I am extremely proud and pleased to present today’s comic strip to you all. It was sent to me recently by one of my favorite new webcomic creators, Mark Stokes! For the life of me, I can’t recall how I came across Mark‘s work. It may have been through Twitter or maybe just spying him hanging out on someone else’s comments page, but once I backtracked him to his own site, I’ve been taken away by his style.

From the first glimpse of his art, I thought that Mark was a professional cartoonist who’d been working and honing his craft for years. It looked that natural. His style could fit right in with the best in the business like Mort Walker, Dik Browne, and Charles Schulz.

Mark Stokes is the creator of the webcomic series, Zombie Boy. ZB has been around for quite awhile and has gone thru various incarnations (all of which are very entertaining). Personally, I’m a huge fan of Mark‘s flair for coloring. His palette rivals my own and each of his comics (which are posted Mon-Wed-Fri) have a distinct look which certainly sets a mood.

I am so glad that Mark sent this strip to me. I love the way he captured the characters from ADDANAC CITY, giving them their own unique style and identity. It’s fun to see your creations thru someone else’s eyes. So give it up for Mark Stokes and please, pay him a visit over on Zombie Boy to get your chills and chuckles on!

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BONUS: Don’t miss my personal review of the super-powered movie Chronicle!

There’s something so majestic and magical about guest comics to me. As a reader, it’s exceptionally entertaining to see some of my favorite characters from different series interacting in the same panel or strip.

That’s a big deal to me because you don’t see that occur very often in “the real world” (better known to some as “The Print World”).

In the world of printing, creators have to contend with publishing company executives, lawyers, marketing experts, yes men, and countless others who must coordinate, draft special contracts, and unanimously agree long before you get to see your favorite characters sharing the same space.

In the webcomic world, however, it can be just as simple a matter as emailing or tweeting your fellow creator and asking if you can use their character in your comic. Most of us, myself included, are flattered and totally honored that you would even consider using our little character somewhere in your own artistic endeavor. I’ve created plenty of guest comics throughout the years, and lots of my creator friends have created guest comics for me. It’s a trade-off that we don’t mind obligating ourselves to.

There are various reasons why we make these guest comics. Some creators simply need a break, but don’t want to lose their audience by not having any new material appear until their return.

Now there goes a Bear Man-iac.

Sometimes, an emergency will pop up and a creator just doesn’t have anything to post at the moment. Maintaining a strong readership means keeping your promise to have material ready when you say you will.

A well-crafted guest comic comes in handy to fill that spot. A lot of creators need an adequate amount of time to build (or rebuild) their buffer of comics up, and a nice supply of guest comics can buy them enough time to get ahead and stay ahead.

Usually, I host Guest Strip Week once a year here on ADDANAC CITY. I had just moved to California and I desperately needed extra time to buy new computer equipment and supplies and to also get acclimated to drawing and creating new stuff in a strange, easily-distracting, new place. I sent the word out, and my fellow creators honored me by blessing me with over two weeks worth of comics (and I posted daily at the time, weekends included).

Those guys and gals saved my life! The following year, I was drained from working on a five-month epic where Hank went back in time. I needed a break, so I called on my webcomic warriors to go to the front line for me again. These awesome artists did not fail me this time either.

This year, I didn’t take the time to sponsor a Guest Strip Week. I had a pretty good handle on things. My buffer was increasing nicely and I didn’t wanna bother anyone to come slide by my site to do anything more than just read some cool comics.

I was lucky that a few webcomickers sent me some unsolicited guest strips that really came in handy. You can’t beat that friendship anywhere. I totally love seeing how other artists draw my little lineup of characters, and I missed that this year. I decided to try something new.

Creating a guest comic can be fun. But it can also be difficult, especially if you’re busy working on your own series, or you just can’t think of a decent enough strip idea to use. If that’s the case, trying to pitch in for someone else can be quite daunting.

My idea was “What if I write the comic myself, and just get another creator to do the artwork?” That’s simple, right? I sent out a couple of feelers to see if any comic creators may be interested in tackling this concept.

