The Penguin

Ugh. My brain hurts. Working on my website and getting ready for my portfolio open house. It's a doozy - I have so much stuff to print and work on and everything. I'm on schedule, though, so that's a plus. I'll be heading into Lansing tomorrow to get some stuff printed. Which reminds me, I need to get my resume done...and my business cards...but I can do the business cards online through the printer, so that won't be too bad. It's just that resume that needs completing, and I'm extremely nervous about it; I'm trying something really far-out and experimental. Maybe not that experimental, but still. In case you didn't know, here's the information for the open house. You're all invited (all two of you). Location: 422 North Washington Square Lansing Community College Main Campus Lansing, MI 48933 Gannon Building, rooms 112 and 114 Date: December 17th Time: 4-7 pm Refreshments served! Be sure to save the date. I'll be featured, along with my...

Now, I've never had a knack for political cartoons, but every so often I'll whip one out. Did you hear the thing about North Korea firing on a South Korean island? NK artillery bombarded the island while SK troops were on military maneuvers; several people were killed. There followed an exchange of artillery fire in which 175 shells were used. Trés exciting, non ? Figure 1.1: "The Damoclean Sword". (Sorry, I did misspell "Damoclean" on the image). Just the thought of two small nuclear powers slugging it out, especially with Kim Jong Il being slightly senile, puts one one edge. Then again, India and Pakistan have been doing the same thing off and on for the last twenty years, and nukes never came into play. Still scary, though. A word of explanation, in case you didn't catch the reference: Damocles [Damocles]...was an obsequious courtier in the court of Dionysius II of Syracuse , a fourth century BC tyrant of Syracuse, Italy . Pandering to his king, ...

Voila: a cockroach. "Dat don't MAKE money, boy..."

Hello, sportsfans. I'm announcing the beginning of a new Dark Corner Productions project. Now I know what you're thinking: "But Rick! How can you announce a new project when you haven't even finished the last one?!" Well, because I can. And yes, because right now I'm extremely bored with Aeolus #3 , and am trying to avoid working on it (I seriously need to get my butt in gear - maybe after I finish up my portfolio, I'll go back to working on it. I promise). But The Human Cannonball is going to be a series to end all series, or at least make the next series think seriously about its options. Here's a picture of the eponymous character, just to whet your appetite: Sidelong Sidely, The Human Cannonball Yes, he's heroic, dashing, daring, and all that other fun stuff. He's also completely bonkers. They call him "Sidelong" Sidely because he's hit his head so many times his eyes point in two different directions. Wacky stuff. I've d...

Just practicing drawing the female form. Generally I'm a pretty pathetic hand at it, but at least I got two good sketches out of it: faces belly dancers A lot of times with me it's more of a confidence thing than anything else - I keep thinking, "Wait - does that look like a dude? Need to make the boobs bigger..." For me, the ideal would be to craft an unmistakably feminine form without relying on exaggeration to make my point. Faces are especially difficult; the "big eyes and button nose" combo will only take you so far.

Hello, gang. I have just acquired a Wacom Bamboo tablet, and I've been itching to try it out. Here's a couple of sketches I managed to churn out with my new toy: Sketch #1 Sketch #2 (Neither of these sketches, by the way, have anything to do with anything). Yes, brave readers, Rick has indeed entered the Information Age. Hell has not just frozen over; it is experiencing a veritable ice age: Hell mammoths! So there you have it, kids - my first digital scribbles. Enjoy. Rick Out.

Hey gang, just real quick - I'm thinking of posting some sketches regularly, hopefully, um...weekly? Bi-weekly? Maybe Monday-Thursday-Friday. Or maybe whenever I damn well feel like it. Anyway, I think regular sketches will help spice up this blog a little bit. Keep an eye out. They will be accompanied by long, rambling explanations; if y'all are good and eat your veggies, I might even color a couple of them for you. No promises, though. Rick Out.

Howdy gang. Just another monthly update, to make it look like I keep up on this blog. Maybe someday I'll get back to regular posting. Maybe. Meh. At any rate, not much to report. I'm busy with my Portfolio class for my graphic design degree, and I'm actually doing some cool stuff. Aeolus #3 is slowly, ever so slowly getting done; just bummed out with the amount of work involved: doing all the penciling, inking, scanning, and computer-editing yourself is a beast. I mean, I did it all for the first two, but this next one is twice as long, and I've got a serious motivation deficit going here. Let's see, what else...have to do the next page for Fight or Flight ; looks like we may have a hard copy in the works at some point (not promising anything, here). Have some other projects I want to start, maybe, kind of. Just ideas bouncing around in the old noggin, things I'll get momentarily excited about. Perhaps it's better just to let them gestate for ...

