My cartooning influences were instilled in me during my preteen years, watching cartoons on Saturday mornings. I can't name all the cartoons I used to watch, but I know when I see an image from one I used to watch, especially one I've forgotten completely about, I will stop, stare, and mentally go "WOW" for, what seems to me to be, a real long time. One of the biggest animation houses for television back then, and one of the biggest influences on my style, was/is Hanna Barbera. Hanna Barbera ruled Saturday morning t.v. for years, if not decades.

I've noticed that some artists & cartoonists create "homage" art, or "reimagined" versions of exisiting characters. I remember reading Disney Adventures with my kids when they were younger, and there was comic strip inside featuring a very grungy version of Mickey, Donald and Goofy. I wish I could remember the cartoonist's name. It totally blew me away. First of all, I was shocked Disney let someone "reimagine" their iconic characters, and second... it was like Disney characters from an alternate dimension and I've seen Flintstone caricatures by John Kricfalusi. I'm sure cartoonists everywhere have a drawer or sketchbook crammed with their version of famous characters... so I thought, why don't I do that. How could I pay tribute to the characters I enjoyed as a youth, yet hopefully make them a little different, a little fresher as well ?

Hopefully, I've done that here. Let me know what you think.

I love Rock. My wife calls me a Rock snob. I take my rock music seriously and the older I get, the more annoyed I become regarding faux rock bands. I seriously don't understand how half the recent Rock n Roll Hall of Fame inductees got inducted especially when you consider who hasn't been inducted yet... (Justin Timberlake inducting Madonna ? What the #@**!! is that ?), but that's for another blog.

A real annoying trend ( that I think can be traced to the late 60's /early '70's ) is for cartoon shows to require their cast members be in a rock band, ASIDE from whatever it is they normally do, as if being in a rock band is some frivolous endeavor any twit can do. I can remember a cartoon version of the Hardy Boys breaking into song whenever a mystery was solved, The Archies had a rock band and actually had hit records too, they gave birth to Josie and the Pussycats, who solved mysteries in whatever town their cartoon tour took them, before they were shot up in space, Archie's third cousin twice removed on his Uncle's side, Sabrina, would later give birth to the Groovy Ghoulies. Jabberjaw was a cartoon shark, that also played drums while his cartoon human sidekicks jammed away. The Banna Splits, The Bugaloos, it's a long and endless list... (Does Hanna Montana count ?).

My point is, Rock, in it's purest and most entertaining form is passion. You can hear true passion in both the lyrics and the playing. If you ever get a chance to see a video of some of the greats, Hendrix, Alvin Lee, Jeff Beck, Clapton, look at their faces when their soloing.... they feel every note. Listen to the words to Springsteen's Born to Run or Backstreets, or any of Pete Townsend's lyrics off of Who's Next... those songs were lived, not concocted by some soul-less, money making corporate giant looking to capitalize on some perceived trend until it's been dried up like some milkless cow's udder. If you need to rely on background dancers and stupid funky costumes to carry your stage shows, because your music can't do it alone, call yourself an entertainer, but don't call yourself a rockstar Britney, Christina and GaGa. I leave you now to go listen to Carlos Santana play anything... THAT man has soul.

Halloween has come and gone. The kids have rented horror movies, decorations are still up in the neighborhood, and I still have monsters on my mind. I happened to look at the cover of the latest issue of Rolling Stone and to the left of Shakira’s head, in bold type is the blurb VAMPIRE ROCK. What the hell is that and what the hell has happened to Vampires ?

This was an obvious reference to a review for the soundtrack of the latest Twilight movie, which again causes me to ask, WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED TO VAMPIRES ?

Vampires are perhaps one of the most dangerous of all monsters. They trick you, they make you think they’re something they’re not. They lure you in and kill you, or if they like you, they’ll make you one of them. They have no compassion, they are cold, ruthless, focused killing machines. But not according to Hollywood.

The first Hollywood Vampires that made me scratch my head were the vampires from Lost Boys ( the first one ). They could turn you into a vampire if you ate their food ? What was that about ? No one bit Jason Patric’s character, or did I miss something. He shared a drink and some Beef Lo Mein with Keifer Sutherland and the boys and that’s about it. Towards the end of the movie, there he was, eyes glowing and fangs bared, AND he returned to normal by killing Keifer Sutherland... not how I remember Vampire lore, but I liked the movie so I let it go. I then became a fan of Buffy and Angel. Not too many complaints, but what happened to sleeping in a coffin ? What happened to needed soil from their homeland ? Again, nothing major, so I let it go....

Now ? Anyone remember a recent show called Moonlight ? A detective who is an unwilling vampire, wants to be human again and can walk around in the daylight if he wears sunglasses ? What ??? And now Twilight ? Not only can vampires walk around in daylight, but they fight werewolves for the affection of a human girl ? Don’t even make me bring up the Vampires Diaries... where is Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee when you need them ?

With Halloween just around the corner, images of monsters are everywhere. I've always been a fan of the classic monsters, Dracula, The Wolfman, The Mummy, and of course, Frankenstein's Monster.

