New Year's Resolutions

I drew this comic at the dawn of 2010. Here's how the somewhat autobiographical resolutions in the first panel turned out: I've failed miserably at getting organized. I still floss every night, as any non-hypocritical dental student should. I've written poetry, but it's been mostly goofy light verse. I've enjoyed ethnic food, smiled, practiced yoga, worked out, and volunteered, but only sporadically. I've enjoyed literary fiction (as pretentious as that sounds), especially the novels of Haruki Murakami. I can't bike to work - I'm not employed. And finally, I never actually quote bad movies - I only quote great movies that other people think are bad. My resolution for 2011: to keep going back and coloring old comics so I can repost them on my blog and make them available as posters.

Scenes from the Dinner Table

In the name of awkward self-promotion...

The nice folks at NBC Action(!) News here in Kansas City asked me to be on their show today. My reaction to seeing myself on TV: "Can they tell I'm nervous?" and "Does my voice really sound like that in real life?" But really, being on television was no sweat - I just pretended I was Jonathan Franzen being interviewed by Oprah.

Leaf Wars

The Treehouse of Adulthood

This comic originally ran about a year ago and can be found on this blog in its original form. I decided to update it with color, mainly because I thought the pond creature should have green tentacles and the in-laws lurking inside the tree should have yellow eyes. Incidentally, my mother-in-law is visiting this weekend. As usual, this is available for purchase as an 11"x17" poster (email me at gsnider11@gmail.com) so you can put it up in your cubicle of employment or useless hobby zone and eventually stash it in some closet with your exercise equipment. 

How to Ace the Interview

Calendar Illustration

This is my contribution to a 2011 calendar featuring the work of twelve Kansas City illustrators and cartoonists. For the month of April, I imagined some intrepid oral surgeons hunting the great white maxillary molar. For fellow dental nerds, they're wielding a Molt 9 periosteal elevator, 150 forceps, and 301 elevator. Anatomically correct teeth lurk just below the surface. Cartoonist Bryan Stalder was responsible for corralling and motivating the featured artists in the calendar, which is available for purchase here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/63426488/2011-calendar. 

Posters For Sale

In order to duplicate the experience of the concert merch table online, I'm selling 11"x17" color prints of any comic on this blog. All posters are $15 plus shipping, payable by check or paypal. Orders will ship promptly. Contact me at gsnider11@gmail.com to order. Shipping is $3 for domestic orders, more in Canada (I've always wanted to say that). I do international shipping as well, but rates vary.

The Thing

Getting Older

The 18th Hole

The Blank Page

Happy Halloween!

From the Vault: Family Reunion

I drew this comic over a year ago, but I never properly posted the full version to my blog. Since I'm sitting bored at an airport, now seems like an appropriate time. The tie-dye coloring in the comic was taken directly from one of my parents' homemade shirts, which I scanned in and manipulated in Photoshop.

First Band Practice

This is a reworking of an unpublished comic I drew a couple years ago. This time, I incorporated the Edward Gorey-esque constraint of alphabetical text. It's worth noting that this band is influenced by both The Clash and Led Zeppelin - proof that love of punk rock and classic rock are not mutually exclusive.

The Mixtape - Part II

The Mixtape - Part I

Beyond the Park

 

They Might Be Martians

The Cartoonist Speaks

 



I'll be speaking at KC's All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church (4501 Walnut) this Sunday, September 26 at 10 AM. The presentation's entitled "Drawings of Fake Bands, Strange Families, and Imaginary Places," in which I'll examine how tiny drawings in pen and marker grew to consume my very existence. I'll also discuss my influences, my haphazard creative process, and the dangerously glamorous field of newspaper cartooning. Fellow Catholics - I checked with the pope - this will fulfill your weekly mass requirement!  

Confessions of a Book Fiend

Update: In time for the holidays, I have 11"x17" poster prints of this comic (or any other comic) available for $15 plus shipping. Contact me at gsnider11@gmail.com if you're interested. I would include a used paperback book with each order, but I really do intend to read it someday.

Really Good Show.

Moving to Sunday

Starting this week, my comic strip will no longer appear on Thursdays in the Kansas City Star. Instead, "Delayed Karma" will be included in a juicy Sunday comics supplement called KC Strips Extra, available to home subscribers for some small additional fee. The format won't change much, and every third comic still won't make any sense whatsoever, but I will be able to do a color strip whenever the spirit moves me. Until next Sunday, here's one of the stranger pages from my sketchbook:

Lawn Limerick

Museum Rules

I recently returned from a weeklong road trip across the upper Midwest. I had a chance to visit the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Milwaukee Art Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago. The one thing these great museums had in common: draconian rules.

Excursion

This comic was inspired by Edward Gorey's "Thoughtful Alphabet" series and a detour through the uncharted northern outskirts of Kansas City.

The Playground

Descent from Enlightenment

The Feud

These fine lyrics by The Mountain Goats were an inspiration for this week's cartoon.

Music for a Ridiculous Ensemble

This cartoon pays homage to one of the Top 25 Most Played songs on my iPod: "Music for a Large Ensemble" by Steve Reich. I can name every instrument in the drawing except for the fish-shaped-percussion-thing on the far right. A free burned Steve Reich sampler mix to the clever person who can tell me what that instrument is called.

The Jukebox

This comic was inspired by seeing an old jukebox inside a Waffle House. "Crystal Blue Persuasion" by Tommy James and the Shondells was one of the tracks. Unfortunately, I didn't have a quarter to play the song. But the waffles were delicious.

Monsters

There will be no encore.

The bold, ominous title of this strip had been buried in the pages of my sketchbook for months without any indication of how it should be turned into a comic. The solution: illustrated light verse.

So you want to be a writer?

Thunderheads

This comic was inspired by watching a massive cumulonimbus from the hill by my apartment. Also, George Clinton.

The University of Awesome

Time Machine

Epic Summer

Tired

Frustrated Artists Society

Apparently the society meets in an extravagant loft overlooking downtown Kansas City. They were originally called the "Frustrated Artists Guild," but changed due to the unfortunate acronym.

My Place

This is an elaborate doodle I passed off as a cartoon for the Star. See if you can spot nods to Tony Millionaire, George Herriman, Dr. Seuss, Tom Otterness, Chris Ware, Matt Groening, Charles Schulz, Bill Watterson, James Kochalka, Maurice Sendak, Jim Woodring, and coffee. Don't you wish your house had an escalator and an observatory?

Water Towers - and Free Comic Book Day!

I'll be at B-Bop comics in midtown Kansas City (39th and Main) at noon on Saturday, May 2 for Free Comic Book Day. Stop by to check out my "Delayed Karma" mini-comics and rub elbows with some other renowned KC comic creators. Because comics deserve freedom.

Last Night's Show

Garbled Maps

From the Vault

My College Apartment

Real Disney

Art History

Downtown

Sibling Bowl I