The first person I heard back from was Bearman. I can always count on Bearman doing whatever he can if he has the time. In fact, he’s such a trooper that even if it’s stretching himself thin, he’ll still try to come thru for you. I respect that outta Bearman and I will do most anything for him if he requests it.

I think this is a funny strip and I love what Bearman’s art adds to the overall funniness of it. I wish I could wokr with him more in the future. Click his banner below and catch up on the comedy of current events on his own blog which posts Sundays and Wednesday. The bevy of down-to-earth commenters is just as entertaining as the posts themselves. You’ll be glad you stopped by.

Click banner to visit Bearman's comedic website!

If any other webcomic creators would like to draw a guest strip that I write, feel free to email me at addanaccity@gmail.com telling me the names of the characters you’d like to work with most, and I’ll get you a strip written with a template as soon as I can. You’ll get credit and all the plugs I can throw your way. And Binky has chocolate for you too, I’m sure.

Today’s Guest Comic comes from a very good cartoonist friend of mine, Jenn, who hails all the way from Vancouver, British Columbia. Jenn and I met while on Twitter (or was it Facebook)? Either/or, what-which-a-way, we quickly became good pals and great supporters of each other’s artistic endeavors.

I really like her wild sense of humor and her line-work and subject matter (Chin-chin-chillas, y’all!) is kinda intriguing to me. You don’t bump into chinchillas everywhere, y’know?

Jenn has been dreaming up and drawing the wild and zany antics of Rolo, Shakespeare, Lingling, and others on her webcomic site, ChinChatComics, since October 2010.

Her endearing characters have garnered her a faithful following of readers who return for every installment. The series posts new comics Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays now.

One day, Jenn asked if I was accepting guest comics for myself, since I always seem to be contributing to other cartoonists. I told her, SURE!

I love seeing what other artistic-minded folks can do with my “chirrun”. After a couple of weeks had rolled by, I received a nice FB message from Jenn stating that she had completed a guest strip for me.

I was thoroughly pleased by what I saw. Plus, she even colored it! You know what a sucker I am for some loud color.

So, thank you very, very much for this comic, Jenn. I love the way your mind works and I like seeing hank and the other characters thru your unique vision.

If there’s anything I can do to return the favor, just ask Bearman me!

For all of my readers today, please take a moment to comment and let Jenn know what’cha think! And also swing by ChinChatComics and take a look around her website and get more than a few laughs there.

TOMORROW’S COMIC: Simone‘s co-worker, Carol, teases her about her hunky, muscular assistant, Brice, in “Dead Women Tell No Tales”.

STRAIGHT FROM THE LOG OF THE TEMPORARY EMPEROR OF ADDANAC CITY, TONY “THE DEBONAIR DESPOT” McGURK:

“This is the 1st time I’ve done a guest comic & actually killed off another cartoonist’s character. If George ever wants to use her again it will have to be in a cloning story.

Or she could come back as a zombie I guess. Lloyd is one of those characters who has an almost child-like innocence & gullibility, yet things almost always see to go wrong for him.

He just seemed like the perfect character to use as the abductee who unwittingly becomes a murder suspect. Poor Lloyd can just never get a break!.

A BIG Thank You to George for the opportunity to create these 2 episodes for him!!!”

TOMORROW’S COMIC: Stay tuned for the return of ousted dictator, George Ford, as he crafts a unique epilogue for this sordid tale of raunchy debauchery.

Since I have special-guest, Tony McGurk, creator of Mental Pills Comics, on board for the next two days controlling things in ADDANAC CITY, I may as well hand him over the keys to the blog as well. Here you go, Tony. Take care of my baby. I’ll be keeping my eye on you.

TOMES FROM TONY’S TYPEWRITER:

“When George posted this Miz Sfingter comic:

It’s about Harvey having heard rumours about her being a 100 year old sex offender. I had the following conversation with him in the comments…

Tony: Gosh, you never can tell with some people. Who would’ve thought this to be true. Are we gunna find out what she did, George? The dialogue in this one’s hilarious. Maybe she’s listed on the internet, I’ll go & Google her…
No couldn’t find her. I bet she’s like a pent up time bomb ready to go off any time soon. Harv better watch out. This would make a great series George

George: There’s nothing in the works right now planned for Ms. Sfingter, but with the opinions everyone seems to have of her, I may have to reel her in for at least one personal appearance within the next few weeks.

