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.

Robert Moore Lecture: The Golden Well (1993)

Posted on June 1, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd


Renowned psychologist Robert Moore, Ph.D. offers a guide to digging deep to find the gold in one’s self, through a balance of the four archetypes within: king, warrior, magician and lover. He weaves together early Christian traditions, creation myths, academic dogma, and Robert Bly’s famous interpretation of Iron John. This is an exclusive recording of the 1993 Minnesota Men’s Conference. You can register and attend the upcoming 30th Annual Conference (Sept. 16-21) in Ely, Minnesota by visiting http://www.minnesotamensconference.com

Something I’ve been watching on YouTube. Follow the playlist here.

Hooray for the OAC!

Posted on May 30, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd

And here’s the final word on my 2023 residency at Tri-Rivers Career Center! This was made possible by a grant from the Ohio Arts Council (OAC). Over nine weeks I worked with the students to make their own minicomics, which they debuted during Free Comic Book Day at Thunderfury Comics in Marion, Ohio.

I can’t say enough about the OAC’s TeachArts Ohio grants. Thanks to them, I get to see kids walk taller semester after semester.

My Kid Could Do That!

Posted on May 27, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd

…it doesn’t have to be by a well-known artist. A child can do an archetype, maybe probably does more type of [archetypal] images than artists do. They spontaneously arise.

Thomas Singer, Jungian Analyst

I was arrested by this bit on a recent This Jungian Life Podcast. It seems to harmonize with something I’ve been trying to capture in my classroom; that a comic’s resonance is not dependent on the quality of its images. In other words, you don’t have to be a great illustrator to be a great storyteller. Anyone can make a comic that moves an audience, even if the author doesn’t identify as an artist. But this discussion on archetypal images adds another dimension to that idea. Maybe there’s something about art that emerges from a place of spontaneity that carries more charge with it. A practiced artist can do this, of course, but it’s a combination of the spontaneity and skill at work. It’s not just the skill.

I’m going to think about this and how I can more thoughtfully impress this on my students.

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Tell The Damn Story

Posted on May 24, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd

This podcast is a treasure for creative people (that’s all of us, by the way). Even if you don’t think of yourself as a writer, Alex and Chris have something to offer you. Their wisdom and reflections don’t just apply to writing artfully, they’re helpful to live artfully.

A Barbarian Horse in the Snow

Posted on May 23, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd

A wintery panel from my upcoming book, The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue. I thought having a chapter of the book take place in the arctic would make things easier on artist Jerzy and his color assistant, but I forgot about the woods the characters needed to hide in!

Get more behind the scenes info on the book via my Patreon, or subscribe to the newsletter!

A Button Labeled “Surprise” – Alan Watts

Posted on May 21, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd

I was charmed by this talk by Alan Watts. First, there’s the intuition that we’d eventually have phones that can bring us anything we want, but then he steers right into a consequence of abundance. Reminded me of the Twilight Zone episode where a thief dies and goes to what he believes is heaven. Every desire he’s ever had is instantly available to him. But is that heaven, or the other place?

You can listen to Watts’ whole talk here.

Gloom, Doom, Broom

Posted on May 20, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd

Some original art from 1998’s Ninja High School Annual. If I remember right, the title of this one was, Gloom, Doom, Broom! a story wherein our heroes face a mob of haunted jack-o’-lanterns with broomstick bodies on motorcycles.

The balloon spotting is a little wonky, and I was obviously aping Toriyama, but otherwise it’s not bad!

Drawing with Gregg Schigiel

Posted on May 19, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd

Recently on the live stream I was joined by Gregg Schigiel, creator of the Zooperhero Universe hybrid book series. We talked about the modular storytelling approach Gregg uses for his books, the astonishingly low amount of FOMO we feel this convention season, and how comics just might not be great at everything.

I’m streaming live again this Saturday at 3pm ET! Follow me on Twitch to be notified when the stream is live.

Amazons Mingling

Posted on May 18, 2023 by Jerzy Drozd

A few years back Dan Mishkin and I finished the first chapter to a graphic novel about a school for Amazons. Various projects forced me to stop working on this, but we keep talking about starting it up again. And then I think of panels like this and need a nap.

But then I think about working with Dan again and I’m energized to get to the desk!