Something that always bugged me though, was how Frankenstein's Monster has always been referred to as just Frankenstein. As most people realize, Frankenstein was the name of the doctor that created the monster, but over time the monster came to be referred as Frankenstein as well. Alot of cartoon parodies of the Frankenstein Monster have come and gone over the years, alot twisting the name in some fashion. A few years ago there was cartoon called Tutenstein, there's a series of kids books called Franny K. Stein, many years ago, there was a show called the Groovy Ghoulies, and the huge green monster character was named as Frankie. Years ago, in one of my sketch books I did a cartoon monster and called him Francis Nathaniel Stein. (Frank N. Stein- get it ?), ... you get my point ?

So I started to think, if the monster's name WAS Frank Enstein, what were his relatives names ? So I give to you... Frankenstein's other cousin... Normenstein.

As a visual creative, I'll hear something that immediately puts a picture in my head. Alot of people do this subconciously, and other people, art directors, advertising excecutives, and graphic artists, to name a few, I'll bet, do it instinctively.

Some painters, illustrators and other creatives will create a piece and then give it a name, but for me, sometimes I just hear a phrase or pairing of words and that's what I start with.... something happens and the mental imagery just starts to flow.

And so it was, as my oldest son often uttered a phrase he uses to describe something he really likes... I give to you an original Character Design.... MAD CHILL... thanks Christian !

A very influential part of my youth was spent during the late 60's and 70's. I believe one of the reasons I choose to become a graphic artist, particularly a cartoonist, was due to all the fond memories I have of cartoon characters from that time period. My childhood was pretty average, but I really enjoyed it, especially the summers. One of my favorite memories was the weekly trip to the grocery store with my mom, my sister and brother, and our next door neighbors. Remember, this was the 60's, and the June Cleaver household was still a relevant image back then.

Anyway... I do remember I used to love looking at the different items in the grocery store that used cartoon characters on their packages, or hanging out at the bubble gum machines ( remember those ?) looking at the cards and goofy toys that were in them while our mothers were at the check out.

Recently I picked up a couple of books that released a floodgate of memories from that time period... KRAZY KID'S FOOD (Vintage Food Graphics) by Steve Roden and Dan Goodsen, who also have a fanastic website for anyone sharing these memories... http://theimaginaryworld.com.
MEET MR PRODUCT (The Art of the Advertising Character) by Warren Dodtz & Masud Husain, and AD BOY, also by Warren Dodtz & Masud Husain. Really cool books, I recommend them highly. But I digress... after going over these books, I started thinking about some of my favorite advertising cartoon characters that no longer exist... so I present to you now...
MartyToons Top 10 Forgotten Advertising Cartoon Characters...

1) The Frito Bandito - I know he was found offensive by a large portion of the Latin community, but my fondness for him has more to do with the time of my childhood than what he was or what some people feel he represented.


2) Fruite Brute - I always had a thing for monsters when I was a kid. When Count Chocula and Frankenberry Cereals were introduced, I thought they were so cool. When Fruit Brute Cereal followed...I couldn't believe it. Werewolves were far cooler than vampires or man made monsters.



3) Funny Face Drinks: These guys were very cool. Who wanted Kool Aide when you could drink Funny Face ? Goofy Grape... Jolly Olly Orange, and Choo Choo Cherry ? Their names alone screamed fun !



4) Quisp and Quake: I believe these were the first battling cartoon characters that had thier own cereals but each commercial advertised both. We always wanted Quisp to win (which I believe is still in production in parts of the world) but I couldn't help feeling sorry for Quake everytime he lost (what's that about ?)

It always bothered me when the success of something unique led to a plethora of copycats and cheap imitations. Rarely, if ever, has a copy of something, been as successful or good as the original. Why ?, you may ask...

In my opinion (and hopefully everyone else's)... the copies are only created to cash in on the success of the original, not with any desire to just create something new because they have a need to "get it out", or because they feel it's a great idea.... it happens in movies and TV all the time. It happens with cartoons and design as well, and it drives me nuts. How many designs have you seen lately that consist of dots, or circles or swirls of some type ?

The anime boom started to emerge a few years ago, ( I know anime has been around for decades, but the number of anime influenced shows has increased dramatically of late), and one of the most horrendous results of this, was the total bastardization of a favorite comic book of mine ( actually, more of my youth). There is/was a show starring a group of teen superheros (who shall remain nameless) that could have been so much better, especially considering who the characters were. Unfortunately, due to what I can only assume was a desire to cash in on the anime craze at the time, the characters were drawn in an anime style, their reactions were overblown and goofy like characters on many anime shows are, and what could have been a really good animated superhero show, was nothing but a lame, knock off of a great comic book.
But it probably sold alot of toys and I'm guessing that's what counted most.

So why does this bug me ? As a freelance artist/humorous illustrator, I am constantly being told by my peers, ( and I believe this), you have to create what pleases you. You can't force creativity. Unfortunately, when you're trying to market to businesses, whose goal is to make money, they want to see what is hot now. The end result of THAT is that everything being submitted is a copy of a thousand things that are already out there.

I would love to find a directory or mailing list of companies that only want "fresh" art submitted. I know there are some companies that do want , but they do seem to be in the minority.