Muskrat Ramblings
Fifteen Years and One Sketch Later…
posted by John

So I’m working on some art for the 15th anniversary of Dork Tower next year. But right now, it’s athe 10th anniversary of Munchkin. So I thought I’d do up some promotional cards and postcards and the like.

Here’s the art: Dork Tower and Munchkin: two great tastes that taste great together.

Here’s what it will look like, as a postcard:

In both instances, click on the image to see a larger version of it.

I’m pleased with the piece. It’s far more dynamic than the original sketch I did for the anniversary.

Coincidentally, it shares some similarities with Today’s Three-Minute Warm-Up Sketch. These help me loosen up a little, before approaching more ’serious’ drawings. I’m only so-so about this one, but for a very quick piece, I suppose I shouldn’t expect too much. But I thought yesterday’s sketch was more successful. Anyhoo – Matt and Gilly, as Batman and the Huntress:

John

Muskrat Ramblings
A Blast from the Past
posted by JOHN

As Monica has me getting things ready for Dork Tower’s 15th anniversary year, next year, I’ve been stumbling across a ton of interesting stuff in the archives.

One things many folks may not realize is that my first web strips actually went online in late 1995/early 1996 (still trying to ascertain the exact date). I was quite aware, at the time, that only a very few people had been putting comics up on the web. Now, with thousands of web cartoonists out there, many doing just amazing work, it’s kind of nice to look back and take a bit of pride in knowing I was amongst a mere handful of others, at the time.

Then I stop it, because I start to feel old.

The earliest WILD LIFE comic strip (starring Carson the Muskrat, my precursor to DORK TOWER) I can find, at the moment, seems to be have gone online December 1996. But there’s a note on the page saying “It’s been about a month since I’ve updated these pages, but I’m back!” Which would make sense, as I think I was first posting Wild Life online sometime in 1995.

(Hilariously, the page also notes “Downloading the entire week can take a couple of minutes, depending on your modem speed.”)

I’m not sure of the month, but DORK TOWER first went online in 1997, soon after it debuted in the January 1997 issue of SHADIS magazine (which came out in 1996). But anyway, THIS is what the website looked like back then:

(CLICK HERE for a larger version of the 1997 DORK TOWER HOME PAGE).

And here are the earliest WILD LIFEs I’ve yet found:

(CLICK HERE or on the image for a larger version of the EARLIEST WILD LIFES ONLINE (so far)).

More to come, as I unearth the archives…and my eyes continue to bleed…

*****

NOTE: Dork Tower will only be running Tuesday and Thursday this week, gang. My apologies – but gearing up for San Diego Comic Con is taking up an enormous amount of time. I won’t have a booth, but I’ll be wandering around, with lots of meetings scheduled. I may Tweet some secret times and places where you can get a “THE LUGGAGE” Munchkin Discworld card from me, so follow me at @muskrat_john on Twitter, if such silliness interest you…

====== JOHN