The first thing I have to say is I’m sorry Bearmageddon has been frozen in hibernation for years now. The sad truth is, the comic is so much work, I don’t know if I will ever get it finished. I have about 30-40 pages inked, but have not had the time or ability to color and letter them. If anyone out there wants to join forces and do some coloring, we could at least get those pages out.
In the meantime, I would like to tell you about the project I am working on for anyone with kids in their lives. It’s a book concept I have wanted to try for a long time.
My new project is called THIS BOOK MIGHT EXPLODE, and it’s being released by my new company, Explodey World. The book features comics, stories, cartoons, games, crafts, how-to-draw lessons, story writing exercises and more. It’s an omnibus of everything in the kids’ section at Barnes and Noble, created by me, my writing partner Eric, and a bunch of other artists and writers I have worked with over the years, including Doug TenNapel, Michael J. Nelson, Rich Werner, and many more. When I invite someone to work on this book, my one requirement is that they make the kind of thing they would have been thrilled to find in a big random book when they were kids.
Here are some of my contributions in this book. First, Corn Doug and Diggity Dog, about a dad who eats an over-microwaved Corn Dog and becomes a super corn dog, and he has a dog who is way cooler than him. I co-created Corn Doug with Eric Branscum. Part of the fun of Corn Doug is we leave little parts of the comics unfinished and ask kids to fill those spots in, whether it’s writing in dialogue for a character, coloring, or drawing something into the panel.
Up next is LEGION OF FLUFF. This is my comedy horror adveture for kids about two step-siblings whose plush toys come to life and become giant monster fighters, which is good because their apartment complex is being attacked by a horde of goblins. This is an ongoing story with a few new chapters in each edition of This Book Might Explode.
I also write and illustrate a short story in every book that is a true story from my life, like the time I sucked all the ink out of a pen during a science test, or the time I got my head stuck in a door and peed myself.
I’m also doing the illustrations for Eric Branscum’s awesome Roald Dahl-esque Fish Can Talk And Always Could.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. I have funny safety guides for kids that I created with Frank J. Fleming, similar to those in my book Bears Want to Kill You. Not to mention the other amazing comics and stories by our other contributors.
The book comes out every other month. It’s big, thick, and colorful. It’s like a super-premium magazine subscription made by a farmer’s market of the greatest indie creators in kids’ entertainment. I’m very proud of it, and I have yet to meet a kid who didn’t love it.
So if you have kids in your life, please give it a try. This Book Might Explode not only entertains your kids, but it also introduces them to the creative process and invites them to be a part of it.
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