Hooves of Death: back cover ad and its sources

Posted on March 11, 2016September 15, 2016 by Dan

For the back cover of this faux-Golden Age comic, I cooked up this faux-Golden Age ad. This is a combination of digital collage and original art:

If you’re old enough to remember the American Seed Company ads, this will all mean more to you, of course.

Here are some of the real ads that inspired me (and from which I pilfered elements):

And then especially these Cloverine Salve ads, which featured little comic strips like the one I drew for mine (you can click on these to make them more readable):

Some showed how valuable the prizes couldÂ reallyÂ be. Â You might even use them to stop a rampaging gorilla:

The ads could get pretty bizarre. Â This one has a strangely apocalyptic tone: the “FUNman” lets the kiddies know that the World is on Fire!

Here is a get-rich-quick scheme for the young folks, basically encouraging Jimmy to become a small-time crooked casino operator:

One of my favorites is this Charles Atlas-type pitch, with art by Captain Marvel artist, C.C. Beck, which suggests an unusual use for your new he-man body: advancing at work by punching out your fellow workers!

Hooves of Death: One last re-draw

Posted on February 25, 2016March 14, 2016 by Dan

FinishedÂ drawingÂ the last page of this story, but I had some UN-finished business as well: I had grown disatisfied with the splash panel I drew… oh, nearly six years ago now:

Problems: the horse is too pudgy, and looks more like a stuffed donkey to me. Â Also not happy with the way I drew the skirt. Â I’ve done a lot more drawing of horses and clothing in the past couple months, so I thought it was worth updating. And take another crack at the Ghost flying in, why not?

I used a lightbox, so I could just re-draw the figures, and have them in correct positions to insert digitally into the page, without having to re-letter, etc. Other than perhaps the tail, I think everything is better: