freaky tiki

hi all! more info about the dd1 reprint. if you don't remember what the dd1 reprint is (and why should you?) it's all in the post right below this one.

anyway, in addition to development art, the book will include a reprint of the short story "freaky tiki", which i drew in the middle of dd1 as a style test, and which first appeared in an anthology in 2005. i don't think it's been online anywhere since then, so this might be your first time ever seeing it; and if it isn't, just pretend anyway. for me.

here's one panel that manages to succinctly sum up everything you need to know about the story — namely, that it is awesome and why is that tiki zombie fat? do zombies even have a metabolism? there's only one way to find out! (but until we have zombie autopsies your just going to have to read this story instead.)

NYCC in 15 days!

"THE DARE DETECTIVES" RETURNS AT NYCC!

howdy!

remember that time you asked me when more DD was on the way? i thought so.

well, fantastic news for haters of mendacity and lovers of gun-toting-bunnies everywhere! archaia publishing (aka the "mouse guard people") will be delivering full-on cartoon action with new cases of the dare detectives. millions of them.

even as we speak (or more accurately, as i type and you semi-read), pages for the all-new, all-kidnapping, all-kissing, all-tiki-zombie dare sequel are being drawn! with drawings.

"the kula kola caper" pits the world's most defective detectives against world-conquering red dingo, bungling kidnappers, the boss of assassins, and the most annoying party princess ever, sarah kincaid! someone will fall in love! someone else will die! or not! two fierce foes will battle over buffet choices! no really! that part's definitely in there, while the whole dying thing is still TBD!

but wait — you never read the first dare case? or you read it, but you always wished that it was somehow reprinted, as a single, beautiful book on real paper? (yeah, i said it.) archaia loves you almost as much as i do — and let's be honest, i love the hell out of you — so they are reprinting the almost award-winning "snowpea plot" for your personal gratification. the art is big and bright, the jokes are funnier in a larger font, and maria's kicks have never been so... kicky? kickish? well, i'll let the wordsmiths hash that one out, although my spellcheck insists that "kicky" is okay. whatever, computer. and there's bonus art too, because seriously... you know how much of this stuff i have in my desk? so merry christmas. and hey, what do you know...

...the new and improved "snowpea plot" will be in stores just in time for your christmas shopping pleasure!

do you want to know more? yes. yes, you do want to know more. don't worry, i have that covered, too! COME VISIT ME AT THE NEW YORK COMICCON october 13-16! i'll be in artist alley, either drawing or in a fistfight with a hobo (i assume there are hobos in an artist alley.) either way, there will be lots of dare goodies there, including a new sketchbook and a sneak peek at upcoming dare books! knowing me, there will also almost certainly be new prints, from dare and from my other universally beloved work. if you didn't know my work was universally beloved, don't fret — no one else knew, either.

and if you can't come to NYCC, then boo! but i still love the hell out of you, so you know i'll be updating this blog with everything you will want to know, and probably many other things that do not interest you.

because i care.

cheers!

ben c

1988

do you ever wonder what my art looked like in eighth grade? of course you do.

well, now you can consider yourself enlightened, because it was full of pouty-lipped mecha that had visors, sunglasses, and a monocle.

and naked lady tats.

you're welcome, world.

seven stars

too crazed to even think, but a sketch from new sketchbook. from the same world as empress blue and these guys. (and these. and this guy, too.)