCoy Keira Knightley me, your friendly neighborhood little stuffed bull. And Curt drew me and rocked my world!


This is so cool! I look so suave and debonair. Thanks, Chris...you're the greatest!

While I'm on the subject of Mister C. Haley, I want to also tell you that you oughta follow Chris's Tumblr because he posts lots of cool stuff including his own artwork. Don't tell me I never warned you!

Bully's Sketchbook: Michael Dialynas (or, "Bullactus Hungers!")

One of my best long-time friends is the very funny Tommy G, founding member of the '80s,'90s, '00s and probably '10s comedy group Boffo Yux Dudes. You may remember me featuring their "Ballad of Henry Pym", and here's a lot of their really great audio comedy. Not only that, but Tom is a genuinely nice guy! He's a gentleman, and what's more he knows how to treat a little stuffed bull.

All of which leads to one of the coolest presents ever, because Tom commissioned a sketch of me to put in my Bully's Sketchbook. It's by comics artist Michael Dialynas, the co-creator and artist of Amala's Blade, now starting publication (the #0 ish just came out from Dark Horse and it's incredibly beautiful and fun)! Tom asked Michael for "a caricature of Bully in the style of Jack Kirby as a superhero or villain." And here's what I was delighted to receive:


THIS. IS. FANTASTIC.

Thank you, Tom, and thank you, Michael, for the most cosmic portrayal ever of a little stuffed bull! I shall be eating it later.

(Don't forget to check out Amala's Blade: issue #1 is on sale April 24 at your local comic book store and online!P

365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 251: Bullstag!

Remember yesterday when I told you that Evan "Doc" Shaner had made me artwork so awesome that I got completely delightified? (It's true! It was complete delightificationization!)

Upon the cardboard envelope he sent the Volstagg art featured yesterday, Doc drew me a bonus masterpiece that I shall treasure all my days...
"Bullstag" by Evan "Doc" Shaner (2011)


It's me, as Volstagg! It'S BULLSTAG!

Doc, I was utterly gobsmacked by not only the delightificationizationedness of this (so filled with wonder was I that I could only manage two bowls of ice cream for dessert) but also your generosity and wonderful imagination. I'm honestly going to treasure this all my days.

Thank you again, sir! Not only a fine artist and human bean, but he can draw a darn attractive little stuffed bull.

Bully's Sketchbook: Roger Langridge

Mr. Roger Langridge! He's one of my favorite comics writers and artists. I remember his work first catching my attention in one of the old Amzing Heroes swimsuit specials. Did he draw Wolverine with water wings? Thor in a thong? No! His contribution was the cast of the much-beloved (by me 'n' others) BBC 1950s cult classic radio program The Goon Show at the beach!:


"FamousPeopleGoonHoliday" by Roger Langridge, from Amazing Heroes Swimsuit Special #1 (1990)

You can catch Roger Langridge currently writing and drawing issues of the relentlessly delightful The Muppet Show comic book from BOOM!, or, as Mister L. himself describes it: "currently drawing pigs in wigs and socks with ping pong balls glued to them to earn a crust."

So, y'know, if he can draw felt frogs and plush pigs...surely he can draw a little stuffed bull, can't he?

A: Yes he can.



Thank you very much for the sketch, Roger Langridge!

If you wanna see more of the work and art of Roger (and why wouldn't ya?), book yourself a room at The Hotel Fred, Roger's blog named after his sad-sack, lovelorn comic character Fred the Clown. Or, buy his stuff...you know you want it!



Roger Langridge: he's great, and he makes me look great.

Saturday Morning Cartoon: Lunky Beefhead

"Lunky Beefhead" by Ming Doyle (2010), based on her 2007 comic, which you can read here!

Ming Doyle is the artist on The Loneliest Astronauts, America's favorite webcomic about lonely astronauts written by Kevin Church. Maybe I shoulda put a comma there between "astronauts" and "written." Aw, well, it works either way, wouldn't you say, Mister Church?

