Join Brad Guigar and his friend Dave Kellett every week as they talk comics and making a living from comics.

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The Evil Inc Kickstarter campaign has begun! I’m really excited to announce the launch of the ninth Evil Inc graphic novel!  If you already know the drill, head over to the Kickstarter page and check out the rewards. There are a couple of Early Bird rewards that offer free shipping to US addresses and reduced shipping prices worldwide — but those are limited, so act fast!

If you haven’t seen an Evil Inc graphic novels, you owe it to yourself to check them out. They’re not the usual comic-strip collections. Instead, I take the individual panels from the daily strip and I lay out graphic-novel pages. I add some panels that you haven’t seen before, and the result is it continuously narrative graphic novel that’s a completely new reading experience —  and to be honest with you, a lot of fun

Evil Inc Kickstarter

• PDF of the book so you can read it on your tablet
• Print edition of the book — regular, signed, or Artist Edition (in which I draw something inside the book just for you)
• The original art from an Evil Inc comic strip
• Commissioned illustrations
• You can even get the earlier copies of the Evil Inc graphic novels 1 through 8 that you might not have in your collection yet

Thank you in advance for your pledge — and for your help in spreading the word on social media!

What’s in store

Artistically, this volume represents a period of time when I think I was starting to hit my stride as an illustrator. I’m really proud of the visual appeal of these pages.

And the stories? The book is peppered with short standalone story arcs — like these moments between Captain Heroic and his son…

…and stories about Cap and Miss Match when they were a young couple…

Plus… longer storylines with driving plots like the heist of the Ruby of Ragnoor

When the mystical Ruby winds up in Miss Match’s hands, a mis-worded wish has unintended results!

And, throughout the 112-page book, my dumb sense of humor.

As you might have guessed, Evil Inc is reaching the end — kind of. Starting in late December / early January, the Evil Inc comic strip will end.

And in 2016, the Evil Inc graphic novel will launch.

Backstory

To understand this better, you need to know about what I’ve been doing with Patreon.

In May, 2015, I announced that I would do a NSFW version of my comic strip for $10+ Patreon supporters. My Patreon campaign, that had been the same amount for 7 months, was tripled by the end of that first month. And I don’t think I posted much more than the announcement itself and a sample four-panel strip.

Needless to say, Patreon became a way for my readers to tell me what they wanted. And I’m listening.

The NSFW content on my Patreon page has taken a life of its own.What was once envisioned as a 4-panel adults-only strip has become a series of full-page stories that update once a week. My Patreon backers requested the ability to purchase commissions, and that content has been added. And Courting Disaster, which started as a compliment to a newspaper sex-advice column, is now a no-holds-barred single-panel cartoon that lets me channel my admiration for Playboy cartoonists like Wally Wood, Jack Cole and Dean Yeagle.

Market Realities

Meanwhile, back at the Evil Inc comic strip, I announced a Tuesday-Thursday schedule over the summer to accommodate this transition. But as the months went on — and the scope of what I was doing continued to change — it became clear that it was going to be harder and harder to justify the amount of time that going back to five-days-a-week was going to entail.

But what really put the nail in the coffin was ad-blockers.

See, I used to make a significant amount of money from ads. So, you, as a reader, were always generating income for me — in the form of ad views. (I’m sorry to break it to you, but this free webcomic was never really “free.”) Even if you never bought a book or ordered a piece of original art, you were always contributing to a business plan that put food on the table for me and my family.

Ad blockers changed that. I started 2015 at roughly one half of the ad revenue that I had earned in the same month the previous year. And the next months were no better. Mind you — this was before I cut back to a two-day-a-week schedule.

The reality is simple — I had to find a new income stream. Ad blockers had made it very difficult to continue offering a “traditional” webcomic.

When I saw the response to the NSFW content on Patreon, I knew I had found an answer.

Re-thinking Evil Inc

And, as I settled into my new role as Gentleman Pornographer*, I was able to take a fresh look at everything that I had built around me.

There’s really no reason that Evil Inc has to be a daily comic strip. I’ve spent fifteen years building an audience and a certain amount of name recognition. I don’t need the daily updates for those reasons anymore. And newspapers are not coming back. My strip never appeared in more than a handful of papers, and although I remain grateful to the one that has run it continuously from the start — The Philadelphia Daily News — self-syndication doesn’t generate a significant amount of revenue.

And, when I see what Scott Kurtz has been able to do with Table Titans, I get really excited. His updates are usually half-a-page of the graphic novel he’s producing. That opens up a whole new world of possibilities in terms of storytelling. When the format doesn’t dictate a joke every four panels, the writing has a chance to flow a lot more naturally.

Moreover, as I have launched this new experiment, I find that I’m planning much further into the future. I’m linking up separate storylines, and dovetailing events.

I think it’s going to be a new Evil Inc that you’re really going to enjoy.

Rebooting Evil Inc

Part of this new approach is going to mean rebooting Evil Inc as well. But rest assured, it’s going to be a pretty soft reboot. Some relationships are going to change. Some characters are going to disappear. (Some already have.) And some new faces are going to be introduced. Heck, the Evil Inc company itself is in for a re-imagining. Some of the characters who are getting phased out will re-appear elsewhere.

Scratching that comic-strip itch

When I feel the need to go back to my comic-strip roots, I’ll have Arch Bros… which will update sporadically until I find my footing. And I haven’t ruled out the off Greystone Inn comic here and there. I kinda enjoyed revisiting those guys last month.

The plan… for now…

So that’s where Evil Inc is headed. I have the first 20-page comic plotted, and much of it is scripted. It’s going to update in half-page bursts on Tuesday and Thursday.

And since I’m no longer constrained by trying to make this newspaper-friendly, you can expect it to get a little more edgy. It won’t be Evil Inc After Dark edgy — I’m saving that for Patreon — but language and situations are going to get a little more… modern.

I’m really excited to be experimenting with this new format. I’m really happy with the results so far, and I think you will be, too. And, most of all, I’m immensely grateful to the people who support me through Patreon for giving me the breathing room to make these decisions.

It’s going to be a much different Evil Inc, but I think it’s going to be a change that you’re going to like.

*I totally stole that from Phil Foglio

I’m really excited to be part of the inaugural New Year’s Partycon — at Allentown, Pa this Dec. 31. / Jan. 1.

It’s an excellent idea — a New Year’s Eve party just for us geeks — with comics, steampunk, sci fi, games… a little something for everyone. When they contacted me about attending as a guest, I was only too eager to jump aboard. After all, what could be better than spending New Year’s immersed in some of the best things I love?

So here are the details:

NEW Year’s PartyCon

• Holiday Inn Conference Center, Allentown, PA
• Dec. 31 – Jan. 1
• Discounted rates on rooms for that night.
• Tickets available online.
• Dance to live music by Dear Anna
• Enjoy a comic-con style event, with games, cosplay, sci-fi speed-dating and more
• Anime screening room
• Video-game room
• Tabletop-gaming room
• Open bar (21 and older only, ID required), a la carte food, a dinner buffet, and a fancy sit-down dinner (reservations required). And if that’s not enough, you can check out the Samuel Adams Brew Pub on premises.
• Heck, maybe you’re a creator and would like to get in on the vendor area, where I’ll be spending my time. Here’s how. The price is super-reasonable.
• Get your ticket now, and I’ll see you in the New Year!

You can find out more at their site.

I’ll be participating in a panel discussion on the changing role of, and attitude towards, comics in our society to kick off the 24-Hour Comics Day event at the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design in Lancaster, Pa. It will start at noon, and end with the official start of PCAD’s own 24-Hour Comics Day festivities.

PCA&D is the only regional venue for this year’s Comics Day, and its participation is sponsored by PCA&D’s Illustration Department and PCAD’s  Society of Illustrators Student Group Chapter.

Just before the main event on Saturday, PCA&D will have a panel discussion from 12 – 1:00 p.m.  This event is open to the public during Art Walk weekend in Lancaster. The panel will be discussing the changing role of, and attitude towards, comics in our society. The panel will consist of guest artists Christine Larsen, Brad Guigar and Robert Pruitt,  and PCA&D faculty members and industry artists Bob McLeod and Mike Hawthorne. The panel moderator will be Illustration and Digital Media Department Chairman, Bob Hochgertel.  

At 1 p.m., PCA&D’s version of the 24-hour Comics Day commences. Several faculty members, alumni, and students from all departments – along with some of the guest artists, will comprise PCA&D’s participation for the fourth year. Their challenge: create full-length comics in 24 hours, from front cover to “The End.”

About our artists during the 24-hour Comics Day

• Robert Pruitt is an artist living and working in Houston, TX. He makes drawings and sculptures about the complexity of black identity by combining contrasting signs and imagery of disparate Black influences and aesthetics. He layers Science Fiction, Hip Hop, comic books, and black political and social struggles into layered portraits of his friends and community.

• Brad Guigar has been creating a daily comic strip for over 15 years – “Evil Inc.” runs Monday-through-Saturday on the Web, and it also appears in front of nearly 100,000 newspaper readers every weekday. Guigar is considered by many to be a webcomics pioneer, having self-published his daily strips and other comics on the Web since February 2000. He has been nominated for the highest honor in comics — the Eisner award —  for “Phables,” a year-and-a-half-long weekly series of comics about life in Philadelphia,  He has published over two dozen collections of his comics, and he is the author of three books on the subject of cartooning: “The Everything Cartooning Book,” “How To Make Webcomics,” and “The Webcomics Handbook.” He operates a daily tutorial-and-advice site, Webcomics.com, and he teaches Arts Entrepreneurship and Sequential Art (Comics) at Hussian School of Art.

