Author: Lorenzo Ross

Chicago based cartoonist Lorenzo Ross spends most of his time trying to bang out new comic books while simultaneously trying to avoid eating too many cookies.
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30 Characters Challenge

Starting tomorrow I’ll be participating in The 30 Characters Challenge which is held annually by the folks at ComixTribe.com. Comix Tribe is an online community for comic book writers and artists that are serious about improving their craft.

The challenge involves creating 30 characters in 30 days during the month of November. A friend did it last year so I thought this time I’d give it a try. I’m hoping the challenge will help me populate the Alternative City universe as well as give the old brain a workout.

So for the next month look for a lot of posts (hopefully every day) featuring new characters.

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Random Thoughts

This may sound cruel to some, but I believe that in this world of over seven billion people give or take a few, half of them are idiots. Fifty percent. I’m not the only one that feels this way. The corporate news media and most advertisers must agree because they sure talk to us like we’re all idiots. A good chunk of that fifty percent believe Mitt Romney won the first debate with “style points”. WTF? Are we picking America’s Next Top Model or the leader of the free world?

This kind of sign will get you in all kinds of trouble. You know somebody’s gonna come in and ask something like,”should I ask my girlfriend to marry me?”.

At the Xsport where I’m a member there is a regular hot tub and a resistance pool. The resistance pool is basically a treadmill for swimmers. A sign above the pool states: MAXIMUM BATHERS IN RESISTANCE POOL 1. There are often five or more bathers in the pool using it as a not-so-hot tub taking turns with their backs against the only two jets in the tepid 6’x9′ pool. Fifty percent.

I know I posted this a few days ago but it’s worth an encore.

Holler back!

 

 

 

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My First and Last Political Post

Last night our softball game was rained out. After having a few beverages and mediocre overpriced food items at our sponsor bar we headed home. On the way to the car the conversation turned to politics. The team’s organizer, let’s call him “B” mentioned that he does not like Barack Obama and planned to vote for Mitt Romney because of his disdain for our president. B also believes that the media is heavily biased and liberal and that Fox “news” just balances things out with CNN and MSNBC with their Rachel Maddow & Keith Olbermann spewing their liberal views. Now B says he’s not a republican but a libertarian, like Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation.

Libertarians make a lot of sense until you talk to them for a few minutes. They believe that government should stay out of individuals lives. Sounds good on the surface but it runs much deeper than that. You can google the party if you want to know more about them. I asked B what his beef was with Obama and this is the best he could give me: When he met the Japanese Prime Minister he bowed to him and that showed weakness. He blew off Nutanyahu to go on Letterman. There was tape of him not putting his hand over his heart during the national anthem. Really? Really B? You’re willing to vote against your best interests for things that are pretty trivial? I don’t know him very well but I’ll betcha B is not a billionaire or even a millionaire. He used to be a paramedic until he broke his neck in an accident. Thanks to “Obamacare” he can never be discriminated against by any insurance company because of that injury. There are millions of people like B that will vote against the president for similar reasons or just because they don’t like him. They’ll vote for a man that is so out of touch with reality and the common man that he truly believes it is his right and his destiny to be president. A man that has shown his true feelings about half the nation by dismissing them as lazy entitled freeloaders. That is why we have got to make sure that we don’t let anything stop us from casting our votes In November, to save ourselves and even people like B from Mitt Romney even though they don’t even realize they need saving.

 

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Alternative City #0 Lives Again!

A few years ago I did a Mini Comic called Alternative City #0. It collected twelve pages of comics that I intended to try and get published in a weekly alternative newspaper. Alas, this never happened so I decided to publish them myself. If you don’t know what a mini comic is, it’s just a half sized comic that can be done by a professional printer for a lower cost than a full sized book, or in most cases they are printed by the creators themselves at Kinko’s or at work when the boss isn’t looking.

