The Second Death of Minnesota Basketball?

In 1960, professional basketball died in Minnesota after the local professional team, the Lakers, made a beeline for the warm climate and eventual large market of Los Angeles, California. In 1989, after a long absence from the area, professional basketball returned with the Minnesota Timberwolves. In 1994, professional basketball in Minnesota nearly died again when the franchise was almost moved to New Orleans. The governing professional basketball authority had decided to block the move. In 1995, a skinny kid named Kevin Garnett was drafted straight from high school and made his professional debut that season. Unfortunately, on July 31, 2007, Kevin Garnett and the aforementioned Minnesota Timberwolves parted ways with a trade to the Boston Celtics. Thus, potentially killing professional basketball for the second time in Minnesota.

Watts Tower

So, a few weeks ago I designed characters for a comic strip that I created for condominums being sold in Birmingham, Alabama. The Watts Tower is, from what I understand, a local landmark and was renovated into condos for downtown urban living. Below are designs for a cardboard cutout and a comic strip. The comic strip was created into a postcard that was handed out at local bars and coffee shoppes, used as a marketing tool on Craigslist, and turned into a giant banner that was hung on the building itself. Click on the images below for larger images.

New bewilderedkid comic!

Time to get preachy folks! For those who know me, I mean really know me. Then you know that I really dig historic buildings. Hell they are the reason I have one of my two college degrees! Furthermore, I think it's great to see these landmarks gaining new uses rather than being torn down for new development.
However, I do not approve of most methods of gentrification, especially those that remove residents from their humble neighborhoods (cough) Rondo neighborhood in St. Paul (cough) . Also, I have remorse for those that have commandeered vacated spaces and are left out in, well, the cold. You'll see more of this in the following "preachy-as-hell" comic. As always, click on the image for a larger view.

Bad.

As posted from the Cartoonist Conspiracy website:
Fellow cartoonist, cyclist, and all around wonderful person Eric Lappegard passed away on July 23rd, 2007 from complications after a car accident that had left him paralyzed earlier this month. Eric was a charming fella, full of passion and enthusiasm, and talented as hell. Please take the time to check out some of his wonderful comics and get a glimpse of what we’ve lost.
www.ericlappegard.com.
Eric's several communities of friends here in Minneapolis are putting together a day-long benefit/celebration of the life of Eric on SEPTEMBER 8th, 2007 which will include an "Alley Cat" bike race, an art show at Altered Esthetics gallery(www.alteredesthetics.com), silent auction, music, and more.
All money will go towards Eric's parents to help pay for the remaining hospital bills, etc.
The remainder of this article can be seen here: Eric Lappegard tribute/benefit.
I met Eric at my first International Cartoonist Conspiracy, which was almost three months ago. I remember him talking about his bike. I didn't know him very well, but from those three hours spent, I could tell he loved comics and his bike. It's a sad day here at bewilderedkid.com
More info on the benefit/celebration as it's released.

Awesome New People!