And you know, hey, I don't think I've yet shown off this beautiful sketch of me that Ming did last year for my birthday! I love it a lot! Thanks, Miss Ming!!!

Bully's Sketchbook: David Malki!

It's time once again to show off Bully's Sketchbook, where wonderful and friendly artists interpret a little stuffed bull using only paper, pencil and pen, and their own skill and imagination. And, oh yes, bribes of piping hot brownies that I bring for them. Nobody doesn't like piping hot brownies!

Here's a sketch of me looking absolutely swellegant, drawn by David Malki!—and you gotta love him because he's got a "!" after his name. David's the creator of the delightful and delicious Wondermark comic strip, which I enjoy so much it makes me wish I lived in the Gilded Age. Especially if I could get dipped in 24-caret gold. I met him at SPX 2009, and he was kind enough to sketch me. Here, David's made me into a gentlebull about town, and boy howdy, I really do wish I had a monocle (mainly so i could pop it out of my eye in surprise and declare "Oh my word!"):

And David Malki! himself? A heck of a nice guy with a most impressive beard that I am ultra-envious over:



I also bought his brand-new Wondermark collection in tried-and-true book format, Clever Tricks to Stave Off Death, which is as beautifully designed as it is laff-out-loud- until-milk-comes-out- your-ringéd-nose-funny. You can pick up Clever Tricks where ever fine Dark Horse books and comics are sold, or right at the official Wondermark online shop, which is an emporium of delight and magic and bumper stickers and posters and t-shirts. Tell him Bully sent ya, and buy lots, ya cheapskate!

And hey, whaddaya know...this is my 2000th post on this blog! My, how time flies when you're havin' brownies fun! (Thanks for reading, everybody!)

I get by with a little help from my friends

I have myself the bestest pals. Mind you, I like bein' pals with everybody. (Except those senators on the take on Capital Hill with whom I have made myself powerful enemies). But if you really think you wanna be a really good pal with a little stuffed bull, well, I'm not bribeable, but I am impressed by free gifts of hot waffles, twinberry syrup, creamery butter, and original art.

That's only one of my favorite friends Boston's favorite son of fun, Kevin Church, Mister BeaucoupKevin, Lord of The Rack*, Ground Control for The Loneliest Astronauts**, and...um...the guy who writes She Died in Terrebonne***. (There! Did I get in all my up-to-date plugs in, Mister C.?) It's not even my birthday, and Kevin sent me a dandy present: a commissioned color sketch of Ben Grimm as Blackbeard drawn by my favoritest artist, Colleen Coover! It's an overload of delightful-osity!


Arrrr, click me to blow me up, ye scurvy dog!

Man oh man, that some kind of wonderful. Thank you Kevin, thank you Colleen! You guys, much like Ben Grimm, totally rock.

Looks like I've got quite a good start on my "Wall o' Colleen Coover" with this and some of my other Colleen art, like the wonderful portrait of yours little stuffed truly she sent me for my birthday:


Click image to bubble-size

And there's the Colleen Coover Zatanna sketch I won on eBay from Comix4Sight, auctioning of lovely collectible things to raise funds to help John Ostrander in his fight against glaucoma.



It's a wonderful piece of art and a fantastic cause, and you can help too: Comix4Sight has more great items up for bidding on eBay that'll contribute to the fundraising.

So, I have the bestest pals, and the niftiest original art. I've got just about everything I need in the world!

Almost everything. (Hint, hint:)


*Co-created with Benjamin Birdie.
**Co-created with Ming Doyle.
***Co-created with T. J. Kirsch.
****And don't forget (even tho' I momentarily did!) Lydia, co-created with Max Riffner.

Today in Comics History, July 17: Happy birthday, Colleen Coover!