• Christine Larsen is originally from the Pine Barrens of central Jersey. She is a cartoonist and illustrator by trade, creating art for comics, book covers, stories, posters and websites. She has worked with clients such as Dark Horse, IDW, BOOM Studios, DC Online, Saatchi & Saatchi, Simon & Scheuster, Thrillbent and Cartoon Network.

• Bob McLeod is a comic book artist for Marvel and DC, and a children’s book author and illustrator. His picture book “Superhero ABC” was published by HarperCollins. Bob is also an adjunct faculty member in the illustration department at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design.

• Michael Hawthorne is an comic book artist for Marvel, DC and Dark horse Comics. He is the creator of the comic book series Hysteria and has provided the artwork for various other comics, including Deadpool,The Un-men, Fear Agent, Umbra, G.I. JOE: Origins, Whiskey Dickel, Three Days in Europe, one story arc of Queen & Country, and Conan: Road of Kings. He also writes and draws a webcomic titled “Raising Crazy” about his experiences raising his son. Mike is also an adjunct faculty member in the illustration department at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design.

If you’re in the Columbus (Ohio) area this weekend, be sure to come out to Ohio Comic Con to help me celebrate my last comic convention of the year! I’ll have Evil Inc books on hand, along with other favorites like Phables and The Webcomics Handbook.  And, of course, I’ll be opening a commission list. If you’d like information on commissions (or to reserve a place on the list), please feel free to get in touch!

Plus, this is going to be extra fun because Evil Inc colorist Alex Heberling will be my back-to-back booth buddy. This will be the first time we’ll be appearing at a show together!

Panels

Webcomics 101: Friday, Sept 18th (6p.m.) Room 4

Wanna start a webcomic? Sure. We all do. But where to start? Brad Guigar, author of “The Webcomics Handbook,” — the popular sequel to “How To Make Webcomics” — takes you on a step-by-step tutorial of setting up a site, using social media for promotion, and making money from your work.

Webcomics Roundtable: Saturday, Sept 19th (2:30PM)Room 162 A/B

The world of webcomics has undergone its biggest upheaval since its inception. From the new ComiXology app to Orphan Works, from Kickstarter to Patreon, there’s an awful lot to keep track of. Webcomics veteran Brad Guigar gathers a roundtable of webcomics notables to talk about these questions and much much more! Featuring Alex Heberling, Steve Hamacker and Trever Mueller.

Here’s my comic convention schedule for the rest of the year. I’m super-thrilled to announce that I’ll be exhibiting next-door to the mighty Alex Heberling (who does the beautiful color-work on Evil Inc) for Wizard World Ohio in Columbus.

When Emerald City Comicon announced that it was merging with ReedPop, everyone who knows and loves the Seattle-based convention had the same question:

“Will ReedPop change Emerald City Comicon?”

I mean, after all, exhibitors and attendees alike have loved this show — run by Jim Demonakos and an amazing staff of dedicated comics-lovers — for years.

Ask anyone who has ever exhibited there. and they’ll tell you that they’ve never been treated better. Ask the attendees. They’ll tell you the show is a highlight in their year. This show was special. And there’s more than a few people who felt a little worried that this Good Thing had come to an end earlier this year when the merger was announced.

Scott, Cory and I wondered it on a recent episode of Surviving Creativity. We got both Jim and ReedPop VP Lance Festerman on the line to assuage our fears.

They told us that Emerald City was going to continue unchanged.

We crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.

So imagine my surprise — my downright elation — when I walked into the ReedPop-run Special Edition; NYC convention this weekend. This was the first Reed show since incorporating the Emerald City staff, and it was — for all intents and purposes — Emerald City East.

Better! It was like one of the old Emerald City shows. Remember being in the bottom of Mariner’s stadium? Remember those old comics-centric Seattle shows — those shows where the hardcore love of comics was as palpable as the smell of Silver Age quarter bins?

That’s what happened at Pier 94 in Manhattan last weekend.

Exhibitors got all the one-on-one attention, the shuttles to and from the show, the care, and the respect that they thought only happened once-a-year in Seattle.

ReedPop may not change Emerald City, but from what I saw this weekend, Emerald City is changing ReedPop.

And that’s good news for people like me who love those old-school comic-book comic conventions.

I asked the former-ECCC staffers who stopped by my booth in their new roles with ReedPop the same question: “With this show proving such a success, what are the chances for Special Edition: Chicago… Special Edition: Oakland… Special Edition: Boston… and so on?”

All I got were smiles.

Wide smiles.

There was a lot of that going around last weekend.

Sometimes my 9yo son, Max, co-writes a cartoon that’s just a home run. The most recent bonus comic on Guigar.com is an example of that.

In fact, I liked it so much, I uploaded it to the Evil Inc T-shirt store.

There’s you can find this pirate T-shirt — and other Evil Inc favs — available as shirts, iPhone cases, posters, wall art and more.

Enjoy!

I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be a guest at Special Edition: New York City (June 6-7)! This is an innovative kind of convention launched by ReedPop that focuses heavily on comics creators. I’ll be there with Evil Inc books, copies of The Webcomics Handbook, original art and more! I haven’t been to NYC for a little while, so I’m super-stoked to get back to the Big Apple! I hope to see you there!

Hard to believe, but Wizard World Philadelphia (May 7-10) is upon us once again! This show has been outstanding in the past, and, having talked to some of the Wizard folks over the past few months, I have nothing but excitement and anticipation for the upcoming few days. This crew has some fantastic stuff in store! So here’s a look at what you can expect from me this week.

Evil Inc: Booth 227

I’ll be just down the aisle from Burt Reynolds (try not to get confused).

I have a long list of great stuff scheduled for the weekend. Over at the Evil Inc booth, I’ll have Evil Inc graphic novels — as well as copies of the Phables collection. Plus… original art, commissions, prints and more! Stop by and say hello.

Philadelphia Daily News Keepsake Edition

My friends at the Philadelphia Daily News have a metric ton of awesome planned this week. Their coverage of the event is going to be second-to-none . The centerpiece is a tremendous Keepsake Edition planned for Wizard World, and it features a cover illustration by Your Favorite Webcartoonist — plus a beautifully written profile. If you like the illustration, stop by my booth and pick up a limited-edition glossy print. The Wizard World Special Section is in TODAY’S Daily News! (Wednesday, May 6)

Panels

Hoo boy! I’ll be offering a gangbusters panel every day of the convention. We’ll talk webcomics, workshop a few participants’ work, and even meet a couple of pint-sized podcasters. Read on…

Webcomics 101

THURS., 5 p.m.: Wanna start a webcomic? Sure. We all do. But where to start. Brad Guigar, author of “TheWebcomics Handbook,” — the popular sequel to “How To Make Webcomics” — takes you on a step-by-step tutorial of setting up a site, using social media for promotion, and making money from your work. ROOM 103A

Webcomics Roundtable

FRI., 2:30 p.m.: The world of webcomics has undergone its biggest upheaval since its inception. From ComiXology to Google’s new mobile-friendly criteria, and from Kickstarter to Patreon, there’s an awful lot to keep track of! Webcomics veteran Brad Guigar gathers a roundtable of webcomics notables to talk about these questions and much much more! ROOM 111

Webcomics Workshop —> starring… you?

SAT., 5:30 p.m.: Want to get some honest feedback on your webcomic? Webcomics.com’s Brad Guigar has been doing a daily advice-and-tutorial Web site since 2009 — in addition to teaching Sequential Art at Hussian School of Art in Philadelphia. He’ll look at your site and give you solid advice on improving it that you can use right now. To secure a spot, contact brad with your name and the URL of your comic. If time allows, we will be taking participants from the audience and projecting the sites on the big screen. ROOM 105

Kids podcast the darndest things

SUN., 12:30 p.m.: Got a wise-cracking elementary-schooler with a laundry list of opinions on everything from Pokemon to Age of Ultron? Cartoonist Brad Guigar has two of them. So he turned their morning drive to school into a recording session. The HEY COMICS… KIDS podcast has a five-star rating on iTunes and regularly updates with topics ranging from the Marvel cinematic universe to deep-catalog DragonBall Z episodes. Join Brad and junior ‘casters Alex (12) and Max (9) as they talk about what they do and how they do it. ROOM 107

Hussian School of Art

As you might know, I teach Arts Entrepreneurship and Sequential Art at Hussian School of Art — a fantastic art school in the heart of Philadelphia. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that they’ll be there to talk about their offerings at Booth 2313 — just across from the 1966 Batmobile. Stop and find out about getting a BFA degree at a high-quality, high-attention institution. And tell them that I sent you. 😉

Wizard World Philadelphia is right around the corner (May 7-10), and I have a long list of great stuff scheduled for the weekend. Here’s a list of panel discussions that I’ll be hosting throughout the week.