Tony: Sorry George, one personal appearance isn’t good enough. We wanna full on abduction by this geriatric sexual predator.

George: Well, now. I’ll have to see what I can do to comply with your wishes, Mr. McGurk.

Tony: Great, I look forward to a future abduction. I am thinking that Lloyd would be the perfect abductee…

George: I do believe your dream is about to come true, Tony

Later, George made me the offer of an opportunity to do a couple of guest comics starring the infamous Miz Sfingter. This is the first one, stay tuned tomorrow for my second venture….”

This is one of the few AC strips that I’m extremely proud of. I attempted some new techniques with this one and was very pleased with the results even though it was a whole lotta hard work to finish. I think just the coloring alone too roughly six or seven hours.

In today’s extra-strength comic we find out that 2879 Bueller Ave is a meaningful spot for several AC characters. I hope you like (and understand) how all that fits together. I like getting to see old Commissioner Fallon again, even in his downtrodden derelict state. And this is not the last you’ll see of him either, rest assured.

If you’re new to this segment of Jack‘s wild and incredible tale, then you can begin right here .

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ALSO: I did a guest comic for Sean McLean‘s Underwhelmed webcomic series. Check it out here!

COMING UP: Check out two classic Halloween AC comics this weekend, then join us Monday for the continuation of Jack‘s eerie tale on All Hallow’s Eve! It’s sure to chill ya to the bones!

Not the way you wanna end up at all

And here is the black and white version of today’s comic!

I met Sam Medina thru Twitter late last year. This guy seems to have come from outta nowhere and has taken the webcomic world by storm. I see him everywhere these days!

Sam and I have corresponded back and forth, showing love for one another’s comic. Jake is one bad rabbit, in my opinion, and Hank is one of the worst-behaved kids around. He sent me an email one day saying that perhaps our two main characters should meet. I eagerly agreed, and within a few days, I received this comic as a reply.

I thought it was pretty darned nifty. Jake is a rapscallion and it seems like he’s gotten the best of our boy, Hank. I hope you all like today’s comic crafted by Sam, and since you do, go pay Jake the Evil Hare a visit and see what wildness takes place in that adrenaline=pumped comic!

Nate has work in THIS magazine!

I get surprised nearly every day in one form or another. Whether it’s the lights going out, my pencil lead snapping, or tripping over the cat (I didn’t even know we had one), I get my share of wtf’s. The good part is that every now and then, I also receive a pleasant surprise! One of those joyous moments came in the way of an email from fellow cartoonist and good friend, Nate Fakes.

Nate and I go way back (at least in webcomic-world terms). We started our webcomics around the same time and we’ve always supported each other’s efforts. Right now, Nate is doing his thing with recurring features in MAD Magazine as well as creating his own single-panel hilarious comic Break of Day on GoComics.com
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Thank you very much, Nate, for this more-than-likely future version of my flagship AC characters, Hank and Christie. I can actually envision them turning out quite like this.

I was very excited to get an email a week or so ago from Donald Poquiz notifying me that he had an ADDANAC CITY comic strip under construction. I have always been enamored with the work he and fellow cohort Matt Barak did on their hilarious team-effort webcomic “Straight Face Comics”. I get a kick out of Donald‘s art style and I miss seeing his work around regularly, so I was totally hyped to see what he would come up with. Needless to say, I was blown away (as I usually am about others’ artwork)!

I love Donald‘s portrayal of the Addanac family. I can almost see them as live-actors playing the roles. Don’s Mr. A reminds me of some guy, but I can’t think of exactly who at the moment. His Mrs. A is reminiscent to Kathleen Turner‘s starring role from Serial Mom.

Even though Donald is not working on a webcomic series at the moment, he’s still blogging and honing his artwork. You can catch up wioth him and mark his progress on his blog Donald Speaks. Tell ‘im George says hi!