@smearysoapbox
Artist. Writer. Reader. Publisher. Caretaker of WATUSI the TALKING DOG. I've been handcrafting comics since 1985, & don't see any reason to stop now! Blog: smearysoapboxpress.com Webcomic: watusithetalkingdog.com Newsletter: smearysoapbox.eo.page/signup
Every once in a while, I throw research queries into AI to test it against what I know. It fabricated a quote and attributed it to a DEA official in Colorado. When I called it out, it apologized for the "imprecision." I pushed back again and this was the response. Wild.
Cover art to "Jim Aparo : Brave & bold artist", his 2026 biography. Artwork by Jim Aparo, inked by Mike DeCarlo. The artist sits at his drawing board, while a silhouetted Batman looks down at him.
This long-awaited bio was great #LunchtimeReading for a lifelong Aparo fan like myself! Since I was sold w/o even reading the solicitation for it, the 16-page checklist of his work was a surprise bonus! Nicely done, Eric Nolen-Weathington, Jim Amash, & @twomorrows.bsky.social
What Mollo said. But worth it.
Imagine a world where Americans were smarter and didn’t applaud when reactionary idiot Ronald Reagan made a show out of removing the solar panels Jimmy Carter had installed on the White House. We wouldn’t now have to worry about affording to fill gas tanks next month.
Looks great; I love that your character desciptions touch upon the relationships between them! I'm long overdue for doing this for my own comic...
In "Peanuts," Snoopy first appeared in his astronaut persona on March 8, 1969. (It was a few months before the first manned moon landing that July. Charles Schulz was a big fan of NASA and space exploration.) Here's that strip and the ensuing dailies:
Memphis Urban Sketchers gets together monthly to practice observational drawing at different locations around town. More on our FB page...
www.facebook.com/groups/16083...
Rainy Saturday morning ... so a great time to draw at Crosstown Concourse with with Memphis Urban Sketchers! Was attracted to the signage at Memphis Teacher Residency, even if I didn't end up drawing most of it!
BatFam #17 is an especially nice issue; the stories are loosely interconnected.
A rabbit in overalls and a goat in pants are sitting on the ground drawing pictures. The rabbit is saying “ART POSES A THREAT TO CORPORATOLRATIC SYSTEMS BECAUSE A PURPOSE OF ART IS TO REMIND THE INDIVIDUAL OF THEIR INHERENT AUTONOMY.”, the goat adds “THEIR HUMANITY.”
Make Art (1/4)
Great one! Maybe my favorite Sunday Lauren strip yet!
This watercolor depicts Sottsass's conceptual design for Villa Lora Totino in Turin, blending modernist curves with the landscape. Image: Ettore Sottsass by Philippe Thomé, Phaidon
Watercolor Study for the Lora Totino Villa, Turin by Ettore Sottsass (1951)
This is shaping up to be a fun storyline! Love reading the full strip in my inbox!
Reading her in 70s Archies, I had no idea Li'l Jinx had been around so long!
The answer to the question, "Which is more important in comics, the writing or the art?," by the way, is "Whichever is being worked on at the moment."
No half-assing the job and letting the other guy pick up your slack, buster. Even if the other guy is you.
Something else to look for, @kevinmule.bsky.social ?
![4 frame comic. First frame shows a set of keys, second shows the store Gummi with a banner reading, in German : Stamm und Bassermann / früher Gummi Weil. Third frame shows passersby looking at smashed storefront windows. Fourth shows a tweet by US homeland security that reads : Want affordable housing? Help report illegal aliens in your area. Call 866-DHS-2-ICE. If you are an illegal alien, you can take control of your departure using DHS.gov/cbphome . text reads :
according to the Berlin
Jewish museum, the nazi term
"aryanization" referred to
"the process of expropriation
or confiscating Jewish people's
property [businesses, stores,
homes, land, etc] and handing it
over to non-jewish ("aryan," in
Nazi usage) individuals or
companies, or to the state."
in his book "Holocaust justice,"
Shoah historian michael bazyler
estimates that between $230
and $320 billions (in 2005 u.s.
dollars) in properties were
stolen from Jews across
Europe in the different waves
of aryanization.
the first wave, starting in
1933, involved heavy pressure
on Jewish people to sell their
properties to non-jewish people
at a fraction of the price. after
the pogroms of November 1938
("Kristallnacht"), jewish owners
were outright evicted
and dispossessed.
thinking about this today
for no particular reason.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vcmpg73bt2wudku3nqgx33yx/bafkreidsjmyo5xt2xqp5d3u7vinyesqnyqm3b4dnkqwbt3grdz3zr2eo34)
4 frame comic. First frame shows a set of keys, second shows the store Gummi with a banner reading, in German : Stamm und Bassermann / früher Gummi Weil. Third frame shows passersby looking at smashed storefront windows. Fourth shows a tweet by US homeland security that reads : Want affordable housing? Help report illegal aliens in your area. Call 866-DHS-2-ICE. If you are an illegal alien, you can take control of your departure using DHS.gov/cbphome . text reads : according to the Berlin Jewish museum, the nazi term "aryanization" referred to "the process of expropriation or confiscating Jewish people's property [businesses, stores, homes, land, etc] and handing it over to non-jewish ("aryan," in Nazi usage) individuals or companies, or to the state." in his book "Holocaust justice," Shoah historian michael bazyler estimates that between $230 and $320 billions (in 2005 u.s. dollars) in properties were stolen from Jews across Europe in the different waves of aryanization. the first wave, starting in 1933, involved heavy pressure on Jewish people to sell their properties to non-jewish people at a fraction of the price. after the pogroms of November 1938 ("Kristallnacht"), jewish owners were outright evicted and dispossessed. thinking about this today for no particular reason.
No particular reason.
Finally treated myself to @twomorrows.bsky.social "Comic Book Implosion" book, so digging into this era. Really felt like another near death moment for comics, purely for economic reasons. Kahn really pulled them back from the brink!
Great - I can't remember anyone besides Sienkiewicz drawing that character successfully!
A lot of people have been sharing their appreciation for the late Sal Buscema. Here's mine: smearysoapboxpress.wordpress.com/2026/01/29/i...
Doctor's Orders
•••
Other unintentionally timely cartoons are at ComicsKingdom.com/Bizarro
•••
@comicskingdom.bsky.social
Sadly, yes.
Same. He was THE Hulk artist that hooked me on the character from my first issue, and gave the series a consistency for a good 8 years after that! His work never felt as refined as his brother's did, but I found it a lot more FUN because of that!
This is a really good one!
Keep up the good work!
Better late than never, here are my favorite reads from 2025: smearysoapboxpress.wordpress.com/2026/01/20/r...
Great idea, MPLS! Is anyone doing this for the 901, @indivisiblememphis.bsky.social ? If so, please share the word!
Read the thread, too, if you aren't familiar with Franklin's introduction... and even if you are, it's still a good story.
Dr. King taught that injustice is measured by how those in power treat people with the least protection.
On this MLK Day, that test is clear. Targeting vulnerable families with raids and deportations, responding to protest with deadly violence, and attacking health care and SNAP is a moral failure.
Sometimes they're funnies, sometimes they're fundamentals. YAY!