Webcomics 101

THURS., 5 p.m.: Wanna start a webcomic? Sure. We all do. But where to start. Brad Guigar, author of “TheWebcomics Handbook,” — the popular sequel to “How To Make Webcomics” — takes you on a step-by-step tutorial of setting up a site, using social media for promotion, and making money from your work. ROOM 103A

Webcomics Roundtable

FRI., 2:30 p.m.: The world of webcomics has undergone its biggest upheaval since its inception. From ComiXology to Google’s new mobile-friendly criteria, and from Kickstarter to Patreon, there’s an awful lot to keep track of! Webcomics veteran Brad Guigar gathers a roundtable of webcomics notables to talk about these questions and much much more! ROOM 111

Webcomics Workshop

SAT., 5:30 p.m.: Want to get some honest feedback on your webcomic? Webcomics.com’s Brad Guigar has been doing a daily advice-and-tutorial Web site since 2009 — in addition to teaching Sequential Art at Hussian School of Art in Philadelphia. He’ll look at your site and give you solid advice on improving it that you can use right now. To secure a spot, contact brad with your name and the URL of your comic. If time allows, we will be taking participants from the audience and projecting the sites on the big screen. ROOM 105

Kids podcast the darndest things

SUN., 12:30 p.m.: Got a wise-cracking elementary-schooler with a laundry list of opinions on everything from Pokemon to Age of Ultron? Cartoonist Brad Guigar has two of them. So he turned their morning drive to school into a recording session. The HEY COMICS… KIDS podcast has a five-star rating on iTunes and regularly updates with topics ranging from the Marvel cinematic universe to deep-catalog DragonBall Z episodes. Join Brad and junior ‘casters Alex (12) and Max (9) as they talk about what they do and how they do it. ROOM 107

I was inspired by the trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, so I did this bonus cartoon. I’ve already shared it with my Patreon backers, and now I get to share it with you. Just go to Guigar.com to see the entire thing.

With Emerald City Comicon just around the corner (March 27-29 in Seattle), I figured now would be a good time to post my list of scheduled comic convention appearances for this year. Here’s all the deets on that show.

Wizard World Philadelphia

May 7-10. I’ll be in the main exhibitor area of Wizard World Philadelphia, with all my usual fun stuff — Evil Inc graphic novels, original art, commission list, etc. But the thing I’m really looking forward to is the panel discussion we’ve got planned in which my two sons and I will talk about podcasting with your kids. We do a podcast called Hey Comics, Kids! during our morning drive to school, and we’ll show you how you can, too — and more importantly — why.

Wizard World Chicago

Aug. 20-23. I’m so excited to be adding three more Wizard-run shows to my convention calendar this year, and the first up is Chicago. I’ve done Wizard World Chicago before, and it has always been amazing. I’ll be in Artists’ Alley for this one, and I’ll post a map of the show floor as soon as I’m able.

Wizard World Columbus

Sept. 18-20. This will be my first time at Wizard World Columbus (Ohio), and I’m really looking forward to it because I’ll be in Artists’ Alley exhibiting next to Alex Heberling, whose coloring of Evil Inc has been outstanding since she began in January.

Wizard World Ft. Lauderdale

Oct. 2-4. I’ll also be doing my first Florida convention this year with Wizard World Ft. Lauderdale. I’ll be in Artists’ Alley with all my books and art.

And then…?

I’ve exhibited at Baltimore Comic Con for many years in the past — and I love their show — but as of right now, I don’t have anything scheduled with them.

If you like the kind of news, info and tutorials I post at Webcomics.com — and if you live near Philadelphia — you may be interested in the 3-day workshops I’m doing in conjunction with Hussian School of Art. I’ll be doing one on Arts Entrepreneurship and another on Creating Comics. If you’re interested in both, you can get a significant discount for signing up for both.

ARTS ENTREPRENEURSHIP, APRIL 7-9, 6-9 p.m.

If you’d like to learn more about running a business as a creative professional, I’m offering a 3-evening workshop in Philadelphia next month. This class will be offered through Hussian School of Art — in Philadelphia’s  historic Bourse Building at 5th and Market streets — April 7-9, 6-9 p.m.

The Arts Entrepreneurship class will be a three-day crash course on running a business as a creative professional. Based on the same class I teach at Hussian, this will be a condensed guide to everything from sales tax to promotion. We’ll talk Web commerce, advertising, merchandising and more.

Click here to register. There are a limited number of spaces available! Use coupon code “BradGuigar” to get a free copy of the “Webcomics Handbook” when you show up for class! (And remember… you can give a huge discount for signing up for both seminars.)

SEQUENTIAL ART / COMICS, MAY 5-7, 6-9 p.m.

In the Comics class, we’ll be covering comics from the basics to the fine-tuning, with plenty of hands-on exercises. If you always want to learn to do comics, this will be a great place to start. And if you’re already doing comics, I know we work together to take your craft to the next level.

This class will be offered through Hussian School of Art — in Philadelphia’s  historic Bourse Building at 5th and Market streets — May 5-7, 6-9 p.m.

Click here to register. There are a limited number of spaces available! Use coupon code “BradGuigar” to get a free copy of the “Webcomics Handbook” when you show up for class! (And remember… you can give a huge discount for signing up for both seminars.)

I’m offering two 3-night workshops this spring — one in comics and one in arts entrepreneurship.

• Comics – March 10-12, 6-9 p.m.
• Entrepreneurship – April 7-9, 6-9 p.m.

These will be offered through Hussian School of Art — in Philadelphia’s  historic Bourse Building at 5th and Market streets.

In the Comics class, we’ll be covering comics from the basics to the fine-tuning, with plenty of hands-on exercises. If you always want to learn to do comics, this will be a great place to start. And if you’re already doing comics, I know we work together to take your craft to the next level.

The Arts Entrepreneurship class will be a three-day crash course on running a business as a creative professional. Based on the same class I teach at Hussian, this will be a condensed guide to everything from sales tax to promotion. We’ll take Web commerce, advertising, merchandising and more.

Click here to register. There are a limited number of spaces available! Use coupon code “BradGuigar” to get a free copy of the “Webcomics Handbook” when you show up for class!

Along with your daily dose of Evil, I wanted to make sure you’re keeping up with the two new sites I launched last month.

Arch Bros

There’s a new Arch Bros strip planned for every Tuesday. The latest on just posted today, as a matter of fact.

This weekly comic follows the lives of the Arch family, a perfectly normal family with two sons — one who thinks he’s a superhero and the other who thinks he’s a villain.

For those of you in the Philly area, Arch Bros will begin appearing in the Philadelphia Daily News on Saturdays.

Guigar.com

Meanwhile, over at Guigar.com, I’m posting three single-panel comics a week — plus a bunch of Evil Inc Artist Edition sketches.

It’s a Tumblr site, and I’d sure appreciate it if you helped spread the word about the site by reblogging.

My goal is to keep to a M-W-F schedule on Guigar.com.

Patreon

And, of course, all of these comics have been seen in advance by my Patreon supporters. If you’d like to help support all of these comics — and keep it so I’m able to continue — please consider supporting for as little as $1 a month!

Last Saturday, as with many February 14ths in the past, I got to celebrate two loves. The first, and more important by far, is my wife of 16 years (and partner for much longer), Caroline. To say that I’d be nowhere without her is putting it lightly.

And the second is my life-long love of comics.

On Feb. 14, 2000, I posted my first comic strip on the Web. Greystone Inn would update six days a week for the next five-and-a-half years. The week after closing down Greystone for good, Evil Inc was launched. And I’ve been doing daily comics ever since.

So… how do you celebrate 15 years of doing the thing you love?

By doing it more.

I’m launching two new comics sites. If you support my work in comics through Patreon, neither of these new projects will be surprises. You’ve seen this coming for months now. If you don’t support me yet, please consider it. For as little as a buck a month, it’s a tremendous help to me and my family!

Arch Bros

The Arch family has a problem. Their older son thinks he’s a super hero, and their younger son thinks he’s a super villain. Those Evil Inc fans who enjoyed seeing Oscar and Oliver are going to like this strip immediately. Those Evil Inc fans who complained every time the two boys made an appearance can take solace that they will probably appear much less often now that there’s a new home for these ideas.

For the fans of the podcast I record with my two sons on our drive to school, Hey Comics — Kids, you’ll be happy to know that, yes, the humor is loosely based on them. For those of you who are concerned over their mental well-being, no, neither one thinks that I consider him a super villain. (Although one of them wishes I did.)

As you’ll see when you visit the site, this comic is an opportunity for me to draw in a much looser style and experiment with some different techniques I don’t feel comfortable doing in Evil Inc. I’m really excited to hear what you think.

Arch Bros will update once a week, for starters.

By the way, the Arch Bros Web site was developed with a brand new webcomics engine called Grawlix. I’m going to be talking about this more in a little bit, but for now, if you’d like an alternative to the usual WordPress webcomics site, I encourage you to get in touch with them. The official Grawlix email is [email protected]. You can find them on Twitter as @grawlixcomix. It’s still in beta, but I can tell you my experience with it was been amazing. You can also support their Patreon campaign. 

Guigar.com

Another part of the exclusive material available to my Patreon supporters has been the single-panel “bonus cartoons” I’ve been posting. I’m going to start sharing these publicly on the newly re-designed Guigar.com. It’s here that I’ll be posting more single-panel comics — as well as sketches, pin-ups, Artist Edition illustrations and more.

Guigar.com will not have an update schedule. It has an RSS feed, however, and it’s a Tumblr site, so please be sure to follow the site on your Tumblr so you don’t miss a thing.

Patreon

By the way… what does this mean for Patreon supporters who have had all of this stuff to themselves for the past several months? No change. You’ll still get to see this stuff before it goes live.

One more thing…

I’ve got another announcement, but I’ll be sharing that a little later in the week.

