The Penguin

I'm proud to announce that The Human Cannonball #1 is just finished, and will be coming out...when I get some money. Seriously, there is no money available to print this thing. I need to set up a PayPal account and start begging. But who cares! It's done! Pop the cork on the Champagne-in-a-box, and let's party. I'm thinking of taking THC and offering it to Image or Dark Horse or one of those other comic book publishers, because frankly, I'm sick and tired of having no distribution or marketing. 'Tis true, I do like the whole local-hero DIY aspect of Blind Alley Comics (I'm already halfway to becoming Harvey Pekar...on the inside). But when it comes down to it, who are we kidding? Blind Alley Comics has no budget for marketing, distribution, and (often) printing our comics. Even if we managed to sell a comic to all the people we know, we still wouldn't make enough to finance a production level of any appreciable scale. With that in mind, I'm going to...

Howdy, all. I'm not sure if you've noticed, if you've ever been on DeviantArt, but it's kind of...um... pornographic . There's a lot of pretty blatant pornography mixed in with the art. I'm sort of embarrassed to post my art on there, because of the whole shame-by-association thing. Now don't get me wrong; I don't mind a bit of artistic nudity thrown in here and there, especially where it involves black-and-white photography (I am a fan of Man Ray). And I'm not opposed to erotica, where tastefully done (or, on the opposite side, tackily done, because it can be funny and weird and interesting to look at). The human body can be art. I have no problem with that. But I do have a problem when I go on an art site, and it seems like every tenth image is blatant commercial pornography. And I do mean commercial - the Deviant ID for these images is very obviously a group of paid photographers, co-opting an open art site to peddle their wares. Often ...

I'm developing something of a green thumb, or at least a green pinkie. Two years ago I set up a little garden patch in my back yard, and since then I've been trying out various kinds of fruits and vegetables, with varying degrees of success. This year I tried some seeds from a Howell melon and a gourd. I tried to start the melon inside the house, in a little Styrofoam cup; unfortunately, I think it makes the plants weak (or something). The gourd seeds, on the other hand, I planted directly into the ground. Here's the result: BOOM The photo doesn't really do justice to the infestation that is Gordy the Gourd. He has these hand-like feelers on the ends of his vines, which seem to reach out for something to grab; I've caught him trying repeatedly to crawl across the lawn toward the house. Mostly I just redirect his energies back to the fence. Eventually I may have to prune the beast. And the melon? Well, Melanie the Melon is not having quite the same succ...

Dear Friends (and nemeses): Here's the logo for Blind Alley Comics, formerly Dead City Productions: I sure hope you like it...'cause you're going to be seeing a lot of it. So you'd better get used to it. No whining or complaining. At least, not when I'm around. Rick Out.

Here's the completed color cover for The Human Cannonball #1: Ain't it purdy?

Here are a couple of sketchbook pages, just to whet your appetite: Sketchbook welcome page freeform geometric designs The second page represents a style I've been working with for five years now; it's a sort of freeform geometric jazz image. Working on these is a very slow, meditative process for me, but the final product is sort of obsessive-looking and slightly mad. I've heard it likened to both Buddhist mandala sand-paintings and some kind of Op-art. The first sketch also contains elements of this patterning; a lot of my art involves this sort of repetitive, highly-detailed, jumpy motion. I hope it catches on. I plan to crank these out for Cons and galleries, hopefully to earn some extra cash. Rick Out.

I should probably provide links to all my stuff, like all the other kids are doing these days. Here's some links: My DeviantArt account My comic book production group Facebook page (currently) My website Fight or Flight webcomic I hope that satisfies your insatiable lust for Rick Schlaack art products. Most of the stuff will look familiar, but the DeviantArt account will have some never-before-seen work.