Originally I wanted to post about awesome artists that I've either met, aspire to meet, are friends with, or are merely a casual acquaintance. That hasn't happened too much lately. I've been busy. I apologize.
So, tonight I will post a little something about two individuals and one collective of artists - all based here in the Twin Cities!
First, let me introduce you to Ryan Dow. Ryan is a fellow member of the International Cartoonist Conspiracy (more on them later). I met him at my first ICC meeting almost three months ago. He has a great website that features his Introspective Comics. These comics are wonderful and provide an insight to the mind of the creator. I really enjoy these, partially because they remind me of my own comics, but not as angry or laden with vulgar words or crude images. I guess they are really not that similar at all other than he says what's on his mind and keeps a tight schedule by updating weekly - every Sunday. Check out his website! If you don't I'll hunt you down and make you do it!
Secondly, let me introduce you to the International Cartoonist Conspiracy. This collective of artists, of whom both myself and Ryan are associated with, are a nationwide phenomenon. However, it all started here in the Twin Cities. I've only been a member of the ICC for going on three months, but am so glad that I decided to hook up with this crew. Everyone is so damned talented and accepting. The cell I usually associate with have weekly comic jams every first Thursday of the month. Anyone is welcome to come and see what all the fuss is about. These meetings are at Diamond's Coffee Shoppe in Northeast Minneapolis and start at approximately 6 PM and roll on until about 10 PM.
Lastly, let me introduce you to Sam Hiti. Sam is a rising star in the comic industry. He has a nice, self-published, body of work that includes Tiempos Finales, Ghoulash, and El Largo Tren Oscuro. He is currently working on the sequel to Tiempos Finales, which to my understanding is becoming a film at some point. Also, he is the head referee of Fist-A-Cuffs, which just needs to be seen to be believed. I met Sam at the Midwest Comic Book Association's MicroCon in 2007. At the time I was taking over as a Senior Level Purchasing Manager of a now failed enterprise and was being introduced by the former holder of that position to Sam. Unfortunately, the other day I had to shoot Sam an e-mail about the failing of the aforementioned enterprise. However, Sam as always, was very understanding, professional, and welcoming. I know that this man is going to go extermely far in this industry and it is only a matter of time before Sam Hiti is a household name - at least in the realm of comicdom.
Well, that's all I have energy for right now.
I'm working on a submission for an upcoming anthology, which whether I make the cut or not, I will definitely be plugging on this page and via MySpace.
Take care!

New bewilderedkid comic!

I know this goes against all of my rules about posting, but enjoy this early treat! Regular comic posting will commence next Thursday. In reference to this mini-comic, I am pretty sure that after the two or three women that dwell here every now and then read this mini-comic they will hate me forever. Oh well, it was a nice run while it lasted.
Otherwise, enjoy the new comic. If you'd like to give me an earful, or just say anything, feel free to comment by clicking the little comments tag below! You can even be anonymous if you so choose!
As per usual, click on the following image for the larger, more readable version.

My City Pages Comix Entry

I'm lying around the apartment today after throwing up at work in the morning. Around noon my wife called to inform me that I didn't make the cut for the physical City Pages entry. Although I'd have liked to be a part of the physical issue, I am so excited for everyone that participated in this issue, whether they made it in the paper or onto the website! Everyone is so damned talented that I am proud to say that I am a part of this awesome collective of cartoonists known as The International Cartoonist Conspiracy! All of their City Pages entries can be viewed at here citypages.com. I posted my City Pages Comix entry below, mostly for archiving purposes. Do me and yourself a favor by visiting citypages.com to check out all of the awesome assembled talent.
Enjoy!
Click for the larger, more readable version.

City Pages Comix Issue!

The physical issue comes out Wednesday. The web version is up right now. That's right ladies and gentlemen. In conjunction with the International Cartoonist's Conspiracy, the City Pages Comix Issue has arrived!
Not everyone will make the cut for the physical issue, we all will find out for certain tomorrow, but everyone who participated, including myself, can be found here citypages.com.
For those of you who are not familiar with the City Pages, it is the Twin Cities answer to New York's Village Voice, Phoenix's The New Times, and any other free, hip, alternative newspaper across the United States.
Everyone who participated is super talented and should be commended for their hardwork. Feel free to check out their web comics, or blogs, if they have them listed. If you see their comix in your local comic shop, you should buy it - they are generally inexpensive. Support us cartoonists!
So go, check it out!
Not there yet? GO THERE NOW!

New bewilderedkid comic!

New stuff! Click below for a larger image!

Out of town.

I'm leaving for Minnesota's north shore Saturday. I'm really not in need of a break, since I've been unemployed for nearly a month, but I do start my new job on Monday, so I guess this is a way to celebrate the last few days of laziness and not having to take a shower until 3 PM.
I'm going to bring my sketchbook up with me. Hopefully I can get some good sketches in there. I haven't been able to get out in the world much to my chagrin during my unemployment. For the most part, I've been cooped up in my apartment creating and finishing my potentially published work and creating new mini-comics for the website. I'm nearly two months ahead of schedule for the mini-comics. I have a whole bunch of other ideas, which I'll probably sketch during the trip up north.
Uh. Yeah. Nothing too exciting. I really don't even know why I'm writing this. Boredom?
I need a haircut. That's what I'm going to do now.

