The Science Project #58

God, I haven't done an SP in a long while! I had been saving this idea for a while, hoping to use it for The Dregs, but it never seemed to fit like it would for an SP. I originally wanted to use it with the saying, "A friend will help you create a body. A real friend will help you dispose of one." And what if that person brought limes instead of lyme? So here it is. "Awkwarrrrddd..."

I also tried a different stylistic approach to the characters, which is going to be something I wanted to try out because I want to use it for a children's book I might be illustrating. I hope you like it.

Cheers.

Johnny

PS - I have a few other SP ideas I'm working with, so expect another couple soon.

The Dregs #58 and MGI News

This episode's dialogue actually did not come from working at the bar. This is purely my pet peeve and how I feel a lot of other cultures feel about Americans. I don't know about any of you, but I hate bad grammar. So, who better than these ignorant, smart-ass characters to deliver my judgement? Bolek, being able to give my view of foreign opinion, made this one easy to write, other than the Polish translation. Thanks again for that, Delilah!

On a technical note, I drew this one on a larger bristol board (11"x14") and had to scale it down after scanning individual panels. I hope everything looks right to you all (especially the legibility of the dialogue). I do have to say, it was a hell of a lot easier to draw the details vs on the 9"x11" boards.

On to the news - I'm sorry that I haven't been able to keep up with The Dregs with the weekly schedule I hoped to publish, but for good reason. I am in the early stages of working on illustrating a children's book as well as working on a personal poster project (enjoy the alliteration), so my time has been more limited than usual. But, rest assured that I'll keep punching them out even if you stop reading them.

Cheers!

Johnny

The Dregs #57

A couple I know invited me over to watch the Bears game and one of the other guests just got back from running a half marathon that morning. I have never been a fan of running. I don't think I'd do it if someone was trying to chase me. But. we all talked about this woman's athletic feat and how great it is to be fit, I couldn't help but write down retorts to everything she was saying. These were the best two.

Cheers.

Dregs #56

Sooo... here's another episode. I don't have anything to say about it, really. I hope you liked the panel of Peg dressed in a prostitute's uniform. And I don't care what anyone says. Making fart sounds with your armpit will always be funny.

Cheers.

Johnny

the dregs #55

To quote my inner Biff Tannen, "Well, looky what we have here...". Bolek, the man with the best hair in cartoons, drops some philosophy/theology on your asses! And Peg has multiple facial expressions! I was sure her face was going to crumble when she squinted, but she's a tough old broad and doesn't take crap from cartoonists like me (or so she tells me). Now that we have a new character, albeit, possibly an unrelatable one, but I'm excited about the possiblilities and I already have some ideas for him in future episodes.

I hope you're all enjoying the increasing detail that's going into these newer episodes. I guess I feel like I have to mention it as a pat on the back to myself because, not only do I love how they're coming together and really accenting the characters and overall style of the comic, but (believe it or not) it takes a long time to do if they're not going to look like shit. So, love it. I said LOVE IT!

Cheers.

Johnny

The Dregs #54

So, it's been 2 months since my last Dregs post. Believe it or not, cartoonist writer's block had struck again and I was helpless against it. Well, maybe not the helpless part, but I couldn't come up with anything funny. Thankfully, that has passed and I have a few more funny ideas I plan to draw this week before I have to come up with something new again. Let's hope this creative streak lasts!

As for this week's strip, I've introduced a new character named "Bolek". He's a one eyed, philosophical/brooding Polish character that, as far as we know, doesn't speak English (there will be translations). He doesn't have any lines this week, but that will soon change. I hope you like him.

Anyway, I hope you like this episode.

Cheers.

The Dregs #53

I know it's been a while since Dregs episode, so I hope this one makes up for the time. In my defense, I've been pretty busy. For instance, you can now buy my book(let), Not Just A Coaster on Lulu.com! I've been needing to put something like that together for quite some time and, thanks to my friend Kyra, I had to create one for her art show. Here's the link, if you're interested.

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/not-just-a-coaster/15982642?productTrackingContext=search_results%2Fsearch_shelf%2Fcenter%2F1

Anyway, the punchline for this episode I got from one of my fellow bartenders, but it ended up changing along the way, as most of my jokes do. In the end, I came back to the original idea when my girlfriend didn't get it the way it was originally modified. I was almost in trouble when I had to rewrite the banter between Peg and Sal because it was already drawn, so space was definitely an issue. I think it all worked out.

Also, I'm fishing around for elegant script/handwritten fonts for the title. I'm trying something new this episode, so I hope you like it.

Cheers.

John

The Dregs #52

Let's see... I reached back into my old book of ideas and pulled out this pearl. Originally, the joke was someone saying, "Are we going to do a shot before we go?" Someone else would then reply, "We'd better. You're driving." Not funny and I don't remember why I thought it was in the first place, let alone why I decided to write it down and save it for later. I was, and hopefully you agree with my use of past tense here, very good at writing confusing dialogue.Thankfully, I've been getting better at not doing that anymore. But I welcome the challenge of going back through these bad joke ideas and doing something with them after having given up on them years ago. It's fun reading the original ideas and saying to myself, "what was I thinking?" Hopefully, you're finding the effort worthwhile too.

I'm sure you've all noticed the addition of the title to the new format. I think it'll give each edition a more professional look and, once I come up with a signature font to use for it, I'll replace the one I'll be using for the time being.

Cheers.

John

The Dregs #51

This episode was just finished (3/16/11). A friend of mine had just gotten back from Florida and I instantly thought of those awfully funny "... and all I got was this lousy t-shirt" t-shirts people get, or used to get, and tried to make a joke about it. It just seemed to fit, but I thought it was time Peg got zinged instead of Sal and/or Onions. And there you have it.

Cheers.

John

the science project #57

This episode was drawn in November when the big TSA pat down scare started. I know the publication of this comic is more than a little late, but I've never been known to be punctual. Just ask my ex-girlfriend. Thankfully, the TSA is still known for "aggressive pat downs", so it still plays. I hope you all enjoy both the comic and your pat downs.

Cheers.

Johnny

The Dregs Turns 50 (episodes)!!!

Hello, dear friends. It seems just like yesterday when my first comic, The Science Project, turned 50 (episodes) and now my second group of misfits, The Dregs, have reached this milestone. As I'm sure my mother will say when I finally get married and have kids, I never thought I'd live long enough to see the day.

As I write this, I look back over the course of the past 50 episodes and I see how Sal, Peg, and Onions have grown up - their look, voice, etc. Even I grew up while drawing this comic and I'm truly proud of how everything has turned out. If you get the time, take a walk down memory lane and remember some funny, and not so funny, moments. Hopefully, there will be more of the prior than the latter.

All nostalgia aside, this episode is basically a play on the "I like my coffee like I like my women" comment. Adam, customer of mine, came up with the "cold and bitter" bit and I had to use it because it fit so well, but it took a bit of messing around to get the joke to play. I think it works well.

Cheers!

Johnny

The Dregs #49

Once again, I apologize for the delay with putting out a fresh Dregs episode. The last couple months have been busy gathering material, writing scripts, thinking of voices, taking software classes, reading books, yadda yadda yadda... all to move forward with The Dregs Animated Series. So, know that I have been busy while Sal, Peg, and Onions have been on vacation. I'll try my best to have them coming regularly.

This episode is a play on a joke that my fellow bartender zings me with whenever I say "SOMEONE'S gotta work around here, ya bum!" His response - "When that person shows up, let me know." I was in the Omar's Zing Zone (if you don't already know what that is, don't ask) and I got "zung".

JW