Oucopo: Comic Jams For The Growing Cartoonist

New Entry: What's He Building In There by Bruno Gridley

2007-11-26T07:49:00.000-08:00

An excellent submission today from Bruno Gridley ("assmonkeydiary" on LiveJournal; warning, contains asses and monkeys)

(click to read)

Only about a week to go with this month's theme (I have to remember to get mine done in time). To hold you over, here's a Tom Waits-related comic pointed out to me by Tim Godek, enjoy!

I'll be announcing December's theme soon; hint, it is holidays.

New Entries: Eggs and Sausage by Flynn Nichols and Everything You Can Think Of Is True by Danny Sugar

2007-11-21T07:49:00.000-08:00

Two new entries in the current Oucopo "The Music of Tom Waits" theme, and still plenty of time to join in!

First one comes by way of Flynn Nichols, who goes old school Waits and interprets "Eggs and Sausage."

(click to read)

Following Flynn in Danny Sugar, with "Everything You Can Think of Is True" from Alice.

(click to read)

Danny was also kind enough to provide a bio, sparing me having to write one for once, which BOY I appreciate. It goes like this:

webpage: www.lainwiththedevil.deviantart.com
Piece info: I chose one of the stranger (and one of my favorite) songs by Tom Waits,'Everything You can Think of Is True.' Til recently, this song has mystified me, and I hadn't the foggiest idea what it meant, and in honor of that I drew just exactly what my literalist mind's eye sees whenever I play this song. And if you see the protagonist bearing a slight resemblence to 'Eddy' from Cartoon Network's tv series, well that's no accident.
I always thought the music to this song bore similarity to the unique whiney jazzy soundtrack of the show, and it could easily pass off as some kind of trippy dream sequence.
Bio: Has been drawing since I've learnt how to spit. Likes to experiment in all kinds of mixed traditional and digital media, and is an Illustration major at FIT in NYC. In my spare time I: ink, paint, pencil, scheme, eat, doodle, writes stories and scripts, voiceact, read and ABOVE ALL listen to Tom Waits relegiously...

Sweet! And yeah, still time to participate! Join on in!

New Entry: Goin' Out West by Kris Dresen

2007-11-06T06:54:00.000-08:00

First new entry for the November Tom Waits theme, by way of Kris Dresen! We presents "Goin' Out West"

(click to read)

Kris and her current comic Grace can be found at Girlthrow, and her latest book - Every Part of You is Familiar To Me - (which I got and highly recommend) is available here. It's great, almost as great as little karate-kicking Tom Waits! Enjoy!

November 2007 Theme: Tom Waits!

2007-11-02T09:07:00.000-07:00

It's past time to announce the new theme for November, and it is ...

I know this is an esoteric theme, but for those of us who've heard the music of Tom Waits, it's a richly veined theme. As a matter of fact, I know more'n one artist (myself included) already HAS illustrated a comic inspired by or based on the work of Tom Waits. Stories in this theme should have something to do with the work or life of Tom Waits, including but not limited to inspired visions, biographical tales, representation of lyrics, and so on.

Participation is open, the deadline is November 29 2007, for final publication of all submissions on November 30. Please see this Introductory post for rules, guidelines and templates.

And since I, as mentioned, have already done ONE Tom Waits-inspired comic, here she is, based on "Fish and Bird" from Waits' "Alice" album:

(click to read)

There y'go! Now you!

New Entry: The Drunkard's Dream by Jon Morris / Manning Krull

2007-10-31T11:08:00.000-07:00

Another new entry, tout suite, by way of BOO! Co-Originator Manning Lycanthrope Krull! This one is scripted by me, and based on a really terrific old amusement at the Musee Mechanique in San Francisco. This is the only picture I took of it, which is a shame because it is BAT. SHIT. CRAZY.

(click to read)

Manning, of cuss, can be found at ManningKrull.com. Go find him!

New Entries: Stories by Jon Morris, Tymothi Godek, Edward J.Grug III and Adam Watson

2007-10-31T08:49:00.000-07:00

A small flood of entries coming in today, and I'm sure more will trickle in as Halloween itself gets good and spooky-ooky! First off, Tymothi Godek beautifully renders a script by yours truly, it's "When Flies Were Big"

(click to read)

Tym's got a terrific selection of illustrations and comics over at his site, The Yellow Light, including last year's entry for the Calamity! Project.

The next entry comes by way of Edward J.Grug III, and Those Scurvy Dogs (check 'em out on Webcomics Nation) in a chiller based on an inspired pun and entitled "The Flying Dutchman"

(click to read)

And lastly, Adam Watson delivers a sublime skull-inary experience (ha, sorry, I love that Crypt Keeper talk) with Phantome Au Vin! Check out more of his work at The Mighty Adam.

