Halloween Comic Book: 5 of 5

In the end, all the hard work of these creatures, ghouls, and behemoths is ruined by our infinate ability to mock. So I ask you, dear reader, who are the real monsters here?

Halloween Comic Book: 4 of 5

Not much of the funny on this page as it sets up for the big finale. Be sure to check back tomorrow.

Halloween Comic Book: 3 of 5

I was commissioned to do this comic book in the late summer of 1995--mere months after coming home from my mission (thanks to my brother Eric who knew the owner of the establishment).

Sometime during my two-year mission, the TV show Friends debuted and became a huge success. So the joke I did the bottom of the page was made by someone who had never seen an episode of that particular show. I also never saw a picture of Jennifer Aniston which made drawing her character kind of difficult in those days pre-Google Image. (Basically I'd take direction from my family which mostly consisted of telling me to make her hair bigger.) Despite those challenges, the Fiends joke is my favorite in the story. (Some of you might think it's the only joke.)

Halloween Comic Book: 2 of 5

Prior to this commission, I had only been paid for one other piece of art--a six-page superhero story published in a locally produced comic book that was sold in local comic book shops (and based on the royalties I received from it, was only purchased by the immediate families of the featured artists). So this Halloween story was a big deal to me. It was going into a program that was to be distributed to the thousands of people who would go through the haunted house!

I was one of those people and was likely the only person in history who looked forward to the pamphlet full of advertisements, coupons, and other stuff (mainly my art) more than the haunted house itself.

I should have enjoyed the haunted house more.

When I eagerly grabbed the pamphlet at the end, I was sickened at what I saw. The haunted house people had failed to place the story in its proper order. Page 3 came before page 1 which were both behind page 4. Trying to read it left me utterly confused (and I wrote the thing!). It was a disaster. (With that level of attention to detail it should surprise no one that this particular haunted house is no longer running.)

So, here, for the first time ever is the story the way it was meant to be read. Hooray for the internet.

And Now For Something Completly Different

In honor of Halloween, I'm running something a little different this week. Every day through Friday, I'll be posting a page of a comic book I did for a local haunted house a dozen plus years ago.

No, it doesn't have anything to do with the Church, missionary work, or anything else you'd usually associate with this blog. Think of it as my very own "Treehouse of Horror" episode.

Regular posting will return next week. (As usual, click on the image for a larger view.)

Halloween Tracting

This is the very first gag the New Era ever published of mine. Without this, I doubt my publisher would have taken me serious the first time we met for a book pitch. Without this, I definitely wouldn't have started this blog and if I had, I wouldn't have called it Mormon Cartoonist. (Even as it is, it still seems a bit presumptuous--for the record, I don't see myself as THE Mormon Cartoonist but, rather, a Mormon cartoonist.)

So, please appreciate this week's comic. Sure the art may be a bit off (I mean, I always draw bug eyes, but these are extra buggy!) and it may not be the funniest thing I've ever done, but this is the one that started it all.

Trick or Treat?

How does the admonition go? "Neither cast ye your pearls before swine." I don't usually compare children to pigs, but during their candy-frenzied state Halloween night, it somehow seems appropriate.

UPDATE: Someone's offering another free copy of The A-MAZE-ing Book of Mormon on the web. Check out LDS author Cindy Beck's blog and enter to win!

More on General Conference

Have you ever wondered what General Conference means to the non-LDS in a heavily populated Mormon area? I suspect it might be something like this.

Mail Call

Yeah, mail is kind of important to missionaries.

Family Home Evening is on Me This Week

Here's a fun General Conference recap you can print off and use for Family Home Evening.

And remember for lots more activities, puzzles, and mazes; my books The Puzzle Book for LDS Kids and The A-MAZE-ing Book of Mormon are available in finer LDS bookstores everywhere.

Sacrament Snack

I'm posting something big later today. So, in the meantime, here's one of my favorite gags from my book Mormon Life (available in fine LDS bookstores).

Based on a True Story

There are a lot less similarities between my mission and that of Elder Van Dyke's than you might think. The strip isn't in any way autobiographical. That being said, there are a few jokes that came directly from my experiences. Today's strip is one example.

In the real experience, though, the women flung open her door after we introduced ourselves through her door and breathlessly asked, "Who did you say you are?"

After telling her again that we were missionaries, she said, "Oh, I thought you said you were mercenaries." She then slammed her door.

It wasn't too surprising that she got the two words confused, the Slovene word for both missionary and mercenary is derived from English. What was surprising was that she opened the door in the first place. My companion and I walked away wondering what kind of person opens her door to mercenaries and slams it on missionaries.

Clean Your Room

Tragically, the young man in this comic died a short time later due to high doses of radiation. It seems the home was built upon an abandoned nuclear power plant.

(Either that or he became a superhero.)