Chasing My White Whale: The One Character I've Never Been Able To Draw.

Plus: We Have Nominees, Someone's Getting Pregnant, And A Fan Triggers My Allergic Reaction To Peanuts!

I know, I know, it’s been a while between newsletters, but it’s not without good reason. More on that in a bit. First, let’s get to some important updates.

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As If I Needed Anymore Confirmation…

A few weeks back, I received a text from my pal Jim McLauchlin, President of The Hero Initiative, informing me that they had sold a boatload of Stan’s Soapbox Collection right after I posted a link to it in my August 3rd newsletter. One subscriber purchased FIVE copies! 

When I started Drawing The Line Somewhere, my hope was that together, we would build an online community of wonderful and engaged fans, enthusiasts, fellow creators, lunatics, and friends. It’s times like these that I feel so grateful, and find that words can’t express how thankful I am that you’re interested enough in my silly meanderings and doodles to spend your precious time with me on this journey.

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PAIRS

Years ago, I was asked to join my building’s condo board. As a board member, I was privy to the applications of anyone looking to purchase a unit in our building. One day, the board was asked to review a new application. The name at the top read Howard Schatz.

Wait… what?

You see, in 1999, as I walked through a bookstore, I discovered the work of a legendary photographer by that same name. From that moment on, I couldn’t get enough of his visionary work and waited anxiously for each new collection. Take one look at his groundbreaking underwater photos and their dreamy Art Nouveau undertones, and I think you’ll see why I find it so magnetic.

Several months later, while I was riding the elevator, the doors opened, and in walked Howard Schatz. Holy $#it! It’s really him! I think I scared him half to death because I fanboyed all over him (don’t worry, I offered to pay for his dry cleaning). Ever since that day, I’ve had the distinct pleasure of calling him and his wife Beverly friends and inspirations.

Yesterday was a little bit of early Christmas because there in the mail was a copy of PAIRS, Howard’s latest and perhaps most whimsical book to date. PAIRS reads more like a story than just a collection of pretty pictures with a surprise, a laugh, and a mind-bending, cornea-popping image at every turn. Like an ayahuasca-infused trip, it takes you through the looking glass to galaxies far, far away, traveling through a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. And like an out-of-control coaster, it drops you right back where you started, but perhaps just a tad different than when you left the station.

You can order PAIRS here. And while you’re there, scroll down and sign up for his weekly journal, “On Seeing.”

You can also follow Howard on Instagram and Facebook.

If you order PAIRS, let me know what you think once you’re back from the trip.

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Thank You, FanExpo Canada

This Batman sketch went to a newly minted Toronto member of the Joe Quesada Experience (not a tribute band).

I had an unbelievable time in Toronto several weeks back, except for the Canadian Covid that followed me home.¹

In my previous newsletter, I mentioned that I was staring down the barrel of an insanely busy Fall. Losing over a week to “Zdarsky’s Revenge” has played havoc with my deadlines and, unfortunately, delayed this newsletter. 

If you missed me, you know who to blame.²

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I Will Never Think Of This Cover The Same Way Again

Your response to the “Caption This” contest has been overwhelming and demented, and I loved every bit of it. Narrowing it down to three was tough, but then I remembered that I made the rules, so I narrowed it down to five.

1- When the edibles hit.- Joey Gantner

2- This wasn’t the first time Alfred caught Batman playing with his lil’ Joker in the Batcave.- Brian Wisniewski 

3- Batman Attempts to Watch Network Television During the Writer's Strike. - Ramsey Ess

4- "Aw, man, I was hoping for the Penguin doll."- Sean Byrnes

5- Thought he Amazoned Malibu Ken, but the jokes on Batman.- Aeryn Lynne

You only get one vote, so choose wisely.³

Remember, the winner receives a super rare, signed, and remarked Captain America #750 variant cover!

Oh, and a big tip of the hat to those who offered bribes. Dallas was willing to pony up a smoked burger with a side of brisket. Frank offered to make me Cafe Bustelo (somewhere my mom is smiling). Antoine said he would Venmo me $2 and make wings, and Zach promised to buy me a “cheap drink” the next time I saw him. They were all tempting, but I’m trying to give the impression that I’m running a class act here.