Looking back over 15 years…

It has been a rare privilege to do comics for you every day for 15 years. As I said before, it has been the only thing I really wanted to do. And doing Greystone Inn — and, later, Evil Inc, has brought me to some amazing relationships and opportunities.

Besides my two daily strips, I’ve done a weekly comic for a sex-advice column and a weekly comic about living in Philadelphia.

All told, that’s 1,471 Greystone Inn comic strips, 2,943* Evil Incs 410 Courting Disasters and 95 Phables. (And 163* Tales from the Con comics, which I write for Emerald City Comicon.)

There’s been an Eisner Award nomination — that I lost to an ad for a video game. (I’m not bitter.) But Phables has to be the only comic to ever have been named the Best Newspaper Column in Philadelphia by the Society of Professional Journalists. And my Comic Creator of the Year award from Geekadelphia sits in a place of honor in my studio.

I’ve self-published more than 2 dozen collections of my work, and I have written three books on the subject of cartooning — “The Everything Cartooning Book,” “How To Make Webcomics,” and “The Webcomics Handbook.”

I teach Arts Entrepreneurship and Sequential Art (Comics) at Hussian School of Art in Philadelphia, and my Web site, Webcomics.com, offers guidance and tutorials to other cartoonists publishing their work on the Web.

I’ve been honored to have had one of the best colourists in comics, Ed Ryzowski, toil on my comics for several years. And when Ed moved on to his own creator-owned work, I was amazed to have found a talent like Alex Heberling to take on the duties. (Her Kickstarter is hours from wrapping up, so if you’re one of those readers raving about her work in the Comments, you’d better take this opportunity to show your support!)

Plus, I’ve had the honor of co-hosting Webcomics Weekly with my friends Scott Kurtz, Dave Kellett and Kris Straub. And although Webcomics Weekly has come to its end, Scott, Cory Casoni, and I have launched a new podcast, Surviving Creativity, which discusses the challenges of making a living as a creative professional. And don’t forget the podcast I record with my sons Alex (12) and Max (9) during our drive to school. That podcast, “Hey Comics — Kids!”, discusses comics, movies and video games from the perspective of kids and their parents.

All in all, these last 15 years have been chock-full of excitement for a guy who’s only real dream was to draw cartoons for a living.

As I do every year around this time, I want to extend my heartfelt thank-you for helping to support that dream. Whether it’s by buying a book or an eComic, coming out to see me at a comic convention, supporting me on Patreon — or just by being here to read my comics — you’ve been a crucial part of this whole thing. Thank you!

—

* …and counting

I’m happysad to announce that I’m looking for a new colorist for Evil Inc.

I’m sad because Evil Inc’s original colourist, Ed Ryzowski, has been an integral part of my comic for seven years. His work has been nothing short of routinely amazing.

I’m happy because Ed is moving on to do exciting, rewarding work — a creator-owned property (Season of the S.H.A.R.K.S.) that has tons of potential. And if working on Evil Inc helped to speed along that process, then I’m extremely proud to see him launch something like this.

So, starting in January, I’m going to be looking for a new colorist for Evil Inc. If you’re interested, you can scroll down. But first, allow me a little nostalgia.

Ed Ryzowski

Our story starts in January 2008. During a recording of  Episode 22 of the Webcomics Weekly podcast, each of us expressed how we’d love to see our comics in color — although none of us felt we had the extra time (nor, in some cases, the expertise) to do it well.

Shortly, after that episode aired, I recieved an e-mail from Ed Ryzowski offering to color the strips. He was looking to establish himself as a comics colorist, and working on a daily strip seemed like a good way to hone his skills quickly. We worked out a pay scale, and on February 18, 2008, Evil Inc appeared for the first time in color.

[randcomic slug=new-evil-inc-hq size=large]

Ed has been adding his masterful touch to my work every day ever since.

And, after working on my strip for a while, he started to add other credits to his name — he became the colourist for The Gutters,  Looking for Group, Captain Ultimate and others. And this month, he clinched a successful Kickstarter for his own creator-owned title, Season of the S.H.A.R.K.S.

My favorite thing about working with Ed? Besides his proficiency as a colourist and his overall professionalism, I’d have to say this: I never had to write the guy a note. He knew what had to be done, and he did it — expertly. I’d sneak a freaking deep-catalog mainstream comics cameo into a background and he’d catch it every time — nailing the colors perfectly. It wasn’t a test, mind you. Ed and I established a relationship early on in which I gave him complete ownership over the colors of my strip. (How complete? I found out that Desdemona had green hair after he colored her. And her hair’s been green ever since.) If he had chosen different colors for that background cameo, I’d have been just as happy. It was like an unspoken game that we played. And Ed never lost. Take this for example…

[randcomic slug=with-this-ring-green-lantern-3 size=large]

Anybody could have spotted Sinestro and Romat Ru (Tomar-Re’s fellow Xudarian). But Ed nailed the Lyssa Drak cameo in the background. That’s a sign of a dedicated comics colourist.

Or a misspent childhood.

Or both. 🙂

My only complain about Ed? I always run out of superlatives when I try to describe him.

The new Evil Inc colorist

I realize it’s short notice. And I’m perfectly comfortable with the fact that some (or all) of January’s strips may appear at first in black-and-white on the site. I didn’t want to announce this during Ed’s Kickstarter for fear of stealing the focus away from Ed’s new project.

If you think you’re qualified to color Evil Inc, please get in touch. (You can also e-mail me using brad (at) evil-inc (dot) com.) My preference would be someone who is familiar with preparing images for print publication (since the comics appear in newspapers as well as the printed graphic novels). This is a paid position.

If you’re a regular reader of Evil Inc, then you’re already intimately familiar with the potent creative powers of Ed Ryzowski. He has been doing the colouring of my daily strip since waaaaay back in 2008, when he first approached me after hearing me talk about how badly I’d like to add color to my strip on an episode of Webcomics Weekly.

Well, Ed has a new project that was launched last night that you’re going to be eager to sink your teeth into. Season of the SHARK is a new creator-owned title that he’s introducing along with collaborator Jeff Dabu. I mean… just LOOK at it!

Gorgeous, right? And, let’s be honest, you didn’t expect any less from the likes of Ed.

So, it’s a forgone conclusion that this comic is going to be a non-stop thrill-ride for your eyes. And you’re going to want to tell all your friends that you were on long before all the band-wagoneers.

So here’s what you do. Support their Kickstarter campaign to launch this bad boy. They’ve got some truly awesome rewards to make you glad you did. But the biggest reward is going to be your opportunity to read this tremendous comic  and support a couple of worthy creators.

Why are you still reading?

Go!

No roundup of Evil Inc Halloween comics would be complete without mentioning the Real Housewives of Transylvania. This was an oddball idea that struck me during a brainstorming session one afternoon — and it turned into so much fun, I’ve done two complete storylines featuring these sexy, spooky ladies.

Real Housewives

The first storyline was in Oct. 2012, and it introduced readers to the sultry sextet of scary sirens.

I enjoyed it so much that I brought them back in 2013 — this time anchored by a story about the werewolf woman (Vera Wolf)  dating a younger man.

All week I will be highlighting Halloween comics from years past.

I’ll also take just a moment to tell you about my special Halloween comic that collects the best Halloween-themed stories from 13 — thirteen — years of my comics.

You’ll get spooky specials for Greystone Inn, Evil Inc and Phables — 80 pages of chuckles and chills!

And all for only $1.99 at DriveThruComics.

OR… you could support my ongoing work in comics through Patreon. It doesn’t take a huge commitment. You can become a Patreon supporter for as little as $1 a month.

But if you sign up to back me at the five dollar level, you’ll get this Halloween comic — and every past and upcoming Evil Inc monthly eComic — for FREE.

One more Halloween treat…

I decided to upload my Real Housewives of Transylvania illustration and make it available as a T-shirt and posters! InksterInc has a great price on T-shirts ($20), and at Redbubble, you can get the design on a wide variety of styles — from hoodies to scoop necks and V-necks (which should make the Dracula in your life very happy).

I love vampires. Always have; always will.

So it’s no surprise that the bloodsuckers have turned up more-than-occasionally in the halls of Evil Inc.

Here are a few of my favorites.

The very first week of Evil Inc

In a storyline that started alllll the way back in May of 2005, Lightning Lady, former Greystone Inn secretary, goes to Evil Inc to get a job. During the interview, she discovers (above) that the company’s Marketing Department is largely staffed by vampires.

Blood drives and other parties

Since then, the fangs have been bared at Evil Inc fairly often.

For example, there was a blood drive at the office. You can probably guess who that attracted…

And, of course, there was the meeting of V.L.A.D. — the Vampire League for Anti-Defamation.

And this standalone — one of my favorites for its subtle darkness.

All week I will be highlighting Halloween comics from years past.

I’ll also take just a moment to tell you about my special Halloween comic that collects the best Halloween-themed stories from 13 — thirteen — years of my comics. You’ll get spooky specials for Greystone Inn, Evil Inc and Phables — 80 pages of chuckles and chills!

And all for only $1.99 at DriveThruComics.

OR… you could support my ongoing work in comics through Patreon. It doesn’t take a huge commitment. You can become a Patreon supporter for as little as $1 a month.

But if you sign up to back me at the five dollar level, you’ll get this Halloween comic — and every past and upcoming Evil Inc monthly eComic — for FREE.

