Jimbo's Top 9 of 2008 #6: Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries: The Golden Carrot

I had two stabs at Granny, Sylvester and Tweety. The first one The Tweety Effect wasn't great. There was some good stuff in there, but I think I just tried too hard. The Golden Carrot, which appeared in Looney Tunes #166, was no less ambitious but I think a more satisfactory affair. It featured Marvin the Martian, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. Not only that at the end Granny walks off the comic page in order to chastise and wave her umbrella in the direction of writer and artist (Chynna Clugston). Except that the writer doesn't bear my likeness, but was drawn in the guise of inker Mike DeCarlo, moustache and everything! I suppose that was rather naughty of Mike and his shady hirsute behaviour is even acknowledged by the editor in the final edit! I'm not even sure about the spelling of lapsang souchon either. Mad, I tell ye, mad!

Jimbo's Top 9 of 2008 #7: Sideburns: Conjoined Sins

Appearing in Bullet Proof #2 a rather eclectic, bold new UK anthology edited by Matt Yeo. Or should I say reprinted but with a spanking new lettering makeover. Lets face it the number of lettering mistakes on its original publication in Negative Burn was nothing less than shocking. Superbly drawn by Jon Haward, this was the second outing of our dog-eared ham shackled private detective. And not particularly lovable either as in the end he condemns one of his friends to a brutal gang war execution. I can't quite remember what frame of mind I was in when I wrote this one, but I could probably make an educated guess :-)

The third Sideburns script is in the can and with the over busy Mr Haward. It doesn't have a happy ending either.

Jimbo's Top 9 of 2008 #8: Camp Lazlo: Vote Lazlo!

The cover story of Cartoon Network Block Party #51 (cover by Robert Pope and Mike Decarlo, interior art by Mike 'say it quickly' Kazaleh). The blurb says it best: Scoutmaster Lumpus is missing, and Lazlo and the other campers decide that one of their own must replace him! They do so by contesting an election. I wrote the script in the middle of a typically seemingly interminable US presidential race. Can you remember the time when people were discussing the result between Obama and McCain as too close to call? And then one Monday everyone realised the voting was due the next day and that history was finally going to be made. A month or so later this story came out and I was so grateful I hadn't put any topical references in there. Cute baby hamsters, maggots crawling into ears, mind-control rosettes, someone throwing a shoe at the departing Scoutmaster... No nothing topical in there at all.

Jimbo's Top 9 of 2008: #9 Samurai Jack: Waiting For the Cavalry


This is the first of three Samurai Jack entries that rank as my publishing highlights for 2008. This year I've scripted a lot of stories starring the tall chap and it does help that I'm such a fan of the character. The best thing about Jack is how I can tell a story from his and others' perspectives keeping it fresh and iconic. 'Waiting for the Cavalry' appeared in Cartoon Network Action Pack #31. A four-page story told from a boy's point of view describing Jack's timely arrival to save a town from a group of marauding wrecking machines. The townspeople prayed for the cavalry to arrive and Jack duly obliged. The artist is Philip Moy and this is one of his pencilled pages (which I unashamedly lifted from his blog). Note the top left panel where Jack is finally, fully, revealed at the start of the last page. Looking all iconic and cool. With that chain in his hand don't be surprised if he's not in fact queuing up for the new Guns n Roses CD. Man he's that type of guy.

Hey, hi kids. Just a quick note (and my first entry this year I'm aghast to type) to say I'll be attending the up and coming NYCC. Indeed my flight leaves Glasgow Int. at 9am the morrow. Things have been a little quiet I'm the first to admit. Alas The Last Posse has been shelved indefinitely. Since then I've handed in a bunch of Samurai Jack and other Cartoon Network strips to DC. And scheduled for June is the Ripper Legacy Graphic Novel written by me with Mark Bloodworth on art and published by Transfuzion. More on all of this later - honestly. I do miss this blog. I miss the therapy. Okey doke I need to dash and I'll see y'all over the weekend somewhere in Manhattan. Cheers, Jim.