(click to read)

A fantastic selection, I expect there'll be stragglers which is all right as this theme had a slow start. November's theme will debut tomorrow, so get your pens ready to participate, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

New Entry: Your Guide To Man-Apes ... by Jon Morris / Katie Cook

2007-10-30T07:48:00.000-07:00

Third entry for the BOO!Halloween Stories theme, penned by myself and illustrated by the adorable and prolific Katie Cook, it's "Your Guide to the Man-Apes (Or is that Men-Apes?) Of The World!"

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Katie is the artist behind something like a zillion artists' sketch trading cards for Heroes, Star Wars and probably Lidsville (it's hard to keep up with the prolificness), is the artist behind The Monsters; Republic of Monstairia, and has a new story coming out from Dark Horse Presents. Check her out at her site, KatieCanDraw.com!

New Entry: Rule by Fear by Jon Morris / Les McClaine

2007-10-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

Second entry for the BOO!Halloween Stories theme, penned by myself and illustrated by the great Les McClaine.

(click to read)

Les is the amazing illustrator and creator behind Johnny Crossbones, as well as a slew of other work. His site is Evil Space Robot, I highly recommend checking it out.

New Entry: Remember All Those Great Halloween Candies by Jon Morris

2007-10-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

I suppose if anyone's going to start off the submissions, it oughtter be me. A two-pager reminiscing on the sweet treats of yesteryear, Remember All Those Great Halloween Candies by Jon Morris

(click to read)

October 2007 Theme: BOO! Halloween Stories

2007-09-26T10:53:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the Oucopo theme for October 2007, co-sponsored by BOO! Halloween Stories co-creator Manning L. Krull. This is the second time the Collaborative Comic Event has used BOO!Halloween Stories as a theme, be sure to check out last year's awesome and terrifying entries!

(By the way, I use "sponsor" here the same way that AA does)

The theme is HALLOWEEN STORIES, and may include stories about themes reminiscent of Halloween, including trick-or-treating, true-life Halloween accounts, monsters, gory urban legends, scares and shocks, costumes, supernatural occurences, etc. Extra points awarded for working the title, “BOO,” into the submission in some fashion (Points can be redeemed for absolutely nothing whatsoever anywhere for all eternity, void where prohibited).

Funny stories about said topics will probably be the preference among the participants, but interested would-be participants shouldn't let that stop them from tackling a serious story - all genre are acceptable, in the long run, so go nuts.

Participation is open, the deadline is October 30 2007, for final publication of all submissions on October 31. Please see this Introductory post for rules, guidelines and templates.

Welcome!

2007-09-26T10:32:00.000-07:00

Welcome to OuCoPo, an informal art jam project hosted by cartoonist Calamity Jon Morris.

The purpose of the project is for interested cartoonists to submit short (1-6 page) stories on a common theme, which changes from month-to-month. Participation is open, the deadline typically runs from the first of the month through the last day of the month.

Prior to this blog, there have been two other collaborative comic jam events, The Calamity! Project and BOO:Halloween Stories.

The closest we have to RULES:

• The theme of this collaborative comic project changes every month. Stories submitted should relate to the the theme, or generally be reminiscent of the theme.

• Deadline for submissions is the end of the month. Submissions are published on a rolling basis (i.e. they're posted as I get to them during the month)

• Submissions should be between one and six pages.

• Submissions can be color or black and white, or any combination thereof.

• Acceptable file formats are: JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, PSD and PSP.

• Individual pages should measure 1987×3075 at 300dpi, or any other page size which shrinks to 600×930 pixels at 72dpi. If a margin is used, it should be 100 pixels from each side on the 300dpi document, or 32 pixels on 72dpi. (A template will be provided, see below).

• Submissions must be accompanied by submission form (to follow) requesting name of contributors, brief biographical info, and website or email info as appropriate.

• Send all submissions to calamityjon@gmail.com

• Have fun!

Submissions Process: Just to have a concrete process outlined...
• Please send high resolution (300dpi+) copies of your story (or post them to an accessible FTP directory and send the address) to calamityjon@gmail.com.

• Please use one of the following templates or the dimensions of these templates (1987×3075 at 300dpi) when submitting:
.PSD Template with borders.
300 dpi .PSD Template without borders (full bleed).

• Please include your name, preferred email address and personal website in your email, along with a brief bio (if you'd care to). This information will be shared with the readers of the blog, so keep that in mind ...

• If you have any suggestions for themes or if you have any questions, please drop me an email, thanks!