"It is a truth universally acknowledged," wrote somebody famous named Jane who wasn't Jane Wiedlin, "that all the best people have birthdays in July." It's true! Starting on July First with Missy Elliott, Alan Ruck, Debbie Harry, Leslie Caron, and a way cool guy some of you may be familiar with, all the way up to July Thirty-First with Ted Cassidy, Kate Bush, Phil Proctor, Beatrix Potter, Gracie Allen, Mick Jagger, Arthur Treacher, Raymond Chandler, Diana Rigg, Patrick Stewart, Marty Feldman, Mitch Miller, we will not let you go (let him go!) Mitch Miller! We will not let you go (let me go) will not let you go (let me go) will not let you go...oh, wait a minute.

My point, and I do have one, is that the hippest cats and the top bananas all have their birthdays in July. And smack-dab in the middle of the month is one of the coolest of 'em all: my pal Colleen Coover is celebrating her birthday today! Hooray! Hooray! (throws confetti up in the air, fires up a light stick to wave around, attempts to get Small Favors off the top shelf without success).

In addition to creating some of the most fun and beautiful stories in the Marvel Universe (the Marvel Girl backups in X-Men: First Class, the origin of Throg in Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers, Amazing Spider-Girl, Amazing Spider-Man Family, Power Pack: Day One, Thor and the Warriors Four, and the wonderful debut of the Hydraettes in Fantastic Four: Giant-Size Adventures) and her Paul Tobin's original creations Banana Sunday (the Most Fun Comic of 2005), Gingerbread Girl, and the Eisner-nominated Bandette and more...Colleen has also been extraordinarily kind to yours little stuffed truly, and sent me a wonderful birthday present of my own. HOLY COW LOOK IT'S ME!:


In the words of one of the greatest detectives of all time, wowzers! I've been lucky enough to have some extremely talented creators draw me, and Colleen's wonderful portrait of a young bull at his leisure is a delightful addition to my collection. Thanks, Colleen!


Happy birthday, Colleen! You have been very kind to me, and I thank you so much! Even if I had not gotten to know you, I'd still be a big little stuffed fan of your wonderful work. Thanks for all the fun!



from Girl Comics (2010 series) #3 (Marvel, September 2010), by Colleen Coover

Bully's Sketchbook: Spike

Hey, let's count down Bully's Top Ten Favorite Spikes!

10. Spike Lee!
9. Spike Jonze!
8. Spike the Bulldog!

7. Spike Jones!
6. Spike by Puffy AmiYumi!
5. The Golden Spike in the Transcontinental Railroad!

4. Spike by Elvis Costello!
3. Snoopy's brother Spike!
2. Spike Milligan!

And the number one of my favorite Spikes...

1. Spike!

Yes, I love Spike, the creator of webcomic Templar, Arizona, who (whom? ) I met at last year's MoCCA (you know, the one that was even hotter than this year's). Kind Spike not only agreed to pose with me as seen above (one of the highlights of the show for me—don't tell anyone, but I've got a little stuffed crush on Spike!), but she drew this wonderful sketch of me. (Do you think she knew I was a little infatuated with her?)



Golly! She was sweet. And her comics are pretty wonderful, too! You too can pick up Spike's Templar, Arizona collections here. Don't let on that I really, really like her! I'd be so embarrassed I'd blush.

Bully's Sketchbook: Carissa Halston

One of the great things about having a sketchbook of moi is the wide range of portrayals of America's second most popular stuffed animal blogger: how each artist interprets me is a continuous source of delight, amazement, and jumping-up-and-down- and-saying-wow to me! take, f'r instance, this wonderfully swirly portrait by writer, artist, singer, performer, and all-around cool person Carissa Halston:



I love the swirly bits, don't you? Thanks, Carissa! I'm not 'llowed to read your books yet (tho' Randi tells me they're great!) but you can order 'em through Carissa's well-designed and well-stocked online shop. I would like a Mexican Sugar Skull, please—them's good eating! Also: scary.

