McFlys 2015 Sneaker Campaign

Here's an illustration I drew this week for the local weekly paper about a grassroots campaign to convince Nike to manufacture Marty McFly's futuristic sneakers from the movie Back to the Future part II. Here's a video presentation:

I was telling my friend Jon about it and he asked me if the campaign was spearheaded by the same dude who was petitioning McDonald's to bring back the McRib. I wish I had an illustration of a McRib to put below (Hint Hint, Art Directors!).

Kramers Ergot #6 | Illusion Box

I've got an eight-page comic strip, entitled CROSS-FADER, in the brand new Kramers Ergot #6 anthology published by Buenaventura Press. The thumbnails above give you get a sneak peek into the early stages of my working process, which consists mostly of me scribbling with ballpoint pens to see if they contain ink. Once I get a bit further along, I gather up all my reference. Here's the critical piece I needed to begin my strip (© 2006 Don "Toots" Zettwoch):
CROSS-FADER takes place inside and adjacent to a haunted house, and features many real-life Zettwoch scare-traptions. Included is the the On-Coming Car, the Vibrating Floor, and most importantly the Illusion Box (shown in the excerpted panel below).The Illusion Box is a variation on Pepper's Ghost, a classic magical/optical illusion pioneered in the nineteenth century for Victorian stage-shows. I first experienced it at the far-end of the John J. Audubon Elementary School fall festival, when I saw my principal turn into a werewolf. Thanks Dad!
Anyway, Kramers Ergot #6 contains work by some of the world's greatest cartoonists past and present - all much better than me - and should be a great book. It debuts next week at the San Diego Comic-Con (I'll be on-hand to test ballpoint pens in your copy) and will be available in stores in September.

Model Rocketry Corner

A couple of weeks ago the MissileFits got together a launched rockets into stormy skies over St. Louis. Above are the plans I drew up for my weird homemade rocket, which is sort of a rocket/glider combo (based loosely on Estes' Scissor-Wing Transport). You can see actual photos of it here or here. It worked pretty well after I reinforced the fins with electrical tape. Here's an action photo of Billy K, owner of the world's scariest briefcase, helping me prepare for launch (photo by Ben Kiel):
All in all it was an awesome time. For next year, I am planning on building a rocket that I can physically travel in. It is gonna require a lot of balsa wood and Elmer's white glue. See you there!