As usual, the Guigar family is hosting its annual Halloween bash for the boys and their/our friends.  I’ve been working on priming the Evil Inc Halloween Hits Pandora channel by thumbs-upping and thumbs-downing a bunch of Halloween songs. Here is my Top-13 —thirteen! — list of the best.

10. “Dinner With Drac,” John “The Cool Ghoul” Zacherle

Philly-born John Zacherle was a TV horror-show host, and if you remember from my Greystone Inn days, I have a soft spot in my heart for those guys. This rock novelty ditty was recorded near the height of his popularity.

9. “Purple People Eater,” Sheb Wooley

Few people know of the great Sheb Wooley. He was the “Weird” Al Yankovich for classic country music back in the 70s. And, like most of the breakout Country stars of that era, he had a crossover hit — “Purple People Eater.” I first got this song as part of an album called “Dumb Ditties” that our family got on (get this) 8-track tape! I never did quite figure out whether this was a People-Eater that was purple or if this was a creature that sustained itself on devouring purple people.

8. “Witch Doctor,” Dave Seville and the Chipmunks

Ooo Eee, Ooo Ah-Ah

Ting tang

Walla walla bing bang.

Ooo Eee, Ooo Ah-Ah

Ting tang

Walla walla bing bang.

The finest free verse of Ross Bagdasarian, the Fresno-born genius behind Alvin and the Chipmunks. This hit was Bagdasarian’s first experiment with altering the speed of the recording to achieve the trademark voices of his alter egos.

7. Theme from “The Munsters” and theme from “The Addams Family” (tie)

Both iconic musical intros to two fantastic, iconic TV sitcoms, I have to include these on my playlist even if most of the kids are familiar with the shows behind the tunes. Musically, the “Munsters” theme has serious earworm appeal, and I’ve yet to find a kind who didn’t want to snap along with the “Addams Family” tune.

6. “The Blob” by … Burt Bacharach?

Did you know Burt Bacharach wrote the theme song to the Steve McQueen sci-fi horror classic “The Blob”? Me neither. Recording as “The Five Blobs,” the Bacharach-led group of studio musicians performed this swanky cha-cha.

While you’re in a Blobby mood, read this classic Phable, intro-ed below…

5. “Grim Grinning Ghosts”

Composed by Buddy Baker, with lyrics written by X Atencio, this is the song that ushers you through Disney’s Haunted Mansion ride. During our trip to Disneyworld last this summer my eight-year-old and I rode that ride about a dozen times. I know the words by heart.

4. “Ghostbusters”, Ray Parker Jr.

Who ya gonna call? Well, if your name is Huey Lewis, the answer is “my lawyer.” According to this law suit, Huey felt that the spooky smash hit stole from his own “I Want a New Drug.” They settled out of court. And amicably so. Lewis has stated that working through the process with “Ghostbusters” producers laid the groundwork to his working on “Back To The Future” — another 80s movie hit.

3. “Thriller” Michael Jackson

The Gloved One’s “Thriller” album made music history. The video for the song was the first music video to be selected by the Library of Congress for the National film Registry. Danceable (if not singable), this is the perfect song to crank up to drown out the din of sugared-up goblins.

2. “This is Halloween,” Danny Elfman

Let’s face it, any of the music from The Nightmare Before Christmas is going to be the perfect compliment to your Halloween party. But this one is the most upbeat and Halloween-y. And if you thumbs-up this one on your own Pandora channel, you’ll get the rest offered in your mix as well.

1. The Monster Mash, Bobby “Boris” Picket

Was there ever any question? There’s no doubt in my mind that this is the all-time best Halloween hit. Everybody knows the words and most of us can do a decent Boris Karloff impersonation to sing along. It’s a graveyard smash.

Last night, I had the amazing experience of being a guest on the Black Tribbles podcast. If you’re familiar with the Philadelphia Geek Awards (and you should be) then you know these folks as the winners of the Streaming Project of the Year Award.

I met Len “Bat Tribble” Webb a while back when he interviewed me on the floor of Wizard World Philadelphia.

Last night, I was invited out to the G-town Radio studio, where Black Tribbles is recorded Thursday nights at 9 p.m., and got to spend two hours talking comics with three of the finest geeks in Philly — Len, Randy Green and Erik Mack.

We opened with a slate of superhero-movie news — DC’s announcement of movies through 2020 — and dissected both Gotham and Agents of SHIELD on TV. And, of course, we talked a bunch about me… including Evil Inc, the new Hey Comics — Kids! podcast I’m doing with my boys, and the Top 5 Halloween costumes I’d like to see my wife in.

Although you can catch their show live every Thursday night at nine (eastern), they release every episode (including this one) as a podcast.

Last week, the hosting for two of my other comics went toes-up, and I had to do a quick down-n-dirty WordPress site for both of them. (Don’t judge the sites too harshly if you go… it’s a work in progress!) And, as I was doing so, it occurred to me that new readers of Evil Inc may be completely unaware of some of the other things that I do (or that I’ve done) in comics. So, here’s a quick overview for anybody who is interested:

Patreon bonus comics

My Patreon supporters get to see bonus cartoons and other behind-the-scenes content that no one else has access to. Please consider signing up — even if it’s the $1 level. All of those dollar-pledges help me keep working on comics!

Phables

Phables ran from 2006-2008 in the Philadelphia Daily News. Each week, they’d give me a full tabloid-sized page in the paper to tell a story about everyday life in Philadelphia through a comic. Some of these were my stories, and some of them were stories that readers wrote in with.

I’m still tweaking the site, but go check out the comics. They’re bigger and crisper than I was ever able to display them back in 2006. It’s work that I’m tremendously proud of.

In 2006, it was named the best newspaper column in Philadelphia by the Society of Professional Journalists. That was kind of huge. It wasn’t awarded best cartoon or best infographic. It was acknowledged as a newspaper column — one of the posts with the highest prestige in the newsroom. In 2007, it was nominated for the Eisner Award. Here’s one of my favorites, introduced below…

All of the Phables cartoons are collected into a swell book that you can buy from me (or on Amazon.com).

Webcomics.com

Here’s another project I rarely talk about here. Webcomics.com is a site that I run that features daily posts offering advice, information, tutorials and support for cartoonists working on the Web. It’s a subscription site — $30 for 12 months of access or a special one-month Trial Membership for $5. I post four times a week with something new of relevance to cartoonists, and I do a dive into the archive on Fridays to bring up something valuable that members may have missed. This is an archive of information that I’ve been building day-by-day since 2009. It’s got answers to virtually any question you might have on topics that vary from the craft of cartooning to expanding your business.

Plus you get access to a private forum of serious professional cartoonists where you can talk frankly about issues — and get intelligent, valuable feedback.

The How To Make Webcomics book launched the site, and my writing there formed the basis of The Webcomics Handbook.

Courting Disaster

Courting Disaster was another Daily News project that found its own life on the Web. When the paper started a sex-advice column, I offered to do a weekly cartoon to accompany it. They would respond to two letters from readers every week, and I’d do a cartoon based on one of them. My goal was to a smart, sexy Playboy-style cartoon — while maintaining the content restrictions of a daily newspaper.

Courting Disaster was a blast! You can still find the books for sale on Lulu.com. And the eBook can be downloaded here, at DriveThru and at Amazon.

Greystone Inn

This one is badly in need of a new Web site. Those strips hold up remarkably well, and if they were displayed bigger on that old site, I think people would tear through that archive. Greystone Inn was my first comic strip — running from Feb. 2000 – June 2005 (when I launched Evil Inc). It was a comic strip about the fictional cast and crew of… a comic strip. But, like Roger Rabbit, the cartoons were living, breathing creatures. Many Evil Inc characters, like Lightning Lady, got their start in Greystone. Heck, that’s where the Evil Inc concept was born! (And if you want to read that storyline, it’s a special bonus in this month’s Evil Inc eComic!

You can get the entire four-and-a-half-year run of Greystone Inn in a beautiful hardcover book. And you can also get your copy as a downloadable PDF for your digital device.

Podcasts

Had enough? I didn’t think so. You can also catch me on the several different podcasts I host! (and a few I don’t!)

• Webcomics Weekly: We’re not doing this regularly anymore, but in its day, this was THE webcomics podcast. Featuring Scott Kurtz, Kris Straub, Dave Kellett and me, this show was the best when we just fired up the microphones and started talking.

• Surviving Creativity: Scott and I are joined by Scott’s business manager, Cory Casoni, as we talk about trying to make a living as a creative professional.

• Hey Comics — Kids!: Perhaps the podcast that is closest to my heart, my sons and I started recording our drives to school. We talk video games, TV, movies, superheroes and more. If you follow the podcast, you get frequent updates — plus supplemental mini-casts from each individual kid. You can even subscribe to the show on iTunes. And if you do, be sure to rate the show and leave a friendly comment!

Once again, my boys (12 and 8) and I have decided to make a list of Halloween movies to watch together in October. We have a bunch of old stand-bys like “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein,” and some that I’ve been waiting for them to be old enough to watch without getting nightmares later on. Here’s my list of the best age-appropriate* Halloween fare to watch with your kids.

10. Plan 9 From Outer Space

I told the boys we were going to watch one of the worst movies ever made, and man-oh-man, this one did not disappoint. From the over-the-top intro by Criswell to the wooden acting… all tied together in a knot by a meandering script with absolutely indecipherable dialogue.

This movie is so bad it’s good, and that’s why it’s perfect for a list like this. Now, being huge Dracula fans, it was worth pointing out that this was Bela Lugosi’s last film appearance. He died while it was still being filmed.

