The Last Resort: Mute point

The Last Resort: Bake Sale

The Last Resort: Thanks For The Hand

This one is  the most recent in the Last Resort series. It was the first comic drawn after the original submission. I had been on a long break from comics and was content with doing a Christmas card every year. A friend of mine invited me to the opening of the "Things That Make Us Smile" exhibit at the American Visionary Art Museum, here in Baltimore. Matt Groening (The Simpson's creator.) was there as well! Although I never got to meet him: the encounter, the exhibit and my friend's long-time support all helped reignite my passion for comics. 

I post this now as a thanks to my wife for getting me to start this blog. (Hopefully she'll ignore the fact that this is a second-hand comic and focus on the sentiment.) Without her, you would be subjected to far worse jokes than this and I wouldn't be enjoying the tens of....well TEN people who visit this blog now. Thanks to you as well for taking an interest in my absurd ramblings.

I'll get back to colorizing the older stuff on Monday. Enjoy the weekend!!

The Last Resort: Open Mind

The Last Resort: Desperation

The Last Resort: Glutton For Punishment

The Last Resort: Wizard's Duel

This comic has always been a favorite of mine. Gandalf appeals to the nerd in me while Fruit Pie appeals to the fat nerd in me. Few things from my childhood ever held so much weight as these two magical powerhouses. It was inevitable that they battle it out.

The Last Resort: Early Worm

The Last Resort: Mad Cow

The Last Resort: The Chisholm Trail

Like Urnial Cake, this comic is also from my college days. The drawing stayed the same but the original joke was completely different. It ran in the UMBC Retriever (college paper) but I suspect it was only to get the editor fired. (True story for another time.)

Anyway, if you have a copy of The Retriever from the early 90's you might see it. I think the original was much funnier. My current editor (my better half) is disgusted by both versions but thinks the original was too "crass". She's probably right...the original version of "The Chisholm Trail" should probably stay in the archives.

The Last Resort: Urinal Cake

I didn't get a chance to work on the comics this weekend. My brother-in-law got married and the reception was on Saturday. We had a great time, great food and a lot of great memories. It was a lot of fun.

My wife's friend DJ'd the event. Hanging out with him and hearing some of the old artists like Rob Base, reminded of going out to clubs. I've never had any dance moves, pick-up lines, or any kind of "game" for that matter. I was fortunate enough to have a few friends who were/are DJs. I'd spend the evening drinking, getting in their way, making stupid commentary and generally frightening off all the hot chicks. The booth was a great place to people watch and think. A lot of great comic ideas came out of nights spent in the clubs.

This one in particular was directly influenced from a night of drinking. Like all of my comics, it's probably a lot funnier if you're drunk but the notion of advertising anti-drug messages on urinal cakes still amuses me. No way in hell somebody came up with this idea in an unaltered state of mind.

The Last Resort: Humpty Is Fixed

Thanks for all the positive response to "Humpty's Great Fall." I hadn't planned on coloring the sequel until next week but I didn't want anyone to lose sleep over the fate of Ol' Humpty.

Enjoy your weekend...HE'S FIXED!!!

The Last Resort: Humpty's Great Fall

The Last Resort: Baby Oil

Somehow I thought of this one before I had kids... now that I think of it, most of my jokes have been written before I had kids!! Things are a lot funnier when you don't care about much.

The Last Resort: Mumbletypeg

I have a soft spot of this one and William Tell's Practice son. They were two of the first single panel comics I ever created and first appeared when I was in college. When I put The Last Resort together they got redrawn and placed into the mix.

The Last Resort: Tequila Mockingbird

This panel first appeared a little later in the original batch of "The LastResort." Since it was requested by Rogue1303, I'm posting it a bit earlier than scheduled. It's one of those rare comics that pleases both me and most of my audience. The ones I like best are usually the ones that leave everyone else scratching their head at best and repulsed at worst. I can only hope you stick with me through my periods of self-indulgence.

