Stuff from my Studio
September 16th, 2021 | Posted in Stuff from my Studio
These days having a replica of Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber from “A New Hope” is probably no big deal. They are likely a dime a dozen. This one is at least a little special. It was the first Lucasfilm authorized limited edition prop replica ever created for collectors. It was produced by a company called ICONS, which created and marketed a number of authenticated and authorized prop replicas from Star Wars and other movies and TV Shows like “Terminator”, “Xena”, etc. ICONS went out of business in 2000, and a company called Master Replicas took over the Lucasfilm licensing for prop replicas. I got this in… READ MORE
August 20th, 2021 | Posted in Stuff from my Studio
This is a reproduction of a Peanuts strip that ran on July 5 1973, printed on a ceramic tile which The Lovely Anna gave to me as a Christmas present in 2004. The Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, CA ran an exhibit called “MAD About Peanuts” in one of their galleries from March-Nov 2004, which featured not original Peanuts art but originals of some of the many Peanuts spoofs MAD had done over the years. I believe the museum had a number of MAD guests during the run, and on Aug 15-16th of that year I did a talk and ran a couple… READ MORE
August 6th, 2021 | Posted in Stuff from my Studio
It’s time for another enthralling look at some of the stuff in my studio! Today features a couple of awards I was honored with from the International Society of Caricature Artists (aka ISCA, formerly the National Caricaturist’s Network). The ISCA is an organization of professional caricature artists from all over the world. It started in 1989 primarily as a group of live “gig” artists but over the years has grown to encompass any kind of professional caricaturist including illustrators, animators, etc. Every year (at least ones that aren’t in the middle of a global pandemic) the ISCA has a convention/competition where caricaturists from all over… READ MORE
July 27th, 2021 | Posted in Stuff from my Studio
It’s another exciting episode of “Stuff from my Studio”! Today we look at a couple of mementos I was presented with for being a speaker at the “Walt Disney Toonfest” in Marceline, Mo, which I did in 2005 and again in 2009. The story of Walt Disney and the small town of Marceline, MO (pop about 2500, roughly 2 hours outside of Kansas City) is a fascinating one. The Disney family moved to Marceline from Chicago in 1906 when Walt was five, and spent 5 1/2 years there on a small farm before moving to Kansas City. Those were very important, formative years for the… READ MORE
June 3rd, 2021 | Posted in Stuff from my Studio
I’m usually all about the Bat-stuff when it comes to the studio but some things are just too %$@#& cool. The Lovely Anna asked me in exasperated fashion a few days before my birthday last month what I wanted as a present, and I said “Mjölnir, the Hammer of Thor!” (said it just like that, in bold italics). This just arrived the other day. It’s a full scale, full metal build, extract prop replica. Weighs about 10 lbs. However I’m thinking about returning it for a refund because I think it’s defective. For starters, I can pick it up quite easily, and I KNOW I… READ MORE
May 11th, 2021 | Posted in Stuff from my Studio
Not everything in the studio is Batman related! In a corner resides the mystical sword Excalibur! I tell anyone who asks me about the sword that I won in playing blackjack… which is sort of true. Back in the early 90’s I took a trip out to Las Vegas just for fun to draw caricatures for a weekend at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino on the Strip. At the time, the Excalibur was a pretty new place. The caricature concessions were owned by my former boss Steve Fasen, several friends of mine were working there, and it was a really busy place to draw. So,… READ MORE
April 2nd, 2021 | Posted in Stuff from my Studio
I started with MAD in mid-late 2000, and only two years later the magazine celebrated its 50th birthday. I took it upon myself to have embroidered polo shirts made for the MAD staff. This picture is of the prototype embroidery design that was sent to me for approval back in 2002, and it’s tacked up on the corkboard wall of my studio. This was set on the “pocket” area (aka the left chest area) of some very fancy Bill Blass polo shirts. I had about 15 made I think. Sadly the shirt project was a bit of a disaster. The embroidery turned out nice but… READ MORE
February 26th, 2021 | Posted in Stuff from my Studio
This is a fairly new addition to the stuff in my studio… a set of four Star Wars “Rancor teeth” ceramic cups in a display board. These were exclusively available in the Star Wars section of Disney World/Disneyland at Oga’s Cantina. You could only get them by buying a beer flight at the Cantina. The beer was served in the cups in the board: We visited Disney World in Orlando back in 2019 and got in to Oga’s (not easy to do). This was of course back when you were able to just go to crowded theme parks, stand shoulder to shoulder with other humans… READ MORE
