COMIC BOOKS – Working on a Mike Allred Simpsons Comic Book.

Hmm, that lightning exclamation point looks awfully familiar.

The Simpsons Quote:

In the alley behind his store
CBG: (throwing out a large stack of comics) It seems I will never sell
these “She-Hulk vs. Leon Spinks” comics. Worst cross-over ever! (leaves)
Nerds: (getting the sent of the comics, one grabs the comics from the trash bin)
CBG: (points a flashlight at them, which make their eyes shine red)
Nerds: Aargh! (they run away)
CBG: (Waving a broom at them) Shoo, nerds, shoo!
 

I’d done other work besides working on The Simpsons show.

Sometimes, doing this sort of thing actually makes for some fun adventures.

Today I’m going to talk about one of those fun moments that happened when I worked on some Simpsons comics.

You can either watch the video below or read it. The information is the same either way:

(All the links to the products below are affiliate links.)

A Fun Freelance Job

While I worked on The Simpsons I used to freelance for Bongo Comics.

Well, I’m a big fan of Mike Allred, the creator of Madman. My boss at Bongo, Bill Morrison, knew this. He was also a fan and we used to talk about comics all the time.

Well he managed to get Mike Allred to write a story for the The Tree House of Horror comic that year. So Bill calls me up and says to me,

“Hey, I got Mike Allred to write a script for The Tree House of Horror comic. Would you like to work on it?”

“Of course! That’s awesome! I’d love to work on a comic written by Mike Allred.”

“Okay, but here’s the thing, he wants me to draw it.  One of the reasons he agreed to do it was because he wanted me to draw it.”

“Okay, that’s fine, but what will I be doing then?”

“Why don’t you plot out the pages.”

“That, I can do. I can do that.”

So he sent me the script and I plotted out the pages. Bill Morrison drew it, and Mike Allred actually inked it.

That was very interesting and it’s very cool.

The Comic

So here’s a page from the comic:

It’s Bill Morrison‘s art with Mike Allred inking.

BUT I drew the plots and I still have them. So check this out. Here’s the rough plots of the page above:

Pretty cool huh?

Surprised at Comic Con

So here’s the interesting part, okay.  So I drew this comic, that year I went to San Diego Comic Con. Laura Allred, Mike Allred‘s wife was in a booth there selling their extra comics.

They were these old comics they had worked on called Grafik Muzik. That was, actually the comic that had made me become aware of Mike Allred. These Grafik Muzik comics.

The comic made me search out for more of his stuff which led me to his Madman comics and all his other books.

So I started talking to Laura and I told her I was a big fan, and I bought some Grafik Muzik comics. I also told her that I had worked on the Simpson Comic her husband had written.

She told me to stick around for a moment because she was sure that he might be coming by. Sure enough, he showed up.

I introduced myself, we shook hands and I told who I was and what I did.  I was 19 or 20 years old at the time.  I don’t remember but I was much younger then.

And he was so awesome. We just started talking about comics, The Simpsons and all kinds of things. Then he says,

“Come on, come with me,” and we just walked off into Comic Con. I went with him as he bought comics and we talked  and looked around.

It was fun. He spoke with a lot of industry guys as I tagged along, and it was fun. It was really nice that he did that. I really appreciated it.

I have fond memories of having worked on the comic.  And I have fond memories of what happened after.

Working on the Comic

And here’s the thing. The script he actually wrote that he wanted a iris panel, because that’s his style. He does those old school grids and page layouts. He basically choreographed the way he wanted the grids and the panels to work. I was familiar with his style so, to me that was a lot of fun too.

Embarrassing Myself

I ended up sending them a thank you note via Bill Morrison after I got home from Comic Con a few days later…so embarrassing.

It’s this drawing I did of Bart Simpsons on Madman’s leg and Madman is trying to shake him off. BUT then on  the drawing I wrote this, like, love letter to both Laura and Mike Allred and it’s…it’s bad. I really hope they forgot about it…

ANYWAY, I hope you’ve enjoyed this, anecdote. Let me know what you think of my story.  Are you a fan of Mike Allred. I can only say good things.  He’s a great guy.

A Better Look at All the Roughs

This week’s newsletter has the roughs for the comic, if you want to take a look at them. Give’s you an idea of what the story he wrote was like.

PODCASTS – Simpsons: Then and Now

Tonight, as of the time of this writing, my co-worker Chance Raspberry and my pal and animator Larry Whitaker  are going to meet up with animation fans for our second live recording of our  The Corner Booth  podcast. Our podcast where we talk about the animation industry from the inside.

It’s happening tonight in a secret location, in Burbank. The topic for this recording is, The Simpsons: Then and Now.

• Chance and I will be talking about our experience working on the show.
• How we got our jobs on the show and the madness that is producing an episode.
• Plus some anecdotes from our time working on the movie.
• AND the best part, you can interrupt us anytime and ask us questions about the show.

Depending on what time you’re reading this, you might still be able to come and join us.

Like I said, the location is secret BUT if you opt in to The Corner Booth notification email:  http://www.thecornerbooth.net/welcome/ BEFORE 5pm tonight and you live near Burbank, we’ll send you the info.

The meet up starts at 7pm.

If you want to make sure you don’t miss out on the next live meet up, opt in to get notified: http://www.thecornerbooth.net/welcome/

We’ll see you, at, The Corner Booth!

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