If there’s still time, we may even grab the Tim Burton epic, Ed Wood, and enjoy the backstory in all its campy goodness.

9. Hotel Transylvania

This movie was a consistent charmer that kept both me and the boys entertained throughout. For me, it was listening to Adam Sandler ham it up with a forced Dracula impression. For the kids, it was the steady gags and fast-paced script. You could do worse — especially if your kids are younger.

8. Young Frankenstein

The boys were introduced to Mel Brooks a while ago when we watched Spaceballs together. So I was pretty confident in putting “Young Frankenstein” on. But I have to tell you, this wasn’t their favorite Brooks flick. Although there are flashes of screwball comedy (“FRAHNKensteen” and, of course “Abby Normal”)… there’s a lot about Young Frankenstein that was either too cerebral — or too mature — for my kids to grasp.

To be fair, you almost have to watch the original Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein to truly appreciate Brooks’ parody chops, and we hadn’t yet. Nevertheless, this was a decent Halloween choice with several standout moments.

7. Ghostbusters

The recent announcement of a new Ghostbusters movie featuring an all-female cast has brought the spotlight back on this 80s classic. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis are at their hilarious peaks. The ghosts are scary, but not overwhelmingly so. And, hey, who doesn’t love that theme song?

6. Bride of Frankenstein

If you watch one movie on this list that you haven’t seen before, it should be this unsung classic of Universal Studios horror. It’s got comedy, tragedy, message, romance and chills.

And it’s a good chance to tell your kids the story about this woman named Mary Shelley. She, her future husband (and famous poet) Percy Shelley, Lord Byron (considered to be one of Britain’s greatest poets) and John Polidori (who is considered by some to be the creator of the vampire genre of fiction) decided to have a competition to see who could write the best horror novel.

And, um, it’s pretty clear that Mary kicked their butts. (Although, I never have found out what the others put up against it.)

“Bride” starts with a fictional social gathering among the Shelleys and Byron in which they recount the wager. And the story is introduced as they convince Mary to tell them more of her stories.

The theme of the Frankenstein monster wandering the countryside searching for acceptance — and finding only revulsion and contempt — is a powerful one. The bizarre sequence in which Dr. Pretorius shows Baron Frankenstein the lilliputian people he’s created (and keeps in glass jars) will mesmerize you. And the sequence in which the Bride is brought to life has some of the most striking and beautiful photography I’ve ever seen in black-and-white movies. This movie absolutely clips along from scene to scene. And it leaves you a little spellbound at the end.

5. Monster Squad

You can have your Goonies. Give me the Monster Squad any day.

See… here’s the thing. We all love the Universal Studios monsters. They’re classics of American pop culture. And this movie is an absolutely wonderful tribute to those characters. Count Dracula assembles a team of the Earth’s most powerful evil monsters (including the Wolf Man, the Frankenstein monster, the Mummy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon called Gill-Man). We’re a comic-book family and that, my friends, is a comic-book premise. A group of misfit kids find the diary of Dr. VanHelsing that details how to defeat the monsters, but they’ll have to rely on their wits — and each other — if they’re going to succeed.

Now, if you do watch this movie with your kids, do me a favor and take a little bit of an active roll. Times have changed a lot. Evidently, it was OK to throw words like “faggot” around back then(?) If that ever was the case, it certainly isn’t now. And a couple other themes (like the ol’ making-fun-of-the-fat-kid trope) show the age of this flick.

Make sure you take a second to point out that that stuff isn’t OK, OK?

4. Nightmare Before Christmas

Tim Burton’s stop-motion masterwork has been the highlight of my October ever since it was first released on VHS. When I had kids, I realized that the characters and the creepy music was a little overwhelming for my little guys. But this year, they were both eager to give it a shot. And I’m happy to report that I can look forward to resuming my annual tradition of watching this flick ever October once again.

There is nothing not to like about this movie. It has a great story, excellent pacing, absolutely mesmerizing music, and captivating characters.

Here’s a tip. At one point, the denizens of Halloweentown sing “it’s our job, but we’re not mean, in this town of Halloween.” At that point, I paused the movie and pointed it out, explaining that these guys weren’t malicious… it was just their duty to come out and give everybody a good scare on Halloween. I’m telling you, that went a long way to taking out the creep factor for my younger son.

It was also a good opportunity to answer his comment, “what’s with all the singing?!” with a little discussion of the tradition of American musical theater.

3. Dracula – Dead and Loving It

I know, I  know… the cool thing would have been to put Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein higher on this list — and probably to ignore this one completely.

But you wanna know what? This is an underrated, under-appreciated gem of a movie.

Like I said, The boys were already big fans of Mr. Brooks’ sense of humor from watching Spaceballs, so they were primed for this spoof of Bram Stoker’s classic tale. And even though I knew they’d dig the humor, I wasn’t quite prepared for how much they’d love Leslie Nielson.

But from the moment when Nielson’s “Count” smacks his lips over Renfield’s ridiculously spurting papercut (right around 11:00), they were enthralled by Neilson’s comic brilliance.

OK, it got a little inappropriate once or twice, but mostly this is a Brooks movie you can watch with your kids. (We’re still waiting for them to be old enough to see “Blazing Saddles.”) And, like “Spaceballs,” this is a Brooks film your kids are going to want to watch repeatedly.

And that’s fine with me.

2. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

“I got a rock.”

‘Nuff said.

1. (The best Halloween Movie ever): Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

This is the all-time best Halloween movie for kids, and I’ll tell you why.

First: It’s Abbott and Costello. You will not find funnier people on screen before or after these guys. They’re comedy gods among men. And you get tons of classic Bud ‘n’ Lou bits like the sliding candlestick.

“Ch-ch-ch-ch-chiiiiicccckkk!”

Second, you get a true gathering of Universal Studios  monsters by some of their most famous actors. Bela Lugosi as Dracula, Lon Chaney Jr as the Wolf Man. Karloff declined playing the monster because he thought the slapstick comedy would demean horror flicks. His loss. Glen Strange did a fantastic monster.

Third, this is the only time (other than the original Dracula) that Bela reprised his famous role. I remember reading somewhere that the character that shows up in American pop culture more than any other isn’t Santa Claus or Superman. It’s Dracula. And, more often than not, it’s a characterization based on Lugosi’s Count. That makes this movie appearance an important event.

Fourth, you have a last-minute cameo (of sorts) by one of the creepiest voices of them all as the unbeatable Vincent Price voices the Invisible Man.

* Mostly. Everyone draws the line a little differently.

Reposted from my Facebook page over the weekend:

First of all, thank you so much to everybody who supported the Kickstarter campaign for the eighth Evil Inc book! We unlocked some awesome Stretch Goals — including free Tales from The Con comics, Guigar Laugh ringtones and a 416-page PDF of The Complete Greystone Inn. I’m finishing up illustrations for the book, doing last-minute edits and compiling the List of Supporters. Then it’s off to the printer! So thank you for your support — whether it was a pledge or simply spreading the word on social media!

Also, I want to thank everyone who came out to see me at Philadelphia Comic Con. It was a tremendous four-day show, and it was great to be able to reconnect with many of my Philly-based readers. I have a few extras from that show — including signed copies of the issue of the Philadelphia Daily News which features my illustration on both the front cover and the cover of the special section promoting the event. I’ll put those up on my store later this week if you’d like a copy for yourself.

I also want to thank everyone who came out to one of my three panel discussions. We had a raucous panel to kick-off the series, with some really fine webcartoonists representing the field — Christian Patchell, Jason Thomas, Dawn Griffin and Chris Flick. They displayed a wide breadth of approaches to independent publishing on the Web, and I know everyone who showed up to that panel left a little wiser and a lot inspired. Hopefully the same can be said of the people who attended my other two solo panels — Webcomics Start-Up and Patreon Primer.

I want to include a special thank-you to Wizard World’s Director of Programming Christopher Jansen, who has supported my doing these panels for a long time. If you’ve ever been to a Wizard convention, you know that their programming is world-class Awesome. If you’re like me, the programming is a major deciding factor in attending a convention. That being said, your attending a Wizard show was a direct result of the Herculean effort that Chris and his dedicated crew exert at — count ’em — 18 shows per year. That’s more than once a month. It’s mind-boggling.

Finally, I want to thank the kind Evil Inc henchpeople who helped me out at my booth this year — Jonah, Jeffrey, Tara, Jeff, Dianna and Isabelle. During the show, if you were handed an iPad queued up with the Evil Inc monthly comic, that was the Littlest Henchman, and he was indispensable. When he wasn’t assisting sales, his persistent “Shouldn’t you be drawing more?” kept me on-task where my Commission List was concerned.

Well, after my sophomore attempt at stand-up comedy (you can hear it detailed on this episode of Plus-Two Comedy), I finally steeled myself for another trip to the microphone. And since I didn’t stink too badly, I’m happy to share it with you.

This was a nice event — put on by a couple of really excellent comedians. It was a comedy showcase stage in the back of a gaming room at Jester’s Playhouse, an awesome comic shop in Northfield, N.J. Unfortunately, due to a scheduling mix-up, there was a gaming event taking place in the same room that caused a constant background murmur throughout the show. That wasn’t optimal. And the audience was… intimate. But the comedians were top-notch, and the experience was one that I’d gladly do all over again.

So here it is, an expanded 10-minute monologue from Your Favorite Cartoonist. If you’re a longtime reader of Courting Disaster and/or Tales from the Con, you just might hear some familiar phrases.

