Dress for success...

Hey look! It's me! 

9 or 10 years old...

AND, from my own personal collection... 

Wacky Packs! '70's era bubble gum packs with stickers that satirized commercial brand products. Kids used to plaster them all over their dressers, closet doors, etc. (We weren't allowed to do this at my house). These are a few of my favorites. 

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Or was that Icelandic? 

ANYhoo, what this blog post is really about is Dave Berg's comic "The Lighter Side," which was one of my favorites as a kid.  I remember being fascinated by how well he captures facial expressions and body language and I liked how schmaltzy and tacky his characters were. 

I was surprised to learn that so many people dislike this comic for being square and middle-of-the-road. That may be, but I still think it has a lot going for it. First, it's cohesive and it flows as a series even though the characters are always different. Seriously, think about how difficult it would be to not only do that, but do it well. What holds "Lighter Side" together as a series is the way Berg told these little stories: in a consistent, unique, and uncluttered style, and always in 4 - 6 (often) borderless panels.

My early comic work

My mother found this piece that I did when I was eleven years old, in which I tell the worst joke ever...

I didn't know that I was drawing chickens back then too! 

Portrait of the artist as a young snarck...

This week I'll be writing about early comic work and influences.
As such, this was my childhood and adolescent bible...

As a kid, I thought this book was the most hilarious thing EVER. I loved the format of multiple possible answers, and that you could write in your own. I poured over Al Jaffee's illustrations for hours. I was fascinated by what made them work. I loved the over-the-top physical gestures and facial expressions, including those of the blase-moron-question-askers...