Author: Jerzy Drozd

Teaching Artist and Cartoonist. He/him. When life is feeling heavy, I enjoy creating and sharing stories of cute heroes showing extraordinary courage.

Lewis Hyde: The Trickster Trap of Appetite (1995)

Posted on June 23, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd


Listen here
Lewis Hyde tells the wild Tsimshian trickster story “Raven Becomes Voracious,” as a way to explore the contradiction of having a mortal body while trying to lead an ascetic life, and offers wisdom on the unavoidable trap of desire.

Says Hyde, “This is a story of descent. In heaven there are beings who do not eat; in this lower world of stomachs and fish there are mortals who eat constantly. The trickster Raven is a mixture, the shining boy plus appetite, a being of considerable power who is unable to satiate his hunger. Trickster makes the world, gives it sunlight, fish, and berries, but he makes it “as it is,” a world of constant need, work, limitation, and death.”

An exclusive recording of the 1995 Minnesota Men’s Conference. Register and attend the 30th Annual Conference in Ely, Minnesota by visiting http://www.minnesotamensconference.com

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Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qySmiZgLl2w

Downloaded by http://huffduff-video.snarfed.org/ on Sun Jun 4 02:38:13 2023

Available for 30 days after download
Check out the original post on my Huffduffer page.

Monster Market Podcast

Posted on June 21, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd

I’m loving this podcast by my art buddies Zack Giallongo and Ben Hatke!

Each episode the hosts pick a theme regarding mythical creatures, then each shows up to discuss three of their favorites. As you can see above, a recent episode’s theme was Cunning Canines and Haunting Hounds. Fans of fairy tales, folklore, and mythology will love this show.

And they release cool art to accompany every episode:

Subscribe here!

Super Comics Challenge!

Posted on June 20, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd

The global health crisis that kicked into high gear in early 2020 challenged us in so many ways. But one of the less dramatic ways it invited us to level up was in creating meaningful and engaging activities at virtual comics festivals.

I’m so grateful to Gerimi Burliegh, Aaron Polk, Gregg Schigiel, and Elizabeth for stepping up to participate in the first Super Comics Challenge game show. And thanks to Rob Stenzinger for the voice over!

And if I may congratulate myself, I’m proud of this playful, fun game show that incidentally teaches some techniques of comics storytelling. Playful teaching is my favorite kind of teaching. I think it came together pretty well. Virtual or in person, I’d love to do this one again.

You can watch the second edition below!

Season 1 Wrap Up Pt 1 – Four Million Years Later, episode 16.1

Posted on June 19, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd

So we went to do a season wrap-up show not sure we’d have enough to talk about, and it ended up being twice as long as usual, so we decided to post it in two parts, as I’d be very surprised if anyone wanted to listen to us for 2 1/2 hours in one sitting! In this half, we set the scene talking about the cartoon and toy landscapes of 1984, and how Transformers changed so many things, being an innovation, and literal worldwide phenomenon. You’ll get to hear Jerzy discover UHF stations! Experience young Hoover shocked and excited that a GIRL collected Transformers!! And learn the terrible tragedy slash CBS Special Event that forever distanced Jerzy from his family!!! YOUR LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AFTER THIS EPISODE!!!! (Ok, so it probably will, but hey, you never know…)

Befriend the FOUR MILLION YEARS LATER page on Facebook!
Closing theme by Nick Mehalick

Bleacher Creature at Huntington Park

Posted on June 17, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd

A view of our constant baseball companion Bleacher Creature at a Columbus Clippers game.

We’re almost halfway through the season already, and I’m trying to remember to drink it all in and be present at every game.

More on the Bleacher Creature:

Facing Feelings

Posted on June 16, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd

Just saw the new Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum exhibit, Facing Feelings: The Art of Raina Telgemeier and I have to say this might be the most comic-booky exhibit I’ve ever seen. Which is to say, it trusts the audience to navigate multiple threads of information the way (good) comic books do.

Dan Mishkin once described the way images and words interact in comics as “syncopation.” I thought of that description a lot as I moved through the spaces.

A data visualization at Facing Feelings: the Art of Raina Telgemeier. Visitors are prompted to share their emotions on an iPad as they enter, and the data is displayed anonymously above the exhibit title wall. Every corner invites you to think about what’s inside you. ❤️

You’ll learn about an influential cartoonist’s journey, how cartoons have a special power to foster empathy, and quite a bit about how to articulate emotions and feelings–whether through words, lines, or colors. Teacher friends in the Midwest, I strongly encourage you to bring your students to this exhibit. I know I’m going to be dragging a few of my mentees here.

Doctor Baer – Into the Deep!

Posted on June 15, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd

One of the many style tests I did to find the look for The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue. I spent a few years experimenting with different approaches, combining various analog and digital techniques to land on the look of the final graphic novel coming out in 2024.

You can watch me finish this experiment and hear some of the ideas behind these designs during this formerly Patreon-only live stream:

A Friendly Game Cover Sketches

Posted on June 14, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd

If you’ve been tuning into my live streams (Saturdays at 3pm ET!) you’ll have seen that I’m in the process of redrawing A Friendly Game, a Boulder and Fleet story I created during October 2016. The original version was made within the constraints of Inktober (or Creative Challenge Season as my buddy Rob Stenzinger calls it). In order to meet my goal of finishing a 24-page comic within 31 days, I threw out the penciling stage and inked over my thumbnails. It was an early experiment in finding what I think of as my “deadline style.” It became a four-year journey to finding a sweet spot between efficiency and quality.

A sample from the live stream, where we can chat about storytelling or why we need bifocals.

The comic came together fairly well considering the constraints. The story explored some of my strong feelings about bullying and navigating conflict, and I got to invent a fun little game kids could play with whatever they find outside:

And the art was serviceable, at least for a minicomic. But I wanted the art to show the same love I had for the story, so I decided to re-draw the book. And I’d revise the layouts so it could match the aspect ratio of Boulder and Fleet: Mining for Trouble.

And in digging through the old materials for this story, I came across several cover sketches I did after wrapping up the minicomic:

For the minicomic I went with no. 4:

But maybe I can go with one of the other designs for the remastered edition!

A Primary Influence on Doctor Baer

Posted on June 13, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd

The Palace of Doom! The Roof of the World! The Pit of Chaos! The Amusement Part of Terror! These are the wild locations in my favorite 100-odd minutes of animation. The Revenge of Cobra mini-series is a huge influence on my upcoming book, The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue. The world-spanning MacGuffin chase, the alliance-building of the heroes, and the internal dysfunction of the villains is just perfect in this mini-series.

I’ll probably be creatively chasing the feeling this cartoon gave me for the rest of my life.