Today marks 14 years of my doing a daily comic strip on the Web — and the beginning of the second full year since I left my day job to fulfill my lifelong goal of being a full-time professional cartoonist.

I couldn’t be more thrilled than I am today. It’s been an amazing year.

And I couldn’t have done it without you. It may not seem like much, but every time you visit my site, you help contribute to advertising revenue that helps keep my family afloat. I’ve come to really rely on that advertising revenue over the past year, and I want you to know — I really appreciate that you come here for a few minutes every day. Your support means the world to me.

So, thank you.

I’ve got some exciting things planned for this year. Stick around!

On the event of my ten-year anniversary, I wrote a seven-part series about my personal history in webcomics. If you’re interested, It starts here.

So, my younger son turns eight this week. He’s been after me for a while to help him make custom LEGO minifigures for the characters that are unavailable from LEGO (or hard to find). This is what I came up with.

I found out that I could buy a bunch of random LEGO minifig parts on eBay for a really good price. So bought a bunch of heads, torsos, hands, arms and legs. Then, I picked up some acrylic paint, a paint well and some small brushes. I’m using a clear paint primer to try to get the acrylic to stick to the plastic (and then protect it when it’s dry). I organized them in a crafter’s box with adjustable compartments.

Finally, since I have no illusions as to who’s going to be working alongside him during this, I picked up a soldering stand. It’s a weighted stand with a magnifying glass, a small LED light, and two adjutable alligator clips. I figure this will make it easier to hold the small parts steady while we paint those teeny tiny details.

I don’t think we’re going to give Evil Inc arch-henchman David Oakes a run for his money anytime soon, but I’m really looking forward to the time I get to spend with my kid letting out imaginations run wild. I’ll be sure to post some of the results here as soon as we get our first attempts done.

My wife and I are rarely “crafty” people, but when the mood hits us, we can really do some cool stuff. And the mood hit us last weekend.

As I’ve shared in the past, a fellow geek-dad and me have started a D&D campaign among our sons — all under the age of 11. He’s the DM, and I’m a character, playing along with the boys. We’ve had a lot of fun sharing our love for the game with the kids — and they’ve really taken to it.

So when one of the friends of my 11yo said that he wanted a D&D starter set for his birthday, we decided to do not only that, but invite him to our regular D&D group. And that’s where it all started… with my wife saying, “Y’know, we could fake-age some paper with tea and then make the invitation look all archaic and junk.”

And we were off to the races. We stained some drawing paper, and then we dried it on a sheet of tin foil with a hair dryer. Then I did a little fake calligraphy and burned the edges to make it look like it had a run-in with a dragon. We sealed with with candle wax. Next we faux-distressed some more paper to act as wrapping paper, wrapped the book up and assembled the entire gift which included all of this plus some dice and a dice bag.

We were both pretty proud of how it turned out.

We brewed some extra-strong tea to soak the paper in. Then we transferred the soaking-wet paper to a sheet of tin foil and dried with a hair dryer.

Doing a little fake-calligraphy

Fake-calligraphy in process

The finished D&D invite. Tea-stained paper, burned on the side with a match.

We sealed the invite with some candle wax.

I’m darned lucky the entire thing didn’t go up in smoke.

All sealed up

The entire birthday gift: A beginner’s D&D book, some dice, a bag-of-holding and an invitation to out 11-and-under D&D game.

We tea-stained our own wrapping paper.

The final birthday gift, complete with a hand-drawn map on the wrapping paper.

A few weeks back,  I was invited to be a guest on the Plus-2 Comedy podcast. What made the invitation particularly attractive was the fact that Plus-2 is recorded in front of a live audience. Better yet, the live audience is at a tremendous comic shop, Jester’s Playhouse, in Northfield, NJ.

As I expected, the drive out to Northfield was well worth it. The podcast was fantastic. We talked about Thor 2, Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, Dragonball Z, and my sometimes-successful brushes with stand-up comedy. They guys are very good behind a microphone, and it was a real treat to do a show with them. I think you’ll enjoy it.

When I transitioned to full-time cartooning in April of 2012, I mentioned that one of the things I wanted to do that I didn’t previously have the time to pursue was teaching at the college level. Eighteen months later, I have some very good news to share.

In January, I will be teaching a senior-level course on Arts Entrepreneurship at Hussian School of Art. Located in Philadelphia’s historic Bourse Building, Hussian is a private vocational school for graphic design and commercial art.

For a long time now, I’ve argued (sometimes loudly on Webcomics Weekly) that art schools need to do a better job of preparing their students for the Real World they’re being thrust into. And that means an overwhelming probability of freelance work and running a small business centered around one’s craft — not the studio jobs and staff positions that were prevalent decades ago. In short, it’s not enough to teach a student to draw or design. To really serve the students, an art school needs to teach them entrepreneurship.

Now I get to back up those words with action. And I’m super excited to have the chance to do exactly that at Hussian.

As some of you know, I recently launched a new how-to book, The Webcomics Handbook, which I released in digital edition through Gumroad. (The print edition will hit shelves early next year!)

Recently, Gumroad’s Travis Nichols, on his way through Philadelphia, stopped by the Guigar studio for a brief chat. He’s posted the video on the Gumroad Blog, which features footage from inside my studio of me talking about my favorite subjects: Me, webcomics, and me.

Enjoy!

Since the in-laws moved to Manayunk, I’ve kinda fallen in love with its Main Street district. With cool bars like Kildare’s Irish Pub and awesome eateries like Han Dynasty, Laxmi’s Indian Grille and (who am I kidding) Whirled Peace… there’s always a reason to walk to Main Street.

So when my in-laws invited us to bring the kids down to Halloween in Manayunk, I jumped at the chance. The kids got a ton of early Halloween candy, and I got a trip to Kildares. That’s called a win-win, if you’re scoring at home.

Plus, the boys got their first taste of cosplay glory, as they were repeatedly complimented and stopped for photos in their Minecraft gear. A bunch of the downtown merchants were offering candy to kids who stopped in, and although I was too distracted by the festivities, there was a nice-sized flea market going on towards the end of the street.

We missed the Zombie Thriller Dance-Off in favor of a much needed lunch. Then it was back to the in-laws’ apartment for a movie marathon (while my wife had a well-deserved Moms’ Night Out to see “Emma” at the Lantern Theater).

She says you should go. It was very good, and they’re holding it over for another week.

Me, I was more than happy to drink red wine with my in-laws and watch “It Came From Outer Space” and a lesser known Karloff creeper, “Isle of Death.” (Especially since a particularly cold weather forecast made us chicken out on “The Blob” at the Eakins Oval pop-up drive-in theater the day before.)

“It Came From Outer Space” delivered everything it promised: Campy 50s sci-fi thrills, movie-with-a-message chills… and the Professor from Gilligan’s Island(!) This was based on a Ray Bradbury story. When it was optioned by Universal, the studio wanted the aliens to be portrayed as malicious, but Bradbury wanted them to be benign. He offered to write to version and let the studio pick — with the caveat that if Universal picked the “benign” version, Bradbury would stay on to write the screenplay (his first attempt at writing for a movie). Unfortunately, the studio took the treatment and hired Harry Essex to do the final screenplay.

“Isle of Death,” on the other hand, promised vampires, but instead delivered a steely performance by a curly-haired(!) Boris Karloff and a psychological thriller/suspense drama. It examines the conflict between religion and science in the context of a group of strangers under an unplanned quarantine caused by a plague outbreak. But no bloodsuckers. Oh, sure, there was a woman buried before she was quite dead, and a mass of murders and painful deaths, but it certainly wasn’t the kind of horror flick we’d anticipated. Nonetheless, you get to see Karloff flex his formidable acting muscles. And perhaps better yet, it offers a vibrant, young Alan Napier (who you know better as Alfred the butler in the 60s Batman TV series).

Here’s yet another reason why I freaking love Philadelphia: The Eakins Oval Pop-Up Drive-In Theater.

So here’s the deal: Eakins Oval is a traffic circle on the northeast end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. And, usually, it’s a pretty busy thoroughfare. It’s right in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (the steps of which were the setting for one of the training montages in “Rocky”). It’s also a small park area anchored by the gorgeous Washington Monument fountain. The southeast portion of the oval is a parking lot (which is good to know if you plan on visiting the museum. This is what it usually looks like (as seen from the Art Museum steps.

This fall, The Awesome Fest arranged to take over Eakins Oval and convert it to a drive-in movie theater on a series of Friday nights. Double-features are planned, and high-end food trucks come in to handle concessions. They even have the Philly Roller Girls roller derby team doing car-service concessions. Tickets are $20 apiece if you come by car, but lawn-seating is free.

Last Friday night, the double-feature was “King Kong vs. Godzilla” and “Pacific Rim.” The former holds a soft spot in my heart as a childhood favorite, and all of us were looking forward to seeing the latter for the first time.

We walked to the Oval with out lawn chairs and blankets, bought some hot chocolate and tater tots from the Tot Cart, and settled in for the movie. Awesome Fest’s Josh Goldbloom came out to welcome the sizeable crowd with the brief introduction to the drive-in movie theater concept itself, as well as a short talk-up on both movies.

Then a guy dressed as Godzilla came from behind the movie screen and fought with a guy dressed as an ape.