The Last Resort: William Tell's Practice Son

I doubt I'll have time to post a new comic every day but I do hope to post at least a few every week. In the event you miss a post or would like to re-read some older comics, I've created an archive tab at the top. 

For those of you who may not realize, you can click on any of the comics for the full-size view.

Enjoy!

The Last Resort Remastered

Besides being the title of this blog, "The Last Resort" is also the title of my most recent attempt at syndication. By recent, I mean 2005! Time flies when you're wallowing in self-pity! Not really, but I did all but give up on this comic strip. Although Universal Press Syndicate did say my work was "well done (and the) dialogue and artwork are consistently good" no syndicate would represent me. I was met with a slew of form rejection letters. The newspaper industry had begun it's downward spiral into the crapper and, along with it, my hopes of having a syndicated strip. I took a break from cartooning and focused my efforts on my career as a graphic designer and my family.

It wasn't until this year that I got  the bug to start drawing again. I begin by posting the first panel from my 2005 attempt at syndication. In those days I drew everything by hand and the entire submission was in black and white. I'm in the process of digitally remastering the work in color and will post them all upon completion. There are about 50 comics in all. In addition, I have hundreds of files of half finished jokes and sketches that I hope to draw up when time allows. God willing, I'll even post some brand-spanking-new stuff when inspiration strikes me.

Thanks for reading!

Might As Well Jump

In further setting up my blog it got me thinking a lot about the past. So, I thought I'd go into a little of the history of Mesy Comics for those of you who might be unfamiliar with the origins. (Pronounced just like messy comics.) Mesy Comics is my delusions of a comic book company. In reality, it’s just one guy with a vivid imagination and very little sense. Ironic since it all began with a single comic poking fun at another guy with equally big aspirations….little did I realize how that first comic would come to be a metaphor for an entire career.

It all started back in 1988 with Matt Strott, a boring social studies class, a number 2 pencil and a British ski jumper named Eddie The Eagle Edwards. An inspiration in both heart and determination, Eddie was also the spark to ignite Matt Strott’s passion for absurdist comedy. For those of you never lucky enough to watch The Eagle, you missed something special. Eddie flew through the air with all the grace, style and aerodynamics of a newborn moose. Time and time again, his quest to fly ended in a spectacular crash, always falling far short of the competition. (Out of the 57 Olympic competitors that year, he finished 56. The 57^th was disqualified). But no matter how many times he crashed, he always got back up and jumped again. If the crashes were spectacular, the triumphs were amazing! You wouldn’t know to look at him, how ridiculously short he was of the competition. He was always beaming with pride. Some might say Eddie was foolish to devote his life to a sport he had very little chance to reach the pinnacle of, but a true fool would not have had the courage to jump in the first place.

It is that same foolish pride and reckless abandon upon which Mesy Comics was founded. That same spirit of absurdity which compelled a goofy British guy to take up ski jumping (without a mountain or snow), is the same spirit of absurdity which compelled Matt Strott to take up cartooning, without plan.

As in life, the spectacular crashes and the miraculous landings are unimportant. It’s the jump that counts! Mesy Comics is one cartoonist’s jump toward a dream – the dream of making comics.

Three More Cards

Although these aren't the first Christmas cards I ever did, they are close to it. "Rudolph Gets Lit" is from 2003 and is the earliest card I have digital. Prior to that my work was all hand colored... I must have been out of my mind! Thank God for Photoshop and my Wacom tablet!

Cards of Christmas Past

Happy New Year everyone! At the urging of my wife and friends I'm starting a blog of my comics. This first posting is "Cards of Christmas Past". It's by no means a complete collection of the Christmas comics I've made over the years but it is most of the better ones. I began drawing Christmas cards for friends and family in 2001. 2011 was the 10th anniversary. What better way to commemorate the Christmas comic tradition than by launching the blog.

I mainly hope to use the blog as format for sharing my comics. I have lots of old work I plan to post and maybe even create some new stuff. I'm not really sure where this blog will take me but since my comics are just collecting dust. Someone might as well enjoy them.

Thanks for taking a look!