Bully's Sketchbook: Batton Lash

Hey, do you like sketches of little stuffed bulls? (Sure, we all do!) That's why you've come to the right place tonight (and all this week) as I feature artwork of yours little stuffed truly, the photogenic...er, make that pen and pencilgenic bovine. Tonight's sketch comes from the talented pen of Batton Lash, the man whose name sounds like a pirate's, but who's actually a wonderfully delightful comics writer, artist, and fabulous all-around-human-bean! I got to meet Mister Lash at last year's San Diego Comic Con 2008, and he's captured me here in all my black-and-whiteness, not sparing a pun that made me giggle until milk came out of my nose (and here's the funny thing...I wasn't even drinking milk at the time!)



Thanks for capturing me in a pensive mood, Mister Lash! (Say, d'you think Bat is his brother?) If you're lucky enough to run into Batton Lash at a convention or comics show, shake his hand, thank him for his cool work, and maybe if you're lucky he'll draw you a sketch too!

But if you can't get to meet Batton Lash in person, well, the next best thing is picking up some of his work, especially the weird and macabrely delightful Supernatural Law (aka Wolff and Byrd, or some of his fabulous Archie comics (including the delightful Archie: Freshman Year miniseries. You can order 'em all right here on Batton's website, so stop by and tell him a little stuffed bull sent you.

One of Batton Lash's greatest works that isn't in trade paperback, however, is a comic you nevertheless oughta seek out, as it's one of the zaniest, craziest, wildest, Most Fun Comics of All Time: Archie Meets the Punisher! Seriously...it's one fabulously fantastic comic! (You can read more about it on Scott Shaw!'s "Oddball Comics" website here.) You can likely find a back issue of Archie/Punisher if you search your LCBS or convention, but hey, get off your rears and get this back in print, Archie and Marvel...you will never look at Archie Andrews or Frank Castle the same way again!

Thanks for the sketch, Batton Lash!

Bully's Sketchbook: Lilli Carré

Hey, it's shaping up to be Sketchbook Week here on Comics Oughta Be Fun! (Which is another way of saying, whoo boy, it's a busy week, so bask in the joy that is primarily illustration-based posts!) So set your flux capacitors for that far-in-the-past era of October 2008, when I packed up my tiny carpetbag (full of tiny carpets) and hied it down to Washington, DC for SPX: The Southern Pajama Expo! Oh, wait...I've mixed up my conventions again, I think. It was actually the Small Press Expo, at which I was delighted to shake the talented hand (and she my jelly-smeared hoof) of Miss Lilli Carré, who was there promoting her brand-new fearsomely frantic Fantagraphics folio title The Lagoon, a delightful and beautiful graphic novel even tho' it did not have anything to do with, as I first thought, the Skipper, Gilligan, the Professor and the rest.

Lilli sketched me in my ever-present sketchbook, and what a sketch!

Golly! I look worried there! It is certainly another side of the Bully personality, because after all I am a Very Small Animal and apt to be eaten alive at any moment with nasty pointed teeth by Hoozles, Whuffalumps, or Ozzy Osbourne. Oh yeah, like you've never worried the same thing yourself!



Thank you, Lilli Carré, for the beautiful sketch! And believe me, folks, her books are just as gorgeous! Why not order one, or two, or a bunch of them up today? C'mon!! You know you wanna!

Bully's Sketchbook: Stephanie Yue

Hooray for MoCCA 2009! It was fun as usual to run up and down the aisles of New York's finest indie and art comics festival, buying cool stuff, saying hi to friends new and old and occasionally posing to have my picture sketched by some of the wonderful artists at the show! This past weekend I sat as still as possible while Stephanie Yue drew me in my little sketchbook along with one of her ultra-cute Tai Chi mice, both of us practicing our training positions! The mouse was very patient in teaching me this relaxing and strengthening movement...it's a bit difficult with hooves! Why, I almost felt like I was being trained by a Yang master! A very small fuzzy one, but a master none the less.