Then, “King Kong vs Godzilla” flickered to life on the screen. I’ve seen this dozens of times, but it was a special thrill to watch it in this setting with my two boys. This is definitely a movie-watching experience that is enhanced by watching it as pert of an audience. Kids thrilled at Godzilla’s first on-screen appearance, and adults guffawed at the unintentional campiness that lies at the heart of the movie’s charm.

And “Pacific Rim”? All four of us were captivated by that one. We hadn’t seen it yet, and that movie had us riveted from the very first scene. It just came out on DVD and Blu Ray, and I strongly recommend it. The female lead (Rinko Kikuchi) was particularly noticeable as a rare occurrence in action flicks — a character that has integral importance in the story, rather than being eye candy. The plot was tight. The action sequences were unbelievably well done, and the moments of comic relief were added at just the right moment (and in just the right doses).

It was well past midnight by the time the Guigars walked home — chattering all the way about the movies and what a great experience it was to see them together on the lawn of Eakins Oval on a brisk October night.

Awesome Fest has several more Friday nights lined up (shows start at 7:30 p.m.):

• October 25: Grease & The Blob
• November 1: The Car & Christine
• November 8: Arachnophobia & Big Ass Spider!
• November 22: Planes, Trains & Automobiles & Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

… and all because a group of creative Philadelphians looked at Eakins Oval and said “what if…”

No one — no one — is happier than I am to see our federal employees going back to work this week.

As some of you know, my wife was one of those furloughed as our nation’s “leaders” whipped out their genitals and reached for their rulers.

She was off work for about two-and-a-half weeks.

On the first day home, she took her nervous energy and cleaned-and-decluttered the boys’ bedroom.

On the next day, she tackled our bedroom.

By the end of the week, she had cleaned and decluttered every room in the house.

Last weekend we attacked the basement. Now it’s cleaner and holds less junk than it did on the day we moved into the house.

On Tuesday, I came home and she had gone from cleaning rooms to something she called “deep-cleaning.” There was a new mop in the corner.

“That’s for walls only,” she glowered, “…only.”

I’m not sure what “deep clean” is, but I’m pretty sure it involves me not being able to find a god-damned thing.

I asked her — tentatively — what was next on her list, and she really didn’t have an answer for me.

But she kept looking at me… with a strange look in her eye… for the rest of the evening.

So there’s no one.

No. One.

Happier to see the federal government employees go back to work than I am.

My boys (11 and 7) and I have decided to make a list of Halloween-related movies to watch together in October. We have a bunch of old stand-bys like “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein,” and some that I’ve been waiting for them to be old enough to watch without getting nightmares later on (like “Nosferatu“). Here’s my list of the best age-appropriate* Halloween fare to watch with your kids.

10. Dracula

OK, we didn’t make it all the way through this one. But I really wanted to expose my kids to two things with this movie.

First, there was a time when we’d take our time telling a story. And this movie is an excellent example of that concept. You really get a feel for how our instant-gratification society has influenced storytelling when you watch a flick like this that luxuriates in things like mood and building suspense.

Second, I wanted them to know about this guy named Bela Lugosi – how the Hungarian came to America to be an actor and wanted it so bad that he learned his lines phonetically because he hadn’t learned English yet. I told them how he was so great as Dracula on the Broadway stage that Universal tapped him to play the part in the movies. And I told them about how he turned down the role of the Frankenstein monster (my boys know better than to call the monster “Frankenstein” — that’s the name of the scientist, not the monster) because it was all “make-up and grunting.”

9. Nosferatu

Again, we didn’t make it all the way through this film, but I wanted the boys to see a classic silent movie — to know what that kind of storytelling was like. And, of equal importance, I wanted them to see one of the creepiest screen vampires of all time, Max Schreck.

8. Young Frankenstein

The boys were introduced to Mel Brooks a while ago when we watched Spaceballs together. So I was pretty confident in putting “Young Frankenstein” on. But I have to tell you, this wasn’t their favorite Brooks flick. Although there are flashes of screwball comedy (“FRAHNKensteen” and, of course “Abby Normal”)… there’s a lot about Young Frankenstein that was either too cerebral — or too mature — for my kids to grasp.

To be fair, you almost have to watch the original Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein to truly appreciate Brooks’ parody chops, and we hadn’t yet. Nevertheless, this was a decent Halloween choice with several standout moments.

7. Ghostbusters

The absolute apex of Big 80s comedy charm. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis are at their hilarious peaks. The ghosts are scary, but not overwhelmingly so. And, hey, who doesn’t love that theme song?

6. Bride of Frankenstein

If you watch one movie on this list that you haven’t seen before, it should be this unsung classic of Universal Studios horror. It’s got comedy, tragedy, message, romance and chills.

And it’s a good chance to tell your kids the story about this woman named Mary Shelley. She, her future husband (and famous poet) Percy Shelley, Lord Byron (considered to be one of Britain’s greatest poets) and John Polidori (who is considered by some to be the creator of the vampire genre of fiction) decided to have a competition to see who could write the best horror novel.

And, um, it’s pretty clear that Mary kicked their butts. (Although, I never have found out what the others put up against it.)

“Bride” starts with a fictional social gathering among the Shelleys and Byron in which they recount the wager. And the story is introduced as they convince Mary to tell them more of her stories.

The theme of the Frankenstein monster wandering the countryside searching for acceptance — and finding only revulsion and contempt — is a powerful one. The bizarre sequence in which Dr. Pretorius shows Baron Frankenstein the lilliputian people he’s created (and keeps in glass jars) will mesmerize you. And the sequence in which the Bride is brought to life has some of the most striking and beautiful photography I’ve ever seen in black-and-white movies. This movie absolutely clips along from scene to scene. And it leaves you a little spellbound at the end.

5. Monster Squad

You can have your Goonies. Give me the Monster Squad any day.

See… here’s the thing. We all love the Universal Studios monsters. They’re classics of American pop culture. And this movie is an absolutely wonderful tribute to those characters. Count Dracula assembles a team of the Earth’s most powerful evil monsters (including the Wolf Man, the Frankenstein monster, the Mummy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon called Gill-Man). We’re a comic-book family and that, my friends, is a comic-book premise. A group of misfit kids find the diary of Dr. VanHelsing that details how to defeat the monsters, but they’ll have to rely on their wits — and each other — if they’re going to succeed.

Now, if you do watch this movie with your kids, do me a favor and take a little bit of an active roll. Times have changed a lot. Evidently, it was OK to throw words like “faggot” around back then. If that ever was the case, it certainly isn’t now. And a couple other themes (like the old making fun of the fat kid trope) show the age of this flick. Make sure you take a second to point that out, OK?

4. Nightmare Before Christmas

Tim Burton’s stop-motion masterwork has been the highlight of my October ever since it was first released on VHS. When I had kids, I realized that the characters and the creepy music was a little overwhelming for my little guys. But this year, they were both eager to give it a shot. And I’m happy to report that I can look forward to resuming my annual tradition of watching this flick ever October once again.

There is nothing not to like about this movie. It has a great story, excellent pacing, absolutely mesmerizing music, and captivating characters.

Here’s a tip. At one point, the denizens of Halloweentown sing “it’s our job, but we’re not mean, in this town of Halloween.” At that point, I paused the movie and pointed it out, explaining that these guys weren’t malicious… it was just their duty to come out and give everybody a good scare on Halloween. I’m telling you, that went a long way to taking out the creep factor for my younger son.

It was also a good opportunity to answer his comment, “what’s with all the singing?!” with a little discussion of the tradition of American musical theater.

3. Dracula – Dead and Loving It

I know, I  know… the cool thing would have been to put Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein higher on this list — and probably to ignore this one completely.

But you wanna know what? This is an underrated, under-appreciated gem of a movie. 

Like I said, The boys were already big fans of Mr. Brooks’ sense of humor from watching Spaceballs, so they were primed for this spoof of Bram Stoker’s classic tale. And even though I knew they’d dig the humor, I wasn’t quite prepared for how much they’d love Leslie Nielson.

But from the moment when Nielson’s “Count” smacks his lips over Renfield’s ridiculously spurting papercut (right around 11:00), they were enthralled by Neilson’s comic brilliance.

OK, it got a little inappropriate once or twice, but mostly this is a Brooks movie you can watch with your kids. (We’re still waiting for them to be old enough to see “Blazing Saddles.”) And, like “Spaceballs,” this is a Brooks film your kids are going to want to watch repeatedly.

And that’s fine with me.

2. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

“I got a rock.”

‘Nuff said.

1. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

This is the all-time best Halloween movie for kids, and I’ll tell you why.

First: It’s Abbott and Costello. You will not find funnier people on screen before or after these guys. They’re comedy gods among men. And you get tons of classic Bud ‘n’ Lou bits like the sliding candlestick.

“Ch-ch-ch-ch-chiiiiicccckkk!”

Second, you get a true gathering of Universal Studios  monsters by some of their most famous actors. Bela Lugosi as Dracula, Lon Chaney Jr as the Wolf Man. Karloff declined playing the monster because he thought the slapstick comedy would demean horror flicks. His loss. Glen Strange did a fantastic monster.

Third, this is the only time (other than the original Dracula) that Bela reprised his famous role. I remember reading somewhere that the character that shows up in American pop culture more than any other isn’t Santa Claus or Superman. It’s Dracula. And, more often than not, it’s a characterization based on Lugosi’s Count. That makes this movie appearance an important event.

Fourth, you have a last-minute cameo (of sorts) by one of the creepiest voices of them all as the unbeatable Vincent Price voices the Invisible Man.

* Mostly. Everyone draws the line a little differently.