JURASSICALS for Auburn, NY First weeks of the NEW story

As my previous post noted, the entire story rebooted. The NEW story begins fresh. Submitted herein are the first three weeks of the new JURASSICALS

Week 1 (Introduction to a Family)

                                                            Week 2 (Prelude to a Dinosaur)

                                                      Week 3 (The Dinosaur!)

Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art

Here are some of my favorites from the series on visiting the Bone Creek Museum in David City, Nebraska. Visit Bone Creek in David City if you can. Visit them online at www.bonecreek.org 

Introducing WILCOX

In the Auburn, NY story, William is the large dinosaur who realizes he can not take Lina to the Hudson River to learn about it because it would take too long for him to walk there. So he enlists the aid of a rascally Jurassic "temp" Jurascal. I like this duck-billed dinosaur character a lot. His name (as they'll learn eventually) is "WILCOX".  Here's the first week of his appearance in Jurascals (the story printed exclusively in the print edition of the Auburn Citizen, the newspaper of record in Auburn, NY.

To Bee or Not to BEE (FOR FISH!)

BEE FOR FISH!

For me one of the many treats of heading out to the Great Plains is traveling to BEE, Nebraska for fish. It does not escape the astute reader that Nebraska is a landlocked state, but all I can tell you is that if you've gone to Bee for fish, then I don't have to explain it to you and you can just read the comics! There is a community that gathers on Friday nights who extend the hand of friendship to their neighbors and strangers alike. My first year there I recall distinctly leaning back against a wall and hitting the light switch momentarily putting our section in darkness but I was forgiven because, as I said, I was among friends (but I wasn't about to test it and do it again!)  

So as the JURASCALS, the rascally Jurassic dinosaur and his friend skunk travel from Seward to David City, how could they not stop by Bee for fish? 

So enjoy!-Next week they're in David City! 

Christmas 2012

I am cross posting this from my In Torrington Today blog (intorringtontoday.blogspot.com)

Christmas 2012: It’s a Tuesday and a light frosting of snow covers the city, creating the picture perfect landscape the way black and white musicals always depicted Christmas.

The children arise an hour before sunrise and excitedly review the treasures under the tree, patiently waiting approval for their imminent onslaught of the wrapping paper.  The Christmas lights on the tree shine only half as brightly as our children’s eyes and as a coffee and tea is respectively made for Daddy and Mommy, the go ahead is granted and son and daughter unwrap their presents with sounds of joy.  Our daughter happily hugs a doll and she says she loves her; she had wanted a “sister” for her other beloved doll. Our son excitedly exclaims “HOT WHEELS” with every car inspired toy he receives.  The cat and kittens wisely keep their distance despite their natural curiosity until the pandemonium subsides and the colorful wrapping can be examined more closely by their feline eyes.

Such peace and wonder seems almost too perfect to be real.  It recalls Christmases past when I as a child ran downstairs with my siblings in wondrous elation and discovery.  In the peace and contentment that follows, I quickly draw a little sketch to capture this Christmas.  The drawing has flaws; I can see the imperfections in the muted water color and in the not so straight lines.  While it dries, I begin to write for I do not wish to lose this moment in time.  While at the computer I look out the window to find my neighbor’s son who’s visiting from out of state is shoveling our walkway.  I stop to wish him a Merry Christmas and give our present to his folks to him.

Egg Nog can be shared for breakfast this one day a year and my son says, “Egg Nog please” so I pour two small cups for both children. My daughter returns to her Candyland game with the kitten and my son returns to his racetrack. My wife curls up in bed for a well deserved nap.

I want to say something profound, some phrase or moral to end this vignette but nothing I can think of can top the beauty of simply describing the day.

So I’m left with simply saying I am grateful for the opportunity of this day. 

 I say “Thank you” to God and “Merry Christmas to one and all”.

 

Christmas in Torrington 2012

RADIO INTERVIEW 12/18/2012 6:10PM (EST)

The radio show will be streamed on www.wapj.org so even if you don't live in the Torrington area, you're welcome to listen in (and if you plan on doing that, send me an email at rascals@jurascals.com or leave a facebook comment on facebook/jurascals or comment here or SOMETHING!) because that would be great!

We'll be talking about comic strips and how they relate to the newspaper industry: the past, present and future as I see it. We'll discuss In Torrington Today (my torrington blog) the JURASCALS comic strip that's published in New York and Nebraska newspapers!

We'll discuss the burgeoning art movement of World Class Regional Art and I hope to share some shout outs to some great local artists/artisans!

I'll go on approximately 6:10pm (EST)

Tune in!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Two quick cartoons. The first is a drawing I like from the Nebraska series of Jurascals. And I like those words better than any of the others I've used!
The second is for my In Torrington Today blogtoon.
Happy Thanksgiving!

JURASCALS: NEBRASKA first week!

I'm not going to post all of the comics for the Nebraska Jurascals online but I will share in this blog post and perhaps a few other weeks as they go just to provide a sample. In this first week, we set the stage for the massive exploration of Nebraska! For next week: (11/19 through 11/24) McCook Daily Gazette readers can enjoy Dinosaur and Skunk's development of a plan and then a flight to Nebraska!

In the  mail I just got to hold in my hand the front page article featuring the story behind JURASCALS!

Here's a photo!

MCCOOK, NEBRASKA!!!

Exciting news: On 11/12/2012, JURASCALS will begin a run in the McCook Daily Gazette. Check out the McCook Daily Gazette on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mccookgazette  or their website http://www.mccookgazette.com/

I'm so excited to have JURASCALS published in Nebraska.  After all, I was very fortunate to fall in love with a beautiful Nebraskan so many years ago and now I've been blessed with two wonderful children who have a Nebraskan heritage! We've been fortunate enough to visit my wife's side of the family over the past decade plus and I've had the extreme pleasure of traveling this great state in the Great Plains.  It has always spoken to me and I am at my most prolific (artwise) when I am there.

If you've perused the blog, you might come across the tab about the 5 books (8 page little books), one of which is called We Can Go To Omaha. This was my first drawing of the dinosaur. My daughter loved this little book because OMAHA is  a great word for kids who are learning to read O-MA-HA.

Throughout my travels through Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado and South Dakota,I learned more and more of the Great Plains region and gained an appreciation and respect for the pioneer and frontier spirit that still permeated the foundation of this part of Midwestern culture.  So I wondered how could it be that there weren't any comic strips that featured this wonderful community. I had an opportunity with my JURASCALS comic strip for AUBURN to have the characters travel to Nebraska, thanks to a recommendation from my editor who thought the trip could be food for Jurascals thought!  Yes folks, as a creator, I do listen to my editor! Thanks, Jeremy!

From this story, I now can tell a larger, expansive story, that mirrors the expansive night sky over Crawford, Nebraska. Yes, the story will have silly parts and one-off jokes but the overall story is something I hope the readers will really enjoy.

If you have a newspaper in the Great Plains state, or have a newspaper in an agricultural-based community, I encourage you to reach out to me (email: RASCALS@JURASCALS.COM) because this is about to be THE one comic strip that's specifically for you.

Here is a link to the news article about me in the McCook Daily Gazette that printed today 11/12/2012. Thank you Dawn!!!
Great news for @jtimothyquirk's comicstrip:http://www.mccookgazette.com/story/1912872.html …

Getting there is half the...well half of something

Dinosaur and Skunk are on a trek through Nebraska. They begin a NEW adventure on 11/12 which I'm excited to share with you in the next post! Below are some photos of western Nebraska (go Longhorns!) Yep, Dinosaur will be trekking from east to west on his journey.