New bewilderedkid comic!

Remember to click on the image for a larger, more readable, image.
Enjoy!

Complete!

Last night I completed another strip, but not for this site. This is a strip I had alluded to in an aforementioned post. It will hopefully appear in a local periodical with one of the largest circulations in the Twin Cities. This project, from what I understand, is a one time only gig. I'm excited and hope that I make the cut. However, there is always the chance that it doesn't appear in this periodical due to the unbelievable amount of talent that has signed up for this project and the limited amount of spaces in the issue. Either way, I am looking forward to this opportunity become a realization, because it will be great seeing the work produced by all parties. If my strip is published, I will make everyone aware what periodical it is and when it will be released. Even if it isn't published I'll still let people know about the great amount of talent that are included in the issue.
In addition to completing a non-website oriented comic, I helped digitally assemble another non-website oriented strip created by Ben Zwolinski for the Science Museum of Minnesota's inhouse newsletter. The strip is great! Unfortunately, it isn't for patrons of the Science Museum, you need to volunteer to get the newsletter. Once Ben gets his website up and running I will post a link to his site. Although this was his first strip for the Science Museum, he will be doing more. I hope that he posts the completed strips on his website when it's functional.
As for my bewilderedkid comics, I've hit somewhat of a wall. I have about twenty or so topics/ideas, but none of them are sketched. Although I am about two months ahead, so there are plenty of comics to post even if I decided to take some time off of this project, I get somewhat worried when I don't have a strip sitting on my drawing board waiting to be inked. I will begin sketching ideas for this site after today.

This website has been put On Notice!

Unbelieveable.


Check out the following link for more details On Notice.

The E! True Hollywood Story of Princess Allura, second pilot of Voltron's blue lion.

A friend of mine had pondered what had happened to Princess Allura after Voltron had stopped producing new episodes. I was able to provide him with the following information. Enjoy.
Princess Allura's career and life took a tragic turn. I don't know if you ever watch E! True Hollywood Stories, but they produced one about the cast of Voltron. After defending the universe from Prince Lotor's evil creations for many years, she was overcome with a case of space pnemounia in 1991. She battled for nearly six months, but the infection took hold and she died on September 17th, 1991.
Following her death, Keith became so distraught he went on a quest to find himself. This led to Sven, the original pilot of the blue lion to come back to planet Arus and take over as captain of the black lion. The blue lion remained unoccupied for nearly two years as Keith continued to try and "find himself." This made for many awkward battles, since Voltron now only had one leg and was unable to properly unsheath its blazing sword. In instances when the Voltron Force attempted to form its blazing sword, Voltron would lose its balance and crash into the monsters it was battling, which was productive since it instantly killed them. However, Pidge, pilot of the green lion, would often times receive the brunt of crashing into the monsters and as a result had many concussions. Consequently, Pidge now suffers from the neurological disorder known as epilepsy. In fact, the planet of Arus and Pidge's neurologist had revoked his lion pilot's license for six months. This led to six months of even more awkward battles as Voltron had, at the time, only one leg and one arm. Therefore, instead of using the blazing sword during battles due to looking silly and Pidge's mental illnesses Voltron relied on one-legged, and for a time one-legged and one-armed, interpretive dance to confuse its opponents into submission.
In April of 1994 Keith returned to the Voltron Force along with his supposed successor for the blue lion, Kurt Cobain, whom had not actually committed suicide on Earth, but instead had built a cyborg replica of himself. It wasn't until later that Kurt found out that the cyborg had taken its own life, because it also could not deal with Courtney Love. Keith was suprised to find that Sven had returned to the Voltron Force and had assumed his role as captain. This led to the two of them battling in a grueling best of seven game of Tron for leadership of the group. Sven won this battle four games to two. With the blue lion still vacated, and Hunk, pilot of the yellow lion, tired of literally "carrying the team", Keith and Kurt had a best of one heroin shoot off to determine who would become the new pilot of the blue lion. Unfortunately, for fans of grunge music everywhere Keith lost the battle and overdosed, thus Kurt Cobain becoming the new and current pilot of the blue lion and giving up all of his musical aspirations.
So there you have it.