Friday, April 29, 2011

Remind

5 comments:

Stan da Man said...

The way that clown is cuddling those girls, I have to wonder if his 'day job' is w/ the TSA...

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@Stan da Man- Whatever his day job is, you can be sure it's not reputable. And seriously, even I want to tell those young girls to run as fast as they can to get away from Tickles the Disturbing Clown.

Suzy said...

I was always afraid of clowns.

James said...

The first time I saw this clown (while archive-binging), the word that passed through my head was "pimp". Seriously, look at his FACE. If I could steal a joke, it's a face that says "I touched all these kids. And I am OK with that."

....You know, it makes me wonder. Stilton is the one who brings us these comics (the only "cut-and-paste" comics I read, by the way, though I'll get around to Red Meat/Dinosaur Comics eventually) but who created the original clip-art? Did they do it on purpose? Is somebody in a boring little office in Microsoft or whatever having a laugh to himself?

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@James- I'm pretty sure the art at Red Meat is original, though it's reused in cut-and-paste fashion and frequently has that classic retro "clip art" look.

In the case of Johnny Optimism, the character started as a one-time joke for a good friend of mine, and this particular piece of clip art perfectly captured a clean, retro look of innocence mixed with an inherently sad situation.

A very short time later, I suffered a personal loss...and threw myself into creating Johnny Optimism strips (LOTS of them) as therapy, which required additional artwork in the same style.

I don't know the name of the artist, but I believe that his images were truly representative of a more innocent time and didn't have the ominous shadings that I (and apparently others) too readily see today. These images were surely created to go in newspaper ads and business publications, and never intended to develop a life of their own.

I've got a very finite pool of images to work with, but love the challenge that comes along with it. And it's a delight to me when I discover a new piece of art which fits into Johnny's universe and opens up new territory for strips.

Even if you've mined the archives, you still haven't met all the characters who will add to the craziness. And it's my intent to keep adding new ones as long as I possibly can!