A Junk Opera, Murals, Skateboards, and Ghosts…What’s Going On Here..?!!

Hey, gang-

Nicki and I are doing some maintenance and redesign of the MSCA site, so things will be looking different here. Be sure to share your art/member news and links for future posts.


“What the hell are you doing..?!!”

Here’s what’s been going on and/or coming up in the MSCA…

Shockheaded Peter A Junk Opera

MSCA member Andrew Chandler emcees the play “Shockheaded Peter A Junk Opera” at TheaterworksCLICK HERE to learn more.

October 29 – November 14, 2021
Shockheaded Peter

Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00, Sundays at 2:00
ADDED DATES: Thursday Nov. 4 at 7:30, Friday Nov. 5 MIDNIGHT SHOW, 12:00 am
​Please note: Sunday Oct. 31 is sold out.

Created for the stage by Julian Crouch and Phelim McDermott. Original music and lyrics by The Tiger Lillies. Originally conceived and produced by Michael Morris for Cultural Industry, London
Directed by James Kevin Cochran
Musical Director Eileen Kuo

SHOCKHEADED PETER is a musical adaptation of the Der Struwwelpeter by Heinrich Hoffman, an 1845 German children’s book of short stories and poems about the disastrous consequences of misbehavior. SHOCKHEADED PETER features a sinister but incompetent master of ceremonies who leads the audience through the tale of a childless couple that has their fondest wish granted in the most delightfully dreadful way imaginable, accompanied by songs, puppetry, and vignettes in which the hilariously horrible fates that befall naughty children everywhere are brought to darkly comedic life.

Cast:
Emcee . . . . . Andrew Chandler
Lead Singer . . . . . Ryan Scott
Ensemble . . . . . Mersadies Burch, Patricia Carreras, Julia Hinson, Franklin Koch, Marianne Orendorff, Amy Rush, Ashley Trevathan, Johnathan Underwood, Jen Wood-Bowien

 

MAW Productions Murals

MSCA member Martheus Wade has been featured in an article about the mural featuring many characters from the MAW Productions Universe!


The mural was painted by the Jetta team- Martheus (top/L) & Janet Wade(bottom/L), Anakin Wade(sitting/C), Damarco Randle(top/R), and Kevin Williams(bottom/R).


CLICK HERE to read it on BLAC®, which is the premier lifestyle magazine for African Americans in and around Memphis.


Recently as part of #paintmemphis 2021, Martheus, Janet Wade, Anakin, Damarco, and Kevin were painting murals again downtown!


The Jetta mural took 17 hours over 3 days to complete.


If you’re in the Memphis area, head down to 660 BB King Blvd (on the Georgia Street side) for that mural and many more- including an awesome Avatar: The Last Airbender one by Damarco Ranldle– which took 40 hours of work!


Do you own a business or know someone who needs branding help..? Don’t forget to check out www.MAWProductionsLLC.com who can take care of all those needs as well.

 

Hernando Skates!


On Saturday, October 16th, Nicki and I went to check out the Hernando Skate Park 6th Anniversary event at Pidgeon Park in Hernando, MS.


The skatepark is just around the corner from us and Nicki had a new mirror-less digital camera she wanted to play with.


There was a great “Hernando Skates” turnout- lots of spectators, many bands performed, and several skaters of all skill levels took to the concrete.


There was even a landshark in the bowl..!


There was some serious defying of gravity going on…


…well, sometimes gravity can be a harsh mistress..!


Trust me, I was reminded the first time I tried going in!


You can read more about that time when Kevin Thorn, Greg Cravens, Mike Womack, their kids and I checked out the skatepark on my Have Geek travel blog.

 

MGB at Malco Olive Branch!


“Who y’all gonna call?”


Saturday, November 20, 2021 AT 12 PM – 2 PM
Malco Olive Branch, 6430 Goodman Rd, Olive Branch, MS 38654


The Memphis Ghostbusters will be in person at the Malco Cinema Grill in Olive Branch, MS to celebrate the release of the new Ghostbusters: Afterlife movie.


The local Memphis Ghostbusters franchise (founded by Kevin Williams and myself/Lin), will be in uniform to meet and do photo-ops with fellow ghostheads.


