Anyway, here's the latest: The Three Stooges vs. Cthulhu, issue #1 from American Mythology. I drew the cover for this mash-up of the Stooges and H. P. Lovecraft's iconic figure of terror from beyond.
I actually loved drawing this cover. The colorist did a decent job, too. Here's the link to order your copy from the publisher.
I'm not sure the original for this parody cover is as immediately recognizable as the first two I drew. If you sort of look at it from a distance and squint a little, you should be able to recognize it. Or look really closely—the identities of the original artists ought to give it away in a flash.
In any case, the series of parody covers was fun to do.
Copyright © 2021 Eric Shanower. All rights reserved.
The Robonic Stooges #2 went on sale last week with my cover based on Jack Kirby's cover for Fantastic Four #1.
For extra, added stooginess, look closely to find Shemp.
Get the issue at your local comics shop or order from the publisher, American Mythology, at this link.
Copyright © 2021 Eric Shanower. All rights reserved.
I never watched it . . .
. . . until recently when I was asked to draw some covers for the current Robonic Stooges comic book series from American Mythology. So I looked up The Robonic Stooges on Youtube and found a few clips for drawing reference.
In the 1990s, Marvel Comics published a comic book series called The Infinity Gauntlet. I guess it was popular. I never read it, despite my enjoyment of Jim Starlin's Warlock comics from the 1970s.
My cover for The Robonic Stooges #1 parodies a cover from The Infinity Gauntlet drawn by George Perez. I like drawing parodies, so this was fun.
I have no idea how many—or if any—fans of both The Robonic Stooges and The Infinity Gauntlet possibly exist who might think this cover is the bees knees.
But I like it.
If you like it, too, you can order it at this link.
Copyright © 2021 Eric Shanower. All rights reserved.
I was told not to draw Joe Besser on this cover. I guess Three Stooges fans don't like Joe Besser.
The issue with my cover is currently on sale
from publisher American Mythology. Or order from your favorite comics shop.
Copyright © 2021 Eric Shanower. All rights reserved.
Mike Wolfer wrote it and I drew it. American Mythology published it.
In all, I drew the exploits of Casper and his friends of the Enchanted Forest for three and a half years. That phase of my career ended when American Mythology chose not to renew the Casper license for Casper due to disappointing sales.
Drawing Mike Wolfer's scripts always gave me pleasure. He managed to re-capture the right tone of the old Harvey Comics Casper in the character's heyday without being slavishly imitative.
I tried my best to capture the look of those comics, attempting to channel the essences of cartoonists Warren Kremer and Howard Post. My attempts stumbled at times when I started, but I got closer the more Casper stories I drew.
When the Casper Spooksville series began as sort of a capper to American Mythology's Casper run--kind of our attempt to go out with a bang--Mike asked me if I had any ideas for stories. Back in Casper's original Harvey Comics series, the character regularly had adventures with aliens or ventured into outer space. For awhile one Harvey series was titled Casper Spaceship (later changing to Casper in Space).I suggested to Mike that we continue that tradition by sending Casper and his friends on a space adventure. Mike asked me what I thought such a story might be like. I scribbled down a few ideas, formed them into something more coherent, and sent it to Mike. He used some of it as a framework for the grand space adventure that resulted.
One thing I realized while drawing a long, multi-part story featuring Casper, Spooky, Wendy, and Hot Stuff: to be careful when drawing all four as a group. I needed to make sure the two white characters weren't next to each other and make sure the two red characters weren't next to each other, in order to keep them all clearly separated when the story was printed in color.
In addition to the main storyline in each issue, I drew a short 5-page back-up story for each, also written by Mike Wolfer. These back-ups stand alone, though they're loosely connected.
The first back-up story features Hot Stuff the Little Devil and the mischievous Spook-cats, a couple of old single-appearance Harvey Comics characters that Mike resurrected.
The third issue features Hot Stuff again, this time exploring an ancient Egyptian tomb, and brings back another old character, this one from the 1970s, Cinders the girl devil.
The fourth and final issue features a contest between Hot Stuff and the Spook-cats. Every major character and some minor characters from Casper's supporting cast show up, including Nightmare the Galloping Ghost, the Ghostly Trio, Dumbella, Pearl, the Witch Sisters--even Gnorm Gnome. Just about the only character I didn't manage to fit in was Stumbo the Giant. You can see the original art for page one of this story below.
I'm proud of the Casper Spooksville series. Issues are still available to order here from American Mythology. And you can read it here digitally through Comixology. I hope readers enjoy it.
Copyright © 2021 Eric Shanower. All rights reserved.
Well, you don't have to choose in Laurel and Hardy Meet the Three Stooges #1 from American Mythology. I drew the cover for this mash-up of these screwballs.
That's not the only cover I've drawn for either of these comedy teams. How about Laurel and Hardy's Christmas Follies #1? And then there's The Three Stooges Thru the Ages #1.
Cover art has never been my strong point. I think I'm far better at panel-to-panel story-telling than I am at creating splashy single images. But I've had fun drawing these. On the whole I like the way they turned out, particularly the first two. The stylization the colorist introduced into the Christmas image was a pleasant surprise.
Copyright © 2021 Eric Shanower. All rights reserved.
Casper the Friendy Ghost stars in a brand new comic book series. The first issue of Casper's Spooksville is already on sale wherever comic books are sold.
Tomorrow, May 4, is Free Comic Book Day across North America. Comic book shops everywhere will be hosting events and signings.
On sale now from your favorite comics dealer, both real world and online, is the second issue of Casper's Ghostland. It features several stories of Casper and his friends, Hot Stuff, Spooky, and Wendy.
Since their original cancellation in the early 1980s, the Harvey characters have seen only sporadic publication. Until recently. Now the publisher American Mythology has the license to Casper and his supporting characters, including the little devil Hot Stuff. Hot Stuff crossed over with Casper back in the day, but he was never a bonafide supporting character in the Casper cast. That's changed now.
American Mythology also has the license to publish Three Stooges comics. I watched Three Stooges movies on television when I was a kid, but I hadn't seen one of their movies in years--until American Mythology decided to re-think its approach to the Stooges and asked me to take a shot. I was happy to try. As research I watched some Stooges movie footage on YouTube. The editor and publisher liked my approach, so now I've been drawing Three Stooges comic book stories, too.