The 5th of November & the Birth of Meanwhile

Today is the 5th of November. A day one which not only saw the poorly executed "Gunpowder Plot" but a day when our comic strip "Meanwhile..." was conceived by my brother and I, like Joffrey Baratheon. It all started 2 years ago. We were joking about comics, and film and then at one point we said how ridiculous a comedy on V for Vendetta would be if instead of a Guy Fawkes mask he was wearing a Groucho Marx mask.

Every once in a while, to the bane of my editors, I will have, or hear, an idea that will completely consume me until it is completed; because I have to see it. Case in point, Hippopotomus Prime, or the Greasers as Ninja Turtles, or as Green Lanterns, or sci-fi Tinkerbell... Okay, so I sometimes get distracted. And hearing this idea of "Groucho V," I had to make:

I really would love to see this movie

This parody of an iconic image led to a bunch of other parodies, that originally were just for our own amusement. Then in a couple weeks we had 10 images and decided that this would be an ongoing project as we kept tossing out ideas faster than I could draw them. We spit-balled names back and forth, none of which I remember til we came up with "Meanwhile..." A name which fit perfectly as these short clips acted as interludes in our more serious books. We labeled the panels with the logo and then posted them online for all to see. This back and forth eventually culminated in some of our own favorites like "Hipster Starscream," or "Dr. Reality".

Though none of these has had the same reach as one strip our writer Dimitrios came up with. Jesus Loves George R.R. Martin. Yeah... you're just going to have to read that one for yourselves

Sir Thomas J. Griffin is a poor artist and potato working for GryphonKnights Comics. He's illustrated books like Greasers in Geese , Hero, The Only Choice, Meanwhile, and others.

Webcomic Review: Jesus Christ Comics

Religious webcomics aren't new, and it can be really challenging to stand apart from the mass of artwork that is out there. When Dave contacted me the other day to check out his Jesus Comics (www.jesuschristcomics.com), I thought it was funny because before I did comics I was pretty religious. I attended church regularly, studied Greek, Hebrew, Biblical Archaeology etc... Yes, comics have taken me off the path of righteousness, that or helped me realize that religions can be a little nuts!

I still get a kick dealing with the topic. For example The Book of Genesis illustrated by R. Crumb is one of my favorite things ever. It's page after page of detailed illustrations interpreting passages of Genesis. Its a massive, beautiful book, and contains all 50 chapters.

In this case, however I was confused with Dave's introduction.  "...The subject matter is [too] controversial," he said. referring to the story of the birth of Jesus, one of the most retold stories of all.

But I dove in! It was a pretty quick read; 4 parts, 11 pages each. It's a bare bones retelling of the greatest story of all, but Dave's imagery seems to stand out in certain points, where the pictures end up being accidentally hilarious. For example, there is these gory images of a Rabbi standing over John and Jesus with a pair of sharp, bloody scissors.... post-circumcision. A panel with the caption "King Herod was also upset." has the image of a man clutching at his sliced throat while an interesting combination of Hades from the Disney's Hercules and ZigZag, glares in the foreground.

Herod, actually is my favorite things about this comic; his design and the creepy way he carries himself stands out. He isn't the only character in the book who has a face-lift; the angels look more like the common interpretation of Djinn from Islamic mythology.

Over-saturation of this type of comic makes it tough to compete in the market. Even though it isn't the strongest book I've seen there is a lot of potential and while needing refinement the artwork stands out as stylistically memorable. The coloring is also good for a webcomic made by only one guy. Dave shows some competence in lighting and storyboarding which other neophytes lack.

Jesus Christ Comics has the potential to be something really awesome if he allows more character exaggeration like he does in Herod.

Again thanks to Dave for showing me his book!

Sir Thomas J. Griffin is a poor artist and carpenter working for GryphonKnights Comics. He's illustrated books like Greasers in Geese , Hero, The Only Choice, Meanwhile, and others.

He also wonders if Herod is worse than Emperor Septimus from Greasers in Greece