We’ll be set up outside the entrance to the theater, unless the weather is bad and then we’ll be inside the lobby.


We will be masked and socially distancing per Malco rules and guidelines.

 

2022 MSCA Art Show Scheduled

We have a chance to be part of an art show at Germantown Community Theater in January 2022, to coincide with the play The Complete History of America (abridged) (synopsis is below). We need MSCA members to commit to 12 medium to large size pieces which will work in their space and history of America theme, so if we have 6 – 8 artists commit we can fill it.

We’re allowed to sell the pieces keeping 60% and the theater gets 40%.

Who’s in?? Please let Kevin know VERY soon, and the art will be due by our first in-person meeting the first Tuesday in January 2022. You can email Kev at midsouthcartoonists (at) gmail (dot) com.

The Complete History Of America (abridged)
With a ten year run in the West End at the Criterion Theatre, The Complete History of America (abridged) ought to be funny. And informative. And it’s both. In the short space of ninety minutes, Adam Long, Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor take us through 600 years of History, from Washington to Watergate, from the Bering Straits to Baghdad, from New World to New World Order – The Complete History of America (abridged) is a breakneck rollercoaster ride through the glorious quagmire that is American history. 
Tackling such controversial questions as: Who really discovered America? Why did Abe Lincoln free the slaves? How many Democrats does it take to screw in a light bulb? – absolutely nothing is sacred in the authors’ unique satirical exploration of America’s past.

“History has never been this much fun. Or as delightfully mutilated.” Montreal Gazette
“This History of America should be a required course.” – Boston Herald

Germantown Community Theatre is a non‐profit 501(c)(3) organization set in an intimate 98‐seat theatre located at 3037 Forest Hill‐Irene RdGCT provides both theatrical entertainment and educational opportunities for Midsouth families in an environment that nurtures creative expression and artistic growth. Our mission is to entertain, educate, engage, and enrich the community through theatrical programming.

Tickets may be purchased online (click here) or through the box office (901-453-7447). Box office hours are Tuesday through Friday 10:00am–3:00pm. During show days, the box office is open one hour before showtime. GCT accepts all major credit cards including Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express. 


This art show will be a great way for us to start celebrating the MSCA’s 35th anniversary year!

We’ll be discussing it and other plans for 2022 during our next monthly Zoom meeting call on Tuesday, November 2nd starting at 7pm. You can email Kev at midsouthcartoonists (at) gmail (dot) com for the link to join in on the comics conversation.

 


Hope you all have a Happy Halloween!

Lin

“It’s Showtime!” – New Strange and Unusual Drawing Funny podcast episode

Show Notes: This episode is our 1 year anniversary show, and man what a strange trip and unusual year the first season has been- pandemic, snowpocalypse, layoffs, new job at Area 51, new equipment, learning curves, and lots of comic conversations! For the first episode of our second season I share some MSCA member news, what art projects I’ve been working on recently (RRParks Cards Halloween sketchcards and Grogu/”Baby Yoda” sketchcover), some of the podcasts I listen to, and my thoughts on self-publishing and some of the comics industry publisher news I’ve heard about on the interwebs.

(Run time: 47min 17sec)

Lots of “The Ghost With The Most” on this episode in celebration of mine and Nicki’s 10th wedding anniversary this month.

I proposed to Nicki at the Phoenix Comic Con‘s art show way back when I was emceeing their art show as Beetlejuice…and she said, “Yes.”…well, technically she shook her head but that counts- I had witnesses!

Be sure to check out some of my previous episodes from season one- several Kickstarter episodes and a great chat with comics legend “Uncle John” Ostrander. If you’d like to be a part of the show or have your comics project, event, or podcast featured on a future episode please give me a yell. You can contact me at: podcast(at)drawingfunny(dot)com – would love to have you on as part of our second season!

BTW: You can see a process blog post on how I did my recent Mandalorian/Grogu sketchcover on my art website www.linworkman(dot)com. It and some of my others are for sale at  The Cellar in Bartlett, TN.

My 2 sided sketchcovers- $75ea
My official artist return sketchcards- $100ea
My personal sketchcards- $25ea

The Cellar: Tabletop Games & Comics

2737 Bartlett Blvd

Bartlett, TN 38134

(901) 382-8623

ComicCellarOnline.com

Stay safe, stay tooned- and please share with others..!