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Your Cards And Letters

Based on your response to my last column, many of you enjoyed the glimpse into my step-by-step cover design madness, and it reminded me of why I feel it’s important to demystify the process. Next week, I’ll get into that in more detail. In the meantime, let’s keep pulling back the curtain.

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Happiness Is…

My dad was a jack of all trades. He was once a barber and owned a shop on Roosevelt Ave. in Jackson Heights, Queens. My earliest memories of his barbershop were from when I was five, and I don’t think I made it to six before he had to close it down. I remember being there after school, running around and annoying his customers while waiting for him to close up. Most nights, as we headed home for dinner, we’d stop at Paddy’s Bar, my dad’s favorite watering hole.⁴ He’d hand me a pocket full of quarters, sit me up on a stool, and I’d entertained myself playing shuffle puck bowling while he had a quick after-work beer with his buddies. It was a common occurrence, and I grew to love taverns and the characters that resided within them, though I never acquired much of a taste for alcohol.

I remember this one afternoon when my dad said there was a hysterically funny Charlie Brown cartoon at Paddy’s. A Cartoon? Charlie Brown? Good grief, I was beside myself. I tugged at his pants, urging him to take me there, NOW! But, no dice, I had to wait until he closed up. When we finally got there, I looked around for a TV or movie screen, and then my dad pointed to the wall where this exact poster hung.

There’s nothing you can’t find on the internet.

Cartoon? that’s not a Cartoon! But to my dad, everything was a cartoon. Newspaper strips were cartoons. Comic books were cartoons, and so was this poster. My disappointment aside, I didn’t find the humor in it because Lucy was saying something I had often muttered to myself. I loved Peanuts more than anything in the world, and at five, nothing at that time was more frustrating than my Quixotic attempts at drawing a proper Snoopy. No matter how hard I tried, outside of tracing, I couldn’t get that damn beagle’s proportions right.

Look, we’re friends, so if it’s okay with you, I need to unburden myself of something not even my family knows. I mean, they will now because they read the newsletter, but to this day, I’ve never been able to draw Snoopy.

It’s a failing I’ve locked away, never to be thought or spoken of again until three weeks ago at FanExpo Canada. I was taking a break in my hotel room when my phone rang. It was Nanci.

“Hey, someone just stopped by the booth to commission a sketch from you. He left his sketchbook behind.”

“Cool, I’ll get to it when I get back.”

“It’s a Peanuts-themed sketchbook! You should draw Snoopy.”

You know those scenes in a movie where you hear the record scratch, and then a Rolodex of images rushes through a character’s mind? Imagine me in that scene, with the final image being the poster above.

“Let me think about it.”

“What’s to think about? You just said, 'Sure'.”

So here it was. Do I admit to my wife that I don’t know how to draw her favorite character on the planet? That night, I went through something that’s happened more than I care to admit, so much so that I’ve given it a name, “Artistic Gethsemane.” This evening, it was just Sparky and me. Well, just me yelling at Sparky for being so brilliant.

The next day, after my first signing, I took the sketchbook and went to the greenroom, where I googled as many Snoopy images by Charles Schulz as I could. Then something occurred to me; maybe others are aware of this, but I was today days old when I realized that Snoopy’s head was in the shape of a PEANUT! I don’t know if Schulz intentionally planned it that way. I would guess he didn’t, at least not consciously, because Snoopy had morphed several times since his introduction in 1950. But I had found the secret to a magic trick that had eluded me for decades.

When I was done, I cheerfully handed the sketchbook back to Nance.

“Why are you smiling?”

“No reason. I was just remembering a really funny poster.”

Happiness is drawing Snoopy correctly for the very first time!

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Thanks for reading.

You’re Amazing!

JQ

1. This was my third dance with Covid in as many years. Twice from conventions. Unfortunately, this means fist bumps for everyone from now on.

2. Chip Zdarsky is Canada’s second most famous person.

3. For the record, I would never, EVER encourage anyone to convince hundreds of their nearest and dearest to subscribe just to vote for their entry. That would be pandering and beneath someone of my stature.

Why are you laughing?

4. Yeah, I know, but it was a different time.