Yes, faithful readers, the Schlaack is back. After a slight recess (involving a nervous breakdown - lots of fun, if you've never had one) as well as working at my summer job (no internet access), I guess I'm back in the Blogsphere. A quick update on things so far: Aeolus #3 is in the works - slowly - and at 20 pages, it's a doozy. I can't give any dates, because I'm working in fits and starts; but it's coming along. Fight or Flight is stalled. Hopefully I can squeeze out a couple of sheets this month. The amount of work involved in creating a single sheet (usually four pages) is monumental, and the results are inconsistent. I'm talking with Skippy (the author) about signing on another artist to do the backgrounds at least, and take some of the weight off my back. There are rumblings in certain Dark Corners about a new project coming out from Dark Corner Productions...I'm not sure how much I can (or should) say about the topic. Just keep your eyes peeled...

A DCP Comic Book Release Announcement! Presented by: Rick Schlaack Listen up, yokels! Announcing the release of Aeolus #2 from Dark Corner Productions... Aeolus #2 Copies are $3.00 (US ) a piece. And be sure to check out Aeolus #1, of course; otherwise Aeolus #2 won't make a whole lot of sense. Then again, it might...but it's best to be on the safe side. Aeolus #1 Also just $3.00 (US). And remember, if it's quality comics, it's gotta be... Rick Out.

Rick here. Just working through these grim last days of winter. Classes have been grinding me into the ground - I'm not really sure why; the workload isn't that heavy - and I'm currently plugging away at Aeolus #2 . Work is getting tough, too - between the patrons, stressed-out coworkers, and carts full of books and DVDs piling up in the back room, I'm ready to rip somebody's head off and wear it like a hat. Then again, maybe not. A hand puppet would be better. And if I have to smell another drunk, I swear ta God... On the other hand (playing the Pollyanna game, I s'pose), I am working more hours. And more hours means more dough. On top of that, I've gotten my comic books on the shelves at the library; I've already had somebody call up and ask when the next one's coming out (mid-March, it looks like). If I can generate enough interest, perhaps I can build up a customer base here in Howell that will help pay for DCP's Lansing efforts. Provided, of...

Howdy gang. Aeolus #1 is out, if you haven't heard (and you probably haven't, because my PR is absolutely lousy). It looks good, if I do say so myself. Not bad, and it cost a hell of a lot less than Ian's Dream . Firstly, it has only sixteen pages, as opposed to ID 's twenty-four; secondly, I made the cover material the same as the inside (28 lb copy bond, instead of 60 lb Bristol); and lastly, but definitely not least, I did my own InDesign work, which saved me sixty bucks! All in all, it came out to about $85.00 for sixty-two copies (twelve extra included) as opposed to $107.60 for fifty copies. And let me tell ya, the quality is awesome. Instead of doing the art completely by hand, I swallowed my pride (and every principle I thought I had) and did the hard stuff on the computer - shading and highlights, and mostly photographic backgrounds. Yep, it's cheating all right. And yep, I don't regret it one bit. Well, maybe a teensy bit...in some dark corner of my...

The launch of Fight or Flight also coincides with the release of my new solo effort, Aeolus. This was planned (or just happened to end up as) a three-parter: Part I is due out this month, Part II hopefully by the beginning of February, and Part III is coming out whenever the hell it comes out, so don't rush me. Yes, I know - your fearless blogger has, in previous posts, made the announcement that "Dark Corner Productions will get a comic out in December, so help us God!!!" And of course that has not happened. Why? Well, firstly, we - myself and the inimitable Joe Haines (everyone I know is inimitable) - are a couple of comic book moonlighters with little free capital. There's just no money, and there's just no time. Dark Corner Productions is currently hogtied by its artists' committments. As long as this continues to be the case, we can kiss any definite deadlines goodbye. Secondly, I've experienced a change in philosophy. I used to be extremely gung-...

Hey, gang! Check out the webcomic Fight or Flight, created by myself and the inimitable Skippy, over at http://fofcomic.com/ .