I'm a firm believer in supporting the work of our talented MoCCA exhibitors, so I picked up the Novasett Island collection Stephanie's drawn with the writing of Zack Giallongo, and some of her cool and funny autobiographical minicomics (Queezie vs. Grapefruit and Irrefusable Dinner Engagement). Plus some nifty buttons featuring the characters from Novasett Island!



They're all great fun...I especially loved the adventures of the perilous prawn cult (defeated in a most citrusy way!), the nature guidebook pages to the Island and especially "Ronald, Part 1," with Stephanie's dramatic and dynamic use of solid blacks and fluidly moving characters to hike up the spookiness and excitement. In short, as I like to say, these comics are fun! You can...(and oughta!)...pick up some of Stephanie's wonderful work at her JellyCity.com store. Tell her a little stuffed bull sent ya!

So thank you very much, Stephanie...I had loads of fun hanging about with you and your talented mice, and your work is a delight! Hope to see you next year at MoCCA '10!

Bully's Sketchbook: Stan Sakai

Here's another wonderful drawing from my sketchbook...heck, it's one of my favorite sketches of all! At San Diego Comic-Con 2008, I was lucky enough to meet Mister Stan Sakai. Y'all know him as the creator/writer/artist of one of the Funnest Comics of All Time, Usagi Yojimbo, as well as the letterer on Groo the Wanderer. Stan was funny and pleasant and created a beautiful sketch of me that I prize tremendously: it's me as an Oushi Yojimbo!



Stan even posed for a photo with me (taken by the ever-delightful Lucy-Anne):



Arigato, Stan! You're tops in my book! And if you're interested in Stan's books, you can pick 'em up at your local bookstore or comic book store, on the official site, or at Amazon.com:

Bully's Sketchbook: Phil Foglio

Here's another lovely drawing of yours little stuffed truly from my sketchbook. This one's by Mr. Phil Foglio, the cheerful, friendly and talented cartoonist who I discovered with his funny and fanciful MythAdventures comic books and one of my favorite space adventurer series, Buck Godot, Zap Gun for Hire. In those days I never dreamed he'd someday be drawing me!:


Phil was drawing sketches at San Diego Comic-Con to benefit the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, a fine museum and establishment that I highly recommend. If you're on the left coast, it's well worth a visit, and wherever you are, you can help support the museum. Tell 'em Bully said to do so!

Phil, with wife Kaja, is currently creating the gaslamp-era mad-sciency Girl Genius, which is pretty awesome except in one respect. Hey Phil...doncha think Agatha needs a small bull sidekick? Huh? Huh?

Thanks for the sketch, Phil...and everybody else, enjoy my cartoon plumpness!

Bully's Sketchbook: Mo Willems

From New York Comic Con 2008, a lovely sketch of yours truly by Mo Willems, award-winning children's book author and artist and animator (he created Sheep in the Big City!) and former fellow Park Slope denizen!



Thanks for the lovely sketch, Mo! And if the pigeon gets a hot dog, I want one too, okay?

PS: Buy Mo's books! They're great!

Bully's Sketchbook: Benjamin Birdie

The scene: April's New York Comic Con, where Kevin Church, Benjamin Birdie, my pal John and the delightful Randi, and moi, a little stuffed bull, were all gathered to eat Indian food and talk shop. At some point in the proceedings my sketchbook was thrust into Birdie's talented hands, and over a plate of vindaloo here's what he sketched with a ballpoint:



Ben's the talented artist of The Rack, the comic strip about a comic store, and it's not the first time Mister B has drawn B the LSB: check out Lydia's t-shirt in this strip! I was as chuffed as cheese when I saw that, so I'm delighted to return the favor and wear my Miss Lydia shirt as shown above.

You also oughta check out Benjamin's brand-new blog, in which he discusses comics, television, artwork, Top Chef, and Grand Theft Auto IV. And hey, he's also reviewing comics for CBR; witness his right-thinking praise for Final Crisis here.

Me 'n' Ben Birdie: bestest pals!