The minis were cool for comic shows when you needed an inexpensive way to get your work into a potential reader’s hands, but they were of poor quality. I recently found the original art so I scanned it in at a high resolution and did a small print run with Ka-blam printing. It took them FOREVER to ship them to me but they are finally here. I have to say I’m happy with the way they came out and at $3 it’s still reasonably priced. Right now you can find it at Chicago Comics and of course the psychic unicorns etsy store.

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Carmilla and Victor Are Coming Soon

Carmilla and Victor are characters in Alternative City. If you would like to visit Alternative City you can do so by clicking here and that ‘ll take you to the website that bears it’s name and is home to all of my webcomics. Parts of Alternative City #0 and #1 can be read for free on the website and fresh copies of #0 are at the printers and will be available soon!

Carmilla & Victor don’t make an appearance until #1, but for now here’s a print of them that I just added to the Psychic Unicorns etsy shop.

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New additions to the Etsy shop

Lately I have been focusing more on the comics than the prints with Awesome 5! #1 now in stores as well as online and Alternative City #0 now at the printer. That said, now is a great time to add some new prints!

The Obama print and The Happy Cat are from larger paintings i did for a couple of fund raisers. You can find out more if you visit our shop. Also don’t forget to like our Facebook page!

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The Campaign is a winner!

With the November presidential election just around the corner, this is a great time for a movie like The Campaign. Will Ferrell & Zach Galifianakis star in this hilarious spoof of american politics.

Two powerful CEOs (very much like the Koch brothers) decide to back a candidate in a congressional election in North Carolina so that he can help them fulfill their diabolical plans for his district. What’s so cool about this movie is that it’s full of laughs without being too silly and if you pay attention you could learn a little about politics without having to listen to the stuffed shirts and talking heads on CNN or MSNBC.

Our movie experience was enhanced by the fact that the theatre we saw it at was pretty cool. The Century 12 in Evanston has become our favorite place to take in a flick. We usually go to matinees which are a few bucks less, and these guys extend their matinee hours to 6pm during the week and 2pm on weekends.

Another cool bonus is the piano bar called The Rhythm Room. Its nice enough to be a destination bar even if you’re not seeing a movie!

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New Complicated Hair Strips and Manga Studio!

Just finished two new Complicated Hair strips that will be part of the second issue due out in the next month or so. The cool part is that one of them was inked and lettered in Manga Studio which I have been learning how to use the last couple weeks.

This is going to save me a lot of time in the future and that’s really important when you’re a staff of one. See if you can tell which is which.

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Howard Chaykin’s Black Kiss Returns

I recently purchased several books on amazon. Two of them are How-To guides for Manga Studio & Anime Studio, and one is a hardcover copy of one of my all time favorite graphic novels, Black Kiss by Howard Chaykin.

Be warned that this story puts the graphic in graphic novel. It is not for the faint of heart and is definitely not for children. When I first read this almost twenty five years ago it just blew me away because nothing like it existed. Black Kiss is right there with Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns as being one of the most influential comic series of all time. If not for it’s graphic sexual content and taboo subject matter it would have received as much acclaim as the other two.

So just today I find out Chaykin is doing a Black Kiss II which tells the story behind the story. I’m going to have to pick up a copy just to see his take on his creation a quarter century later. I know that I was in a different place back then, so I assume Mr. Chaykin was also. Not only that, your art evolves over time as well. It’ll be fun to see how he draws his old characters in his new style.

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Chipotle VS… Taco Bell?

When I saw the commercial touting Taco Bell’s new “Gourmet” “Cantina Bell” menu I had my doubts but I figured what the hell I’ll give it a try. I knew it wouldn’t taste better than Chipotle but I thought it might taste better than the regular Taco Bell burrito that looks kinda like a tortilla that a bird pooped on. Boy was I wrong.

Chipotle chicken burrito bowl on the left, Taco Bell Cantina burrito on the right.

The chicken was tasteless, the rice and beans were bland and what they call guacamole  was almost non existent. I choked some of mine down but Janet only took a bite of hers. Of course Chipotle costs more but it’s so worth it because of the marinated meat and more flavorful toppings. Not to mention the hormone free and ethical way their meat is raised. I could eat Chipotle every day!