Lin

Of Monkeys And MONSTERS!

From MSCA member and “The Good, The Bad, and the Sketchy” editor/publisher, Dale Martin

Greetings, comic readers & art fans! I hope your fall (or your “autumn”, as the case may be) has gotten off to a good start! And not as busy as the start of mine…

It seems like a lot of opportunities with short deadlines dropped in my lap since I wrote the last of these newsletters. They’ve all been good things to take part in, but I really had to hit the ground running after my summer vacation, and things haven’t really let up yet. I’ll tell you more about those following this month’s Watusi comic. Or NOT Watusi comic, since the overwhelming number of you wanted to see what lab monkey Mitchell would do when the Professor and Watusi rushed off on an emergency errand. Unfortunately, he was about to step on the remnant of Watusi’s meteorite


I may regret offering more than just two options this time! Be kind with any suggestions…

‘What’s next? GIANT Mitchell? [other] Mitchell? or Watusi?’

MONSTERS: MARKETS AND MELEES!

I’m happy to again be part of one of the most exciting popups in Memphis: Monster Market! It’s operating as an online only store again this year, and is already racking up a surprising number of “SOLD OUT” buttons, so if you’re interested, check it out sooner rather than later! As always, it runs only thru 10/31.

After a soft debut at last month’s Memphis Zine Fest 6 (my first IRL event, which actually went pretty well), my new minicomic Monster Melee is getting its wide release as part Monster Market. I think it will be a good fit. Or at least as good as can be in a virtual shop where people can’t pick it up and play with it…

You can read more about Monster Melee on my blog.

BULLSEYE: ARROW RETAIL SHOP

I’ve been trying to find an ongoing retail spot in Memphis to carry my prints & merchandise for some time, and that’s finally a reality! Arrow Creative celebrated the grand opening of their new location in September with (among other things) the opening of their new retail shop … and I’m happy to share that I’m one of the inaugural group of artists in that shop! It’s a great looking space, located just off Central at 653 Philadelphia Street, open Thursdays 10-4 and 10-6 on Fridays & Saturdays. Stop in and shop for a wide variety of goods– including art, jewelry, soap, hot sauce, and more– all from Memphis creators!

ON THE DRAWING BOARD…

I’ve been doing a number of prints focused on Memphis’ musical legacy this year. These next two– that I plan to finish up this month to debut at my November event– spotlight storied recording studios Stax and Ardent!

SHOW & SALE DATES

I’m on “tap” to be one of the artists at Memphis Flyer’s Crafts and Drafts on November 13th. It’s been a great event in the past, and I’m looking forward to it, even while a little antsy about what the COVID situation might be like then. But, since that’s out of my control, I’ll try not to obsess over it. More on Crafts and Drafts (along with a proper spotlight on my new project, The Dragon Templar) next time!

In addition to Monster Market & Arrow, you can always shop a selection of my art & comics via my online storefronts:

  • TeePublic: the go-to spot to get my work printed on T-shirts & other merch! 35% off sale dates are scheduled for October 13-17 & 27-31; TeePublic’s disclaimer is that “site-wide sales are subject to change, so the dates on the calendar are tentative”, but they don’t change them often. And when sales are on, you can’t miss it when you visit the site! 
  • Square: your place for direct-from-the-artist comics, prints, & notecards. 
  • Selz: your site for instant downloadable digital editions of my comics. While I don’t enjoy them as much as the printed comics, they’re good in a pinch. And some of them are FREE, too!

As always, thank you for your interest in my work. I hope you have a happy & safe October, 
dale.

Dale Martin

Creating comics featuring his original characters since 1982, Dale is a Memphis-basedartist, writer, & publisher. He’s best known for a comic you’ve probably never heard of, Watusi the Talking Dogfortunately, you can rectify that at www.watusithetalkingdog.com.

Inspired by Tim Corrigan and the small press scene of the mid-80s, Dale still enjoys self-publishing his comics. Crafting the finished form of a project is as much a part of his artistic process as the words or the pictures. In addition to his self-published work, Dale has had comics published in anthologies across the country.

Websites: watusithetalkingdog.com
smearysoapboxpress.com
Twitter: @smearysoapbox
Instagram: @smearysoapbox